Matthew 26: An Extravagance He Defends
· #gospels #matthew
✝ Passage: Matthew 26
A woman breaks open a jar of expensive perfume and pours it on Jesus’ head; the disciples call it waste (26:8-9). Jesus defends her without qualification: “she has done a good work for me” (26:10) and promises her act will be told “wherever this Good News is preached in the whole world” (26:13). It’s a strange thing to memorialize forever — not a sermon, not a miracle, just one extravagant, impractical gesture of love, done while there was still time to do it.
Read it in the terminal:
bible matthew 26
A meal that becomes a promise
At Passover, Jesus takes bread and wine and reframes them: “Take, eat; this is my body” and “this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins” (26:26-28). He takes an ancient ritual commemorating a past rescue and quietly makes it about a rescue not yet finished.
The prayer that costs him something real
In Gethsemane, Jesus is “exceedingly sorrowful, even to death” (26:38) and prays three times, honestly: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire” (26:39). It’s not a scripted resignation — the request and the surrender are both real, side by side.
A kiss, a sword, and a silence
Judas’ betrayal-kiss, Peter’s sword swing and Jesus’ rebuke of it, the disciples scattering, Peter’s three denials by a fire — the chapter ends in fragments, everyone failing in a different way, while Jesus alone moves toward what’s coming with open eyes.
Questions for study
- What would an “impractical” act of love, done now while there’s time, look like for you?
- How does the Lord’s Supper change if you read it as Jesus reframing an old rescue around a new one?
- Gethsemane holds honest reluctance and full surrender together. Which do you tend to skip?
- Peter’s denial follows his loudest promise of loyalty (26:33-35). What’s the gap between your promises and your pressure points?