“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” — Matthew 26:39
The Plot Against Jesus (Verses 1–5)
Jesus finishes the Olivet Discourse and tells his disciples plainly: after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. At that same moment, the chief priests and elders are assembling in the palace of the high priest Caiaphas, conspiring to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. Not during the feast, they agree — lest there be an uproar among the people. The irony is total: Jesus announces what is coming with open clarity while those engineering it scheme in secret. His knowledge and their plot are moving toward the same event from opposite directions.
The Anointing at Bethany (Verses 6–13)
In the house of Simon the leper in Bethany, a woman comes to Jesus with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment and pours it on his head as he reclines at table. The disciples are indignant — this could have been sold for a great sum and the money given to the poor. Jesus stops them: why do you trouble this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me. She has anointed my body beforehand for burial. Wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her. The unnamed woman who pours oil on Jesus in the days before his death is given a memorial that has lasted two thousand years. The disciples who objected are not named.
Judas Arranges the Betrayal (Verses 14–16)
Judas Iscariot goes to the chief priests and asks what they will give him to deliver Jesus to them. They pay him thirty pieces of silver — the price of a slave in the law of Moses, the price Zechariah’s shepherd received for his rejected service. From that moment Judas seeks an opportunity to betray him. The contrast with the woman at Bethany is deliberate: she gave everything for the anointing of Jesus; Judas sold him for thirty coins.
The Passover Preparation and the Last Supper (Verses 17–30)
On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples ask where to prepare the Passover. Jesus sends them into the city with instructions — they will find a certain man, tell him the Teacher says his time is at hand, and he will show them the upper room. They do as Jesus directs, and the Passover is prepared. When evening comes, Jesus reclines at table with the twelve and says: truly, one of you will betray me. They are each deeply grieved and begin asking: is it I, Lord? Jesus says it is the one who has dipped his hand in the dish with him. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to the one by whom he is betrayed — it would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Judas, who will betray him, asks: is it I, Rabbi? Jesus tells him: you have said so.
As they are eating, Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to the disciples: take, eat; this is my body. He takes a cup, gives thanks, and gives it to them: drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. They sing a hymn and go out to the Mount of Olives. The meal that has fed Israel at every Passover — commemorating the blood that protected their doors in Egypt — is transformed into the meal that commemorates the blood that covers the world. The bread is his body. The cup is the new covenant.
Peter’s Denial Foretold (Verses 31–35)
On the way to the Mount of Olives Jesus tells them all: you will all fall away because of me this night. It is written: I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I am raised, I will go before you to Galilee. Peter insists he will never fall away, even if all the others do. Jesus tells him: this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. Peter says even if he must die with Jesus he will not deny him. All the disciples say the same.
Gethsemane (Verses 36–46)
Jesus goes with them to a place called Gethsemane and tells the disciples to sit while he goes to pray. He takes Peter and the two sons of Zebedee further in. He begins to be sorrowful and troubled — the words Matthew uses carry the weight of anguish, of deep distress. He tells them: my soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me. He goes a little further, falls on his face, and prays: My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
He returns to find them sleeping. He wakes Peter: could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation — the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. He goes away and prays again: My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. He returns again to find them sleeping, their eyes heavy. He leaves them and prays the third time, the same words. Then he comes back: are you still sleeping? The hour has come. The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going — see, my betrayer is at hand.
The Gethsemane prayer is the most intimate moment in the gospel. Jesus in his humanity does not want to drink this cup. The request that it pass from him is real, not performance. And three times it is answered with the same resolution: not as I will, but as you will. The will that went to the cross was not resigned or reluctant. It was the will of the Son aligned with the will of the Father, held to through agony, and chosen freely.
The Arrest (Verses 47–56)
While Jesus is still speaking, Judas arrives with a large crowd carrying swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and elders of the people. Judas had given them a sign: the one I kiss is the man — seize him. He comes immediately to Jesus and says: Greetings, Rabbi — and kisses him. Jesus says to him: Friend, do what you came to do. They come and lay hands on Jesus and seize him. One of those with Jesus draws his sword and strikes the ear of the high priest’s servant. Jesus stops him: put your sword back. All who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think I cannot appeal to my Father and he will send more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so? He turns to the crowd: you come against me with swords and clubs as though I were a robber. I was with you daily in the temple and you did not seize me. But all of this has happened so that the scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him and fled.
Before Caiaphas and Peter’s Denial (Verses 57–75)
Jesus is led to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders have gathered. Peter follows at a distance to the courtyard of the high priest and sits among the servants. The whole council seeks false testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they find none that suffices. Finally two witnesses claim that Jesus said he could destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. The high priest stands and asks him directly: have you no answer? Jesus remains silent. Then the high priest adjures him by the living God to tell them whether he is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus answers: you have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven. The high priest tears his robes: he has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? They condemn him as deserving death. Some spit in his face and strike him; others mock him.
Meanwhile Peter is in the courtyard. A servant girl recognizes him: you also were with Jesus the Galilean. He denies it before everyone — I do not know what you mean. He goes out to the entrance. Another servant girl sees him: this man was with Jesus of Nazareth. Again he denies it with an oath. A little later the bystanders approach: surely you are one of them — your accent gives you away. He begins to invoke a curse on himself and swear: I do not know the man. And immediately the rooster crows. Peter remembers the word Jesus had spoken: before the rooster crows you will deny me three times. He goes out and weeps bitterly.
Reflection
Matthew 26 is the longest chapter in the gospel and the most emotionally dense. Within a single night, the covenant meal is instituted, the garden prayer is prayed, the arrest is made, the council convenes, and Peter weeps in the cold of the courtyard. Everything the gospel has been moving toward arrives simultaneously.
What anchors the chapter is Gethsemane. The one who came to give his life as a ransom did not do so without cost. The prayer that the cup might pass was real. The willingness that remained after the prayer was also real — freely chosen, held to under pressure, aligned with the Father’s will through tears. The cup will not pass. He will drink it. And in drinking it, everything changes.