The King's Preparation for the Cross, Part 1 (Matthew 26:1–29)

Chapter 26 marks a dramatic shift in Matthew’s gospel. In it is a transition from a teaching on things to come to a retelling of things that are, from predictions of Jesus’s future return to predictions of Jesus’s soon departure, from powerful scenes of victory and vindication to pathetic scenes of vulnerability and apparent defeat. Whereas the disciples had been promised that the Son of Man will come in glory and be eternally enthroned (25:31), now they’re being promised that the Son of Man is going to be tortured and executed (26:2).

Indeed, Matthew 26 and 27 describe what is often called the passion of Christ—the unjust events and brutal sufferings that pave our Lord’s road to the cross. It’s horrific … and wonderful. On one hand, there’s ugly corruption—hatred and hard-heartedness, blindness and betrayal. But, on the other hand, there’s beautiful provision—sovereign and sacrificial, precious and powerful. We must remember both.