ACC ~ Matthew 26 v57 - 68

OVERVIEW:

Caiaphas, the scribes and the elders were all disreputable (ORIGEN). Peter is to be commended, however, for at least he followed Jesus rather than fleeing like the other disciples (JEROME). The council found no false witness against Jesus at first because Jesus was blameless (ORIGEN). The testimony finally presented was false because those speaking twisted what Jesus had said regarding the temple (JEROME). Caiaphas, working on behalf of the devil in more ways than one, trespasses Jesus’ previous command not to swear by commanding Jesus to swear. By contrast Jesus will sit enthroned in power at God’s right hand. The “clouds of heaven” represent the prophets and apostles of Christ (ORIGEN). What Caiaphas called blasphemy was Christ’s way of saying that he was in accordance with God’s will (CHRYSOSTOM).

Why did Caiaphas tear his robes? Caiaphas was furious because he could not find sufficient charges against Jesus (JEROME). He tore his robes in order to underscore his accusation of blasphemy (CHRYSOSTOM, LEO THE GREAT). It is customary for Jews to rend their garments when they hear blasphemy (JEROME). In so doing, Caiaphas broke the rule of high priests that they are not to tear their clothes (LEO THE GREAT).

Jesus shows great perseverance as he was persecuted (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA, CHRYSOSTOM). His persecution also highlights his adversaries’ corruption (CHRYSOSTOM). He endured persecution for us and was in turn exalted by God (ORIGEN). Christ’s persecution fulfills Old Testament prophecy (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA, CHRYSOSTOM, ORIGEN). Those who strike another in the church strike Christ (ORIGEN).

26:57 | Jesus Led to Caiaphas the High Priest

THEY LED HIM TO CAIAPHAS

JEROME: In accordance with God’s command, Moses ordered that high priests should succeed their fathers and a line of descent should be woven among priests. Josephus relates that the disreputable Caiaphas purchased the high priesthood from Herod for one year only. [1] No wonder, then, the dishonorable high priest judges dishonorably. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.26.57. [2]

[1] Josephus Ant. 18.2.2, 4.3.

[2] CCL 77:259.

THE SCRIBES AND ELDERS HAD GATHERED

ORIGEN: I believe the word for Jewish slavery whereby poor and abandoned persons now profess to be slaves is “Caiaphas.” He is known as the high priest who, at odds with the truth, rails against Jesus. But Jesus according to the truth is a priest, the Word of God; under him are established all who worthily and zealously serve God the Father. Where the high priest Caiaphas is found, however, there the scribes come together, that is, learned men who preside over the perishing written word. While being scribes, they are also elders who preside not over the truth but over the classic usage of a mere word. [1] They are unwilling to consider anything beyond that. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 105. [2]

[1] As is his habit, Origen stresses the inability of the Jews to understand the spiritual sense of the Old Testament, which has prevented them from accepting Christ. The mention in the Gospels of the elders of the people recalls the antiquity and thus insufficiency of the literal meaning of the Scriptures, which by now are superseded by the newness of the spiritual meaning revealed by Christ.

[2] GCS 38.2:225.

26:58 | Peter Followed at a Distance

LOVE OR CURIOSITY

JEROME: Either out of a disciple’s love or out of human curiosity, Peter wanted to know what judgment the high priest would make concerning the Lord: whether he would have Christ put to death or beaten with whips. There is a difference between the eleven apostles and Peter at this point. They fled, whereas he followed the Savior from a distance. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.26.58. [1]

[1] CCL 77:259.

26:59-62 | Seeking False Testimony

THEY FOUND NO FALSE TESTIMONY

ORIGEN: From this it is clear that Jesus “committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips.” [1] His life was unimpeachable and completely blameless, leaving his enemies no opportunity for provocation. Clearly they found nothing to say against him or to insinuate by shading the truth (“the chief priests and the whole council sought false testimony,” but they could find none). There is room for false testimony when it is given with a shading of the truth; however, no shading of the truth was found which could further their lies against Jesus—although there were many who wished to find favor with Caiaphas and the chief priests and the scribes and the elders and the whole council. These avidly sought that testimony. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 107. [2]

[1] Is 53:9.

[2] GCS 38.2:226.

DESTROY AND REBUILD THE TEMPLE

JEROME: How can they be false witnesses if they said what we read the Lord had said before? Because a false witness takes the truth and twists its meaning. The Lord had spoken of the temple of his body, [1] but they falsely accused him with those very words. With a few things added or changed, they made it into an understandably false accusation. The Savior had said, “Destroy this temple.” They changed his words to say, “I can destroy God’s temple.” … But the Lord, indicating the living and breathing temple, had said, “And in three days I will raise it up.” [2] It is one thing to build and another to raise up. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.26.61. [3]

[1] Jn 2:21.

[2] Jn 2:19.

[3] CCL 77:259-60.

26:63-64 | Jesus’ Silence and Answers

I ADJURE YOU BY THE LIVING GOD

ORIGEN: We find in the law several cases of swearing. And now, on this occasion, the priest commands Jesus to swear “by the living God.” In this regard, I believe it is improper for one who wants to live by the gospel to command someone to swear. [1]

Likewise, the Lord himself says in the Gospel: “But I say to you, ‘Do not swear at all’ ” [2] and do not command someone else to swear at all. So, according to Christ’s Gospel command, if it is not permissible to swear, neither is it permissible to command someone else to swear. Therefore it is clear that the high priest unlawfully ordered Jesus to swear, even though he may have ordered him to swear “by the living God.” COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 110. [3]

[1] The high priest adjured (exorkizō) while Jesus had forbidden people to take oaths (omnyō, Mt 5:34). Origen points out the difference between the two verbs, but he considers them at bottom to have the same meaning, so that Jesus’ prohibition would extend also to adjuration.

[2] Mt 5:34.

[3] GCS 38.2:229.

YOU HAVE SAID SO

ORIGEN: It was not fitting for our Lord to respond to the high priest’s command to swear. … For this reason, he neither denied that he was Christ, the Son of God, nor did he openly declare it. Instead, as though accepting to be a swearing witness … he replied, “You have said so.”

And since “everyone who commits sin is of the devil,” [1] the high priest also committed a sin in plotting against Jesus. Therefore he was of the devil, and, being of the devil as it were, he imitated his very father, who doubtingly asked the Savior twice, “If you are the Son of God,” as is written concerning his temptations. Similar in fact are the words “If you are the Son of God” and “if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” [2] Someone may rightly say in this regard that to doubt whether Christ is the Son of God is the work of the devil and of the high priest who plotted against our Lord. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 110. [3]

[1] 1 Jn 3:8.

[2] Mt 4:3, 6.

[3] GCS 38.2:230.

AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER

ORIGEN: It seems to me that the Son of man seated “at the right hand of Power” signifies enthronement and empowerment. He was seated therefore next to Power—the only power properly so called—and at the right hand. He received all power from the Father “in heaven and on earth.” [1] His adversaries too will see his enthronement, sometime after the blessed have seen him with joy.

Now the passage according to Mark does not say “hereafter.” It reads simply, “You will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power.” [2] This does not imply anything contrary to what we have said. However, in light of Matthew’s words, “hereafter you will see” and Luke’s words, “so will the Son of man be in his day,” [3] one may ask whether since the time the Savior had said these things, they were fulfilled to those who heard his words. … Our reply is that they appear to have been fulfilled, since from that time, that is, from the time of the dispensation, the Son of man has been seated “at the right hand of Power,” [4] and his disciples witnessed his resurrection from the dead. For this reason, as we noted before, they saw him seated “at the right hand of Power.” COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 111. [5]

[1] Mt 28:18.

[2] Mk 14:62.

[3] Lk 22:69.

[4] In Matthew, Jesus says that in a short time the Son of man will be sitting at the right hand of God, while Luke 22:69 says that from this moment he will be sitting at the right hand of God. Origen resolves the difficulty by explaining that from the beginning of the economy of the incarnation, Christ sits at the right hand of God.

[5] GCS 38.2:231-32.

ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN

ORIGEN: The prophets of God and the apostles of Christ are those living clouds which Jesus orders to rain down or not to rain down, as he sees fit, upon the fruitless vineyard. Now if anyone does not wish to become these clouds upon which and with which the Son of man will appear, Christ will know this. For God the Word and wisdom and truth and justice will always come upon these clouds and be with them, manifesting his coming to those worthy of himself. Furthermore, we speak of these clouds as though they bear a “sign from heaven,” heavenly clouds that do not pass away. They have been made worthy of the throne of God and the kingdom of God as “heirs of God and coheirs of Christ.” [1] And they will reign with him. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 111. [2]

[1] Rom 8:17.

[2] GCS 38.2:233.

26:65 | He Has Blasphemed

THE HIGH PRIEST TORE HIS ROBES

JEROME: Blind anger and impatience, bereft of grounds for a false accusation, dislodged the high priest from his seat, and he displayed the rabid state of his mind with a vehement bodily gesture. The more Jesus kept silent over the false witnesses and dishonorable priests indignant at his response, all the more did the high priest, overcome with rage, provoke him to give an incriminating reply. Still Jesus kept quiet, because as God he knew that whatever he replied would be twisted into grounds for accusation. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.26.63. [1]

[1] CCL 77:260.

BLASPHEMY

CHRYSOSTOM: Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, he has spoken blasphemy. He did this to add force to the accusation and to aggravate what he said by a symbolic action. What had been said moved the hearers to fear. They did in this case what they would later do in the case of Stephen: they stopped their ears. [1] The high priest does the same thing.

Yet what kind of blasphemy was this? For indeed he had said before, when they were gathered together, that “the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand.” [2] And he had interpreted the saying, and they dared to say nothing. They held their peace and from that time forward did not challenge him further. Why then did they now call the saying a blasphemy? And why did Christ now answer them? He did so to take away all their excuses. Even to the last day he taught that he was the Christ, and that he would sit at the right hand of the Father and that he would come again to judge the world. All this was the language of one manifesting his full accordance with the will of the Father. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 84.2-3. [3]

[1] Acts 7:57.

[2] Mt 22:44; Ps 110:1 (109:1 LXX).

[3] PG 58:754; NPNF 1 10:504.

THE FURY OF CAIAPHAS

JEROME: The one whom fury had lifted out of his priestly throne [1] was impelled by that same fury to tear his garments. When Caiaphas tore his robes, he demonstrated that the Jews had lost the glory of the priesthood and that the seat of the high priest was now vacant. But it is the custom of the Jews to tear their clothes when they hear any blasphemy against God. We read that Paul and Barnabas did this when they were honored and worshiped as gods in Lycaonia. [2] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.26.65. [3]

[1] Jerome refers to Matthew 26:62: “And the high priest stood up and said . . .”

[2] Acts 14:10-14.

[3] CCL 77:261.

RENDING GARMENTS

LEO THE GREAT:

To emphasize his alarm over the words he had just heard, Caiaphas “tore his garments.” Unaware of his own madness, he deprived himself of priestly honor. Caiaphas, where does reason reside in your mind? … You are oblivious to the command you read concerning high priests: “Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not rend your clothes.” [1] But you, who have now forfeited your dignity, are the very object of disgrace. And in token of the end of the old regulation, the same rending that rips your priestly attire will soon also tear apart the veil of the temple. SERMON 44.2. [2]

[1] Lev 21:10.

[2] SC 74:46.

26:66-68 | He Deserves Death

THEY STRUCK HIM

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: This is clearly a reflection of the holy prophet’s words, “Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great fear,” says “the Lord,” [1] the one true God, the king of kings and Lord of lords. He was dishonored by us: first he endured blows, and then he endured laughter from the impious, exemplifying the highest forbearance yet presented to us. How can the one who “examines heart and mind,” the one who illumines prophets, not know “who strikes you”? FRAGMENT 301. [2]

[1] Jer 2:12.

[2] MKGK 261.

THEY SPAT IN HIS FACE

CHRYSOSTOM: Note with admiration the self-restraint of the disciples. Observe how carefully they relate these things. This clearly shows their disposition to love the truth. They relate with all truthfulness the things that seem to be opprobrious. They disguise nothing. They are not ashamed of anything. Rather, they account it as a very great glory, as indeed it was, that the Lord of the universe should endure to suffer such things for us. This shows both his unutterable tenderness and the inexcusable wickedness of those men who had the heart to do such things to him that was so mild and meek. His words were such as to change a lion into a lamb. … All of these things the prophet Isaiah had foretold. He had proclaimed it beforehand: “Like as many were astonished at you, so shall your form be held inglorious of men, and your glory of the sons of men.” [1] THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 85.1. [2]

[1] Is 52:14.

[2] PG 58:757; NPNF 1 10:506.

THEY SLAPPED HIM

ORIGEN: It was necessary for him to teach these things by example, “giving his back to whips and his cheeks to fists” and not turning his face away “from insults and spitting.” [1] Thus would he, by suffering these things in our place, deliver us (as I believe) who were worthy to suffer all that disgrace. Truly he did not “die for us” [2] that we might not die but that we might not die for ourselves. And he was spat upon and beaten for us, so that we who were worthy of all these things because of our sins might not just suffer them but, suffering them for the sake of justice, we might gratefully accept them. Paul makes it clear that the Savior “humbled himself becoming obedient all the way to death, even to the death of the cross.” [3] … “On account of all this, God exalted him.” [4] God not only exalted him because of the death he underwent for our sake but also because of the buffeting and the spitting and all the rest.

Christ did not turn his face away “from insult and spitting,” [5] so his face might be glorified more than the face of Moses [6] —with so much glory that comparatively the glorification of Moses’ face was outshone, even as the light of a lamp is outshone by that of the sun and even as knowledge, which knows in part, is outshone “when that which is perfect has come.” [7] But they also buffeted the holy head of the church. Because of this, they will be beaten by Satan, not that they may not be extolled or may have their power brought to an end but that, once in the hands of the enemy and punisher, they may receive just punishment for the sin they committed in buffeting Jesus.

Not content with spitting in his face and buffeting him, they even struck his face with the palms of their hands, and, mocking him, they said, “Prophesy to us, O Christ! who is it that struck you?” On account of this … they have been struck and punished. Yet they were unwilling to accept any discipline, as Jeremiah had prophesied about them: “You chastened them and they did not grieve; they were unwilling to receive correction.” [8] And now whoever harms anyone in the church and does these things to him spits on the very face of Christ, and, buffeting Christ, they slap him with the palms of their hands. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 113. [9]

[1] Is 50:6.

[2] Rom 5:8.

[3] Phil 2:8.

[4] Phil 2:9.

[5] Is 50:6.

[6] Ex 34:29.

[7] 1 Cor 13:10.

[8] Jer 5:3.

[9] GCS 38.2:235-36.