Matthew 26:24, commentary and pictures

At the Passover supper Jesus answered the disciples' fearful questioning by identifying the betrayer as one dipping with Him in the dish, and declared that the Son of man goes forward as written of Him yet terrible woe rests on the man by whom He is betrayed. Going as written means He willingly faced death as the sin-offering and fulfillment of the sacrificial types, fulfilling prophecy literally. The appointed course did not excuse the betrayer, for Judas remained accountable for chosen treachery rooted in selfish love of money despite clear evidence of Messiahship, and the warning was given in touching forbearance to show him his guilt was fully known and give him a last call to turn. Judas understood and was alarmed yet hardened himself and went on in his plan, though even then confession and yielding would have found Christ willing to forgive and save. The same grave judgment stands that a life ending in condemnation would have been better never lived, whether by losing the soul, betraying Christ and His cause for gain, or leading others into deception and sin.

Supper Setting and Wording

Jesus spoke these words under a heavy burden at the supper table during the Passover supper He ate with His disciples. That supper came just before He went with them to the garden of Gethsemane, where He often went to pray. As He walked toward the garden He talked with the disciples and taught them, but as they neared the garden He became strangely silent.

The saying was given in answer to John's distressed question about who would betray Him. Each disciple, in fear and self-distrust and in sorrowful amazement, looked at one another and asked, Lord, is it I. The silence of Judas drew all eyes to him.

Jesus answered that the betrayer was the one dipping his hand with Him in the dish. He declared that the Son of man goes as it is written of Him. But woe comes upon the man by whom He is betrayed, and it would have been good for that man if he had not been born, so terrible is the doom of that course.

Judas had sat silent until scrutiny fell on him, then nerved himself to escape notice by asking, Lord or Master, is it I. Jesus solemnly answered, Thou hast said. In the confusion the rest did not hear the words spoken to Judas nor what was said in answer to John, and they did not interpret the giving of the sop to Judas. Confused and overcome yet unmoved to repentance, Judas rose when told, what thou doest do quickly, and went forth to carry out the work he had engaged to do.

Foretold Death Yet Accountable Betrayal

The Son of man goes as it is written of Him, willingly facing death as the sin-offering and the fulfillment of the sacrificial types. That going fulfilled prophecy literally, including the predictions about His bones, His pierced hands and feet, and the casting of lots for His clothing. His death was thus foretold, and He went to it in fulfillment of what was written.

That the course was appointed does not excuse the betrayer, who remains responsible for his chosen treachery. His place among the chosen disciples and his closeness to Jesus did not excuse his betrayal. The woe and the declaration that it would have been good for that man if he had not been born proclaim the terrible doom and consequence of that chosen course.

Judas came to betrayal through selfish covetousness, for although he had witnessed the works and evidence that Jesus was the Messiah, he loved money. He misused money entrusted to him for the poor, and his complaint about Mary's costly gift was an excuse rather than concern for the poor. His false appearance as a true disciple with a covetous heart explains how he came to betray Jesus.

The warning was spoken with touching forbearance and infinite mercy as a final call, showing Judas his guilt and that all his thoughts and purposes were fully known, to give him one last chance to turn before repentance was too late. It offered mercy and a final convincing proof of divinity before his treachery was consummated. Even so, Jesus' foreknowledge of the hidden plot showed His divine insight and gave the faithful disciples crowning evidence of Messiahship, that He was not taken by surprise or deceived.

They were to remember the warning when it came to pass and when Judas met his dreadful end, so that they would believe and trust Him during His humiliation. Judas knew what the warning meant and was alarmed, but he hardened himself, became more settled in his plan, and went on with the betrayal. Yet even when he betrayed Him there was still hope if he had confessed and yielded, for Christ was willing to forgive and save him.

Jesus knew Judas was the betrayer yet continued to offer him mercy and opportunities to repent and be cleansed. That treatment teaches not to abandon people believed to be in error or sin nor to drive them toward temptation. The disciples' faults were why He washed their feet, and all but Judas were brought to repentance.

Wider Solemn Applications

A life that ends in condemnation is so terrible that it would have been better never to have been born, for a life's worth is judged by how it is lived. Losing the soul is that grave because a soul is worth more than all the gold and silver on earth. Unless a person succeeds in obtaining eternal life it would have been better never to have been born. Therefore the truth of God must be cherished and the privileges that come through Christ's sacrifice must not be refused. Though equal with God He came to give His life for sinners, dying a shameful death on Calvary to atone for those who receive Him, purchasing sinners with His blood because He loves them and promising power to become sons of God to all who receive and believe, while His loving heart is grieved when they work contrary to Him and thwart His plan, and God cannot bless those who oppose Him and refuse His words of comfort and peace. The same warning falls on anyone who rejects light and follows personal designs, whose life brings no honor to God, who could have accomplished His work without them. Whoever opposes God's purposes is in fearful danger, and unless he recognizes his peril and changes it would be better never to have been born.

It would be better never to have been born than to betray the cause of God acting the part of Judas, to lose the soul through betrayal of Christ, or to betray for selfish gain through all-consuming love of money that costs salvation. This includes bringing suit against God and one of His institutions, and stewards making unjust compromise and allowing the Lord's instrumentality to be robbed without doing all to save His property, for which they will be held accountable and will meet an account in the day of judgment they will wish they had never been born for. Robbing God is not light, and the time is close when in the alliance of wicked powers no help will be found. Covetous dealing with greater light and opportunities after Christ's ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit is worse than that of Judas, as seen in Lawrence's spirit of covetous dealing compared with his.

It would be better never to have been born than to lead even one soul into deception, to use influence to lead others away from true principle, or to take control of Christ's blood-bought people and turn them away from God's Word. Those who take control of others' minds, endangering souls bought by Christ's blood, bring terrible guilt and loss on themselves and, unless they repent and confess, forfeit eternal life. It would have been better never to have been born than to teach others vile practices and lead them into sin. Those who learn vile habits and whisper them to inquisitive minds to awaken curiosity, corrupt good manners and lead youth astray suffer a heavy penalty and curse, and as the serpent in Eden was cursed for serving as Satan's medium, whoever yields to Satan as a medium to subvert others comes under God's heavy curse and suffers both for his own sins and for the sins he led others to commit, while those led astray will still suffer for their own sin. The woe falls on those who reject God's correction and help others dismiss it. When God sends a message to any person, minister or doctor, designed to change principles and turn the heart to repentance, those who through Satan's devising pursue a course to make it of no effect, who justify and vindicate the one corrected while wickedness, deceit, falsehood and underhand dealing remain in him and he presumptuously follows his own course, who undermine a corrective message, defend the person and help him reject correction, pronounce sentence on themselves, share the transgressor's guilt and will suffer with him unless they humble themselves before God with true repentance.

It would have been better never to have been born if a man continues to exalt himself, take undeserved credit, build himself up in deceptive arts of influencing minds, hold others in delusion while refusing warning after warning and sitting as without the wedding garment. When the curtain is lifted the light will reveal every phase of companionship with satanic agencies, and those who knowingly built him up in his crooked course, which was not justice and righteousness, are judged by their works for upholding him. The same grave judgment faces anyone who hinders God's cause by constant criticism over specks and quibbles in board meetings, catching a little item, spreading it out, holding business until meetings grow wearisome, putting the foot on the brake so nothing moves without sanction, making a world of a mote and wearing people out, which does God no glory, does the greatest injury to himself, is as much sin as betrayal, cultivates criticism, hinders and carries back the work, and will be seen in its true harmfulness in the judgment. It warns anyone who undermines those repairing the breach in God's law, for belittling the law and discouraging its keepers makes one a co-worker with the adversary and a harmful example. The saying applies to unchecked defects and ruined home duties: impatience and irritability not overcome can lead to losing heaven and make life a failure. A mother's harsh, unfair treatment and bad example bringing lasting harm to her children, and parents' neglect in training children, which is registered in heaven's books and requires diligent study not to fail lest through neglect children be found among the disobedient, unthankful and unholy as subjects of Satan's kingdom, make it far better never to have been born; and a life given to evil brings such ruin that a husband yielding to his wife's destructive conduct and being molded by it would wreck his life and character.