When Jesus finished all these words, 2 he said to his disciples,
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"You know that in two days' time it will be Passover, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."
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3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,
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and they consulted together to arrest Jesus by treachery and put him to death.
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But they said, "Not during the festival, 4 that there may not be a riot among the people."
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5 Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,
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a woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of costly perfumed oil, and poured it on his head while he was reclining at table.
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When the disciples saw this, they were indignant and said, "Why this waste?
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It could have been sold for much, and the money given to the poor."
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Since Jesus knew this, he said to them, "Why do you make trouble for the woman? She has done a good thing for me.
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The poor you will always have with you; but you will not always have me.
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6 In pouring this perfumed oil upon my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.
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Amen, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be spoken of, in memory of her."
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Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, 7 went to the chief priests
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8 and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
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and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
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On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, 9 the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"
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10 He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."'"
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The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.
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When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve.
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And while they were eating, he said, "Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." 11
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Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?"
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He said in reply, "He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me.
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12 The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born."
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13 Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" He answered, "You have said so."
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14 15 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my body."
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Then he took a cup, gave thanks, 16 and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you,
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for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.
During Quaker Meeting for Worship in Nashville this last 1st day i was doing a blind Bible reading, something i often do.
I came upon Matt 26 above and can't shake the feeling that something is really wrong with this passage.
It says that the disciples were deeply distressed upon learning that one of them would betray Jesus. But then, the next thing Jesus identifies just who this is, Judas, and then they sit back and eat like nothing just happened. then they allow Judas to do his work??!! with full knowledge of what will happen???!!!
the other part of this passage that i have great difficulty with is "It would be better for that man if he had never been born."
does this mean that God is punishing Judas in hell for betraying Jesus, and also that He created Judas for this role in history?
something to chew on
Bub