Mateus 26

ARC · Chapter 26/28

¹E aconteceu que, quando Jesus concluiu todos estes discursos, disse aos seus discipulos:

²Bem sabeis que d'aqui a dois dias é a paschoa; e o Filho do homem será entregue para ser crucificado.

³Então os principes dos sacerdotes, e os escribas, e os anciãos do povo reuniram-se na sala do summo sacerdote, o qual se chamava Caiphás,

⁴E consultaram-se juntamente para prenderem Jesus com dolo e o matarem.

⁵Porém diziam: Não durante a festa, para que não haja alvoroço entre o povo.

⁶E, estando Jesus em Bethania, em casa de Simão, o leproso,

⁷Approximou-se d'elle uma mulher com um vaso d'alabastro, com unguento de grande valor, e derramou-lh'o sobre a cabeça, estando elle assentado á mesa.

⁸E os seus discipulos, vendo isto, indignaram-se, dizendo: Porque se faz este desperdicio?

⁹Pois este unguento podia vender-se por grande preço, e dar-se o dinheiro aos pobres.

¹⁰Jesus, porém, conhecendo isto, disse-lhes: Porque affligis esta mulher? pois praticou uma boa acção para comigo.

¹¹Porquanto sempre tendes comvosco os pobres, mas a mim não me haveis de ter sempre.

¹²Ora, derramando ella este unguento sobre o meu corpo, fel-o preparando-me para o meu enterramento.

¹³Em verdade vos digo que, onde quer que este Evangelho fôr prégado, em todo o mundo, tambem será dito o que ella fez, para memoria sua.

¹⁴Então um dos doze chamado Judas Iscariotes, foi ter com os principes dos sacerdotes,

¹⁵E disse: Que me quereis dar, e eu vol-o entregarei? E elles lhe arbitraram trinta moedas de prata,

¹⁶E desde então buscava opportunidade para o entregar.

¹⁷E, no primeiro dia da festa dos pães asmos, chegaram os discipulos junto de Jesus, dizendo: Onde queres que te preparemos o necessario para comer a paschoa?

¹⁸E elle disse: Ide á cidade a um certo homem, e dizei-lhe: O Mestre diz: O meu tempo está proximo; em tua casa celebro a paschoa com os meus discipulos.

¹⁹E os discipulos fizeram como Jesus lhes ordenara, e prepararam a paschoa.

²⁰E, chegada a tarde, assentou-se á mesa com os doze.

²¹E, comendo elles, disse: Em verdade vos digo que um de vós me ha de trahir.

²²E elles, entristecendo-se muito, começaram cada um a dizer-lhe: Porventura sou eu, Senhor?

²³E elle, respondendo, disse: O que mette a mão no prato comigo, esse me ha de trahir.

²⁴Em verdade o Filho do homem vae, como ácerca d'elle está escripto, mas ai d'aquelle homem por quem o Filho do homem é trahido! bom seria a esse homem se não houvera nascido.

²⁵E, respondendo Judas, o que o trahia, disse: Porventura sou eu, Rabbi? Elle disse: Tu o disseste.

²⁶E, quando comiam, Jesus tomou o pão, e, abençoando-o, o partiu, e o deu aos discipulos, e disse: Tomae, comei, isto é o meu corpo.

²⁷E, tomando o calix, e dando graças, deu-lh'o, dizendo: Bebei d'elle todos;

²⁸Porque isto é o meu sangue, o sangue do Novo Testamento, que é derramado por muitos, para remissão dos peccados.

²⁹E digo-vos que, desde agora, não beberei d'este fructo da vide até áquelle dia em que o beber de novo comvosco no reino de meu Pae.

³⁰E, tendo cantado o hymno, sairam para o monte das Oliveiras.

³¹Então Jesus lhes disse: Todos vós esta noite vos escandalizareis em mim; porque está escripto: Ferirei o pastor, e as ovelhas do rebanho se dispersarão.

³²Mas, depois de eu resuscitar, irei adiante de vós para a Galilea.

³³Pedro, porém, respondendo, disse-lhe: Ainda que todos se escandalizem em ti, eu nunca me escandalizarei.

³⁴Disse-lhe Jesus: Em verdade te digo que, n'esta mesma noite, antes que o gallo cante, tres vezes me negarás.

³⁵Disse-lhe Pedro: Ainda que me seja mister morrer comtigo, não te negarei. E o mesmo todos os discipulos disseram.

³⁶Então chegou Jesus com elles a um logar chamado Gethsemane, e disse aos discipulos: Assentae-vos aqui, emquanto vou além, a orar.

³⁷E, levando comsigo Pedro e os dois filhos de Zebedeo, começou a entristecer-se e a angustiar-se muito.

³⁸Então lhes disse: A minha alma está cheia de tristeza até á morte; ficae aqui, e velae comigo.

³⁹E, indo um pouco mais para diante, prostrou-se sobre o seu rosto, orando e dizendo: Meu Pae, se é possivel, passe de mim este calix; porém, não como eu quero, mas como tu queres.

⁴⁰E voltou para os seus discipulos, e achou-os adormecidos; e disse a Pedro: Então nem uma hora podeste velar comigo?

⁴¹Vigiae e orae, para que não entreis em tentação: na verdade, o espirito está prompto, mas a carne é fraca.

⁴²E, indo segunda vez, orou, dizendo: Meu Pae, se este calix não pode passar de mim sem eu o beber, faça-se a tua vontade.

⁴³E, voltando, achou-os outra vez adormecidos; porque os seus olhos estavam carregados.

⁴⁴E, deixando-os, voltou, e orou terceira vez, dizendo as mesmas palavras.

⁴⁵Então chegou junto dos seus discipulos, e disse-lhes: Dormi agora, e repousae; eis que é chegada a hora, e o Filho do homem será entregue nas mãos dos peccadores.

⁴⁶Levantae-vos, partamos; eis que é chegado o que me trahe.

⁴⁷E, estando elle ainda a fallar, eis que chegou Judas, um dos doze, e com elle uma grande multidão com espadas e varapaus, enviada pelos principes dos sacerdotes e pelos anciãos do povo.

⁴⁸E o que o trahia tinha-lhes dado signal, dizendo: O que eu beijar é elle; prendei-o.

⁴⁹E logo, approximando-se de Jesus, disse: Eu te saudo Rabbi. E beijou-o.

⁵⁰Jesus, porém, lhe disse: Amigo, a que vieste? Então, approximando-se, lançaram mão de Jesus, e prenderam-n'o.

⁵¹E eis que um dos que estavam com Jesus, estendendo a mão, puxou da espada e, ferindo o servo do summo sacerdote, cortou-lhe uma orelha.

⁵²Então Jesus disse-lhe: Mette no seu logar a tua espada; porque todos os que lançarem mão da espada á espada morrerão.

⁵³Ou pensas tu que não poderia eu agora orar a meu Pae, e elle não me daria mais de doze legiões d'anjos?

⁵⁴Como pois se cumpririam as Escripturas, que dizem que assim convem que aconteça?

⁵⁵Então disse Jesus á multidão: Saistes, como a um salteador, com espadas e varapaus para me prender? todos os dias me assentava junto de vós, ensinando no templo, e não me prendestes.

⁵⁶Mas tudo isto aconteceu para que se cumpram as escripturas dos prophetas. Então todos os discipulos, deixando-o, fugiram.

⁵⁷E, os que prenderam a Jesus, o conduziram ao summo sacerdote, Caiphás, onde os escribas e os anciãos estavam reunidos.

⁵⁸E Pedro o seguiu de longe até ao pateo do summo sacerdote: e, entrando dentro, assentou-se entre os creados, para vêr o fim.

⁵⁹E os principes dos sacerdotes, e os anciãos, e todo o conselho, buscavam falso testemunho contra Jesus, para o poderem matar,

⁶⁰Mas não o achavam, apezar de se apresentarem muitas testemunhas falsas; mas por fim chegaram duas falsas testemunhas,

⁶¹E disseram: Este disse: Eu posso derribar o templo de Deus, e reedifical-o em tres dias.

⁶²E, levantando-se o summo sacerdote, disse-lhe: Não respondes coisa alguma ao que estes depõem contra ti?

⁶³Jesus, porém, guardava silencio. E, insistindo o summo sacerdote, disse-lhe: Conjuro-te pelo Deus vivo que nos digas se tu és o Christo, o Filho de Deus.

⁶⁴Disse-lhe Jesus: Tu o disseste; digo-vos, porém, que vereis em breve o Filho do homem assentado á direita da magestade divina, e vindo sobre as nuvens do céu.

⁶⁵Então o summo sacerdote rasgou os seus vestidos, dizendo: Blasphemou; para que precisamos ainda de testemunhas? Eis que bem ouvistes agora a sua blasphemia.

⁶⁶Que vos parece? E elles, respondendo, disseram: E réu de morte.

⁶⁷Então cuspiram-lhe no rosto; e uns lhe davam punhadas, e outros o esbofeteavam,

⁶⁸Dizendo: Prophetiza-nos, Christo, quem é o que te bateu?

⁶⁹E Pedro estava assentado fóra, no pateo, e approximou-se d'elle uma creada, dizendo: Tu tambem estavas com Jesus, o galileo.

⁷⁰Mas elle negou diante de todos, dizendo: Não sei o que dizes.

⁷¹E, saindo para o vestibulo, viu-o outra, e disse aos que ali estavam: Este tambem estava com Jesus, o nazareno.

⁷²E elle negou outra vez com juramento, dizendo: Não conheço tal homem.

⁷³E, d'ahi a pouco, approximando-se os que ali estavam, disseram a Pedro: Verdadeiramente tambem tu és um d'elles, pois a tua falla te denuncia.

⁷⁴Então começou elle a imprecar e a jurar, dizendo: Não conheço esse homem. E immediatamente o gallo cantou.

⁷⁵E lembrou-se Pedro das palavras de Jesus, que lhe dissera: Antes que o gallo cante, tres vezes me negarás. E, saindo d'ali, chorou amargamente.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jesus is anointed with perfume in Bethany, celebrates the Last Supper with the disciples, instituting the bread and wine as symbols of his body and blood, prays in anguish in Gethsemane, is betrayed by Judas and denied three times by Peter, and is taken prisoner to the Sanhedrin.

Explanation

The anointing in Bethany, criticized by some as wasteful, is defended by Jesus as a symbolic preparation for his burial, showing sensitivity at a moment of mounting tension. The Last Supper takes place during the Jewish Passover, a feast that recalled the deliverance from Egypt; by reinterpreting the bread and wine as his own body and blood, Jesus establishes a new meaning for this celebration, which the Christian church would go on to keep as the Lord's Supper. The anguish in Gethsemane, with the request that the 'cup' pass from him, reveals Jesus's real humanity in the face of imminent suffering, without denying his willingness to follow the Father's will. Peter's threefold denial, only moments after swearing loyalty even unto death, is an honest portrait of human weakness under pressure and fear.

Fun facts

Thirty pieces of silver, the sum paid to Judas, was historically the compensation price for an injured slave according to Exodus 21 — a symbolically low and humiliating amount.
Gethsemane means 'oil press' in Hebrew/Aramaic, a fitting name for a garden of olive trees at the foot of the Mount of Olives, where very ancient olive trees still stand today.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Mateus 26:1This closes the fifth and final major discourse of the gospel, the one on the parables of judgment — from here on, the narrative moves straight into the sequence of events leading to the Passion.
Mateus 26:2The Jewish Passover commemorated Israel’s exodus from Egypt and was the biggest pilgrimage festival of the year — Jerusalem filled with people from all over the region. It is this backdrop of a packed city, political tension, and the symbolism of liberation that sets the stage for Jesus’s final days.
Mateus 26:3Caiaphas had been the acting high priest since about AD 18, the highest religious office among the Jews, though appointed and subject to Rome’s political approval.
Mateus 26:4“By subtlety” indicates that the arrest would not be carried out openly or through clear legal means, but through cunning and deceit — a plan already in place well before the actual arrest took place.
Mateus 26:5The fear of an uproar during the Passover festival, when Jerusalem was packed with pilgrims, shows a calculated political concern, not merely a religious one, about how and when to act against Jesus.
Mateus 26:6Simon the leper had probably already been healed — no one with active leprosy could receive guests at home under Jewish purity law — but the nickname stuck with him even afterward.
Mateus 26:7Alabaster was a stone used for jars that held expensive perfumes, and the ointment was probably spikenard imported from India — a luxury item only wealthy families could afford. That is why the disciples react with indignation: that jar was probably worth almost a year’s wages, used up all at once.
Mateus 26:8According to John’s gospel, the disciples’ indignation came specifically from Judas — but Matthew generalizes the reaction to the whole group, focusing on the argument raised rather than on who raised it.
Mateus 26:9According to the other gospels, the ointment’s value reached three hundred denarii, nearly a year’s wages for an ordinary worker, which makes the argument about helping the poor with that money at least understandable at first glance.
Mateus 26:10Jesus defends the woman by calling her gesture a “good work,” valuing an act of personal devotion above even a noble cause like helping the poor, at a specific moment He considers important.
Mateus 26:11“Ye have the poor always with you” does not diminish the importance of helping those in need — it acknowledges an ongoing reality, in contrast with Jesus’s limited physical presence among them before His imminent death.
Mateus 26:12Jesus interprets the woman’s gesture as a symbolic preparation for His own burial — an anticipation she probably was not fully aware of making.
Mateus 26:13The promise that the gesture would be remembered “in the whole world” has in fact already come true: the episode is recorded in the gospels and has been read for nearly two thousand years in contexts completely different from the original.
Mateus 26:14Judas Iscariot is specifically introduced as “one of the twelve” — a detail repeated throughout the Passion narrative, emphasizing that the betrayal came from within the innermost circle.
Mateus 26:15Thirty pieces of silver was, according to the Law of Moses itself, the set price to compensate the owner of a slave killed by an ox — in other words, the official value of a slave’s life. It was neither a fortune nor a pittance: it was an amount with that very specific meaning, chosen deliberately by the religious leaders to pay for Jesus.
Mateus 26:16“From that time he sought opportunity” indicates the betrayal was not an impulsive act, but an ongoing plan, waiting for the right moment to be carried out.
Mateus 26:17The Feast of Unleavened Bread was tied to Passover and lasted a week, a period in which every trace of leaven had to be removed from the house, recalling the haste of the exodus from Egypt, when there was no time for the bread to rise. It is during these preparations, removing the leaven and arranging the Passover lamb, that the disciples ask where they will celebrate the meal.
Mateus 26:18“My time is at hand” is an enigmatic phrase directed at an unidentified host — it suggests Jesus already had a prior arrangement in place for the location of the meal, without spelling out how.
Mateus 26:19Preparing the Passover involved specific tasks: sacrificing the Passover lamb at the temple, preparing bitter herbs, and unleavened bread — tasks the disciples carry out exactly as instructed.
Mateus 26:20Reclining at the table, rather than sitting in chairs, was the formal posture for festive meals at the time, including the Passover meal — a cultural detail that helps set the scene of the Last Supper.
Mateus 26:21Announcing the betrayal in the middle of the Passover meal, a moment celebrating the people’s liberation, makes the revelation even more shocking to those present.
Mateus 26:22Each disciple’s individual question, “Lord, is it I?”, shows that none of them felt immune to the possibility — not even confident that he himself would not turn out to be the traitor.
Mateus 26:23At a meal of that era, it was common for several people to dip their bread in the same central dish — there were no individual plates as there are today. Jesus is not pointing out a rare gesture; He is saying the traitor is someone close enough to share the very same food with Him at that exact moment.
Mateus 26:24“As it is written” ties the betrayal to ancient prophecies about the Messiah’s suffering, but that does not exempt Judas from personal responsibility — the next line, about it being better for him if he had not been born, makes that clear.
Mateus 26:25Judas repeats the same question as the other disciples, perhaps trying to blend in among them — Jesus’s enigmatic answer, “Thou hast said,” confirms it without directly accusing him in front of the whole group.
Mateus 26:26The gesture of breaking the bread and calling it “this is my body” establishes what would come to be known as the institution of the Lord’s Supper, repeated afterward in Christian rituals throughout history.
Mateus 26:27Drinking from the same cup was a common gesture of fellowship at formal meals of the time — here it takes on an additional meaning tied directly to the words Jesus says next.
Mateus 26:28“My blood of the new testament” echoes the language of Exodus 24, about the blood of the covenant between God and Israel at Sinai — Jesus applies that same image of a covenant sealed by blood to His own sacrifice.
Mateus 26:29The promise to drink “new” wine again in the Father’s kingdom suggests that this meal is not a final ending, but a pause until a future celebration — a theme that also appears elsewhere in the New Testament.
Mateus 26:30It was customary, at the end of the Passover meal, to sing a group of psalms known as the Hallel (praise), likely the closing psalms of the book of Psalms. It is this traditional closing hymn, not an improvised song, that Jesus and the disciples sing before heading out to Gethsemane.
Mateus 26:31The quotation is from the prophet Zechariah, about the shepherd being struck and the sheep scattering — Jesus applies this ancient image directly to His own imminent arrest and the disciples’ coming flight.
Mateus 26:32The promise of a reunion in Galilee after the resurrection already anticipates, in the middle of the crisis, an outcome that goes beyond death itself — a detail that is in fact fulfilled in chapter 28.
Mateus 26:33Peter’s confidence in setting himself apart from the other disciples, even in the face of a clear warning, sets up directly for the specific prediction Jesus makes about him in the next verse.
Mateus 26:34“Before the cock crow” was a common expression for marking the turn of early morning — the specific prediction of three denials in the same night is fulfilled exactly as described later in the chapter.
Mateus 26:35Peter’s insistence, followed by the same claim from all the other disciples, shows a collective confidence that the narrative will dismantle over the next few hours.
Mateus 26:36Gethsemane was a garden of olive trees at the foot of the Mount of Olives, probably a place Jesus already frequented with the disciples — not a random last-minute choice.
Mateus 26:37Peter, James, and John once again form Jesus’s innermost circle, the same three present at the Transfiguration, now witnessing the opposite moment: the most intense anguish before the arrest.
Mateus 26:38“Even unto death” describes an emotional suffering so intense that Jesus compares it to the experience of death itself — a raw, unvarnished picture of genuine anguish.
Mateus 26:39“Let this cup pass from me” expresses the genuine human desire to avoid the suffering ahead, but the sentence ends by submitting that desire to the Father’s will — both halves of the prayer stand side by side without hiding the tension between them.
Mateus 26:40Finding the disciples asleep, right after asking them to keep watch, exposes the gap between their intention to support Jesus and their actual ability to do so in that moment.
Mateus 26:41“The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” sums up the tension the disciples themselves, and Peter in particular, were about to live out: good intentions not being enough in the face of real pressure.
Mateus 26:42The second prayer repeats the submission to the Father’s will, but with a slight shift in wording — Jesus now seems to accept that the cup will not pass, adjusting the request accordingly.
Mateus 26:43“Their eyes were heavy” is a simple physical expression for deep sleep — the disciples were not ignoring Jesus out of indifference, but were physically unable to fight off exhaustion.
Mateus 26:44The third prayer, repeating the same words, shows Jesus’s persistence in seeking the Father three times in a row — a pattern of intensity that contrasts with the disciples’ repeated sleep.
Mateus 26:45“Sleep on now, and take your rest” sounds almost ironic after repeated requests to keep watch — but the moment of rest no longer makes any difference, because the hour of the arrest has arrived.
Mateus 26:46“Rise, let us be going” marks the abrupt turn from a moment of private prayer to imminent action — Jesus walks out to meet His own captor, rather than fleeing.
Mateus 26:47The “great multitude with swords and staves” sent by the religious leaders themselves shows that the arrest was organized officially, with enough armed force to handle any expected resistance.
Mateus 26:48Arranging a kiss as an identifying signal was necessary because, at night and by torchlight, it would have been hard for strangers to pick Jesus out among the group of disciples without someone pointing Him out directly.
Mateus 26:49A kiss on the hand or cheek was the normal way for a disciple to greet his teacher in that culture — a gesture of respect, not something odd or overly intimate. It is precisely because it was so common and expected that it works as the arranged signal: no one would suspect Judas for approaching Jesus that way.
Mateus 26:50“Friend, wherefore art thou come?” is not a literal question — it reads more like a sorrowful acknowledgment of the betrayal already in motion, addressed directly to the one about to complete it with a gesture of feigned affection.
Mateus 26:51According to John’s gospel, this disciple was Peter, and the wounded servant was named Malchus — Matthew names neither of them, keeping the focus on Jesus’s reaction to the act, not on the participants.
Mateus 26:52“All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” rejects armed resistance as a response to the arrest, even though the violence against Jesus was unjust.
Mateus 26:53A Roman legion had roughly six thousand soldiers — twelve legions of angels would be an overwhelming force, used here to show that the arrest happens only because Jesus chooses not to resist, not for lack of power available to Him.
Mateus 26:54Jesus ties His own non-resistance to the necessary fulfillment of the Scriptures — the arrest is part of a larger plan He chooses to follow, even though He has the power to avoid it.
Mateus 26:55Jesus questions the need for such a large armed force to arrest Him, since He had taught publicly in the temple every day with no previous attempt to capture Him — suggesting that the nighttime, covert action had calculated motives, not genuine security concerns.
Mateus 26:56The flight of all the disciples directly fulfills the prophecy from Zechariah already quoted earlier in the chapter, about the shepherd struck and the sheep scattered — the abandonment was expected, not a total surprise.
Mateus 26:57Taking Jesus first to Caiaphas’s house, rather than straight to a formal court, suggests an initial hearing that was more informal and rushed, ahead of any process before Roman authorities.
Mateus 26:58Peter following “afar off” shows a mix of cautious loyalty and fear — he does not fully abandon Jesus, but he also does not approach openly, keeping a safe distance.
Mateus 26:59Actively seeking false testimony, rather than investigating real accusations, exposes that the outcome of the trial had already been decided beforehand: find any justification for a conviction already intended.
Mateus 26:60The difficulty finding consistent witnesses, even among an abundance of false testimony, suggests the process did not even follow the council’s own formal standards of evidence required by Jewish law.
Mateus 26:61The accusation about destroying and rebuilding the temple twists something Jesus had said in a more symbolic way, according to John’s gospel, about His own body — a misunderstanding used as ammunition against Him.
Mateus 26:62Jesus’s silence in the face of the accusations, mentioned in the next verse, already begins here with the high priest’s provocation trying to force a response or reaction.
Mateus 26:63“I adjure thee by the living God” was a solemn legal formula that compelled an answer under oath — Caiaphas forces Jesus to state directly where He stood on His own messianic identity.
Mateus 26:64“Thou hast said” was a common form of indirect confirmation at the time; the rest of Jesus’s answer, quoting Daniel 7 and Psalm 110, is the most direct declaration of His divine identity in the entire trial.
Mateus 26:65Tearing one’s own clothes was a traditional gesture of mourning or horror in the face of something considered a grave offense against God — the high priest did this publicly to show he had just witnessed blasphemy. From that gesture on, the religious trial was effectively over: for the council, there was nothing left to discuss.
Mateus 26:66The high priest’s rhetorical question already seeks confirmation of a collective decision — the verdict, “He is guilty of death,” comes quickly, with no real debate over Jesus’s answer.
Mateus 26:67Spitting in someone’s face and striking them with fists was treatment reserved for criminals considered to have no dignity whatsoever — a sign of the total contempt the religious council had already decided to have for Jesus.
Mateus 26:68“Prophesy unto us” specifically mocks Jesus’s messianic claim, daring Him to show prophetic power by identifying who struck Him while He was blindfolded, according to other accounts of the same episode.
Mateus 26:69The scene of Peter in the courtyard happens at the same time as Jesus’s trial inside — the two events, the arrest and the denial, are narrated side by side to show the contrast between Jesus’s steadfastness and Peter’s weakness.
Mateus 26:70Peter’s first denial happens in front of a simple servant girl, someone with no real power to threaten him — showing that his fear was out of proportion to the actual risk of the situation.
Mateus 26:71The second accusation, from another person in the porch, shows that Peter’s association with Jesus was already being noticed by more than one person, increasing the pressure on him.
Mateus 26:72Denying “with an oath” the second time escalates the seriousness of the denial — Peter does not just deny it, he invokes a formal oath to reinforce the lie.
Mateus 26:73Peter’s Galilean accent, different from the speech of Jerusalem, is the detail that finally gives away his origin and his association with Jesus, despite his earlier denials.
Mateus 26:74The third denial, with even stronger curses and oaths, marks the lowest point of Peter’s fall — immediately followed by the exact sign Jesus had predicted: the crowing of the rooster.
Mateus 26:75Peter’s bitter weeping, as he remembers Jesus’s exact prediction, shows immediate, genuine remorse — a contrast with Judas’s calculated betrayal, which the next chapter will revisit.