Matthew 26

Matthew 26 is the 26th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. This chapter covers the beginning of the Passion of Jesus narrative, which continues to Matthew 28; it contains the narratives of the Jewish leaders' plot to kill Jesus, Judas Iscariot's agreement to betray Jesus to Caiphas, the Last Supper with the Twelve Apostles and institution of the Eucharist, the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and the subsequent vindication of Jesus' predictions, of betrayal by one of the twelve Apostles, and that he will, in the Denial of Peter, be disowned by his closest follower, Saint Peter.

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 75 verses, more than any other chapter in this gospel. Protestant theologian Heinrich Meyer identifies 32 verses in which there are critical variations between different early manuscripts and critical editions.

Verses 1–5 recount the conspiracy against Jesus.

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas.

In the home of Simon the Leper, 'another befriended outcast', a woman performed an 'extravagant act' which clearly points to Jesus' messianic status as 'the anointed one'. In verse 8, the disciples, collectively, raise concerns about the extravagance shown, whereas in this concern is only expressed by Judas Iscariot. Meyer argues that Matthew's account is "certainly not contradictory [to] that of John, but only less precise".

Jesus seems to recoil from the impending crucifixion, but he fixes his course to the will of God and 'this overrides whatever feelings he has about death'. The submission to the divine will: "Thy will be done" (verse 42; also in verse 39), alludes to the Lord's Prayer, as do the address "my Father" (verse 39) and the words "that you may not come into the time of trial" (KJV: "enter not into temptation"; verse 41). The garden of Gethsemane is located on the Mount of Olives, where king David once prayed for deliverance from a betrayer (2 Samuel 1515:30 31 9 (:30–31)), and a suitable site for his descendant, Jesus, to utter an analogous prayer.

The story of Jesus' arrest involves many people, pulling together 'several strands from previous sections', with Jewish leader plotting to take Jesus 'by stealth and avoid a riot (verse 4; cf. verse 16), Judas' betrayal as Jesus has foretold (verse 21, 25 and 45), the crowd of 'chief priests and the elders of the people (verses 3–5, 14–16) as well as Jesus' predictions of his sufferings.

The trial shows that Jesus is not a 'victim of tragic, impersonal circumstances' nor a 'casualty of the ordinary machinery of justice', but a target of attack by wicked people. His enemies 'speak falsehoods (verse 59–60), accuse him of blasphemy (verse 65), condemn him to death (verse 66), viciously hit and mock him (verses 67–68)'. In contrast, Jesus' identity becomes clear as the Messiah and Son of God, who builds the temple (cf. 2 Samuel 7:14), sits at God's right hand and 'the suffering servant of whose face is spat upon'.

In the early part of this chapter, Judas defects, then the disciples flee when Jesus was arrested, and now Peter, despite his promise (verse 35), denies that he knows Jesus, forming a 'climax of the disciples' failure'. This passage supplies an ironical balance, when Jesus' prophetic powers are mocked, while the literal fulfillment of his detailed prediction about Peter is precisely taking place. Another balance is in the trial, as Jesus and Peter both faces three sets of accusers: Jesus faces false witnesses in verse 60, the two witnesses in verses 61 62, Caiaphas verses 63 66, while Peter, not far away, verses 69 73, also faces three different persons confronting him about Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew does not idealize any disciples, but instead, 'presents them as completely human', just as the Old Testament, "the bible of the Matthaean community at that time", does not hide the records of the sins of Noah, Moses, David or Solomon. Allison comments that "God can use ordinary people for his extraordinary purposes and, when they fall into sin, he can grant them forgiveness", and suggests that Matthew's readers would have interpreted the faults of Peter and other disciples as they would have interpreted the failings of Old Testament times.