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Saint Thomas Aquinas, Carlo Crivelli

Matthew 27

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Thomas Aquinas · Catena Aurea · Chapter 27

Passages · 200

Matthew 27:1–5

  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:1–5 — The Evangelist had above brought down his history, of what was done to the Lord as far as early morning; he then turned back to relate Peter’s denial, after which he returned to the morning to continue the course of…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:1–5 — They supposed that by His death they should crush His doctrine, and the belief in Him of those who believed Him to be the Son of God. With such purpose against Him they bound Jesus, Who looses them that are bound.…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:1–5 — Observe the evil zeal of the Chief Priests; they watched the whole night with a view to this murder. And they gave Him up to Pilate bound, for such was their practice to send bound to the judge any whom they had…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:1–5 — Though it should be observed that they did not now first bind Him, but before, when they first laid hands upon Him in the garden, as John relates. [John 18:12]vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:1–5 — They did not put Him to death in secret, because they sought to destroy His reputation, and the wonder with which He was regarded by many. For this reason they were minded to put Him to death openly before all, and…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:1–5 (2) — Judas, when he saw that the Lord was condemned to death, returned the money to the Priests, as though it had been in his power to change the minds of His persecutors.vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:1–5 (2) — Let the propounders of those fables concerning intrinsically evil natures [ed. note: vid. S. Basil. Reg. Brev. 84.] answer me here, whence Judas came to the acknowledgment of his sin, “I have sinned in that I have…vatican.va
  • Leo the Great on Matthew 27:1–5 — When he says, “I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood,” he persists in his wicked treachery, seeing that amid the last struggles of death he believed not Jesus to be the Son of God, but merely man of…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:1–5 (2) — Observe that he repents only when his sin is finished and complete; for so the Devil suffers not those who are not watchful to see the evil before they bring it to an end.vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:1–5 — “But they said, What is that to us?” that is to say, What is it to us that He is righteous? “See thou to it,” i.e. to thy own deed what will come of it. Though some would read these in one [marg. note: Quid ad nos tu…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:1–5 (3) — But when the Devil leave any one, he watches his time for return, and having taken it, he leads him into a second sin, and then watches for opportunity for a third deceit. So the man who had married his father’s wife…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:1–5 (2) — He “hung himself,” to shew that he was hateful to both heaven and earth.vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:1–5 (2) — Since the Chief Priests were employed about the murder of the Lord from the morning to the ninth hour, how is this proved that before the crucifixion Judas returned them the money he had received, and said to them in…vatican.va

Matthew 27:6–10

  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:6–10 — The Chief Priests knowing that they had purchased a murder were condemned by their own conscience; they said, “It is the price of blood.”vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:6–10 — Truly straining out the gnat, and swallowing the camel; for if they would not put the money into the treasury, because it was the price of blood, why did they shed the blood at all?vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:6–10 — They thought it meet to spend upon the dead that money which was the price of blood. But as there are differences even in burial places, they used the price of Jesus’ blood in the purchase of some potter’s field,…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:6–10 — It was brought about, I conceive, by God’s providence, that the Saviour’s price should not minister means of excess to sinners, but repose to foreigners, that thence Christ might both redeem the living by the…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:6–10 (2) — Also we, who were strangers to the Law and the Prophets, have profited by the perverse temper of the Jews to obtain salvation for ourselves.vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:6–10 (2) — Or, the “foreigners” are they who to the end are aliens from God, for the righteous are buried with Christ in a new tomb hewn out in the rock. But they who are aliens from God, even to the end, are buried in the…vatican.va
  • Glossa Ordinaria on Matthew 27:6–10 — “To this day” means to the time when the Evangelist was then writing. He then confirms the event by the testimony of the Prophet; “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the Prophet,” &c.vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:6–10 (3) — This is not found at all in Hieremias; but in Zacharias [marg. note: Zech 11:13], who is the last but one of the twelve Prophets, something like it is told, and though the sense is not very different, yet the…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:6–10 (2) — But if any one thinks this lowers the historian’s credit, first let him know that not all the copies of the Gospels have the name Hieremias, but some simply “by the Prophet.” But I do not like this defence, because…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:6–10 (4) — Far be it then from a follower of Christ to suppose him guilty of falsehood, whereas his business was not to pry into words and syllables, but to lay down the staple of doctrine.vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:6–10 (3) — I have lately read in a Hebrew book given me by a Hebrew of the Nazarene sect, an apocryphal Hieremias, in which I find the very words here quoted. After all, I am rather inclined to think that the passage was taken…vatican.va

Matthew 27:11–14

  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:11–14 — Matthew, having finished his digression concerning the traitor Judas, returns to the course of his narrative saying, “Jesus stood before the governor.”vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:11–14 — Mark how He that is ordained by His Father to be the Judge of the whole creation, humbled Himself, and was content to stand before the judge of the land of Judaea, and to be asked by Pilate either in mockery or…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:11–14 — Pilate asked Christ that which His enemies were continually casting in His teeth, for because they knew that Pilate cared not for matters of their Law, they had recourse to a public charge.vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:11–14 (2) — Or, Pilate spoke this affirmatively, as he afterwards wrote in the inscription, “The King of the Jews.” By answering to the Chief Priest, “Thou hast said,” He indirectly reproved his doubts, but now He turns Pilate’s…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:11–14 (2) — He acknowledges Himself to be a King, but a heavenly one, as it is more expressly said in another Gospel, “My kingdom is not of this world [John 18:36], so that neither the Jews nor Pilate were excusable for…vatican.va
  • Hilary of Poitiers on Matthew 27:11–14 — Or, when asked by the High Priest whether He were Jesus the Christ, He answered, “Thou hast said,” because He had ever maintained out of the Law that Christ should come, but to Pilate who was ignorant of the Law, and…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:11–14 — But observe, that to Pilate who asked the question unwillingly He did answer somewhat; but to the Chief Priests and Priests He refused to answer, judging them unworthy of a word; “And when he was accused by the Chief…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:11–14 (2) — Luke explains what were the accusations alleged against Him, “And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:11–14 (3) — Neither then nor now did Jesus make any reply to their accusations, for the word of God was not sent to them, as it was formerly to the Prophets. Neither was Pilate worthy of an answer, as be had no fixed or abiding…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:11–14 (2) — Thus though it is a Gentile who sentences Jesus, he lays the cause of His condemnation upon the Jews.vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:11–14 (3) — He said this out of a wish to release Him, if He should justify Himself in His answer. But the Jews, though they had so many practical proofs of His power, His meekness and humbleness, were yet enraged against Him,…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:11–14 (3) — Or, Jesus would not make any answer, lest if He cleared Himself the governor should have let Him go, and the benefit of His cross should have been deferred.vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:11–14 (4) — “The governor marvelled” at His endurance, as knowing that he had power to condemn Him, He yet continued in a peaceful, placid, and immovable prudence and gravity. He marvelled “greatly,” for it seemed to him a great…vatican.va

Matthew 27:15–26

  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:15–26 — Because Christ had answered nothing to the accusations of the Jews, by which Pilate could acquit Him of what was alleged against Him, he contrives other means of saving Him. “Now on the feast day the governor was…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:15–26 — Thus do the Gentiles shew favours to those whom they subject to themselves, until their yoke is riveted. Yet did this practice obtain also among the Jews, Saul did not put Jonathan to death, because all the people…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:15–26 (2) — And he sought to rescue Christ by means of this practice, that the Jews might not have the shadow of an excuse left them. A convicted murderer is put in comparison with Christ, Barabbas, whom he calls not merely a…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:15–26 — In the Gospel entitled ‘according to the Hebrews,’ Barabbas is interpreted, ‘The son of their master,’ who had been condemned for sedition and murder. Pilate gives them the choice between Jesus and the robber, not…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:15–26 (3) — “Whom will ye that I release unto you?” &c. As much as to say, If ye will not let Him go as innocent, at least, yield Him, as convicted, to this holy day. For if you would have released one of whose guilt there was…vatican.va
  • Glossa Ordinaria on Matthew 27:15–26 — The Evangelist adds the reason why Pilate sought to deliver Christ, “For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.”vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:15–26 — John explains what their envy was, when he says, “Behold, the world is gone after him;” [John 12:19] and, “If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him.” [John 11:48] Observe also that in place of what…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:15–26 (4) — Then is added something else which alone was enough to deter all from putting Him to death; “When he was set on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man.” For…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:15–26 — It is to be noted, that the bench (tribunal) is the seat of the judge, the throne (solium) of the king, the chair (cathedra) of the master. In visions and dreams the wife of a Gentile understood what the Jews when…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:15–26 (2) — Observe also that visions are often vouchsafed by God to the Gentiles, and that the confession of Pilate and his wife that the Lord was innocent is a testimony of the Gentile people.vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:15–26 (5) — But why did Pilate himself not see this vision? Because his wife was more worthy; or because if Pilate had seen it, he would not have had equal credit, or perhaps would not have told it; wherefore it is provided by…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:15–26 (6) — Thus then the judge terrified through his wife, and that he might not consent in the judgment to the accusation of the Jews, himself endured judgment in the affliction of his wife; the judge is judged, and tortured…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:15–26 (2) — Or otherwise; The devil now at last understanding that he should lose his trophies through Christ, as be had at the first brought in death by a woman, so by a woman he would deliver Christ out of the hands of His…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:15–26 (7) — But none of the foregoing things moved Christ’s enemies, because envy had altogether blinded them, and of their own wickedness they corrupt the people, for they “persuaded the people that they should ask Barabbas,…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:15–26 (2) — Thus it is plainly seen how the Jewish people is moved by its elders and the doctors of the Jewish system, and stirred up against Jesus to destroy Him.vatican.va
  • Glossa Ordinaria on Matthew 27:15–26 (2) — Pilate is said to make this answer, “Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you?” either to the message of his wife, or the petition of the people, with whom it was a custom to ask such release on the…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:15–26 (3) — But the populace, like wild beasts that rage the open plains, would have Barabbas released to them. For this people had seditions, murders, robberies, practised by some of their own nation in act, and nourished by…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:15–26 (3) — Those who were crucified being suspended on a cross, by nails driven into the wood through their hands and feet, perished by a lingering death, and lived long on the cross, not that they sought longer life, but that…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:15–26 (3) — Yet even after this answer of theirs, Pilate did not at once assent, but in accordance with his wife’s suggestion, “Have thou nothing to do with that just man,” he answered, “Why, what evil hath he done?” This speech…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:15–26 — Pilate many times pleaded with the Jews, desiring that Jesus might be released, which Matthew witnesses in very few words, when he says, “Pilate seeing that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was…vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:15–26 (2) — It was customary among the ancients, when one would refuse to participate in any crime, to take water and wash his hands before the people.vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:15–26 (4) — Pilate took water in accordance with that, “I Will wash my hands in innocency,” [Ps 26:6] in a manner testifying and saying, I indeed have sought to deliver this innocent man, but since a tumult is rising, and the…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:15–26 (8) — Observe here the infatuation of the Jews; their headlong haste, and destructive passions will not let them see what they ought to see, and they curse themselves, saying, “His blood be upon us,” and even entail the…vatican.va
  • Leo the Great on Matthew 27:15–26 — The impiety of the Jews then exceeded the fault of Pilate; but he was not guiltless, seeing he resigned his own jurisdiction, and acquiesced in the injustice of others.vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:15–26 (5) — It should be known that Pilate administered the Roman law, which enacted that every one who was crucified should first be scourged. Jesus then is given up to the soldiers to be beaten, and they tore with whips that…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:15–26 (9) — See the Lord is made ready for the scourge, see now it descends upon Him! That sacred skin is torn by the fury of the rods; the cruel might of repeated blows lacerates His shoulders. Ah me! God is stretched out…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:15–26 (6) — This was done that we might be delivered from those stripes of which it is said, “Many stripes shall be to the wicked.” [Ps 32:10] Also in the washing of Pilate’s hands all the works of the Gentiles are cleansed, and…vatican.va
  • Hilary of Poitiers on Matthew 27:15–26 — At the desire of the Priests the populace chose Barabbas, which is interpreted ‘the son of a Father,’ thus shadowing forth the unbelief to come when Antichrist the son of sin should be preferred to Christ.vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:15–26 (4) — Barabbas also, who headed a sedition among the people, is released to the Jews, that is the Devil, who to this day reigns among them, so that they cannot have peace.vatican.va

Matthew 27:27–30

  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:27–30 — After the Lord’s trial comes His Passion, which thus begins, “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall,” &c.vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:27–30 — He had been styled King of the Jews, and the Scribes and Priests had brought this charge against Him, that He claimed sovereignty over the Jewish nation; hence this mockery of the soldiers, taking away His own…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:27–30 (2) — Hence we understand what Mark means by “clothed him with purple;” [Mark 15:17] instead of the royal purple, this scarlet cloak was used in mockery; and there is a shade of purple which is very like scarlet. Or it may…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:27–30 — What should we henceforth care if any one insults us, after Christ has thus suffered? The utmost that cruel outrage could do was put in practice against Christ; and not one member only, but His whole body suffered…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:27–30 (3) — But Matthew seems to introduce this here as recollected from above, not that it was done at the time Pilate gave Him up for crucifixion. For John puts it before He is given up by Pilate.vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:27–30 (2) — All these things we may understand mystically. For as Caiaphas said that “it is expedient that one man should die for the people,” [John 11:50] not knowing what he said, so these, in all they did, furnished…vatican.va
  • Hilary of Poitiers on Matthew 27:27–30 — Or otherwise; The Lord having taken upon Him all the infirmities of our body, is then covered with the scarlet coloured blood of all the martyrs, to whom is due the kingdom with Him; He is crowned with thorns, that…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:27–30 — Or, The reed was a mystery signifying that before we believed we trusted in that reed of Egypt, or Babylon, or of some other kingdom opposed to God, which He took that He might triumph over it with the wood of the…vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:27–30 — Or otherwise, By the scarlet robe is denoted the Lord’s flesh, which is spoken of as red by reason of shedding of His blood; by the crown of thorns His taking upon Him our sins, because He appeared “in the likeness…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:27–30 — They smite the head of Christ with a reed, who speak against His divinity, and endeavour to maintain their error by the authority of Holy Scripture, which is written by a reed. They spit upon His face who reject in…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:27–30 (4) — That they took from off the Lord in His passion His own garment, and put on Him a coloured robe, denotes those heretics who said that He had a shadowy, and not a real body.vatican.va

Matthew 27:31–34

Matthew 27:35–38

  • Glossa Ordinaria on Matthew 27:35–38 — Having described how Christ was led to the scene of His Passion, the Evangelist proceeds to the Passion itself, describing the kind of death; “And they crucified him.”vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:35–38 — The Wisdom of God took upon Him man, to give us an example how we might live rightly. It pertains to right life not to fear things that are not to be feared. But some men who do not fear death in itself, yet dread…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:35–38 (2) — Let your holiness consider of what might is the power of the cross. Adam set at nought the commandment, taking the apple from the tree; but all that Adam lost, Christ found upon the cross. The ark of wood saved the…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:35–38 — He suffered on a lofty cross, and not under a roof, to the end that the nature of the air might be purified; the earth also partook a like benefit, being cleansed by the blood that dropped from His side.vatican.va
  • Glossa Ordinaria on Matthew 27:35–38 (2) — The shape of the cross seems also to signify the Church spread through the four quarters of the earth.vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:35–38 — Or, according to the practical exposition, the cross in respect of its broad transverse piece signifies the joy of him that works, for sorrow produces straitness; for the broad part of the cross is in the transverse…vatican.va
  • Hilary of Poitiers on Matthew 27:35–38 — Thus on the tree of life the salvation and life of all is suspended.vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:35–38 (3) — Matthew shortly says, “They parted his garments, casting lots;” but John explains more fully how it was done. “The soldiers, when they had crucified him, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:35–38 (2) — It is to be noted, that this is no small degradation of Christ. For they did this as to one utterly abject and worthless, yet for the thieves they did not the same. For they share the garments only in the case of…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:35–38 — This which was now done to Christ had been prophesied in the Psalm, “They parted my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” [Ps 22:18] It proceeds, “And sitting down, they watched him there.” This…vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:35–38 — It was divinely provided that this title should be set up over His head, that the Jews might learn that not even by putting Him to death could they avoid having Him for their King; for in the very instrument of His…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:35–38 — The High Priest also in obedience to the letter of the Law wore on his head the writing, ‘Holiness to the Lord,’ but the true High Priest and King, Jesus, bears on His cross the title, “This is the King of the Jews;”…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:35–38 (2) — For because He is at once King and Priest, when He would offer the sacrifice of His flesh on the altar of the cross, His title set forth His regal dignity. And it is set over and not beneath the cross, because though…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:35–38 (2) — As Christ was made for us a curse of the cross, so for the salvation of all He is crucified as guilty among the guilty.vatican.va
  • Leo the Great on Matthew 27:35–38 — “Two thieves were crucified with him, one on the right hand and one on the left,” that in the figure of His cross might be represented that separation of all mankind which shall be made in His judgment. The Passion…vatican.va
  • Hilary of Poitiers on Matthew 27:35–38 (2) — Or otherwise; Two thieves are set up on His right and left hand, to signify that the entire human race is called to the Sacrament of the Lord’s Passion; but because there shall be a division of believers to the…vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:35–38 (2) — Or, by the two thieves are denoted all those who strive after the continence of a strict life. They who do this with a single intention of pleasing God, are denoted by him who was crucified on the right hand; they…vatican.va

Matthew 27:39–44

Matthew 27:45–50

  • Origen on Matthew 27:45–50 — Some take occasion from this text to cavil against the truth of the Gospel. For indeed from the beginning eclipses of the sun have happened in their proper seasons; but such an eclipse as would be brought about by…vatican.va
  • Dionysius the Areopagite on Matthew 27:45–50 — When we were together at Heliopolis, we both observed such an interference of the moon with the sun quite unexpectedly, for it was not the season of their conjunction; and then from the ninth hour until evening,…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:45–50 — This darkness lasted three hours, whereas an eclipse is transient, and not enduring, as they know who have studied the matter.vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:45–50 (2) — Against this the children of this world urge, How is it that of the Greeks and Barbarians, who have made observations of these things, not one has recorded so remarkable a phenomenon as this? Phlegon indeed has…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:45–50 (2) — Or otherwise; The wonder was in this, that the darkness was over the whole earth, which had never come to pass before, save only in Egypt what time the Passover was celebrated; for the things done then were a type of…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:45–50 — He employed the beginning of the twenty-first Psalm. [marg. note: Ps 22:1, Vulg.] That clause in the middle of the verse, “Look upon me,” is superfluous; for the Hebrew has only ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,’ that is,…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:45–50 (3) — He uttered this word of prophecy, that He might bear witness to the very last hour to the Old Testament, and that they might see that He honours the Father, and is not against God. And therefore too, He used the…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:45–50 (3) — But it must be asked, What means this, that Christ is forsaken of God? Some, unable to explain how Christ could be forsaken of God, say that this was spoken out of humility. But you will be able clearly to comprehend…vatican.va
  • Hilary of Poitiers on Matthew 27:45–50 — From these words heretical spirits contend either that God the Word was entirely absorbed into the soul at the time it discharged the function of a soul in quickening the body; or that Christ could not have been born…vatican.va
  • Glossa Ordinaria on Matthew 27:45–50 — God is said to have forsaken Him in death because He exposed Him to the power of His persecutors; He withdrew His protection, but did not break the union.vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:45–50 (4) — When He saw darkness over the whole land of Judaea He said this, Father, “why hast thou forsaken me?” meaning, Why hast thou given Me over exhausted to such sufferings? that the people who were honoured by Thee may…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:45–50 — Or, The Saviour said this as bearing about with Him our feelings, who when placed in dangers think ourselves forsaken by God. Human nature was forsaken by God because of its sins, and the Son of God becoming our…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:45–50 (2) — It follows, “Some of them that stood by,” &c.; “some,” not all; whom I suppose to have been Roman soldiers, ignorant of Hebrew, but from the words “Eli, Eli,” thought that He called upon Elias. But if we prefer to…vatican.va
  • Pseudo-Chrysostom on Matthew 27:45–50 — Thus the Source of living water is made to drink vinegar, the Giver of honey is fed with gall; Forgiveness is scourged, Acquittance is condemned, Majesty is mocked, Virtue ridiculed, the Bestower of showers is repaid…vatican.va
  • Hilary of Poitiers on Matthew 27:45–50 (2) — Vinegar is wine, which has turned sour either from neglect, or the fault of the vessel. Wine is the honour of immortality, or virtue. When this then had been turned sour in Adam, He took and drunk it at the hands of…vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:45–50 — Or otherwise; The Jews as degenerating from the wine of the Patriarchs and Prophets were vinegar; they had deceitful hearts, like to the winding holes and hollows in spunge. By the reed, Sacred Scripture is denoted,…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:45–50 (5) — And perhaps all who know the ecclesiastical doctrine, but live amiss, have given them to drink wine mingled with gall; but they who attribute to Christ untrue opinions, these filling a sponge with vinegar, put it…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:45–50 (2) — The soldiers misunderstanding the sound of the Lord’s words, foolishly looked for the coming of Elias. But God, whom the Saviour thus invoked in the Hebrew tongue, He had in ever inseparably with Him.vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:45–50 — When now nought of suffering remains to be endured, death still lingers, knowing that it has nothing there. The ancient foe suspected somewhat unusual. This man, first and only, he found having no sin, free from…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:45–50 (2) — Far be from the faithful any suspicion that Christ experienced our death in such sort that life (as far as it can) ceased to live. Had this been so, how could aught have been said to live during that three days, if…vatican.va
  • John Damascene on Matthew 27:45–50 — Although He died as man, and His holy soul was separated from His unstained body, yet His Godhead remained inseparate from either body or soul. Yet was not the one Person divided into two; for as both body and soul…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:45–50 (3) — It was a mark of Divine power in Him thus to dismiss the Spirit as Himself had said, “No man can take my life from me, but I lay it down and take it again.” [John 10:18] For by “the ghost” in this place we understand…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:45–50 (4) — Also for this reason He cried out with a loud voice to shew that this is done by His own power. For by crying out with a loud voice when dying, He shewed incontestably that He was the true God; because a man in dying…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:45–50 (3) — Luke mentions the words which He thus cries out, “Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit.”vatican.va
  • Hilary of Poitiers on Matthew 27:45–50 (3) — Or, He gave up the ghost with a loud voice, in grief that He was not carrying the sins of all men.vatican.va

Matthew 27:51–56

  • Origen on Matthew 27:51–56 — Great things were done at the moment that Jesus cried with a great voice.vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:51–56 — The wording sufficiently shews that the veil was rent just when He gave up the ghost. If he had not added, “And, lo!” but had merely said, “And the veil of the temple was rent,: it would have been uncertain whether…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:51–56 (2) — It is understood that there were two veils; one veiling the Holy of Holies, the other, the outer part of the tabernacle or temple. In the Passion then of our Lord and Saviour, it was the outer veil which was rent…vatican.va
  • Leo the Great on Matthew 27:51–56 — The sudden commotion in the elements is a sufficient sign in witness of His venerable Passion, “The earth quaked, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened.”vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:51–56 — It is not doubtful to any what these great signs signify according to the letter, namely, that heaven and earth and all things should bear witness to their crucified Lord.vatican.va
  • Hilary of Poitiers on Matthew 27:51–56 — “The earth quaked,” because it was unequal to contain such a body; “the rocks rent,” for the Word of God that pierces all strong and mighty things, and the virtue of the eternal Power had penetrated them; “the graves…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:51–56 — When He remained on the cross they had said tauntingly, “He saved others, himself he cannot save.” But what He would not do for Himself, that He did and more than that for the bodies of the Saints. For if it was a…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:51–56 (2) — As Lazarus rose from the dead, so also did many bodies of the Saints rise again to shew forth the Lord’s resurrection; yet notwithstanding that the graves were opened, they did not rise again before the Lord rose,…vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:51–56 — But some one will ask, what became of those who rose again when the Lord rose. We must believe that they rose again to be witnesses of the Lord’s resurrection. Some have said that they died again, and were turned to…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:51–56 (3) — These same mighty works are still done every day; the veil of the temple is rent for the Saints, in order to reveal the things that are contained within. The earthquakes, that is, all flesh because of the new word…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:51–56 (2) — It is no contradiction here that Matthew says, that “The centurion and they that were with him, watching Jesus, feared when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done;” while Luke says, that he wondered…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:51–56 (3) — Observe, that in the very midst of the offence of His passion the Centurion acknowledges the Son of God, while Arius in the Church proclaims Him a creature.vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:51–56 — Whence with good reason by the Centurion is denoted the faith of the Church, which, when the veil of heavenly mysteries had been rent by the Lord’s death, immediately asserts Jesus to be both very Man, and truly Son…vatican.va
  • Leo the Great on Matthew 27:51–56 (2) — From this example then of the Centurion let the substance of the earth tremble in the punishment of it Redeemer, let the rocks of unbelieving minds be rent, and those who were pent up in these sepulchres of mortality…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:51–56 (4) — It was a Jewish custom, and held no disgrace, according to the manners of the people of old, for women to minister of their substance, food, and clothing to their teachers. This Paul says, that he refused, because it…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:51–56 (4) — In Mark the third is called Salome.vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:51–56 (2) — These women thus watching the things that are done are the most compassionate, the most sorrowful. They had followed Him ministering, and remained by Him in danger, shewing the highest courage, for when the disciples…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:51–56 (5) — ‘See,’ says Helvidius, ‘Jacob and Joseph are the sons of Mary the Lord’s mother, whom the Jews call the brethren of Christ. [marg. note: Mark 6:3] He is also called James the less, to distinguish him from James the…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:51–56 (3) — We might have supposed that some of the women stood “afar off,” as three Evangelists say, and others “near the cross,” as John says, had not Matthew and Mark reckoned Mary Magdalen among those that stood afar off,…vatican.va

Matthew 27:57–61

  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:57–61 — Arimathea is the same as Ramatha, the city of Helcana and Samuel, and is situated in the Chananitic country near Diospolis. This Joseph was a man of great dignity in respect of worldly station, but has the praise of…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:57–61 — He is described as rich, not out of any ambition on the part of the writer to represent so noble and rich a man as Jesus’ disciple, but to shew how he was able to obtain the body of Jesus from Pilate. For poor and…vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:57–61 — Consider this man’s courage; he risked his life, and took upon him many enmities in order to render this service; and not only dares to ask for Christ’s body, but also to bury it.vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:57–61 (2) — By this simple burial of the Lord is condemned the ostentation of the rich, who cannot dispense with lavish expense even in their tombs. But we may also consider in a spiritual sense, that the Lord’s body was wrapped…vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:57–61 (2) — Or, otherwise; The linen is grown out of the ground, and is bleached to whiteness with great labour, and thus this signifies that His body which was taken of the earth, that is of a Virgin, through the toil of…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:57–61 — From this also has prevailed in the Church the custom of celebrating the sacrifice of the altar not in silk, or in coloured robes, but in linen grown from the earth, as we read, was ordered by the Holy Pope Silvester.vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:57–61 — The Saviour was laid in a tomb belonging to another man, because He died for the salvation of others. For why should He who in Himself had no death, have been laid in His own tomb? Or He whose place was reserved for…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:57–61 (3) — He is laid in a new tomb, lest after His resurrection it should be pretended that it was some other who had risen when they saw the other bodies there remaining. The new tomb may also signify the virgin womb of Mary.…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:57–61 (2) — Had the tomb been in the earth, it might have been said they undermined the place, and so carried Him off. Had a small stone been laid thereon, they might have said, They carried Him off while we slept.vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:57–61 (4) — That a great stone was rolled there, shews that the tomb could not have been reopened without the united strength of many.vatican.va
  • Hilary of Poitiers on Matthew 27:57–61 — Mystically, Joseph affords a figure of the Apostles. He wraps the body in a clean linen cloth, in which same linen sheet were let down to Peter out of heaven all manner of living creatures; whence we understand, that…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:57–61 — This is no casual mention of the circumstances that the body was wrapped in clean linen, and laid in a new tomb, and a great stone rolled to the month, but that every thing touching the body of Jesus is clean, and…vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:57–61 (3) — When the Lord’s body was buried, and the rest returned to their own places, the women alone, who had loved Him more attachedly adhered to Him, and with anxious care noted the place where the Lord’s body was laid,…vatican.va
  • Origen on Matthew 27:57–61 (2) — The mother of the sons of Zebedee is not mentioned as having sat over against the sepulchre. And perhaps she was able to endure as far as the cross only, but these as stronger in love were not absent even from the…vatican.va
  • Jerome on Matthew 27:57–61 (5) — Or, when the rest left the Lord, the women continued in their attendance, looking for what Jesus had promised; and therefore they deserved to be the first to see the resurrection, because “he that endureth to the end…vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:57–61 (4) — And to this day the holy women, that is, the lowly souls of the saints, do the like in this present world, and with pious assiduity wait while Christ’s passion is being completed.vatican.va

Matthew 27:62–64

  • Jerome on Matthew 27:62–64 — It was not enough for the Chief Priests to have crucified the Lord the Saviour, if they did not guard the sepulchre, and do their utmost to lay hands on Him as He rose from the dead.vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:62–64 — By the Parasceve is meant ‘preparation;’ and they gave this name to the sixth day of the week, on which they made ready the things needed for the Sabbath, as was commanded respecting the manna, “On the sixth day they…vatican.va
  • Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 27:62–64 — They say that He had declared, “After three days I will rise again,” in consequence of that He said above, “As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly,” &c. [Matt 12:40] But let us see in what way…vatican.va
  • Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:62–64 — He rose again after three days, to signify the consent of the whole Trinity in the passion of the Son; the three days’ space is read figuratively, because the Trinity which in the beginning made man, the same in the…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:62–64 (2) — “Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day.” For Christ’s disciples were spiritually thieves; stealing from the unthankful Jews the writings of the New and Old Testament, they bestowed…vatican.va
  • Hilary of Poitiers on Matthew 27:62–64 — Their fear lest the body should be stolen, the setting a watch on the tomb, and sealing it, are marks of folly and unbelief, that they should have sought to seal up the tomb of One at whose bidding they had seen a…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:62–64 (3) — When they say, “And the last error will be worse than the first,” they utter a truth unwittingly, for their contempt of penitence was worse for the Jews than was their error of ignorance.vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:62–64 — Observe how against their will they concert to demonstrate the truth, for by their precautions irrefragable demonstration of the resurrection was attained. The sepulchre was watched, and so no fraud could have been…vatican.va
  • Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 27:62–64 (4) — Pilate’s answer to their request is as much as to say, Be it enough for you that ye have conspired the death of an innocent man, henceforth let your error remain with you.vatican.va
  • John Chrysostom on Matthew 27:62–64 (2) — Pilate will not suffer that the soldiers alone should seal. But as though he had learnt the truth concerning Christ, he was no longer willing to be partner in their acts, and says, Seal it as ye will yourselves, that…vatican.va

Scripture cited · 44 verses

Exodus 16:22 · 1 Kings 18:10 · Psalm 1:1 · Psalm 22:1 · Psalm 22:16 · Psalm 22:18 · Psalm 26:6 · Psalm 32:10 · Psalm 69:12 · Psalm 104:29 · Isaiah 50:6 · Isaiah 61:1 · Jeremiah 2:21 · Jeremiah 12:8 · Jeremiah 32:9 · Ezekiel 33:11 · Zechariah 11:13 · Matthew 4:6 · Matthew 10:22 · Matthew 12:39 · Matthew 12:40 · Mark 6:3 · Mark 15:9 · Mark 15:17 · Luke 23:2 · Luke 23:45 · John 10:18 · John 11:48 · John 11:49 · John 11:50 · John 12:19 · John 13:27 · John 18:12 · John 18:36 · John 19:23 · John 19:25 · Acts 12:1 · Romans 6:4 · Romans 8:3 · Romans 11:25 · 1 Corinthians 5:1 · 1 Corinthians 13:10 · Galatians 1:19 · Hebrews 11:33

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