Matthew 26:18

Go into the city. It would seem that Jesus had spent the night, that is, Wednesday night, outside Jerusalem. From Friday to Tuesday He had spent the nights in Bethany, probably at the home of Lazarus (DA 557; see on ch. 21:17). Tuesday night He lodged on the Mount of Olives (see DA 674, 685). Where He spent Wednesday and Wednesday night we are not told (see on chs. 21:17; 26:12). It was probably Tuesday when Judas went the second time to the Jewish leaders, completed arrangements to betray his Master, and agreed to do it at one of His places of retirement (DA 645, 716; see on v. 4). Jesus knew of Judas’ secret conspiracy against Him, and some have suggested that He may deliberately have changed His place of abode to thwart Judas’ plans (see John 6:64).

Such a man. Gr. deina, “such a one,” or “so-and-so,” a designation for a man whom the speaker does not wish to name. Jesus did not name the person He had in mind, but gave a sign by which the two disciples dispatched on this errand might recognize him when they met him. On the basis of Acts 12:12 (cf. Acts 1:13), tradition has conjectured that the father of John Mark was the owner of the house, and that in his house was the upper room that became the abode of the Twelve and the headquarters of the church in Jerusalem for a time. See on Mark 14:51.

The Master saith. These words suggest that the owner of the house was familiar with Jesus and friendly to Him. Perhaps, like Simon of Bethany (DA 557), Nicodemus (John 19:39; DA 177), and Joseph of Arimathaea (Matt. 27:57), this man was already a disciple of Jesus.

My time. Earlier in His ministry Jesus had commented on the fact that His “time,” or “hour,” had not as yet come (see John 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; cf. ch. 8:20). By this Jesus generally meant that the time had not yet come for His ministry to close and His death to take place. Now that the day of His betrayal had dawned He said, in words fraught with vast meaning, that His “time” was at hand. Later, this very night, He said, “The hour is come” (John 17:1).

At thy house. In Jesus’ day the Passover was celebrated within the city of Jerusalem, and all homes there were to be made available for the use of pilgrims attending the feast. For a time, in keeping with instructions given when the first Passover was instituted (Ex. 12:22), participants in the Passover meal were required to remain until morning in the house where they partook of it. The increasing number of pilgrims in attendance at the Passover eventually made necessary the permission to retire from the Passover meal to places of lodging within a limited and carefully defined area in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem.