Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 20:18
Behold, we go up to Jerusalem: and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
18, 19. Observe the exactness of the prediction; the Sanhedrin shall condemn but not kill, the Gentiles shall scourge and crucify.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 18. The Son of man shall be betrayed] Or, will be delivered up. This is the third time that our Lord informed his disciples of his approaching sufferings and death. This was a subject of the utmost importance, and it was necessary they should be well prepared for such an awful event.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Behold, we go up to Jerusalem,…. This is the last time of our going thither; observe, and take notice of what I am about to say; some extraordinary things will come to pass, and, as Luke relates that he said,
all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man, shall be accomplished; everything that is recorded in
Ps 22:1, and in Isa 53:1, or in any other prophecies of the Old Testament, relating to the ill treatment the Messiah should meet with, to his sufferings and death, and all the circumstances attending them, shall be exactly fulfilled in every point: and that they might not be at a loss about what he meant, he gives an account of various particular things, which should befall him;
and the Son of man shall be betrayed: he does not say by whom, though he knew from the beginning who should betray him, that it would be one of his disciples, and that it would be Judas; but the proper time was not yet come to make this discovery: the persons into whose hands he was to be betrayed, are mentioned;
unto the chief priests, and unto the Scribes; who were his most inveterate and implacable enemies; and who were the persons that had already taken counsel to put him to death, and were seeking all advantages and opportunities to execute their design:
and they shall condemn him to death; which is to be understood not of their declaring it as their opinion, that he was guilty of death, and ought to die by a law of their’s, which declaration they made before Pilate; nor of their procuring the sentence of death to be pronounced by him, upon him; but of their adjudging him to death among themselves, in the palace of the high priest; which was done by them, as the sanhedrim and great council of the nation; though either they could not, or did not, choose to execute it themselves, and therefore delivered him up to the Romans; for this act of condemning him to death, was to be, and was, before the delivery of him up to the Gentiles, as is clear from what follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
18. Lo, we go up to Jerusalem. Hence we perceive that Christ was endued with divine fortitude for overcoming the terrors of death, for he knowingly and willingly hastens to undergo it. (649) For why does he, without any constraint, march forward to suffer a shocking murder, but because the invincible power of the Spirit enabled him to subdue fear, and raised him above all human feelings? By a minute detail of the circumstances, he gives a still more evident proof of his Divinity. For he could not — as man — have foreseen that, after having been condemned by the chief priests and scribes, he would be delivered up to the Gentiles, and spat on, and mocked in various ways, and scourged, and at length dragged to the punishment of the cross Yet it must be observed that, though our Lord was fully acquainted with the weakness of his disciples, he does not conceal from them a very grievous offense. For — as we have said on a former occasion (650) — nothing could at that time have happened more powerfully calculated to shake the minds of the godly, than to see the whole of the sacred order of the Church opposed to Christ.
And yet he does not spare their weakness by deceiving them, but, candidly declaring the whole matter, points out the way to overcome temptation; namely, by looking forward with certainty to his resurrection. But as it was necessary that His death should go before, he makes their triumph, in the meantime, to consist in hope.
(649) “ Veu qu’il se haste pour s’y presenter de son bon gre, et seachant bien ce qu’il avoit a endurer;” — “since he hastens to present himself to it of his own accord, and knowing well what he had to endure.”
(650) See p. 301 of this volume.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(18) Behold, we go up to Jerusalem.The words repeat in substance what had been previously stated after the Transfiguration (Mat. 17:22), but with greater definiteness. Jerusalem is to be the scene of His suffering, and their present journey is to end in it, and the chief priests and scribes are to be the chief actors in it, and the Gentiles are to be their instruments in it. The mocking, the spitting (Mar. 10:34), the scourging, the crucifixion, all these are new elements in the prediction, as if what had before been presented in dim outline to the disciples was now brought vividly, in every stage of its progress, before His mind and theirs.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Go up to Jerusalem The word up is naturally used of Jerusalem, as being situated, like many great ancient cities, upon high grounds. But the term was habitually used by the ancients of any capital or great central town, although, like Babylon, situated in a plain.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mat 20:18. Shall be betrayed unto the chief priests The original word , is the same both here and in St. Mar 10:33 and plainly includes both our Saviour’s being treacherously discovered by Judas, and given up into the hands of his enemies. He foretels that they should mock him, as if he was a fool, scourge him, as if he was a knave; spit on him, (Mar 10:34.) to express their abhorrence of him, as a blasphemer; and crucify him, as a criminal slave. This prediction, being built upon the ancient prophesies concerning the Messiah, certainly contained matter of great encouragement to the disciples, had they understood and applied it in a proper manner; and it is a remarkable proof of the prophetic spirit which dwelt in Christ; for, humanly speaking, it was much more probable that he would have been privately assassinated, or stoned, as was once attempted, by some zealous transport of popular fury, than that he should have been thus solemnly condemned, and delivered up to crucifixion: a Roman punishment, with which we do not that find he had ever been threatened. Indeed, when the Jews condemned him for blasphemy, for which the punishment appointed in the law was stoning, and Pilate at last gave them a general permission to take him, and judge him according to their own law, (Mat 26:65-66. Joh 18:31; Joh 19:7.) it is wonderful that they did not choose to stone him. But all this was done, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. Compare Mat 26:56 and Joh 19:36.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
Ver. 18. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem ] Behold, as it requires attention (and this was no more than need; for St Luke, Luk 18:34 , tells us that they understood none of these things, &c.), so it sets forth our Saviour’s forwardness to go this dangerous voyage.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 20:18 . , ! a memorable fateful anabasis ! It excites lively expectation in the whole company, but how different the thoughts of the Master from those of His followers! , they shall sentence Him to death; a new feature.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
the Son of man. See App-98.
betrayed, &c. = delivered up, as in Mat 20:19. These are the additional features of this third announcement (see note on Mat 16:21); the second and fourth being Mat 17:22 and Mat 20:28.
condemn. Greek. katakrino. App-122.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 20:18. , to the chief priests) This appellation seems to have been very common at that time.-, to the scribes) whose duty it was to examine, as of the priests to decide.[885]
[885] Bengels very sentences have a rhythm, which brings out happily the antithesis intended: Scribis) quorum erat scientia; uti pontificum sententia. The province of the former was knowledge of the written law; of the latter, to decide or give sentence in accordance with it.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
and the: Mat 16:21, Mat 17:22, Mat 17:23, Mat 26:2, Psa 2:1-3, Psa 22:1-31, Psa 69:1-36, Isa 53:1-12, Dan 9:24-27, Act 2:23, Act 4:27, Act 4:28
they: Mat 26:66, Mat 27:1, Mar 14:64, Mar 14:65, Luk 22:71
Reciprocal: Mar 9:31 – The Son Mar 15:1 – and delivered Mar 15:19 – they smote Luk 9:44 – for Luk 13:33 – for Luk 17:25 – must Luk 24:6 – remember Luk 24:44 – These Joh 18:4 – knowing Act 21:11 – and shall 1Co 15:3 – I delivered Heb 12:2 – endured
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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This is the second time that Jesus made this sad prediction (chapter 16:21). No reply was made by the apostles this time, the rebuke from Jesus to Peter on the other occasion evidently not being forgotten.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 20:18. We go up to Jerusalem. On the Journey to death which He had previously predicted (chap. Mat 16:21).
Delivered onto the chief priests. More detailed than chap. Mat 17:22 : into the hands of men. A double betrayal is implied: first by His professed friends to His declared enemies; then by His own people to the Gentiles.
They shall condemn him to death. A reference to the judicial condemnation on the part of the Sanhedrin (Mat 27:1).
Mat 20:19. And shall deliver him unto the Gentiles. Comp. chap. Mat 27:2 ff.
To mock, and to scourge, and to crucify. Mark and Luke add: spit upon. Fulfilled in every detail.
And the third day he shall be raised up. This is added as before. The request of Salome indicates that the disciples did not understand the prediction as a whole (Luk 18:34), plain as it is to us.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
20:18 {3} Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
(3) They that should be persecuting him the least, are the greatest persecutors of Christ.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus was taking His disciples up to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration there. While there, the Son of Man would somehow be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, His antagonistic opponents. This implied a betrayal (cf. Mat 17:22). They would condemn Him to death. This implied legal proceedings. He would fall under the control of the Gentiles who would ridicule, torture, and crucify Him. The Romans were the only Gentiles with authority to crucify; the Jews did not have this power under Roman rule. Three days later Jesus would be raised up to life.
This was Jesus’ third and most specific prediction of His death (Mat 16:21; Mat 17:22-23; cf. Mat 12:40; Mat 16:4; Mat 17:9). He mentioned for the first time the mode of His death, crucifixion, and the Gentiles’ part in it. Jesus’ ability to predict His own death was another indication of His messiahship. His willingness to proceed toward Jerusalem in view of what lay before Him shows that He was the Suffering Servant obedient even to death on a cross.
"These three passion-predictions are the counterpart to the major summary-passages found in the second part of Matthew’s story (Mat 4:23; Mat 9:35; Mat 11:1). The function they serve is at least twofold. On the one hand, they invite the reader to view the whole of Jesus’ life story following Mat 16:21 from the single, overriding perspective of his passion and resurrection. On the other hand, they also invite the reader to construe the interaction of Jesus with the disciples throughout Mat 16:21 to Mat 28:20 as controlled by Jesus’ concern to inculcate in them his understanding of discipleship as servanthood (Mat 16:24-25; Mat 20:25-28)." [Note: Kingsbury, Matthew as . . ., p. 78.]