ACC ~ John 12 v6

WHO MURMURED AGAINST THE WASTE OF PERFUME?

AUGUSTINE In the other Gospels it is the disciples who murmured at the waste of the ointment. … I think myself that Judas is put for the whole body of disciples; the plural used for the singular. [1] … But at any rate we may supply for ourselves that the other disciples said it, or thought it or were persuaded by this very speech of Judas. The only difference is that Matthew and Mark expressly mention the concurrence of the others, whereas John only mentions Judas, whose habit of thieving he takes occasion to notice. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.79.156. [2]

[1] Gaudentius makes a similar point, inferring that Jesus was trying to spare Judas from a direct accusation; see his Tractate 13 (PL 20:935), where he compares sine with sinite.

[2] CSEL 43:263; NPNF 1 6:174**.

NOT FORCED INTO BETRAYAL

AMBROSE [Judas] was chosen among the twelve apostles and had charge of the money bag, to distribute it among the poor, so that it might not seem as though he had betrayed the Lord because he was not honored or in want. And so, the Lord granted him this office so that he might also be shown to be just in his dealings with him. Judas would be guilty of a greater fault, not as one driven to it by a wrong done to him but as one misusing grace. DUTIES OF THE CLERGY 1.16.64. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 10:12*; CCL 15:23-24.

JESUS TRIED TO RESTRAIN JUDAS’S GREED

EPHREM THE SYRIAN Our Lord, because he saw that Judas was greedy for money, had placed him in charge of the money to satisfy him and to prevent him becoming a traitor for the sake of money. It would have been better for him, however, to have stolen the money rather than to have betrayed the Creator of money. … Should not the thief of money fear the Creator of money? Perhaps that is what he remembered when he hanged himself. [1] COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 17.13. [2]

[1] See Mt 27:5.

[2] ECTD 267-68.

A GREEDY PERSON IS ALWAYS IN NEED

BEDE Because “a greedy person always is in need,” [1] [Judas], being faithless and wicked, never remembered the trust [placed in him] but went on from the theft of the money that he had been asked to carry to betraying our Lord who showed confidence [in him]. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.4. [2]

[1] Horace Epistle 1.2.56.

[2] CS 111:39*. Ephrem makes a similar comment; see his Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron 17.13.