Matthew 26:47-68

26:51-54 | Jesus neither needed nor wanted Peter’s sword to help Him escape the gruesome death He was facing. With a word He could have summoned more than twelve legions of angels – 72,000 warriors eager to snuff out His enemies. Each angel can overpower countless men; in one night, one angel killed 185,000 marauding Assyrian troops who were threatening Jerusalem (2 Kgs. 19:35).

26:56-58 | Although Peter fled with the other disciples when Jesus’ was arrested, he did not run far; he followed the mob because he wanted to see what would happen to his Master. He and John alone entered the high priest’s courtyard (John 18:15). Once bystanders connected him with Jesus, his flesh took over, and he did what Jesus said he would do – he denied knowing Jesus.

26:59-68 | The religious authorities subjected Jesus to all sorts of cruel and painful indignities meant to expose Him as a fraud. Yet without realizing it, they fulfilled a distinctly messianic prophecy: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth (Isa. 53:7).

26:63-65 | Not until Caiaphas put Him under a solemn oath did Jesus declare publicly that He was the Christ, the Son of God. Caiaphas instantly recognized Jesus’ public claim as the long-awaited Christ but wrongly accused Him of blasphemy.