Matthew 26:13

13 Truly, I say to you, wherever ¹this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told ²in memory of her."

Matthew 26:13 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 26:13

Verily I say unto you
The following words are prefaced in this manner, to excite attention, and command belief:

wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world.
The Syriac version reads it, (ytrbo) , "my Gospel"; and so the Persic version; and has respect chiefly to the doctrine of his death, burial, and resurrection, which this action of the woman had relation to; for though the incarnation of Christ, and all the actions of his life, and whatsoever he did for the good, and in the room and stead of his people, are good news and glad tidings to the sons of men, and so the Gospel; yet his dying for sin, and making atonement for it, thereby satisfying justice, fulfilling the law, destroying death, and him that had the power of it, and his lying in the grave, and leaving the sins of his people behind him, and rising again for their justification, which were the ends of his coming into the world, make up the most glorious and principal part of the Gospel: and these words of Christ show that "this" Gospel should be preached; for which purpose he gave a commission and gifts to his disciples, and has done so, more or less, to men, ever since, for the conversion of sinners, and the edification of saints, and the glory of his name; and that this Gospel shall be preached all over the world, as it was by the apostles, agreeably to the commission; and will be again, towards the close of time, when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord and then

there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a
memorial of her;
of her faith, love, and gratitude; for the memory of the just is blessed, and the righteous are had in everlasting remembrance. Christ suggests, that, though the disciples blamed this action, it should be spoken of by others to her praise and commendation, in all succeeding ages, throughout the world: "a good name", the wise man says, "is better than precious ointment", ( Ecclesiastes 7:1 ) . This woman got a good name, and obtained a good report by her precious ointment; and if this woman's action was to be told for a memorial of her, much more what Christ has done and suffered should be told as a memorial of him.

Matthew 26:13 In-Context

11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.

13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her."

14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests

15 and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.

Cross References

• 1. [Matthew 24:14]
• 2. Acts 10:4