Jesus Allows the Father to Hand Him Over (Matthew 26:2).Thursday January 22, 2026
Mat 26:1-2 When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, 2 "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion."
The Son of Man (glorified above all in Dan 7) is to be handed over (imminent; present tense) to be crucified (the suffering servant of Isa 53).
Dan 7:9-10 "I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire. 10 "A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened.
Dan 7:13-14 "I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14 "And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
He combines the glory of the Son of Man with the suffering servant of Isa 53. It would seem that no one had combined these two.
In the LXX, Isa 53 uses the same paradidomi is used in three appropriate places: “laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (53:6); He poured out His soul to death (12b); made intercession for the transgressors (12c).
Here we see how the Seed of the woman bruised the serpent’s head while the serpent bruised His heel. In no pagan religion, nor in Judaism as it was then practiced and now, do we see any concept, not a hint, of God dying so that His enemies could be free.
2Co 5:19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them,
1. Definition of paradidomai: hand over, give up a person. Present passive: the Son of Man is to be handed over.
This is what He has come for. Essentially, to glorify the Father by giving Himself to save us and defeat all enemies.
The ruling verb in the passion story is “handed over” (paradidomi) used fourteen times in two chapters (26:2, 15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 25, 45, 46, 27:2, 11, 12, 18, 26).
Judas handed him over to the chief priests; the chief priests handed him over to Pilate; Pilate handed Him over to the soldiers, and the soldiers handed Him over to death.
He never feels betrayed by the Father.
Jesus is always passive.
Rom 4:25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
Rom 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
The sovereignty of God delivers His own Son. The humility of the Son is willing. Humanity is willing to crucify Him.
He’s not climbing on a cross and nailing Himself. The sin of the world, both Israel and Rome, must reveal itself. The One who was all truth and pure love came face to face with Jew and Gentile and He allowed them to respond. They represent us all [Mel Gibson hand holding the nail].
Application:
If He had conformed to their own image of the Messiah, and He was able, they would have accepted and loved Him. But their image was a false concept; and so the heart of man remains deceived.
He submitted as He did in order to deliver us from judgment; from the tyranny of sin and death.
Rom 5:21 as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Like Him: handed over Grace is your rule. The old image of victory (we did not know the concept of Messiah - anointed Savior), our old image of deliverance was of the world - victory could only be had by force, by superior strength (strength we only knew of the human kind, muscle, mind, and money). Yet when Christ delivered us from sin He necessarily had to also deliver us from our false image. We were delivered by the cross, not the crown; so:
Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
“Is it now that You are establishing Your kingdom?” No. Two thousand years later, still No. Not yet. “You are to be My witnesses.” We who know. We who, when we see a cross, know just what the image means, are to tell the world, our corner of it.
We must have the courage to tell them; but due to ridicule and persecution, some are afraid and are silent. I will tell you where your courage will come and it will arise, well up, and fill you. When you begin to live like Him and you show Him by your life, then you will have the courage to speak.
Like Him: handed over by the Father’s will. You are willing to be handed over to anything the will of the Father desires.
[from bottom to top] You began life selfishly, trying to control you and your life, and having you first on every thought. But now; you belong to the Father and you say, just like your Lord Jesus: I have come to do Your will O God. Think of the possibilities; think of the joy in your own heart as your life counts for eternal things. Think of your impact on others and how that impact will contribute to their entire lives being delivered from sin and death. Think of the divine purpose of God in time that you will see unfolding, flowing like rivers of living water from your very own life.
Eph 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
He would not do things their way and be a King as they imagined. It was never the plan to rule them without loving and delivering them. He would never compromise this.
Life was in Him alone and it was nothing like any life that the world had fallen in love with and admired and chased. People loved and chased heroes, the strong, mighty, wise, and noble. The world had never seen anyone like Him. His life was from heaven.
Like Him: delivered from self to love and serve others. But anyone who did see Him by faith would become aware that in Him was a much better way.
Eph 5:25-30 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body.
Like Him: delivered from fear of people
Mat 24:9-11 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
Though this looks like a situation in the Tribulation, we have seen that the intense events of that time have similar, less intense, precursors in the church. We are promised persecution and blessed are we when we are (Mat 5:10-12).
His life was submission to the glory of God. He has given you His life so that you could actually live out the same. You learn about His life, you hear about it, you imagine it, and the ultimate gift to you is that you can actually live it.
We often lose ourselves in a story (book or movie) and perhaps imagine what it would be like to actually have love and be loved, be a hero, achieve success where no one expected by overcoming enormous obstacles - and it can only remain a dream.
But with Christ, the dream becomes a reality in our everyday lives. You love like Him and experience the fruit of it. You give like Him, teach like Him, overcome temptation like Him, serve and sacrifice like Him - and all because you have been given His life, His Holy Spirit, and His Word and you can, if you choose, can live by them by faith.
Phi 3:8-11 that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. |