NOTES for Mat 26:1-29
From this point onward, the Gospel narrative begins to move steadily toward its central meaning—the story of Jesus’ death and Resurrection. Christians have always understood these events as the fulfillment of a new sacrifice, which Christ offers for the whole world. In living language, the word “sacrifice” has long since lost its original religious meaning. Yet the difficulty lies not only in ancient religious realities, but also in the very nature of this self-giving. Christ gives Himself, as it were, in response to the gesture of the woman disciple who poured precious fragrant oil upon Him. To an outside observer—represented here by Judas—giving what is most precious for another person is absurd and barbaric. He would be more satisfied with the “sacrifice” of alms to the poor, when one gives away an insignificantly small part of what one has. To give everything, to give oneself, is a reality “beyond the bounds” of Judas and probably of many of us. But an even greater mystery is that the suffering and dying Christ becomes bread and wine for the disciples—food that nourishes their life, which is now inseparably bound to the Teacher.