Bible Study led by Leila Hirtler

The Bible Study is conducted via email. Anyone wishing to join can contact Leila at lhirtler@yahoo.com

Our current Bible Study is the Gospel of Matthew

Study 2026:

Matthew 26:1-13

October 14, 2026

Matthew dedicates a huge portion of the gospel to the events of Holy Week. Jesus starts his journey to Jerusalem in 19:1-2, “When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he cured them there.” Jesus, disciples and crowd arrive in Jericho in 20:29, “As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.” and began their entry into Jerusalem in 21:1-2, “When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.”

On his first day in Jerusalem, Jesus rode a donkey into town accompanied by a huge crowd of cheering pilgrims declaring him the promised “son of David,” causing the whole city to be in an uproar (21:1-11). Then like any good pilgrim, Jesus, his disciples, and most of the crowd with them, went up to the temple. Once at the temple, pilgrims could be expected to wander around in awe at it’s magnificence, and offer a sacrifice, or make a donation to the temple. Jesus did not do these things. He made a whip and chased the money changers and sellers of sacrificial animals out of the temple. Then he invited people with disabilities, blind, deaf, lame, or having various diseases, into the temple, and healed them! Additionally, children who had been part of the crowd who came to Jerusalem with Jesus were running around the temple still shouting and singing “Hosanna to the Son of David” (21:15). I expect the religious leaders were terrified, and confused, and angry: terrified of what the Romans might say or do because of this uproar; confused because this not what they had planned, nor was it anything they had considered might happen; angry because they felt Jesus was making a mockery of the solemnity and pageantry they had worked so long and so hard to establish. They were delighted when the day was over and he left!

Jesus and disciples spent the night at a friend’s home in Bethany. On his way back to Jerusalem the next morning, Jesus saw a fig tree, and went looking for fruit. There wasn’t any. He cursed it. It withered immediately. (21:17-20) This fig tree sums up everything Jesus was looking for all day: fruit of righteousness!

When Jesus got back to the temple, the religious leaders were still angry from the previous day, and demanded to know what authority Jesus had to be doing what he was doing: teaching, wandering around the country gathering disciples, acting like he was not under the authority of the temple leaders, driving the money changers and sellers of sacrificial animals, and their animals out of the temple courtyards, and so much more. In a country under rule of sword happy Romans, they found Jesus’ behaviors terrifying, and they were certain these behaviors would cause the Romans to attack and destroy their temple, and their city. From their perspective, Jesus was very dangerous and needed to be removed.

Jesus spent much of this second day in the temple talking with the leaders, with the crowds, and his disciples. Much of this conversation was about honoring God with the fruits of righteousness (21:23-23:30). Later in the day, Jesus took his disciples up the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley from the temple, and they asked him questions about future events. During their journey to Jerusalem, the disciples had been asking about his coming kingdom, and who was the greatest, and who would be chosen to sit in places of honor (20:20-28), telling us that the disciples believed Jesus was planning to drive out the Romans and set up his rule as the promised Son of David immediately, and they needed the timeline so they could be prepared. Jesus did not answer their intended questions. Instead he spoke about events future disciples would experience as they waited for Jesus to return, and told them not to fear, and to remember God is always in control, regardless of the circumstances (24:1-25:46).

26:1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

His upcoming rejection and crucifixion was very much on Jesus’ mind during this time. Jesus has been speaking about this frequently. In Matthew 12:40, Jesus spoke about spending three days and nights in the heart of the earth like Jonah, pointing toward his death and resurrection. In Matthew 16, When Jesus and the disciples were near Caesarea Philippi, right after Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah), “Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised on the third day” (16:31). His next announcements about his death and resurrection occur in Matthew 17: As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (17:9) and “As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they were greatly distressed.” (17:22-23). Jesus third announcement is in Matthew 20:17-19, “While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves and said to them on the way, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.”

The disciples do not take Jesus’ words seriously, or if they do, they quickly forget. They were much more focused on their own fantasies about power, and honor, and driving out the Romans, and initiating a new golden age for Israel (20:20-24; 24:3; Acts 1:6-7). On the other hand, we see that Jesus knew exactly what is going to happen: Jesus was walking to his death with his eyes wide open. He knew he will be killed; he knew he would be mocked, flogged and crucified; he knew he would be betrayed. However, he also knew he would be raised from the dead!!!! He knew that death would be hard and brutal, but he also knew death would not have the final word. Jesus was not a victim of his circumstances. Jesus knew his father was in charge of life and death, and walked forward to his death, and resurrection, in full trust and obedience to his father.

These two views of the future will continue to conflict with each other throughout the remainder of the gospel of Matthew.

Then Jesus and his disciples returned to Bethany to enjoy their friends’ hospitality.

26:3 Then the high priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”

“The high priests”: Under the Mosaic law, the high priesthood was a single, singular office held by one descendant of Aaron for life. In the New Testament, both Annas and Caiaphas are mentioned in connection with the high priesthood. Roman authorities found Annas impossible to work with, and deposed him, and appointed his son-in-law Caiaphas as the high priest, AD 18-36. Israel did not accept this, however, to avoid giving the Romans yet another reason to kill people, Israel chose to refer to both as high priest. Annas retained massive political and familial influence through sons and his son in law Caiaphas, with people to still referring to him as a high priest. Caiaphas had the unenviable position of keeping peace between the priesthood and the Romans. According to the Book of Acts (4:6–7), Caiaphas remained high priest and continued to actively oppose Jesus' followers, including interrogating Peter and John after the resurrection. We do not know if this was his personal belief or his politically safe response, but we do know the Romans believed they could work with him, at least until they deposed him in 36. (Josephus) [Spurgeon claims Caiaphas actually committed suicide, rather than being deposed, because he realized he had actively participated in killing the Messiah. I could not find corroborating evidence for Spurgeon’s claims on the net, but the net is only a compilation of current information and ideas, and I tend to trust Spurgeon’s ideas, so wanted to include this.]

“the high priests and the elders of the people gathered … and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him”: These were days and years of extreme religious and political tension. In times of conflict, both sides tend to demonize the other side, or the other opinion. We see this happening throughout history. We see this happening in our current world. Jesus clearly did not pick sides between the religious leaders and the Romans. Jesus emphasized living lives of righteousness, and caring for the disadvantaged. The religious leaders believed they had to stop Jesus and his wild ideas by any way possible before the Romans decided to take care of the problem themselves by destroying the whole nation. And in a way, the religious leaders were correct, and their decision postponed the massacre of the Jewish nation for another 40 years. If people chose (choose) to follow Jesus words about living lives of righteousness, and caring for the disadvantaged, every war and conflict would end immediately, but humans tend to prefer evil over good, and war over peace, and in every generation we think of new ways to crucify the promised Messiah.

26:6 Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table.

This is the only time in the bible we hear of “Simon the Leper” so we don’t know immediately who he is. However, we do know about three other people who live in Bethany, Martha, her sister Mary, and their brother Lazarus, so lets look at them and see if they have anything to offer to this story.

Martha, Mary and Lazarus, or Mary, Martha and Lazarus: We have heard these names so often we have no idea how weird this group really is!

We meet Martha when she invites Jesus, and his disciples into her home (Luke 10:38-42). Her home! Women did not own property, so how does she have her own home? As a child, she would have lived in her father’s home; later as a married woman, she would have lived in her husband’s home; if her husband died, she would live in her son’s home, return to her father’s home, or live in her brother’s home. Since Martha is not living in her father’s, son’s, or brother’s home, she must be married. Since her name is mentioned instead of his, he must be absent and presumed dead, but there is no proof of his death: or maybe he has a disease which causes him to be absent … like leprosy. Since Martha is married, there may be small children in the family; since she can invite Jesus and his disciples into her home, she has the room and finances to house and feed them; since Mary and Lazarus live with her, and her name is first, she is the elder sister, and the three of them are orphans. Culturally, someone should be taking care of Martha. Instead, she is the one managing the house, the finances, the family, and is still able to provide hospitality to a traveling rabbi and his disciples. Martha is an impressive person.

Mary is listed as living with Martha. This would mean she was an orphan, and had no husband, or uncles, or brothers to care for her. Mary’s behavior in Luke 10 indicates a person who is accustomed to being a student. In this time period, both boys and girls typically started school at age 5. The girl would stop attending school at her first menses, probably at age 11, and spend the next year learning how to run a household from her mother. At age 12, she would become Bat Mitzvah (daughter of the covenant) and she could become betrothed. By 13 she would probably be married. In Luke 10, Mary is acting like a typical 11 year old, who misses being a student, and is culturally expected to be learning how to run a household, but may be showing some resistance to that idea.

But wait! They have a brother! They have Lazarus! However, given that he is always mentioned last, we know he is younger than both of them and a minor child. If Mary is 11 years old, Lazarus is 10 years old at the oldest, and quite possibly younger than 10. If he was Bar Mitzvah, his name would be listed first, and his sisters would be referred to as his sisters, if they were mentioned at all, regardless of their ages. If he was older than Mary, but not Martha, his name would be listed before Mary.

Before we continue, let’s slow down and remember “Simon the Leper”, or former leper, since he was not able to live at home or interact with healthy people as long as he had leprosy. Since he is associated with the Bethany family, and fits the profile of what the absent husband would have been absent for, he is probably Martha’s husband. Was Simon one of the people Jesus healed? Might this dinner have been a celebration of thanksgiving for Lazarus’ return from the dead, and Simon’s return from the “same as dead”? Suddenly, dumping a jar of perfume over Jesus’ head and hosting Jesus and the disciples for a week seems a very small way to say thank you. How could one ever repay these gifts except in worship and thanksgiving?

Chronologically, the next time we see this family is in John 11:1–44, where Lazarus gets sick and dies. Jesus is told immediately when Lazarus gets sick, but chooses not to go to Bethany until after Lazarus is dead. When Jesus arrives 4 days after Lazarus’ death, both Martha and Mary say to Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus has the famous conversation about resurrection with Martha, then talks with Mary, and goes to the tomb where Lazarus had been placed. Jesus weeps, then tells people to roll away the stone from the mouth of the cave. This done, Jesus speaks to Lazarus and calls him back to life. The religious leaders hear about this and are afraid it will encourage the Romans to destroy the nation. Caiaphas states that it is better for one person to die for the people, than that the whole nation should be destroyed (John 11:49-50). Jesus was no longer able to walk about freely, and taking his disciples, traveled north.

John 12:1-8, 6 days before Passover, Jesus was again in Bethany with Lazarus, Martha and Mary. Lazarus sat at table with Jesus, Martha served, and Mary poured an expensive bottle of perfume over Jesus’ feet and dried them with her hair.

This story from the gospel of John corresponds with the account from the Gospel of Matthew, 26:6-13. Matthew says the perfume was poured over Jesus’ head; John says the perfume was poured over Jesus’ feet; since it was a whole bottle of perfume, I suspect it got everywhere. As we look at the relationship between this family and Jesus, it is clear they know he is the promised Messiah, and everything they do is an act of love, devotion and worship, whether making and serving food, or sitting at his feet, or pouring an expensive bottle of perfume over him.

While John is very clear that Mary poured the perfume over Jesus, Matthew says “a woman”. Matthew could have several reason for doing this: first, Matthew might believe everyone already knows this was Mary who poured the perfume over Jesus and did not choose to state the obvious; second, time has passed and now Mary is no longer a child, but has become and adult who is morally and religiously responsible for observing the commandments of the Torah, and is responsible for her own actions, and Matthew wants to emphasize that; and third, pouring the perfume over Jesus was an act of worship and thanksgiving by an adult who was morally and religiously responsible for observing the commandments of the Torah, including the commandment about having no other gods, and was responsible for her own actions, and through those actions clearly stated, this is my God come in the flesh and I will worship him.

Additionally, the Gospel of Matthew uniquely highlights women both at its very beginning—breaking ancient Jewish genealogical norms—and throughout its narratives of healing, faith, and the resurrection. In Jesus’ paternal lineage we are reminded of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. We are briefly introduced to his mother Mary who said yes to God. We meet a woman suffering from a hemorrhage for 12 years who touches the fringe of Jesus’ cloak in faith and is immediately healed (9:20-22). Jesus raises a synagogue ruler's young daughter back to life (9:18, 23-26); A Gentile woman persistently begs Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus commends her great faith, while breaking through ethnic and religious barriers (15:21-28); An unnamed woman pours expensive perfume on Jesus’ head, and Jesus declares her act will be remembered wherever the gospel is preached (26:6-13); Many women who followed Jesus from Galilee—including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee—look on from a distance and later observe where his body is laid (27:55-56, 61); Mary Magdalene and the "other Mary" go to the tomb, encounter an angel, and are the very first people commissioned by the resurrected Jesus to go tell the disciples the news. In a culture where women's legal testimony was often discounted, Matthew places women at the structural foundation of the resurrection testimony as the first witnesses of the resurrection (28:1-10).

We have noticed that Matthew likes to put opposing viewpoints next to each other: We will notice that in the next story people were not as faithful to Jesus as Mary was, or the other women were. Matthew also likes to give us a lens through which to view the upcoming stories. We are invited to look at the faithful response of Mary, and the less than faithful response of the disciples.

The contrast is immediately obvious.

26:8 But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste? 9 For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Mary’s action took the disciples by surprise. They recognized Jesus as God’s anointed Messiah who had never asked for such luxuries. He’d told them that you care for your king by caring for his people: The king will say to them, “Truth is, whenever you did it for the least of these my family, you did it for me” (25:40). Clearly, Mary did not understand how Jesus’ kingship worked!

Jesus came to her defense, refusing to have her shamed for her generosity. He honors her, explaining how much her gift means to him — far more than any of them realized. In just two days, the body she anointed would be dead, shamefully dishonored with a public execution of the worst kind.

She honored him. Did some of this incredible aroma still cling to Jesus when Judas hugged him in the garden? When the temple guards arrested him? When Herod mocked him as a king? When Pilate questioned him about his kingdom? When Jesus hung between heaven and earth as the rejected king of the Jews, and gave up his spirit? Did the lingering smell, and the love that caused it, comfort Jesus as he walked his journey to the cross, and was jeered and mocked as he hung in space? I suspect it did.

Anointing Jesus turned out to be the most important thing this woman did in her life. She honored her God with the best gift she had, while his friends criticized her and his enemies planned his death.

Do you see what Jesus did here? He received her gift as a memorial of his life. He was about to give his followers a memorial meal (26:17-30). And if this gift is a memorial for his life, it also stands as a memorial of her values and insight: in memory of her.

Tens of thousands of people met Jesus, and we know nothing of them. But this woman is remembered around the world, across the centuries, wherever the good news of Jesus is proclaimed. She honored her God at the very moment the world was dividing over him.

May we go and do likewise.