Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27. — On Pilate the Governor. On the Remorse of Judas. On the Scourging and Torments of Christ, and the Crucifixion. On the Request for the Body of the Lord, and the Guards of the Tomb

¹ When morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus, to put Him to death; and having bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. See how the devil seized hold of them all, persuading them to commit murder on such days—days on which many sacrifices and offerings were required for the rest of their sins, and purity and cleansing. They bind Him and lead Him away to the governor Pilate, who was from Pontus but, being a subject of the Romans, was sent as governor to that region.

² Then Judas, who betrayed Him, seeing that He was condemned, repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying: I have sinned in betraying innocent blood. But they said: What is that to us? See to it yourself. And casting down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed, and went and hanged himself. In these things Judas is shown to have repented, yet to have repented as a sinner; for to condemn himself was good, but to hang himself was devilish. For, unable to bear the reproaches that would come afterward, he removes himself from life, when he ought rather to have wept and propitiated the One he had offended. Some say that Judas, being avaricious, took the silver supposing that he would both gain the money by betraying Christ and that Christ would not be killed, but would escape the Jews, as He had often escaped; and that then, seeing Him condemned and already sentenced to death, he repented, since the matter had turned out contrary to what he had supposed. Therefore he hanged himself, in order to go before Jesus into Hades, and, by his entreaty, obtain salvation. Yet know that he put his neck into the noose, hanging himself from a certain tree; but the tree bent down, and he survived, since God willed either to preserve him for repentance, or for a public example and shame. For they say that he fell into a dropsical disease, so that, where a wagon passes easily, he could not pass through. Then, falling headlong, he burst asunder—that is, he was torn open, as Luke says in the Acts.

³ But the chief priests took the pieces of silver and said: It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood. And taking counsel, they bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field was called the Field of Blood, to this day. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was priced, whom they of the children of Israel did price, and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me. By “treasury” they meant the treasure in the temple, into which they cast the gifts offered to God. And see their God-driven judgment against themselves: for to this day, he says, that field is called the Field of Blood, so that it is remembered that they murdered the Lord. Note this too, that even among the Jews hospitality was so esteemed that even for strangers a plot of ground was bought for burial. Let us, then, be ashamed—we who think ourselves to be of a more perfect way of life, yet overlook strangers. “The price of Him that was priced,” he says—plainly, of Christ; for He was beyond price, yet He was priced by the children of Israel—that is, the children of Israel set His price, agreeing with Judas to give thirty pieces of silver.

⁴ Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked Him, saying: Are You the King of the Jews? And Jesus said to him: You say so. And when He was accused by the chief priests and the elders, He answered nothing. Then Pilate says to Him: Do You not hear how many things they testify against You? And He answered him never a word, so that the governor marveled greatly. As though accused of public crimes, He is led away to Pilate; whence he also asks Him whether He had set about a revolt, and attempted to become king of the Jews. But Jesus said to him: You say so—giving him a most wise answer; for He neither said, I am not, nor again, I am, but said somewhat measuredly: You say so. For this can be understood in two ways: that I am, as you say; and also, that I do not say this, but you say it. He answered nothing else, however; for the trial was not to proceed reasonably. Pilate, then, marveled at the Lord, both as one despising death, and as to how, being eloquent and having countless things to put forward in His defense, He answered nothing, but disregarded His accusers. And let us too be taught from this, that when we have to do with a corrupt tribunal, we should say nothing, so that we neither stir up greater tumult, nor become the cause of greater condemnation to those who will not hear our defenses.

⁵ Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner, whom they wished. And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. So when they were gathered together, Pilate said to them: Whom do you want me to release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered Him. Pilate was eager to release Christ, though more weakly than he ought; for he should have stood firm for the truth. First, then, he questioned the Lord: Do You not hear what these testify against You? He questioned Him so that, if Christ defended Himself, he might have occasion to release Him; but since the Lord made no defense, knowing surely that even if He defended Himself He would not be set free, Pilate turns to another way, and takes refuge thereafter in the custom, all but saying this: If you will not release Jesus as innocent, at least grant Him to the feast as a condemned man. For how could Pilate have supposed that they would ask for the innocent Jesus to be crucified and release the guilty robber? Knowing, then, that He was not guilty but was envied, for this reason he questions them; whence it is shown that he was too weak, for he ought to have risked himself first for the good. For this reason, then, he too is worthy of condemnation, as one who concealed the truth. Now “Barabbas” is interpreted “son of the father”; for “bar” is “son,” and “abbas” is “father.” The Jews, then, asked for the son of their father, the devil, and crucified Jesus; and to this very day they attach themselves to the son of their father, the Antichrist, and reject Christ.

⁶ And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying: Have nothing to do with that righteous man; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of Him. But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said to them: Which of the two do you want me to release to you? And they said: Barabbas. Pilate says to them: What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? They all say to him: Let Him be crucified. And the governor said: Why, what evil has He done? But they cried out the more, saying: Let Him be crucified. So when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a tumult was arising, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see to it yourselves. And all the people answered and said: His blood be on us and on our children. Then he released Barabbas to them, but Jesus he scourged and delivered to be crucified. O the wonder! Being judged by Pilate, He struck fear into Pilate’s wife; and it is not Pilate himself who sees the dream, but his wife, either because he was unworthy, or because he would not have been believed, but would have seemed to speak as a favor; and perhaps too he would have kept silent had he seen it, being a judge. The dream was a work of Providence, not so that Christ might be released—it did not come about for that—but so that the woman might be saved. Why, then, did Pilate not release Him? Because it was not safe for him to let Him go, as one accused of aiming at tyranny; rather, he ought to have sought proofs—whether He was enlisting soldiers, whether He was forging weapons; but now, as one frivolous and weak, he is swept along. For this very reason he is not blameless; for when they asked for the one steeped in wickedness, he gave him, but concerning Christ he asked, What then shall I do with Jesus?—making them masters of the judgment, although, being governor, he could have snatched Him away, as the tribune did Paul. But they said, Let Him be crucified, wishing not only to kill Him, but also to surround Him with a wicked charge; for the cross was the punishment reserved for the wicked. And he washes his hands, showing himself, as it were, clean of the abomination, though wrongly minded; for, while calling Jesus righteous, he nevertheless handed Him over to the murderers. And they take upon themselves the punishment for His murder—that is, in our own day, in that the Romans destroyed them and their land; but the Hebrews even to this day, being perhaps the descendants of those who murdered the Lord, have His blood upon themselves; for because of their unbelief toward the Lord they are persecuted by all, and there is no boldness for them, persecuted for this very cause. And he scourged Jesus—that is, flogged Him—either to gratify them, or to show that he too had condemned Him, and that it was not an innocent man they were about to crucify, but one already dishonored. So then this too was fulfilled: I gave My back to the scourges.

⁷ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort against Him; and stripping Him, they put on Him a scarlet robe. And plaiting a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and bowing the knee before Him, they mocked Him, saying: Hail, King of the Jews; and they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. Here was fulfilled the saying of David: You have made me a reproach to the foolish. For the soldiers, being senseless, did these things of themselves: they clothed Him with the robe instead of purple, as a king; they gave Him the reed instead of a scepter, and the crown instead of a diadem. And they did obeisance to Him in mockery; for this is what the bending of the knee signifies—doing obeisance. See how they went through every kind of outrage: the face, by the spittings; the head, by the crown; the hand, by the reed; the rest of the body, by the robe; and the ears, outraging them by their mocking words. Yet even if they did what they did in sport, do you nevertheless understand these things to have been accomplished more mystically by Jesus. For the scarlet robe signified our nature, which, being bloody and murderous, He took upon Himself, and by putting it on He sanctified it. The crown of thorns is the sins that arise from the cares of life, which Christ consumes by His own divinity; for this His head hints at. The reed is a symbol of our flesh, which is rotten and weak, which the Lord took up, as David also says: The right hand of the Lord has exalted me. And by receiving through His ears the foul whisperings and slanders, He put to death the whispering of the serpent that had entered in.

⁸ And when they had mocked Him, they took off the robe from Him and put His own garments on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. And as they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, named Simon; him they compelled to carry His cross. The three evangelists say that Simon carried the cross of Jesus; but John says that the Lord Himself carried it. It is likely, then, that both happened. For at first Jesus carried the cross, no one being willing to carry it; but on the way, finding Simon, they laid the cross upon him. And learn this too: that “Simon” is interpreted “obedience”; so he who has obedience, that man carries the cross of Christ. And Cyrene, being a city of five towns, signifies the five senses, which are constrained to carry the cross.

⁹ And coming to a place called Golgotha, which is the place of a skull, they gave Him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall; and when He had tasted it, He would not drink. Golgotha is that place which they call the place of a skull, from the skulls of the dead being buried there. Some, however, say that this is the place where Adam was buried; for there are all the beginnings of the world. For he was buried there; just as in Adam we all died, so in Christ we shall be made alive. And do not be troubled at hearing that Matthew says they gave Him vinegar with gall, while Mark says wine mingled with myrrh, and John says vinegar and gall with hyssop; for many things were done by many people, since the multitude was disorderly, and one did one thing and another another. It is likely, then, that some offered the wine and others the vinegar of gall. And there were many modes of death, yet Christ is lifted up on a cross, that He might both sanctify the tree through which we were cursed, and bless all things: things heavenly, signified by the topmost part of the cross; things earthly, signified by the footrest; and both the eastern and the western, signified by the side-parts of the cross; and also that with His arms He might embrace the scattered children of God.

¹⁰ And when they had crucified Him, the soldiers divided His garments, casting lots; and sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. And they set up over His head His accusation written: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. That Matthew said “accusation,” while another evangelist called it a “title,” is no contradiction; for they inscribed on a board the charge for which He was crucified—what Matthew calls the “accusation”—and they inscribed Him as a revolutionary, by way of slander. But for us this is a matter of faith, as a doctrine declared by the enemies themselves. For the Lord is King, having come for this very purpose, that He might save the Jews; and since the carnal Jews would not, He reigns over the confessing and spiritual Jews—that is, over those who confess.

¹¹ Then there were crucified with Him two robbers, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying: You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself; if You are the Son of God, come down from the cross. In like manner also the chief priests, mocking, with the scribes and Pharisees, said: He saved others, Himself He cannot save; if He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him; for He said, I am the Son of God. And the robbers who were crucified with Him reproached Him with the same thing. Two robbers were crucified with Him to slander Christ, that He too might seem to be such a one, a transgressor like them. But these were a type of the two peoples, the Jewish and the Gentile; for both were transgressors, and reproached Christ. And these robbers too reproached Him at first; but afterward the one, recognizing Him, confessed Him as King, wherefore he also said, Remember me, Lord, in Your kingdom. So too the Gentile people confessed Christ. But the other robber, the Jewish people, blasphemed. And the devil put forward those who said, “If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross,” that, being provoked, He might come down, and the salvation of all through the cross might be overthrown. Therefore Christ, who both is the Son of God and was not persuaded by the enemy, that you too may learn that we must not be persuaded by the devil’s devices, but must do the good, even if men are going to hold a wicked opinion of us.

¹² Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour; and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? And some of those standing there, when they heard it, said: This man is calling Elijah. And immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink. But the rest said: Let be; let us see whether Elijah comes to save Him. The darkness that came about was not according to a natural sequence, as from an eclipse occurring naturally; for an eclipse of the sun never happens when the moon is fourteen days old, but only when the so-called new moon occurs—then the natural eclipses of the sun take place. But at the crucifixion the moon was certainly fourteen days old; for the Passover of the Hebrews was then being celebrated. So the Passion was beyond nature. And the darkness was universal, not partial as in Egypt, that it might be shown that everywhere the light had departed from the Jews. The Jews who asked to see a heavenly sign now behold the sun darkened. And as man was fashioned on the sixth day, and on the sixth hour ate from the tree, so the Lord, refashioning man and healing the fault, is fastened to the tree on the sixth day and at the sixth hour. He speaks the prophetic word in the Hebrew tongue, to show that He is not at variance with the Old Scripture. And the words “Why have You forsaken Me?” He said in order to show that He truly became man, and not in mere appearance; for indeed man has a natural appetite for life, being a lover of life. So just as He was in anguish and prayed before the cross, displaying the love of life natural to us, so now too He says, “Why have You forsaken Me?” making manifest our natural love of life. For indeed He was truly man, and in all things like to us, apart from sin. Some, however, have understood it thus: that the Savior, taking on the person of the Jews, says, Why have You forsaken the Jewish people, whom You loved, so that it committed sin, and I was betrayed by it? For as one sprung from the Jews, Christ says, “You have forsaken Me,” meaning, My kindred, My people—why did You let it go, so as to do such evil against itself? And those of the crowd, being rustic and unlearned in the prophetic writings, did not understand the cry, and supposed that He was calling Elijah; for not all the Jews knew the prophetic writings, just as perhaps not even now do all Christians know those of the Gospels. And they gave Him vinegar to drink, that He might die more quickly, before Elijah should come to help. Whence the rest say, “Let be; let us see whether Elijah comes to save Him”—that is, Do not make Him hasten to die, so that we may know whether Elijah will help Him.

¹³ And Jesus, crying out again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many. Jesus cries with a loud voice, that we may know that what He said, I have authority to lay down My soul, was true. For by His own authority He lays down His soul. And what was the cry? Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit. For not by compulsion, but willingly, He yielded up His spirit. For this is what “I commit” signifies; and it also makes plain that He was going to take it up again, for such is a deposit, given back again. And see, in the Lord’s case, that when He had died and His spirit had been committed into the hands of the Father, from that time forth the souls of the saints too are placed into the hands of God, and no longer, as before, in the recesses of Hades. So the death of Christ became our sanctification; wherefore He also summons death with a loud voice, since it dared not approach unless it were called. The veil of the temple was a certain curtain hung in the midst of the temple, walling off the inner from the outer, like a partition wall. This, then, is torn, God showing that the temple—the inaccessible, the unseen, whose innermost parts the veil concealed—will be so dishonored and exposed as to become accessible and visible to all. Some give other reasons too: for the veil being torn signified, they say, the removal of the letter of the law, and that all the things of the law would be uncovered, which before were hidden by the letter as by a veil, and that the things that were obscure and enigmatic would now be made manifest, with Christ having come forth. And one may say this too, that it was a law among the Jews, at blasphemies against God, to rend their tunics. And so now the divine temple, as though grieved at the death of God, rent its own garment, the veil. And one could say other things as well, but these suffice. And the elements quaked, both showing that the One who suffered was the Creator, and signifying that affairs would be changed; for Scripture sets the earthquake to denote the changing of affairs. There took place, then, the change of God’s oversight, from the Jews to the nations; and the rocks—the stony hearts of the nations—were split, and received the seed of truth; and those who were dead in their sins arose, and came to the holy city, the Jerusalem above, appearing to those who walk along the broad way, being certain archetypes of repentance and conversion. For whoever sees one formerly dead converted and ascended to the holy city in the heavens, surely imitates him, and is himself converted. These things, then, were understood more subtly; but do you know that the raising of the dead which took place at the cross of the Lord signified also the freeing of the souls in Hades. And those who arose then appeared to many, lest what happened should seem to be a phantom; and they arose for the sake of the sign. And it is plain that they arose after Christ rose, if we are to accept this.

¹⁴ Now the centurion and those with him who were keeping watch over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were done, feared greatly, saying: Truly this was the Son of God. And there were there many women, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. The Gentile centurion believes from the signs, together with those about him; but the Jews, who had listened to the prophets and the law, remain unbelieving—so great an evil is wickedness. And this centurion afterward bore witness for Christ. The women, beholding what happened—being of all the most compassionate, and that sex which had been condemned—are the first to enjoy the sight of good things; and the disciples flee, but the women persevere. By “Mary the mother of James and Joses” he means the Theotokos; for James and Joses were the children of Joseph by his former wife. Since, then, the Theotokos was called the wife of Joseph, she was fittingly called also the mother, or rather stepmother, of his children. And the mother of the sons of Zebedee was called Salome; and they say that she too was a daughter of Joseph.

¹⁵ Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given up; and Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb. Joseph, who had once been in hiding, now dares a great thing, laying down his soul for the body of his teacher, and taking upon himself such great enmity from all the Jews. And Pilate gives him the body as a great gift. For, since Christ had been put to death as a rebel, His body was fittingly to be cast out unburied; but Joseph, being rich, likely also gave Pilate gold. And taking it, he honors it, laying it in a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid. This was a matter of God’s dispensation, so that, when the Lord had risen, no one could say that some other dead man buried there had risen. For this reason, then, a new tomb. And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary—that is, the Theotokos, whom above he called the mother of Joses and James—these two, sitting opposite the tomb, were watching to see whether the madness would cease, that they might come and embrace the body and anoint it. Concerning such women Isaiah said: Women who come from a spectacle, come; this is not a people of understanding. For plainly, of the Jewish people who crucified the Lord he says that they have no understanding. It is fitting, then, to leave the people without understanding, and to come to the apostles, and to proclaim the good news of the resurrection.

¹⁶ Now on the next day, which is after the Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying: Lord, we remember that that deceiver said, while He was still alive, After three days I will rise. Command therefore that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, He is risen from the dead; and the last error will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them: You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how. So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone, with the guard. He does not call the Sabbath “Sabbath,” because it was not even a Sabbath, on account of the wickedness of the Jews; for though the law declared that on the day of the Sabbath no one should move from his house, the lawless Jews gather to the foreign Pilate, instead of to the appointed assembly. But they were led by their wickedness to go to Pilate and to make the tomb secure; whereas it was God’s dispensation that the resurrection should take place with the enemies as witnesses, and with the tomb sealed and guarded. And it is worth inquiring whence the Jews had learned to say that He would rise on the third day; for surely the Lord did not say this plainly and openly. One may say, then, that they knew it from the example of Jonah; for Christ said, As Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale, so I also will be in the belly of the earth, or, Destroy this temple; for at first they did not understand this, but supposed that He spoke of the Jewish temple, and they testified against Him; but now they understood that He called His own body the temple, and they call Him a deceiver, not even having changed their wickedness. And among the Romans the guard is called “custodia”; so the soldiers stationed at the tomb he calls the “custody.”