Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 26:24

"The Son of man goeth, even as it is written of him: but woe unto that man through whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had not been born." — Matthew 26:24 (ASV)

For “woe,” see comment on 23:13; for “Son of Man,” see comment on Mk 8:31. Here the Son of Man is simultaneously the glorious messianic figure who receives a kingdom and the Suffering Servant. No single OT verse explains “as it is written of him”; but one may think of passages such as Isa 53:7–9; Daniel 9:26, or else suppose that an entire prophetic typology (5:17–20) is in view, such as the Passover lamb.

The divine necessity for the sacrifice of the Son of Man does not excuse or mitigate the crime of betrayal. Divine sovereignty and human responsibility are both involved in Judas’s treason, the one effecting salvation and bringing redemption history to its fulfillment, the other answering the promptings of an evil heart (cf. Acts 2:22–23; 4:27–28). The one results in salvation from sin for Messiah’s people (1:21), the other in personal and eternal ruin.