Coming of the King: Week 59

Matthew 26:30-46: The Submission of the King

• 26:31 "be offended" - root word "skandalon" from which we get "scandal". This is the same word as in 24:10. Zechariah 13
• 26:32 "go ahead of you" - "and was seen by over 500". 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
• 26:35 "yet I will not deny thee" - in the hour of trial, the disciples failed. Only Jesus stood firm in the face of a far greater ordeal.
• 26:37 "heavy" - "pressed down". "Gethsemane" means "olive press", and our King was being pressed out like oil. Luke notes that His sweat was drops of blood - pressed out by enormous weight of our sin.
• 26:38 "Abide with me" - fast falls the eventide. The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide. Our King longs for our company. His intimate friends failed, but He never fails. We may be faithless, but He remains faithful.
• 26:39 "not my will, but Thine" - some say it is always God's will to heal. This suggests otherwise.
• 26:40 "found them asleep" - not from indifference, but from the intensity of their sympathy with His grief. Luke 22:45 Their spirit was willing, but their flesh was weak.
• 26:44 "prayed a third time" - Paul also prayed three times that his suffering might be removed. 2 Corinthians 12:8
• 26:45 "sinners" - the term for gentiles at the time. Jesus must be sentenced to death by the Romans. The Sceptre had departed from Judah 20 years prior. "Sleep now??" - the betrayer was at hand, they must be awake and think of their own personal safety. "Fly you fools!!" - Obi Wan, and Gandalf.