Matthew 26:6
The Alabaster Box.
Here is a woman probably a poor woman doing an action which excites
the indignation of the whole Church. Not a voice is heard in her
favour except sublime exception! the voice of Jesus. In such
circumstances there must be something worth looking at. A minority
which... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:13
There can be no question but that in this action of Mary there was
something deeply symbolical. I am not going to say that Mary meant it
to be so. There may often be far more in our own actions than we
imagine. Perhaps, though, her ardent love led her to do just the right
thing at the... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:22
I. Look at the question, "Lord is it I?" in connection with the scene
and the time when each disciple was shocked and startled into asking
it. You have, perhaps, in the mirror of memory, the picture of a
certain tranquil sunset. If in that moment, and without any
premonitory sign, the... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:24
Judas rebuked by Christ.
I. It will give increased interest to the sayings of our Lord in the
text if we suppose that they were uttered with a special reference to
Judas, with the merciful design of warning him of the enormity of his
projected crime, and thus, if it were yet possible,... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:22 , MATTHEW 26:25
_(with John 13:25)_
I. In the first form of the question: "Is it I?" we have an example of
that wholesome self-distrust, which a glimpse into the possibilities
of evil that lie slumbering in all our hearts ought to teach every one
of us. Every man is a mystery to himse... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:26
Notice:
I. When the Lord's Supper was first kept, and who kept it. As He was
eating, Jesus took bread. He was eating unleavened bread and drinking
wine at the Feast of the Passover in the city of Jerusalem. The Last
Supper was first eaten at the Passover Supper of the Jews. It was
fi... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:27
I. The Cup to us speaks of a Divine treaty or covenant. Ancient Israel
had lived for nearly two thousand years under the charter of their
national existence, which, as we read in the old Testament, was given
on Sinai amidst thunderings and lightnings; and that covenant, or
agreement, o... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:30
There are many truths which present themselves to the mind, when it
duly ponders the simple statement of the text.
I. The first of these truths is that our blessed Lord, by conforming
to certain customs of the Jews in the eating of the Passover, gave His
sanction to ceremonies which m... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:33
Enthusiasm and its Dangers.
I. One reason of St. Peter's confidence was that he did not realise
the situation which was awaiting him. As yet he had had no experience
of any trial of the kind, and he seems not to have had that kind of
imagination which can anticipate the untried with a... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:34
Christian Recompense.
The case of Peter shows that there is a denial of Christ which may be
forgiven, although there is a denial of Him which will not. There is a
denial of Him which may be forgiven, if we turn to Him, as Peter did,
in sincere and hearty repentance. Peter went out an... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:36
The Conflict in Gethsemane.
I. The place of the conflict calls for a brief notice. Gethsemane is
now only a name for one of the booths in Vanity Fair. There are two
rival Gethsemanes, and rival guides wrangle about the truth of this
and that local identification. One place, called th... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:36
Gethsemane.
I. The first thing to which we direct attention, is the intense
severity of the suffering which now overwhelmed and oppressed the mind
of Christ. The extreme severity of Christ's sufferings in the garden
are indicated by several circumstances. (1) It appears that as soon a... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:38
The Valley of the Shadow of Death.
I. Whether death be easy or painful, it is appointed unto all men once
to die. This everyone knows, so that each person thinks that he can
gain nothing by hearing it repeated. But I imagine, that although we
know that we shall die, yet we who move a... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:38
Divine Sorrow.
It is not on the actual physical sufferings of the Crucifixion that
the Bible most invites us to dwell it relates them, but it passes over
them as lightly as the circumstances will admit but on the inner
suffering, on the inner intentions of the scene, we are invited t... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:39
The Will of God the Cure of Self-will.
It was the deep disease of self-will to cure which our good Lord came,
in our nature, to fulfil the Father's will, to suffer what the Father
willed, to "empty Himself and become obedient unto death." Since pride
was the chief source of disease i... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:40
I. How gently, yet how earnestly, does Christ call upon us to watch
and pray, lest we enter into temptation. To watch and to pray; for of
all those around Him some were sleeping and none were praying; so that
they who watched were not watching with Him, but against Him. In our
careles... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:39 , MATTHEW 26:42
Submission a Progress.
To enter fully into the mystery of Christ's agony is not given to the
living. But even the faint distant glimpse which we catch of it causes
to rise upon this life of ours a marvellous light. The mourner has
felt it so, and the sinner has felt i... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:45
Too Late.
In these words our Lord means: "It is too late. The opportunity is
lost and gone. The time for watching and praying is over; you have let
it escape you. You may as well sleep now. Alas! there is now nothing
to be done; you must now enter, as you may, into temptation." If th... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:45
The Parabolical Language of Christ.
I. Our Lord's habitual language was parabolical. I use the word in a
wide sense, to include all language which is not meant to be taken
according to the letter. This seems to have been, if I may venture to
say so, the favourite language in which He... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:50
The Last Pleading of Love.
Note:
I. The patience of Christ's love. If we take no higher view of this
most pathetic incident than that the words come from a man's lips,
even then all its beauty will not be lost. There are some sins against
friendship, in which the manner is harder to... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:56
The Fickleness of Friends.
I. "Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled." The cruelty of all
this it would be hard to exaggerate. For three years and upwards their
Divine Master had been building up their faith and binding them to
Himself by a thousand heavenly arts. They had witne... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:57 , MATTHEW 26:69
Peter's Denial of Jesus.
Although Peter's denial of his Lord shocked all witnesses as a sudden,
unaccountable, disconnected thing, it was in reality but the last act
in a succession of acts, one growing out of another.
I. Think of this deed in connection with a certai... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:58
I. Like the rest of the disciples, Peter no sooner saw the capture of
the Lord than he forsook Him and fled. He has scarcely fled when he
turns to follow but he follows afar off, as one who would disguise
even while he yields to the impulse. In the very midst of the high
priest's serva... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:63
When our Lord was upon earth, the measure of the fulness of His
revelation to men was conditioned by their disposition towards
Himself, and by their general moral character. This explains His
silence to Caiaphas, to Herod, and to Pilate. In like manner the
Scriptures are silent to som... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 26:57 , MATTHEW 26:69
Peter's Denial of Jesus.
Although Peter's denial of his Lord shocked all witnesses as a sudden,
unaccountable, disconnected thing, it was in reality but the last act
in a succession of acts, one growing out of another.
I. Think of this deed in connection with a certai... [ Continue Reading ]