00900
 \\Clothed me\\ (\\periebalete me\\). Second aorist middle indicative,
 cast something around me. \\Visited me\\ (\\epeskepsasthe me\\). Looked
 after, came to see. Our "visit" is from Latin _viso, video_. Cf.
 our English "go to see."

00901
00902
00903
00904
 \\Ye did it unto me\\ (\\emoi epoisate\\). Dative of personal interest.
 Christ identifies himself with the needy and the suffering. This
 conduct is proof of possession of love for Christ and likeness to
 him.

00905
00906
 \\No meat\\ (\\ouk edkate moi phagein\\). You did not give me anything
 to eat. The repetition of the negative \\ou\\ in
 # 42
 and
 # 43
 is like the falling of clods on the coffin or the tomb. It is
 curious the surprise here shown both by the sheep and the goats.
 Some sheep will think that they are goats and some goats will
 think that they are sheep.

00907
00908
00909
00910
 \\Eternal punishment\\ (\\kolasin ainion\\). The word \\kolasin\\ comes from
 \\kolaz\\, to mutilate or prune. Hence those who cling to the larger
 hope use this phrase to mean age-long pruning that ultimately
 leads to salvation of the goats, as disciplinary rather than
 penal. There is such a distinction as Aristotle pointed out
 between \\mria\\ (vengeance) and \\kolasis\\. But the same adjective
 \\ainios\\ is used with \\kolasin\\ and \\zn\\. If by etymology we
 limit the scope of \\kolasin\\, we may likewise have only age-long
 \\zn\\. There is not the slightest indication in the words of Jesus
 here that the punishment is not coeval with the life. We can
 leave all this to the King himself who is the Judge. The
 difficulty to one's mind about conditional chastisement is to
 think how a life of sin in hell can be changed into a life of
 love and obedience. The word \\ainios\\ (from \\ain\\, age, \\aevum,\\
 \\aei\\) means either without beginning or without end or both. It
 comes as near to the idea of eternal as the Greek can put it in
 one word. It is a difficult idea to put into language. Sometimes
 we have "ages of ages" (\\aines tn ainn\\).

00911
00912
 \\Cometh\\ (\\ginetai\\). Futuristic use of the present middle
 indicative. This was probably our Tuesday evening (beginning of
 Jewish Wednesday). The passover began on our Thursday evening
 (beginning of Jewish Friday). \\After two days\\ (\\meta duo hmeras\\)
 is just the familiar popular mode of speech. The passover came
 technically on the second day from this time. \\Is delivered up\\
 (\\paradidotai\\). Another instance of the futuristic present passive
 indicative. The same form occurs in verse
 # 24
 Thus Jesus sets a definite date for the coming crucifixion which
 he has been predicting for six months.

00913
 \\Then were gathered together the chief priests and elders of the\\
 \\people\\ (\\Tote sunchthsan hoi archiereis kai hoi presbuteroi tou\\
 \\laou\\). A meeting of the Sanhedrin as these two groups indicate
 (cf.
 # 21:23
 \\Unto the court\\ (\\eis tn auln\\). The _atrium_ or court around
 which the palace buildings were built. Here in this open court
 this informal meeting was held. Caiaphas was high priest A.D. 18
 to 36. His father-in-law Annas had been high priest A.D. 6 to 15
 and was still called high priest by many.

00914
 \\They took counsel together\\ (\\sunebouleusanto\\). Aorist middle
 indicative, indicating their puzzled state of mind. They have had
 no trouble in finding Jesus
 # Joh 11:57
 Their problem now is how to \\take Jesus by subtilty and kill him\\
 (\\hina ton Isoun doli kratsosin kai apokteinsin\\). The
 Triumphal Entry and the Tuesday debate in the temple revealed the
 powerful following that Jesus had among the crowds from Galilee.

00915
 \\A tumult\\ (\\thorubos\\). They feared the uprising in behalf of Jesus
 and were arguing that the matter must be postponed till after the
 feast was over when the crowds had scattered. Then they could
 catch him "by craft" (\\doli\\) as they would trap a wild beast.

00916
 \\In the house of Simon the leper\\ (\\en oikii Simnos tou leprou\\).
 Evidently a man who had been healed of his leprosy by Jesus who
 gave the feast in honour of Jesus. All sorts of fantastic
 theories have arisen about it. Some even identify this Simon with
 the one in
 # Lu 7:36
 but Simon was a very common name and the details are very
 different. Some hold that it was Martha's house because she
 served
 # Joh 12:2
 and that Simon was either the father or husband of Martha, but
 Martha loved to serve and that proves nothing. Some identify Mary
 of Bethany with the sinful woman in
 # Lu 7
 and even with Mary Magdalene, both gratuitous and groundless
 propositions. For the proof that Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalene,
 and the sinful woman of
 # Lu 7
 are all distinct see my _Some Minor Characters in the New
 Testament_. John
 # Joh 12:1
 apparently locates the feast six days before the passover, while
 Mark
 # Mr 14:3
 and Matthew
 # 26:6
 seem to place it on the Tuesday evening (Jewish Wednesday) just
 two days before the passover meal. It is possible that John
 anticipates the date and notes the feast at Bethany at this time
 because he does not refer to Bethany again. If not, the order of
 Mark must be followed. According to the order of Mark and
 Matthew, this feast took place at the very time that the
 Sanhedrin was plotting about the death of Jesus
 # Mr 14:1

00917
 \\An alabaster cruse of exceeding precious ointment\\ (\\alabastron\\
 \\murou barutimou\\). The flask was of alabaster, a carbonate of lime
 or sulphate of lime, white or yellow stone, named alabaster from
 the town in Egypt where it was chiefly found. It was used for a
 phial employed for precious ointments in ancient writers,
 inscriptions and papyri just as we speak of a glass for the
 vessel made of glass. It had a cylindrical form at the top, as a
 rule, like a closed rosebud (Pliny). Matthew does not say what
 the ointment (\\murou\\) was, only saying that it was "exceeding
 precious" (\\barutimou\\), of weighty value, selling at a great
 price. Here only in the N.T. "An alabaster of nard (\\murou\\) was a
 present for a king" (Bruce). It was one of five presents sent by
 Cambyses to the King of Ethiopia (Herodotus, iii. 20). \\She poured\\
 \\it upon his head\\ (\\katecheen epi ts kephals autou\\). So Mark
 # Mr 14:3
 while John
 # Joh 12:3
 says that she "anointed the feet of Jesus." Why not both? The
 verb \\katecheen\\ is literally to pour down. It is the first aorist
 active indicative, unusual form.

00918
 \\This waste\\ (\\h apleia haut\\). Dead loss (\\apleia\\) they
 considered it, nothing but sentimental aroma. It was a cruel
 shock to Mary of Bethany to hear this comment. Matthew does not
 tell as John does
 # Joh 12:4
 that it was Judas who made the point which the rest endorsed.
 Mark explains that they mentioned "three hundred pence," while
 Matthew
 # 26:9
 only says "for much" (\\pollou\\).

00919
00920
 \\Why trouble ye the woman?\\ (\\ti kopous parechete ti gunaiki?\\) A
 phrase not common in Greek writers, though two examples occur in
 the papyri for giving trouble. \\Kopos\\ is from \\kopt\\, to beat,
 smite, cut. It is a beating, trouble, and often work, toil. Jesus
 champions Mary's act with this striking phrase. It is so hard for
 some people to allow others liberty for their own personalities
 to express themselves. It is easy to raise small objections to
 what we do not like and do not understand. \\A good work upon me\\
 (\\ergon kalon eis eme\\). A beautiful deed upon Jesus himself.

00921
00922
 \\To prepare me for burial\\ (\\pros to entaphiasai me\\). Mary alone had
 understood what Jesus had repeatedly said about his approaching
 death. The disciples were so wrapped up in their own notions of a
 political kingdom that they failed utterly to sympathize with
 Jesus as he faced the cross. But Mary with the woman's fine
 intuitions did begin to understand and this was her way of
 expressing her high emotions and loyalty. The word here is the
 same used in
 # Joh 19:40
 about what Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus did for the body of
 Jesus before burial with the addition of \\pros to\\ showing the
 purpose of Mary (the infinitive of purpose). Mary was vindicated
 by Jesus and her noble deed has become a "memorial of her" (\\eis\\
 \\mnmosumon auts\\) as well as of Jesus.

00923
00924
00925
 \\What are ye willing to give me?\\ (\\ti thelete moi dounai?\\) This
 "brings out the _chaffering_ aspect of the transaction"
 (Vincent). "Mary and Judas extreme opposites: she freely spending
 in love, he willing to sell his Master for money" (Bruce). And
 her act of love provoked Judas to his despicable deed, this
 rebuke of Jesus added to all the rest. \\And I will deliver him\\
 \\unto you\\ (\\kag hmin parads auton\\). The use of \\kai\\ with a
 co-ordinate clause is a colloquialism (common in the _Koin_ as
 in the Hebrew use of _wav_. "A colloquialism or a Hebraism, the
 traitor mean in style as in spirit" (Bruce). The use of \\eg\\ seems
 to mean "I though one of his disciples will hand him over to you
 if you give me enough." \\They weighed unto him\\ (\\hoi de estsan\\
 \\auto\\). They placed the money in the balances or scales. "Coined
 money was in use, but the shekels may have been weighed out in
 antique fashion by men careful to do an iniquitous thing in the
 most orthodox way" (Bruce). It is not known whether the Sanhedrin
 had offered a reward for the arrest of Jesus or not. \\Thirty\\
 \\pieces of silver\\ (\\triakonta arguria\\). A reference to
 # Zec 11:12
 If a man's ox gored a servant, he had to pay this amount
 # Ex 21:32
 Some manuscripts have \\statras\\ (staters). These thirty silver
 shekels were equal to 120 \\denarii\\, less than five English pounds,
 less than twenty-five dollars, the current price of a slave.
 There was no doubt contempt for Jesus in the minds of both the
 Sanhedrin and Judas in this bargain.

00926
 \\Sought opportunity\\ (\\eztei eukarian\\). A good chance. Note
 imperfect tense. Judas went at his business and stuck to it.

00927
 \\To eat the passover\\ (\\phagein to pascha\\). There were two feasts
 rolled into one, the passover feast and the feast of unleavened
 bread. Either name was employed. Here the passover meal is meant,
 though in
 # Joh 18:28
 it is probable that the passover feast is referred to as the
 passover meal (the last supper) had already been observed. There
 is a famous controversy on the apparent disagreement between the
 Synoptic Gospels and the Fourth Gospel on the date of this last
 passover meal. My view is that the five passages in John
 # Joh 13:1,27; 18:28; 19:14,31
 rightly interpreted agree with the Synoptic Gospels
 # Mt 26:17,20; Mr 14:12,17; Lu 22:7,14
 that Jesus ate the passover meal at the regular time about 6 P.M.
 beginning of 15 Nisan. The passover lamb was slain on the
 afternoon of 14 Nisan and the meal eaten at sunset the beginning
 of 15 Nisan. According to this view Jesus ate the passover meal
 at the regular time and died on the cross the afternoon of 15
 Nisan. See my _Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of
 Christ_, pp.279-284. The question of the disciples here assumes
 that they are to observe the regular passover meal. Note the
 deliberative subjunctive (\\hetoimasmen\\) after \\theleis\\ with
 \\hina\\. For the asyndeton see Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 935.

00928
 \\To such a man\\ (\\pros ton deina\\). The only instance in the N.T. of
 this old Attic idiom. The papyri show it for "Mr. X" and the
 modern Greek keeps it. Jesus may have indicated the man's name.
 Mark
 # Mr 14:13
 and Luke
 # Lu 22:10
 describe him as a man bearing a pitcher of water. It may have
 been the home of Mary the mother of John Mark. \\I keep the\\
 \\passover at thy house\\ (\\pros se poi to pascha\\). Futuristic
 present indicative. The use of \\pros se\\ for "at thy house" is neat
 Greek of the classic period. Evidently there was no surprise in
 this home at the command of Jesus. It was a gracious privilege to
 serve him thus.

00929
00930
 \\He was sitting at meat\\ (\\anekeito\\). He was reclining, lying back
 on the left side on the couch with the right hand free. Jesus and
 the Twelve all reclined. The paschal lamb had to be eaten up
 entirely
 # Ex 12:4,43

00931
 \\One of you\\ (\\heis ex humn\\). This was a bolt from the blue for all
 except Judas and he was startled to know that Jesus understood
 his treacherous bargain.

00932
 \\Is it I, Lord?\\ (\\mti eg eimi, Kurie;\\). The negative expects the
 answer No and was natural for all save Judas. But he had to bluff
 it out by the same form of question (verse
 # 25
 The answer of Jesus, \\Thou hast said\\ (\\su eipas\\), means Yes.

00933
 \\He that dipped\\ (\\ho embapsas\\). They all dipped their hands, having
 no knives, forks, or spoons. The aorist participle with the
 article simply means that the betrayer is the one who dips his
 hand in the dish (\\en ti trublii\\) or platter with the broth of
 nuts and raisins and figs into which the bread was dipped before
 eating. It is plain that Judas was not recognized by the rest as
 indicated by what Jesus has said. This language means that one of
 those who had eaten bread with him had violated the rights of
 hospitality by betraying him. The Arabs today are punctilious on
 this point. Eating one's bread ties your hands and compels
 friendship. But Judas knew full well as is shown in verse
 # 25
 though the rest apparently did not grasp it.

00934
 \\Good were it for that man\\ (\\kalon n auti\\). Conclusion of
 second-class condition even though \\an\\ is not expressed. It is not
 needed with verbs of obligation and necessity. There are some
 today who seek to palliate the crime of Judas. But Jesus here
 pronounces his terrible doom. And Judas heard it and went on with
 his hellish bargain with the Sanhedrin. Apparently Judas went out
 at this stage
 # Joh 13:31

00935
00936
 \\And blessed and brake it\\ (\\eulogsas eklasen\\). Special "Grace" in
 the middle of the passover meal, "as they were eating," for the
 institution of the Supper. Jesus broke one of the passover wafers
 or cakes that each might have a piece, not as a symbol of the
 breaking of his body as the Textus Receptus has it in
 # 1Co 11:24
 The correct text there has only to \\huper humn\\ without \\klmenon\\.
 As a matter of fact the body of Jesus was not "broken"
 # Joh 19:33
 as John expressly states. \\This is my body\\ (\\touto estin to sma\\
 \\mou\\). The bread as a symbol _represents_ the body of Jesus
 offered for us, "a beautifully simple, pathetic, and poetic
 symbol of his death" (Bruce). But some have made it "run into
 fetish worship" (Bruce). Jesus, of course, does not mean that the
 bread actually becomes his body and is to be worshipped. The
 purpose of the memorial is to remind us of his death for our
 sins.

00937
00938
 \\The Covenant\\ (\\ts diathks\\). The adjective \\kains\\ in Textus
 Receptus is not genuine. The covenant is an agreement or contract
 between two (\\dia, duo, thke\\, from \\tithmi\\). It is used also for
 will (Latin, _testamentum_) which becomes operative at death
 # Heb 9:15-17
 Hence our _New Testament_. Either covenant or will makes sense
 here. Covenant is the idea in
 # Heb 7:22; 8:8
 and often. In the Hebrew to make a covenant was to cut up the
 sacrifice and so ratify the agreement
 # Ge 15:9-18
 Lightfoot argues that the word \\diathke\\ means covenant in the
 N.T. except in
 # Heb 9:15-17
 Jesus here uses the solemn words of
 # Ex 24:8
 "the blood of the covenant" at Sinai. "My blood of the covenant"
 is in contrast with that. This is the New Covenant of
 # Jer 31; Heb 8
 \\Which is shed for many\\ (\\to peri polln ekchunnomenon\\). A
 prophetic present passive participle. The act is symbolized by
 the ordinance. Cf. the purpose of Christ expressed in
 # 20:28
 There \\anti\\ and here \\peri\\. \\Unto remission of sins\\ (\\eis aphesin\\
 \\hamartin\\). This clause is in Matthew alone but it is not to be
 restricted for that reason. It is the truth. This passage answers
 all the modern sentimentalism that finds in the teaching of Jesus
 only pious ethical remarks or eschatological dreamings. He had
 the definite conception of his death on the cross as the basis of
 forgiveness of sin. The purpose of the shedding of his blood of
 the New Covenant was precisely to remove (forgive) sins.

00939
 \\When I drink it new with you\\ (\\hotan auto pin meth' humn\\
 \\kaimon\\). This language rather implies that Jesus himself partook
 of the bread and the wine, though it is not distinctly stated. In
 the Messianic banquet it is not necessary to suppose that Jesus
 means the language literally, "the fruit of the vine." Deissmann
 (_Bible Studies_, pp. 109f.) gives an instance of \\genma\\ used of
 the vine in a papyrus 230 B.C. The language here employed does
 not make it obligatory to employ wine rather than pure grape
 juice if one wishes the other.

00940
 \\Sang a hymn\\ (\\humnsantes\\). The _Hallel_, part of
 # Ps 115-118
 But apparently they did not go out at once to the Garden of
 Gethsemane. Jesus tarried with them in the Upper Room for the
 wonderful discourse and prayer in
 # Joh 14-17
 They may have gone out to the street after
 # Joh 14:31
 It was no longer considered obligatory to remain in the house
 after the passover meal till morning as at the start
 # Ex 12:22
 Jesus went out to Gethsemane, the garden of the agony, outside of
 Jerusalem, toward the Mount of Olives.

00941
00942
00943
 \\I will never be offended\\ (\\eg oudepote skandalisthsomai\\). "Made
 to stumble," not "offended." Volitive future passive indicative.
 Peter ignored the prophecy of the resurrection of Jesus and the
 promised meeting in Galilee
 # 32
 The quotation from
 # Zec 13:7
 made no impression on him. He was intent on showing that he was
 superior to "all" the rest. Judas had turned traitor and all were
 weak, Peter in particular, little as he knew it. So Jesus has to
 make it plainer by pointing out "this night" as the time
 # 34
 \\Before the cock crows\\ (\\prin alektora phnsai\\). No article in the
 Greek, "before a cock crow." Mark
 # Mr 14:30
 says that Peter will deny Jesus thrice before the cock crows
 twice. When one cock crows in the morning, others generally
 follow. The three denials lasted over an hour. Some scholars hold
 that chickens were not allowed in Jerusalem by the Jews, but the
 Romans would have them.

00944
00945
 \\Even if I must die with thee\\ (\\kn dei me sun soi apothanein\\).
 Third-class condition. A noble speech and meant well. His boast
 of loyalty is made still stronger by \\ou m se aparnsomai\\. The
 other disciples were undoubtedly embarrassed by Peter's boast and
 lightheartedly joined in the same profession of fidelity.

00946
 \\Gethsemane\\ (\\Gethsmanei\\). The word means oil-press in the Hebrew,
 or olive vat. The place (\\chrion\\) was an enclosed plot or estate,
 "garden," or orchard (\\kpos\\). It is called _villa_ in the Vulgate
 according to
 # Joh 18:1
 It was beyond the torrent Kedron at the foot of the Mount of
 Olives about three-fourths of a mile from the eastern walls of
 Jerusalem. There are now eight old olive trees still standing in
 this enclosure. One cannot say that they are the very trees near
 which Jesus had his Agony, but they are very old. "They will
 remain so long as their already protracted life is spared, the
 most venerable of their race on the surface of the earth. Their
 guarded trunks and scanty foliage will always be regarded as the
 most affecting of the sacred memorials in or about Jerusalem"
 (Stanley, _Sinai and Palestine_). \\Here\\ (\\autou\\), \\Yonder\\ (\\ekei\\).
 Jesus clearly pointed to the place where he would pray. Literally
 "there."

00947
 \\He took with him\\ (\\paralabn\\). Taking along, by his side (\\para-\\),
 as a mark of special favour and privilege, instead of leaving
 this inner circle of three (Peter, James, and John) with the
 other eight. The eight would serve as a sort of outer guard to
 watch by the gate of the garden for the coming of Judas while the
 three would be able to share the agony of soul already upon Jesus
 so as at least to give him some human sympathy which he craved as
 he sought help from the Father in prayer. These three had been
 with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and now they are with
 him in this supreme crisis. The grief of Christ was now severe.
 The word for \\sore troubled\\ (\\admonein\\) is of doubtful etymology.
 There is an adjective \\admos\\ equal to \\apodmos\\ meaning "not at
 home," "away from home," like the German _unheimisch,
 unheimlich_. But whatever the etymology, the notion of intense
 discomfort is plain. The word \\admonein\\ occurs in P.Oxy. II,
 298,456 of the first century A.D. where it means "excessively
 concerned." See
 # Php 2:26
 where Paul uses it of Epaphroditus. Moffatt renders it here
 "agitated." The word occurs sometimes with \\apore\\ to be at a loss
 as to which way to go. The _Braid Scots_ has it "sair
 putten-aboot." Here Matthew has also "to be sorrowful"
 (\\lupeisthai\\), but Mark
 # Mr 14:33
 has the startling phrase \\greatly amazed and sore troubled\\
 (\\ekthambeisthai kai admonein\\), a "feeling of terrified
 surprise."

00948
 \\Watch with me\\ (\\grgoreite met' emou\\). This late present from the
 perfect \\egrgora\\ means to keep awake and not go to sleep. The
 hour was late and the strain had been severe, but Jesus pleaded
 for a bit of human sympathy as he wrestled with his Father. It
 did not seem too much to ask. He had put his sorrow in strong
 language, "even unto death" (\\hes thanatou\\) that ought to have
 alarmed them.

00949
 \\He went forward a little\\ (\\proelthn mikron\\). As if he could not
 fight the battle in their immediate presence. He was on his face,
 not on his knees (McNeile). \\This cup\\ (\\to potrion touto\\). The
 figure can mean only the approaching death. Jesus had used it of
 his coming death when James and John came to him with their
 ambitious request, "the cup which I am about to drink"
 # Mt 20:22
 But now the Master is about to taste the bitter dregs in the cup
 of death for the sin of the world. He was not afraid that he
 would die before the Cross, though he instinctively shrank from
 the cup, but instantly surrendered his will to the Father's will
 and drank it to the full. Evidently Satan tempted Christ now to
 draw back from the Cross. Here Jesus won the power to go on to
 Calvary.
