Context No. 2975 of 4322 · Matthew
Context · Reflection
Matthew 26:1-5: in context
1When Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples, 2“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” 3Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas. 4They took counsel together that they might take Jesus by deceit and kill him. 5But they said, “Not during the feast, lest a riot occur among the people.”
Jesus tells his disciples plainly that in two days the Passover will come, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified. Meanwhile the chief priests and elders gather in the palace of Caiaphas the high priest, plotting to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him, but agreeing among themselves, not during the feast, to avoid a riot among the crowds.
The contrast between Jesus and his enemies is striking. Jesus speaks calmly and openly of his coming death, in full knowledge and even command of its timing, walking toward it deliberately. His enemies scheme in secret, anxious about crowds and dates, sure they control events. But notice their plan, not during the feast, and yet it happens precisely at the feast, at Passover, exactly as God had ordained, the true Lamb slain at Passover. Their scheming served a purpose far larger than they knew. Jesus is not the victim of their plot; he lays down his life on God's timetable, not theirs.
Do I see Jesus not as a victim of events but as the one who laid down his life deliberately, on God's timing, for me?
Sources
- Matthew 26:2: "After two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."
- John 10:18: "No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself."
- 1 Corinthians 5:7: "For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place."