Three Major Scenes in Matthew 26

Read Matthew 26:26-46.
​We have three major scenes in this passage.

1. SORROW (VV. 26-38)
During the Passover meal, I picture the disciples enjoying this day like most Jews. They, no doubt, would have remembered God’s mighty works to rescue Israel. They also likely had a good laugh, maybe poking fun with one another. Jesus may have joined in. But inwardly, He was deeply grieved. It begins to surface in the giving of the bread and cup.

2. SOLITUDE (VV. 39-41)
In this moment of solitude, what was Jesus thinking? How did He visualize His situation. The word Gethsemane means “oil-press.” Certainly, He felt “pressed.” He had the weight of the world’s sin on Him, pressing down.
He was alone in this. Only He was called to be the Lamb of God. Only He had the power to atone for sin. He was alone in that His disciples were elsewhere, on mission from Him. But He was not alone spiritually. He suffered, but with His Father’s listening ear, and the ministry of the angels.

3. SUBMISSION (VV. 42-46)
In prayer, He submitted to the eternal and divine plan of redemption. In the flesh, He submitted to sinful men, who had no clue what they were about to do in the grand scheme of things, nor what they were going to be offered through His death.

Likewise, in the Lord’s Supper, we have sorrow, thinking of what our Lord went through. However, we also have joy, knowing we have been reconciled to God through death.

In the Lord’s Supper, we often reflect in solitude, with thankful hearts to the Lord. But we also partake in communion as the body of the Lord.

In the Lord’s Supper, we submit to the will and knowledge of the Lord, knowing that it is the sacrifice that truly sets us free.