Bible Commentaries

Now the ¹ feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.

(1) Christ is taken upon the day of the Passover rather by the providence of his Father, than by the will of men.

² Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

(2) God by his wonderful providence causes him to be the minister of our salvation who was the author of our destruction.

And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and ^a captains, how he might betray him unto them.

(a) Those that had the charge of keeping the temple, who were not from among the priests and bishops, as is shown below in (Luke 22:52).

And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the ^b absence of the multitude.

(b) Without tumult, doing it without the knowledge of the people who used to follow him: and therefore they indeed waited patiently until they knew he was alone in the garden.

³ Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover ^c must be killed.

(3) Christ teaches his disciples by an obvious miracle that although he is going to be crucified, yet nothing is hidden from him, and therefore that he is going willingly to death.

(c) By the order appointed by the law.

And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the ^d passover, that we may eat.

(d) The lamb which was the symbol of the passover: And this is said using the figure of speech metonymy, which is often used when talking about the sacraments.

⁴ And when the ^e hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

(4) Christ, having ended the passover according to the order of the law, forewarns them that this will be his last banquet with them in terms of this earthly life.

(e) The evening and twilight, at which time this supper was to be kept.

And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I ^f suffer:

(f) I am put to death.

⁵ And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake [it], and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

(5) Christ establishes his new covenant and his communication with us by new symbols.

Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This ^g cup [is] ^h the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

(g) Here is a double use of metonymy: for first, the vessel is taken for that which is contained in the vessel, as the cup is spoken of for the wine which is within the cup. Second, the wine is called the covenant or testament, whereas in reality it is but the sign of the testament, or rather of the blood of Christ by which the testament was made: neither is it a vain sign, although it is not the same as the thing that it represents.

(h) This word "the" shows the excellency of the testament, and corresponds to (Jeremiah 31:31) where the new testament is promised.

⁶ But, behold, the ⁱ hand of him that betrayeth me [is] with me on the table.

(6) Christ shows again that he goes willingly to die, although he is not ignorant of Judas' treason.

(i) That is, his practice; the Hebrews used to speak in this way, as in (2 Samuel 14:19): "Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this?"

⁷ And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!

(7) Although the decree of God's providence necessarily comes to pass, yet it does not excuse the fault of those who bring it to pass.

⁸ And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.

(8) The pastors are not called to rule but to serve.

And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called ^k benefactors.

(k) Have great titles, for so it was the custom to honour princes with some great titles.

⁹ Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.

(9) Those who are partakers of the affliction of Christ will also be partakers of his kingdom.

¹⁰ And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired [to have] you, that he may ^l sift [you] as wheat:

(10) We must always think about the ambush that Satan lays for us.

(l) To toss you and scatter you, and also to cast you out.

¹¹ But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

(11) It is through the prayers of Christ that the elect never utterly fall away from the faith: and because of this they should encourage one another on.

¹² And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.

(12) In setting before us the grievous example of Peter, Christ shows that faith differs much from a vain security.

^m Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take [it], and likewise [his] scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

(m) He says all this using an allegory, as if he said, "O my friends and fellow soldiers, you have lived until now in relative peace: but now there is at hand a most severe battle to be fought, and you must therefore lay all other things aside and think about dressing yourselves in armour." And what this armour is, is shown by his own example, when he prayed afterward in the garden and reproved Peter for striking with the sword.

¹³ And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.

(13) Christ has made death acceptable unto us by overcoming for our sake all the horrors of death, which had the curse of God accompanying them.

¹⁴ And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,

(14) Prayers are a sure help against the most perilous assaults of our enemies.

And being in an ⁿ agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great ^o drops of blood falling down to the ground.

(n) This agony shows that Christ struggled hard and was in great distress: for Christ struggled hard not only with the fears of death as other men do (for in this regard many martyrs might seem more constant then Christ), but also with the fearful judgment of his angry Father, which is the most fearful thing in the world: and this was because he took the burden of all our sins upon himself.

(o) These do not only show that Christ was true man, but also other things which the godly have to consider of, in which the secret of the redemption of all mankind is contained in the Son of God when he debased himself to the state of a servant: such things as these no man can sufficiently declare.

¹⁵ And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,

(15) Men are utterly sluggish, even in their greatest dangers.

¹⁶ And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him.

(16) Christ is willingly betrayed and taken so that by his obedience he might deliver us who were guilty of betraying God's glory.

¹⁷ When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?

(17) That zeal which carries us out of the bounds of our God-given position does not please Christ.

¹⁸ Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?

(18) Even the very fear of those who took Christ partly proves their evil conscience, and partly also that all these things were done by God's providence.

When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the ^p power of darkness.

(p) The power that was given to darkness to oppress the light for a time.

Then took they him, and led [him], and brought him into the high priest's house. ¹⁹ And Peter followed afar off.

(19) We have to behold in Peter an example both of the fragility of man's nature, and the singular goodness of God towards his elect.

²⁰ And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote [him].

(20) Christ bore the shame that was due for our sins.

²¹ And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying,

(21) Christ is wrongly condemned of blasphemy before the high priest's judgment seat in order that we might be acquitted before God from the blasphemy which we deserved.