As a story, it has everything you need for a good movie.

Conflict. Courage. Betrayal. 

Characters who crumble when the cost of discipleship is too high.

People who pour out everything they have in an act of selfless obedience.

It’s awesome, and at the same time it’s terrible.

And it presents us with a question.

How deeply do you want to know this chapter? How much would you like to study these few verses?

Do you want something simple, a practical truth that you can hide away and use during the day? Or do you want to dive into this gospel of Matthew and plan to stay there awhile?

The story here in this chapter is complex. The conflict that has been simmering for years now takes on a furious and bizarre shape. The plan of God has been waiting even longer, and now it takes on a very, very deep meaning.

As a result, there is much to study here. For our purposes in this study, we’ll try to walk a tightrope between the deep truth and the shallow. We’ll look at some of the more serious issues, and at the same time, we may be able to retrieve some very simple lessons, as well.

Not easy to do, but let’s give it a try.

First, a look across the different scenes in chapter twenty-six.

Jesus has hinted about the cross, but now he tells his disciples that he will be handed over to the authorities and crucified around the time of the Passover, just a few days away.

The camera then jumps to a scene at a palace, where the chief priests and elders are gathered to discuss the very same problem. They decide to arrest Jesus, but they are missing one piece of the plan. They don’t know when to do it. They are afraid of the reaction of the people to a public arrest, so they need some help pulling this whole thing off.

With all this conflict boiling over in the background, Jesus is at somebody’s home, when a woman comes up to him and pours a jar of perfume over his head. That sparks some debate.

Just after this incident, Judas goes to the chief priests and offers to give them the one thing they needed, a way to find Jesus at a private location, away from the crowds, where the soldiers could arrest him.

When Jesus sits down to celebrate Passover with his disciples, Judas is there, and Jesus announces that someone at the table will betray him.

After the meal, they go out away from the city, and Jesus tells the disciples more about the cross. And he warns them that they will all fall away from him. Peter once again contradicts Jesus. He will never fall away, or so he thinks.

Jesus then takes the disciples to a quiet place to pray, but the disciples fall asleep.

Judas arrives with the soldiers, and Jesus is arrested. The disciples all run away and leave Jesus to face the trial and the cross alone. 

Jesus is taken to the offices of the high priest, where he is accused of things that are misunderstandings of what he said. He is beaten and ridiculed, and the priests hatch a plan to have Jesus killed.

Peter waits nearby, but as people accuse him of being a disciple of Jesus, Peter repeatedly denies knowing Jesus at all. As the chapter closes, Peter realizes his failure. He runs away again and weeps.

Just looking through the chapter, a person could pick up on some very strong themes. There is hatred here, for one thing. The feelings against Jesus take on a horrible, crazed form.

And it is difficult to find one thing that he has done to merit this angry backlash. He healed people. He fed people. He taught about kindness and peace. And he called people back to obedience to God.

And yet, they raged against him. Unthinkable.

It suggests a larger divide in the world, a separation between what is good and what is evil. This is not just a difference of style or a conflict between personalities. It is a war that rages between two unmistakable powers.

There is God, and there is a powerful movement against God. It is embodied in the one that the scripture describes as the deceiver, the liar, and the prince of this world.

What happens in that room somewhere in the palace of the high priest is a scene that has been orchestrated by Satan. The hatred is not simply the fear of a few powerful people who might lose their station in the community. It is a rage against the rule of God, and it will spill over into the entire city and carry Jesus to the cross.

Maybe it even suggests the war that rages inside hearts, when we are torn between the desire to know God and the tenacious hold of sin within us.

And whether you see a cosmic war or a personal struggle, there is reason to believe that each of these conflicts has something to say about who Jesus is. He will fight both of these battles. He will free us from both of those conflicts.

The cross is not an unlucky accident, or the retribution of a few old men. Jesus will go to the cross to win an important battle in the cosmic war. His death and resurrection will be a public triumph over Satan and any power that allies itself with death and sin.

And Jesus will be the answer for our own hearts, when we struggle to do the right thing. Just as he will be raised, we will also be raised to a new life.

Rage. Conflict. This is why Jesus came. This is why he will go to the cross. To set us free from such a life.

Another theme might be found in the failures of the disciples. Poor Peter doesn’t look very good in this chapter. In spite of his confidence, he runs from Jesus and even denies him in the most profane language he can muster.

But this is not just Peter’s failure. They all fall away at this moment. And you have to ask why. Are they really this hopeless, or is the moment just so terrible?

If the problem is within them, are they just not paying attention? Did they not hear Jesus describe the cross and his death?

They failed in the garden of Gethsemane. They couldn’t even stay awake.

Maybe that’s the problem. They didn’t pray.

Or maybe the entire challenge of being a disciple is too difficult, maybe too difficult for anyone. The big task coming up for the disciples is the church, and when that moment comes, they won’t be allowed to even think about starting work until they get something else that they need for the job.

In Acts 1, they are promised the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. And when the Spirit arrives, the ministry really begins.

If the Spirit has been necessary all along, then part of the training of the disciples must seem like a kind of failure-therapy. They try and they fail, just to show them that they can’t do anything on their own.

Maybe that’s the point here. On the other hand, maybe the disciples were pushed away at this very dangerous moment to avoid being caught up in the rage that surrounded the cross. Perhaps they found safety by being distant from the trial and the crucifixion.

Maybe. Or perhaps they had to leave for Jesus’ sake. He would find himself alone because of his sacrifice. He carried a heavy load of sin on his shoulders, and one of the effects of sin is isolation from people that you love.

So when Jesus carried our sin, part of the penalty was to carry it alone.

Even God turned away, apparently unable to look upon the awful thoughts and actions that were heaped upon Jesus.

Maybe. We may not know the reason the disciples all failed in this moment. But looking at the failure suggests some things that we ought to know.

One simple truth is that the disciples came back. And when they did, Jesus welcomed them with the most indescribable mercy.

That is something we ought to know.  

Claim that as a promise. For Peter, that must have been the most amazing part of the cross. At the end of the terrible sacrifice, there is wonderful forgiveness, for any failure, for any weakness.

That will be clear in the following chapters, and on into the New Testament. But for now, Peter is caught up in the failure, and the chapter ends with his sudden realization that Jesus was right.

As the rooster crows, Peter hears his own words, the angry denial, laced with obscenities. He is a weak man, unworthy of the trust that God has placed upon him. And for a moment, perhaps he feels that his chance is gone.

He will never serve God, as he had hoped. How could he?

Even the plan of God has apparently unraveled. Jesus seems unwilling to avoid arrest. If he is killed, what then?

Here is another theme. The disciples are caught in the midst of a plan that they cannot understand. How do you pray when the will of God is complicated or hidden or missing entirely?

Jesus went to a garden outside the city to pray.

What did the disciples do?

What do I do?

The fell asleep.

Jesus prayed before the trouble struck, so he would have the strength to endure it. He wanted the disciples to do the same. But they slept, unable to summon the strength for a little prayer time.

If they had prayed, would the disciples have done better when the difficult time came?

Don’t know.

But probably so.

This is the new world in which the disciples will now live. An arrest is nothing. Death can be a victory. The conflict is bigger than you or I can imagine.

The good news is that mercy waits for the fallen disciple. It may not be clear in this chapter, but wait.

And there is strength for the battle, as well. Not in the sword. That is the old world’s weapon.

We find our strength in quiet, hidden away in the garden, waiting for us if we will just come to God.

And pray.

One more thing. The woman with the jar of perfume. She walked into the room, walked up to Jesus, and poured the contents of the jar over his head.

Not to be silly, and not to be mean. To honor him.

The crowd was less than kind.

“What a waste,” they said.

But it wasn’t a waste. It was a sacrifice. And Jesus knew that it was precious in God’s eyes.

In a little while, he would be poured out himself. In the kingdom of God, obedience is a sacrifice. Being a servant is a life of sacrifice. And worship is—well, the same thing, I suppose.

Apparently there is something to learn here. How would you say it. 

Pour out your heart to Jesus. It is always precious.

Pour out your life for Jesus. It is never wasted.

Pour out your treasure on Jesus.

Wait a minute. We read something about treasure before, about treasure in heaven. What did it say?

Oh, yeah. Even if you pour it out, it is still there.