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| author | Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk> |
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| date | Sat, 03 May 2025 22:47:32 +0100 |
| parents | 178aed5d2c3c |
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| 35 | 9 <body style="text-align:justify"> |
| 10 <blockquote> | |
| 11 <p style="text-align: center"><span style= | |
| 12 "font-size: 60pt">19</span></p> | |
| 13 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE I</b></p> | |
| 14 <blockquote> | |
| 15 <p><b>1 Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. 2 And the soldiers | |
| 16 plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him | |
| 17 in a purple robe; 3 they came up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the | |
| 18 Jews!" and struck him with their hands.</b></p> | |
| 19 </blockquote> | |
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20 <p>2371 Above, the Evangelist gave us an account of what Christ |
| 35 | 21 suffered from the Jews; here he describes what in particular he |
| 22 endured from the Gentiles. He suffered three things, as he had | |
| 23 predicted: "They will deliver him to the Gentiles, to be mocked and | |
| 24 scourged and crucified" (Matt 20:19). First, he deals with the | |
| 25 scourging of Christ; secondly, with his mockery (v 2); and thirdly, | |
| 26 with his crucifixion (v 4).</p> | |
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27 <p>2372 He says, <b>Then</b>, after all their shouting, <b>Pilate |
| 35 | 28 took Jesus and scourged him,</b> not with his own hands, but using |
| 29 his soldiers. He did this hoping that the Jews would be satisfied | |
| 30 with these wounds and be softened so as no longer to demand his | |
| 31 death. For it is natural for our anger to subside if we see the one | |
| 32 we are angry at humiliated and punished, as the Philosopher says in | |
| 33 his <i>Rhetoric.</i><a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="" id= | |
| 34 "_ftnref1">[1]</a>This is true of that anger which seeks to inflict | |
| 35 a limited amount of harm; but it is not the case of that hatred | |
| 36 which seeks the entire destruction of the one hated: "An enemy ... | |
| 37 if he finds an opportunity his thirst for blood will be insatiable" | |
| 38 (Sir 12:16). Now the Jews hated Christ, and so his scourging did | |
| 39 not satisfy them: "All the day long I have been scourged" [Ps | |
| 40 73:14]; "I gave my back to the smiters" (Is 50:6).</p> | |
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41 <p>2373 Does this intention excuse Pilate for the scourging? It |
| 35 | 42 does not; because of all those things which are evil in themselves |
| 43 <i>(per se),</i> none can be made totally good by a good intention. | |
| 44 Now to harm an innocent person, and especially the Son of God, is | |
| 45 in the highest degree an evil in itself. Consequently, it cannot be | |
| 46 excused by any intention.</p> | |
| 47 <p>2374 Now the Evangelist shows us Christ being ridiculed: first, | |
| 48 the mock honors paid to him; secondly, the real dishonor showed | |
| 49 him, <b>and struck him.</b> They pay him mock honors by calling him | |
| 50 a king, thus adverting to the charge lodged by the Jews, who said | |
| 51 that he made himself king of the Jews. Therefore, they pay him the | |
| 52 three honors given to a king, but in a derisive way. First, we have | |
| 53 a mock crown; and then mock clothing and acclamations.</p> | |
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54 <p>2375 They mock him with a crown, because it is customary for |
| 35 | 55 kings to wear a crown, a crown of gold: "A crown of gold upon his |
| 56 head" [Sir 45:12]. The Psalm (21:3) mentions this: "Thou dost set a | |
| 57 crown of fine gold upon his head." <b>And the soldiers plaited a | |
| 58 crown of thorns, and put it on his head,</b> the head of him who is | |
| 59 a crown of glory to those who belong to him: "In that day the Lord | |
| 60 of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the | |
| 61 remnant of his people" (Is 28:5). It was appropriately made of | |
| 62 thorns, because by them he removes the thorns of sin, which pain us | |
| 63 through remorse of conscience: "Break up your fallow ground, and | |
| 64 sow not among thorns" (Jer 4:3). These thorns also take away the | |
| 65 thorns of punishment which burden us: "Thorns and thistles it shall | |
| 66 bring forth to you" (Gen 3:18).</p> | |
| 67 <p>Was this crowning done by the governor's order? Chrysostom says | |
| 68 that it was not, but that the soldiers were bribed with money and | |
| 69 did this to satisfy the Jews.<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" id= | |
| 70 "_ftnref2">[2]</a> On the other hand, Augustine says that this was | |
| 71 done by the command or the permission of the governor to the end | |
| 72 that the hatred of the Jews would be satiated and Pilate could more | |
| 73 easily release Jesus.<a href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" id= | |
| 74 "_ftnref3">[3]</a></p> | |
| 75 <p>2376 Secondly, they mock him with clothing. <b>The soldiers ... | |
| 76 arrayed him in a purple robe,</b> which was the sign of a royal | |
| 77 dignity for the Romans. In 1 Maccabees (8:14) we read that when the | |
| 78 Romans ruled they wore a crown and were clothed in purple. This | |
| 79 clothing of Christ in purple fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah | |
| 80 (63:2): "Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his that | |
| 81 treads in the wine press?" At the same time it indicates the | |
| 82 sufferings of the martyrs, which stains red the entire body of | |
| 83 Christ, that is, the church.</p> | |
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84 <p>2377 Thirdly, they mock him the way they address him: <b>they |
| 35 | 85 came up to him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!</b> It was the |
| 86 custom then, as it is now, for subjects to salute their king when | |
| 87 they came into his presence: "And when Hushai the Archite, David's | |
| 88 friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, 'Long live the | |
| 89 king ! Long live the king!'" (2 Sam 16:16).</p> | |
| 90 <p>As for the mystical interpretation, those greet Christ mockingly | |
| 91 who profess him with words "but deny him with their deeds" (Titus | |
| 92 1:16).</p> | |
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93 <p>2378 Now he mentions the real dishonor shown to Christ, <b>and |
| 35 | 94 struck him with their hands,</b> in order to show that the honor |
| 95 they did gave him was in mockery: "I gave my cheeks to those who | |
| 96 pulled out the beard" (Is 50:6); "With a rod they strike upon the | |
| 97 cheek the ruler of Israel" (Mic 5:1).<br /> | |
| 98 <br /> | |
| 99 <br /></p> | |
| 100 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 2</b></p> | |
| 101 <blockquote> | |
| 102 <p><b>4 Pilate went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I am | |
| 103 bringing him out to you, that you may know that I find no crime in | |
| 104 him." 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the | |
| 105 purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!" 6 When the | |
| 106 chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, "Crucify | |
| 107 him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and | |
| 108 crucify him, for I find no crime in him." 7 The Jews answered him, | |
| 109 "We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he has | |
| 110 made himself the Son of God." 8 When Pilate heard these words, he | |
| 111 was the more afraid; 9 he entered the praetorium again and said to | |
| 112 Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave no answer. 10 Pilate | |
| 113 therefore said to him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know | |
| 114 that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?" 11 | |
| 115 Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over me unless it had | |
| 116 been given you from above; therefore he who delivered me to you has | |
| 117 the greater sin." 12a Upon this Pilate sought to release | |
| 118 him.<a href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" id="_ftnref4">[4]</a></b></p> | |
| 119 </blockquote> | |
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120 <p>2379 Now the Evangelist treats of the crucifixion of Christ: |
| 35 | 121 first, the crucifixion itself; secondly, the death of Christ (v |
| 122 28); and thirdly, his burial (v 38). As to the crucifixion, he | |
| 123 first mentions the dispute Pilate had with the Jews; secondly, we | |
| 124 have the sentencing of Christ (v 8); and thirdly, the sentence is | |
| 125 carried out (v 17). Pilate, wanting to release Christ, began | |
| 126 arguing with the Jews. First, the Evangelist shows how Pilate tried | |
| 127 to release Christ by exhibiting him to the crowd; secondly, by | |
| 128 declaring his innocence, <b>I find no crime in him.</b> As regards | |
| 129 the first, the Evangelist shows Jesus being shown to the crowd; and | |
| 130 secondly, the effect this had, <b>Crucify him.</b></p> | |
| 131 <p>2380 Three things are mentioned concerning Christ's exhibition | |
| 132 to the Jews. First there is the intention of Pilate, which was to | |
| 133 free him. He says, <b>Pilate went out again,</b> from the | |
| 134 praetorium, <b>and said to them,</b> to the Jews who were waiting | |
| 135 there, <b>Behold, I am bringing him out to you,</b> for this | |
| 136 purpose, <b>that you may know that I find no crime in him,</b> | |
| 137 deserving of death. Why then, unrighteous Pilate, was there this | |
| 138 shameful bargaining if there was no crime in him? Was it so the | |
| 139 Jews would not believe that you would release him because you were | |
| 140 partial to him? What kind of partiality is that when you give one | |
| 141 so much thrashing? Or perhaps it was so that his enemies, gladly | |
| 142 seeing his disgrace, would no longer thirst for blood. Pilate is | |
| 143 saying in effect: If there were a reason for his death, I would | |
| 144 condemn him just like I have scourged him. Perhaps he has committed | |
| 145 some minor infraction of the law, which did deserve a scourging, | |
| 146 but there was nothing deserving of death.</p> | |
| 147 <p>2381 Secondly, we see Christ being presented before the crowd, | |
| 148 <b>Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple | |
| 149 robe.</b> He was exhibited in the same robe he wore when he was | |
| 150 mocked by the officers in the hope that the crowd would be appeased | |
| 151 when they saw him, not respected for his authority, but entirely | |
| 152 dishonored: "For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, | |
| 153 that shame has covered my face" (Ps 69:7). This teaches us that we | |
| 154 should be ready to undergo any kind of disrespect for the name of | |
| 155 Jesus Christ: "Fear not the reproach of men, and be not dismayed at | |
| 156 their revilings" (Is 51:7).</p> | |
| 157 <p>2382 Thirdly, Christ's exhibition is further described through | |
| 158 the words of Pilate, <b>Here is the man!</b> spoken in a sarcastic | |
| 159 way, as if one so disgraced would dare to usurp a kingship. Look at | |
| 160 the kind of person you are accusing of this! The words of the Psalm | |
| 161 (22:6) apply to him: "I am a worm, and no man." And so, if you do | |
| 162 hate your king, spare him now because you see him dishonored. "When | |
| 163 disgrace increases, let your hatred decrease,"<a href="#_ftn5" | |
| 164 name="_ftnref5" id="_ftnref5">[5]</a> as Augustine says.</p> | |
| 165 <p>2383 Now we see the effect of this exhibition on the Jews. No | |
| 166 matter how disgraced and wretched and beaten he appeared, their | |
| 167 hatred did not lessen, but was still burning and growing. <b>When | |
| 168 the chief priests and the officers saw him,</b> when Jesus was | |
| 169 brought out, <b>they cried out, Crucify him, crucify him!</b> Their | |
| 170 desire was so strong that they shouted this twice. And they will | |
| 171 not be satisfied with any kind of death, but demand the most | |
| 172 dishonorable kind, crucifixion: "Let us condemn him to a shameful | |
| 173 death" (Wis 2:20). He said, <b>When they saw him,</b> because the | |
| 174 sight of the one they hated only served to incite and inflame their | |
| 175 hearts with more hatred: "The very sight of him is a burden to us" | |
| 176 (Wis 2:15).</p> | |
| 177 <p>2384 Now the Evangelist shows how Pilate tried to free Christ by | |
| 178 declaring his innocence. As a result, a disagreement arose because, | |
| 179 first, Pilate declared the innocence of Christ; while secondly, the | |
| 180 Jews repeated his guilt, <b>We have a law</b>.</p> | |
| 181 <p>2385 As to Christ's innocence, Pilate said to them, <b>Take him | |
| 182 yourselves, and crucify him</b>. It is like saying: I do not want | |
| 183 to be a judge who judges unjustly. I will not crucify him. You | |
| 184 crucify him if you want, but I find no crime in him, deserving of | |
| 185 crucifixion: "The ruler of this world is coming. He has no power | |
| 186 over me" (14:30); Jesus "whom you delivered up and denied in the | |
| 187 presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him" (Acts | |
| 188 3:13).</p> | |
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189 <p>2386 But the Jews repeat Christ's offense: <b>We have a |
| 35 | 190 law....</b> They seemed to understand from Pilate's response that |
| 191 he would not go against Christ because of a charge of claiming a | |
| 192 kingdom, although they had thought he would be especially inclined | |
| 193 by this to kill him. And since this crime was not enough to put | |
| 194 Christ to death, the Jews thought that when Pilate said, <b>Take | |
| 195 him yourselves and crucify him,</b> he was asking if they had | |
| 196 another crime, a violation of the law, for which he could be | |
| 197 condemned and for which they were condemning him. Thus they say, | |
| 198 <b>by that law he ought to die.</b> First, they charge Christ with | |
| 199 a crime against the law of the Jews; secondly, against the law of | |
| 200 the Romans (v 12). In regard to the first, we see the accusation of | |
| 201 the Jews against Christ; secondly, the effect of this on Pilate, | |
| 202 <b>he was the more afraid.</b></p> | |
| 203 <p>2387 The crime against the Jewish law that they charged Christ | |
| 204 with was that <b>he has made himself the Son of God,</b> and for | |
| 205 this he deserved death: "This was why the Jews sought all the more | |
| 206 to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath, but also called | |
| 207 God his Father, making himself equal with God" (5:18); and again, | |
| 208 "We stone you for no good work but for blasphemy; because you, | |
| 209 being a man, make yourself God" (10:33). They always said that "he | |
| 210 made himself the Son of God," assuming he was not. But this was not | |
| 211 against the law, as Christ proved to them before (10:34), by citing | |
| 212 the Psalm (82:6): "I say, You are gods." For if other people, who | |
| 213 are adopted children, can call themselves children of God without | |
| 214 blasphemy, how much more can Christ do this, who is the Son of God | |
| 215 by nature. But they regarded him as a liar and blasphemer, each of | |
| 216 which deserved death, because they did not understand his eternal | |
| 217 generation [from the Father].</p> | |
| 218 <p>2388 Now the Evangelist mentions the effect the accusation of | |
| 219 the Jews had on Pilate. The first was that it produced fear: | |
| 220 <b>When Pilate heard these words,</b> that is, that Christ made | |
| 221 himself the Son of God, he was the more afraid that it might be | |
| 222 true and that it would be disastrous to proceed against him without | |
| 223 cause.</p> | |
| 224 <p>2389 Secondly, he mentions another effect it produced: doubt and | |
| 225 questioning (v 9). First, we have the question Pilate asked; | |
| 226 secondly, the silence of Christ; and thirdly, the reproach of | |
| 227 Pilate.</p> | |
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228 <p>2390 In regard to the first he says, <b>he entered the |
| 35 | 229 praetorium again,</b> stricken with fear, <b>and said to Jesus</b>, |
| 230 whom he had led back with himself, <b>Where are you from?</b> | |
| 231 trying to find out whether Jesus was God, with a divine origin, or | |
| 232 a man, with an earthly origin. This could be answered by what was | |
| 233 said before, "You are from below, I am from above" (8:23).</p> | |
| 234 <p>2391 Jesus, because he chose to, did not give an answer, so that | |
| 235 he might show that he was unwilling to overwhelm by words and to | |
| 236 make excuses, since he had come to suffer. At the same time he is | |
| 237 for us an example of patience, and fulfilled what is found in | |
| 238 Isaiah (53:7): "like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so | |
| 239 he opened not his mouth." It says, "like a sheep," to show that the | |
| 240 silence of Jesus was not that of a man convicted of sin and aware | |
| 241 of his evil, but the silence of a gentle person being sacrificed | |
| 242 for the sins of others.</p> | |
| 243 <p>2392 Then the Evangelist shows how Pilate reproached him for his | |
| 244 silence (v 10): first, we see Pilate boasting of his power; | |
| 245 secondly, we have what Christ said about this power.</p> | |
| 246 <p>2393 Pilate was displeased that Jesus did not answer him, and | |
| 247 said, <b>You will not speak to me?</b> He has condemned himself, | |
| 248 for if this entire matter lay in his power, why does he not release | |
| 249 Jesus since he has found him without crime? "I will condemn you out | |
| 250 of your own mouth" (Lk 19:22); "Because you have authority among | |
| 251 men, mortal though you are, you do what you please" (2 Mac | |
| 252 7:16).</p> | |
| 253 <p>2394 Pilate was boasting about his power, "Men who ... boast of | |
| 254 the abundance of their riches" (Ps 49:6). So our Lord curbs him, | |
| 255 saying, <b>You would have no power over me unless it had been given | |
| 256 you from above.</b> It was like Augustine said: "When Christ was | |
| 257 silent, it was like a lamb; when he spoke, he taught as a | |
| 258 shepherd."<a href="#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" id="_ftnref6">[6]</a> | |
| 259 So, first Christ teaches Pilate about the source of his power; | |
| 260 secondly, about the greatness of his sin.</p> | |
| 261 <p>2395 In regard to the first he says, <b>You would have no power | |
| 262 over me unless it had been given you from above.</b> He is saying | |
| 263 in effect: If you seem to have some power, you do not have this | |
| 264 from yourself, but it has been given to you from above, from God, | |
| 265 from whom all power comes: "By me kings reign" (Prv 8:15). He says | |
| 266 <b>no power,</b> that is, no matter how little, because Pilate did | |
| 267 have a limited power under a greater one, the power of Caesar: "For | |
| 268 I am a man under authority" (Mt 8:9).</p> | |
| 269 <p>2396 <b>Therefore,</b> he concludes, <b>he who delivered me to | |
| 270 you,</b> that is, Judas or the chief priests, has the greater sin. | |
| 271 He says <b>greater,</b> to indicate that both those who delivered | |
| 272 him up to Pilate and Pilate himself were guilty of sin. But those | |
| 273 who delivered him up had the greater sin because they delivered him | |
| 274 up out of ill‑will, whereas Pilate did what he did because he | |
| 275 was afraid of a superior power. This refutes those heretics who say | |
| 276 that all sins are equal, for if they were, our Lord would not have | |
| 277 said, <b>the greater sin.</b> "Woe to that man by whom the | |
| 278 temptation comes!" (Mt 18:7).</p> | |
| 279 <p>2397 The effect of all this was that <b>upon this Pilate sought | |
| 280 to release him.</b> As we saw before, Pilate tried to release | |
| 281 Christ from the very beginning. Thus the <b>upon this</b> indicates | |
| 282 he now sought it for another reason, that is, to escape from | |
| 283 sinning. Or, he had tried to release him <b>before, but upon | |
| 284 this,</b> from now on, he was fully and firmly determined to | |
| 285 release him.<br /> | |
| 286 <br /> | |
| 287 <br /></p> | |
| 288 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 3</b></p> | |
| 289 <blockquote> | |
| 290 <p><b>12b But the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are | |
| 291 not Caesar's friend; every one who makes himself a king sets | |
| 292 himself against Caesar." 13 When Pilate heard these words [he grew | |
| 293 more fearful], he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment | |
| 294 seat [tribunal] at a place called The Pavement [Lithostrotos], and | |
| 295 in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the | |
| 296 Passover; it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Here | |
| 297 is your King!" 15 They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, | |
| 298 crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The | |
| 299 chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." 16 Then he | |
| 300 handed him over to them to be crucified. 17 So they took Jesus, and | |
| 301 he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place | |
| 302 of a skull [Calvary], which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. 18 There | |
| 303 they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, | |
| 304 and Jesus between them.<a href="#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" id= | |
| 305 "_ftnref7">[7]</a></b></p> | |
| 306 </blockquote> | |
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307 <p>2398 Above, the Jews accused Christ of a crime against their |
| 35 | 308 law, but Pilate seemed to consider this a slight matter since he |
| 309 himself was not subject to this law. So they now accuse Christ of a | |
| 310 crime against the Roman Law, hoping this would press Pilate into | |
| 311 taking his life. First, they state the danger which is hanging over | |
| 312 Pilate if he releases Christ; secondly, they give the reason for | |
| 313 this danger (v 12).</p> | |
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314 <p>2399 He says that after Pilate tried to release Christ, <b>the |
| 35 | 315 Jews cried out, If you release this man,</b> who is making himself |
| 316 king, <b>you are not Caesar's friend</b>, that is, you will lose | |
| 317 his friendship. It frequently happens that we estimate others based | |
| 318 on the way that we ourselves are. And since it was written of these | |
| 319 Jews that "They loved the praise of men more than the praise of | |
| 320 God" (12:43), they thought that Pilate would prefer the friendship | |
| 321 of Caesar to the friendship of justice ‑ even though the | |
| 322 opposite is commanded: "It is better to take refuge in the Lord | |
| 323 than to put confidence in princes" (Ps 118:9). The Philosopher says | |
| 324 that truth is to be preferred to friendship.</p> | |
| 325 <p>2400 They add the reason for the danger which threatened Pilate | |
| 326 when they say, <b>every one who makes himself a king sets himself | |
| 327 against Caesar</b>, for it is the nature of earthly power that one | |
| 328 power cannot endure the presence of another power. And so Caesar | |
| 329 did not allow another to rule: "Do not seek from men the highest | |
| 330 office, nor the seat of honor from the king" [Sir 7:4].</p> | |
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331 <p>2401 In treating the condemnation of Christ, the Evangelist |
| 35 | 332 mentions the place, secondly the time (v 14), and thirdly the |
| 333 manner of the condemnation (v 14b).</p> | |
| 334 <p>2402 In regard to the first, the Evangelist indicates the motive | |
| 335 of Pilate when he says, <b>When Pilate heard these words he grew | |
| 336 more fearful</b>, for it was not as easy for him to ignore Caesar, | |
| 337 the source of his power, as it was to disdain the laws of a foreign | |
| 338 people. So he says, <b>he brought Jesus out.</b> But there was no | |
| 339 reason for Pilate to fear, because Jesus was not setting himself | |
| 340 against Caesar. Christ had no purple, no scepter, no diadem, no | |
| 341 chariots, no soldiers to indicate that he was seizing a kingdom. | |
| 342 Rather, Christ always sat alone with his disciples, plain in food, | |
| 343 in clothing and in dwelling. Yet as we read in Proverbs (28:1), | |
| 344 "The wicked flee when no one pursues." "They trembled in fear when | |
| 345 there was no fear" [Ps 53:5]; "Be not afraid of their words, nor be | |
| 346 dismayed at their looks" (Ez 2:6).</p> | |
| 347 <p>2403 Then he mentions the place saying, <b>and sat down on the | |
| 348 tribunal.</b> A tribunal is the seat of a judge, like the throne is | |
| 349 the seat of a king, and the professor's chair is the seat of a | |
| 350 master: "A king who sits on the throne of judgment winnows all evil | |
| 351 with his eyes" (Prv 20:8). It was called a tribunal because among | |
| 352 the Romans it was the tribunes (named from the tribes they headed) | |
| 353 who adjudicated in certain cases. This tribunal was <b>at a place | |
| 354 called Lithostrotos,</b> that is, a pavement of stones. "Lithos" in | |
| 355 Greek means the same as "stone," and the place where Pilate sat in | |
| 356 his judgment seat had been paved with stones. In Hebrew this place | |
| 357 was called Gabbatha, that is, a mound formed from stones.</p> | |
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358 <p>2404 The time of the condemnation is given when he says, <b>Now |
| 35 | 359 it was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about the |
| 360 sixth hour.</b> Among the Jews the Sabbath was in some respects | |
| 361 more solemn than any other feast, insofar as out of reverence for | |
| 362 that day no food was prepared on the Sabbath; it was prepared on | |
| 363 the preceding Friday. Thus this Friday was called the day of | |
| 364 Preparation of the Passover. This practice had its origin when the | |
| 365 Jews in the desert were forbidden to gather manna on the Sabbath, | |
| 366 but were directed to gather a double supply the day before (Ex | |
| 367 16:24). In this matter they yielded to no feast. Accordingly, | |
| 368 although the present Friday was a solemn feast for them, they still | |
| 369 prepared the Sabbath food on that day.</p> | |
| 370 <p>2405 He adds, <b>it was about the sixth hour.</b> This does not | |
| 371 agree with Mark (15:25), who says, "And it was the third hour, when | |
| 372 they crucified him." It is clear that Christ was before the | |
| 373 tribunal before he was crucified.</p> | |
| 374 <p>According to Augustine, there are two explanations for | |
| 375 this.<a href="#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" id="_ftnref8">[8]</a> The | |
| 376 first, and better, is that Christ was crucified two times: once by | |
| 377 the tongues and words of the shouting Jews, "Crucify him, crucify | |
| 378 him" (v 6), and the second time by the hands of the soldiers who | |
| 379 nailed him to the cross. Now the Jews wanted to blame the | |
| 380 crucifixion on the Gentiles. And so Mark, who wrote his gospel for | |
| 381 the Gentiles, blamed it on the Jews, saying that Christ was | |
| 382 crucified by the Jews when at the third hour they shouted, "Crucify | |
| 383 him, crucify him." It is John who follows the real time and he | |
| 384 says, <b>it was about the sixth hour.</b> For when Christ was on | |
| 385 the cross it was at the end of the fifth hour and at the beginning | |
| 386 of the sixth, when darkness came and lasted three hours, that is, | |
| 387 until the ninth hour. He says, <b>about the sixth hour</b> because | |
| 388 the sixth hour had not yet begun.</p> | |
| 389 <p>The second explanation is that the preparation of the Passover | |
| 390 was mentioned, and our Passover, Christ, was about to be immolated. | |
| 391 Thus the preparation of the Passover is the preparation for the | |
| 392 immolation of Christ. This preparation began at the ninth hour of | |
| 393 the night, when the Jews shouted, to the captured Christ, "He | |
| 394 deserves death" (Mt 26:66). If to the three remaining hours of the | |
| 395 night we add the three hours of the day, when Christ was crucified, | |
| 396 we can see that he was crucified at the sixth hour of the | |
| 397 preparation, although this was the third hour of the day, as Mark | |
| 398 says. And it was appropriate that he was crucified at the sixth | |
| 399 hour because by his cross he restored human nature which was | |
| 400 created on the sixth day.</p> | |
| 401 <p>2406 Now the Evangelist tells us about the manner and order of | |
| 402 the condemnation (v 14). Pilate still wanted to free Christ, | |
| 403 although his fear of Caesar weighed upon him. First we see Pilate's | |
| 404 attempt to free Christ; secondly, he consents to have him | |
| 405 crucified. (v 16). Concerning the first, we see the attempt of | |
| 406 Pilate; and then the malice of the Jews (v 15b).</p> | |
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407 <p>2407 The Evangelist says that after Pilate sat down on the |
| 35 | 408 judgment seat, he said to the Jews, in exasperation, <b>Here is |
| 409 your King!</b> It was like saying: I am astonished that you fear to | |
| 410 have this man, so humiliated and destitute, as your king. For only | |
| 411 the wealthy and strong aspire to the throne, and this man is | |
| 412 neither. As the Psalm [88:15] said: "I am poor and in labor from my | |
| 413 youth."</p> | |
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414 <p>2408 This did not lessen the malice of the Jews. In |
| 35 | 415 inexhaustible hatred <b>they cried out</b>, doubling their already |
| 416 great malice by repeating the words, <b>Away with him, away with | |
| 417 him, crucify him!</b> This shows that they could not stand the | |
| 418 sight of him: "They say to God, 'Depart from us! We do not desire | |
| 419 the knowledge of thy ways'" (Job 21:14); "The very sight of him is | |
| 420 a burden to us" (Wis 2:15). Therefore, "Let us condemn him to a | |
| 421 shameful death" (Wis 2:20), which is the same as <b>crucify | |
| 422 him!</b></p> | |
| 423 <p>2409 Now we see how Pilate tried to free Christ by shaming the | |
| 424 Jews. First, we see Pilate's attempt, <b>Shall I crucify your | |
| 425 King?</b> He is saying in effect: If you are not affected by his | |
| 426 humiliation, your own sense of shame should move you, because I am | |
| 427 going to crucify the one who is trying to be your king. And this is | |
| 428 to your disgrace since it is being done by a foreigner.</p> | |
| 429 <p>Secondly, we see how unyielding the Jews are when they say, | |
| 430 <b>We have no king but Caesar.</b> By thus refusing to be subject | |
| 431 to the authority of Christ, they have submitted themselves to | |
| 432 perpetual subjection. And so even to this very day, they are | |
| 433 strangers to Christ, and have become servants of Caesar and earthly | |
| 434 powers: "For they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me | |
| 435 from being king over them" (1 Sam 8:7); "They have forsaken me, the | |
| 436 fountain of living water and hewed out cisterns for themselves; | |
| 437 broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jer 2:13).</p> | |
| 438 <p>2410 Then the Evangelist mentions the consent of Pilate to the | |
| 439 killing of Christ, <b>Then he handed him over to them,</b> to the | |
| 440 Jews, who had been subject to the power and the will of the Romans, | |
| 441 <b>to be crucified.</b> This was against the advice of Exodus | |
| 442 (23:2): "You shall not follow a multitude to do evil." "The earth | |
| 443 is given into the hand of the wicked" (Job 9:24); "I have given my | |
| 444 dear soul into the hands of her enemies" [Jer 12:7].</p> | |
| 445 <p>2411 Now the Evangelist deals with the crucifixion of Christ: | |
| 446 first, the dishonor of the cross; secondly, the events surrounding | |
| 447 the crucifixion (v 19).</p> | |
| 448 <p>The dishonor of the cross is indicated by those who crucified | |
| 449 Christ, by the way he was led to his death, by the place where this | |
| 450 happened, and by those crucified with him.</p> | |
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451 <p>2412 Those who crucified him were soldiers. <b>So they took |
| 35 | 452 Jesus.</b> This was done in deed by the soldiers ‑ for we |
| 453 read below (v 23), "When the soldiers had crucified Jesus" ‑ | |
| 454 but done in desire by the Jews, because they brought about by | |
| 455 threats what happened. For this they ought to lose the benefits of | |
| 456 Christ's cross and have the Gentiles acquire them: "The Kingdom of | |
| 457 God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the | |
| 458 fruits of it" (Mt 21:43).</p> | |
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459 <p>2413 The way Christ was brought to his crucifixion was a |
| 35 | 460 dishonor, <b>bearing his own cross</b>, for death on a cross was a |
| 461 disgrace: "A hanged man is accursed by God" (Deut 21:23). Avoiding | |
| 462 the cross as something unholy, and fearing even to touch it, they | |
| 463 laid the cross on the condemned Jesus. He went out, <b>bearing his | |
| 464 own cross.</b></p> | |
| 465 <p>2414 Matthew (27:32) says that they compelled a certain Simon of | |
| 466 Cyrene, on his way from the fields, to carry Christ's cross. We | |
| 467 should say that Christ carried his cross from the beginning, but as | |
| 468 he went along they found Simon to help him.</p> | |
| 469 <p>This does not lack its own mystery: for although Christ was the | |
| 470 first to endure the sufferings of the cross, others did so after in | |
| 471 imitation of him, especially strangers, that is, the Gentiles: | |
| 472 "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example" (1 Pet | |
| 473 2:21); "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and | |
| 474 take up his cross and follow me" (Mt 16:24).</p> | |
| 475 <p>Although this seems extremely bizarre to the irreligious and to | |
| 476 unbelievers, it is a great mystery for believers and the devout: | |
| 477 "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but | |
| 478 to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor 1:18). | |
| 479 Christ bore his cross as a king does his scepter; his cross is the | |
| 480 sign of his glory, which is his universal dominion over all things: | |
| 481 "The Lord will reign from the wood" [Ps 95:9 <i>sic</i>]; "The | |
| 482 government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called | |
| 483 'Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of | |
| 484 Peace.'" (Is 9:6). He carried his cross as a victor carries the | |
| 485 trophy of his victory: "He disarmed the principalities and powers | |
| 486 and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in himself" | |
| 487 [Col 2:15]. Again, he carried his cross as a teacher his | |
| 488 candelabrum, as a support for the light of his teaching, because | |
| 489 for believers the message of the cross is the power of God: "No one | |
| 490 after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel but on | |
| 491 a stand, that those who enter may see the light" (Lk 11:33).</p> | |
| 492 <p>2415 The place where Christ suffered was also dishonorable, and | |
| 493 for two reasons. First, it was outside the city, <b>he went out to | |
| 494 the place called Calvary</b>, which is outside the walls of the | |
| 495 city: "So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify | |
| 496 the people through his own blood" (Heb 13:12). This passion of | |
| 497 Christ was outside the walls of the city to show that the | |
| 498 effectiveness of his passion was not enclosed within the boundaries | |
| 499 of the Jewish nation, and to indicate that those who want to obtain | |
| 500 the fruit of his passion also have to go out from the world, at | |
| 501 least with their affections. Thus the Apostle says in his next | |
| 502 sentence, "Therefore let us go forth to him outside the camp" (Heb | |
| 503 13:13).</p> | |
| 504 <p>2416 Secondly, this place was dishonorable because it was one of | |
| 505 the lowest and basest, <b>to the place called Calvary.</b> "I am | |
| 506 reckoned among those who go down to the Pit" (Ps 88:4). Chrysostom | |
| 507 tells us that there are some who say that Adam died and was buried | |
| 508 at this very place. This is why it was called Calvary, from the | |
| 509 skull (<i>calvaria</i>) of the first man. And just as death reigned | |
| 510 there, so there also Christ erected the trophy of his victory.</p> | |
| 511 <p>However, as Jerome says, this is the popular interpretation and | |
| 512 attractive to the people, but it is not true, because Adam was | |
| 513 buried at Hebron: "Adam the greatest among the Anakim was buried | |
| 514 there" [Jos 14:15].<a href="#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" id= | |
| 515 "_ftnref9">[9]</a> So we should say that this place was outside the | |
| 516 gate of Jerusalem, and it was there that the heads of the condemned | |
| 517 were cut off. It was called Calvary because the skulls of the | |
| 518 beheaded were strewn there.</p> | |
| 519 <p>2417 Those who suffered with him also added to his dishonor, for | |
| 520 they crucified <b>with him two others,</b> who were criminals, as | |
| 521 Luke mentions (Lk 23:33). <b>One on either side,</b> one on the | |
| 522 right and one on the left, <b>and Jesus between them</b>, in the | |
| 523 middle. Even in his suffering Christ stood in the middle, a fact | |
| 524 that the Jews intended should add to his dishonor, for it implied | |
| 525 that the cause of his death was similar to that of the criminals: | |
| 526 "He was numbered with the transgressors" (Is 53:12).</p> | |
| 527 <p>But if we contemplate this mystery, we see that it is related to | |
| 528 the glory of Christ. It shows that by his suffering Christ merited | |
| 529 the authority to judge: "Your cause has been judged as one of the | |
| 530 wicked. You will recover cause and judgment" [Job 36:17]. And it is | |
| 531 the function of a judge to be in the middle of the parties; so the | |
| 532 Philosopher says that to go to a judge is to go to the | |
| 533 middle.<a href="#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" id="_ftnref10">[10]</a> | |
| 534 Christ was also placed in the middle, one on his right, another on | |
| 535 his left, because in the judgment he will place the sheep on his | |
| 536 right, and the goats on his left. It was the criminal on his right | |
| 537 who believed and was saved; the one on his left, who reproached | |
| 538 him, was condemned.<br /> | |
| 539 <br /> | |
| 540 <br /></p> | |
| 541 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 4</b></p> | |
| 542 <blockquote> | |
| 543 <p><b>19 Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; it | |
| 544 read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." 20 Many of the | |
| 545 Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was | |
| 546 near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in | |
| 547 Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews then said to Pilate, "Do | |
| 548 not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King | |
| 549 of the Jews.'" 22 Pilate answered, "What I have written I have | |
| 550 written." 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his | |
| 551 garments and made four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. | |
| 552 But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom; 24 so | |
| 553 they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it | |
| 554 to see whose it shall be." This was to fulfill the scripture, "They | |
| 555 parted my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." | |
| 556 25 So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus | |
| 557 were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, | |
| 558 and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple | |
| 559 whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold | |
| 560 your son!" 27 Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" | |
| 561 And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home [to his | |
| 562 own].<a href="#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" id= | |
| 563 "_ftnref11">[11]</a></b></p> | |
| 564 </blockquote> | |
| 565 <p>2418 The Evangelist just told of Christ's crucifixion; now he | |
| 566 mentions things that accompanied and followed it: first, as they | |
| 567 relate to Pilate; secondly as they relate to the soldiers; and | |
| 568 finally, he tells about Christ's friends who were standing by (v | |
| 569 25). Concerning Pilate, we see the title being written on the | |
| 570 cross, its being read, and its retention.</p> | |
| 571 <p>2419 Two things are mentioned about the first of these. First, | |
| 572 the writing of the title, <b>Pilate also wrote a title and put it | |
| 573 on the cross</b>. This was understandable, for it was a way of | |
| 574 getting back at the Jews by showing their malice in rising up | |
| 575 against their own king. It was also appropriate for this mystery, | |
| 576 for just as inscriptions are placed on trophies of victory so the | |
| 577 people will remember and celebrate the victory ‑ "Let us make | |
| 578 a name for ourselves, before we are scattered abroad upon the face | |
| 579 of the whole earth" [Gen 11:4] ‑ so it was arranged that a | |
| 580 title was put on the cross so that the sufferings of Christ would | |
| 581 be remembered: "Remember my affliction and my bitterness, the | |
| 582 wormwood and the gall!" (Lam 3:19).</p> | |
| 583 <p>2420 Secondly, he mentions the content of the title, <b>Jesus of | |
| 584 Nazareth, the King of the Jews,</b> words which are very fitting | |
| 585 for this mystery of the cross. The word Jesus, which means Savior, | |
| 586 corresponds to the power of the cross by which we have been saved: | |
| 587 "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from | |
| 588 their sins" (Mt 1:21). The word Nazareth, which means abounding in | |
| 589 flowers, corresponds to the innocence of the one suffering: "I am a | |
| 590 rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys" (Song 2:1); "A flower will | |
| 591 rise up out of his root" [Is 11:1]. The words <b>King of the | |
| 592 Jews</b> accord with the power, the dominion, which Christ earned | |
| 593 by his suffering: "Therefore God has highly exalted him" (Phil | |
| 594 2:9); "He shall reign as King and be wise" (Jer 23:5); he will sit | |
| 595 "upon the throne of David and over his kingdom" (Is 9:7).</p> | |
| 596 <p>2421 Through his cross Christ is not just the King of the Jews, | |
| 597 but of all people ‑ for after we read, "I have set my king on | |
| 598 Zion," there follows, "Ask of me and I will make the nations your | |
| 599 heritage" (Ps 6:8). Why then did the Evangelist write only <b>King | |
| 600 of the Jews</b>? I answer that the Gentiles were grafted on to the | |
| 601 abundant olive tree (Rom 11:17). And just like a graft comes to | |
| 602 share in the abundance of the olive tree, and it is not the olive | |
| 603 tree that acquires the bitterness of the graft, so those Gentiles | |
| 604 who were converted to the faith were made spiritually Jews, not by | |
| 605 a circumcision of the flesh, but of the spirit. And so in saying | |
| 606 the <b>King of the Jews,</b> non‑Jewish converts are also | |
| 607 included.</p> | |
| 608 <p>2422 Next we see that the title was read, <b>Many of the Jews | |
| 609 read this title.</b> The fact that it was read signifies that more | |
| 610 are saved by faith, by reading about the passion of Christ, than | |
| 611 were saved by actually seeing it: "These are written that you may | |
| 612 believe" (20:31). Secondly, the Evangelist mentions how easy this | |
| 613 was to read: first, because Jesus was crucified near the city, | |
| 614 <b>the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city,</b> where | |
| 615 many people passed; and secondly, because it was written in a | |
| 616 number of languages, and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in | |
| 617 Greek, so that no one would fail to know it, and because these | |
| 618 three languages were the most widely known. Hebrew was known | |
| 619 because it was used in the worship of the one true God; Greek was | |
| 620 known because it was used in the writings of the wise; and Latin | |
| 621 was known due to the power of Rome. As Augustine says, these three | |
| 622 tongues assumed a certain dignity by being associated with the | |
| 623 cross of Christ.<a href="#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" id= | |
| 624 "_ftnref12">[12]</a> Further, the Hebrew tongue signified that by | |
| 625 the cross of Christ those who were devout and religious were to be | |
| 626 converted and ruled; and so were the wise, indicated by the Greek | |
| 627 language; and so were those enjoying power, signified by the Latin | |
| 628 language. Or, the use of Hebrew signified that Christ was to rule | |
| 629 over theological teaching, because the knowledge of divine matters | |
| 630 was entrusted to the Jews. The Greek signified that Christ was to | |
| 631 rule over the knowledge of nature, for the Greeks were engaged in | |
| 632 speculation about nature. Latin signified that Christ will rule | |
| 633 over practical philosophy, because moral speculation was especially | |
| 634 flourishing among the Romans. And so, all thought is brought into | |
| 635 captivity and obedience to Christ, as we see in 2 Corinthians | |
| 636 (10:5).</p> | |
| 637 <p>2423 We now read that this title was not changed (v 21). First | |
| 638 we see the Jews trying to have the title changed, <b>The chief | |
| 639 priests of the Jews then said to Pilate, Do not write, The King of | |
| 640 the Jews, but, This man said, I am King of the Jews.</b> The title | |
| 641 <b>King of the Jews</b> was a praise for Christ, but a disgrace for | |
| 642 the Jews, for it was a disgrace to the Jews that they had their | |
| 643 king crucified. But if the title had read, <b>This man said, I am | |
| 644 King of the Jews</b>, it would have been a taunting sarcasm against | |
| 645 Christ and have indicated his crime. And this was what the chief | |
| 646 priests wanted to do, to take away the reputation of the one they | |
| 647 crucified as they had already taken away his life: "I am the talk | |
| 648 of those who sit in the gate" (Ps 69:12).</p> | |
| 649 <p>2424 Secondly, we read that Pilate was insistent on keeping the | |
| 650 title. He refused to change it because he wanted to disgrace them. | |
| 651 He said, <b>What I have written I have written</b>. This did not | |
| 652 happen by chance; it had been arranged by God and predicted long | |
| 653 before. Certain Psalms have as a title, "Do not Destroy. For David, | |
| 654 for an inscription of a title." Indeed, Psalm 59 especially | |
| 655 concerns the passion, "Deliver me from my enemies, O my God." And | |
| 656 so do the two preceding Psalms: "Be merciful to me, O God, be | |
| 657 merciful to me, for in thee my soul takes refuge" (Ps 57) and Psalm | |
| 658 58. And so it was folly for the chief priests to complain, for just | |
| 659 as they could not destroy what the Truth had said, so also they | |
| 660 could not destroy what Pilate had written. Pilate said, <b>What I | |
| 661 have written I have written</b>, because what the Lord said, He | |
| 662 said, as Augustine remarks.<a href="#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" | |
| 663 title="" id="_ftnref13">[13]</a></p> | |
| 664 <p>2425 Now the Evangelist shows the role played by the soldiers (v | |
| 665 23): first, he mentions that Christ's garments were distributed | |
| 666 among them; and secondly, we see that lots were cast for his | |
| 667 tunic.</p> | |
| 668 <p>2426 He says, <b>When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took | |
| 669 his garments.</b> We can gather two things from this: the | |
| 670 debasement of the dying Christ, for the soldiers stripped him, | |
| 671 which was done only to those they despised; secondly, we see the | |
| 672 greed of the soldiers, because they took his garments and made four | |
| 673 parts, one for each soldier. Soldiers were a very rapacious group, | |
| 674 and so John the Baptizer told them to "Rob no one ... and be | |
| 675 content with your pay" (Lk 3:14); "They send men away naked, taking | |
| 676 away their clothes" [Job 24:7].</p> | |
| 677 <p>2427 In regard to the second, he says, <b>also his tunic.</b> | |
| 678 First, his tunic is described; and then lots are cast for it (v | |
| 679 24).</p> | |
| 680 <p>2428 He says, <b>also his tunic,</b> that is, they took that | |
| 681 along with his other garments. <b>But the tunic was without seam, | |
| 682 woven from top to bottom.</b> He says that it was without a seam to | |
| 683 indicate its unity. Some say this shows how valuable it was. On the | |
| 684 other hand, Chrysostom says that the Evangelist says this to | |
| 685 suggest that it was common and ordinary; for in Palestine the poor | |
| 686 wear clothing made from many pieces of cloth, one sewn over | |
| 687 another: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that | |
| 688 though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor" (2 Cor | |
| 689 8:9).</p> | |
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690 <p>2429 As for the mystical interpretation, this passage can be |
| 35 | 691 referred to the mystical body of Christ. Then Christ's garments are |
| 692 divided into four parts because the Church is spread over the four | |
| 693 parts of the world: "As I live, says the Lord, you shall put them | |
| 694 all on as an ornament, you shall bind them on as a bride does" (Is | |
| 695 49:18). The tunic without seam, which was not divided, indicates | |
| 696 charity, because the other virtues are not united by themselves, | |
| 697 but by another, because all of them are directed to the ultimate | |
| 698 end, and it is charity alone which unites us to this end. While it | |
| 699 is faith which makes known our ultimate end, and by hope we tend | |
| 700 toward it, only charity unites us to it: "And above all these put | |
| 701 on love, which binds everything together" (Col 3:14).</p> | |
| 702 <p>The tunic is said to be woven from the top because charity is | |
| 703 above, at the top, of all the other virtues: "I will show you a | |
| 704 still more excellent way" (1 Cor 12:31); "To know the love of | |
| 705 Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all | |
| 706 the fullness of God" (Eph 3:19). Or, it is woven from the top | |
| 707 because our charity does not come from ourselves, but from the Holy | |
| 708 Spirit: "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the | |
| 709 Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Rom 5:5). The tunic woven | |
| 710 from the top can also signify the real body of Christ, because the | |
| 711 body of Christ was formed by a higher power, one from the top, by | |
| 712 the Holy Spirit "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy | |
| 713 Spirit" (Mt 1:20).</p> | |
| 714 <p>2430 The Evangelist says that lots were cast for Christ's tunic, | |
| 715 <b>they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for | |
| 716 it to see whose it shall be.</b> There is one way of casting lots | |
| 717 which is a form of divination; this is unlawful because there is no | |
| 718 necessity for it. Sometimes lots are cast to know how things should | |
| 719 be allotted or divided up; and this is lawful in earthly matters | |
| 720 but not in spiritual things. The purpose of this is to submit to | |
| 721 God's plan and will those matters that we cannot decide by | |
| 722 ourselves. "The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is | |
| 723 wholly from the Lord" (Prv 16:33); and again, "The lot puts an end | |
| 724 to disputes" (Prv 18:18).</p> | |
| 725 <p>2431 Matthew says something different, that "they divided his | |
| 726 garments among them by casting lots" (Mt 27:35). The reply is that | |
| 727 Matthew does not say that they cast lots for all his garments. | |
| 728 Indeed, while they divided some among themselves, they cast lots | |
| 729 for his tunic.</p> | |
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730 <p>2432 Mark is still more forceful, saying, "They divided his |
| 35 | 731 garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each |
| 732 should take" of all his clothes (Mk 15:24). According to Augustine, | |
| 733 this means they cast lots for one of his garments, to decide which | |
| 734 one would take the tunic [which was left over].<a href="#_ftn14" | |
| 735 name="_ftnref14" id="_ftnref14">[14]</a></p> | |
| 736 <p>2433 Now the Evangelist brings in the prophecy of this event (v | |
| 737 24). First, he mentions the prophecy. The prophet's exactness is | |
| 738 remarkable, for he foretold in detail some of the things that were | |
| 739 done to Christ. Clearly these things did not happen by chance; thus | |
| 740 he says, <b>this was to fulfill the scripture,</b> one thing after | |
| 741 another, which said (Ps 22:18) that <b>they parted my garments | |
| 742 among them,</b> not saying garment, because there were more than | |
| 743 one, <b>and for my clothing,</b> that is, for my tunic <b>they cast | |
| 744 lots.</b></p> | |
| 745 <p>Secondly, he states that the prophecy was fulfilled, <b>So the | |
| 746 soldiers did this.</b> We can see from this that the divine | |
| 747 Scripture is fulfilled even in its details: "Not an iota, not a | |
| 748 jot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished" (Mt 6:18); | |
| 749 "Everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the | |
| 750 prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled" (Lk 24:44).</p> | |
| 751 <p>2434 Thirdly, we see the part played by the friends of Jesus. | |
| 752 First, the Evangelist mentions the women who were standing there; | |
| 753 secondly, his eagerness for the care of his mother (v 26); thirdly, | |
| 754 the ready obedience of the disciple (v 27).</p> | |
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755 <p>2435 Three women are mentioned as standing by the cross of |
| 35 | 756 Jesus: <b>his mother, then his mother's sister, Mary the wife of |
| 757 Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.</b> When the Evangelists mention the | |
| 758 women who were standing with Christ, it is only John who mentions | |
| 759 the Blessed Virgin. Two questions occur about this incident.</p> | |
| 760 <p>2336 Matthew (27:55) and Mark (15:40) say that the women were | |
| 761 standing far off, while John says that they stood by the cross. One | |
| 762 could say in answer that the women mentioned by Matthew and Mark | |
| 763 were not the same as those mentioned by John. However, the | |
| 764 difficulty with this answer is that Mary Magdalene is in the group | |
| 765 mentioned by Matthew and Mark, and also in the group mentioned by | |
| 766 John. So one should say that all were referring to the same women. | |
| 767 But there is no contradiction. Near and far are relative; and | |
| 768 nothing prevents something from being near in one sense and far in | |
| 769 another. The women were said to be near because they were within | |
| 770 the range of sight, and they could be described as afar because | |
| 771 other people were between them and Jesus. Or, one could say that | |
| 772 when the crucifixion was beginning, the women were standing near | |
| 773 Christ and were able to speak to him; while later, when a number of | |
| 774 people came forward to taunt him, the women withdrew and stood | |
| 775 further away. Thus John is telling what happened at first, and the | |
| 776 other Evangelists what happened after.</p> | |
| 777 <p>2437 The other issue is that John mentions Mary of Clopas, while | |
| 778 in place of her, Matthew and Mark mention Mary, the mother of | |
| 779 James, who is also described as Mary of Alphaeus. We should say | |
| 780 about this that Mary of Clopas, mentioned by John, is the same as | |
| 781 Mary of Alphaeus, mentioned by Matthew. For this Mary had two | |
| 782 husbands, Clopas and Alphaeus. Or, one could say that Clopas was | |
| 783 her father.</p> | |
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784 <p>2438 The fact that the women stood by the cross while the |
| 35 | 785 disciples left Christ and ran away is an expression of their |
| 786 unfailing affection. As Job [19:20] says: "My flesh is consumed, my | |
| 787 bones cleave to my skin," where the flesh can stand for the | |
| 788 disciples, who ran off, and the skin can stand for the women, for | |
| 789 they stayed close to Christ.</p> | |
| 790 <p>2439 The Evangelist now mentions Christ's concern for his mother | |
| 791 (v 26). But first we see his solicitude for the welfare of his | |
| 792 disciple, whom he entrusted to his mother; then we see his concern | |
| 793 for his mother, whom he gave into the keeping of his disciple.</p> | |
| 794 <p>2440 As to the first he says, <b>When Jesus saw his mother, and | |
| 795 the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, | |
| 796 Woman, behold, your son!</b> He is saying: Up to now I have taken | |
| 797 care for you and watched over you. Now, you take care for my | |
| 798 disciple. This shows the eminence of John.</p> | |
| 799 <p>Before, when the Mother of Jesus said, "They have no wine," | |
| 800 (2:3), he replied, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour | |
| 801 has not yet come," that is, the hour of my passion, when I will | |
| 802 suffer by means of what I have received from you [my human nature]. | |
| 803 But when that hour comes I will acknowledge you. And now that the | |
| 804 hour has come, he does acknowledge his mother. Yet I do not have | |
| 805 the power to work miracles through what I have received from you | |
| 806 [my human nature], but rather through what I have from the | |
| 807 generation of the Father, that is, insofar as I am God.</p> | |
| 808 <p>2441 As Augustine says, Christ hanging on the cross is like a | |
| 809 teacher in his teaching chair.<a href="#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" | |
| 810 id="_ftnref15">[15]</a> He is teaching us to help our parents in | |
| 811 their needs, and to take care of them: "Honor your father and your | |
| 812 mother" (Ex 20:12); "If any one does not provide for his relatives, | |
| 813 and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is | |
| 814 worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim 5:8).</p> | |
| 815 <p>Why is the contrary found in Luke? "If any one comes to me and | |
| 816 does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and | |
| 817 brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my | |
| 818 disciple" (Lk 14:26). I answer that when our Lord commands us to | |
| 819 hate our parents and ourselves, he is commanding us to love them, | |
| 820 their own individual nature and our own individual nature, and to | |
| 821 hate moral evil and what turns our natures away from God. This | |
| 822 means that we must aid our parents, love and reverence them as | |
| 823 these human beings, but hate their moral vices and what in them | |
| 824 turns us away from God.</p> | |
| 825 <p>2442 As to the second, he says, <b>Behold, your mother!</b> so | |
| 826 that John will care for her as much as a son cares for his mother; | |
| 827 and Mary is to love John as a mother loves her son.</p> | |
| 828 <p>2443 The Evangelist shows the obedience of the disciple when he | |
| 829 says, <b>and from that hour the disciple took her to his own.</b> | |
| 830 For Bede, this should read <b>as his own</b> <i>(in suam);</i> and | |
| 831 so the meaning is, <b>the disciple</b>, John, <b>took her</b>, the | |
| 832 mother of Jesus, <b>as his own,</b> mother.<a href="#_ftn16" name= | |
| 833 "_ftnref16" id="_ftnref16">[16]</a> But according to Augustine, and | |
| 834 agreeing with the Greek text, we should read it as <b>to his | |
| 835 own</b> <i>(in qua),</i> not to his own home, for John was one of | |
| 836 those who said, "We have left everything and followed you" (Mt | |
| 837 19:27); Rather, the disciple took Mary to his own guardianship, to | |
| 838 eagerly and respectfully care for her.<a href="#_ftn17" name= | |
| 839 "_ftnref17" id="_ftnref17">[17]</a><br /> | |
| 840 <br /> | |
| 841 <br /></p> | |
| 842 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 5</b></p> | |
| 843 <blockquote> | |
| 844 <p><b>28 After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said | |
| 845 (to fulfill the scripture), "I thirst." 29 A bowl full of vinegar | |
| 846 stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and | |
| 847 held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the vinegar, he | |
| 848 said, "It is finished"; and he bowed his head and gave up his | |
| 849 spirit. 31 Since it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent | |
| 850 the bodies from remaining on the cross on the sabbath (for that | |
| 851 sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs | |
| 852 might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 So the | |
| 853 soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who | |
| 854 had been crucified with him; 33 but when they came to Jesus and saw | |
| 855 that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one | |
| 856 of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there | |
| 857 came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness | |
| 858 ‑ his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth | |
| 859 ‑ that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place | |
| 860 that the scripture might be fulfilled, "Not a bone of him shall be | |
| 861 broken." 37 And again another scripture says, "They shall look on | |
| 862 him whom they have pierced."<a href="#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" id= | |
| 863 "_ftnref18">[18]</a></b></p> | |
| 864 </blockquote> | |
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865 <p>2444 After dealing with the crucifixion and the events that |
| 35 | 866 accompanied it, the Evangelist now describes the death of Christ, |
| 867 which we should reverence. First, he shows that it was at the | |
| 868 appropriate time; secondly its manner, <b>he bowed his head</b>; | |
| 869 and thirdly, the piercing of the dead body (v 31).</p> | |
| 870 <p>He shows that the time was fitting because <b>all was now | |
| 871 finished</b>, accomplished. First, he mentions that Christ knew | |
| 872 that all things had been accomplished; secondly, we see Christ | |
| 873 doing what remained to be done (v 30).</p> | |
| 874 <p>2445 In regard to the first he says, <b>After this</b>, after | |
| 875 the things that had just been mentioned, <b>Jesus, knowing that all | |
| 876 was now finished,</b> that is, all that the law and the prophets | |
| 877 had foretold about him had now been accomplished: "Everything | |
| 878 written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the | |
| 879 psalms must be fulfilled" (Lk 24:44); "I have seen the end of every | |
| 880 consummation" [Ps 119:96].</p> | |
| 881 <p>2446 But because another thing foretold in scripture had to be | |
| 882 done, the Evangelist adds that Jesus <b>said (to fulfill the | |
| 883 scripture), I thirst</b>. First, we see the words spoken by Christ; | |
| 884 then, how his desire could be satisfied; and finally, he is given | |
| 885 the vinegar.</p> | |
| 886 <p>2447 The Evangelist says that Jesus said this <b>to fulfill the | |
| 887 scripture.</b> This indicates the sequence of events, and does not | |
| 888 state the cause why Jesus spoke, for he did not speak in order to | |
| 889 fulfill the scripture of the Old Testament. Rather, things were | |
| 890 written in the Old Testament because they would be fulfilled by | |
| 891 Christ. If we say that Christ acted because the scriptures foretold | |
| 892 it, it would follow that the New Testament existed for the sake of | |
| 893 the Old Testament and for its fulfillment, although the opposite is | |
| 894 true. Therefore, it was because these things would be accomplished | |
| 895 by Christ that they were predicted.</p> | |
| 896 <p>By saying, <b>I thirst</b>, he showed that his death was real, | |
| 897 and not just imaginary. It also indicated his intense desire for | |
| 898 the salvation of the human race: "God our Savior, who desires all | |
| 899 men to be saved" (1 Tim 2:4); "For the Son of man came to seek and | |
| 900 to save the lost" (Lk 19:10). Indeed, we express our intense | |
| 901 desires in terms of thirst: "My soul thirsts for God" (Ps | |
| 902 42:3).</p> | |
| 903 <p>2448 This desire could be satisfied because <b>a bowl full of | |
| 904 vinegar stood there.</b> This bowl signified the Jewish synagogue, | |
| 905 in which the wine of the Patriarchs and Prophets had degenerated | |
| 906 into vinegar, that is, into the malice and severity of the chief | |
| 907 priests.</p> | |
| 908 <p>2449 Christ is given the vinegar, for <b>they put a sponge full | |
| 909 of vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth.</b> There is a | |
| 910 question on the literal meaning. How could they put the sponge to | |
| 911 Christ's mouth, since he was hanging high off the ground? This is | |
| 912 answered by Matthew (27:48), who says that the sponge was put on a | |
| 913 reed. Or, according to others, it was put on hyssop, which was | |
| 914 long, and this is what Matthew called a reed.</p> | |
| 915 <p>2450 As for the mystical sense, these three things signify the | |
| 916 three evils that were present in the Jews: the vinegar signifies | |
| 917 their ill‑will; the sponge, full of crooked hiding places, | |
| 918 signifies their craftiness; and the bitterness of the hyssop stands | |
| 919 for their malice. Or, the hyssop represents the humility of Christ, | |
| 920 for the hyssop is a bush used for purification, and our hearts are | |
| 921 purified especially by humility: "Sprinkle me with hyssop and I | |
| 922 will be cleansed" [Ps 51:7].</p> | |
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923 <p>2451 The final fulfillment is mentioned when the Evangelist |
| 35 | 924 says, <b>When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, It is |
| 925 finished.</b> This can be understood to refer to the fulfillment | |
| 926 accomplished by Christ by dying: "For it was fitting that the | |
| 927 author of our salvation be fulfilled by glory through his passion" | |
| 928 [Heb 2:10]. Or, it can be understood to refer to the fulfillment or | |
| 929 accomplishment of our sanctification, which was brought about by | |
| 930 his passion and cross: "For by a single offering he has perfected | |
| 931 for all time those who are sanctified" (Heb 10:14). It can also | |
| 932 refer to the fulfillment of the scriptures: "Everything that is | |
| 933 written of the Son of man by the prophets will be accomplished" (Lk | |
| 934 18:31).</p> | |
| 935 <p>2452 Then the Evangelist describes the death of Christ. First, | |
| 936 he mentions the cause of his death, <b>he bowed his head.</b> We | |
| 937 should not think that because he gave up his spirit, he bowed his | |
| 938 head; rather, because he bowed his head, he gave up his spirit, for | |
| 939 the bowing of his head indicated that he died out of obedience: "He | |
| 940 became obedient unto death" (Phil 2:8).</p> | |
| 941 <p>Secondly, the Evangelist mentions the power of the one dying, | |
| 942 <b>for he gave up his spirit</b>, that is, by his own power: "No | |
| 943 one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord" (10:18). | |
| 944 As Augustine says, we do not have the power to sleep when we will | |
| 945 to, but Christ had the power to die when he willed to.</p> | |
| 946 <p>2453 Some think that the phrase, <b>gave up his | |
| 947 spirit</b>,implies that man has two souls: an intellectual soul, | |
| 948 which they call the spirit, and an animal soul, that is, a | |
| 949 vegetative‑sensitive soul which gives life to the body and is | |
| 950 called a soul in the proper sense. So they say that Christ gave up | |
| 951 only his intellectual soul. This is false, both because the | |
| 952 assertion that there are two souls in man is listed among the | |
| 953 errors compiled in the book <i>The Dogmas of the Church,</i> and | |
| 954 because if Christ had given up his spirit, and retained a soul, he | |
| 955 would not have died. <i><a href="#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" id= | |
| 956 "_ftnref19"><b>[19]</b></a></i> Therefore, since in man the spirit | |
| 957 and the soul are the same, we must say that Christ gave up his | |
| 958 spirit, that is, his soul.</p> | |
| 959 <p>This also destroys the error of those who say that the human | |
| 960 souls of those who have died do not go directly after death to | |
| 961 paradise or to hell or to purgatory, but remain in the grave until | |
| 962 the day of judgment. For our Lord immediately gave up his spirit to | |
| 963 the Father, from which we see that "the souls of the righteous are | |
| 964 in the hand of God" (Wis 3:1).</p> | |
| 965 <p>2454 Now we see the piercing of Christ's body: the act itself; | |
| 966 and then the certainty of what the Evangelist tells us (v 35). With | |
| 967 respect to the first he does two things: first, we see the | |
| 968 intervention and intention of the Jews; secondly, this is partially | |
| 969 accomplished; thirdly, how this was accomplished with regard to | |
| 970 Christ.</p> | |
| 971 <p>2455 With respect to the first he says, <b>Since it was the day | |
| 972 of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on | |
| 973 the cross on the sabbath (for that sabbath was a high day) the Jews | |
| 974 asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might | |
| 975 be taken away.</b> In Deuteronomy (21:22) we see that it is a | |
| 976 precept of the law that the bodies of the dead who had been hanged | |
| 977 for crimes were not to be left hanging until the morning, lest the | |
| 978 land be defiled, and to blot out the disgrace of those who were | |
| 979 hanged, for this kind of death was regarded as most disgraceful: "a | |
| 980 hanged man is accursed by God" (Deut 21:23). Although the Jews did | |
| 981 not now have the authority to inflict this punishment, they still | |
| 982 tried to do what they could. And so because it was the Preparation | |
| 983 day they asked Pilate <b>that their legs might be broken and that | |
| 984 they might be taken away,</b> so that Christ's body and those of | |
| 985 the others would not remain on the cross on the sabbath, which was | |
| 986 a very solemn day, and particularly this sabbath during the Feast | |
| 987 of the Unleavened Bread. They were careful to keep the law in small | |
| 988 matters, but they ignored it in important things: "You blind | |
| 989 guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!" (Mt | |
| 990 23:24).</p> | |
| 991 <p>2456 He says how this was done in part, <b>So the soldiers came | |
| 992 and broke the legs of the first</b> thief, to whom they had come | |
| 993 first, <b>and of the other who had been crucified with him</b>, | |
| 994 with Jesus. This shows their cruelty: "You eat the flesh of my | |
| 995 people" (Mic 3:3).</p> | |
| 996 <p>2457 Why does the Evangelist add, <b>but when they came to Jesus | |
| 997 and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs</b>? | |
| 998 Surely Jesus was crucified between the two others? We should say | |
| 999 that one soldier went to one of the criminals and another soldier | |
| 1000 went to the other one to break their legs, and when they were done | |
| 1001 with this they both came to Jesus. We are told why they pierced his | |
| 1002 side, because when the soldiers saw that he was already dead, | |
| 1003 <b>they did not break his legs</b>.</p> | |
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1004 <p>2458 To make sure that Jesus was dead one of the soldiers |
| 35 | 1005 pierced his side with a spear. It deserves notice that he does not |
| 1006 say "wounded" but "pierced," that is "opened," because in his side | |
| 1007 the door of eternal life is opened to us: "After this I looked, and | |
| 1008 lo, in heaven, an open door!" (Rev 4:1). This is the door in the | |
| 1009 side of the ark through which those animals entered who were not to | |
| 1010 perish in the flood (Gen 7).</p> | |
| 1011 <p>This door is the cause of our salvation; and so, <b>at once | |
| 1012 there came out blood and water.</b> This is a remarkable miracle, | |
| 1013 that blood should flow from the body of a dead person where blood | |
| 1014 congeals. And if someone says that this was because the body was | |
| 1015 still warm, the flow of the water cannot be explained without a | |
| 1016 miracle, since this was pure water. This outpouring of blood and | |
| 1017 water happened so that Christ might show that he was truly human. | |
| 1018 For human beings have a twofold composition: one from the elements | |
| 1019 and the other from the humors. One of these elements is water, and | |
| 1020 blood is the main humor.</p> | |
| 1021 <p>Another reason why this happened was to show that by the passion | |
| 1022 of Christ we acquire a complete cleansing from our sins and stains. | |
| 1023 We are cleansed from our sins by his blood, which is the price of | |
| 1024 our redemption: "You know that your were ransomed from the futile | |
| 1025 ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things, such | |
| 1026 as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that | |
| 1027 of a lamb without blemish or spot" (1 Pet 1:18). And we are | |
| 1028 cleansed from our stains by the water, which is the bath of our | |
| 1029 rebirth: "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be | |
| 1030 clean from all your uncleannesses" (Ez 36:25); "On that day there | |
| 1031 shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the | |
| 1032 inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness" | |
| 1033 (Zech 13:1). And so it is these two things which are especially | |
| 1034 associated with two sacraments: water with the sacrament of | |
| 1035 baptism, and blood with the Eucharist.</p> | |
| 1036 <p>Or, both blood and water are associated with the Eucharist | |
| 1037 because in this sacrament water is mixed with wine, although water | |
| 1038 is not of the substance of the sacrament.</p> | |
| 1039 <p>This event was also prefigured: for just as from the side of | |
| 1040 Christ, sleeping on the cross, there flowed blood and water, which | |
| 1041 makes the Church holy, so from the side of the sleeping Adam there | |
| 1042 was formed the woman, who prefigured the Church.</p> | |
| 1043 <p>2459 Now the Evangelist shows that these events are certainly | |
| 1044 true: first, from the testimony of the Apostle himself; secondly, | |
| 1045 from a prophecy in the scriptures (v 36).</p> | |
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1046 <p>2460 He does three things about the first: he mentions the |
| 35 | 1047 credentials of the witness, <b>he who saw it has borne witness</b>, |
| 1048 and this is John himself: "That which we have seen and heard we | |
| 1049 proclaim also to you" (1 Jn 1:3). Secondly, he affirms that this | |
| 1050 testimony is true, <b>his testimony is true</b>: "I am speaking the | |
| 1051 truth in Christ, I am not lying" (Rom 9:1); "You will know the | |
| 1052 truth, and the truth will make you free" (8:32). Thirdly, he asks | |
| 1053 us to believe, <b>and he knows that he tells the truth that you | |
| 1054 also may believe</b>: "These are written that you may believe" | |
| 1055 (20:31).</p> | |
| 1056 <p>2461 This truth is not just guaranteed by the testimony of the | |
| 1057 apostle; there is also a prophecy of scripture. Thus he says, | |
| 1058 <b>these things took place that the scripture might be | |
| 1059 fulfilled.</b> Here again, as before, the phrase <b>that the | |
| 1060 scripture might be fulfilled</b>, indicates the sequence of events. | |
| 1061 The Evangelist cites two authorities from the Old Testament. One | |
| 1062 refers to his statement that <b>they did not break his legs</b> and | |
| 1063 is found in Exodus (12:46), "You shall not break a bone if it," | |
| 1064 that is, the Passover lamb, which was a prefiguration of Christ, | |
| 1065 because as we read in 1 Corinthians (5:7), "Christ, our paschal | |
| 1066 lamb, has been sacrificed." It was commanded that the bones of the | |
| 1067 Passover lamb should not be broken in order to teach us that the | |
| 1068 courage of the true Lamb and unspotted Jesus Christ would in no way | |
| 1069 be crushed by his passion. The Jews were trying to use the passion | |
| 1070 to destroy the power of Christ's teaching, but his passion only | |
| 1071 made it stronger: "For the word of the cross is folly to those who | |
| 1072 are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of | |
| 1073 God" (1 Cor 1:18). This is why Jesus said before: "When you have | |
| 1074 lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he" | |
| 1075 (8:28).</p> | |
| 1076 <p>2462 The second authority refers to his statement, <b>one of the | |
| 1077 soldiers pierced his side with a spear</b>, and is taken from | |
| 1078 Zechariah: <b>They shall look on him whom they have pierced.</b> | |
| 1079 Our text of Zechariah reads: "They will look on me whom they have | |
| 1080 pierced" [Zech 12:10]. If we join the statement of the Prophet to | |
| 1081 what the Evangelist says, it is clear that the crucified Christ is | |
| 1082 God, for what the Prophet says he says as God, and the Evangelist | |
| 1083 applies this to Christ.</p> | |
| 1084 <p><b>They shall look on him,</b> he says, at the coming judgment. | |
| 1085 Or, they will look on him when they have been converted to the | |
| 1086 faith, and so forth.<br /> | |
| 1087 <br /> | |
| 1088 <br /></p> | |
| 1089 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 6</b></p> | |
| 1090 <blockquote> | |
| 1091 <p><b>38 After this Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of | |
| 1092 Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he | |
| 1093 might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he | |
| 1094 came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who had at first | |
| 1095 come to him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes | |
| 1096 about a hundred pounds' weight. 40 They took the body of Jesus, and | |
| 1097 bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom | |
| 1098 of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a | |
| 1099 garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been | |
| 1100 laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb | |
| 1101 was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.</b></p> | |
| 1102 </blockquote> | |
| 1103 <p>2463 After the Evangelist has told us about the crucifixion and | |
| 1104 death of Christ, he now turns to his burial: first, the permission | |
| 1105 for his burial; secondly, the care in preparing his body (v 40); | |
| 1106 thirdly, the place where Christ was buried (v 41); and, the burial | |
| 1107 itself (v 42).</p> | |
| 1108 <p>2464 He says, <b>After this</b>, the passion and death of Jesus, | |
| 1109 <b>Joseph of Arimathea</b>, this is the same city as Ramatha (1 Sam | |
| 1110 1:1), <b>who was a disciple of Jesus</b>, not one of the twelve, | |
| 1111 but one of the many other believers, for at first all those who | |
| 1112 believed were called disciples, <b>asked Pilate</b> for the body of | |
| 1113 Jesus. Joseph was a disciple, <b>but secretly, for fear of the | |
| 1114 Jews</b>, like many others were before Christ's passion: "Many even | |
| 1115 of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees | |
| 1116 they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the | |
| 1117 synagogue" (12:42). We can see from this that while the other | |
| 1118 disciples, who went into hiding after the passion, lost their | |
| 1119 confidence, this man gained in confidence and openly tended to | |
| 1120 Jesus.</p> | |
| 1121 <p>This man <b>asked Pilate that he might take away the body of | |
| 1122 Jesus</b>, take the body from the cross and bury it. He did this | |
| 1123 because the human laws required permission to bury the bodies of | |
| 1124 those who had been condemned. And Pilate gave him leave, because | |
| 1125 Joseph was an important person and known to Pilate; Mark refers to | |
| 1126 Joseph as "a respected member of the council" (15:42).</p> | |
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1127 <p>2465 In regard to the second he says, <b>So he came and took |
| 35 | 1128 away his body</b>. Here we see Joseph's concern to prepare the |
| 1129 body: first, the things used in the preparation; secondly, the | |
| 1130 preparation itself (v 40).</p> | |
| 1131 <p>2466 The body of Jesus was prepared with a mixture of myrrh and | |
| 1132 aloes, which Nicodemus had purchased in large quantity. So the | |
| 1133 Evangelist mentions both of them: Joseph, who claimed the body, and | |
| 1134 Nicodemus, who brought the spices. This is the same Nicodemus who | |
| 1135 came to Jesus at night, but this was before the passion (3:2). The | |
| 1136 Evangelist commemorates Nicodemus here to show that even though he | |
| 1137 had been a secret disciple, now he became a public one ‑ and | |
| 1138 he had already mentioned that Joseph had been a secret disciple | |
| 1139 because he feared the Jews. But Nicodemus did not yet have true | |
| 1140 faith in the resurrection because he brought myrrh and aloes, | |
| 1141 thinking that the body of Christ would soon corrupt without them: | |
| 1142 "You will not give your holy one to corruption" [Ps 16:10].</p> | |
| 1143 <p>As for the mystical sense, we understand from this that we | |
| 1144 should bury the crucified Christ in our hearts, with the sadness of | |
| 1145 contrition and compassion: "My hands dripped with myrrh" (Song | |
| 1146 5:5).</p> | |
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1147 <p>2467 With the spices ready, they prepared the body of Jesus, |
| 35 | 1148 <b>they took the body of Jesus.</b> There is a question here, for |
| 1149 John says that they bound it in linen cloths, while Matthew (27:59) | |
| 1150 says that they wrapped it in a linen cloth. One can answer, | |
| 1151 according to Augustine, that Matthew speaks of one linen cloth | |
| 1152 because he only mentioned Joseph, and he brought this one | |
| 1153 cloth.<a href="#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" id="_ftnref20">[20]</a> | |
| 1154 John alone mentions Nicodemus, and so he says "linen cloths," | |
| 1155 because Nicodemus brought the other cloth. Or, again, the body of | |
| 1156 Christ was also wrapped in winding bands, as we read in the case of | |
| 1157 Lazarus, because this is the way the Jews buried their dead. A | |
| 1158 small cloth was also placed over his head. John includes all these | |
| 1159 in his words "linen cloths." From the fact that they anointed the | |
| 1160 body of Jesus with spices, we are taught that in the performance of | |
| 1161 such humane duties, we should follow the customs of each | |
| 1162 country.</p> | |
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1163 <p>2468 The place where Christ was buried is then mentioned, <b>Now |
| 35 | 1164 in the place where he was crucified there was a garden</b>. Christ |
| 1165 was arrested in a garden, underwent his agony in a garden, and was | |
| 1166 buried in a garden. This indicates to us that by the power of | |
| 1167 Christ's passion we are freed from the sin which Adam committed in | |
| 1168 the Garden of delights, and that through Christ the Church is made | |
| 1169 holy, the Church, which itself is like a garden enclosed.</p> | |
| 1170 <p><b>And in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been | |
| 1171 laid.</b> There are two reasons why Christ wanted to be buried in a | |
| 1172 new tomb. The first is literal, and was so that no one would think | |
| 1173 that some other body which had been buried there had risen, and not | |
| 1174 Christ, or think that all bodies were of equal power. The other | |
| 1175 reason was that it was appropriate that he who was born of a virgin | |
| 1176 should be buried in a new tomb, so that just as there was no one | |
| 1177 before or after him in the womb of Mary, so also in this tomb. This | |
| 1178 also indicates to us that by faith Christ is hidden in the newborn | |
| 1179 soul: "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph | |
| 1180 3:17).</p> | |
| 1181 <p>2469 Now follows the burial. So <b>because of the Jewish day of | |
| 1182 Preparation</b>, because evening was approaching when because of | |
| 1183 the sabbath no work was permitted, <b>as the tomb</b>, the new | |
| 1184 tomb, <b>was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.</b> Christ died | |
| 1185 about the ninth hour, but because his body had to be prepared for | |
| 1186 burial and other things had to be done, the day had grown into | |
| 1187 evening. <b>As the tomb was close at hand,</b> to the place where | |
| 1188 he was crucified, <b>they laid Jesus there.</b></p> | |
| 1189 <div><br clear="all" /> | |
| 1190 <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> | |
| 1191 <div id="ftn1"> | |
| 1192 <p><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" id="_ftn1">[1]</a> Aristotle, | |
| 1193 <i>Rhetoric</i>.</p> | |
|
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1194 </div> |
| 35 | 1195 <div id="ftn2"> |
| 1196 <p><a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" id="_ftn2">[2]</a> <i>In | |
| 1197 Ioannem hom</i>., 84, ch. 1; PG 59, col. 456; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1198 Aurea</i>, 19:1-5.</p> | |
|
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1199 </div> |
| 35 | 1200 <div id="ftn3"> |
| 1201 <p><a href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" id="_ftn3">[3]</a> <i>Tract. in | |
| 1202 Io</i>., 116, ch. 1, col. 1941; cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, | |
| 1203 19:1-5.</p> | |
|
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1204 </div> |
| 35 | 1205 <div id="ftn4"> |
| 1206 <p><a href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" id="_ftn4">[4]</a> St. Thomas | |
| 1207 refers to Jn 19:7 in the <i>Summa Theologiae</i>: q. 47, a. 4, obj. | |
| 1208 3; Jn 19:11: ST I-II, q. 73, a. 2, s. c.; II-II, q. 67, a. 4; III, | |
| 1209 q. 47, a. 6, obj, 2; q. 49, a. 6.</p> | |
|
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1210 </div> |
| 35 | 1211 <div id="ftn5"> |
| 1212 <p><a href="#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" id="_ftn5">[5]</a> <i>Tract. in | |
| 1213 Io</i>., 116, ch. 2, col. 1942; cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, | |
| 1214 19:1-5.</p> | |
|
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1215 </div> |
| 35 | 1216 <div id="ftn6"> |
| 1217 <p><a href="#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" id="_ftn6">[6]</a> <i>Tract. in | |
| 1218 Io</i>., 116, ch. 5, col. 1943; cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, | |
| 1219 19:9-12.</p> | |
|
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1220 </div> |
| 35 | 1221 <div id="ftn7"> |
| 1222 <p><a href="#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" id="_ftn7">[7]</a> St. Thomas | |
| 1223 refers to Jn 19:14 in the <i>Summa Theologiae</i>: III, q. 83, a. | |
| 1224 2, ad 3; Jn 19:16: <i>ST</i> III, q. 47, a. 3, obj. 3.</p> | |
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1225 </div> |
| 35 | 1226 <div id="ftn8"> |
| 1227 <p><a href="#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" id="_ftn8">[8]</a> <i>Tract. in | |
| 1228 Io</i>., 117, ch. 1, col. 1944; cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, | |
| 1229 19:12-16.</p> | |
|
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1230 </div> |
| 35 | 1231 <div id="ftn9"> |
| 1232 <p><a href="#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" id="_ftn9">[9]</a> | |
| 1233 <i>Commentarium in Matthaeum,</i> 27; cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, | |
| 1234 16-18.</p> | |
|
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1235 </div> |
| 35 | 1236 <div id="ftn10"> |
| 1237 <p><a href="#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" id="_ftn10">[10]</a> | |
| 1238 Aristotle.</p> | |
|
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1239 </div> |
| 35 | 1240 <div id="ftn11"> |
| 1241 <p><a href="#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" id="_ftn11">[11]</a> St. | |
| 1242 Thomas refers to Jn 19:25 in the <i>Summa Theologiae</i>: III, q. | |
| 1243 28, a. 3, obj. 6; Jn 19:28: <i>ST</i> III, q. 46, a. 9 ad 1; Jn | |
| 1244 19:30: <i>ST</i> I-II, q. 103, a. 3, ad 2; q. 47, a. 2, ad 1; Jn | |
| 1245 19:32: <i>ST</i> III, q. 46, a. 5, s. c.; Jn 19:33: <i>ST</i> III, | |
| 1246 q. 46, a. 5, s. c.; q. 47, a. 1, ad 2; Jn 19:34: <i>ST</i> III, q. | |
| 1247 79, a. 1; Jn 19:35: <i>ST</i> III, q. 74, a. 8, obj. 1; Jn 19:36: | |
| 1248 <i>ST</i> III, q. 59, a. 4, ad 1.</p> | |
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1249 </div> |
| 35 | 1250 <div id="ftn12"> |
| 1251 <p><a href="#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" id="_ftn12">[12]</a> | |
| 1252 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 117, ch. 4, col. 1946; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1253 Aurea</i>, 19:12-16.</p> | |
|
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1254 </div> |
| 35 | 1255 <div id="ftn13"> |
| 1256 <p><a href="#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" id="_ftn13">[13]</a><i>Tract. | |
| 1257 in Io</i>., 117, ch. 5, col. 1946; cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, | |
| 1258 19:19-22.</p> | |
|
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1259 </div> |
| 35 | 1260 <div id="ftn14"> |
| 1261 <p><a href="#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" id="_ftn14">[14]</a> | |
| 1262 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 118, ch. 2, 3, col. 1947-9; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1263 Aurea</i>, 19:23-4.</p> | |
|
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1264 </div> |
| 35 | 1265 <div id="ftn15"> |
| 1266 <p><a href="#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" id="_ftn15">[15]</a> | |
| 1267 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 119, ch. 1, col. 1950; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1268 Aurea</i>, 19:24-27.</p> | |
|
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1269 </div> |
| 35 | 1270 <div id="ftn16"> |
| 1271 <p><a href="#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" id="_ftn16">[16]</a> cf. | |
| 1272 <i>Catena Aurea</i>, 19:24-27.</p> | |
| 1273 </div> | |
| 1274 <div id="ftn17"> | |
| 1275 <p><a href="#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" id="_ftn17">[17]</a> | |
| 1276 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 119, ch. 2, col. 1951; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1277 Aurea</i>, 19:24-27.</p> | |
|
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1278 </div> |
| 35 | 1279 <div id="ftn18"> |
| 1280 <p><a href="#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" id="_ftn18">[18]</a> St. | |
| 1281 Thomas quotes Jn 19:30 in the <i>Summa Theologiae:</i> I, q. 73, a. | |
| 1282 1, arg. 1.</p> | |
| 1283 </div> | |
| 1284 <div id="ftn19"> | |
| 1285 <p><a href="#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" id="_ftn19">[19]</a> The | |
| 1286 Dogmas of the Church.</p> | |
|
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1287 </div> |
| 35 | 1288 <div id="ftn20"> |
| 1289 <p><a href="#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" id="_ftn20">[20]</a> <i>De | |
| 1290 consensus evangelistarum</i>, 3, ch. 23; PL 34; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1291 Aurea</i>, 19:38-42.</p> | |
|
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1292 </div> |
|
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1293 </div> |
| 35 | 1294 </blockquote> |
| 1295 </body> | |
| 1296 </html> |