Matthew 26

KJV · Chapter 26/28

¹And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples,

²Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

³Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,

⁴And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.

⁵But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

⁶Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,

⁷There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.

⁸But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?

⁹For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

¹⁰When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.

¹¹For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.

¹²For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

¹³Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

¹⁴Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,

¹⁵And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

¹⁶And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

¹⁷Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?

¹⁸And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.

¹⁹And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.

²⁰Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.

²¹And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

²²And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

²³And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.

²⁴The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

²⁵Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

²⁶And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

²⁷And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

²⁸For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

²⁹But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

³⁰And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

³¹Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

³²But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

³³Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

³⁴Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

³⁵Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

³⁶Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

³⁷And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

³⁸Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

³⁹And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

⁴⁰And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

⁴¹Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

⁴²He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

⁴³And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

⁴⁴And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

⁴⁵Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴⁶Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

⁴⁷And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.

⁴⁸Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.

⁴⁹And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.

⁵⁰And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.

⁵¹And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear.

⁵²Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

⁵³Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

⁵⁴But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

⁵⁵In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.

⁵⁶But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

⁵⁷And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.

⁵⁸But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.

⁵⁹Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

⁶⁰But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,

⁶¹And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.

⁶²And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?

⁶³But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

⁶⁴Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

⁶⁵Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.

⁶⁶What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.

⁶⁷Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,

⁶⁸Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?

⁶⁹Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.

⁷⁰But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.

⁷¹And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.

⁷²And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.

⁷³And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.

⁷⁴Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

⁷⁵And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

📖 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

Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.
Matthew 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.