Lesson 31: Matthew 26:31–75
Introduction
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus
Christ began taking upon Himself the sins of all people as part of
His Atonement. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Jewish leaders. Jesus was then
illegally tried before Caiaphas, the high priest, where false charges were brought
against Him. Meanwhile, three times Peter denied knowing the Savior to those
who identified him as one of Jesus Christ’s disciples.
I.
Matthew 26:31–46
Jesus Christ suffers in the Garden of Gethsemane
---Consider the following scenario:
A young man
has been told from his youth that it is his duty to serve a full-time mission.
As a teenager, he still knows he should serve a mission but struggles with
committing to go. He is more interested in other opportunities and worries that
a mission will prevent him from having those experiences.
- In what other situations might the desires of young men and women differ from what Heavenly Father wants them to do? (List students’ responses on the board.)
- Why can it sometimes be difficult to do what we know Heavenly Father wants us to do?
---Look for principles in Matthew 26:31–46 that can help you when you
struggle to obey Heavenly Father’s will.
---Remember that as recorded in Matthew 26:1–30, the Lord ate the Passover feast
with His Apostles and instituted the sacrament.
- What did Jesus say would happen to the Apostles that night?
---In this context, the word offended
means to fall or turn away or forsake.
- How did Peter and the other Apostles respond to what the Savior said?
---Read Matthew 26:36–38
looking for where Jesus and the Apostles went after the Passover feast. Report
what you find.
---Turn to Bible Photographs,
no. 11, “Mount of Olives” and no. 12, “Garden of Gethsemane” in the Latter-day Saint
edition of the King James Bible. Explain that Gethsemane was a garden of olive
trees located on the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem’s walls and that
the name Gethsemane means “oil press.”
Mount of Olives
Garden of Gethsemane
- What phrases in verses 36–38 describe how Jesus felt as He entered Gethsemane?
- What words or phrases in verses 37–39 describe the difficult burden Jesus was experiencing?
- What did Jesus ask the Father to remove from Him?
---Hold up a cup. Explain that the
cup the Savior referred to was a symbol for the bitter suffering He experienced
as part of the Atonement. In Gethsemane, Jesus began taking upon Himself the
sins and suffering of all people as part of His great atoning sacrifice.
---Read aloud the following
statement by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who explained what Jesus was asking
the Father for when He asked for the cup to pass from Him:
“The Lord said, in effect, ‘If there is another path, I
would rather walk it. If there is any other way—any other way—I will gladly
embrace it.’ … But in the end, the cup did not pass” (“Teaching, Preaching, Healing,” Ensign, Jan.
2003, 41).
---Mark the phrase “nevertheless not
as I will, but as thou wilt” (verse 39).
- Even though Jesus asked for a different way to accomplish the Father’s purposes, what did He do to accomplish the Atonement? (Students should identify a truth similar to the following: Jesus Christ submitted His will to the Father’s will to accomplish the Atonement.)
- What can we learn about Jesus from His willingness to submit to Heavenly Father’s will even though it meant He would endure intense suffering and eventual death?
---Write the following incomplete
statement on the board:
We follow Jesus Christ’s example
when we …
- How would you complete this statement based on what we have learned from Matthew 26:39? (Using students’ words, complete the statement so it conveys the following truth: We follow Jesus Christ’s example when we choose to submit our will to Heavenly Father’s will.)
---Remember the scenario about the
young man who hesitated to serve a mission, as well as the other situations
listed on the board.
- How can the Savior’s example strengthen us in these situations?
---Think of times when although your
desires differed from Heavenly Father’s will, you ultimately chose to follow
His will.
---Would
anyone care to share your experiences and explain why you made that choice and
how you felt about it?
---Identify a specific way you will
follow Jesus Christ’s example by submitting your will to Heavenly Father’s
will.
---Review Matthew 26:37–38,
looking for the Savior’s instructions to Peter, James, and John in Gethsemane.
- What instructions did Jesus give to Peter, James, and John?
- What do you think was meant by the instruction to “watch with me”? (verse 38).
---When the disciples came to the
garden, they “began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy, and to complain in
their hearts, wondering if this be the Messiah” (Joseph Smith Translation, Mark 14:36 [in the
Bible appendix]). By instructing His disciples to
watch with Him, Jesus was warning them to be vigilant because their faith in
Him would be tested.
- Why would the disciples wonder if Jesus really was the Messiah? (Many Jews did not understand that the Messiah would suffer and die but rather expected that the Messiah would liberate the Jews by overthrowing the Romans.)
---Read Matthew 26:40
and look for what Jesus discovered that these three Apostles had been doing
while He was praying. Report what you found.
---The Joseph
Smith Translation of Luke 22:45 indicates that the disciples were
sleeping, “for they were filled with sorrow.”
- Why might the Apostles have been filled with sorrow?
- How might you have felt if you had been in their position and realized you had fallen asleep rather than watched with the Savior?
---Read Matthew 26:41
and look for what Jesus told His disciples to do. Invite students to report
what they find.
- What principle can we learn from the Savior’s instructions to these Apostles? (Students should identify a principle similar to the following: If we watch and pray continually, we will have strength to resist temptation.)
- What do you think the phrase “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (verse 41) means? How does this relate to resisting temptation?
- Recall that to “watch” means to be awake, alert, or vigilant. How can spiritually watching and praying help us overcome our weaknesses and resist temptation?
---Ponder whether you, like the
Apostles in Gethsemane, have ever given in to temptation because you failed to
pray and be watchful. Consider how that choice affected you. Ponder times when you
resisted temptation by praying and being watchful.
- What has helped you be consistent in spiritually watching and praying?
---Testify that we can resist
temptation as we watch and pray continually.
---Write on a piece of paper one thing
you will do to better watch and pray continually. Carry the paper with you to
remind you of your goal.
---In Matthew 26:42–46 Jesus prayed three times in the
Garden of Gethsemane. Each time He expressed His willingness to obey His
Father’s will.
II.
Matthew 26:47–75
Jesus Christ is arrested and tried before Caiaphas
---Read aloud the following
statement by Gerald N. Lund, who later became a member of the Seventy:
“Imagine [Jesus Christ,] the Being whose power, whose light,
whose glory holds the universe in order, the Being who speaks and solar
systems, galaxies, and stars come into existence—standing before wicked men and
being judged by them as being of no worth or value!” (“Knowest
Thou the Condescension of God?” in Doctrines of the Book
of Mormon: The 1991 Sperry Symposium, ed. Bruce A. Van Orden
and Brent L. Top [1992], 86).
---Write Matthew 26:47–68 on the board.
---Search these verses, looking for
how Jesus Christ continued to submit to His Father’s will even when He was
mistreated and judged by wicked men. (Depending on your students’ needs, you
could read these verses aloud as a class, divide students into pairs to read
the verses aloud, or instruct students to read them silently.)
Instead of instructing students to read Matthew 26:47–68, you could show portions of the
following videos from The Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos: (1) “The Savior Suffers in Gethsemane” (time code
5:53–8:30), which depicts Jesus Christ being betrayed by Judas and arrested,
and (2) “Jesus Is Tried by Caiaphas, Peter Denies Knowing Him”
(time code 0:00–1:40), which depicts Jesus being tried by Caiaphas, smitten,
and spat upon. These videos are available on LDS.org.
---After sufficient time, ask the
following question:
- How did Jesus Christ submit to Heavenly Father’s will even when He was mistreated and judged by wicked men?
- What could the Savior have done?
- Instead of asking for legions of angels or any other divine power to deliver Him, what did Jesus do?
- What does this teach you about the Savior’s willingness to do Heavenly Father’s will regardless of the circumstances?
---Even though Jesus Christ had the
power to destroy the men smiting Him and spitting on Him, He suffered and
endured willingly (see 1 Nephi 19:9). The leaders and soldiers did
not realize the infinite power Jesus could have called upon had it been the
will of the Father that He do so.
---Notice that as recorded in verse 56, the Savior’s prophecy that the
Apostles would turn away from Him was fulfilled. However, this turning away was
only temporary.
---In Matthew 26:69–75 it says that while Jesus was
being tried after His arrest, Peter three times denied knowing Him. (Note:
Peter’s denial will be covered more thoroughly in the lesson on Luke 22.)
---Testify of the truths identified
in this lesson.
Commentary
and Background Information
Matthew
26:39. “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt”
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:
“If you can leave your students with
one principal commitment in response to the Savior’s incomparable sacrifice for
them, His payment for their transgressions, His sorrow for their sins, leave
with them the necessity to obey—to yield in their own difficult domain and
hours of decision to ‘the will of the Father’ [3 Ne. 11:11], whatever the cost. They won’t
always do that, any better than you and I have been able to do it, but that
ought to be their goal; that ought to be their aim. The thing Christ seems most
anxious to stress about His mission—beyond the personal virtues, beyond the
magnificent sermons, and even beyond the healing—is that He submitted His will
to the will of the Father” (“Teaching, Preaching, Healing,” Ensign, Jan.
2003, 41).
Right margin extras:
Teaching
about Jesus Christ’s suffering in Gethsemane
There are three accounts of the
events that occurred in Gethsemane. In this manual, the lesson for Matthew 26 focuses on the Savior’s submission
to the Father’s will. The lesson for Mark 14 addresses what Jesus suffered in
Gethsemane. The lesson for Luke 22 emphasizes the severity of His
suffering. Teaching students these unique aspects of the Atonement can enable
them to have distinctive experiences as they study each account.
Lesson 32 & 33: Matthew 27-28
I.
Matthew 27:1–25 Jesus is delivered
to Pilate to be condemned to crucifixion II. Matthew 27:26–50 Jesus is scourged,
mocked, and crucified III. Matthew 27:51–56 After the death of Jesus Christ, the veil of the temple is
rent and the earth shakes IV. Matthew 27:57–66 Jewish leaders
conspire with Pilate to guard Jesus’s sepulcher V. Matthew 28:1–20 Jesus Christ is
resurrected and appears to many
- If you could be an eyewitness to one scriptural event, which one would you choose? During the lesson, we will study one of the most significant events in the history of the world. Imagine being eyewitnesses to what took place.
---Write the following incomplete
statement in your journals:
Today I saw and felt …
---You will have an opportunity to
complete the statement at the end of the lesson based on what you experience in
today’s lesson.
1---Remember that when Jesus was arrested, “all the disciples forsook him,
and fled” (Matthew 26:56). The high
priest Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin charged Jesus with blasphemy—a crime that was
punishable by death under Jewish law; however, under Roman rule, the Jews had
no power to put someone to death for blasphemy. Therefore, the Jewish leaders
sought to find an offense under Roman law by which Jesus would be punished by
death.
2---In Matthew 27:1–10 the Jewish
leaders delivered Jesus to Pontius
Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. When Judas saw this, he regretted his
choice to betray Jesus, sought to return the money he had received from the
Jewish leaders, and then ended his own life. Because the silver pieces were
“the price of blood” (Matthew 27:6) and
therefore not lawful to add to the treasury, the Jewish leaders used the money
to purchase the potter’s field, where strangers (or foreigners) were to be
buried. Matthew cited this event as a fulfillment of a prophecy found in Zechariah 11:12–13.
3---Jewish leaders accused Jesus of treason, or trying to overthrow the
Roman government, and claimed that Jesus declared Himself a king and sought to
establish His own kingdom. (see Matthew 27:11–14)
4---In Matthew 27:15–16 says that
each year during the Feast of the Passover, it was the custom of the Roman
governor to pardon a convicted criminal. The people were permitted to select
one prisoner to be released. One notable prisoner at the time of Jesus’s
sentencing was a man named Barabbas, who had been convicted as a thief, a rebel
against Roman authority, and a murderer.
Matthew
27:15–21. Barabbas or Jesus?
5---The name Barabbas ironically
means “son of the father.” The crowd, most of whom were stirred up by the chief
priests and elders, called for the release of Barabbas while rejecting the true
Son of the Father. In one sense, we are all like Barabbas—we are the sinful
sons set free because the true Son of the Father was condemned to death.
Barabbas was a thief, murderer, and traitor, while Jesus the Christ was
perfect. Those who condemned the Savior to death were presented with a clear
choice, and they chose evil.
6---The law of Moses provided a foreshadowing of Barabbas’s release centuries
before it happened. The law of Moses taught that once a year, on the Day of
Atonement, the high priest selected two goats. One goat became the scapegoat
and was released alive into the wilderness, while the other was ‘for the Lord’
and was killed as an offering for the sins of the people (see Leviticus 16:8–10). The high priest then took blood from the slain goat into
the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle. He sprinkled it on the lid of the ark of
the covenant (called the mercy seat), symbolically making atonement for the
sins of Israel.
- Why did Pilate finally release Barabbas and deliver Jesus to be crucified?
- What does it mean to be scourged?
9---A whip used for scourging often had sharp objects (such as pieces of
rock, metal, or bone) woven into several of the strands. This kind of
punishment was typically reserved for those who were servants, while persons of
noble blood or freemen of Rome were beaten with rods. Many people did not
survive being scourged because of the severe physical trauma it caused.
- What did the Roman soldiers do to mock Jesus?
- Why do you think the soldiers found someone to carry Jesus’s cross for him?
- Knowing that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of the world, how would you have felt if you were compelled to carry Jesus’s cross?
- What did Jesus refuse to do? (Drink the substance offered to Him.)
12---Offering this drink was fulfillment of the prophecy found in Psalm 69:21. Vinegar “mingled with gall” (Matthew 27:34), or as
Mark recorded, “wine mingled with myrrh” (Mark 15:23), was
customarily offered as an anesthetic to ease the suffering of a person who was
dying. By refusing to drink, Jesus deliberately chose not to dull His senses
and showed determination to remain conscious through the remainder of His
atoning sufferings.
- How did the people mock or tempt Jesus?
- Knowing that Jesus had power to deliver Himself, why do you think He did not come down from the cross?
- What did Jesus say?
15--- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:
“With all the conviction of my soul I
testify that … a perfect Father did not forsake His Son in that hour. Indeed,
it is my personal belief that in all of Christ’s mortal ministry the Father may
never have been closer to His Son than in these agonizing final moments of
suffering. Nevertheless, … the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort
of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence” (“None Were with Him,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2009, 87–88).
- Why do you think Heavenly Father withdrew His Spirit from Jesus at this moment?
16---Elder Holland continued:
“It was required, indeed it was central to the significance
of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong
nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind—us, all of
us—would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite
and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but
spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw,
leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone” (“None Were with Him,” 88).
- Based on Matthew 27:46 and Elder Holland’s statement, how would you summarize what the Savior experienced as part of the Atonement? As part of the Atonement, Jesus Christ felt __________________________________________.
- According to Elder Holland, why did Jesus Christ experience a withdrawal of the Spirit?
17---We experience spiritual death, or the withdrawal of Heavenly Father’s
Spirit, when we sin. Because Jesus Christ experienced spiritual death in the
Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, He can help us when we are separated
from Heavenly Father’s Spirit because of our poor choices. He can also help us
when we feel alone.
---Read silently Matthew 27:50 and the excerpt from Joseph Smith
Translation, Matthew 27:54, found in Matthew 27:50,
footnote a, looking for what else the Savior
said while on the cross.
- According to the Joseph Smith Translation of this verse, why did Jesus suffer all that He did? Jesus Christ suffered to fulfill _____________________________________________.
---Write Matthew 26:39 as a cross-reference in their scriptures next to Matthew 27:50
to help you remember that Jesus did what He promised to do.
- Why was the Father’s will for Jesus to experience the sufferings He did, beginning in Gethsemane and culminating on the cross?
---Listen to the Mormon Messages
video “None Were with Him” (4:25) taken from 2009 general conference talk given by
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.
- What happened when Jesus died? (Invite students to look at Matthew 27:51, footnote b, to understand that “rent in twain” means “torn into two pieces.”)
19---During the time of Jesus, the temple had two rooms: the Holy Place and
the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies represented the presence of God. These
two rooms were separated by a veil, or curtain. Once a year, on the Day of
Atonement, the high priest passed from the Holy Place through the veil of the
temple and entered into the Holy of Holies, where he sprinkled the blood of a
sin offering to atone for the sins of all the congregation of Israel (see
Leviticus 16). When the
veil of the temple was torn in two at the death of Jesus Christ, it was a
dramatic symbol that Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest, had passed through
the veil of death and would shortly enter into the presence of God
the Father.
20---Elder Bruce R. McConkie: “The Holy of Holies is now open to all, and
all, through the atoning blood of the Lamb, can now enter into the highest and
holiest of all places, that kingdom where eternal life is found. … The
ordinances performed through the veil of the ancient temple were in similitude
of what Christ was to do, which he now having done, all men become eligible to
pass through the veil into the presence of the Lord to inherit full exaltation”
(Doctrinal
New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:830).
- What important truth can we learn about the Atonement of Jesus Christ from the tearing of the veil? Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can all __________________________________________________________.
- How does the Atonement of Jesus Christ make it possible for us to return to the presence of God?
---Although the Atonement of Jesus
Christ makes it possible for us to return to God’s presence, we must do our
part to be worthy to dwell with our Heavenly Father eternally.
- What must we do to be worthy to dwell with Heavenly Father eternally?
21---Matthew 27:52–56 states that
after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ,
many righteous people who had died were also resurrected and appeared to many
people in Jerusalem. These verses also relate that among those who witnessed
Jesus’s death were a Roman centurion and many women.
- What was the response of the centurion and those who were with him?
- What did they see that may have caused them to declare that “truly [Jesus] was the Son of God”?
23---Matthew 27:57–61 says that
after the death of Jesus, a rich disciple named Joseph of Arimathea “begged
[asked for] the body of Jesus” (verse 58). He wrapped Jesus’s body in a
clean cloth, placed it in a tomb (or sepulchre) he owned, and then covered the
entrance of the tomb with a large stone.
24---In Matthew 27:62–66 the chief
priests and Pharisees asked Pilate to seal the tomb and set a watch (guard) so
that the disciples couldn’t steal Jesus’ body in the middle of the night and
claim He had risen from the dead.
---Early on the first day of the
week, or Sunday, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary came to the tomb
to anoint Jesus’s body as an expression of their love and adoration. Scan Matthew 28:1–6.
- What did the women find as they approached the sepulchre? (see Matthew 28:2, footnote a)
- According to verses 5–6, what did the angels tell the women?
- What truth do we learn from these words? Jesus Christ _______________________________________________.
25---President Gordon B.
Hinckley: “The miracle of that
resurrection morning, that first Easter Sunday, is a miracle for all mankind.
It is the miracle of the power of God, whose Beloved Son gave His life to atone
for the sins of all, a sacrifice of love for every son and daughter of God. In
so doing He broke the seals of death. …
“And just as He took up His body and came forth from the
tomb, even so shall all of us enjoy a reunion of body and spirit to become
living souls in the day of our own resurrection.
“We rejoice, therefore, as do many, and as should all
mankind, when we remember the most glorious, the most comforting, the most
reassuring of all events of human history—the victory over death” (“The Victory over Death,” Ensign, Apr. 1997, 4).
26---In Matthew 28:7–10 the women
are told to tell the disciples that Jesus was risen from the dead and they
would see Him in Galilee. Matthew 28:11–15 says that
while the women were hurrying to bring the disciples news of Jesus’s
Resurrection, the chief priests heard what had happened from the soldiers who
guarded the tomb. The Jewish leaders were afraid that people might learn the
truth, so they paid the guards to spread lies that the Savior’s disciples had
taken His body from the tomb while the guards slept.
- What were the Apostles commanded to do after they had seen the Savior?
- What can we learn from their experience about the responsibility we have as we gain a testimony of Jesus Christ?
---List ways we can testify of Jesus
Christ to others. Explain or give examples of your ideas.
- According to verse 20, what promise did the Savior give His Apostles?
- In what ways has the Lord been “with you,” or helped you, in your efforts to share the gospel?
---Use one of the ideas to create a
personal goal to testify of Jesus Christ and His gospel to family members, friends, and others. Write your goal in your class
notebooks.
---One of the best ways to show the
Lord our gratitude for what He suffered for us is by living righteously. Refer
back to the incomplete statement you wrote in your journals at the beginning of
class: “Today I saw and felt …”
Complete the phrase in your class notebooks.
Matthew
28:19. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations”
Elder David A. Bednar of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that Church members can use social media
to share the gospel:
“The Lord is hastening His work, and
it is no coincidence that these powerful communication innovations and
inventions are occurring in the dispensation of the fulness of times. Social
media channels are global tools that can personally and positively impact large
numbers of individuals and families. And I believe the time has come for us as
disciples of Christ to use these inspired tools appropriately and more
effectively to testify of God the Eternal Father, His plan of happiness for His
children, and His Son, Jesus Christ, as the Savior of the world; to proclaim
the reality of the Restoration of the gospel in the latter days; and to
accomplish the Lord’s work” (“To Sweep the Earth as
with a Flood”
[Brigham Young University Campus Education Week devotional, Aug. 19,
2014], LDS.org).
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