Matthew 26:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.

NIV: When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.

NASB: Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve.

CSB: When evening came, he was reclining at the table with the Twelve.

NLT: When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the Twelve.

KJV: Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.

NKJV: When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.

Matthew records the beginning of what has famously become known as the Last Supper. This is Jesus' final meal with His twelve disciples before His arrest, trials, conviction, and crucifixion. Jesus knows exactly what is coming later in the evening. Though He has warned them repeatedly about it (Matthew 16:21–23), the disciples seem unaware of what will happen over the next few days. They likely know that Jesus is wanted by the Jewish religious leaders (John 11:57). They may be nervous about being in Jerusalem for the Passover, as required by the law.

They would have waited until sundown to eat the Passover meal together. In Jewish timekeeping, sundown was the beginning of the day to follow. The Passover began on 15th of the month known as Nisan.

It was not common in this culture to sit on chairs around a table to eat a meal. Instead, formal meals were served in the Middle Eastern style. Participants would sit on cushions in a U-shaped pattern around a low table and lean back as they ate a long and leisurely meal. Together with His twelve handpicked disciples, Jesus reclined and ate, leading the group through the prescribed steps required in the law for each stage of the Passover meal.

Matthew 26:17–35 begins with locating the room which will be used for the Passover meal. While they are eating, Jesus announces that one of His closest disciples will become a traitor. Judas discovers that Jesus knows it is him. Jesus introduces the concept of bread and wine as symbols of His sacrificial body and blood. After the meal, Jesus tells the disciples they will fall away that night and that Peter will deny Him three times. They insist that will not happen. Mark 14:10–31, Luke 22:3–23, Luke 22:31–34, and John 13:21–38 feature these events, as well.

The Jewish religious leaders further their plots to arrest and kill Jesus, finding a willing traitor in Judas Iscariot. A woman anoints Christ with oil during a dinner at Bethany. Next, Jesus and the disciples hold the Passover meal in an upper room where Jesus predicts His arrests and introduces the sacrament of communion. Then Jesus prays in unimaginable agony in the garden of Gethsemane before being betrayed by Judas and captured. The disciples scatter. Before the high priest, Jesus explicitly claims to be divine. They convict Him of blasphemy and sentence Him to death. As this happens, Peter denies knowing Jesus and runs away in shame.

After a long series of teaching (Matthew 24—25), Matthew 26 begins with Jesus saying He will be delivered up for death. Christ is anointed at a dinner in Bethany and Judas agrees to turn Him over to the chief priests. Jesus holds a Passover meal with the disciples, predicts an act of treachery, and introduces the sacrament of communion. He tells the disciples they will run in fear and that Peter will deny Him, which happens just as prophesied. Christ prays in great sorrow in a garden and is then arrested and taken away and unfairly sentenced to death. After this, Jesus will be taken to the Roman governor, where Jewish leadership will press for Him to be executed as an insurgent.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.