Matthieu 26:24

24 Pour ce qui est du Fils de l'homme, il s'en va, selon ce qui a été écrit de lui; mais malheur à l'homme par qui le Fils de l'homme est trahi: il eût mieux valu pour cet homme-là de n'être jamais né.

Matthieu 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.

Matthieu 26:24 In-Context

22 Et ils furent fort affligés, et chacun d'eux se mit à lui dire: Seigneur, est-ce moi?

23 Mais il répondit: Celui qui a mis la main dans le plat avec moi, celui-là me trahira.

24 Pour ce qui est du Fils de l'homme, il s'en va, selon ce qui a été écrit de lui; mais malheur à l'homme par qui le Fils de l'homme est trahi: il eût mieux valu pour cet homme-là de n'être jamais né.

25 Et Judas, qui le trahissait, prenant la parole, dit: Maître, est-ce moi? Jésus lui répondit: Tu l'as dit!

26 Et comme ils mangeaient, Jésus prit du pain, et ayant rendu grâces, il le rompit et le donna à ses disciples et dit: Prenez, mangez, ceci est mon corps.