The Last Supper; Jesus prays in Gethsemane

Jesus goes to the cross knowingly and willingly at the Father’s appointed time. At the Passover meal He explains that His death is His covenant blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. In Gethsemane and at His arrest, He shows obedient submission, not helpless defeat.

This section opens with Jesus directing the preparations for the Passover meal. When He says, “My time is near,” He shows that He knows exactly what lies ahead. He is not being swept along by events. The suffering before Him is the appointed moment in the Father’s plan.

During the meal, Jesus announces that one of the twelve will betray Him. The disciples are deeply troubled and begin asking if it could be them. Jesus holds two truths together. The Son of Man goes to His death “as it is written,” so His path fulfills Scripture. At the same time, the betrayer remains guilty. That is why Jesus says, “Woe to that man.” God’s plan is being fulfilled, but Judas is not excused.

Matthew also notes that Judas addresses Jesus as “Rabbi,” not “Lord.” This fits Matthew’s broader portrayal of Judas’s hollow association with Jesus. When Jesus answers him, it is clear that the betrayal is no surprise.

Jesus then gives the bread and the cup their meaning. The bread refers to His body, and the cup refers to His blood. The main explanatory emphasis falls on the cup: it is “my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” These words reach back to Old Testament covenant and sacrifice. “Blood of the covenant” echoes covenant-ratifying blood, especially in Exodus. Jesus is saying that His death is the decisive sacrificial act that establishes covenant relationship and brings forgiveness.

Matthew makes the saving purpose especially clear by including the words “for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus’ death is therefore not merely martyrdom, an example, or a tragic end. It is redemptive and deals with sin. The phrase “for many” is best understood in a representative and substitutionary sense: the one gives His life on behalf of the many. The verse emphasizes the saving benefit of His death without requiring this verse by itself to settle every later theological debate.

Jesus then says He will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until He drinks it new with them in His Father’s kingdom. So the cross is not the end of the story. Suffering is near, but future kingdom fellowship is coming.

After singing a hymn, they go out to the Mount of Olives. There Jesus tells the disciples that all of them will fall away that very night. He supports this with Scripture: “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.” Their failure is therefore foreknown within God’s redemptive plan, but it is not excused. Yet Jesus immediately adds hope: “After I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Even here, resurrection and regathering are already in view.

Peter insists that even if everyone else falls away, he never will. Jesus plainly predicts that before the rooster crows Peter will deny Him three times. Peter still protests, and the others join him. The point is clear: strong intention by itself is not enough. Sincere resolve can collapse under pressure.

In Gethsemane, Matthew lets us see Jesus’ real anguish. He is distressed, troubled, and sorrowful to the point of death. This is not sinful hesitation. It is the true emotional weight of the sinless Son facing the cup the Father has appointed for Him.

That “cup” should not be reduced to fear of physical pain alone. In Scripture, the cup often stands for one’s appointed portion, especially suffering and judgment. Here it refers to the suffering bound up with Jesus’ mission and the death He must undergo in obedience to the Father. So when He prays, “If possible, let this cup pass from me,” He expresses real human shrinking from that burden. But He immediately places His desire under the Father’s will: “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” His request is real, and His obedience is complete.

Jesus returns and finds the disciples sleeping. His warning is crucial: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Here “spirit” is best understood as their sincere intention, while “flesh” refers to human weakness. They mean well, but they are not spiritually watchful, and their weakness is already showing. Their sleep prepares for their coming failure.

Jesus prays three times. This repetition does not show indecision. It shows settled submission. His prayer moves from asking whether the cup might pass to accepting that if it cannot pass, then the Father’s will must be done. In contrast, the disciples fail repeatedly. Jesus stands firm in obedience while they drift further into weakness.

When Judas arrives with the crowd, the betrayal comes by means of a kiss. That act is especially dark because it uses a sign of closeness and respect as the instrument of treachery. Jesus is still not surprised. He addresses Judas calmly and allows the arrest to proceed.

When one of Jesus’ companions uses a sword and cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant, Jesus stops him. He refuses to defend His mission by violence. His words make clear that He is not being overpowered. He could call on His Father and receive more than twelve legions of angels at once. So His arrest happens by willing submission, not by inability to escape. But if He were to avoid arrest in that way, the Scriptures would not be fulfilled. Once again Matthew emphasizes that Jesus surrenders in obedience to the scriptural plan of God.

Jesus then exposes the hypocrisy of the arresting crowd. He had been teaching publicly in the temple day after day, and they did not seize Him there. Yet even this takes place so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.

The section closes with all the disciples fleeing. Matthew presents a complete collapse around Jesus: Judas betrays, Peter boasts, the disciples sleep, one reaches for violence, and all finally scatter. Against that background, Jesus alone remains steadfast. He knows the Father’s will, submits to it, and goes forward to the cross as the One whose blood will be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.