Matthew 26:57-75
Summary for Matt 26:57-27:26: 26:57–27:26 a The Gospels record Jesus as undergoing five hearings: (1) an informal hearing before Annas (John 18:13-24 b); (2) a night hearing before the Sanhedrin (Matt 26:59-66 c); (3) a morning hearing before the Sanhedrin (27:1-2 d); (4) a hearing before Herod Antipas (Luke 23:6-12 e); and (5) a two-stage trial before Pilate (Matt 27:11-31 f; see Luke 23:6-12 g). It all amounts to two trials, a Jewish trial and a Roman trial.Summary for Matt 26:57-68: 26:57-68 h This hearing might have been little more than an unofficial preliminary hearing designed to establish consensus on the terms of the charges. The Jewish leaders were under considerable pressure to keep this incident secret, lest their actions cause a riot (see 21:26 i, 46 j; 26:5 k, 55 l; John 11:45-53 m).
26:58 n the high priest’s courtyard: This location suggests an ad hoc meeting of the Sanhedrin at the palace of the high priest (26:3 o).
26:59 p were trying to find witnesses: The verb tense suggests an extended, perhaps desperate, attempt to find any testimony that could lead to a formal accusation (see Mark 14:55-56 q).
26:60 r could not use anyone’s testimony: The evidence was too insubstantial or inconsistent to meet their goal of a death sentence until two men came forward (Deut 17:6 s; 19:15 t) with testimonies that did not conflict.
26:61 u The charge is either a misunderstanding or a deliberate distortion of Jesus’ prediction of his death and resurrection (see John 2:19-21 v).
26:63 w if you are the Messiah: This question from the high priest was prompted by Zech 6:12 x, which had predicted that the Messiah would rebuild the Temple (cp. Matt 26:61 y).
26:64 z You have said it: This purposefully enigmatic response is essentially an affirmative answer (see 26:25 aa; 27:11 ab); Mark has “I Am” (Mark 14:62 ac).
• you will see: By quoting Dan 7:13 ad, Jesus affirmed that he was the Son of Man who would be vindicated and exalted by God.
• seated in the place of power at God’s right hand: Literally seated at the right hand of the power; see Ps 110:1 ae. Jews were reluctant to name God directly (see study note on Matt 5:4).
• The expression coming on the clouds of heaven could refer either to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 or to Jesus’ second coming at the end of history.
26:65 af Blasphemy! Caiaphas evidently understood Jesus’ claim to be the exalted Son of Man as a blasphemy against God’s majesty. The Son of Man (Dan 7:13-14 ag) was closely associated with this majesty.
Summary for Matt 26:67-68: 26:67-68 ah Such abuse fulfills Isa 50:6 ai; 53:4-9 aj and Jesus’ own predictions (Matt 16:21 ak; 17:22-23 al; 20:18-19 am; 26:2 an; see also Mark 14:65 ao).
Summary for Matt 26:69-75: 26:69-75 ap Peter’s denials fulfill Jesus’ prediction (26:34 aq).
26:73 ar your Galilean accent: Jews from Galilee had a distinctive accent, compared with those from Judea (cp. 4:13 as and corresponding study note).
26:75 at When the crowing of the rooster reminded Peter of Jesus’ prediction (26:34 au), he was struck with sorrow.
Matthew 27:1-26
Summary for Matt 27:1-2: 27:1-2 av The Jewish leaders were ready to level charges against Jesus before Pilate so that he would order Jesus’ execution. Pilate, a Gentile, fulfills Jesus’ prediction (20:19 aw). 27:1 ax The charge of blasphemy (26:65-66 ay), though sufficient for the death penalty among Jews, would not convince a Roman judge. Hence, the leading priests and the elders conspired together to prepare a more political charge consistent with capital offenses in Roman law (see 27:11-26 az; Luke 23:2 ba).27:2 bb Tiberius Caesar appointed Pilate to be the governor (or prefect) of Judea. Pilate ruled primarily from Caesarea, not Jerusalem, from AD 26 to AD 36. Though he had sovereign power in Judea, Pilate was ultimately responsible to the legate of Syria, the central authority in the eastern portion of the Roman Empire. Josephus records several instances where Pilate’s disregard for the sanctity of Jewish customs led to revolt.
Summary for Matt 27:3-10: 27:3-10 bc There are two accounts of Judas’s death—this one and Acts 1:18-19 bd. There are differences between the two: (1) Matthew states that the priests bought the field (Matt 27:6-7 be), while Acts seems to suggest that Judas bought it (Acts 1:18 bf); (2) Matthew reports that Judas committed suicide by hanging himself (Matt 27:5 bg), while Acts enigmatically refers to a fall and an abdominal rupture (Acts 1:18 bh); (3) Matthew implies that the field of blood was so named because it became a place of burial (Matt 27:7-8 bi), while Acts suggests that it was because of Judas’s violent death there (Acts 1:19 bj). The two accounts are compatible if one takes the account in Acts as describing the effects of the actions described in Matthew. 27:3 bk Judas was filled with remorse (Greek metamelomai), but he did not repent (Greek metanoeō), which would have changed his heart and resulted in obedience and a relationship with God based on faith.
27:4 bl an innocent man: Jesus’ innocence is a dominant theme in the narrative of his suffering (see 23:35 bm; 26:55-56 bn, 59-60 bo; 27:18-19 bp, 24 bq; see also Luke 23:47 br).
27:5 bs hanged himself: Judas’s suicide resulted from a guilt-stricken, unrepentant conscience. His death satisfied Old Testament law regarding the punishment of a false witness (see Deut 19:16-21 bt).
27:7 bu Foreigners were Gentiles who died in Jerusalem. An asset whose owner could not be traced was used for public charity. In this instance, unclean money was used to buy an unclean place for unclean people.
27:8 bv Field of Blood is a way of describing a cemetery (cp. Acts 1:18-19 bw).
Summary for Matt 27:9-10: 27:9-10 bx the prophecy of Jeremiah: The citation is from Zech 11:12-13 by. Matthew might merely have been conforming to the Jewish custom of citing books by referring to the first book in the particular scroll—the first book in the scroll containing Zechariah would have been Jeremiah. Or, Matthew might have thought of similar passages in Jeremiah (Jer 19:1-13 bz; 18:2-6 ca; 32:6-15 cb) along with Zech 11:12-13 cc.
• Matthew sees a striking resemblance between Zechariah’s actions and those of the leading priests. Both contexts deal with the rejection of God’s messenger who was to be king of God’s people.
Summary for Matt 27:11-26: 27:11-26 cd The Roman trial included an initial hearing before Pilate (27:11-14 ce), one before Herod Antipas (Luke 23:6-16 cf), and a second hearing before Pilate (Matt 27:15-26 cg). 27:11 ch king of the Jews: The Sanhedrin’s original charge of blasphemy (26:65-66 ci; 27:1 cj) held no interest to the Romans, who saw it as a Jewish religious question (cp. Acts 25:18-20 ck). The charge was therefore changed to incriminate Jesus in Roman eyes as a political rebel (see Luke 23:2 cl).
27:15 cm Pilate’s custom seems out of character; he was not known for wanting to please his Jewish subjects. However, if Pilate’s position with Caesar was precarious at this point (see study note on John 19:12; see Philo, On the Embassy to Gaius 159–161), then this gesture may have been to keep the peace and thus avoid negative attention from Rome.
27:16 cn notorious prisoner ... named Barabbas: Elsewhere he is called a “revolutionary” (Mark 15:7 co; John 18:40 cp), a term that also denotes a robber or insurrectionist (see Luke 23:19 cq). To the zealots, Barabbas was a hero.
27:19 cr through a terrible nightmare (cp. 1:20 cs): It is ironic that a pagan recognizes and takes a stand for Jesus’ innocence, while the Jewish crowd does not.
27:24 ct The responsibility is yours! The priests had said the same thing to Judas (27:4 cu).
27:25 cv all the people (see 21:43 cw): This does not mean every living Jew. Instead, those urging Jesus’ condemnation are representative of all of unbelieving Israel, whose actions bring consequences for the nation as a whole (e.g., the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70).
• We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children (see 23:35 cx; 2 Sam 1:16 cy; 14:9 cz; Jer 51:35 da; Acts 5:28 db; 18:6 dc; 20:26 dd): Christians have at times misunderstood and misused this verse in persecution of Jews, but it is not an indictment against Jews in general.
27:26 de When a man was flogged, he was beaten with whips that had leather thongs at the end, some with sharp bone, lead, or rock fragments stuck to the ends of the thongs (see also Deut 25:1-3 df; 1 Kgs 12:11 dg, 14 dh; Acts 16:22 di; 22:25 dj; 2 Cor 11:24-25 dk).
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