Matthew 26:45 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

NIV: Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, 'Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.

NASB: Then He *came to the disciples and *said to them, 'Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

CSB: Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? See, the time is near. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

NLT: Then he came to the disciples and said, 'Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look — the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

KJV: Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

NKJV: Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Jesus' previous prayers (Matthew 26:36–44) came in moments of intense personal anguish (Mark 14:34; Luke 22:44). Now, so far as Matthew's description seems, He is calm and collected. After praying three times, He seems to have eliminated stresses from His mind, regarding what has been planned for Him (Matthew 16:21). The time has come, and He will not resist it. This is what the Father wants from Him.

Now Jesus returns to Peter, James, and John, still sleeping, and He wakes them one last time. He tells them to sleep later. The time for praying and waiting is over. He, the Son of Man, is betrayed into the hands of sinners. These sinners include Judas, the chief priests, and the elders. Jesus tells His disciples to "see," pointing to the mob coming to arrest Him (Matthew 26:47).

Matthew 26:36–46 follows Jesus and the disciples into a place called Gethsemane, on the Mount of Olives. He takes Peter, James, and John aside from the main group, then prays to God the Father in indescribably intense anguish. He prays a sincere wish that what's about to happen would not be necessary, but entirely submits to the will of God the Father. The disciples cannot stay awake, despite being roused more than once by Christ. Jesus prays three times, before pointing out Judas, the betrayer, who is coming with a crowd to arrest Him. These events are also depicted in Mark 14:32–42 and Luke 22:39–46.

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.