ACC ~ Matthew 27 v44 - 56

OVERVIEW:

At first each thief blasphemed. But after the sun had fled, the earth shook, rocks split apart and darkness fell, one of the thieves believed in Jesus and recanted his initial denial by a subsequent confession (ORIGEN, JEROME). The light of the world held back its beams so that the Lord would not be seen hanging (JEROME). To his last breath Jesus honored God as his Father. He cried out on the cross in the voice of Scripture. He turned even their wickedness to use for our salvation (CHRYSOSTOM). Those who attribute to the lips of Christ doctrines that are alien to the truth turn the metaphor of the sponge around: they fill the sponge with vinegar, place it on a reed and drink it themselves (ORIGEN). By his own power Jesus laid down his life (CHRYSOSTOM). To cry out with a loud voice and give up the spirit, which is equivalent to committing the spirit to the hand of God, is reserved only for the saints who, like Christ himself, have prepared themselves for God through good works (ORIGEN).

The earth could not hold this dead man. Rocks were split, for the Word of God and the power of his eternal goodness rushed in, penetrating every stronghold and principality. Graves were opened, for the gates of death had been unlocked (HILARY OF POITIERS). In the Passion of the Lord the outer curtain was torn from the top, which represents the beginning of the world, to the bottom, representing the end of the world. Thus by the tearing of the curtain the mysteries that with good reason had been hidden until the coming of Christ were being disclosed (ORIGEN). Certain women had followed him, ministering to him wherever he went. They were present even amid these dangers. These women were first to express compassion toward Jesus in his death and burial. The sex that was most disparaged was first to enjoy the sight of his resurrected blessings. Even when the disciples had fled in the darkness, these women were still present (CHRYSOSTOM).

27:44 | The Robbers Jeer

ONE CONVERTED

ORIGEN: It is appropriate that both thieves be understood to have blasphemed the Lord at first. Afterwards, however, one of them converted and believed because of the wonders he heard performed by the Lord and also, perhaps, because he saw miraculous changes in the heavens and the falling of an untimely darkness. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 133. [1]

[1] GCS 38.2:271.

MOCKED IN THE SAME WAY

JEROME: Here, through a figure of speech called syllepsis, [1] instead of only one thief, both are described as having mocked Jesus. According to Luke, however, after one thief blasphemed, the other thief confessed his faith and rebuked the first. [2] The Gospels do not disagree with each other. At first each thief blasphemed. But after the sun had fled, the earth shook, rocks split apart and darkness fell, one of the thieves believed in Jesus and recanted his initial denial by a subsequent confession. Along with the two thieves each crowd of both the Gentiles and the Jews at first mocked the Lord. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.27.44. [3]

[1] Resorting to the trope of syllepsis (a grammatical construction used to perform two syntactic functions such as a free agreement between two elements of a phrase), Jerome explains the divergence of Matthew from Luke.

[2] Lk 23:39-40.

[3] CCL 77:272-73. Here, as is typical, Jerome follows and expands upon Origen.

27:45 | Darkness on All the Land

DARKNESS FELL

ORIGEN: It is my opinion that just as the other signs which accompanied Christ’s Passion were performed only in Jerusalem, so also the darkness which covered the land until the ninth hour occurred only in Judea. For in Jerusalem alone was the veil of the temple rent asunder and the earth shook and rocks split apart and graves opened. [1] … By the power of Christ, however, darkness fell upon all the land of Judea for three hours, but the light which illumines every church of God in Christ shone upon the rest of the land. Although darkness fell upon Judea until the ninth hour, it is clear that the light shone on it again, “until the full number of Gentiles come in, and so all Israel will be saved.” [2] The fact that darkness fell upon the land of Judea for three hours demonstrates that it was because of its sins that Judea was deprived of the light of three moments, that is, the light of God the Father, the splendor of Christ and the illumination of the Holy Spirit. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 134. [3]

[1] Mt 27:51-52.

[2] Rom 11:25-26.

[3] GCS 38.2:274-75, 278.

ALL THE LAND

ORIGEN: Certain believers, wishing to offer some defense of the gospel in a few brief words, have said that if no new miracle had been performed at the time of Christ’s Passion but everything happened in the normal manner, [1] then it would also have to be believed that the eclipse of the sun occurred as usual. Since it is agreed, however, that other prodigies which happened at that time were not customary events but new and wondrous (for the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth shook and rocks were split apart and graves were opened and many bodies of the saints rose from the dead), [2] it follows that neither did the eclipse of the sun happen as it normally does. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 134. [3]

[1] These were pagans who maintained on the basis of astronomical calculations that at the time of Jesus’ death no eclipse could have occurred.

[2] Mt 27:51-52.

[3] GCS 38.2:272-73.

FROM THE SIXTH HOUR

JEROME: Those who write against the Gospels [1] suppose that it is out of ignorance that the disciples of Christ have interpreted the eclipse of the sun (a phenomenon which usually happens at certain, established times) in accordance with the resurrection of the Lord, whereas an eclipse of the sun normally occurs only at the rising of a new moon. Now there is no doubt that at the time of the Passover the moon was full. [2] Lest we believe that the shadow of the earth or the movement of the moon’s orb across the sun had produced a brief twilight, a duration of three hours is specified in order to preclude all other explanations. I am persuaded that this happened in fulfillment of the prophecies: “The sun will set at noon, and the light in the day will become dark over the earth,” [3] and in another place, “The sun set when it was still the middle of the day.” [4] And it seems quite clear to me that the light of the world (this is a greater heavenly body) had held back its beams so that neither would the Lord be seen hanging nor would the wicked blasphemers take any delight while the sun was still shining. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.27.45. [5]

[1] Cf. p. 236 n. 6.

[2] Easter was celebrated on the fourteenth of Nisan, according to the lunar calendar in use then among the Jews. On that day the moon was full.

[3] Amos 8:9.

[4] Jer 15:9.

[5] CCL 77:273-74.

REPORT OF AN ECLIPSE

APOLLINARIS: Now a certain Phlegon, [1] a philosopher among the Greeks, recollects this darkness as an incredible occurrence in the fourteenth [night] of the moon, when an eclipse should not have appeared … for eclipses occur at the time when these two stars [the sun and the moon] draw near to one another. An eclipse of the sun happens at the conjunction of the sun and the moon as it runs into its way. This is not the time of the full moon, when the sun is diametrically opposed to the moon. But the eclipse occurred as creation mourned over what had happened, signifying that the drunken behavior of the Jews was linked to a darkened mind. The sunshine of the intellect had departed from them. For if they had been considering him—for that darkness found its source in the wrathful one and was evidence of what was about to overtake the murderers. FRAGMENT 142. [2]

[1] Phlegon of Tralles wrote a work on various marvels, long-lived people and the Olympics at the time of Hadrian (mid-second century), of which only a very few fragments are extant. He displayed a certain curiosity about the Christian religion.

[2] MKGK 50-51.

27:46 | Why Have You Forsaken Me?

THE CRY IN THE NINTH HOUR

HILARY OF POITIERS: Night following day marks a division of times. Thus is fulfilled the triad of days and nights, and the hidden mystery of God’s work is perceived with astonishment by all of creation. The cry to God in truth is the voice of a body departing, having declared the separation of the Word of God from itself. He wonders why he is being abandoned when he exclaims, “God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But he was forsaken because his humanity had to pass even through death. It must be considered carefully that he gave up the spirit with a loud cry after he drank from the sponge full of vinegar offered to him on a reed. [1] Wine is the honor and power of immortality, but it soured through the fault of the vessel or through carelessness. Therefore, since this wine had soured in Adam, he himself accepted it and drank from the nations. The fact that it was offered to him to drink from a sponge on a reed signifies that he took from the bodies of the Gentiles the sins which had ruined eternity and transferred our sins to himself, uniting them to his immortality. ON MATTHEW 33.6. [2]

[1] Mt 27:48, 50.

[2] SC 258:254.

WHO IS FORSAKEN?

ORIGEN: Certain people, in an outward display of piety for Jesus, because they are unable to explain how Christ could be forsaken by God, believe that this saying from the cross is true only as an expression of his humility. We, however, who know that he who was “in the form of God” [1] descended from the greatness of his stature and emptied himself, “taking the form of a servant” [2] according to the will of the one who sent him, understand that he was indeed forsaken by the Father inasmuch as he who was the form of the invisible God and the image of the Father “took the form of a servant.” He was forsaken for people so that he might shoulder so great a work and come “even to death” and “the death of the cross,” [3] a work which seems thoroughly shameful to most people. For it was the height of his abandonment when they crucified him and placed above his head the disdainful inscription “This is Jesus, king of the Jews.” [4] It was the height of his abandonment when they crucified him with thieves and when “those who passed by blasphemed him and wagged their heads.” [5] The chief priests and scribes said, “He saved others but cannot save himself.” [6] At that time “even the thieves reviled him” on the cross. [7] Clearly then you will be able to understand the saying “Why have you forsaken me?” when you compare the glory Christ had in the presence of the Father with the contempt he sustained on the cross, for his throne was “like the sun in the presence of God and like the moon established forever; and he was his faithful witness in heaven.” [8] Afterwards, he also added with regard to those reasons for which he said “why have you forsaken me?” “But now you have cast off and rejected, you are full of wrath against your anointed. You have renounced the covenant of your servant, you have defiled his crown in the dust.” [9] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 135. [10]

[1] Phil 2:6.

[2] Phil 2:7.

[3] Phil 2:8.

[4] Mt 27:37.

[5] Mt 27:39.

[6] Mt 27:42.

[7] Mt 27:44.

[8] Ps 89:36-37 (88:37-38 LXX).

[9] Ps 89:38-39 (88:39-40 LXX).

[10] GCS 38.2:279.

TESTIMONY FROM THE PSALM

JEROME: Jesus appropriated the beginning of the twentyfirst psalm. [1] That which is read in the middle of the verse, [2] “Look at me,” is superfluous. For in the Hebrew it reads, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” They are impious therefore who say that the psalm is written in the person of David or Esther or Mordecai, since the Evangelists understand that other testimony taken from the same psalm is to be applied to the Savior, as for example, “they divided my garments and cast lots for my clothing” and “they pierced my hands and my feet.” [3] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.27.46. [4]

[1] Ps 22:1 (21:1 LXX). Jerome means that Jesus willingly applied the beginning of the psalm to himself with the exception of “look at me,” the intermediate phrase between “My God, my God” and “why have you abandoned me?” He therefore contests the Jewish interpretation, which in disagreement with the Christians denied the messianic nature of the psalm.

[2] See LXX.

[3] Ps 22:18, 16 (21:19, 17 LXX).

[4] CCL 77:274.

STILL YOU ARE MY GOD

CHRYSOSTOM: Why does he speak this way, crying out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” That they might see that to his last breath he honors God as his Father and is no adversary of God. He spoke with the voice of Scripture, uttering a cry from the psalm. [1] Thus even to his last hour he is found bearing witness to the sacred text. He offers this prophetic cry in Hebrew, so as to be plain and intelligible to them, and by all things Jesus shows how he is of one mind with the Father who had begotten him. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 88.1. [2]

[1] Ps 22:1 (21:2 LXX).

[2] PG 58:776; NPNF 1 10:521.

27:47-49 | Will Elijah Save Him?

CALLING ELIJAH

CHRYSOSTOM: But observe here also their wantonness, intemperance and folly. They thought, it is said, that it was Elijah whom he called. Right away they gave him vinegar to drink. But another came to him and “pierced his side with a spear.” [1] Who could be more lawless, who more brutal, than these men? How could they have carried their madness to so great a length, offering insult at last even to a dead body? But note well how he turned even their evil deeds to use for our salvation. For after the blow the fountains of our salvation gushed forth. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 88.1. [2]

[1] Jn 19:34.

[2] PG 58:776; NPNF 1 10:521.

THE SPONGE FILLED WITH VINEGAR

ORIGEN: One can use the spiritual sense of this text profitably against those who write malicious things against Christ. [1] Concerning them Isaiah says, “Woe to those who write wickedness.” [2] (I say that they who publish such things are speaking “iniquity in the highest.” [3] ) Some will use this text with a view toward those who, constructing a narrative gathered from pagan tongues, fill the sponge not with the word that is drinkable or with the wine which “gladdens the heart” [4] or with the water of restoration [5] but, on the contrary, with poisonous, undrinkable, unwise vinegar. They place this sponge on the reed of their writing and (as far as they are able) seem to offer a swallow of these diatribes for Jesus to drink. Others give Jesus “to drink of wine mixed with gall,” which Jesus the Son of God does not want. Others offer him vinegar instead of wine. Others offer him “wine mixed with gall” when they, having understood the doctrine of the church, live unworthily of it. Those who attribute to the lips of Christ doctrines that are alien to the truth turn the metaphor around. They fill the sponge with vinegar, place it on a reed and drink it themselves. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 137. [6]

[1] Cf. p. 236 n. 6.

[2] Is 10:1.

[3] Ps 73:8 (72:8 LXX).

[4] Ps 104:15 (103:15 LXX).

[5] Ps 23:2 (22:2 LXX).

[6] GCS 38.2:281-82.

27:50 | Jesus Breathed His Last

HE GIVES UP HIS SPIRIT

ORIGEN: If giving up the spirit or (according to John) handing over the spirit were simply tantamount to dying, it would be easy to understand the passage which states “he gave up his spirit.” However, since discerning minds define death to be nothing other than the separation of the soul from the body, we can see that yielding up one’s spirit is something more than simply dying physically. It is quite something else to “cry out with a loud voice and give up the spirit” (as in Matthew) or to commit one’s spirit to the hand of God (as in Luke) [1] or to bow one’s head and hand over his spirit (as in John). [2] It is for all people to die, including the evil, because the soul of every person, including the unrighteous, will be separated from the body.

But to cry out with a loud voice and give up the spirit, which is equivalent to committing the spirit to the hand of God, or to bow the head and hand over the spirit is reserved only for the saints who, like Christ himself, have prepared themselves for God through good works so that when they leave this world they might with confidence commit themselves to the hand of God, or hand over their spirits.

If therefore we now understand what it means to cry out with a loud voice and thus to give up the spirit, that is, to commit oneself to the hand of God (as we have explained above in accordance with Luke’s Gospel), and if we understand what it means to bow the head and hand over the spirit, let us hasten to guard the conduct of our lives so that, upon our deaths, we also, like Jesus, might be able to cry out with a loud voice and thus to give up our spirit to the Father. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 138. [3]

[1] Lk 23:46.

[2] Jn 19:30.

[3] GCS 38.2:283-84.

HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE

CHRYSOSTOM: “When Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he yielded up the spirit.” This refers to what he had earlier said: “I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again,” and “I lay it down of myself.” [1] So for this cause he cried with the voice, that it might be shown that the act is done by his own power. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 88.1. [2]

[1] Jn 10:18.

[2] PG 58:776; NPNF 1 10:521.

SOULS BEING RECEIVED IN HEAVEN

APOLLINARIS: This is also the beginning of the translation of souls into the heavens. For whatever souls follow Christ are translated. Stephen made this plain when he said, “Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit.” [1] Paul also writes, “It is better to depart and be with Christ.” [2] Such was not the case with those of ancient times. It was said concerning the dead that each was handed over “to his people.” [3] This proceeding was below, as was the detention of souls. The Lord changes the direction of the journey from below to above by means of himself. FRAGMENT 143. [4]

[1] Acts 7:59.

[2] Phil 1:23.

[3] Gen 25:8.

[4] MKGK 51.

27:51-52 | The Temple Curtain Torn

THE CURTAIN TORN IN TWO

ORIGEN: Anyone who searches the Scriptures with some diligence will see that there were two curtains, an inner curtain which covered the Holy of Holies and another curtain exterior to either the tabernacle or the temple. These two curtains are figures of the holy tabernacle which the Father prepared from the beginning. [1] Of the two curtains, one “was torn into two parts from the top all the way to the bottom.” This happened at the time when Jesus “cried out with a loud voice and gave up his spirit.” [2] Thereby the divine mystery was revealed that in the Passion of the Lord our Savior the outer curtain was torn from the top, which represents the beginning of the world, to the bottom, representing the end of the world. Thus by the tearing of the curtain the mysteries were disclosed, which with good reason had been hidden until the coming of Christ. Both the outer curtain and inner curtain would have been torn if it had not been the case that we still know only “in part” [3] and if it had not been the case that everything were already revealed to the beloved disciples of Christ who constitute his body. As it is, however, because we are being brought gradually to the knowledge of new things, only the outer curtain is “torn from top to bottom.” But “when the perfect comes” [4] and the other things which now remain hidden are revealed, then the second curtain may also be removed. We will then see even the things which were hidden within the second curtain: the true ark of the covenant, the cherubim, the true mercy seat and the storehouse of manna in a golden bowl, and all these clearly [5] —and even things greater than these. All of this has been revealed through the law of Moses when God said to him, “Make everything according to their forms which were shown to you on the mountain.” [6] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 138. [7]

[1] Origen refers to Exodus 25:9, 40, in which God tells Moses to set up the tent (a model of the future temple) after the shape of the celestial model shown to him on Mount Sinai.

[2] Mt 27:50.

[3] 1 Cor 13:9.

[4] 1 Cor 13:10.

[5] Heb 9:35.

[6] Ex 25:40.

[7] GCS 38.2:285-86.

THE TEMPLE VEIL TORN

HILARY OF POITIERS: Immediately thereafter the curtain of the temple was torn. After that the people were split into factions. The glory of the curtain along with the protection of its defending angel was taken away. [1] ON MATTHEW 33.7. [2]

[1] This may be a reference to Ezekiel 10, wherein the glory of the Lord is carried away by the cherubim.

[2] SC 258:256.

THE EARTH SHOOK

ORIGEN: “And the earth shook,” that is, all flesh trembled when the new word, the realities of the new covenant, the new song and all new heavenly things came upon them. This is what the prophet wrote concerning this very event: “All [namely, the disciples of Christ] who saw these things trembled and every one was afraid.” [1] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 139. [2]

[1] Ps 64:9 (63:9 LXX).

[2] GCS 38.2:286.

THE ROCKS WERE SPLIT

JEROME: The literal meaning of the great signs is undoubtedly that both heaven and earth and all things within them wished to acclaim their crucified Lord. It seems to me, however, that the trembling earth and other signs also represent a type of believers, namely, those who once were comparable to a graveyard but who, having abandoned the errors of their former ways and having softened their once stony hearts, have come to acknowledge the Creator. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.27.51. [1]

[1] CCL 77:275.

GRAVES WERE OPENED

HILARY OF POITIERS: The earth shook. For the earth could not hold this dead man. Rocks were split, for the Word of God and the power of his eternal goodness rushed in, penetrating every stronghold and principality. Graves were opened, for the gates of death had been unlocked. And a number of the bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose. Dispelling the shadows of death and illuminating the darkness of hell, Christ destroyed the spoils of death itself at the resurrection of the saints, who saw him immediately. The centurion and the guards who witnessed this disturbance of the entire natural order confessed him to be the Son of God. ON MATTHEW 23.7. [1]

[1] SC 258:256.

27:53-54 | Truly This Was the Son of God

COMING OUT OF THE TOMBS

APOLLINARIS: The raising up of the saints’ bodies was announcing that the death of Christ was actually the cause of life. They certainly were not made visible prior to the Lord’s resurrection, since it was necessary that the resurrection of the Savior first be made known. Then those raised through him were seen. It is plain that they have died again, having risen from the dead in order to be a sign. For it was not possible for only some of the firstborn from the dead to be raised to the life of the age to come, but the remainder [must be raised] in the same manner. Now Luke says that the crowd passing by “beat their breasts and went away.” [1] Thus the divine superiority did not escape the notice of the Jews, either in the Passion itself or in the obscurity of the Savior. But habitual human forgetfulness held them fast, and the deceit of the teachers led many astray. FRAGMENT 144. [2]

[1] Lk 23:48.

[2] MKGK 51.

TRULY THE SON OF GOD

JEROME: Another Gospel [1] demonstrates more clearly the cause of the centurion’s astonishment after the shaking of the earth. It wasn’t until after he had seen Christ give up the spirit that he said, “Truly this was the Son of God,” for no one has the power to give up the spirit except he who is the Creator of souls. Here we can understand “soul” for “spirit” because the soul animates the body and makes it spiritual and because the spirit is the substance of the soul itself, as it is written: “You take away their spirits and they cease to be.” [2] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.27.54. [3]

[1] Lk 23:47.

[2] Ps 104:29 (103:29 LXX).

[3] CCL 77:276.

27:55-56 | Many Women Had Followed Jesus

MANY WOMEN WERE THERE

CHRYSOSTOM: Certain women were notably present as these things occurred. They were most inclined to feel for him, to grieve over his sufferings. Note how great is their constancy. They had followed him, ministering to him wherever he went. They were present even to the time of the dangers. They had seen all these events—how he wept, how he yielded up his spirit, how the rocks were split, and all the rest.

These women were first to be attentive to Jesus at his death and burial. The sex most likely to be disparaged was first to enjoy the sight of his resurrected blessings. They most steadily showed their courage. Even when the disciples had fled in the darkness, these women were still present. Among these women was his mother. She is called Mary the mother of James. [1] They lamented over the things that had occurred. They beat their breasts. Meanwhile the religious leaders were glorying in those very things for which the others were grieving, neither moved by pity nor checked by fear. Indeed, the things that had been done showed their great wrath. These women were there all along, to behold the darkness over the land, the split rocks, the veil of the temple torn, the shaking of the earth. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 88.2. [2]

[1] Chrysostom wrongly identifies Mary mother of James and Joseph (Mt 27:56) with the mother of Jesus.

[2] PG 58:777-78; NPNF 1 10:522.

THE WOMEN HAD MINISTERED TO HIM

JEROME: Women attended to the food and clothing for their masters from their own possessions. This was according to Jewish custom. This practice did not proceed from Gentile law and even could have been a scandal among the Gentiles. Paul himself mentions that he was unable to continue this custom: “Can it really be said that we do not have the ability to lead the sisters around the women just as the other apostles also do?” [1] These women waited on the Lord out of their own resources. He reaped from their physical support as they benefited from his spiritual blessing. It was not because the Lord of all creatures was out of necessity looking for food but rather that he might present a model of teaching and discipleship for them. Note carefully, though, what sort of attendants he had: Mary Magdalene from whom he cast out seven demons. Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and her own aunt, the sister of Mary, the mother of the Lord. The mother of Zebedee’s sons, a woman who had sought to care for her children in the kingdom. And there were other women present. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.27.55. [2]

[1] 1 Cor 9:5.

[2] CCL 77:277.

WOMEN BEATIFIED

ORIGEN: Isaiah is said to have prophesied concerning these women when he wrote, “Women are coming to the spectacle, for this is not a wise people.” [1] He calls women who had been distant and were looking upon Jesus from afar. He calls them to the Word, that they might abandon a foolish, forsaken people and come to the new covenant. I consider these women blessed who were elevated to beatitude by their vision of the Word and by the bodily death of Jesus; for everything in Christ, if seen truly, beatifies the beholder. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 141. [2]

[1] Is 27:11.

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