There are no obvious homiletics in this verse. It doesn’t naturally divide into three rhyming points followed by a poem – although I’m sure that there probably was some Hebrew poetry involved. There isn’t a great sermon here, but it is so unique and special that I feel obligated to spend a few minutes bringing it to your attention. The only time that I have considered Matthew 26:30 is in looking back on it from Hebrew 2:12 – a verse which we will get to a bit later. However, we did touch upon it a couple weeks ago, when we outlined the timing of the events leading up to our Lord’s betrayal and arrest. I think that there is more in these few words than first meets our eye – or our hearts.
For example it takes us back to David. It was probably one or more of David’s Psalms which Jesus and His disciples sang that night – although there is no proof of that. But there is something more than David’s poetry. Remember that David is a type – a picture – and the predecessor of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were both born in Bethlehem –and both were a rod out of the stem of Jesse. Both were, or are, kings, but they were prophets as well, not offices often found together. Their followers came from the same common class of men, but then they both had their Jonathans and Mephiboseths. And they had similar sorts of enemies – some from within their circle of friends. Who cannot see a parallel between Ahithophel and Judas? Each was a man after God’s own heart, and many of David’s Psalms could have come straight from the lips of the Lord Jesus.
II Samuel 23 says several interesting things about David which apply to Christ. “Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue…. He shall be as the light of the morning…. (God) hath made with me an everlasting covenant….” It’s verse 1 that I’d like you to consider – “These be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel.” First, notice that David calls himself “the anointed of the God of Jacob.” The word anointed “mashiyach” (maw-shee’-akh) is sometimes translated “Messiah.” Both Christ and David were the anointed of the Lord, but only Christ was the true Messiah. And then David adds “I am called the sweet psalmist of Israel.” The word “sweet” means “pleasant.” David, through years of practice, beginning as a child on the backside of the desert, tending his father’s sheep, had honed his voice into something wonderful to hear. And when the Lord Jesus sang the songs of Zion, I can only imagine how pleasant that was to hear. “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”
Most Bible commentaries suggest that Jesus’ hymn was sung in connection with the Passover. They say that it was customary for the Jews of Christ’s day to sing the Hallel – Psalms 113-118. Apparently some added Psalm 136 to the mix. I can see this sort of thing, because these Davidic Psalms are filled praise to God. “Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’S name is to be praised. The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!” Psalm 114 actually talks about the Exodus, and Israel’s departure from Egypt – that is, the Passover. Psalm 115 – “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” Psalm 116 – ” I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.” Psalm 117 is only two verses long – “O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.” Psalm 118 – “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever. I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?” Psalm 136 often repeats one of the greatest phrases of all the word of God. “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.”
As I said, the Jews had added these Psalms to their observance of the Passover. But I am not sure that this was something that they should have done. The original Passover was all about their upcoming salvation – redemption and deliverance from Egypt. The Passover was about the sacrifice of a lamb or kid, and the application of its blood. The meal was to include the bitter herbs of repentance and sorrow, not the cake and ice cream of joy. And have you ever noticed that there is no mention of wine there in Exodus 12 – where the Lord wrote out the Passover menu. There were several changes made in the observance of the Passover during the centuries after Exodus. For example, the first meal was to be eaten while standing in preparation for Israel’s departure. Jesus and His disciples ate the meal while reclining, and today the Jews usually sit while eating. It was to be eaten in haste; it was not a leisurely family meal, like our Thanksgiving. Furthermore Exodus 12:22 says, “and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.” “When (Christ and His disciples) had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”
Despite what the commentaries suggest, I don’t think Christ was intent on following the Jewish customs. I wonder if the Lord Jesus sang the Hallel, because there are much better Psalms which speak of Him and what He was about to do. And then there is the fact the Passover was finished long before those men left the upper room. As I said a couple weeks ago, it appears that John 14, 15, 16 and 17 come between the Lord’s supper and the Garden of Gethsemane. In John 13 we find the disciples words, “Lord, is it I? Lord, is it I?” And then the Saviour says, “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.” Following that we have, “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God believe also in me.” Then come three of the sweetest, most heart-warming chapters in the Word of God. Eventually, after the Lord’s prayer of John 17, we read, “When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where there was a garden.” “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.” In other words, I doubt that the singing of this hymn was ceremonial in nature – it was not Pascal.
What does the singing of the Son of God teach us?
I think that like David, the Lord Jesus loves good music; He loves singing. I don’t know about you, in quiet moments, when there isn’t the sound of voices or music from outside sources, I hear music in my heart and in my head. When I wake up in the morning, before anything else, if I stop and listen, I can hear one of the hymns that we sang last Sunday or the previous Wednesday – and then sometimes that hymn is with me all day. Last Wednesday, after we got to this building, while Judy and Sister Snediger were talking, I was looking through the song book, thinking that I might get to lead in the worship service. And my eyes fell across one of our newer hymns, and my heart immediately reverberated like an aeolian harp – Judy had been playing that hymn on the piano just a few hours before. I am not a great singer or musician. I am just a sinner saved by grace, still carrying around the depravity of my father Adam. But the Lord’s music rings in my heart, just below my conscious thought. If MY heart in its regenerated, but fallen condition, can turn to godly music so easily, how could it not have been infinitely more a part of the holy nature of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You may say, but the Bible doesn’t tell us, in any other scripture, that Jesus ever sang. No, and you haven’t ever heard of Jesus’ favorite breakfast, or what His favorite color might have been. If David, the type of Christ, loved music – writing music, writing lyrics, playing his instruments and singing, then I am reasonably sure that Jesus Christ loved music as well. When your favorite hymn arises in your heart while you are washing the dishes, mowing the lawn, or taking a shower, do the words ever start flowing out of your mouth? I can’t prove it with chapter and verse, but my heart tells me that the joy of the Lord, often vented itself through the lips of the Lord Jesus.
I commend you aspiring singers and musicians; keep practicing; keep playing and singing. When you lift up a song of praise to God, your voice or your instrument is joining those of David, Asaph and Christ Himself. Music is not one of the inventions of fallen humanity, although I’m sure that sin has greatly corrupted it. Don’t we read of angels singing, and also of music in Heaven? Don’t we have hundreds of Biblical exhortations to sing unto the Lord – with all our hearts?
But why don’t we have other examples of Christ’s hymn-singing? Why is this the only time that we read, “and when they had sung an hymn, they went out….”? It could be because the Lord had a special lesson to teach. In the Book of Hebrews, Paul begins by uplifting our Saviour, the Lord Jesus. He says, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?”
For a couple of chapters Paul magnifies Christ over the angels. In chapter two he continues – “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.”
You can call me crazy, but I believe that God is minutely interested in details – in the minutia. That is in everything, but most especially in the Word of God – which He inspired down to the words and letters. Even the diacritical markings of the Hebrew alphabet were inspired of God, when it came to the Old Testament. Christ said, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” When Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to say that Christ sang in His church, and the only time that we have reference to Him singing was in Matthew 26:30, then I believe we have proof of the existence of the Lord’s church prior to the Book of Acts.
Why are we told that Jesus and His disciples sang together before they went toward the Mount of Olives? The primary reason may not have been to teach us something, but to actually do something. John 14-17 contain some of the most poignant, heart-touching words in the Bible. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.” “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends…” “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Those disciples heard Jesus’ prayer as He lifted up his eyes to heaven, says, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.”
From the moment that special Passover began through to the Lord’s Supper and the words, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins……” From the dismissal of Judas, through all of Jesus’ instruction and encouragement in John, to the Prayer of John 17, the hearts of the disciples must have been nearly crushed. So as they began to stand, put on their shoes, and gather up their cloaks, the Saviour said, “Let’s sing.” The religion of Christ is one of joy, even though there must be the sufferings of the cross. The uniting of their hearts with their voices in song was an expression of that joy. Not only does music have power to sooth the savage breast, godly music has power to uplift the most down-cast soul. “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.” As we sing a hymn at the close of our church service, it should contain a message which echos the lesson of the day. It should invite, inspire, reiterate and unite. Sometimes it should urge us to repentance. But more often, t should speak of victory, joy, worship and praise to God.
What was the hymn which Christ led His little church to sing? Of course, I have no idea. It may have been one of the Psalms, or it might have been something like our Hymn #6. “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation! All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.
Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth, Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging, Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace, Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.
Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding, Who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night, Saints with His mercy surrounding.
Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him! All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him. Let the Amen sound from His people again, Gladly for aye we adore Him.