At that time indicates that while one of the disciples was expressing her love to the Lord, loving Him to the uttermost, another was about to betray Him. One was treasuring the Lord, and at the same time another was delivering Him up.

The story of the gospel is that the Lord loved us, and the story of Mary is that she loved the Lord. We must preach both — the Lord's loving us and our loving the Lord. One is for our salvation, and the other is for our consecration.

In the foregoing verse the Lord spoke of His burial, implying His death and resurrection, accomplished for our redemption. Hence, in this verse He called the gospel "this gospel," referring to the gospel of His death, burial, and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1-4).

Mary received the revelation of the Lord's death through the Lord's words in Matt. 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19 and v. 2 of this chapter. Hence, she grasped the opportunity to pour upon the Lord the best that she had. To love the Lord with our best requires a revelation concerning Him.

We must love the Lord and grasp the opportunity to love Him.

The disciples considered Mary's love offering to the Lord a waste. Throughout the past twenty centuries thousands of precious lives, heart treasures, high positions, and golden futures have been "wasted" upon the Lord Jesus. To those who love Him in such a way He is altogether lovely and worthy of their offering. What they have poured upon Him is not a waste but a fragrant testimony of His sweetness.

A leper signifies a sinner (Matt. 8:2 and note 1). Simon, a leper, must have been healed by the Lord. Being grateful to the Lord and loving Him, he spread a feast (v. 7) in his house for the Lord and His disciples in order to enjoy His presence. A saved sinner would always do this.

Eventually, under God's sovereignty they did kill the Lord Jesus at the feast (Matt. 27:15) for the fulfillment of the type.

The Passover was a type of Christ (1 Cor. 5:7). Christ was made the Lamb of God that God may pass over us, the sinners, as portrayed in type by the Passover in Exo. 12. For the fulfillment of the type, Christ as the Passover lamb had to be killed on the day of the Passover.

In the type, during the four days preceding the day of the Passover, the Passover lamb had to be examined in relation to its perfection (Exo. 12:3-6). Before His crucifixion Christ came to Jerusalem for the last time, six days before the Passover (John 12:1), and likewise was examined by the Jewish leaders for a few days (Matt. 21:23-46; 22:1-46). No blemish was found in Him, and He was proved to be perfect and qualified to be the Passover lamb for us. See note Mark 12:37¹.

This was a praise to the Father sung by the Lord with the disciples after the Lord's table.

Gethsemane means oil press. At Gethsemane the Lord was pressed so that the oil, the Holy Spirit, could flow out.

Referring to His death on the cross.

I.e., thirty shekels of silver, the worth of a slave (Exo. 21:32).

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a feast of seven days (Lev. 23:6). It is also called the Passover (Luke 22:1; Mark 14:1). Actually, the Feast of the Passover was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exo. 12:6, 11, 15-20; Lev. 23:5).

A word of greeting, here and in Matt. 27:29. Both greetings were false (cf. Matt. 28:9).

This word is equivalent to: "What are you doing here? You are betraying Me!" This word was spoken to expose Judas's evil intention to betray the Lord.

This was Peter (John 18:10, 26).

In Greek these three words are military terms.

This way refers to His death on the cross, which was prophesied in the Scriptures. These prophecies had to be fulfilled.

This was a twisting of the Lord's word in John 2:19, "[You] destroy this temple."

The Lord, standing before the Sanhedrin like a sheep before its shearers, would not say a word to vindicate Himself, fulfilling Isa. 53:7.

See note Matt. 26:62^1a.

This is the same question that the devil asked in tempting the Lord before He began His ministry (Matt. 4:3, 6).

The Lord let Judas's own word condemn him.

The Lord and the disciples first ate the passover (vv. 20-25; Luke 22:14-18). Then the Lord established His table with the bread and the cup (vv. 26-28; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) to replace the Feast of the Passover because He was going to fulfill the type and be the real Passover to us (1 Cor. 5:7). Now we are keeping the real Feast of Unleavened Bread (v. 17; 1 Cor. 5:8).

The bread of the Lord's table is a symbol signifying the Lord's body, which was broken for us on the cross to release His life that we may participate in it. By participating in this life we become the mystical Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27), which also is signified by the bread of the table (1 Cor. 10:17). Hence, by partaking of this bread we have the fellowship of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16).

The Lord's blood redeemed us from our fallen condition back to God and back to God's full blessing. Concerning the Lord's table (1 Cor. 10:21), the bread signifies our participation in life, and the cup, our enjoyment of God's blessing. Hence, the cup is called "the cup of blessing" (1 Cor. 10:16). In it are all the blessings of God and even God Himself as our portion (Psa. 16:5). In Adam our portion was the cup of God's wrath (Rev. 14:10). Christ drank that cup for us (John 18:11), and His blood constitutes the cup of salvation for us (Psa. 116:13), the cup that runs over (Psa. 23:5). By partaking of this cup we have the fellowship of the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16).

Peter could not withstand even a fragile little female!

The product of the vine (v. 29) within the cup of the Lord's table also is a symbol, signifying the Lord's blood shed on the cross for our sins. His blood was required by God's righteousness for the forgiveness of our sins (Heb. 9:22).

Some MSS insert, new. The Lord's blood, having satisfied God's righteousness, enacted the new covenant. In this new covenant God gives us forgiveness, life, salvation, and all spiritual, heavenly, and divine blessings. When this new covenant is given to us, it is a cup (Luke 22:20), a portion for us. The Lord shed His blood, God established the covenant, and we enjoy the cup, in which God and all that is of Him are our portion. The blood is the price that Christ paid for us, the covenant is the title deed that God made for us, and the cup is the portion that we receive from God.

Referring to the juice of the grape.

This is the heavenly part of the millennium, the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, in which the Lord will drink with us after His coming back.

In spiritual things we are often like this.

The high priest asked the Lord if He was the Son of God, but He answered with "the Son of Man." In His temptation He had answered the devil in the same way (Matt. 4:4 and note 2). The Lord was the Son of Man on the earth before His crucifixion, has been the Son of Man in the heavens at the right hand of God since His resurrection (Acts 7:56), and will be the Son of Man even at His coming back on the clouds. To accomplish God's purpose and to establish the kingdom of the heavens, the Lord had to be a man. Without man, God's purpose could not be carried out on earth, nor could the kingdom of the heavens be constituted on earth.

I.e., speak forth miraculously as a prophet. This mocking word implies, "Since You are a prophet of God, prophesy miraculously to identify the one who hit You."

Under God's sovereignty the environment would not let Peter go until he had been tested to the uttermost, that he might realize that he was absolutely untrustworthy and should no longer have any confidence in himself.

In his first denial Peter spoke words only (v. 70); in his second denial he replied with an oath (v. 72); in his third denial he cursed and swore.