Глава XXVI

Matthew 26:1–2. When Jesus finished all these words, he said to his disciples: you know that in two days the Passover will take place, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified. Let those who think that the Savior was afraid and, under the influence of the fear of suffering, said: “Father! Oh, if only you would be pleased to carry this cup past Me” (Luke 22:42). Having in mind to celebrate Easter two days later, He knew that he would be put to death on the cross; and yet He does not remove the wiles [against Himself] and does not flee in fear; so that even when others do not want to go, He fearlessly continues to walk, as Thomas also says: “Let us go and die with Him” (John 11:16). And, wanting to put an end to the carnal celebration, and also, when the shadow [of the law] passed, wanting to give the real meaning to Easter, He said: “I greatly desired to eat this Passover with you before My suffering” (Luke 22:15). In any case, Christ, sacrificed, is our Passover, if only we taste Him in the unleavened purity of truth (1 Cor. 5:7-8). 604 Then in the words: “In two days there will be Easter,” let us look for what is sanctified or is a sacrament, not paying attention to the simple meaning of these words. [Precisely:] After two days of the clearest light, that is, the Old and New Testaments, the true Passover is celebrated for the world. “Passover”, in Hebrew called phase (הספ), received its name not from the word πάσχω (I suffer), as many believe, but from the word “to pass by” (transitu), because the destroyer, seeing the blood on the outer doors of the Israelites, did not strike them, but passed by, or because the Lord Himself, giving help from above to His people, passed near them. Read the book of Exodus (Ch. 11, 12), which we will discuss in more detail, if only life will be our companion [i.e. e. will continue]. And our transition from one place to another (transitus), i.e. phase (Easter), occurs when we, leaving the earthly and Egypt, rush to the heavenly. Matthew 26:3–5. Then the chief priests and scribes and the elders of the people gathered together in the courtyard of the high priest named Caiaphas [Caiaphas] and decided in council to take Jesus by cunning and kill him; but they said: just not on a holiday, so that there is no indignation among the people. Those who, on the coming Passover holiday, were supposed to prepare sacrifices, cleanse the church walls, wash the floors, cleanse the vessels and purify them according to the rites prescribed by the law, and be worthy of eating the Passover lamb, now come together to deliberate on how they should put the Lord to death; They did this not out of fear of treason, as can be seen from their frank speech, but out of precaution so that He would not be freed from them with the help of the people. Matthew 26:6. When Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper. He who was to suffer for the whole world and redeem all nations with His blood, He spent time in Bethany, that is, in the “house of obedience” [in Bethany], which once belonged to Simon the leper. He is called this way not because he was stricken with leprosy at that time, but because he was formerly a leper, and then cleansed of leprosy; but the former name is retained in order to show the power of the Healer. In the same way, in the list of the apostles, Matthew is called, indicating his former occupation and depravity, namely: “publican” (tax collector), although it is certain that he ceased to be a publican. Some by the house of Simon the leper mean that part of the people who believed in the Lord and were healed by him. And Simon himself is also called “the one who obeys”; according to another interpretation, he can be called the world (mundus), in whose house the Church was healed. Matthew 26:7. A woman came to Him with an alabaster vessel of precious ointment and poured it on His head as he reclined. Let no one think that the one who poured the fragrant ointment on His head is the same woman as the one who poured it on His feet. Indeed, she washes [His feet] with tears and dries [them] with her hair and is very clearly called a harlot. But nothing like that has been written about this one. And in fact, the harlot could not be worthy to immediately anoint the head of the Lord. And the other Evangelist, instead of a vessel of precious fragrant oil, a vessel made of some kind of marble, points to unartificial, real, genuine spikenard (John 12:3) in order to show the faith of the Church and the pagan peoples. Matthew 26:8–9. The disciples, seeing this, began to be indignant, saying: Why [ut quid] this waste? After all, this [oil] could be sold for a lot of money and distributed to the poor. 606 I know that some are slandering this passage in bewilderment: why did the other evangelist say that only Judas was sad, because he had at his disposal a box for storing money and hid the money from the very beginning; and the Evangelist Matthew writes that all the apostles were indignant: such people do not know the turn of phrase called σύλληφις, or “synecdoche”; in it, instead of one, they usually call everyone and instead of many, one. After all, the Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews (although many Latins doubt him), when describing the sufferings and merits of the saints, says: “They were stoned, tortured, cut in pieces” [cut with a saw] “and died by beheading with the sword” (Heb. 11:37), 607 although the Jews claim that only one prophet, Isaiah, was cut in pieces. We can interpret it differently, namely: the apostles really were indignant for the sake of the poor, and Judas - because of his profit, and therefore his secret grumbling is a crime precisely because he did not care about the poor, but wanted to ensure theft for himself. Matthew 26:10–11. But Jesus, realizing this, said to them: Why are you embarrassing the woman? she did a good deed for Me: for you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me. A new question arises: why did the Lord after the Resurrection say to the disciples: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), but in the present case he says: “You do not always have Me with you.” In my opinion, in this place He speaks of a bodily existence, which after the Resurrection will in no way be the same as it was now, that is, completely identical in lifestyle and similar to the family. Remembering this, the apostle says: “Even if we knew Christ according to the flesh, now we know it no more” (2 Cor. 5:16). Matthew 26:12. Having poured this ointment on My body, she prepared Me for burial. What you call the empty cost of fragrant ointment is an obligation performed regarding burial. And it is not surprising if she gave Me the pleasant fragrance of her faith when I shed 608 My blood for her. Matthew 26:13–14. 609 Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the whole world, what she has done will also be spoken of in her memory. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the high priests. All over the world it is not so much this woman who is preached as the Church, because she buried the Lord, because she anointed His head. And pay attention to the knowledge of the future - to the fact that He must suffer and die two days later, He knows about the glorification of His Gospel throughout the world. Matthew 26:15. And he said: What will you give me, and I will betray Him to you? Poor Judas! He wants, at the cost of the Teacher, to compensate for the damage that, in his opinion, he suffered through the spilling of the precious ointment. And yet he does not demand a certain payment (summam), so that the betrayal does not seem somehow committed due to the large profit, but selling as if cheap property, he left it to the will of those buying to give as much as they please. Matthew 26:16. [end of 15th] 611: They offered him thirty pieces of silver; and from that time on he sought an opportunity to betray Him. Joseph was not sold for twenty gold coins, as many believe according to the Seventy Interpreters, but for twenty silver coins, as Jewish truth (i.e., the Hebrew text) says. And indeed, a slave could not be sold for more than the Master. Matthew 26:17. On the first day of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus and said to Him, “Where do you tell us to prepare the Passover for You?” The first day of unleavened bread is the fourteenth day of the first month, when the 612 lamb is slaughtered, the full moon occurs, and leaven is left. And among those disciples who approached Jesus with the question: “Where do you tell us to prepare the Passover for You?”, I believe, there was also Judas the traitor. Matthew 26:18. He said: go to the city to so-and-so and tell him: The Teacher says: My time is near; I will keep the Passover with you with my disciples. The New Testament Scripture preserves the practice of the Old Testament. Often we read: “He said to him, in the place of this and that,” which in Hebrew is expressed by the words: pheloni elmoni (פלןני אלמיני), and the name of neither persons nor places is mentioned. “And you will find someone there carrying a vessel of water.” The names of these individuals have been omitted so that everyone who is planning to celebrate Easter will be given complete freedom to celebrate. Matthew 26:19. The disciples did as Jesus commanded them and prepared the Passover. Another evangelist writes that they found a large room, furnished and clean, and there they prepared food for Him (Luke 22:12). 613 It seems to me that by the banquet room we mean the spiritual law, which, leaving the narrow confines of the letter, receives the Savior in an exalted place; The Apostle Paul testifies to the same thing 614 (Phil. 3:7), 615 when he says that what he previously considered an acquisition for himself, now, in order to prepare a worthy reception for the Lord, he despised as useless vanity 616. Matthew 26:20. When evening came, He lay down with the twelve disciples. Judas acts in everything in order to ward off suspicion of betrayal. Matthew 26:21. And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” He who predicted about suffering also predicts about the traitor, giving the opportunity to repent, that is, so that [the traitor], knowing that He knows his thoughts and secret intentions, repents of his act; and yet He did not deliberately designate [the name], so that he, openly exposed, would not become more shameless. The Lord shows the crime in general (in numero), so that those who recognize it will bring repentance. Matthew 26:22. They became very sad and began to say to Him, each one of them: Is it not I, Lord? The eleven apostles, of course, knew without a doubt that they were not plotting anything like this against the Lord; however, they trusted the Teacher more than themselves; fearing their weakness, they learn with sadness about a sin that they did not feel was behind them. Matthew 26:23. He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand into the dish with Me, this one will betray Me.” Amazing patience of the Lord! First He said, “One of you will betray Me,” but He did not give His own name. And Judas, - when others were saddened and, so to speak, withdrew their hand, and did not want to bring food to their mouths, - Judas, in his shamelessness and audacity with which he decided to betray, stretches out his hand to the dish, even together with the Teacher, in order to deceive his good conscience with his audacity. Matthew 26:24. But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. Having not succumbed to correction either the first or the second time, he does not remove his feet from betrayal; but through the longsuffering of the Lord he nourishes his shamelessness and stores up wrath for himself on the day of wrath (Rom. 2:5). It would have been better for this person not to have been born. This should not be understood in the sense that he existed before he was born, because good can only be for him who was before; and this is said in the sense that it is much better not to be at all than to exist immersed in evil (male subsistere). Matthew 26:25. At this Judas, who betrayed Him, said Since the other apostles, greatly saddened, asked: “Is it not I, Lord?” so as not to show by their silence that they seem to be traitors; then Judas asks in the same way - [Judas], who was tormented by his conscience, who with insolence stretched out his hand to the dish. Isn't it me, Rabbi? Jesus says to him: You said. [The traitor] adds flattery to his question or reveals disbelief. Indeed, those who had no intention of betraying say: “Is it not I, Lord?” And he, who had in mind to commit betrayal, calls Him not Lord, but Teacher; as if, by denying the Lord, and yet betraying the Teacher, he could have an excuse. “Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast spoken.” The traitor was refuted by the same answer that was subsequently given to Pilate. Matthew 26:26–28. 617 And while they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take, eat: this is My Body.” And, taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said: drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. After the Passover, which has the meaning of a prototype, was celebrated, and after eating the flesh of the lamb together with the apostles, He took bread - which strengthens the human heart - and makes the transition to the true sacred rite of Passover in order to present His true body and His blood, just as Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God, did, bringing bread and wine as a prototype of Him (Gen. 14:18). In the Gospel of Luke we read to which disciples He prepared two cups 618: one cup of the first month and the other of the second, so that the one who could not eat a lamb in the first month among the saints will eat a goat in the second month among the penitents. Matthew 26:29. But I tell you that from now on I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink new wine with you in the kingdom of My Father. From the carnal He passes to the spiritual, because the vineyard transplanted from Egypt is the people of Israel, to whom the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah says: “I have planted you as a noble vine; How did you turn into a wild branch of someone else’s vine with Me?” (Jer. 2:21). And the prophet Isaiah in the song that he sings to his beloved, and all the saints. Scripture in various places testifies to this. So, the Lord says that He will no longer drink from this vine [now], but only in the Kingdom of His Father. The Kingdom of the Father, in my opinion, is the faith of believers; the Apostle [evangelist?] also affirms this: “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). So, when the Jews again receive the Kingdom of the Father (note that He says: “of the Father”, and not “of God)”, [but] every Father is the name of the Son (omnis Pater nomen est Filli), - when, I say, they believe in the Father, and the Father leads them to the Son, then the Lord will drink of their wine and, like Joseph in Egypt, will drink in abundance (inebriabirur) with his brothers His own (Gen. 43, 34). Matthew 26:30. And having shouted a song of praise, they departed to the Mount of Olives. 619 This is the same as what we read in a certain psalm: “All the rich lands will eat and worship” (Ps. 21:30). Following this example of the Savior, one who is satisfied with His Bread and has tasted His Cups in abundance can praise the Lord and enter the Mount of Olives 620, on which 621 peace from labors, consolation in sorrow and knowledge of the true light are found. Matthew 26:31. Then Jesus says to them: You will all be offended because of Me this night. He foretold that they would all endure, so that when they were tempted, they would not despair of salvation, but would be saved by repentance. The addition is significant: “Be tempted this night,” because just as those who get drunk get drunk at night, so those who are tempted undergo temptation in the darkness of the night (1 Thess. 5:7). And we will exclaim: “The night is past, but the day is approaching” (Rom. 13:12). Matthew 26:31–32. 622 For it is written: I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered; After My resurrection I will go before you to Galilee. In other words, this is expressed by the prophet Zechariah; and, if I’m not mistaken, God is told on behalf of the prophet: “Strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered” (Zech. 13:7). Also in the Sixty-eighth Psalm, which in its entirety is a song to the Lord, is proclaimed completely in accordance with this meaning: “For those whom You have struck down, they still pursue” (Ps. 68:27). And the Good Shepherd is stricken to lay down His life for His sheep, and so that out of many flocks there may be “one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16). This evidence is spoken of more fully in the book we wrote [titled]: “On the Best Method of Interpretation.” Matthew 26:33. Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if everyone is offended because of You, I will never be offended.” This is not recklessness, not deceit, but the faith of the Apostle Peter and his fiery feeling for the Lord Savior, which we talked about above. Matthew 26:34. Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter, driven by the ardor of faith, gave only a promise, but the Savior, as God, knew the future. And notice that Peter will deny at night, and will deny three times. But after the rooster crowed and the nearness of daylight was proclaimed as the darkness diminished, he wept bitterly, washing away the abomination of his renunciation with tears of repentance. Matthew 26:36. Then Jesus comes with them to a place called Gethsemane, and says to the disciples: sit here while I go and pray there. Gethsemane means: “the most fruitful valley.” In it, He ordered His disciples to sit for a while and wait for His return, while [He] the Lord alone prayed for many. Matthew 26:37. And, taking Peter and both sons of Zebedee with him, he began to grieve and yearn. What we said above about suffering and the antecedents of suffering is also shown in this passage, i.e., that the Lord, wanting to give proof of the reality of humanity taken upon Himself, was truly saddened; but so that suffering would not prevail over His spirit, He began to grieve in preliminary suffering; in fact, one thing means “to be sad” and another is “to begin to grieve.” And He who came to suffer and denounced Peter for timidity is saddened not by fear of the coming suffering, but because of the betrayal [on the part of] the most unfortunate Judas, and the [possible] temptation for the apostles and the denial of the Jewish people, and the destruction of Jerusalem. For the same reason, Jonah was saddened by the dried pumpkin or ivy, not wanting the destruction of what had once been a cover for him 623. And if heretics understand by sadness of the soul not the Savior’s love for those who are awaiting destruction, but the expectation of suffering, then let them answer as they explain what is said on behalf of God through the prophet Ezekiel: “And in all this you have made me sad” (Ezek. 16:43-70). 624 Matthew 26:38. Then He said to them: My soul is sorrowful unto death: Stay here, and watch with Me. 625 The soul is sad [or: saddened], but not because of the impending death, but: until death, until it frees the apostles with its suffering. And His command: “Stay here and watch with Me” does not prohibit sleep, which was now inappropriate, in view of the threatening danger; but they prevent the sleep of unbelief and the torpor of thought. So, those who assume that Jesus (Christ) took on an unreasonable soul, let them say how it could be sad and at the same time know the moment of [the end of] sadness. After all, although foolish animals are saddened, they do not know either the cause of sadness or the time until which they should be saddened. Matthew 26:39. And having walked a little forward, He fell on His face, praying and saying: My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; however, not as I want, but as You want. 626 Having given the apostles the command that they should remain and watch, He walked a little forward, fell on his face and asked that, if possible, the cup of suffering about which we spoke above would be removed from Him; at the same time, by the position of His body, He showed humility of spirit (mentis) and spoke [so to speak] with affection: “My Father.” He urgently asks not out of fear of suffering, but out of mercy for the people who occupied first place, that is, so that it would not be from them to drink the cup prepared for Him. Therefore, He does not meaningfully say: “Let the cup pass from Me. 627 namely: “this cup,” that is, [the cup from the hands of] the Jewish people, who cannot justify themselves by ignorance if they kill Me, for they have the law and the prophets who incessantly (quotidie) proclaim about Me. However, again returning to His consciousness (reverteus in semetipsum), He, on behalf of God and the Son [of God], affirms what on behalf of man with tremblingly rejected: “Nevertheless, not as I want, but as You do,” i.e. Let it not be so, He says, as I speak out of human impulse; but let it be in accordance with that for which I came down [from heaven] to earth according to Your will. Matthew 26:40. And he comes to the disciples and finds them sleeping, and says to Peter: Could you not watch with Me for one hour? This one, who previously claimed that he would in no way be offended, even if everyone were offended regarding Him, now cannot overcome sleep with intense grief. Matthew 26:41. Watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation. It is impossible for the human soul not to be subject to temptation. Therefore, in the Lord’s Prayer we proclaim: “Lead us not into temptation, which we cannot bear” [or: “we could not bear”] (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4). We do not find additions after the word: “into temptation” either in the Greek or in the Latin texts (Matthew 6:13) and (Luke 11:4). Blessed Jerome, as it seems, was unknown in the text of the Gospel of Matthew, as can be seen from his interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer, presented above in its place. There is reason to think that it was in the Gospel of Luke (Note, translator), not completely denying temptation, but asking for strength to endure temptation. “so as not to fall into temptation,” that is, so that temptation does not overcome, defeat and keep you in its networks. Let's take an example: a martyr who sheds his blood for confessing the Lord is, indeed, subject to temptation, but he is not entangled in the nets of temptation; he who denies temptation is exposed to it and falls under its blows. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. This is said against those foolish people who imagine that they can follow in life what they believe in. Thus, just as we firmly believe with a fiery soul, we also experience fear due to the weakness of the body. But, however, as the apostle says, the deeds of the flesh are mortified by the Spirit (1 Pet. 3:18). 628 Matthew 26:42. Again, going away another time, he prayed, saying: My Father! If this cup cannot pass from Me, lest I drink it, Thy will be done. The second time He prays that, if Nineveh cannot be saved without the fig tree drying up, the will of the Father will be done, which does not contradict the will of the Son, who speaks through the prophet: “I desire to do Your will, O my God” (Ps 39:9). Matthew 26:43–44. And when he came, he found them sleeping again, for their eyes were heavy. And leaving them, he went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same word. 629 He alone prays for everyone, just as he alone suffers for everyone without exception (pro universis); and the eyes of the apostles completely weakened and were depressed by [their] approaching renunciation. Matthew 26:45. Then He comes to His disciples and says to them: Are you still sleeping and resting? behold, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of sinners (Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1). Having prayed for the third time that every word might become the mouth of two or three witnesses, and having received [confidence that] the fear of the apostles would be corrected by their further repentance, He, ready to suffer, goes towards the persecutors and voluntarily gives Himself up to death, and says to His disciples: Matthew 26:46–47. Arise, let us go: behold, he who betrayed Me has drawn near. And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Let us also go to death voluntarily, so that those who are to suffer after us do not find us as if afraid and retreating, but, on the contrary, find us full of faith and joy. Matthew 26:48. He who betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying: Whomever I kiss is He, take Him. Unhappy Judas, but not worthy of pity! Due to the same unbelief with which he betrays the Teacher and the Lord, he thought that the signs performed by the Savior before his eyes were performed not by Divine power, but by the cunning of sorcery. And since he, perhaps (forte), heard about His transfiguration on the mountain, he was afraid that through a transformation of the same kind He would somehow escape the hands of the rulers. That's why he gives a sign so that they know that this is the one he will kiss. Matthew 26:49. And immediately approaching Jesus, he said: Rejoice, Rabbi! And kissed Him. Real shamelessness and insane audacity! Calling Him teacher and at the same time giving Him the kiss with which He betrayed Him. Nevertheless, he still retains some of the student’s respect for the Teacher, because he betrays Him to his pursuers not openly, but through an agreed upon kiss. This is the conventional sign that God put on Cain so that he would not be killed by the one who finds him (Gen. 4:15). Matthew 26:50. And Jesus said to him: [My friend], why have you come? Then they came, laid their hands on Jesus and took Him 631 The word: “Friend” [My] should be understood either in the sense of opposition (κατά άντίφρασιν), or perhaps in the sense in which we read it above [in the words]: “My friend, how did you come here without a wedding garment?” (Matthew 22:12). 632 Matthew 26:51. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus, stretching out his hand, drew his sword, and striking the servant of the high priest, cut off his ear. Another evangelist [or: Gospel] (Mark 18:10) writes that Peter did this out of the same impulse of a fiery soul as before. And the servant of the high priest is called [or: called] Malchus; and the cut off ear is the ear on the right side. It should be said in passing that “Malchus,” that is, the “king,” who was once the people of the Jews, became a slave to the wickedness and greed of the priests. And he lost his right ear, so that he could hear everything insignificant in the letter of Scripture with his left ear. And the Lord restores the right ear to those of the Jews who want to believe, and turns the race of slaves into a royal and priestly race. Matthew 26:52. Then Jesus said to him: Return your sword to its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. But if the one who is appointed as an avenger for the wrath of God against the one who does evil does not wear the sword in vain, why will the one who takes up the sword perish by the sword? And from what sword? It is from that sword of fire that turns before paradise (Gen. 3:24), and from the sword of the Spirit, which is described among the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:11-17). Matthew 26:53–54. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will present to Me more than twelve legions of Angels? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, that this must be so? I do not need the help of the twelve apostles, even if they all defended Me, because I can have twelve legions of angelic troops. Among the ancients, one legion consisted of six thousand people. Due to the brevity of the time at our disposal, we do not go into an explanation of numbers: it is enough to say only about the images: twelve legions make up seventy-two thousand angels - this is exactly the number of peoples the human race is divided into. His further words show the readiness of His spirit for suffering, because if the Lord had not confirmed by His suffering that the prophets spoke the truth, then their prophecies would have been useless. Matthew 26:55. At that time Jesus said to the crowds: You came out [against Me] as against a thief with swords and staves to seize Me: I sat with you daily teaching in the church, and you did not detain Me? 633 It is unreasonable, He says, to look for Him with swords and staves, when He voluntarily gives Himself into your hands, and at night, with the help of a traitor, to look for Him who seems to be hiding and evading you, Who teaches daily in the church. But you gathered against Me in the darkness of the night because your power is the power of darkness. Matthew 26:56. All this happened so that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left Him and fled. What are these writings of the prophets? “They pierced my hands and my feet” (Ps. 21:17), and in another place: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter” (Is. 53:7). And in another place [or: in the same place]: “For the crimes of My people I suffered execution” (Is. 53:8). Matthew 26:57. And those who took Jesus took Him to Caiaphas 634 [Kiaphas] the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered. Moses, by command of God, ordered that the high priests receive dignity as an inheritance from their fathers and that a continuous generation (series generationis) be formed in the person of the priests (Ex. 28–29). Josephus [Flavius] reports that this Caiaphas 635 bought the high priesthood from Herod for a fee for only one year. Therefore, it is not surprising if it is not the real high priest who commits unrighteous judgment. Matthew 26:58. Peter followed Him from afar, to the courtyard of the high priest. The one who had to 636 renounce the Lord follows him from afar. Matthew 26:58–60. [end of 58th] And going inside, he sat with the servants to see the end [or: “how the matter will end.”] The chief priests and the whole congregation were looking for false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death. But they did not find it, although many false witnesses came 637 Either moved by the love of a disciple, or out of human curiosity, Peter wanted to know what the high priest would decide regarding the Lord: whether he would deliver Him to death, or release Him after the scourging. This is the difference between Peter and the ten apostles. They run away, but this one follows the Savior, albeit from afar. Matthew 26:61. [end of 60th] But at last two more false witnesses came; and they said: “This one said: I can destroy the church of God and in three days rebuild it again.” 638 How are they false witnesses if they say what we read as actually said by the Lord? This is because a false witness is one who does not understand what is said in the meaning with which it was said. In fact, the Lord said this about the church of His body. But at the same time, in the very quoting of the words, they commit slander, adding a little or changing them, as if they were actually blasphemous. The Savior said: “Destroy this church,” but they change and say: “I can destroy the Church of God.” “You,” he says, “destroy,” and not I, “because it is impossible for us to lay hands on ourselves.” Then they twist the words, [saying:] “and in three days they will rebuild it,” so that it seems as if He spoke about the Jewish church. The Lord, to show that He spoke about a spiritual and animate church, said: “And I will rebuild it in three days” (John 2:19) 639 [I will erect it – suscitabo]. After all, it is another thing to create (aedificare) and another thing to erect it (suscitare). Matthew 26:62. [beginning of 63rd] And the high priest stood up and said to Him, why don’t you answer? What do they testify against You? Jesus was silent. Seized with anger and impatience, and not finding room for slander, the high priest jumps up from his seat 640, so that the movement of his body reveals the indignation of the soul. The more Jesus remained silent before His false witnesses and wicked priests, unworthy of an answer, the more the high priest, overcome with anger, calls Him to answer, this in order to find a reason for accusation by some random expression in words. And yet Jesus remained silent, for He, as God, knew that whatever He answered would be turned into slander. Matthew 26:63. And the high priest said to Him: I adjure You by the living God, tell us, Are You the Christ, the Son of God? Why, most wicked of priests, do you conjure? Is it then to believe, or to accuse? If then, in order to accuse, then others denounce Him: condemn Him who is silent. If, then, to believe, then why did you not believe when He confessed [the truth]? Matthew 26:64. Jesus says to him: You said; I even say to you: from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Both Pilate and Caiaphas 641 are given the same answer, so that they are condemned by their own sentence. Matthew 26:65–66. Then the high priest tore his clothes and said: He is blaspheming! What more need do we need witnesses? Behold, now you have heard His blasphemy. What do you think? They answered and said: He is guilty of death. The same fury prompts the tearing of the clothes of [the high priest], whom fury prompted to jump up from his high priestly seat 642. And he tore his clothes in order to show that the Jews had lost the glory of the priesthood and had the high priestly place free 643. However, this was the custom of the Jews: to tear their clothes when they heard something blasphemous, 644 as if said against God. We read that Paul and Barnabas also did this when they were worshiped as gods in Lycaonia. And Herod, who did not give glory to God, but was caressed by the immoderate respect of the people, was immediately struck by an angel. Matthew 26:67. Then they began to spit in His face and beat him with their fists. So what was said was fulfilled: “I offered My cheeks” [or: My cheek] “to the blows, and did not turn My face away from the shame of the spitting” (Lamentations 3:30). 645 In the Greek text this passage reads like this: ; in Latin: Dabit percutienti se maxillam, saturabitur opprobriis, which means: “He will turn His cheek to those who strike Him, He will be satisfied with reproaches.” The Slavic and Russian texts give almost the same thing. We find a closer text in Isaiah (Is. 50:6). 646 Matthew 26:67–68. Then they spat in His face and strangled Him; others struck Him on the cheeks and said: Prophesy to us, O Christ, who struck You? It was unreasonable to answer those who strike and prophetically divine the Receiver of the blows [or: the one doing the beatings], when the madness of the one doing the blows was obvious. But just as He did not predict this to us, on the contrary, He very clearly predicted that Jerusalem would be surrounded by an army and that not one stone would be left in the church. Matthew 26:69. Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. He sat outside to see the outcome of the matter. And he did not approach Jesus, lest the servants somehow become suspicious. Matthew 26:72–73. And he again denied with an oath that he did not know This Man. A little while later those standing there came and told Peter. I know that some pious, under the influence of love for the Apostle Peter, explain this passage in such a way that it is as if the apostle denied not God, but man, and that the meaning of [his words] is this: “I do not know man, because I know [Him as] God.” The prudent reader understands how frivolous this interpretation is: they defend the apostle in such a way that they present God as guilty of lying. Indeed, if the apostle did not deny, then the Lord uttered a lie when he said: “Truly I tell you, this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Pay attention: He says: “you will deny Me,” and not: “from man.” Matthew 26:73. [end] Surely you are one of them, for your speech also exposes you. This does not mean that Peter was from a foreign people or spoke a different language. In fact, both those who denounced him and he who was denounced were Jews; which means that each region and country had its own characteristics, and [or": so that the speaker could not avoid the characteristics of the common people's accent. That is why the Ephrathites [or: Ephraimites], according to the Book of Judges (Judges 12:6), could not pronounce the agreed word (σύνθημα, or σύμβολον) [shibboleth pronounced: sibboleth]. Matthew 26:74–75. Then he began to swear and swear that he did not know This Man. And suddenly the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken to him: Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times. And going out, he wept bitterly. In another Gospel we read that after Peter’s denial and the rooster crowed, the Savior looked at Peter and with His gaze brought him to bitter tears. And it could not be that a person who contemplated the light of the world should remain in the darkness of renunciation. And going out, he wept bitterly.” Sitting at the entrance to the house of Caiaphas 647, he could not bring repentance; He left the council of the wicked in order to wash away the impurity of timid renunciation with bitter tears. In the translation: The Gospel of Matthew - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “Therefore cleanse out the old leaven, so that you may become new lump, since you are unleavened, for our Passover, Christ, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us celebrate, not with old leaven, not with the leaven of vice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of purity and truth” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “Seeing this, His disciples were indignant and said: why such a waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a high price and given to the poor” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “They were stoned, sawn apart, tortured, and died by the sword” - ed. In the lane: I have to spill - ed. In the text: verses 12–14 – ed. The text of the “Interpretation” gives a different breakdown into verses than in the new Synodal Russian translation of the Gospel. In the lane: he will stab himself - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “And he will show you a large upper room furnished; cook there” – ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “But what was an advantage for me, for the sake of Christ I counted as loss” - ed. In the lane: unsuitable garbage - ed. The text states: verses 26–27 – ed. (Luke 22) In the indicated chapter of the Gospel of Luke there is no place that inspires this thought (Note, translator). According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “And having sung, they went to the Mount of Olives” - ed. Gives a different breakdown into verses than in the new Synodal Russian translation of the Gospel - ed. The text contains a reference to: (John 6, 9, 70). We are apparently talking about: (Jon 4, 6–9) according to the new Synodal Russian translation - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “And with all this she irritated Me” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “Then Jesus says to them: My soul is grieved unto death; abide here and watch with me - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “And going away a little, he fell on his face, prayed and said: My Father! if possible, let this cup pass from Me; however, not as I want, but as You - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “Let the cup pass from Me” - ed. The text states: According to the new Synodal Russian translation “I was killed in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” - ed. According to the old Synodal Russian translation: “And he approached [the disciples] “again. And he found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And leaving them, he went away again and prayed for the third time, repeating the same words” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “Jesus said to him: friend, why have you come? Then they came and laid their hands on Jesus, and took Him.” – ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “Friend! How did you come here not wearing wedding clothes?” – ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “At that hour Jesus said to the people: It was as if you had come out against a thief with swords and staves to take Me; Every day I sat with you, teaching in the church, and you did not take Me?” – ed. At the lane according to the old transcription: Kaifa - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “And going inside, he sat down with the servants to see the end. The chief priests and elders and the entire Sanhedrin looked for false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death, and found none; and, although many false witnesses came, they were not found” -ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “But finally two false witnesses came and said: He said: I can destroy the church of God and build it in three days - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “And I will raise it up in three days” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “He exposes his cheek to the one who beats him, he is fed up with reproach” - ed. At the lane according to the old transcription: Caiaphas - ed. You might be interested in: