Matthäus 26:24

24 Des Menschen Sohn geht zwar dahin, wie von ihm geschrieben steht; doch weh dem Menschen, durch welchen des Menschen Sohn verraten wird! Es wäre ihm besser, daß er nie geboren wäre.

Matthäus 26:24 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 26:24

The son of man goeth
Meaning himself, not to the Mount of Olives, or Gethsemane, or the garden, whither he went a little after this, but out of the world, to his Father: the phrase is expressive of his death, as in ( Joshua 23:14 ) ( Psalms 39:13 ) , and denotes the voluntariness of it, and which is no ways inconsistent with the divine determinations about it: nor the violence that was offered to him by his enemies.

As it is written;
in the book of God's eternal purposes and decrees; for Luke says, "as it was determined" ( Luke 22:22 ) : or as it was recorded in the books of the Old Testament; in ( Psalms 22:1-31 ) , ( Isaiah 53:1-12 ) and ( Daniel 9:1-27 ) for Christ died for the sins of his people, in perfect agreement with these Scriptures, which were written of him:

but woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed;
for God's decrees concerning this matter, and the predictions in the Bible founded on them, did not in the least excuse, or extenuate the blackness of his crime; who did what he did, of his own free will, and wicked heart, voluntarily, and to satisfy his own lusts:

it had been good for that man if he had not been born.
This is a Rabbinical phrase, frequently, used in one form or another; sometimes thus; as it is said ^F6 of such that speak false and lying words, and regard not the glory of their Creator, (amlel Nwtyy ald) (Nwl bj) , it would have been better for them they had never come into the world; and so of any other, notorious sinner, it is at other times said ^F7, (yrba ald hyl bj) , or ^F8, (arbn alv wl xwn) , "it would have been better for him if he had not been created"; signifying, that it is better to have no being at all, than to be punished with everlasting destruction; and which was the dreadful case of Judas, who fell by his transgression, and went to his own place.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Zohar in Gen. fol. 41. 1. Vid. Misn. Chagiga, c. 2. sect. 1. T. Bab Chagiga, fol. 16. 1.
F7 Zohar in Gen. fol, 46. 4. & in Exod. fol. 1. 4. & 36. 3. & 62. 3. & 66. 3. & 105. 4. & 106. 1.
F8 T. Hieros. Sabbat, fol. 3. 2. T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 17. 1. & Erubin, fol. 13. 2. Midrash Kobelet, fol. 79. 1.

Matthäus 26:24 In-Context

22 Und sie wurden sehr betrübt und hoben an, ein jeglicher unter ihnen, und sagten zu ihm: HERR, bin ich's?

23 Er antwortete und sprach: Der mit der Hand mit mir in die Schüssel tauchte, der wird mich verraten.

24 Des Menschen Sohn geht zwar dahin, wie von ihm geschrieben steht; doch weh dem Menschen, durch welchen des Menschen Sohn verraten wird! Es wäre ihm besser, daß er nie geboren wäre.

25 Da antwortete Judas, der ihn verriet, und sprach: Bin ich's Rabbi? Er sprach zu ihm: Du sagst es.

26 Da sie aber aßen, nahm Jesus das Brot, dankte und brach's und gab's den Jüngern und sprach: Nehmet, esset; das ist mein Leib.