ACC ~ Matthew 26 v6 - 16

OVERVIEW:

About to suffer for the whole world and to redeem all nations by his blood, Jesus rests in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper (JEROME). A woman with an alabaster jar came to him. Leprosy was considered a most unclean disease, yet the woman saw that Jesus had both healed the man and had gone into his house. She did not come to him on the premise that he was a mere man. If he were only human, she would not have wiped his feet with her hair (CHRYSOSTOM). This woman prefigures the Gentile people, who would give glory to God through the passion of Christ.

Special thanks are due to the whole female gender for the care they take of the body. Jesus would soon transfer all care of his body and all affection for his soul to the honor and praise of God (HILARY OF POITIERS). Various narratives tell of different women. Some pour out precious ointment over the head of Jesus; others do not anoint the head but only the feet. Others do not pour out abundantly but anoint only so much. Some of them anoint with ointment, leaving the whole house filled with the odor of his divinity (ORIGEN). The various narratives also differ as to whether the apostles were indignant for the sake of the poor or Judas for the sake of his own gain (JEROME). When the woman’s action was challenged on the grounds of wastefulness, the Lord reminded them they would have much time to look after the poor. The Gentiles would be buried with him in the outpouring of ointment by this woman, for rebirth is given only to those who have died with him (HILARY OF POITIERS). She was praised by the Lord for having announced beforehand his Passion by bringing to him what is needed for a funeral. Far from condemning her as having erred, Jesus promises that what has been done will not go unnoticed. The world would remember openly that which was done in that house and in secret (CHRYSOSTOM).

26:6-7 | Jesus Anointed at Bethany

THE HOUSE OF SIMON THE LEPER

JEROME: About to suffer for the whole world and to redeem all nations by his blood, Jesus tarries in Bethany at the home of obedience. [1] It was once the house of Simon the leper—but he was no longer a leper. After he had been cured by the Savior he was still known by his original name, that the power of the healer might appear. In fact, one of the apostles listed with his original occupation and vice is Matthew the publican, though he certainly ceased to be a publican. There are those who want the house of Simon the leper to be known as that part of the people who believed in the Lord and were cured by him. Simon himself, moreover, is termed the obedient one. [2] His name can be interpreted also as “the clean one” in whose house the church was healed. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.26.6. [3]

[1] “Home of obedience” is the etymology of Bethany. As for Simon the leper, in the Gospels Jesus is not said to have cured him, but it is considered implicit that this occurred.

[2] “Obedient” is the meaning of the name Simon.

[3] CCL 77:246.

JESUS WAS AT BETHANY

CHRYSOSTOM: It may seem that this woman is the same in all the Gospel narratives. But I doubt it. In John she is another person, one much to be admired, the sister of Lazarus. [1]

But not without purpose did the Evangelist mention the leprosy of Simon. He did this in order to show how the woman gained confidence and came to Jesus. Leprosy seemed a most unclean disease and to be abhorred. Yet she saw that Jesus had both healed the man and had gone into his house. This is why he remained with the leper. She grew confident that he could also easily wipe away the uncleanness from her soul.

It is significant that the city is named Bethany, that we might learn that it is of his own free will that he comes to suffer. If before he was fleeing from their envy, now he comes near, within about fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem. His former pattern of withdrawing himself now belongs to a past dispensation. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 80.1. [2]

[1] Jn 12:1-3 also tells of the anointing of Jesus by Mary sister of Lazarus, but in Matthew the woman anoints the head of Jesus, and in John the feet. Hence Chrysostom believes that there were two distinct episodes. See also p. 241 n. 13.

[2] PG 58:723-24; NPNF 1 10:480.

A WOMAN WITH AN ALABASTER FLASK

CHRYSOSTOM: The woman therefore having seen him, and having become extraordinarily confident, came directly to him. This was wholly unlike other women in the narrative, for example, the woman with the issue of blood. She was conscious of her uncleanness and approached him with fear and trembling, slowly and shrinking back. [1] And so it was with many women, the Samaritan, [2] the Canaanite [3] and others. This woman is conscious of her impurity. She comes to him in a private house, not publicly. And whereas all of these other women came to him for the healing of the body alone, this woman came to him to honor him only, and for the amendment of the soul. She was not at all afflicted in body. This is what makes her especially remarkable. And she does not come to him on the premise that he is a mere man. If that were so, she would not have wiped his feet with her hair. Her action was directed to one greater than man. Therefore she brings to Christ that part which is the most honorable member of the whole body, her head, and lays her hair over his feet. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 80.1. [4]

[1] Mk 5:25-34.

[2] Jn 4:4-42.

[3] Mt 15:21-28.

[4] PG 58:724; NPNF 1 10:480.

AN EXPENSIVE OINTMENT

HILARY OF POITIERS: This woman prefigures the Gentile people, who gave glory to God in the suffering of Christ. She thoroughly anointed his head. Recall that Christ’s head is God. [1] Ointment represents the fruit of good works. And special thanks are due to the female gender for the care of the body. So then, he transferred all care of his body and all affection for his precious soul to the honor and praise of God. But the disciples, keen on saving Israel, become quickly upset as usual: “This ought to have been sold to help the poor.” But the ointment the woman carried was not for sale. ON MATTHEW 29.2. [2]

[1] 1 Cor 11:3.

[2] SC 258:218-20.

SHE POURED OINTMENT ON HIS HEAD

ORIGEN: With good reason, therefore, when Luke spoke of the woman who was a sinner, he introduced her as weeping copiously. She thus washed the feet of Jesus with her tears … only “anointing,” and not his head but his feet. [1] This woman, however, who was not described as a sinner, did not anoint but “poured” ointment, and not on his feet but “on his head.” [2] As to what is written about Mary, the sister of Lazarus, she too “anointed” the Lord’s “feet.” Note what the Gospel says: The whole “house was filled with the odor of the ointment.” [3]

Perhaps the differences in these women therefore may signify the differences in the faithful. Some of them pour out precious ointment “over the head” of Jesus, others do not anoint the head but only the feet, and others do not pour out abundantly but anoint only so much. Some of them anoint with ointment, leaving the whole house filled with the odor of his divinity. Then there are others, also acceptable to Christ, for they anoint his feet with ointment, which the Pharisees did not even anoint with “oil.” COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 77. [4]

[1] Lk 7:36-38.

[2] Luke 7:36-50 also tells of the anointing but in a context different from both Matthew (with Mark) and John, defining the woman who anoints the feet of Jesus (as in John) as a sinner. The anointing of the feet links Luke with John as opposed to Matthew, which speaks of the anointing of the head, but Origen does not think it possible that Mary the sister of Lazarus could have been defined a sinner. He is inclined to believe that there were three distinct women, uniting the accounts of Matthew and Mark only.

[3] Jn 12:3.

[4] GCS 38.2:181-82.

26:8-11 | The Disciples’ Indignation Rebuked

WHY THIS WASTE?

JEROME: I know that some people criticize this passage because one Evangelist said only Judas became indignant since he kept the money purse and was a thief from the beginning, [1] whereas Matthew wrote that all the apostles were indignant. Some may be unaware of the figure of speech called syllepsis, customarily termed “all for one and one for all.” The case is somewhat similar with Paul the apostle, who wrote in his epistle to the Hebrews (though many Latins have doubts about this), [2] describing the sufferings and merits of the heroes of faith, inferring: “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death by the sword.” [3] The Jews assert that only one person, Isaiah the prophet, was tortured. We may also point out that the apostles were indignant for the sake of the poor but Judas for the sake of his own gain. Hence his grumbling was also mixed with his misdeeds, because he had no concern for the poor but only wanted to be able to steal. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.26.9. [4]

[1] Jn 12:6.

[2] In antiquity various doubts were expressed regarding the attribution to Paul of the epistle to the Hebrews. While in the East these doubts did not impede the acceptance of the letter into the New Testament canon, in the West this acceptance came later, toward the beginning of the fifth century.

[3] Heb 11:37.

[4] CCL 77:246-47.

A BEAUTIFUL THING

CHRYSOSTOM: And why was it Jesus did not merely say, “She has done a good work,” but before this he said, “Why do you trouble the woman?” He does not want to require too much of the woman. He takes into account her person. He said this that they might not mar her budding faith but rather cherish it. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 80.2. [1]

[1] PG 58:726; NPNF 1 10:481.

YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE POOR

HILARY OF POITIERS: The Lord told them they would have much time to look after the poor. Further, it is only at his command that salvation can be given to the Gentiles buried with him in the outpouring of ointment by this woman, for rebirth is given only to those who have died with him in the profession of baptism. [1] ON MATTHEW 29.2. [2]

[1] Rom 6:4; Col 2:12.

[2] SC 258:220.

26:12-13 | Preparing Me for Burial

THE PRECIOUS OINTMENT

ORIGEN: The ointment with an agreeable odor represents what the faithful do for God. This very work of the faithful of God, which is ointment, becomes something else for the good of humanity—for instance, almsgiving, visits to the sick, welcoming strangers, humility, gentleness, pardon, and so forth. These are things that benefit human beings. He who does them to Christians anoints the Lord’s feet with ointment, for they are the Lord’s feet with which he will always walk. … This is the ointment which also anoints Christ’s head and flows down over his whole body, that is, it pours down on the whole church. This is the precious ointment that fills the whole house with its odor, that is, the church of Christ. This is the work that is proper not for penitents but for the preeminently holy people. Certainly the teaching necessary for people which feeds those who are poor in spiritually good things or those who are perhaps weak in avoiding sin—this is the plain ointment with which the Lord’s feet are anointed. However, the knowledge of the true faith which pertains to God alone—this is the precious ointment that anoints God, Christ’s head. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 77. [1]

[1] GCS 38.2:185-86.

DONE TO PREPARE ME FOR BURIAL

CHRYSOSTOM: He said, “She has done it for my burial,” that they might not be perplexed. See how he consoles her with what follows, saying, “What she has done shall be spoken of in the whole world.”

And this was at once consolation to his disciples and comfort and praise to her. “For all the world will celebrate her hereafter. Now she has announced beforehand my suffering by bringing to me what is needed for a funeral. So let no one reprove her. For I am so far from condemning her as having done wrongly or from blaming her as having not acted rightly that I will not permit what has been done to lie unnoticed. The world will know that which has been done in this house and in secret. It is in truth the deed of a reverential mind and fervent faith and a contrite soul.” THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 80.2.” [1]

[1] PG 58:726; NPNF 1 10:482.

26:14 | Judas Iscariot Went to the Priests

THE TWO JUDASES

ORIGEN: Judas means “confessor.” Luke the Evangelist numbers both “Judas the son of James and Judas Iscariot” among the twelve apostles. [1] Since two of Christ’s disciples were given this same name and since there can be no meaningless symbol in the Christian mystery, I am convinced that the two Judases represent two distinct types of confessing Christians. The first, symbolized by Judas the son of James, perseveres in remaining faithful to Christ. The second type, however, after once believing and professing faith in Christ, then abandons him out of greed. He defects to the heretics and to the false priests of the Jews, that is, to counterfeit Christians, and (insofar as he is able) delivers Christ, the “Word of truth,” over to them to be crucified and destroyed. This type of Christian is represented by Judas Iscariot, who “went out to the chief priests” and agreed on a price for betraying Christ. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 78. [2]

[1] Lk 6:16.

[2] GCS 38.2:186.

THEN ONE OF THE TWELVE

CHRYSOSTOM: Then. When? It was when it had been made clear that he was being prepared for burial, that the Gospels would be preached everywhere and that he had been shown honor. Then Judas did the devil’s deed.

But what can be the reason they mention his surname? Because there was also another Judas.

And why do they specifically say that “he was one of the twelve”? They have opted entirely to hide none of those things which seem to be matters of reproach. And yet they might have merely said that he was one of the disciples, for there were others besides. But now they add, “of the twelve,” as though they had said, of the first company of those selected as the best, of those alongside Peter and John. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 80.2. [1]

[1] PG 58:726-27; NPNF 1 10:482.

26:15-16 | Betrayal for Thirty Pieces of Silver

THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER

ORIGEN: Let us consider what Judas said to the Jewish priests: “What will you give me if I hand him over to you?” He was willing to take money in exchange for handing over the Word of God. They do the same thing who accept sensual or worldly goods in exchange for handing over and casting out from their souls the Savior and Word of truth who came to dwell with them. Indeed, it would be fitting to apply Judas’s example to all who show contempt for the Word of God and betray him, as it were, by committing sin for the sake of money or for any selfish motive. People who behave in this way appear openly to be calling out to the powers of the enemy who offer worldly gain in return for the sin of betraying God’s Word, saying, “What will you give me if I hand him over to you?”

“And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.” The number of coins they gave Judas was equivalent to the number of years the Savior had sojourned in this world. For at the age of thirty, he was baptized and began to preach the gospel, like Joseph was thirty years old when he began to gather grain for his brothers. [1] Just as at that time the grain was prepared by God for the sons of Israel but given also to the Egyptians, so also the gospel was prepared for the saints but preached also to the unfaithful and wicked. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 78. [2]

[1] Gen 41:46. This is the partiarch Joseph, with reference to the events recounted in Genesis 41—50. The connection is explained by the fact that Joseph was, among the figures of the Old Testament, one of those considered a symbolic and prophetic prefigurement of Christ.

[2] GCS 38.2:187-88.

WHAT WILL YOU GIVE ME?

CHRYSOSTOM: The Romans had set the Jews over the people in order that they should provide for their good order. [1] But by this time the Jews were becoming insurgent. Their government was now undergoing a change according to prophecy.

To these priests Judas went “and said, ‘What will you give me if I deliver him to you?’ And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.” Judas was by now afraid of the multitude and desired to seize him alone.

O madness! The covetousness of Judas altogether blinds him! He had often seen Jesus when he went through the midst and did not betray him. Jesus had afforded many demonstrations of his Godhead and power, and no one had laid hold on him. Even at the supper Judas did not cease to talk with him and receive his care. This could have put an end to his evil thought. But all this profited nothing. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 80.3. [2]

[1] Luke 22:4 says that Judas went to the priests and the stratēgoi, a term that here signifies the heads of the Jewish people in general terms. Chrysostom uses the term in the sense that these men would have been identified by the Romans.

[2] PG 58:727; NPNF 1 10:482.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO BETRAY

ORIGEN: “From then on he sought an opportunity to betray him.” Luke’s Gospel shows most clearly the kind of opportunity for which Judas was looking when it says, “And he sought an opportunity to betray him in the absence of the crowds,” [1] that is, when the people were not with him but when he was alone with his disciples. His betrayer did the deed after supper, when Christ was alone in the garden of Gethsemane. For once Judas reached his agreement with the Jews, he determined that his opportunity would come when Jesus was not with the crowds. Notice how even today the betrayers of Jesus Christ, Word of truth and Word of God, see their best opportunity to hand him over at a time when Christians are being persecuted. … They are at their worst when the number of his faithful is at its fewest. And since there is a time for all things, for Solomon said “there is a time to be born and a time to die,” [2] the time for betraying the Word of truth was specifically when very few of the faithful were with Christ. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 78. [3]

[1] Lk 22:6.

[2] Eccles 3:2.

[3] GCS 38.2:188.