Matthew 26:32 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."

NIV: But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee."

NASB: But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.'

CSB: But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee."

NLT: But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.'

KJV: But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

NKJV: But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

Jesus has told His disciples a devastating thing. They have just shared the Passover meal together (Matthew 26:17–29). Now, walking in the open night air toward the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30), Jesus said they would all fall away because of Him (Matthew 26:31). The idea of "falling away" would suggest they will be faithless to Him. Their courage will fail, and they will run and hide to save themselves. This is not the active treason of Judas, who is acting to deliberately harm Jesus (Matthew 26:14–16).

Thankfully, Jesus doesn't leave His prediction there. He predicts their fearful response but also assures them that this falling away on their part is temporary. He says that after He is raised up, He will go ahead of them back to Galilee.

It would have been difficult for the disciples to comprehend what this might mean. Jesus, though, knows exactly what is about to happen. He will be "struck," and they will scatter (Matthew 26:56). He will be raised from the dead (Matthew 28:5–6). Then He will meet them again back up north, away from Jerusalem, in their home region of Galilee (Matthew 28:10).

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.