Matthew 26:4

And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, For the exposition, see the notes at Mark 14:1....

1-5 Our Lord had often told of his sufferings as at a distance, now he speaks of them as at hand. At the same time the Jewish council consulted how they might put him to death secretly. But it pleased God to defeat their intention. Jesus, the true paschal Lamb, was to be sacrificed for us at that very time, and his death and resurrection rendered public....

Verse Matthew 26:4. _AND CONSULTED THAT THEY MIGHT TAKE JESUS BY SUBTILTY_] The providence of God frustrated their artful machinations; and that event which they wished to conduct with the greatest _privacy_ and _silence_ was transacted with all possible _celebrity_, amidst the thousands who resorted to Jerusalem, at this season, for the keeping of the _passover_. It was, doubtless, of the very first importance that the crucifixion of Christ, which was preparatory to the most essential achievement of Christianity, viz. his resurrection from the grave, should be exhibited before _many_ _witnesses_, and in the most open manner, that infidelity might not attempt, in future, to invalidate the evidences of the Christian religion, by alleging _that these things were done in a corner_. See WAKEFIELD in loco....

EXPOSITION Ch. 26-28:20 THUS JESUS ENTERS UPON HIS KINGDOM. Before attempting to expound this most momentous section of the gospel history, we must make up our minds concerning the solution of the difficulties which are involved in some details in the account of the Supper. The supposed discrepancy between the narrative of the synoptists and that of St. John has exercised the minds of commentators from the earliest times unto the present, and enormous ingenuity has been expended in endeavouring to harmonize what are regarded as conflicting statements. The two chief difficulties are these: According to the synoptists, as generally understood, our Lord and his apostles ate the Passover, _i.e. _the Paschal lamb, when he instituted the Holy Communion; according to St. John, the death of Christ took place before the Passover was celebrated. Hence

AND CONSULTED THAT THEY MIGHT TAKE JESUS BY SUBTLETY,.... The Jews had often attempted his life, but he escaped out of their hands; they had sent officers to apprehend him, but to no purpose; they therefore meet and consult together, to form some scheme, and make use of some stratagem, that they might lay hold on him, and keep him; they were for doing this in the most private manner they could: AND KILL HIM; not with their own hands, nor privately; but their scheme was to apprehend him privately, by some secret artifice, and then deliver him to the Roman governor; to put him to death according to law, publicly, for crimes they had to charge him with; hereby Psalms 2:2, had its accomplishment, at least in part....

13. THE PASSION OF THE KING. Chapter s 26-27. CHAPTER 26 1. His Death Planned. (Matthew 26:1 .) 2. Mary of Bethany Anointing the King.(Matthew 26:6 .) 3. The Betrayal. (Matthew 26:14 .) 4. The Last Passover.(Matthew 26:17 .) 5. The Lord's Supper Instituted.(Matthew 26:26 .) 6. Peter's Denial Announced and the Scattered Sheep.(Matthew 26:30 .) 7. In Gethsemane. ...

THE DECISION OF THE CHIEF PRIESTS (Mark 14:1 f.*). Mt. enlarges a simple statement of fact into a prediction by Jesus, and places the meeting of the conspirators in the house of Caiaphas. Luke 22:1 f. is briefer even than Mk....

When Jesus had completed all these sayings, he said to his disciples. "You know that in two days time it is the Passover Feast, and the Son of Man is going to be delivered to be crucified." At that time the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the High Priest, who was called Caiaphas, and took counsel together to seize Jesus by guile and to kill him. They said, "Not at the time of the Feast, lest a tumult arise among the people." Here then is the definite beginning of the last act of the divine tragedy. Once again Jesus warned his disciples of what was to come. For the last few days he had been acting with such magnificent defiance that they might have thought he proposed to defy the Jewish authorities; but here once again he makes it clear that his aim is the Cross. At the same time the Jewish authorities were laying their plots and stratagems. Joseph...

THAT. to the end that. TAKE. seize. SUBTILTY. guile....

Matthew 26:1-5. Wednesday, Nisan 12. The Approach of the Passover. Jesus again Foretells His Death. The Sanhedrin meet Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:1-2. Cp. John 11:55-57, where we read that "the chief priests and Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him." That Jesus should be able for so many days to "speak openly in the Temple" and shew Himself to the people without fear of capture is a proof of the deep hold He had taken on the enthusiasm and affection of His fellow-countrymen. The words of St John (quoted above) imply a combination of the priestly