Matthew
Lesson 12Matthew Chapter 26
This week, following our study of the Olivet Discourse, we now come face to face with the nation of Israel’s denial of Christ—rejecting him as their king and Messiah. Chapter 26 will be familiar to many who have studied the Bible, but perhaps this week the Lord will open your eyes to see even more of this rejection and to better understand Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. There is much we can learn from studying both the leaders of Israel and the disciples of Christ, as this rejection unfolds before us.
Paramount to our understanding must be the knowledge that Jesus came to earth to save us, and to do so he had to die and be resurrected. Without His shed blood and resurrection we have no hope; with it we have eternal peace and assurance. Clearly no one in Chapter 26 understood this except Christ himself. His focus was on doing God’s will and expanding God’s kingdom, not man’s. No matter how high and lofty our thinking or our intentions, if our will is not in line with Christ’s, we are not traveling the narrow road.
Let’s take some time this week to look at this passage, as we work towards studying Christ’s death on the cross and his resurrection—our hope of heaven, our hope of an eternal life with Jesus that is built on the Rock of our salvation, the resurrected Christ.
Read Matthew 26:1-75 and consider the following questions:
- Did the disciples know that Jesus was going to be handed over for crucifixion, die, and be raised to life on the third day? (see Matt 26:2 and 20:17-19)
- What was the plan developed by Caiaphas the High Priest and the leadership of Israel against Jesus?
- Why was the leadership so intent on killing Jesus? Wasn’t he just another rabbi? Who else were they going to kill after the Passover celebration? (see John 12:1-11)
- Man had developed a "secret" plan to kill Jesus, but God had a "public" plan. The leaders wanted to quietly arrest and kill Jesus in private, after all of the Jews had gone home from the Passover celebration; but that plan was overruled by God. Jesus would have a public trial, public execution, and a public resurrection. How did God change Caiaphas’ plan? (see Matthew 26:14-16)
- Contrast the Passover celebration that God intended in Exodus 12:5 with the approach that the High Priest and Elders were using for this Passover.
- The disciples’ actions also depict for us a great contrast between doing "good" and doing the will of God. Compare the following verses: Matthew 26:6-13 and 50-54; also look at Matthew 6:33. What do you see happening?
- During their secret trial in the middle of the night, the Chief Priest, the teachers of the Law, and the Elders, brought in witnesses to lie about Jesus. When their awful excuse for a trial was over, what did they find Jesus guilty of? (see Matthew 26:57-60?)
- Frustrated that not even a courtroom full of liars could bring a charge against Jesus, Caiaphas the High Priest hangs his entire case on what charge? (see Matthew 26:61-65)
- What punishment did they call out for Jesus, once Caiaphas declared Jesus had said he was the Messiah? What did they think would happen following the death of Jesus? (see Matthew 26:66-68)
- What actually happened in Jerusalem after Jesus’ death and resurrection?
In our next lesson, we will look at the events occurring on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion. I pray that our study this week will open our eyes to the saving power of Jesus, and to the greatness of God’s plan for us. It is a far better than anything that we can imagine. We need to pray that we will not let the world’s thinking influence us, and that we will always seek to do the will of God.
In Christ,
Wes
[2017]