Matthew 26 - What is Most Important As We Celebrate Holy Communion?

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The Plot Against Jesus

Once again Jesus reminds the disciples that he will be crucified and now reveals it will be at the time at the Passover Feast. He says, "As you know" assuming they did know. He would be deliberately "handed over". This would be no be accident. Next, we see the chief priests and the elders assembled in the house of the high priest, Caiaphas. Notice it is not just a "couple of people". The plan is hatched amongst a broad spectrum of the Jewish leaders. Their intent was not just to arrest him but to KILL HIM! Knowing how high the approval rating Jesus was among the Jewish people, they did not want to do it at Passover to avoid a riot. 

"They didn’t want to put Jesus to death during Passover, but that is exactly how it happened. This is another subtle indication that Jesus was in control of events, as they in fact killed Him on the very day that they didn’t want to." (Guzik)

“The leaders were right in fearing the people. Jerusalem’s population swelled perhaps fivefold during the feast; and with religious fervor and national messianism at a high pitch, a spark might set off an explosion.” (Carson)

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

Jesus was at the home of Simon the Leper, a man he had maybe healed. This reminds us that Jesus often "hung out" with people. We don't know who the woman is in Matthew's version who anointed him with an alabaster jar of perfume but we find out in John (see below). We know it was a very expensive jar of perfume. The woman seems to know of his impending death and was preparing his body for this. Jewish kings were also anointed at their coronation, so perhaps there was a connection there as well. 

She poured it on his head in an intimate setting around the table. This was a fairly risky thing for a woman to do to a man in Jewish culture. She obviously thought it was a risk worth taking. Instead of praising the woman for her act of devotion, the other disciples complain that they think the money could have been used for feeding the poor. Perhaps they were jealous of her act of devotion to Jesus. 

Whatever the case, Jesus mildly rebukes them and asks them why they are bothering this woman who has done such a beautiful thing for him. Jesus shows his humility by being willing to accept this act of service and worship from this woman. He knew her actions were appropriate given what would be happening to him. Jesus thinks what she has done is so important that whenever the Good News is preached this story would be included. 

We know from John 12 that this woman was Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10:39), made this extravagant display of love and devotion to Jesus. (Guzik)

“What they call waste, Jesus calls ‘a beautiful thing.’” (Carson)

“Is anything wasted which is all for Jesus? It might rather seem as if all would be wasted which was not given to him.” (Spurgeon)

“She probably did not know all that her action meant when she anointed her Lord for his burial. The consequences of the simplest action done for Christ may be much greater than we think…She thus showed that there was, at least, one heart in the world that thought nothing was too good for her Lord, and that the best of the very best ought to be given to him.” (Spurgeon)

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

Judas asks the chief priests what they will give him, if he delivers Jesus into their hands. It shows that at the heart of Judas' betrayal was his greed for money. The greed even trumped his friendship and love for Jesus. What was the price he was given for his betrayal? Thirty pieces of silver. In retrospect it is hard to believe that one of Jesus' disciples would betray him for such a small amount of money. But we always need to ask ourselves ...

"How much might we betray him for?" Though we would probably never put ourselves on a par with Judas, I know there are little ways from time to time in which I might indirectly betray him. When we choose sin over obedience to him, I think this is a type of betrayal. Fortunately as we know after Peter betrayed Jesus, Jesus restored him through his love and grace, and he does for us as well as we repent and return to him. 

The exact value of thirty pieces of silver is somewhat difficult to determine, but it was low estimation of the Messiah’s value. “It was a known set price for the basest slave, Exodus 21:31; Joel 3:3, 6. For so small a sum sold this traitor so sweet a Master.” (Trapp)

The Last Supper

Jesus gave his disciples directions for preparing his last meal with him on the Passover night. The celebration of the Passover meal was one of the most important nights for the Jewish people. On that night they remembered how God had delivered them from death of the Egyptians by the blood of the lamb being smeared above their door posts. 

Each year a young, unblemished lamb was brought to the Passover feast to symbolize the sacrifice of innocent blood required for the forgiveness of sin. Leviticus 17:11 says, 

"For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.["

Hebrews 9:35 says something similar, 

"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."

At dinner, when they were reclining Jesus announced that one of them would betray him. The disciples were shocked and saddened and looked at Jesus saying, "Surely it is not me!" When Judas said the same thing Jesus said, "You have said so!" I'm not sure if Jesus was affirming that he was lying or pointing out in some way Judas was admitting his part in the betrayal. 

It was then that Jesus instituted which we now call "the Lord's Supper" or "Holy Communion". He took the bread and broke it saying, "This is my body given for you!" And after this took the cup and after giving thanks to the Father he said, "This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins!" 

Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant by being the innocent Lamb of God, who took on the sin of the world through pouring out his blood for us on the cross. His legs/body were broken on the cross in order to finalize his death on the cross. Notice it was not just their sins but the "sins of many!" The many would be those who came to him and put their faith in him. 

Finally, Jesus gives an awesome promise. He tells them that, "They will not drink of this fruit of the vine until they celebrate together in the Father's kingdom in heaven." This is a great reminder for us when we celebrate Holy Communion together. We say it is a "foretaste of the feast to come". As we receive communion together to experience Jesus' real presence and remember what he did for us on the cross, we also look forward to the wedding feast we will enjoy with him in heaven. 

Jesus didn’t give the normal explanation of the meaning of each of the foods. He reinterpreted them in Himself, and the focus was no longer on the suffering of Israel in Egypt, but on the sin-bearing suffering of Jesus on their behalf. (Guzik)

This is how we remember what Jesus did for us. As we eat the bread, we should remember how Jesus was broken, pierced, and beaten with stripes for our redemption. As we drink the cup, we should remember that His blood, His life was poured out on Calvary for us. (Guzik)

"Scripturally, we can understand that the bread and the cup are not mere symbols, but they are powerful pictures to partake of, to enter into, as we see the Lord’s Table as the new Passover." (Guzik)

There is a lot of theological debate that has gone for centuries about what exactly did Jesus mean when he said, "This is my body" and "This is my blood"? Was he being literal or more symbolic? 

I think there has been a lot of unneeded division and dissension over trying to figure out exactly what Jesus meant by this. I think there are three main aspects to receiving Holy Communion. 

1. We do it in remembrance of what He did for us on the cross. Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me!" It was not optional. When we gather we always need to remember what He did for each one of us individually for the whole world. 

2. We experience Jesus in a personal way when the communion assistant says to us on Jesus' behalf, "This is my body given for you. This is the blood of Christ shed for you!"  Luther said the two most important words as we celebrate the Lord's Supper are "For You!" When you partake of communion you remember that if you were the only person, Jesus would have died for you. In this sense communion can be a tremendous reminder and renewal of your faith in Jesus and what he did for you. 

3. We receive communion as the a community, as the body of Christ. It is a family meal just as Jesus shared this last meal with his disciples. We not only have fellowship with Jesus, as we eat the bread and drink the wine, but we also have fellowship with each other. Therefore, if we have something against someone in our church community, we should try and resolve it with them at the service, or sometime in the near future. Part of our receiving Jesus' forgiveness is the command he gave us, "Forgive one another, as I have forgiven you!" 

Regarding forgiveness, sometimes we need to forgive someone, or we might need to ask for their forgiveness. We don't wait for the person to say, "I'm sorry". We forgive them as Jesus forgave us before we could say sorry! This is the difference in forgiveness from the world's perspective and from the perspective of Jesus. Love is an action. Forgiveness is love in action.