1588 | MattheW 26:50
50
Jesus re plied , “ Do what you came for , friend .” a
Then the men stepped for ward , seized Jesus and ar rest ed him . 51 With that , one of Jesus ’ com panions reached for his sword , drew it out and struck the ser vant of the high priest , cut ting off his ear .
52
“ Put your sword back in its place ,” Jesus said to him , “ for all who draw the sword will die by the sword . 53 Do you think I can not call on my Fa ther , and he will at once put at my dis pos al more than twelve le gions of an gels ? 54 But how then would the Scrip tures be ful filled that say it must hap pen in this way ?”
55
In that hour Jesus said to the crowd , “ Am I lead ing a re bel lion , that you have come out with swords and clubs to cap ture me ? Ev ery day I sat in the tem ple courts teach ing , and you did not ar rest me . 56 But this has all tak en place that the writ ings of the proph ets might be ful filled .” Then all the dis ci ples de sert ed him and fled .
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
26:57-68pp — Mk 14:53-65 ; Jn 18:12,13,19-24
57
Those who had ar rest ed Jesus took him to Ca ia phas the high priest , where the teach ers of the law and the el ders had as sem bled . 58 But Pe ter fol lowed him at a dis tance , right up to the courtyard of the high priest . He en tered and sat down with the guards to see the out come .
59
The chief priests and the whole San he drin were look ing for false ev i dence against Jesus so that they could put him to death . 60 But they did not find any , though many false wit ness es came for ward .
Fi nal ly two came for ward 61 and de clared , “ This fel low said , ‘ I am able to de stroy the tem ple of God and re build it in three days .’ ”
62
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus , “ Are you not go ing to an swer ? What is this tes ti mo ny that these men are bring ing against you ?” 63 But Jesus re mained si lent .
The high priest said to him , “ I charge you under oath by the liv ing God : Tell us if you are the Mes si ah , the Son of God .”
64
“ You have said so ,” Jesus re plied . “ But I say to all of you : From now on you will see the Son of Man sit ting at the right hand of the Mighty One and com ing on the clouds of heav en .” b
65
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said , “ He has spo ken blas phe my ! Why do we need any more wit ness es ? Look , now you have heard the blas phe my . 66 What do you think ?” “ He is wor thy of death ,” they an swered .
67
Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists . Oth ers slapped him 68 and said , “ Prophe sy to us , Mes si ah . Who hit you ?”
Peter Disowns Jesus
26:69-75pp — Mk 14:66-72 ; Lk 22:55-62 ; Jn 18:16-18,25-27
69
Now Pe ter was sit ting out in the court yard , and a ser vant girl came to him . “ You also were with Jesus of Gal i lee ,” she said .
70
But he de nied it be fore them all . “ I don ’ t know what you ’ re talk ing about ,” he said .
71
Then he went out to the gate way , where anoth er ser vant girl saw him and said to the peo ple there , “ This fel low was with Jesus of Naz a reth .”
72
He de nied it again , with an oath : “ I don ’ t know the man !”
a
50 Or “ Why have you come , friend ?” b
64 See Psalm 110:1 ;
Daniel 7:13 .
26:50 friend Compare 20:13 ; 22:12 . 26:51 one of Jesus ’ companions Identified in Jn 18:10 as Peter . cutting off his ear In Luke ’ s account , Jesus heals the man ( Lk 22:51 ). 26:53 twelve legions of angels A Roman legion had about 5,000 – 6,000 soldiers , so this indicates at least 60,000 angels .
26:57 – 68 Jesus is tried before the Jewish religious leaders and condemned to death on a charge of blasphemy . See the infographic “ The Sanhedrin ” on p . 1746 .
26:59 Sanhedrin See note on Lk 22:66 . 26:61 rebuild it in three days This saying does not appear in Matthew . John 2:19 records Jesus making a similar statement , but the false witnesses clearly misunderstand the statement , which is about Jesus ’ death and resurrection . The intention of the testimony is entrapment . 26:63 Jesus remained silent Compare Isa 53:7 . 26:64 You have said so Jesus answers indirectly but affirmatively . the Son of Man A Messianic title connected to royal authority . See Mt 8:20 and note . sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds With this phrase , Jesus clearly identifies himself as the Messiah . In Ps 110:1 , Yahweh invites the Messiah to sit at his right hand in authority ( compare Mt 22:44 ). Thus , Jesus is saying that he will be in the position of ultimate authority over humanity , as the Messiah . In Da 7:13 – 14 , a Messianic figure — depicted in the Hebrew text as being like a son of man — comes before Yahweh on the clouds of heaven and receives an eternal , worldwide kingdom ( compare Mt 24:30 ). The language of coming on the clouds also is used for Yahweh , suggesting that Jesus is claiming to be Yahweh ( Ps 68:4 ; Isa 19:1 ). The high priest seems to pick up on this implication in the next verse . 26:65 tore his clothes This gesture symbolizes extreme grief . He has spoken blasphemy Refers to claiming authority that belongs to God alone . 26:66 He is worthy of death The prescribed punishment for blasphemy ( Lev 24:16 ).
26:69 – 75 When people recognize Peter as one of the disciples , he denies any association with Jesus — fulfilling Jesus ’ prophecy in Mt 26:34 .
26:72 He denied it again , with an oath In his second denial , Peter swears an oath — a call for divine judgment if the oath-taker is lying . Jesus taught against oaths ( 5:33 – 37 ).