Matthew 26:24 means that Jesus knew his death was part of God’s plan, yet he also solemnly warned the man who would betray him. The verse holds two truths together: the Son of Man goes to the cross as the Scriptures foretold, and the person who hands him over bears real responsibility for that act. Jesus speaks these words at the Passover meal in Jerusalem, to his twelve disciples, shortly after he announces that one of them will betray him.
The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”
Matthew 26:24 (WEB)
What Matthew 26:24 Means
The phrase “The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him” tells you that Jesus is not caught off guard. His departure toward suffering and death follows a path that the Scriptures had already described. Jesus does not treat his fate as an accident or a defeat. He sees it as the fulfillment of what God had spoken through the prophets long before.
The warning that follows, “woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed,” shifts the focus to the betrayer. A foreknown outcome does not cancel human choice. Judas acts freely, and the verse makes clear that his action brings judgment upon him. God’s sovereign purpose and a person’s moral accountability stand side by side in this sentence.
The final clause, “It would be better for that man if he had not been born,” is a stark statement about the seriousness of betrayal. It does not describe the final state of Judas’s soul in detail, and it should not be read as a detailed map of the afterlife. What it does promise is that turning away from the Lord in this way carries a grave cost, and that no one can treat the betrayal of Christ as a small matter.
The Context of Matthew 26:24
Matthew, traditionally identified as the tax collector among the twelve disciples, wrote this Gospel for a community that knew the Hebrew Scriptures well. He repeatedly shows how events in Jesus’s life fulfill what was written earlier. That is why the phrase “as it is written of him” carries weight for his first readers. They would hear in it a deliberate link to the suffering servant and the psalms of the righteous one who is rejected by his own people.
Just before verse 24, Jesus announces that one of the twelve will betray him, and the disciples respond with grief and self-examination, each asking whether he could be the one. Verse 25 then names Judas directly. Reading verse 24 inside that exchange shows that the warning is aimed at a specific, identifiable person who has already been sitting at the table, which makes the words both sober and personal.
Key Phrases in Matthew 26:24
Luke 22:22
The Son of Man indeed goes, as it has been determined, but woe to that man through whom he is betrayed!”
(WEB)
Luke records the same moment and adds that the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, placing divine purpose alongside the betrayer’s responsibility. Reading Luke’s account beside Matthew helps you see how the two Gospels present one event from complementary angles.
Psalm 41:9
Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
(WEB)
This psalm speaks of a close friend who lifts up his heel against the one who trusted him. Many readers have seen in it an Old Testament pattern that the betrayal of Jesus fulfills, which shows how deeply the Gospel writers rooted the Passion in the words of Scripture.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 26:24
Lord Jesus, you knew what was coming to you and still walked toward the cross in obedience to the Father. Thank you that your suffering was not an accident but part of a plan you willingly embraced for my salvation. Keep me faithful to you in the small choices of each day, so that I never betray you for something that cannot satisfy. Where I have already failed you, draw me back with the same mercy you showed to those who turned away. Amen.
