Reading Assignment: Matthew 26:1-16
Main Idea: The road to Judas’ betrayal
Truth: God’s providence advances His salvation plan.
Key Verse: Matthew 26:2
Overview of the four scenes/parts orchestrated to advance God’s plan:
1. Prediction
2. Intent
3. Trigger
4. Negotiation
Prayer:
1. Give God thanks for divine providence.
2. Give God thanks for salvation.
Transcript
All right, let's pray.
Our Father, thank You for another morning, another day. Thank You for giving us life and breath. Every day we exist because You will for us to exist, and thus we have another day to live for You and to live utterly dependent on You and to live to glorify and honor You by keeping Your word. We pray that even this morning, as we look to Your word, that You would transfix our thoughts on Your truth, and not on anything else, and that Your truth will guide us. Grant to us understanding and bless our time together. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
The next passage to be read is Matthew 26:1-16, and the main idea that brings all the different parts together is this: the road to Judas' betrayal. Matthew presents to us how Judas' betrayal comes together through the orchestration of many parts. But that is a high-level summary of what goes on in this section. If I were to point out one important truth that we can really sink our teeth into, it would be this: God’s providence advances His salvation plan. “Providence” is a word that describes how God is orchestrating everything in the world to bring about His perfect plan, the plan of salvation. Oftentimes, the parts that are orchestrated appear only evil (on the surface) but God is producing something beautiful even through the ugly parts, because He has the power and wisdom to bring all the parts together toward His good will. The key verse is found in verse 2, where Jesus reveals His understanding of the plan of God that will unfold. In verse 2 Jesus says this, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.” The word for “handed over” is actually the same word for “betrayal” in Greek (παραδίδωμι), the same word we'll see at the end if this passage in verse 16, where Judas is looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus. So, the passage has the idea of betrayal as two bookends. Now, in terms of the passage itself, we find in it four parts or four scenes. First, there's the prediction. Then there is the intent of the Jewish religious leaders. Then there is a trigger, an event that propels Judas to sell Jesus to His enemies. And then there's the negotiation, one between Judas and the religious leaders.
First, the prediction. We just read verse 2, so you already know what Jesus is going to say. But verse 1 introduces those words in this way: “When Jesus had finished all these words [that's talking about all His teachings regarding the end times in Matthew 24 and 25], He said to His disciples.” Then He plainly tells them what's going to happen. Verse 2: “after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over [or “betrayed”] to be crucified.” Handed over (or, betrayed) is the same verb will come up again in verse 16 to describe Judas’ betrayal. What Jesus shows here is that He knew exactly what was up ahead for Him. He knew the time: after two days. He knew the pathway: through betrayal. And He knew the method of His death: by crucifixion. Now, with regard to Judas' betrayal, it must be understood that Jesus knew this a long time before this. John tells us in John Chapter 6 that when many disciples abandoned Jesus because of His teaching about His true identity as the Son of God from heaven, that Jesus was fully aware of Judas’ upcoming betrayal. This was at least a full year before this final Passover in Matthew 26 (John 6 took place during a time near another Passover). Jesus said then in John 6:70, “Did I Myself not choose you the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil (not Satan himself but possessing the qualities of Satan).” Then John adds an explanation for what Jesus meant: “Now He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.” Jesus knew all along that Judas would betray Him. He was not caught off by surprise. This shows us that the plan of God is not haphazard. God has His plan well thought out and well understood, well before it comes to pass. God does not merely just try to pick up the pieces of the mess in this world and tries to eke out something good from it. No. He intends and carries out His plan all along. What we find after this statement are the seemingly unrelated parts that come together to advance the plan of God on earth.
This brings us to the first of these parts: the intent of the Jewish leaders. This is the second scene. Jesus had made His remark to the disciples in verse two, and then Matthew takes us to another scene. So, in verse 3 he writes, “Then the chief priests and the elders (that would be the Pharisees) were gathered together in the court of the high priest, named Caiaphas; and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him. But they were saying, ‘Not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people.’” The festival here, of course, refers to Passover. According to the plan of God which Jesus revealed in verse 2, the two religious groups who were odd bed fellows were collaborating to plot against Jesus. This combined plot is something that John details at the end of John 11. There he shows us that the religious leaders became all the more concerned about Jesus' popularity with the raising of Lazarus. They also admit a limitation, that they must do this by stealth, because of how the people might react with a riot, since the people loved Jesus. This would require a way to capture Jesus away from the crowd, perhaps in the cover of night, to apprehend Him and execute Him. They would need Judas to betray Jesus. And the next scene is what brings this piece of the puzzle into the picture.
The next scene is the trigger. This next story is what causes Judas to seek out the religious leaders to sell Jesus to them. The event is recoded by Mark also as well as Luke. This was a dinner party held in honor of Jesus. After Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, the two sisters, Mary and Martha, put up an appreciation dinner for Him at the house of Simon the Leper, who likely had been healed by Jesus. Well, during the dinner a woman came up to Jesus and anointed Him with a very costly perfume. John identifies the woman as Mary. This was likely her display of appreciation for Lazarus’ resurrection, but there appears to be more than that going on here, because this is a bit over the top. The perfume was worth a whole year’s worth of wages. This act was so lavish, the disciples were actually indignant. They were angry with what appeared to be a complete waste of money. They said, “Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” Interestingly, John reveals to us in John 12 that Judas Iscariot was the leader of this reaction. He was the one deeply concerned about money and its waste. Moreover, John tells us that he was indignant about the wasted asset because he was a thief and he used to steal from the money box. The anointing to Judas meant a lost opportunity for self-enrichment. Jesus in response simply defends the woman's action. He even points out that act was ultimately for His burial preparation. Again, this shows us that Jesus knew full well what is up ahead. He was going to be crucified. He also adds in verse 13, “wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” As a result, Matthew, Mark, and John all include this story. And the story of Mary’s anointing is forever memorialized in Scripture. Therefore, even to this day, we remember how Jesus's body was prepared for burial through this costly anointing. Now, the most important thing about this event is what followed afterwards. We read in verse 14, “Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?’” He was seeking to hand over Jesus for money. After losing the opportunity for an entire year’s worth of wages, he settled for 30 pieces of silver, which was just several $1000 in value. According to Exodus 21, this was the value of a common slave. For this price, Judas decided to lead the Jews, Jesus’ enemies, right to Him so they can apprehend Him. Then verse 16, “From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray [or hand over] Jesus.”
So those are the scenes. There's a prediction. There's the intent of the Jewish religious leaders. There's also the trigger of the wasted perfume, which to Judas was a major loss of opportunity. This then led to the meeting of two interested parties to give to each other what they each wanted: money for Judas and Jesus’ head for the Jews. Well, what's the significance of all of this? Well, Judas' betrayal comes about through the orchestration of what appears to be unrelated events to fulfill the plan of God to accomplish salvation of His people. This is providence. Providence comes from the English word “provide.” It means that the sovereign God makes sure that every necessary ingredient comes together to bring to pass His perfect plan. The world doesn't just spin out of control with chaos flying everywhere. Instead, God is weaving together every part, even sinful action of men and even the activity of Satan (Luke and John tell us about Satan’s involvement in Judas’ betrayal), even the parts that appear evil and painful. God, in His perfect wisdom, weaves all of these together to advance His plan and purpose on the earth. This shows us that nothing is outside of the perfect control of divine providence. While sinful men and the devil intend evil, God leverages even evil to bring about good. There is a complexity and sophistication with which God orchestrates the course of the world that is able to use even evil to advance the plan of salvation. No man on earth controls these parts. It is only the sovereign God. What this shows us is that we must never underestimate the power and the wisdom of God in His providence. And in this section Jesus knew all along where all the events were headed: to His crucifixion to accomplish salvation for His people.
What might we learn and pray in light of all of this? Number one: thank God for His providence. This is God's world, and He is providing for His world to bring to pass His perfect plan of salvation. Even evil and suffering are no obstacles to the wisdom of God that can leverage everything toward His good pleasure. That is really amazing to think about. And this, of course, has implications for our lives, that even the trials of life and suffering do not happen by freak chance. God is doing something through all of these things to bring all of His children safely home to glory. We find that in Romans 8:28-30. And we ought to thank God for His providence. We should express our trust in Him, that both in good times and what appears to be bad times, that we trust Him to advance His perfect plan on earth, even in our lives. Second, we can give God thanks for salvation. What God accomplished through Judas’ betrayal was the crucifixion of Jesus. And His death is what would bring about the atonement for sin, to save sinners from their sins. This is how awesome our God is. We ought to thank Him for His salvation.
Let's pray and we’ll close. God, we thank You for Your providential care and that You are the sovereign God who orchestrates all things to bring to pass Your good pleasure. We worship You and we confess that we are utterly dependent on You. Grant to us a fresh perspective of this reality each and every day, that we will see You as powerful and wise and thus find courage to press on, trusting in Your goodness and Your wisdom to orchestrate even the painful things in life for Your good purpose. Thank You that we can lean upon You even through all the challenges of life. We also thank You that You have, through the events we read about, brought about our salvation. At a great cost to Yourself, Your Son bore our sins so that we would not die in our sins but that we would be justified and by Your Spirit, be sanctified, and by Your grace ultimately be glorified. Thank You that this is the plan that You are working out in this world, and You have been pleased to set Your eye upon us to bless us with Your eternal salvation. In this we rejoice and we give You thanks. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
All right, Lord bless you all and see you again on Wednesday.