Matthew 26:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

NIV: From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

NASB: And from then on he looked for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.

CSB: And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.

NLT: From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

KJV: And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

NKJV: So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

The chief priests and elders have been plotting together at the home of the high priest about how to arrest and kill Jesus (John 11:53). They had decided to wait until after the Passover, to avoid causing an uproar among the crowds of people packed into Jerusalem for the celebration. The last thing they wanted were riots over this popular preacher and healer.

Now, a perfect opportunity has come along, causing them to risk moving up their timetable. One of Jesus' inner circle of twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot, has come to them and offered to deliver Jesus over to them. This is a meaningful offer, since the ancient world didn't have the advantages of photographs, cameras, or telephones to track someone like Jesus to a specific location. With Judas' help, they will be able to find and arrest Jesus in the middle of the night, far from the view of the crowds. This is the chance they have been waiting for.

Now it's up to Judas to find the perfect moment to betray his master. He has been paid his 30 pieces of silver. It will be up to him to follow through.

Matthew 26:6–16 finds Jesus and the disciples in Bethany at the home of a man identified as "Simon the leper." A woman, likely Mary the sister of Lazarus, opens a bottle of extremely expensive ointment and anoints Jesus' head as He reclines at the table during dinner. The disciples think the ointment should have been sold and the money given to the poor, but Jesus insists she has done a beautiful thing that will prepare Him for burial. Judas then offers to turn Jesus over to the chief priests. They pay him 30 silver pieces, a price ironically associated with the cost of a common slave.

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.

Accessed 5/5/2024 7:41:43 AM