26:16
(Verse 16.) But they agreed to give him thirty pieces of silver. And from then on he was looking for an opportunity to betray him. Joseph was not sold for twenty gold pieces, as many think according to the Septuagint translators, but according to the Hebrew Truth, for twenty silver pieces; for no servant could be more precious than the Lord.
26:17
(Verse 17) Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?' The first day of Unleavened Bread is the fourteenth day of the first month, when the lamb is sacrificed and the moon is full, and the yeast is thrown out. Among the disciples who came to Jesus, they asked him, 'Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?' And I suspect Judas to have been the traitor.
26:18
(Version 18.) And Jesus said: Go into the city to a certain person, and say to him: The teacher says: My time is near; I will celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house. The new Scripture preserves the custom of the old Testament. Often we read: He said to him, and in that place and that place; which in Hebrew is called Pheloni Elmoni (), and yet the names of persons and places are not mentioned. And you will find there a certain person carrying a jar of water. For this reason, these words were omitted so that a free opportunity for celebration would be offered to all who would observe Easter.
26:19
(Verse 19.) And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them, and they prepared the Passover. In another Gospel it is written (Luke 22) that they found a large upper room furnished and prepared, and there they made ready for him. But it seems to me that the upper room is to be understood as the spiritual law, which, departing from the confines of the letter, receives the Savior in a lofty place, as Paul himself speaks (Philippians 3), that he has counted as dung and refuse whatever things he previously regarded as gain, in order to prepare a worthy dwelling for the Lord.
26:20
(Verse 20.) And when evening came, he was reclining at table with the twelve disciples. Judas acts in such a way that suspicion of being a traitor is removed.
26:21
(Verse 21.) And while they were eating, he said: Amen I say to you: that one of you will betray me. He who had foretold of his passion also predicts the traitor, giving him an opportunity for repentance, so that when he understands his own thoughts and hidden plans, he may repent of his actions, and yet he does not specifically identify him, so that he may not be openly accused and become more shameless. He attributes the crime to a number, so that the guilty party may repent.
26:22
(Verse 22.) And greatly saddened, they began to each say: Am I the one, Lord? And certainly the eleven apostles knew that they had not thought anything like that against the Lord: but they believed more in their teacher than in themselves, fearing their own weakness, they sadly asked about the sin whose consciousness they did not have.
26:23
(Verse 23) But He answering, said: He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, he shall betray me. Oh, the wondrous patience of the Lord! He had said first: one of you shall betray me. The traitor persists in evil, making it more evident, yet without clearly indicating his name. With the others saddened, holding back their hands, and denying the food to his mouth, with audacity and impudence, by which he was to betray, he even sends his hand into the dish with the master, in order to falsely testify to a clear conscience.
26:24
(Verse 24.) Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. Neither at first nor at second exposure to treachery does he retract his step, but the patience of the Lord nurtures his impudence, and in the day of wrath he accumulates wrath for himself (Rom. II). Punishment is predicted, so that those whom shame did not conquer, may be corrected by proclaimed punishments. But what follows:
It would have been good for him if that man had not been born: He is not to be considered as having existed before he was born, because no one can be well off unless they have existed: but it was simply stated that it is much better not to exist than to exist badly.
26:25
(Verse 25.) But Judas, who betrayed him, answered and said: 'Is it I, Lord?' Lest he should appear to betray himself by remaining silent, he likewise asks, being tormented by his conscience, who had boldly put his hand into the dish.
Am I, Rabbi? He said to him: You have said it. And he joins a mingling of emotion, or a sign of disbelief. For the others who were not going to betray, they say: Am I, Lord? This one who was going to betray did not call him Lord, but rather teacher, as if he had an excuse, if he denied the Lord, at least he betrayed the teacher. And he said to him: You have said it. The betrayer is refuted by the same response, with which he will later answer Pilate.
26:26-28
(Vers. 26 seqq.) However, while they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, he broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. After the symbolic Passover had been fulfilled, and he had eaten the flesh of the lamb with the apostles, he took bread, which strengthens the heart of man, and transcended to the true sacrament of Passover, so that just as in its prefiguration Melchizedek, the high priest of the Most High God, had offered bread and wine (Gen. XIV), he himself also in the truth would represent his own body and blood. In Luke, we read about two cups which Jesus gave to his disciples (Luke 22). One was for the first month, and the other for the second, so that he who could not eat the lamb among the saints in the first month would eat the goat among the repentant in the second month.
26:29