ISRAEL'S REJECTION

Chapter 26 ushers in the story of the passion, the final part and culmination of Matthew's Jesus story. Its very first verses lay the cards firmly on the table: it opens with Jesus reminding the disciples that it is now Passover, and that the time has come for the Son of Man to be crucified (26:1–2). Jesus is the first to speak; it is actually he who is in command of the situation. Only then do the high priests and elders of the nation make their appearance. They resolve, by some trickery, to have Jesus imprisoned and put to death (26:3–4). They are behindhand; they only seem to be the principal actors in this play. In reality they are playing ‘bit parts’ and will lose the game. This is what Matthew is about to narrate.

Their instrument is Judas. Matthew portrays him as avaricious and greedy (26:15). What Judas does, then, is done with evil intent. Fully knowing what he is about to commit, the traitor asks Jesus, moments before the Last Supper: ‘Surely it is not I, Rabbi?’ (26:25). In short, Judas is evil. But he is not the actual villain of the story. In the episode of the Blood Acre, added to the Marcan narrative from a special tradition (27:3–10), he tries to undo the evil he has perpetrated. He becomes a witness of Jesus' innocence: ‘I have sinned by bringing an innocent man to his death.’ But the high priests and elders turn him down: ‘What is that to us?