ACC ~ Matthew 26 v1 - 5

OVERVIEW:

The Father had set the hour of Christ’s Passion (ORIGEN), where a feast and celebration were being kept for the salvation of the world. This foreknowledge prepares Jesus for his suffering (CHRYSOSTOM). What Ezekiel said to Jerusalem—that “it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you”—can be said more rightly of Jerusalem at Jesus’ time (ORIGEN). The priests’ counsel remained steadfast that he should be killed not on the feast but on another day (ORIGEN). Yet though they had said, “Not at the feast time,” on Jesus’ arrest they could not wait to kill him (CHRYSOSTOM).

26:1-2 | Jesus Speaks of His Crucifixion

WHEN HE HAD FINISHED THESE SAYINGS

ORIGEN: We know that the Father had set the hour of his Passion. For he said to his mother at one point, “My hour has not yet come.” [1] In another place, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour! No, this is why I came to this hour.” [2] And elsewhere, “Father, the hour has come! Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” [3] Since the Father set the hour of his Son’s Passion, he could not suffer anything from the time the devil had departed from him until his Passion. [4] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 74. [5]

[1] Jn 2:4.

[2] Jn 12:27.

[3] Jn 17:1.

[4] Origen frequently cites Wisdom 11:21 to indicate the progression through which the design of the divine economy is worked out with regard to the world.

[5] GCS 38.2:174-75.

AFTER TWO DAYS THE PASSOVER IS COMING

JEROME: Let them [1] blush with shame who think the Savior dreaded death and said out of fear of suffering, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” After two days, about to celebrate the Passover, he knew that he was to be betrayed and crucified. However, he did not turn away from the snares or take flight in fear. While the rest were unwilling to proceed, he remained unruffled when Thomas said, “Let us go that we may die with him.” [2] Wishing to put an end to the earthly festivity and to declare the truth in the passing shadow of Passover, he said, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” [3] Indeed, “Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed” if we eat it with “the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” [4] Furthermore, because he says, “After two days the Passover will be here” and omits a simple explanation, we should seek what is holy. After two days of the brilliant light of the Old and New Testaments, the Passover is celebrated for the world. This Passover, called pesaḥ in Hebrew, is not named after Christ’s suffering as many believe. [5] It refers to the “passing over,” when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors of the Israelites, passed by and did not strike them down. [6] In other words, the Lord, giving help to his people, came down from above. Our passing over—that is to say, pesaḥ—will be celebrated if we put behind us both earthly things and Egypt and move on to heavenly things. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.26.8-9. [7]

[1] The adversaries confronted here by Jerome are the pagans, who used Jesus’ request that his cup be taken from him to maintain that he could not have been of a divine nature. Specifically Jerome probably has in mind the anti-Christian polemic of Porphyry.

[2] Jn 11:16.

[3] Lk 22:15.

[4] HE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST | MATTHEW 14:1-12

[5] The etymology Pascha = Passover (taken from the Hebrew) was common in Alexandrian circles, while in the West as in the Asiatic East, the faulty etymology Pascha = Passion (drawn from the Greek paschein) was commonplace.

[6] Ex 11:1—12:36.

[7] CCL 77:244-45.

HE WILL BE DELIVERED UP

ORIGEN: He therefore used the verb impersonally—that is, “he will be delivered up.” He did not say by whom, because the words apply to all those who delivered him up. But not everyone delivered him up in the same way. God delivered him up out of mercy for the human race: he “has not spared even his own Son but has delivered him for us all.” [1] But the rest delivered him up for a bad reason, each one according to his own malice: [2] Judas out of greed, the priests out of jealousy and the devil out of fear—lest the human race be plucked from his hands because of Christ’s teaching, little knowing that the human race would be plucked away more through his death than through his teaching and miracles. He was in fact delivered up “to be crucified” so that, “disarming the principalities and powers,” [3] he might triumph over them on the cross. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 75. [4]

[1] Rom 8:32.

[2] The Greek paradidōmi, like the Latin tradere, meant “to give over” both in the positive and in the negative sense. Thus the passive form, which does not specify the person by whom Jesus was to be given over, is subject to various interpretations in that different people gave Jesus over with different intentions: good (God) and evil (Judas, the priests).

[3] Col 2:15.

[4] GCS 38.2:176.

TO BE CRUCIFIED

CHRYSOSTOM: When he had reminded them of the kingdom, he spoke again of the season of his suffering and of final judgment. It was as though he had said, “Why are you afraid of the dangers that are only for a season when such good things await you?” Notice how he has thrown into the shade what was most painful to them. For he does not say, “You know that after two days I am betrayed,” but “You know that after two days is the Passover feast,” to show that what is done is a mystery. A feast and celebration is being kept for the salvation of the world. With foreknowledge he is prepared to suffer all. So then, as though this were sufficient consolation for them, he did not even say anything to them now about a resurrection. He had already spoken about it, and did not need to speak about it again. And moreover, as I said, he shows that even his suffering itself is a deliverance from countless evils, having by the Passover reminded them of the ancient benefits received in Egypt. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 79.2-3. [1]

[1] PG 58:720; NPNF 1 10:477.

26:3-5 | The Chief Priests and Elders Gather

THE PALACE OF THE HIGH PRIEST

CHRYSOSTOM: They are coming to the high priest with the desire to obtain their authority from him, by whom they ought to have been hindered.

How many high priests were there? For the law wills there should be one, but then there were many. From this it is beginning to be evident that the Jewish structure of governance had begun to collapse. For Moses, as I said, commanded there should be one and that when he was dead there should be another. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 79.3. [1]

[1] PG 58:720; NPNF 1 10:477.

THEY TOOK COUNSEL

ORIGEN: The words of the prophet, “And the rulers took counsel together against the Lord and his anointed,” [1] were fulfilled [2] when “the chief priests and elders of the people gathered in the court of the high priest” and took counsel together “against the Lord and his anointed.” They were not true priests but “of the people” and “elders.” They only seemed to be the people of God but were after all the people of Gomorrah. It was they who would say, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” and “Away from the earth with such a one!” [3] Furthermore, what Isaiah said, “Hear the word of the Lord, O leaders of Sodom; pay heed to God’s law, O people of Gomorrah,” [4] applies to the Jewish leaders who lived at the time of Christ. And what Ezekiel said to Jerusalem, “It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you,” [5] can be said more rightly of Jerusalem, over which the Lord wept, than of the time of the prophet. The chief priests sinned more greatly than Sodom. They did not recognize God’s high priest but plotted against him. The elders of the people, not knowing the “firstborn of every creature” [6] and the one who is older than all creatures, took counsel against him. Jerusalem was forsaken at that so-called court where “they took counsel together how they might seize Jesus by stealth.” Unfortunately this was the city that first killed the prophets and then the Lord of the prophets. That city took action against the founder of the whole world. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 76. [7]

[1] Ps 2:2.

[2] Already in Acts 2:25-26 the Passion of Christ is indicated as the realization of Psalm 2:12. The psalm was traditionally considered messianic.

[3] Lk 23:18.

[4] Is 1:10.

[5] Ezek 16:51-52.

[6] Col 1:15.

[7] GCS 38.2:177.

BY STEALTH

CHRYSOSTOM: What did they consult together? That they might seize him secretly, or that they might put him to death? Both, for they feared the people. Thus they waited for the feast to be past, for they said, “Not on the feast day,” lest he should make the Passion conspicuous. They were afraid of causing an uproar. Note that they never were afraid of the judgment of God but only the judgment of people. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 79.3. [1]

[1] PG 58:721; NPNF 1 10:477.

THEY FEARED A RIOT

ORIGEN: They took counsel “in order to arrest Jesus by stealth.” The prophet had aptly said about them, “May the Lord cut off all deceitful lips.” “By stealth” they wanted to seize him and to kill him. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be a riot among the people,” for they had seen Jesus performing many signs and wonders. Many indeed were those who sided with Jesus. They proclaimed that “a great prophet has arisen in Israel.” [1] But others were against him, and they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” [2] Many had come to see the Lord. The people showed great eagerness for him. They either loved Christ or hated him. They either believed in him or did not believe in him. The priests’ counsel remained steadfast (while they themselves who took counsel would not remain steadfast) that he should be killed not on the feast but on another day. “Christ our Passover” [3] was soon to be sacrificed so that, leaving behind the unleavened bread of the Jews, we might feast on the spiritual and true unleavened bread. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 76. [4]

[1] Lk 7:16

[2] Mt 12:24.

[3] 1 Cor 5:7.

[4] GCS 38.2:177-78.

NOT DURING FEAST TIME

CHRYSOSTOM: Yet for all this, boiling with anger, they changed their purpose again. For though they had said, “Not at the feast time,” when they found the traitor, they did not wait but killed him at the feast. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 79.3. [1]

[1] PG 58:721; NPNF 1 10:477.