Third section the judgment upon the church itself second picture of judgment

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. In the midst of the company of disciples at Bethany, we see, represented in a living type, the contrast between Christianity and Antichristianity—an exhibition of the manner in which the one wrestles with the other, and the one is brought by the other to its ripe perfection. The lurking treachery of Judas, and the death threatening the Lord, were the dark spirit which raised the soul of the woman to a sublime, solemn, and joyous feeling of self-sacrificing love. And this noble disposition, with the anointing, the odor of which filled the whole house, became the bitterest and most decisive offence to the soul of the traitor. The fundamental characteristics of this reciprocal influence are drawn in 2 Thessalonians2.

2. For the last time, Judas by his hypocrisy drew a large part of the disciples into the snare of his evil spirit. This circumstance, and the fact that he had the bag, throw some light upon his relations to the disciples generally. He was a man of fleeting enthusiasm, of deceitful appearances, of alluring promises, among the Apostles; his power of demoniacal eloquence misled most of the company, and ensnared them into sympathy. For the sake of the greater number of the Apostles, the Lord was constrained to tolerate this adversary, until he excluded himself by a spiritual judgment and an act of self-reprobation. Hence the moment of his departure was to the Lord one of the highest significance. (See John 13:31; Leben Jes, ii3. p1328.)

3. The justification of festal offerings of love, in opposition to sacrifices for the proper necessities of the poor, is strictly connected with the contrast already pointed out. Judas knew nothing of Christ in the poor, when he took offence at the anointing of Christ. To his glance the world appeared (for the sentiment was assumed) to be sinking into infinite necessity and pauperism, because the ideal of worldly abundance and pleasure had demoniacally enkindled his avarice. Mary, on the contrary, poured out lavishly her store, because in her pure self-denial she let the world go, and found her peace and her blessedness in the kingdom of love and of the Spirit.

4. John looked deeper into the heart of Judas than the other disciples. Nevertheless, the woman went to a significant extent in advance of the disciples in the way of the New Covenant. She is a symbol of the quicker development of the female spiritual life. (Eve, the Virgin Mary.) Its perfect development and consummation, on the other hand, belongs to the man. The believing woman is here justified by the mouth of the Lord.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The house of Bethany a type of the Church: 1. The Church of the Spirit darkened by the Church of hypocrisy; 2. the Church of hypocrisy condemned by the Church of the Spirit.—The self-sacrificing woman and the covetous apostle in the company of the disciples.—The self-seeking heart in the Church turns balsam into poison: 1. It turns a joyous feast into an hour of temptation; 2. the purest offering of love into an offence; 3. the sacred justification of fidelity into a motive for exasperation; 4. the most gracious warnings against destruction into a doom of death.—Even among the Lord’s own company, the heart that is truly devoted to the Saviour must be prepared for the bitterest trials.—Judas the type of a fiendish spirit, which has in all times sent traitors abroad in the Church.—How he with a double mind looked always askance: 1. At the goods of this world; 2. at the favor of the great; 3. at the fellowship of the priestly order; 4. at the reward of treachery.—The little treasury of the disciples in its significant relation to the future.—Covetousness in the garment of hypocrisy.—Covetousness and ambition develop and perfect each other.—Christ and His poor.—The attempt to relieve poverty at the expense of Christ is to increase it.—The spirit of love to Christ can alone regulate the use and expenditure of earthly goods.—The pious presentiment of a loving heart thinks beyond and above its own clear consciousness. The imperishable remembrance of believers bound up with the eternal praise of the Lord.—The gospel makes all its children in two senses immortal.—“Then went one of the twelve” ( Matthew 26:14); or the fearful fall: 1. An image of the sinner’s life; and, 2. a warning for every Christian.—“What will ye give me?” ( Matthew 26:15.) The commercial spirit in its light and its dark side: 1. Abraham’s intercession for Sodom; his purchase of a sepulchre; the pearl of great price, etc2. The treachery of Judas; Simony in the Church, etc.—Christ could be sold only for the price of a slave, thirty pieces of silver: for1. the highest price would in relation to Him be a mere mockery; 2. the lowest price for which He is surrendered up is enough for perfect treachery.—Many of His disciples are looking only for a good opportunity of betraying Him.—The beginning of the passion: Christ, like Joseph, sold by His brethren.—The apostate Christian a seducer of the enemies of Christ.—The dark mixture of sense, of calculation, and insanity in the death-path of the backslider.—The house of Bethany and the palace of the high-priest.—Christ the everlasting Defender of true Christendom against all the assaults of hypocrisy.

Starke:—God often employs weak instruments for the accomplishment of His hidden purposes, who surpass the men in Christ.—Canstein: He who heartily loves Christ, will gladly give up all to His service.—Quesnel: Riches are of no value, unless they are helpful to Christ and His people.—Canstein: Many perform acts out of love to Christ on which the world puts an evil construction.—He that touches one who loves Jesus, touches the apple of His eye, Zechariah 2:8.—What is given to Christ is well laid out.—An act must be estimated according to its source in the heart.—That there shall always be poor, is God’s ordinance; but that there should always be beggars, might be prevented by good human ordinances.—Quesnel: In the actions of God’s children there are often secrets which they themselves do not understand.—.The memory of the just is blessed for ever, Psalm 112:3; Psalm 112:6.—Their name is as ointment poured out, Ecclesiastes 7:1.—Fellow-Christian, be not disquieted when your own companions, relatives, and dependants, to whom you have done nothing but good, give you an evil return; console yourself with Christ.—Hedinger. O cursed avarice, which still sells Christ, religion, fidelity, and faith!—How evil are often the uses of gold!—Luther: There is no greater enemy to Prayer of Manasseh, after the devil, than a niggard, Proverbs 15:27.—He who sets out in sin will easily go on; for the opportunity to perfection is never wanting.

Gerlach:—Love to Christ urged this woman.—Her whole heart was thrown into this act.—He who loves Jesus does not love a mere man or creature, but the true God, and eternal life.—Whoso thus inwardly loves Jesus, seeing Him present, must love Him always, when no longer seen, in His brethren, the poor.—No man among you, He says, would blame it, if so much were spent upon My burial and embalming; why do you blame her now, since I shall really die in a few days?

Heubner:—The last token of honor which Christ received before His death.—The sufferings of His last hour were softened to Him by these proofs of love. And so God often orders it with ourselves.—The inwardness and tenderness of which woman is susceptible in her love.—It was love to the Saviour of her soul.—It was reverential love, set upon the Son of God.—Sacrifice is the nature and nourishment of love.—In the service and love of Christ all things are dignified and made holy.—This anointing had a symbolical meaning. It was the figure of that full stream of love which poured from her heart on Jesus; the type of the inexhaustible streams of love which will proceed from the redeemed upon Jesus throughout eternity.—Application of the anointing to the missionary cause.—Jesus was manifestly moved deeply in His heart by her act. Of Himself, and the dishonor done to Him, He says nothing. It grieves Him that the woman was so badly treated. To grieve a noble soul in the performance of a glorious Acts, is a heavy offence.—In hurting Christlike souls, we injure Christ Himself. We should always hasten to manifest all love and sympathy toward the living. It is vain to wish them back when they are gone.—The final and highest honor done to goodness.—Christ assures her of everlasting remembrance in requital of this brief dishonor, and thereby gives her a pledge of her eternal honor in His heavenly kingdom.—What Christ determines to keep in lasting credit will be truly immortalized.—The command of John 11:57 might have occasioned in Judas the thought which he expressed.—Pitiable the Satan’s wages.

Braune:—Here a table is spread for Him in the presence of His enemies, and His head is anointed with oil, Psalm 23:5.

Footnotes:

FN#21 - Matthew 26:8.—The for His; αὐτοῦ being omitted here and Matthew 26:45 by the best authorities.

FN#22 - Matthew 26:9.—A, B, D, L, and other MSS, omit τὸ μύρον, ointment. [So also Cod. Sinait. which reads simply τοῦτο.]

FN#23 - Matthew 26:15—[Dr. Lange translates ἔστησαν αὐτῷ: sie setzten ihm aus, i.e, they appointed or fixed upon that price for him they secured or promised him. So Vulgata, Jerome (in loc.), Theophylact, Luther. E. V, Grotius, Elsner, Fritzsche, Alford, etc. The other translation is: they weighed out to him. So Euthym, Beza, Wahl (appendo, zuwä Genesis, darwägen. Matthew 26:15), Bretschneider, Kuinoel, de Wette, Ewald, Meyer (see quotation in the Exeg. Notes), Robinson, T. J. Conant, Wordsworth, etc. Comp. the Lexica, sub ἵστημι; Wetstein in loc.; Winer, B. R. W. B., sub Geld; and Valekenner ad Eurip. Fragm. p288: “Qui lances œquato sustinebat examine, cujuscunque rei pondus ad libram œstimaturus, dicebatur eximie ἱστᾳν etiam veteribus, Herodoto ii. p 135, 89, Platoni De Republ. x. p. 602. D... Interpres Jobi xxxvi. 6 ἱστᾷ με ἐν ζυγῷ δικαίῳ.” Compare, however, Dr. Lange’s objection to Meyer’s explanation in the Exeg. Notes. To this may be added that the συνεθεντο of Luke and the ἐπηγγειλατο of Mark are rather in favor of the first translation.—P. S.]

FN#24 - Matthew 26:15.—[Dr. Lange inserts here shekels of silver. The τριάκοντα ἀργύρια were probably sacred shekels, which were heavier than the common shekels, and hence paid by weight.—P. S.]

FN#25 - Wordsworth: “An instance of recapitulation. This incident took place before our Lord’s betrayal, but St. Matthew introduces it here to mark the contrast between Mary and Judas Iscariot. Judas murmured against her ( John 12:4), because she had bestowed on our Lord the offering of this precious ointment which might have been sold for300 pence ( Mark 14:5), and he sells his Master for thirty pieces of silver or60 pence.” But in this case Matthew would have expressly mentioned Judas instead of the disciples generally in Matthew 26:8.—P. S.]

FN#26 - Not: dollars, as the Edinb. transl. has it, which omits the other estimate; for it takes thirty Silbergroschen to equal one Prussian dollar.—P. S.]

FN#27 - Joseph was sold by his brothers for twenty pieces of silver, Genesis 36:28. Jerome on Matthew 26:15 says: “Joseph non, ut multi putant, juxta Septuaainta interpretes, viginti aureis venditus Esther, sed juxta Hebraicam veritatem viginti argenteis; neque enim pretiosior poterat esse servus, quam Dominus.” But Jerome did not see, nor any of the fathers, that thirty pieces of silver was the regular price for the life of a slave, which explains this sum in our case as a deliberate insult of the Sanhedrin to our Lord who died the death of a slave and a malefactor, that He might redeem us from the slavery and eternal misery of sin. Origen compares the30 pieces of silver with the36 (rather33) years of the Saviour’s life. Augustine allegorizes in another way about the number.—P. S.]

FN#28 - Comp. Alford’s estimate of the character and motives of Judas, in Com. on Matthew 26:14-16 (p247, 4th ed.) which agrees with that of Neander (Leben Jesu, p688) also Ewald, Meyer, Olshausen, and Ebrard.—P. S.]

Verses 17-30

THIRD SECTION

CHRIST THE PASCHAL LAMB, AND THE LORD’S SUPPER

26:17–30

( Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-39; John 13:1 to John 18:1)

17Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where will thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? 18And he said, Go into the city to such a man [to a certain Prayer of Manasseh, πρὸς τὸν δεῖνα], and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed [directed, συνέταξεν] them; and they made [and made] ready the passoMatthew26:20 Now when the even [evening] was come, he sat down [reclined at table]^[FN29] with the twelve [disciples]. ^[FN30] 21And as they did eat [were eating, ἐσθιόντων αὐτῶν, comp. Matthew 26:26], he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall [will] betray me 22 And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them [each one]^[FN31] to say unto him, Lord, is it I? 23And he answered and said, 24He that dippeth his [the, τήν] hand with me in the dish, the same shall [will] betray me. The Son of man goeth [departeth, ὑπάγὲι] as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been [it were] good for that man if he had not been born.^[FN32] 25Then Judas, which [who] betrayed him, answered and said, Master [Rabbi, ῥαββί], is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said [it].

26And as they were eating, Jesus took bread,^[FN33] and blessed^[FN34] it,^[FN35] and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body 27 And he took the [a] cup,^[FN36] and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28For this is my blood of the [new]^[FN37] testament [my blood, the blood of the new covenant, τὸ αῖ̓μά μου, τὸ τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης],^[FN38] which is shed for many for the remission [for remission, εἰς ἄφεσιν] 29of sins. But [And] I say unto you, I will not [in no wise]^[FN39] drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom 30 And when they had sung a hymn [the hymn of praise, i.e, the great Hallel, Psalm 115-118], they went out into the mount of Olives.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Matthew 26:17. The first day of unleavened bread.

On the 14 th of Nisan the leaven was removed, and the unleavened loaves (המצות) took their place. It was the first day of unleavened bread, forming the foundation of the Passover, which did not begin till the 15 th of Nisan. The feast of faith rested upon a feast of renunciation. Hence the feast was reckoned to last eight days by Josephus (Antiq. ii15, 1). These words are express against the ancient notion, that Jesus celebrated the Passover a day earlier. Comp Meyer, p488.

The words τῇδὲπρώ τῃ τῶνἀζύμων are equivalent to the first day of the Passover, and important for the settlement of the chronological difficulty. All are agreed that this was Thursday, since Christ died on Friday (except Dr. Seyffarth, who makes it Wednesday, since he puts the crucifixion on Thursday). But the question is as to the day of the month, viz, whether it was the 14 th of Nisan, at the close of which the paschal lamb was slain, as Dr. Lange, Wieseler, Hengstenberg, Bäumlein, Andrews, and most modern commentators of this passage assert, or the 13 th of Nisan, according to the view of the Greek Church and of those commentators who, from a different point of view, try to harmonize the Synoptists with John. Had we no other guide in this matter than the Synoptists, every commentator would probably adopt the former view, for the following reasons: 1. It is the obvious meaning of the term used by all the Synoptists: “the first day of unleavened bread,” especially if we compare Mark, who characterizes the day more fully by adding: “When they killed the Passover (i.e, here the paschal lamb), and Luke, who says in equally clear terms: “When the Passover must be killed.” It was toward the close of the 14 th of Nisan (probably from three o’clock till dark), that the paschal lamb was slain, and all preparations made for the feast which began with the paschal supper at evening, i.e, at the close of the 14 th of Nisan and the beginning of the 15 th of Nisan (which day was, strictly speaking, the first day of the feast, although, in popular language, the 14 th was called the first day of Passover or of unleavened bread). See Exodus 12:18 : “In the first month (Nisan), on the 14 th day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.” Comp. Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 28:16. Dr. Robinson says (Harm. p214): “Their language (of the Synoptists) is full, explicit, and decided, to the effect that our Lord’s last meal with His disciples was the regular and ordinary paschal supper of the Jews, introducing the festival of unleavened bread on the evening after the 14 th day of Nisan.” Comp. Meyer in loc.: “Es ist der14. Nisan (nach den Synoptikern, Donnerstag) gemeint, mit dessen Abend das Passah begann, welcher aber schon ganz unter den Festtagen mitgezählt ist, nach der populär ungenauen Weise, in welcher auch Josephus, Antiq. ii15, 1, Acht Festtage zählt.” 2. It is very improbable that Christ, who came not to destroy but to fulfil, should have violated the legal time of the Passover, and if He did Song of Solomon, we would have some intimation of the fact in the Gospels3. An anticipatory sacrifice of the paschal lamb in the court of the temple, on the 13 th of Nisan, a day before the legal time, would not have been permitted by the priests. Greswell quotes from Philo to the effect, that each man was then his own priest, and could slay the lamb in his own dwelling. But the weight of authority goes to show that the lamb must be slain in the temple and the blood be sprinkled on the altar ( Deuteronomy 16:5-6; Ezra 6:20; 2 Chronicles 35:11). Hence the Jews, after the destruction of the temple, have only a Memorial Passover, confined to the use of unleavened bread and bitter herbs with the usual psalms and prayers. The difficulty then arises not from the plain statements of the Synoptists, but from certain passages in John which seem to contradict the former, and from the seeming improbability that Christ should have been tried, condemned, and crucified on the 15 th of Nisan, which was the most solemn day of the Passover. But it has been shown in the introduction to this chapter that these difficulties are not insurmountable, and in fact not so great as those presented on the other side. It is certain that John and the Synoptists can be harmonized on the chronological question concerning so important a part of primitive tradition as the date of the Saviour’s death.—P. S.]

To prepare the Passover.—To this appertained the slaying of the paschal lamb, which usually the Jewish householder attended to, and which took place in the outer court of the temple; the preparation of the unleavened loaves; the provision of the other requisites of the feast; with the preparation of the chamber. “The ποῦ shows that this last is here intended.” Probably all had been done on the present occasion by the unknown friend of the Lord, to whom Matthew 26:18 points, without the disciples knowing anything about it beforehand. The male young lamb or goat must be one year old, and without blemish ( Exodus 12:2-3 sqq.). It was slain “between the evenings;” that Isaiah, doubtless, between the decline of 14 th Nisan, or the first evening, which extended to sundown, and the second evening, commencing at six o’clock. This is the chronological explanation of Josephus and the Rabbins; the more rigorous explanation of the Karaites and the Samaritans was, “between sundown and twilight.” The blood of the lamb was now no longer sprinkled on the door-posts, but was taken up by a priest, and then poured or sprinkled on the altar. Starke, after Lundius (Jüd. Alterthümer): A crowd of Israelites was received into the court, the gates were shut, the trumpets sounded. The householders slew their lambs. The priests formed a row which extended to the altar, received the blood in silver basins, which they passed on from one to another; and those who stood nearest the altar poured it out at its feet, whence it flowed subterraneously into the brook Kedron. The householder lifted the slain lamb to a hook on a pillar, took off its skin, and removed the fat. This last the priest burned on the altar. The householder uttered a prayer, and carried the lamb to his house, bound in its skin. The head of the house where the feast was held received the skin. When the first crowd departed, another followed, and so forth.

Matthew 26:18. Go into the city.—The abode of Jesus at that time was in Bethany. According to Luke, the intimation was given to Peter and John.

To a certain man; πρὸς τὸν δεῖνα.—The Evangelist had his reasons for not mentioning the name of the man intended by Jesus. According to Calvin, Jesus did not give his name, and the disciples found it out by a miracle. According to Theophylact and others, He would not mention the name in the presence of Judas, that he might not execute his purpose of betrayal at the meal. Mark and Luke give expressly the manner in which He pointed out the man:—at their entrance into the city a man should meet them with a pitcher of water, whom they were to follow to the house whither he went. And they have the watchwords given to them which they were to speak, just as they were given to those who should fetch the two asses for the entrance into the city. Here, therefore, as there, it is to be presupposed: 1. That the man marked out was in both cases a believer; 2. that there was some kind of understanding between the Lord and the man; 3. that the understanding, especially in the present case, contemplated caution4. The Lord’s assurance, as it regards this Prayer of Manasseh, reveals the certain knowledge of the Master, and the marvellous influence of His authority. And, in the present case, this cautious action would hinder the premature accomplishment of Judas’ purpose.

My time is at hand.—1. Kuinoel and others: The time of My PassoMatthew26:2. Ewald: The time of My Messianic manifestation from heaven3. De Wette, Meyer: The time of My death. The text gives only the meaning: the certain period of the decisive crisis. De Wette: According to the view of the Synoptists (rather, of all the Evangelists), the Passover and the passion of Christ were inseparably connected. This expression proves also the unsoundness of the old hypothesis, that Jesus ate the Passover a day earlier than the proper time.

Matthew 26:20. He reclined at table.—According to the ancient custom of reclining at the table, with the left hand resting upon the couch. It is remarkable that the Jews themselves ventured to modify the legal prescription, which required them to eat the Passover standing, with staff in hand, Exodus 12:11. The rabbinical explanation is this: Mos servorum Esther, ut edant stantes, at nunc comedunt recumbentes, ut dignoscatur, exiisse eos a servitute in libertatem. [Dr. Wordsworth makes a liberal remark here, which is doubly to be appreciated as coming from a strict Episcopalian: “God had commanded the attitude of standing in the reception of the paschal meal; the Jewish church having come to the land of promise, and being there at rest, reclined at the festival, and our Lord conformed to that practice,—a proof that positive commands of a ceremonial kind, even of Divine origin, are not immutable if they are not in order to a permanent end.”—P. S.]

Matthew 26:21. And as they were eating.—The Celebration of the Passover.—The company at table might not be less than ten persons (Joseph. Bell. Jud. vi9, 3). It generally included from ten to twenty, according to the family, or as enlarged by strangers. The image of a complete Church in the house. The rites of the feast were regulated by the succession of the cups, filled with red wine, commonly mixed with water1. Announcement of the Feast.—The head of the house uttered the thanksgiving or benediction over the wine and the feast, drinking the first cup. Then followed the remainder of the household. The washing of hands, after praise2. They then ate the bitter herbs, dipped in vinegar or salt water, in remembrance of the sorrows which their fathers underwent in Egypt. Meanwhile the paschal dishes were brought in—the well-seasoned broth (called charoseth), the unleavened loaves, the festal offerings, and the lamb. All these things were then explained. They sang the first part of the Hallel, or song of praise, Psalm 113, 114, and the second cup was drunk3. Then began the feast proper (at which they reclined): the householder took two loaves, broke one in two, laid it upon the whole loaf, blessed it, wrapped it with bitter herbs, dipped it, ate of it, and handed it round with the words: “This is the bread of affliction, which our fathers ate in Egypt.” He then blessed the paschal lamb, and ate of it; the festal offerings were eaten with the bread, dipped in the broth; and finally the lamb. The thanksgiving for the meal followed the blessing and drinking of the third cup4. The remainder of the Hallel was sung, Psalm 115-118, and the fourth cup drunk. Occasionally a fifth cup followed, while Psalm 120-127 were pronounced, but no more. The first cup was thus devoted to the announcement of the feast; and Luke tells us that with this cup Christ announced to the disciples that this was the last feast which He would celebrate with them in this world; and that He would celebrate with them a new feast in His Father’s kingdom. The second cup was devoted to the interpretation of the festal act: with it the Apostle Paul connects the exhortation: “As oft as ye eat of this bread,” etc, “ye show forth the Lord’s death.” The third cup followed the breaking of the loaves, which celebrated the unleavened bread, and was the cup of thanksgiving: this the Lord consecrated as the cup of the New Covenant, as He had consecrated the breaking of bread as the remembrance of His broken body, the bread of life. Thus, as in baptism He loosed from the Old Testament circumcision the sacred washing which accompanied it, and made it the New Testament sacrament of the covenant entered into, so also now He severed the breaking of bread and the cup of thanksgiving from the Old Testament Passover, and made it a sacrament of the New Testament redemption.

Two questions concerning the several modifications of the original Passover-rites, may here be briefly discussed (comp. also my Leben Jesu, ii3, p1422): 1. As it respects the relation of this account to the Gospel of John: he relates the washing of the feet, which introduced the Passover, with its interpretation; and he presupposes the institution of the Lord’s Supper itself as well known. We find it hinted at in the ἐντολὴ καινή, John 13:34. The contention as to which was the greatest, Luke 22:24, probably preceded the feet-washing, and was its immediate occasion2. As to the participation of Judas in the Lord’s Supper, we learn from John (13:30) that the traitor went away immediately after he had received the sop dipped in the vessel of the charoseth. As the sop can hardly be supposed to mean only the bitter herbs, the distribution of the bread must have preceded, if the rites had gone on as usual, but not the distribution of the third cup. Thus it might seem that Judas departed between the breaking of the bread and the cup of thanksgiving. The account of Luke, indeed, and it alone, appears to pre-suppose the participation of Judas in the full supper of both bread and wine. But his chronological sequence is not exact; for it is his purpose to mark strongly the contradiction between the spirit and feelings of the disciples, and the sacred meaning of the feast. Hence the contention follows at the close, Matthew 26:24, although it had doubtless taken place before the washing of the feet. But Luke likewise assures us that Christ blessed the cup μετὰ τὸ δειπνν͂σαι, so that the later declaration: “The hand of him that betrayeth Me is with Me on the table,” must be referred to an earlier moment. After the third cup nothing more was eaten. But if we mark Matthew’s account more carefully, we may conclude that the breaking of the bread was deferred a little beyond the exact ritual time. It took place after the traitor was indicated as such, and after he had doubtless departed. Hence, then, the glorification of the Son of Prayer of Manasseh, according to John, in the symbolical act of the Supper, might proceed, John 13:31. Most of the Fathers and schoolmen were in favor of Judas’ participation: Cyprian, Jerome, Augustine,^[FN40] Thomas Aquinas, Calvin,^[FN41] Beza, etc. Against it were Tatian, Ammonius, Hilary,^[FN42] etc, and many Reformed theologians [also Nast, p572]. The discussion of the point cannot, without forcing, be made theologically important in the confessional controversies between Romanists and Protestants, Lutherans and Reformed. Comp. Wichelhaus, 100:50 p257.

[ Matthew 26:21. One of you will betray Me.—Wordsworth: “Observe how tenderly He deals with the traitor. Before supper He washed his feet; and He did not say: he will betray Me, but ‘one of you,’—in order to give him an opportunity for repentance; and He terrifies them all, in order that He may save one. And when He produced no effect on his insensibility by this indefinite intimation, yet, still desirous of touching his heart, He draws the mask off from the traitor, and endeavors to rescue him by denunciations.”—Similar remarks are made by the Fathers, Chrysostom, Jerome, and Leo M. See Catena Aurea.—P. S.]

Matthew 26:22. Lord, is it?—See the particulars of this scene in Com. on St. John.

Matthew 26:23. Into the dish.—According to John, an allusion to Psalm 41:10. Meyer, following de Wette: “Yet no such plain intimation as that which, in John 13:26, Jesus gave to John. For it is not probable that the dipping took place after the expression of Jesus in Matthew 26:21, and after the sensation of Matthew 26:22, but rather before, when certainly several of the disciples had had their hand in the dish.” The last is quite doubtful. Comp. my remarks on Mark 14:20.—Meyer: “What is meant here was the sop of charoseth (חרוסת), which was prepared of dates, figs, etc, and which was of a brick color (in remembrance of the Egyptian bricks; Maimonides, ad Pesach, 7, 11).”

Matthew 26:24. The Son of Man departeth.—That Isaiah, to death.