Matthew 26:1-16
The Plot to Kill Jesus
1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, 2 "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."
3 Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. 5 But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."
The Anointing at Bethany
6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. 8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste? 9 For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."
10 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. 11 For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. 12 For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.
Jesus was on His way to lay down His life on the cross for the sins of all His people throughout all time when one woman honored Him with much and another man betrayed Him for a pittance of money. Jesus told the disciples that He would be handed over to those seeking to crucify Him by Roman hands after the Passover, but they did not fully realize what He was talking about until after His resurrection (Luke 24:46-47, 31-32, 34-35) because it had been hidden from them. While Jesus was telling them this, the religious leaders met at the high priest’s palace to plot how to kill Him. They thought that they could trick Him so they could imprison and put Him to death, though they had failed at every attempt before. The plan was to do so out of the public view to avoid an uprising against them when they took the man many still revered. As this was happening, Jesus went to Simon’s house (who was an outcast leper) where a woman honored Him by anointing Jesus for burial as if she knew what others could not see. The very expensive alabaster oil she poured over His head while at the table for dinner was seen as a waste by the disciples because they thought it was better to sell it and help the poor instead. Jesus rebuked them by honoring the woman’s act and reminding them that He would not be around much longer anyway and she was honoring Him for the upcoming burial while they worried about good works. This was so significant that the Lord specifically said that wherever the gospel was preached this story would be told as part of it. This means that the sacrifice of all we have is better than our works in surrendering to the Lord who would lay down His life to purchase our redemption. That is more important than good works. Finally, we see how God moved Judas to betray Jesus for a pittance of money as foretold in Zechariah 11:12-13 as planned by God to hand Jesus over to the religious authorities who were still unable to trick and kill Him on their own ability. Judas began looking for the opportunity to earn the wages of his sin (Romans 6:23) from that day he was paid. God orchestrated it all.
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