Matthew 26:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, "Is it I, Lord?"

NIV: They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?"

NASB: Being deeply grieved, they began saying to Him, each one: 'Surely it is not I, Lord?'

CSB: Deeply distressed, each one began to say to him, "Surely not I, Lord?"

NLT: Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, 'Am I the one, Lord?'

KJV: And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

NKJV: And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?”

Strangely, each of the disciples asks Jesus if he is the one who will betray the Lord (Matthew 26:20–21). This comes after Jesus predicting that one of them is a traitor. On one hand, this is an extraordinary moment of humility and perspective. None of them, other than Judas (Matthew 26:14–16), have had any ill intent towards Christ at this point. Yet they all worry that Jesus' dire prophecy might apply to them. They're used to Jesus giving them difficult teachings, and they realize the possibility of falling into sin. This makes them understandably sad, thinking they could hurt their Master. In this moment, only Jesus and Judas know that Judas has taken money in exchange for an agreement to turn the Lord over to the chief priests (Mark 14:10).

Another possibility is that these questions are rhetorical: statements of innocence, rather than actual questions. In English, a common response to an accusation is "who, me?" The disciples might be saying something like "you don't think I would do that, would you?" The sorrow they express might be sadness that Jesus would even suspect such a thing. Later, Peter and others will insist their willingness to die before abandoning Christ (John 13:36–38). They will be wrong about that, though only Judas will be guilty of directly betraying Jesus to His enemies.

In an interesting detail, Judas will refer to Jesus as a teacher, rather than a master, when he speaks (Matthew 26:25). Whether Judas asks the exact same question as the others, before then, is not explicitly stated.

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.