St Matthew Chapter XXVI : Verses 14-19
Contents
- Matt. xxvi. 14-19. Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate).
- Notes on the text.
- Additional Notes: From thenceforth he sought opportunity to betray him.
Matt. xxvi. 14-19
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| Judas...went to the chief priests. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Tunc abiit unus de duodecim, qui dicebatur Judas Iscariotes, ad principes sacerdotum :
15 And said to them: What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you? But they appointed him thirty pieces of silver.
et ait illis : Quid vultis mihi dare, et ego vobis eum tradam? At illi constituerunt ei triginta argenteos.
16 And from thenceforth he sought opportunity to betray him.
Et exinde quærebat opportunitatem ut eum traderet.
17 And on the first day of the Azymes, the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the pasch?
Prima autem die azymorum accesserunt discipuli ad Jesum, dicentes : Ubi vis paremus tibi comedere Pascha?
18 But Jesus said: Go ye into the city to a certain man, and say to him: the master saith, My time is near at hand, with thee I make the pasch with my disciples.
At Jesus dixit : Ite in civitatem ad quemdam, et dicite ei : Magister dicit : Tempus meum prope est, apud te facio Pascha cum discipulis meis.
19 And the disciples did as Jesus appointed to them, and they prepared the pasch.
Et fecerunt discipuli sicut constituit illis Jesus, et paraverunt Pascha.
Notes
14. went one of the twelve. All the Synoptists note that the traitor was one of the twelve. The loss of the price of the ointment and our Lord’s reproof were probably the immediate cause of Judas’ treacherous act.
St Luke relates here that Satan entered into Judas. This does not mean that the traitor was possessed by the devil, and no longer master of himself, but that he now consented to the suggestion of Satan. St John uses the same expression, and gives the steps in the temptation. The devil having now put into the heart of Judas .... to betray him .... After the morsel, Satan entered into him (xiii. 2, 27).
Judas Iscariot, — i.e. the man of Kerioth. He was the only one of the apostles who was a native of Judea. The others were Galileans.
to the chief priests. St Luke adds, and the magistrates, i.e. the captain of the Temple guard and his subordinates. Their services would be needed to arrest Jesus, as the Jews had not Roman soldiers at their disposal, unless this favour was specially accorded by the Roman governor. Judas provided the opportunity which they were so eagerly seeking, and which, in spite of their resolution not to take Him on the festival, occurred on that very day.
15. What will you give me, etc. ? We infer from the combined accounts that he met the priests on two occasions, — the first time when the bargain was proposed, and the other when it was concluded.
But they appointed him thirty pieces of silver. This sum was equal to about £4 of our money, [Ed. worth £600.00 in 2023] and was the price of a common slave. The silver coin in question was the stater, which was equal to four drachmas, and worth about 2s. 10d.
16. opportunity to betray him. St Luke adds, in the absence of the multitude. As Jesus was continually surrounded by the people, it was difficult to seize Him in their absence. Judas, in view of his own safety, desired to accomplish the betrayal secretly. In spite of this desire, Jesus was apprehended on the festival day, though not in the presence of the multitudes.
Harmonized account of the preparation of the Paschal Supper.
“ And on the first day of Azymes, in which it was necessary that the Pasch should be killed, Jesus sent two of His disciples, Peter and John, saying : Go, and prepare us the pasch, that we may eat. But the disciples said to Him : Whither wilt Thou that we go, and prepare for Thee to eat the pasch ? But Jesus said : Go ye into the city ; behold, as you go into the city, there shall meet you a man, carrying a pitcher of water ; follow him into the house, which he entereth into, and you shall say to the master of the house, the Master saith to thee : My time is near at hand ; I will keep the pasch at thy house with my disciples. Where is my guest-chamber, where I may eat the pasch with my disciples ? And he will shew you a large dining-room furnished, and there prepare ye for us. And His disciples went their way, and came into the city ; and they found as He had told them. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them, and they prepared the pasch.”
Note.— From the evening of Wednesday to the evening of Thursday (Nisan 13) nothing is recorded concerning Jesus, hence it is supposed He spent the day in Bethania, either in solitude or in the company of His apostles and disciples in the house of Lazarus.
17. the first day of the Azymes, — i.e. of bread without yeast or leaven. During the Paschal season only unleavened bread was eaten.
The Jews were enjoined to search their houses carefully, lest any crumbs of leavened bread should have been overlooked. This ceremony was performed with a lighted candle and in silence as a religious ceremony.
It could not be performed until after sunset of the 13th of Nisan, nor after eleven a.m. of the 14th of Nisan.
Where wilt thou, etc. ? The disciples may have meant, in what house in Jerusalem, or were they to prepare it in Bethania or Jerusalem.
According to the Law, the Paschal lamb had to be slain and eaten in Jerusalem, but as the city was extremely crowded at the festival times, and as Bethania and Bethphage were so close to Jerusalem, they were, for religious purposes, included in the city. Hence the lamb slain in the Temple could be eaten in either of these suburbs.
prepare for thee to eat the pasch. This clearly refers to the Paschal Supper, although some writers maintain that Christ did not eat of it on this occasion.
Note. — The Paschal lamb was killed between the evenings (as the words in the evening. Exodus xii. 6, signify) that is, between noon and sunset on the 14th of Nisan. The Pasch was therefore killed on the 14th, and eaten after sunset (when the 15th of Nisan began).
The Jews calculated the beginning of the Pasch from the appearance of the first three stars on the evening of what we should call the 13th, and it ended the next evening when the first three stars were visible. The Israelites killed the lamb themselves in presence of the priests, and in the Temple. The Paschal lamb was to be without blemish, a male, of one year (Exod. xii. 5).
18. Jesus said. Go ye. From St Luke we learn that these words were addressed to St Peter and St John.
to a certain man. Literally, “ to a certain one ” (πρὸς τὸν δεῖνα). None of the Synoptists give the name of the man. St Mark and St Luke’s accounts of our Lord’s reply is more detailed. See harmonized passage above, whence we see that our Lord foretells each detail as minutely as when He sent the two disciples to fetch the ass and the colt. They were to follow a man carrying a pitcher of water. As women generally fetched the water from the well, a man performing this work would at once attract the attention of the disciples. Jesus does not mention the name of the master of the house, perhaps in order not to reveal it to Judas, nor does He specify the exact locality.
The master. From the word employed (Ὁ διδάσκαλος), “ the teacher,” we may infer that the man knew Christ. It has been conjectured that the house in question was the paternal home of St Mark.
My time is near at hand. A reference to His Passion and Death.
with thee I make the pasch. It was customary for the Jews to lend their rooms to the pilgrims who came to celebrate the Pasch. With Eastern hospitality they would offer the best room, nor would they expect or accept any remuneration beyond the skin of the Paschal lamb and the earthenware vessels used at the feast : “ during the time of the feast the houses were of common right.”
The guest-chamber, usually on the upper floor, was provided with table, couches, and all the utensils necessary. Even the poorest Israelites were bidden to eat the Pasch reclining, instead of standing as formerly, because the former attitude indicated rest, safety and liberty. It is possible that the master of the house had some previous intimation that Christ would ask for a room.
19. they prepared the pasch. This included procuring and killing the Paschal lamb, and purchasing whatever else was required. The provisions needed were —
(а) The lamb.(b) Red wine for the four cups.(c) The bitter herbs, lettuce, endive, horehound, succory, parsley, etc.(d) The nuts, raisins, apples — and almonds for the charoseth or sauce. (This the poor dispensed with.)(e) The animal for the chagigah or festive sacrifice, which was added when the lamb did not suffice for the number present.(f) Salt and vinegar.(g) Unleavened bread.
Possibly Judas would have purchased these previously, so that Peter and John had only to procure the lamb.
Additional Notes
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| Judas. Iscariot. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum |
Judas gives us a terrible example of —
(a) The tyranny a predominant passion can exercise in the soul.(b) The ruin that follows the abuse of God’s graces.
(a) The tyranny of a sinful passion. Judas’ passion was twofold, insatiable avarice and boundless ambition. He had probably attached himself to Christ in the hopes of obtaining some brilliant position in the kingdom of the Messias. As his hopes were gradually frustrated, and as all our Lord taught and promised pointed to the very reverse of temporal prosperity, Judas became more and more alienated from the service of Christ. He was habitually guilty of theft, since he employed for himself the alms which were common property, or bestowed for distribution to the poor. On the different occasions when the apostles murmured, we may be sure that Judas, with his ambitious designs, was the one who took the lead. Under pretence of zeal for the poor, he shewed indignation and murmured against Mary when she anointed Jesus. Then, when Jesus rebuked him, the traitor turned away completely from the apostolic band, and betrayed his Master for thirty pieces of silver.
(b) The abuse of God’s graces. Judas had been chosen for a glorious mission ; he was called to be one of the twelve foundation-stones of the Christian Church. To him, as to the rest of the apostles, was given the gift of miracles. He had heard Jesus’ teaching, witnessed so many of His miracles, and had been the recipient of so much tenderness from our Lord. Jesus had warned him repeatedly: — “Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil ? ” “ What thou dost, do quickly.” “ One of you shall betray me.” All these warnings, these proofs of love on the part of Jesus, failed to touch Judas. The traitor dared even to ask with the rest, “ Lord, is it I ? ” and he listened to the divine answer unmoved, “ Thou hast said it.” Jesus did not reveal the traitor’s name, except perhaps to the beloved disciple, when, in answer to St John’s question, “ Lord, who is it ? ” Jesus replied, “ He it is, to whom I shall reach bread dipped. And when he had dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the morsel Satan entered into him” (St John xiii. 25-27). Then the apostate apostle, he to whom the very devils had been subject, now became their prey. He went forth and “ it was night,” deep, black night indeed in the soul of Judas. Once more Jesus tried to win that guilty soul to repentance, but in vain. Judas gave the traitor’s kiss. Then came the closing scenes, the remorse and despair, the taunts of the chief priests, whose tool he had been, the restitution, all too late, of the blood-money, and Judas filled up the measure of his iniquity by taking his own life, and his name has passed down to posterity as the synonym of traitor, while it ever arouses the remembrance of a soul steeped in avarice.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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