A Seven Star Chapter

Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

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Matthew 26

The Plot to Kill Jesus

Matthew 26:¹ Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples,

Matthew 26:² “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

• The symbolic biblical meaning of the number “Two” is “it is decided and it is done”.
  See Topic: Biblical Numbers and their Symbolism

Matthew 26:³ Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,

See Topic: Jewish Leaders during Jesus’ time.

Matthew 26:⁴ and plotted to take Jesus by trickery (deception) and kill Him.

• Joseph’s brothers plotted to kill him
• Saul plotted to kill David
• Haman plotted to kill Mordecai
• Pashur plotted to kill Jeremiah
• Those in the palace plotted to kill Daniel
• The leaders plotted to kill Jesus

Matthew 26:⁵ But they said, “Not during the (Passover) feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

The Anointing at Bethany

Matthew 26:⁶ And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,

• If Simon was a leper, he would have had to be clean, or healed, in order for his guests to be in attendance. He may have been one of those Jesus healed.
• Judas was the son of Simon. Was this the house of Judas’ father? There is no indication either way.

Matthew 26:⁷ a woman (Mary Magdalene) 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.

• See Pop Up: Jesus Predicts His Own Death
• See Pop Up: Olive Oil Used to anoint Kings and Priests

Matthew 26:⁸ But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?

Matthew 26:⁹ For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”

Matthew 26:¹⁰ 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.

Matthew 26:¹¹ For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.

Matthew 26:¹² For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.

• Jesus is overt in His proclamation of His own death.
• Mary Magdalene understood that which his own disciples did not comprehend.

Matthew 26:¹³ 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.”

• Fulfilled.

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

Matthew 26:¹⁴ Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests

• What happened that caused Judas to betray Jesus? Luke 22:3 records that Satan entered Judas. Judas loved the money but was he also offended at Jesus’ rebuke? Was it also revenge?

Matthew 26:¹⁵ 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.

• Foretold by the prophet Zechariah 520–518 BC
  Zechariah 11:12-13
  Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
  And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.
• Jesus was betrayed 31 AD, approximately 550 years after Zechariah’s prophecy. Judas threw the thirty pieces of silver in the temple before hanging himself. The chief priests used it to purchase a potter’s field. In every detail a description of fulfilled events.
• See Topic: Thirty Pieces of Silver
  The price of a servant being “gored/pierced” by a bull (leader)

Matthew 26:¹⁶ So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

• The opportunity came quickly.

• Secrets, secrets, are not fun.
  Secrets, secrets, hurt someone.
  It’s not a joke
  for fun to poke
  behind the back
  a silent tack.
  Secrets, secrets, are not free.
  Secrets, secrets, costing me.

Jesus Celebrates Passover with His Disciples

Matthew 26:¹⁷ Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

• Mark 14:¹² Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?”
• It had to be in the evening for it to be considered the first day of unleavened bread.

• See Topic: Jesus Crucifixion Week

Matthew 26:¹⁸ And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” ’ ”

• Passover means to cross over.
• Today, the Passover means to cross over from death to life.

Matthew 26:¹⁹ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

Matthew 26:²⁰ When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.

Matthew 26:²¹ Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”

• It is officially the first day of unleavened bread. It is evening.
• Twelve is the number of Governmental Perfection:
  See Topic: The Meanings of Numbers and their Symbolism.

• Psalm 41:9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.

Matthew 26:²² And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?”

Matthew 26:²³ He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.

Matthew 26:²⁴ The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

• Jesus will forgive the soldiers who nail Him to the cross, but there is no mention of forgiveness for Judas. Furthermore; there is nothing but eternal condemnation for the men who conspired with Judas. This was foretold from Genesis 3:15. The conspirators are “the seed of the serpent”.
  

• Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your seed (Satan the serpent’s descendants: the Scribes and Pharisees) and her Seed (descendant: Jesus); He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
• John 8:44 You (the Scribes and Pharisees) are of your father the devil (the serpent), and the desires of your father (Satan) you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning (conspirator), and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it (lies,conspiracies).
  • Jesus is the seed of the woman in Gen 3:15 and those who conspire with Judas are the seed of the serpent.
  • Gen 3:15 was prophesying specifically relating to these Jewish leaders and Judas who are conspiring to kill Jesus, and specifically to Jesus who is the seed of the woman. Therefore this confrontation is the fulfillment of Gen 3:15.
    • Gen 3:15 In scripture there is no such thing as the “seed” of a woman. Only men have “seed”. (Woman have “eggs”) This is the first reference to a “virgin” birth.
  • Judas and those who conspired with him will not be forgiven in this life, nor in the life to come because they refused to believe in Jesus’ virgin birth and Jesus’ identity as the Son of God.
  • Therefore; Jesus said “it would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” Judas hung himself but could not escape his torment. Horrifying.
  • Betraying and crucifying Jesus was not the unforgivable sin, although each and every one of them had committed it. See Topic: The Unforgivable Sin.

Matthew 26:²⁵ Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?”

He said to him, “You have said it.”

• There is no Jewish word for “yes”. Instead they would say “As You Say” or “You have said it.”

• John 13:²⁶ Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
  ²⁷ Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
  ³⁰ Having received the piece of bread, he (Judas) then went out immediately. And it was night.
  
  • Judas did not partake in the cup of wine/blood which was for the forgiveness of sins.
  • Judas went out into the night, into the darkness, into spiritual condemnation and death.

Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper

Matthew 26:²⁶ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed (gave thanks for) and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

• This bread was “Manna” for Passover. The same bread that fell from heaven and fed the Hebrews as they wandered in the wilderness.

Matthew 26:²⁷ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.

• John 6:53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
• (And they all left Him)

Matthew 26:²⁸ For this is (1) My blood of the (2) new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission (forgiveness) of sins.

• ► “Blood” “dam” h1818, is the Hebrew word for both red blood and red wine.
  • Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water to wine (dam).
  • Moses’ first miracle was to turn water to blood (dam).

Metaphorically: Jesus turned the wine to blood, which is the new covenant.

• ► Covenant and Testament are the same words:
  • In the past “The New Testament” was called the New Covenant.
  • The First mention of a New Covenant was written in the book of Jeremiah 650 BC – 570 BC.
    • Jeremiah 31:31-34:  “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
• ► Testator
  • Hebrews 9:16-17 The Mediator’s Death is Necessary – ¹⁶ For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. ¹⁷ For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.
  • Christ is the “testator whose death puts his will into effect.”

• ► The New Covenant and the Blood of Christ
  • The connection between the Blood of Christ and the New Covenant is seen in most modern English translations of the New Testament such as in the statement: “this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood”. (The Hebrew word for both “wine” and “blood” is “dam”) (The new covenant is wine and blood)

• ►Saying:
  • A man can save the life of another man by giving blood.
    Jesus gave His blood with enough atonement to save the entire world. It is up to each person to accept it.
    Matthew 26:²⁹ But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

Matthew 26:³⁰ And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

• How appropriate it is that Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives, the location of the Garden of Gethsemane which, in translation, means an olive orchard with an olive press. The heavens are about to witness God’s anointed Olive, Jesus, undergo an agonizing pressing as He pleads with the Father.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

Matthew 26:³¹ Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me (caused to take offense at Me) this night, for it is written:

‘I will strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

• Zechariah 13:7 “Awake (from sleep -be incited), O sword (Satan, that lays waste, kills, and makes desolate), against My Shepherd (My Son, the Good Shepherd), against the (Son of) Man, (the Valiant Man who prevails) who is My Companion (My Son, My Relation),” Says the Lord of hosts. “Strike (kill) the Shepherd, and the sheep (flock of followers) will be scattered (prophecy of the crucifixion) ; then I will turn My hand (support) against upon the little (low) ones (despised) – “Upon” root meaning H5927; properly, the top; specifically, the Highest (i.e. God); also (adverb) aloft, to Jehovah:—above, high, most High. To be taken up, be brought up, be taken away. (referring to the sheep-a prophecy of the rapture)
• Note: Jesus is the Shepherd, the sheep of the flock (in this use) are the disciples.
• The disciples will fall asleep, but Satan will be excited and awakened! Satan is the sword who is awakened.
• Satan does not know what God has in mind. He just doesn’t know…

Matthew 26:³² But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

• Jesus predicts He will be raised from the dead. The disciples never were able to receive His words.
• What is God trying to tell us but we are unable to receive His words. Pray and ask. What am I “not getting”.

Matthew 26:³³ Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble (caused to take offense) because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”

Matthew 26:³⁴ Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

Matthew 26:³⁵ Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”

And so said all the disciples.

• And “so said” ALL the disciples (except Judas).

The Prayer in the Garden

Matthew 26:³⁶ Then Jesus came with them to a place called (1) Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.”

• ►Addressing number (1): Gethsemane is located on the Mount of Olives. It is a garden of olive trees with an olive press. It is a sabbath’s day journey from Jerusalem. It is a prescribed number of steps one is allowed to walk on the sabbath according to the Pharisaical law.

Matthew 26:³⁷ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee (James and John, “the sons of thunder”), and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.

Matthew 26:³⁸ Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, (1) even to death. Stay here and (2) watch with Me.”

• ►Addressing number (1): His soul is exceedingly sorrowful: His soul is being poured out even unto death, like the pressing of the olives.
• ►Addressing number (2) G1127 – grēgoreō: To watch, be vigilant – metaph. give strict attention to, be cautious, active – to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one.

• Jesus is speaking not only of watching for His expected betrayer, but for another more sinister, more treacherous evil – “temptation”; the sword of Zechariah 13:17 who is “awakened”! Jesus is most assuredly being tempted to not go through with His crucifixion. I believe He had to make that decision just one step at a time, being tempted at every step and every moment. Even when He knew He could call down legions of angels to save Him He had to remind Himself to go through with it until He could finally say “It is Finished”.

• If, at any point, Jesus would have chose to back down, the consequences for every living person would have been eternal separation from God in outer darkness; Unimaginable.

Matthew 26:³⁹ He went a little farther and (1) fell on His face (the first pressing of God’s anointed”Olive”), and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, (2) let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but (3) as You will.”

►Addressing number (1) Jesus fell on His face and prayed:

• Jesus, as the Father’s anointed “Olive” is about to be “pressed” by Satan, a millstone. Jesus’ soul will be poured out even unto death. He is in agony even during his prayers. According to Job 41 Satan, as the sea monster living in a sea of people, has a heart as hard as a mill stone, even as hard as the lower mill stone. Before Jesus finishes His prayers He will be “pressed” like olives are pressed in order to make olive oil. The best olive oil comes from the first pressing and is used in the temple to anoint priests and kings. Jesus is the King of kings and the High Priest of believers. This is the first pressing.

• He who “is” the Anointing is anointing the oil. It was never the olive oil that was special to anoint kings and priests. It was the prophecy of Jesus being pressed in Gethsame like an olive that made the olive oil special.

• Jesus prayed three times to the Father. In ancient Palestine and the Levant, three methods were used to produce different grades of olive oil. Jesus prayed during each “pressing”

• The FIRST prayer and the first pressing: The first pressing is the oil used for anointing.
  • Luke 22:⁴³ Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
  • The finest oil was produced from fully developed and ripe olives harvested solely from the apex of the tree (the closest to heaven), and lightly pressed, “for what flows from light pressure is very sweet and very thin.”
    ^{Amar, Z. (2015). Flora and Fauna in Maimonides’ Teachings (in Hebrew). Kfar Darom. p. 73. OCLC783455868.}
  • The First Pressing is called Extra Virgin Olive Oil

►Addressing number (2) The Cup
Understanding the expression of a “cup” is lengthy and therefore has been assigned it’s own topic: Explanation of a Cup: See Topic: Biblical Definition of a “Cup”.

►Addressing number (3) The Will of the Father

• Sinful men worship themselves.
• In contrast, Jesus was conformed to the will of the Father.
• He had to reiterate and call on the Father’s Will in order for Him to have the strength to take the next step in His determination not to withdraw from that which He was born for.

^{By unknown (anonymous photographer) – This work was created or ordered by the State of Israel, and is in the public domain because it satisfies one of the conditions stipulated in Israel’s copyright statute from 2007 (translation) regarding the State’s copyrights: It is a statute, regulation, Knesset protocol or court decision and therefore ineligible for copyright protection according to §6 of the 2007 statute; OR It was created more than 50 years ago (i.e. before 1 January 1972), and the State’s copyright has therefore expired according to §§42–43 of the 2007 statute PROVIDING THAT The State of Israel was the first owner of copyrights on this work; AND The State did not waive its copyrights in a special contract with the author when this work was created. See also category: PD Israel & British Mandate., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=98356000}

Matthew 26:⁴⁰ Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not (1) watch with Me (2) one hour?

• ►Addressing number (1) Sleeping is a metaphor for death. To “Watch” is to be alive. To be vigilant against temptation. Jesus taught them to pray daily “And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.” Luke 11:4b
  • Personal Application: We should be vigilant and pray daily to be delivered from temptation. Even if it takes one step at a time.
• ►Addressing number (2) Jesus had been praying for one hour during His first pressing, perhaps literally, perhaps figuratively, “a short time”.

Matthew 26:⁴¹ Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

• The whole topic is on “temptation”.

Matthew 26:⁴² Again, (1) a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

• The Second Prayer and Pressing of the anointed Olive. He is now being pressed with added weights.
• The added weights are the weights of man’s sins, becoming heavier and heavier.
• Luke 22:⁴⁴ And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
  • Hematohidrosis is a very rare condition of sweating blood. A case of hematohidrosis is reported. There are only few reports in the literature. Leonardo Da Vinci described a soldier who sweated blood before battle. Jesus Christ experienced hematohidrosis while praying in the garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion as mentioned in the Defenders Bible by Physician Luke as “and being in anguish he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Acute fear and intense mental contemplation are the most frequent causes, as reported in six cases in men condemned to execution, a case occurring during the London blitz, a case involving fear of being raped, a case of fear of a storm while sailing, etc. The severe mental anxiety activates the sympathetic nervous system to invoke the stress-fight or flight reaction to such a degree as to cause hemorrhage of the vessels supplying the sweat glands into the ducts of the sweat glands. Effect on the body is weakness and mild to moderate dehydration from the severe anxiety and both blood and sweat loss.
    ^{https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2810702/}

Matthew 26:⁴³ And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy (sleepy).

• Peter was not praying – not vigilant against the temptations which were to come. He would be sifted like fine flour against Satan’s wiles. Jesus prayed, Peter did not.

Matthew 26:⁴⁴ So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

• The Third Prayer and Final Pressing of the anointed Olive. Even heavier weights (man’s sins) are added, when the olives are pulverized.
• During the third pressing, the olives are left for extended periods in pits in the ground to induce sweating and decay before they are ground. Satan was determined to get Jesus “ground” to bits and in the ground.

• For All Three Types:
  • From harvesting to extraction the oil must immediately be put into cooling (like a cooling cellar) to avoid the degradation of olive oil by oxygen and light (both necessary for life).
    Jesus was put immediately into the grave, a cooling cellar, deprived of life.

• A Personal application of being crushed by the weights of life:

Matthew 26:⁴⁵ Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand (has drawn near), and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Matthew 26:⁴⁶ Rise, let us be going. See (Look!), My betrayer is at hand.”

Betrayal and Arrest in Gethsemane

Matthew 26:⁴⁷ And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.

• Didn’t Judas think it would look suspicious for him to come with a great multitude who had swords and clubs?

Matthew 26:⁴⁸ Now His betrayer had given them (the multitude) a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.”

• Psalm 41:9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread (before he left at the last supper, not drinking from the cup for the forgiveness of sins), Has lifted up his heel against me.

Matthew 26:⁴⁹ Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.

Matthew 26:⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?”

• Jesus also confronted Judas, saying “Will you betray me with a ‘kiss’?” Luke 22:48

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.

Matthew 26:⁵¹ And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus (Peter) stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest (Malchus), and cut off his ear.

• Without his ear, the servant of the high priest would not be able to serve in the temple. But Jesus healed him.
  • Luke 22:51 But Jesus answered and said, “Permit even this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.

Matthew 26:⁵² But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish (die) by the sword.

Matthew 26:⁵³ Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?

• Twelve legions: Twelve is the number of Governmental Perfection:
  See Topic: The Meanings of Numbers and their Symbolism.

Matthew 26:⁵⁴ How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?”

Matthew 26:⁵⁵ In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.

Matthew 26:⁵⁶ But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.”

Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

• Jesus relied on the Father. The disciples relied on their own wits and swords.

Jesus Faces the Sanhedrin

Matthew 26:⁵⁷ And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.

• See Topic: Jewish Leaders during Jesus’ time.

Matthew 26:⁵⁸ But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest’s courtyard. And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.

• John also was there. Scripture mentions John knew the high priest.
  • John 18:15-16 and Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in.

Matthew 26:⁵⁹ Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death,

Matthew 26:⁶⁰ but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward

• It takes two witnesses to confirm a truth.
  • Deuteronomy 17:6 Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
  • Deuteronomy 19:15 The Law Concerning Witnesses – “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.

• There will be two witnesses during the seven year tribulation testifying to the truth of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

Matthew 26:⁶¹ and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ”

• Below: Jesus is sheepdog that shepherds the sheep.

• Jesus actually said “Destroy THIS temple (speaking of His body) and I will raise it in three days”. Jesus was able to raise Himself from the dead. He stated “He” was the resurrection and the Life.

Matthew 26:⁶² And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?”

Matthew 26:⁶³ But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

Matthew 26:⁶⁴ Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

• There is no Jewish word for “yes”. Instead they would say “As You Say”.

Matthew 26:⁶⁵ Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!

• When the high priest (Caiaphas) tore his clothes he disqualified himself from being high priest.
  • Leviticus 21:10 ‘He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes;
• Jesus then replaced Caiaphas as High Priest in God’s eyes.
  • The illegal high priest was now accusing the legitimate High Priest.
  • Hebrews 4:14 Our Compassionate High Priest – Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Matthew 26:⁶⁶ What do you think?”

They answered and said, “He is deserving of death.”

Matthew 26:⁶⁷ Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms (or: rods) of their hands,

Matthew 26:⁶⁸ saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”

Peter Denies Jesus, and Weeps Bitterly

Matthew 26:⁶⁹ Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”

Matthew 26:⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.”

Matthew 26:⁷¹ And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

Matthew 26:⁷² But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!”

• Peter was present when Jesus said these words:
  • Matthew 5:33-37 Jesus Forbids Oaths 33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old (ancient times), ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

Matthew 26:⁷³ And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.”

• It appears they had a certain accent being from Galilee. All of the disciples were from Galilee as well as Jesus, except for Judas who was from Jerusalem.

Matthew 26:⁷⁴ Then he began to curse (call down curses) and swear (swear oaths), saying, “I do not know the Man!”

• Note: curses get Satan’s attention. Satan is called the Leviathan, a sea monster who lives in a sea of people.
  • Job 3:8 May those curse it who curse the day, Those who are ready to arouse (awaken) Leviathan.

Immediately a rooster crowed.

• Roosters will start to crow before sunrise and he will be one of the first out of the coop in the morning to check the area for predators and sound the all clear for the rest of the flock.
  ^{https://www.chickensandmore.com/rooster-crowing/}
• Peter heard the crow just as Jesus was being brought out of Caiphas’ house. Jesus was protecting his disciples throughout the process.
• Jesus said He has “kept” all his disciples except the one who betrayed HIm.

Matthew 26:⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.

• Three times….A trinity of denials. Once for the Father, once for the Son, and once for the Holy Spirit. Peter sobbed.