Matthew 26:30-35; Striking to Heal

“You will all fall away because of Me this night,” Jesus in Matthew 26:31

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful – for He cannot deny Himself,” (2 Timothy 2:13).

I have never heard anyone say, “The really deep lessons of my life have come through times of ease and comfort.” But I have heard strong saints say, “Every significant advance I have ever made in grasping the depths of God’s love … has come through suffering.” (John Piper, “Where the Great King Keeps His Wine”)

The setting has changed.  Night has fallen and they are back at the Mount of Olives where they were earlier in the week (see 24:3).  There is tension and an ominous feeling in the air.  Jesus turns to His disciples and says, “You will all fall away because of Me this night” (v. 31).  That very evening, this is exactly what happens.  26:56 records that after His arrest, “all the disciples left Him and fled.”   

Next Jesus quotes from Zechariah 13:7: For it is written, “I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’ (v. 31).  From our perspective it makes no sense that God would strike causing the sheep to scatter.  Yet this is a pattern we see throughout Scripture. Joseph was sold into slavery (Genesis 37:28), Pharaoh’s army pursued Israel (Exodus 14:8-9) and even the Jerusalem church was struck and scattered due to persecution (Acts 8:1).    To us it looks as if God means to harm His people or He is not in control.   

Yet from God’s perspective, the scattering of His people is part of His plan; it is necessary for His glory and our good. In Zechariah, quoted by Jesus here, the shepherd is struck so that Israel may heal.   Joseph testifies to God’s goodness in being sold to slavery (Genesis 50:20), the nation of Israel sings how the Lord has “triumphed gloriously” because Pharaoh’s chariots were “thrown into the sea,” (Exodus 15:1).   The church, due to persecution, began its first missionary pursuit by fleeing into “Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1, cf. Acts 1:8).

Jesus also is aware that beyond the scattering and the cross, there is a resurrection.   He tells His disciples, “But after I am raised, I will go before you to Galilee,” (v. 32).   These instructions are repeated on Easter morning both by the angel at the tomb and by the resurrected Jesus, (see 28:7, 10).

Ever since Jesus first tells His disciples that He will be crucified, He also mentions His resurrection (16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19).  But none of the disciples hear Him speak of being raised; they only hear Him speak of the crucifixion.  And they miss it again when Jesus says, “after I am raised,” (v. 32).  Maybe this is because even though they knew of the resurrection at the end of the age, as Martha mentions in John 11:24, they had no category for the “first-fruits” (1 Corinthians 15:20) individual resurrection of Jesus.

Peter then announces his allegiance to Jesus and exclaims, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away,” (v. 33).   Yet our Lord has plans to strike Peter and make him even stronger.   Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times,” (v. 34).   Luke adds this admonishment from Jesus to Peter: “And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers,” (Luke 22:32).  Peter still doesn’t quite get it yet and replies, “Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You,”   And behind Peter one can almost hear a weak-hearted “me too!” as all the disciples said the same (v. 35). 

The bedrock of Christian living is not our faithfulness and obedience to the Christian life.   Rather, the Christian life is our resting in His faithfulness and obedience.  To live the Christian life we must not trust in our own valiant efforts.  Rather we need to allow His Spirit to control us and live through us like a hand occupies and controls a glove.  And when the Lord strikes us, may we remember that He strikes to heal and to restore (see Isaiah 19:22).   And when He scatters us, let us stay faithful, knowing that a resurrection lies beyond the cross.  

Matthew 26:26-30; The New Covenant

 

“For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus, Matthew 26:28 

"These hands you may crush, these arms you may lop off, my life you may take… but you shall never force me to give holy things to the profaned, and dishonor the table of my God." (John Calvin, after a group of apostate “Libertines” demanded that Calvin serve them the Lord’s Supper in 1553.  Calvin in His Letters, Henry Henderson, p. 78)

 Jesus is with His disciples for the Passover meal in the upper room (see Luke 20:12). As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body,” (v. 26).

 Christians have continually debated the meaning of these words of Jesus as they contemplate the ceremony of the Lord’s Supper.   Some believe the bread literally becomes His body (a view called “transubstitution”).  Others reject this and eat the bread merely ceremonially “in remembrance of Me,” (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24). However, all Christians agree, in spite of their differences, participating in the Lord’s Supper draws believers uniquely closer to Jesus.

 Jesus frequently spoke of Himself metaphorically; He said, “I am the door” (John 10:7), “I am the light” (John 8:12), “I am the vine” (John 15:5), “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).   Therefore it is not unreasonable to interpret His words metaphorically and still be able to approach the Lord’s Supper with reverence and communion. 

And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,” (vv. 27-28).  The New Dictionary of Biblical Theology defines covenant as “a solemn commitment, guaranteeing promises or obligations undertaken by one or both covenanting parties.” Additionally the concept of covenants “is undoubtedly one of the Bible’s core theological themes,” (p. 420).   Here our Lord is using “blood” to usher in His covenant, the “new” covenant (see Luke 22:20). 

Blood was frequently used to inaugurate covenants in the Old Testament.  Noah (Genesis 8:20-22; 9:8-17), Abraham (Genesis 15:7-10; 17-18) and Moses (Exodus 24:8) used blood to seal their covenants with God.    But these covenants were inadequate to permanently atone for our sins.   As the Scripture says, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins,” (Hebrews 10:4).   The old was ineffective; a new and permanent covenant was needed.

 

And the LORD promised a new covenant: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people,” (Jeremiah 31:31,33; see also Jeremiah 33:14) 

 

And the LORD gave a new covenant.  Christ’s crucifixion began this new covenant: “For if the blood of goats and bulls… [cleanse] the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ… purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.  Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant…” (Hebrews 9:13-15).

 

“I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom,” (v. 29).   Scripture often uses the word picture of a wedding feast to describe heaven, (see Isaiah 25:6, Matthew 22:2, Revelation 19:9).  Therefore the Lord’s Supper points us backward and forward; backward to the shed blood of Jesus and the new covenant, forward to our participation in the marriage feast of the Lamb!

 

Before they went out to the Mount of Olives they sung a hymn (v. 30), likely from Psalm 113-118 which were frequently sung during Passover.  The weight of Jesus’ words had not hit them yet, given the obvious tension in the air.  But later, upon reflection, they fully realized that the promised new covenant was now upon them.  And like us, they shouted, “Hallelujah!  He is our God and we are His people!”   Rejoice, oh Christian, rejoice!   And sing a new song to the Lord!