Chapter XVIII.

Chapter XVIII.1-7.Jesus retires to the Garden of Gethsemani, where, having been betrayed by Judas, He freely delivers Himself up, after He had first shown His almighty power, by casting His enemies to the ground.8-11.He requests that the Apostles be allowed to depart unmolested, and forbids Peter to defend Him with the sword.12-14.He is seized, bound, and led before Annas.15-27.He is led before Caiphas, followed by Peter and John, and while being examined there, is thrice denied by Peter.28-38.He is led before Pilate, the Roman Governor, and examined by him.39-40.Pilate attempts to release Jesus, but the crowd calls for the release of Barabbas.1. Haec cum dixisset Iesus, egressus est cum discipulis suis trans torrentem Cedron, ubi erat hortus in quem introivit ipse, et discipuli eius.1. When Jesus had said these things, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where there was a garden, into which he entered with his disciples.1. Having finished His last discourses to the Apostles, and His prayer to the Father, Jesus accompanied by the Apostles now proceeds towards Mount Olivet (Matt xxvi. 36; Mark xiv. 32), crossing the brook of Cedron on His way. As we stated already, we believe that the discourse (xv. 1-xvi. 33) and the prayer after the Last Supper were not spoken while Christ and the Apostles passed along, but at some point of rest either outside the Supper-room or along the way. See above onxiv. 31. Nor are we to suppose from the words of this verse,“He went forth,”that it was only now Christ and the Apostles left the Supper-room. As we remarked already, had Christ and the Apostles not left the Supper-room when He gave the word to do so (xiv. 31), St. John would very probably have noted the fact, and added some word of explanation. In the verse before us, then, there is not[pg 308]question of going forth from the Supper-room but of going forth from the city. Comp. Matthew xxvi. 30, 36; Mark xiv. 26, 32.Over the brook Cedron.Many authorities read“over the brook of the cedars”(τῶν κέδρων).Where there was a garden.SS. Matthew and Mark say that He came to“an enclosed piece of ground”(χωρίον), called Gethsemani.“Gethsemani—גת, (gath) = a wine-press, and שׂמן (shemen) = oil—was the spot where the prediction of Isaias was fulfilled:‘I have trodden the wine press alone’(Isaias lxviii. 3). A modern garden, enclosed by a wall, in which are some old olive-trees, said to date from the time of Christ, is now pointed out as the Garden of Gethsemani. It is on the left bank of the Kedron, about seven hundred and thirty feet from the east wall of the city, and immediately south of the road, from St. Stephen's Gate to the summit of Olivet .... This garden is, there is little reason to doubt, the spot alluded to by Eusebius, when he says (O. S., 2, pp. 248, 18) that‘Gethsemane was at the foot of the Mount of Olives, and was then a place of prayer for the faithful’”(Smith'sB. D.,sub voc).The Cedron is a smallwinter-flowing(χειμάῤῥον) stream, which passes through the ravine below the eastern wall of Jerusalem, and separates the Mount of Olives from the Temple mount. For mention of it in the Old Testament see 3 Kings ii. 37; xv. 13; 4 Kings xxi. ii. 4; Jer. xxxi. 40.St. John passes over the history of the prayer in the garden, of the appearance of the angel to strengthen Christ, and of the sweat of blood, because all this had been already recorded by the Synoptic Evangelists. (Matt. xxvi. 38-44; Mark xiv. 34-40; Luke xxii. 40-44.)2. Sciebat autem et Iudas qui tradebat eum, locum: quia frequenter Iesus convenerant illuc cum discipulis suis.2. And Judas also, who betrayed him, knew the place: because Jesus had often resorted thither together with his disciples.2.Who betrayed him.In the original the present participle marks the process of betrayal as going on.Jesus had often resorted thither with his disciples.The original might be rendered more exactly“Jesus and (with) his disciples often assembled there.”We know from St. Luke xxi. 37,[pg 309]that our Lord on the occasion of this last visit to Jerusalem was in the habit of spending His nights on Mount Olivet, and the same Evangelist tells us that, on this occasion after the Last Supper,“going out he went according to his custom to the Mount of Olives”(Luke xxii. 39).3. Iudas ergo cum accepisset cohortem, et a pontificibus et pharisaeis ministros, venit illuc cum laternis, et facibus, et armis.3. Judas therefore having received a band of soldiers, and servants from the chief priests and the Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.3.A band of soldiers.If“the band”here means a whole cohort, it was the tenth part of a Roman legion, and contained about six hundred infantry, with thirty cavalry. The words of this verse, as well as the presence of the“tribune”(verse 12), who was the commander of a cohort, justify the belief that a whole cohort was present on this occasion. Very likely the authorities were afraid that a strongly-supported attempt might be made to save or rescue Christ from them. This large body of soldiers, strengthened by servants or officers of the temple (ὑπηρέτας) who were sent by the chief-priests and Pharisees, came furnished with arms and lights. As it was now full moon, this being the night of the 14th of the lunar month Nisan, it might seem that the lights were unnecessary, but probably the garden was considerably shaded by trees, and no doubt it was feared that Jesus might try to hide in some dark nook or lurk beneath the shrubs or trees.4. Iesus itaque sciens omnia quae ventura erant super eum, processit, et dixit eis: Quem quaeritis?4. Jesus therefore knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said to them: Whom seek ye?4. Christ's foreknowledge is pointed out, both to prove His Divinity, and to show His readiness to suffer. For, though aware of the sufferings He was to endure, He did not seek to escape from them. He who had before withdrawn from His enemies (viii. 59;xii. 36, &c.), now that His hour was come,went forth(from the enclosure of the garden) to meet them.We learn from St. Luke (xxii. 47) that Judas preceded the soldiers, and gave the traitor's kiss to Jesus, thus marking Him out as the person to be arrested. We learn too from St. Matthew (xxvi. 50), that Jesus addressed the traitor, even in this hour of infamy as His friend:[pg 310]“Friend, whereto art thou come?”and from St. Luke (xxii. 48), that He addressed to him the pathetic words:“Judas, dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”After meekly receiving the kiss from the wretched Apostle, Jesus addressed the crowd.5. Responderunt ei: Iesum Nazarenum. Dicit eis Iesus: Ego sum. Stabat autem et Iudas qui tradebat eum, cum ipsis.5. They answered him: Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith to them: I am he. And Judas also, who betrayed him, stood with them.6. Ut ergo dixit eis, Ego sum, abierunt retrorsum, et ceciderunt in terram.6. As soon therefore as he had said to them: I am he: they went backward, and fell to the ground.5, 6. If our view is correct, that the traitor's kiss had preceded Christ's question:“Whom seek ye?”then it would seem that the soldiers were withheld by Divine power from at once rushing on Jesus; and in order to visibly prove His power and His ability to escape from them if He wished, they were stricken to the ground. This prostration of Christ's enemies cannot be explained on natural grounds.7. Iterum ergo interrogavit eos: Quem quaeritis? Illi autem dixerunt: Iesum Nazarenum.7. Again therefore he asked them: Whom seek ye? And they said: Jesus of Nazareth.8. Respondit Iesus: Dixi vobis quia ego sum: si ergo me quaeritis, sinite hos abire.8. Jesus answered, I have told you, that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way.8.Let these go their way.The meaning obviously is, do not arrest or molest these My disciples.9. Ut impleretur sermo quem dixit; Quia quos dedisti mihi, non perdidi ex eis quemquam.9. That the word might be fulfilled, which he said: Of them whom thou hast given me, I have not lost any one.9. The Evangelist sees in Christ's care for the safety of the disciples on this occasion a fulfilment of His words recorded inxvii. 12. It is true those words as spoken seem to refer only to the time then past, but as Christ then knew that He would continue to guard the Apostles from danger during the few hours of His life that remained, He meant the words to express His care for the Apostles up to the moment of His death, and therefore on this occasion at Gethsemani. His present action was, accordingly, one fulfilment of what is recorded[pg 311]inxvii. 12. We believe that Christ's care for the Apostles in the present instance regarded their bodies as well as their souls. That it regarded their bodies, may be fairly concluded from His words:“let these go their way;”and that it regarded their souls is clear from the consideration that if arrested now they would probably have fallen into sin by denying Him.10. Simon ergo Petrus habens gladium eduxit eum: et percussit pontificis servum: et abscidit auriculam eius dexteram. Erat autem nomen servo Malchus.10. Then Simon Peter having a sword, drew it; and struck the servant of the high-priest, and cut off his right ear. And the name of the servant was Malchus.10. The Synoptic Evangelists merely say thatoneof those who were with Jesus struck the servant of the high-priest, but St. John tells us that this one was Peter. The Synoptists may have suppressed Peter's name through fear of inconvenient consequences to him, but now that the Prince of the Apostles was dead, there was no further reason for such concealment. We cannot say whether any other motive than a desire for historic completeness prompted St. John to give, as he does, the servant's name as well as Peter's.11. Dixit ergo Iesus Petro: Mitte gladium tuum in vaginam. Calicem, quem dedit mihi Pater, non bibam illum?11. Jesus therefore said to Peter: Put up thy sword into the scabbard. The chalice which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?11.Put up thy sword into the scabbard.The words are given more fully by St. Matt. (xxvi. 52, ff).The chalice ... shall I not drink it?In Matt. xxvi. 39, we read that on this same night, and in Gethsemani, before the arrival of Judas, Christ had prayed:“Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me;”but now, since it was not to pass, He accepts it willingly.12. Cohors ergo, et tribunus et ministri Iudaeorum comprehenderunt Iesum, et ligaverunt eum:12. Then the band and the tribune, and the servants of the Jews, took Jesus, and bound him:12. Thetribunewas the commander of the cohort. χιλιάρχος,[pg 312]strictly taken, means the commander of one thousand men. See above on verse 3.13. Et adduxerunt eum ad Annam primum: erat enim socer Caiphae, qui erat pontifex anni illius.13. And they led him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiphas, who was high-priest of that year.13. This journey to Annas is mentioned only by St. John. Annas, though not the actual high-priest, was the head of the Sanhedrim, and a man of great authority among the Jews (see above onxi. 49), and so Jesus was brought before him in the first instance.14. Erat autem Caiphas, qui consilium dederat Iudaeis: Quia expedit, unum hominem mori pro populo.14. Now Caiphas was he who had given the counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.15. Sequebatur autem Iesum Simon Petrus, et alias discipulus. Discipulus autem ille erat notus pontifici, et introivit cum Iesu in atrium pontificis.15. And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. And that disciple was known to the high-priest, and went in with Jesus into the court of the high-priest.15. The other disciple was almost certainly our Evangelist himself (seeIntrod. I. B. 2); and the fact that he was known to the high-priest makes it probable that he belonged to a family of some importance.But who is the high-priest into whose court Peter and John followed Jesus? Is it Caiphas that is meant, or Annas? Some think the reference is to Annas, who, it must be admitted, is called“high-priest”by St. Luke (Luke iii. 2; Acts iv. 6), and to whom it has just been stated, in verse 13, that Jesus was led. But as our Evangelist has just stated in verse 13, as he also does in xi. 49, that Caiphas was high-priest for that year, we prefer to hold that the“high-priest”here referred to is not Annas, but Caiphas. We hold, then, that what is recorded by St. John in this passage (verses 15-23) took place in the court of Caiphas, after Jesus had been led thither from Annas, and that verse 24:“Annas (had) sent,”&c., is added by St. John to guard the reader against supposing that what is recorded in verses 15-23 took place at the house of Annas. St. Cyril of Alexandria, and a few Greek and Syrian MSS. read verse 24 between verses 13 and 14.In this view the account of St. John harmonizes at once with the Synoptic Gospels, which represent St. Peter's first denial, recorded in verse 17 here, as taking place in the court of Caiphas.[pg 313]Many commentators of note, such as Patrizzi among Catholics, and Alford among Protestants, reconcile St. John's account with that of the Synoptic Evangelists in another way. They hold that the events recorded in verses 15-23 took place when Jesus was brought before Annas; but as Caiphas and Annas occupied an official residence in common, or as Annas was, perhaps, the guest of Caiphas, his son-in-law, on this night of the Paschal Supper, though it wasAnnaswho examined Christ, as recorded by St. John (verses 10-23), yet it was to the court of Caiphas, or the common court attached to the house of Annas and Caiphas, that Jesus entered (verse 15); and there, too, St. Peter denied His Master for the first time. In any of the above opinions, St. John agrees with the Synoptic Evangelists, that the place of St. Peter's first denial was the court of Caiphas: but in the second opinion, the“high priest”of verse 19 is Annas, not Caiphas. See Patriz., Liber ii. Adnot. clxxvii.From St. Matthew (xxvi. 59) and St. Mark (xiv. 55) we learn that Caiphas was not alone on this occasion. The whole Sanhedrim was present; but as the case was an important one, this body had to meet again formally after day-dawn, to finally decide it. See below on verse28.16. Petrus autem stabat ad ostium foris. Exivit ergo discipulus alius qui erat notus pontifici, et dixit ostiariae: et introduxit Petrum.16. But Peter stood at the door without. The other disciple therefore who was known to the high-priest, went out, and spoke to the portress, and brought in Peter.16.But Peter stood(was standing)at the door without.“An oriental house is usually built round a quadrangular interior court; into which there is a passage (sometimes arched) through the front part of the house, closed next the street by a heavy folding gate, with a small wicket for single persons, kept by a porter. In the text, the interior court, often paved or flagged, and open to the sky, is the αὐλή, where the attendants made a fire; and the passage, beneath the front of the house, from the street to this court is the προαύλιον (Mark xiv. 68), or πυλών (Matt. xxvi. 71). The place where Jesus[pg 314]stood before the high-priest may have been an open room or place of audience on the ground-floor, raised somewhat above the court (Mark xiv. 66) in the rear or on one side of the court; such rooms, open in front, being customary”(Robinson,Notes to Harmony).17. Dicit ergo Petro ancilla ostiaria: Numquid et tu ex discipulis es hominis istius? Dicit ille: Non sum.17. The maid therefore that was portress, saith to Peter: Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith: I am not.17. It will be convenient to treat of the three denials by Peter (verses 17, 25-27) together. Many Rationalist and Protestant commentators have alleged that it is impossible to harmonize the different accounts of these denials. We hope to show, however, that there is little difficulty in harmonizing them.To this end we would draw attention, with Dean Alford,113to the following points:—“In the first place, we are not bound to require accordance ... in therecognitionof Peterby different persons. These may have beenmanyoneach occasionof denial, and independent narrators may have fixed on different ones among them.”“Secondly, no reader ... will require that theactual words spoken by Petershould in each case beidentically reported.”In support of this view, Alford refers to the remarks of St. Augustine on the words:“Domine, salva nos, perimus”(Matt. viii. 25).“What matters it,”says St. Aug., referring to the different versions of the words given by the Evangelists,“whether the disciples, in calling on the Lord, really used one or another of those three expressions, or some other, not recorded by any of the Evangelists, differing from all those that are recorded, but still giving the sense, that those who called upon Him were perishing, and called on Him to save them.”“Thirdly, I do not see that we are obliged to limit the narrative tothree sentencesfrom Peter's mouth,and no more. Onthree occasionsduring the night he wasrecognised, onthree occasions he was a denierof his Lord: such a statement may well embracereiterated expressions of recognition, andreiterated and importunate denials on each occasion.”“And those remarks being taken into account, I premise that all difficulty is removed, the resulting inference being that the narratives aregenuine, truthful accounts of facts underlying them all.”Similarly, Patrizzi:—“Considerare etiam juvat, ut ea difficultas quam quidam in hac historia esse putant, quod alter Evangelista ait Petrum a muliere, alter a viro, hic ab uno, ille a pluribus, fuisse interrogatum, in specie quidem gravis,[pg 315]re tamen ipsa propemodum nulla sit; ex his enim nihil aliud consequitur, nisi, non unum, sed plures, sive simul, sive alium post alios, Petrum esse percontatos, hunc autem, nisi multis ac repetitis interrogationibus adactum non respondisse, quod apprime veri simile est, imo vix dubitandum de hoc foret, etiamsi ex evangeliis id minime colligeretur”(Lib. ii. Adnot. clxxviii.) That the reader may apply these principles, and convince himself as to their sufficiency, we quote from Dr. Walsh'sHarmony of the Gospel Narratives, a tabulated statement suggesting the chief points to be attended to in the four Gospel accounts.1st Denial:St. Matthew.: There came to hima maid servant:“Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilean.”“I know not what thou sayest.”St. Mark.: There cometh to himone of the maid servants:“Thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.”“I neither know nor understand what thou sayest.”St. Luke.: There came acertain maid servant:“This man was also with him.”“Woman, I know him not.”St. John.: Andthe maid that was portresssaid to Peter:“Art not thou also one of this man's disciples?”“I am not.”2nd Denial:St. Matthew.:As he went outto the vestibule,another maidsaw him, and she saith to them that were there:“This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”He denied with an oath:“I do not know the man.”St. Mark.: Andthe maid servantseeing him, began to say to the standers by:“This is one of them.”He denied again.St. Luke.: Andanother (Alius)says:“Thou also art one of them.”“O man, I am not.”St. John.: Peter wasstanding and warming himself; and they said to him:“Art not thou also one of his disciples?”“I am not.”3rd Denial:St. Matthew.:They that stood bysaid:“Surely thou also art one of them; for even thy speech doth discover thee.”He began to curse and swear that he knew not the man.St. Mark.:They that stood bysaid:“Surely thou art one of them; for thou also art a Galilean.”He began to curse and swear, saying:“I know not this man of whom you speak.”St. Luke.:Another mansaid:“Surely this man was with him, for he is a Galilean.”“Man, I know not what thou sayest.”St. John.:One of the servants of the high priestsaith:“Did I not see thee in the garden with him?”Peter then denied again.[pg 316]Thus, it is plain that there is no difficulty in regard to thefirstdenial, whether we suppose that St. Peter made use of the different expressions attributed to him, or, as seems more probable in regard to this first occasion, used only one expression, which issubstantiallyreported by the four Evangelists.In regard to theseconddenial it is to be noted—(a) That according to SS. Matthew and Mark the maid does not address herself to Peter, but to those who were around; so that there is no difficulty when we learn from St. Luke that Peter was addressed by a man (alius) on the occasion.(b) St. Matthew, in the account of this denial, speaks of adifferentmaid from her who brought about the first denial. St. Mark seems to speak of thesamemaid, for he has ἡ παιδίσκη (xiv. 69), which would seem to refer tothemaid already mentioned. There is nothing improbable, however, in supposing thattwomaids spoke to those around on the occasion of the second denial.(c) As to theplaceof the second denial, St. John says that it occurred while“Peter was standing and warming himself,”while St. Matthew says it occurred“as he went out to the vestibule,”or more correctly, according to the Greek,“after hehad goneout”(ἐξελθόντα) into the vestibule. But again we may readily explain by saying that on this occasion Peter was challenged inboth places, and denied in both.In regard to thethirddenial, the reason given, in St. John, by the high-priest's servant, for identifying Peter as a follower of Jesus, is different from that given in the other Evangelists; but there is no difficulty in supposing that several different reasons were given by different persons.18. Stabant autem servi et ministri ad prunas, quia frigus erat, et calefaciebant se: erat autem cum eis et Petrus stans, et calefaciens se.18. Now the servants and ministers stood at a fire of coals, because it was cold, and warmed themselves. And with them was Peter also standing, warming himself.18. We are not to connect this verse with the preceding, as if it indicated that Peter wasstandingduring the first denial. We know from St. Matthew (xxvi. 69; Comp. Mark xiv. 54; Luke xxii. 55) that he wassitting, and from St. Mark (xiv. 68) that after the first denial he went out into the passage or vestibule (εἰς τὸ προαύλιον). Hence what St. John says here is to be understood in reference to a time between the first and second denial.The Greek here is somewhat different from the Vulgate. It would be rendered:“Now the servants and the officers were standing, having made a fire of charcoal, for it was cold, and[pg 317]they were warming themselves,”&c. The Roman soldiers had, doubtless, gone back to their quarters in the castle of Antonia, close to the Temple; and hence we find mention here of only the servants of the high-priest and the Temple guards.19. Pontifex ergo interrogavit Iesum de discipulis suis, et de doctrina eius.19. The high-priest therefore asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.19. Meantime, while Peter was denying Him in the court, Jesus was being examined by the high-priest in a room or hall of the house of Caiphas. See above on verse 16. As we have said already, we believe that Caiphas is the“high-priest”here referred to; so that St. John here supplements the account given by the Synoptic Evangelists of the preliminary trial, before Caiphas (Matt, xxvi 59-68; Mark xiv. 55-65; Luke xxii. 54-63). From the other Evangelists we learn that many false witnesses now appeared against Jesus; but the inquiry regarding Hisdisciplesanddoctrinehere recorded by St. John is mentioned by no other Evangelist.The inquiry regarding Christ's disciples was probably intended to find out whether He had collected these followers around Him with any seditious or unlawful object; and that regarding His doctrine in the hope of convicting Him from His own mouth of blasphemy. Later on in this trial, as we learn from SS. Matt. and Mark, they did condemn Him of blasphemy, and judge Him deserving of death.20. Respondit ei Iesus: Ego palam locutus sum mundo: ego semper docui in synagoga, et in templo, quo omnes Iudaei conveniunt: et in occulto locutus sum nihil.20. Jesus answered him: I have spoken openly to the world: I have always taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither all the Jews resort; and in secret I have spoken nothing.20. Jesus makes no reply regarding His disciples, because it was sufficiently plain that they followed Him from no unworthy motive, but for sake of His doctrine and its fruits. Of His doctrine, therefore He speaks. But since He, of all teachers (the twice-repeated ἐγώ is in each instance emphatic) had taught publicly, and nothing in privatethat was different fromHis public teaching[pg 318](or the meaning may be, nothing that He tried to hide), He refers his interrogator to those who had heard Him, as their testimony ought naturally to be sought rather than His in a matter that so intimately concerned Himself.21. Quid me interrogas? interroga eos qui audierunt quid locutus sim ipsis? ecce hi sciunt quae dixerim ego.21. Why askest thou me? ask them who have heard what I have spoken unto them: behold they know what things I have said.21.Behold they(these, οὗτοι)know what things I have said. Some think that Christ here referred, perhaps pointed, to the Priests and Pharisees around him, or to the crowd in the court outside; for we know from St. Luke (xxii. 61) that those outside in the court were visible from the hall where Christ was being examined. It may be, however, that οὗτοι refers simply to all and any who had at any time heard His doctrine.22. Haec autem cum dixisset, unus assistens ministrorum dedit alapam Iesu, dicens: Sic respondes pontifici?22. And when he had said these things, one of the servants standing by gave Jesus a blow, saying: Answerest thou the high-priest so?22.A blow.“Alapa”is a blow on the ear; but the Greek word (ῥάπισμα) signifies any blow with the open hand or with a rod or stick. The blow was given by one of the Temple guards.23. Respondit ei Iesus: Si male locutus sum, testimonium perhibe de malo: si autem bene, quid me caedis?23. Jesus answered him: If I have spoken evil, give testimony of the evil: but if well, why strikest thou me?23.If I have spoken(rather, spoke)evil. It is not clear whether the reference is to the words just uttered in reply to the high-priest (verse 21), or to the general teaching of Christ. The use of the aorist here, just as in verses 20 and 21, is in favour of the latter view.We have here an example of Christ's meekness and patience in very trying circumstances, a practical application of the words contained in Matt. v. 39.24. Et misit eum Annas ligatum ad Caipham pontificem.24. And Annas sent him bound to Caiphas the high-priest.24.“Et”is not genuine; the true reading is ἀπέστειλεν οὖν αὐτόν,“Jesus, therefore,[pg 319]had sent him,”&c.114We take it that this is added by St. John to signify that Jesushad beenalready sent to Caiphas before the events recorded in verses 15-23.“Misit”ought, then, to be“miserat,”a sense which the Aorist ἀπέστειλεν admits. Compare, for this sense of the aorist, John iv. 45, 46; xi. 30; xiii. 12; xix. 23.25. Erat autem Simon Petrus stans, et calefaciens se. Dixerunt ergo ei: Numquid et tu ex discipulis eius es? Negavit ille, et dixit: Non sum.25. And Simon Peter was standing, and warming himself. They said therefore to him: Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said: I am not.26. Dicit ei unus ex servis pontificis, cognatus eius, cuius abscidit Petrus auriculam: Nonne ego te vidi in horto cum illo?26. One of the servants of the high-priest (a kinsman to him whose ear Peter cut off) saith to him: Did I not see thee in the garden with him?25, 26. Here we have St. John's account of Peter's second and third denial. See above on verse 17. We learn from St. Luke that the third denial took place about an hour after the second.27. Iterum ergo negavit Petrus: et statim gallus cantavit.27. Again therefore Peter denied: and immediately the cock crew.27. From St. Mark, who, being a disciple of St. Peter, generally records more minutely the incidents connected with the Prince of the Apostles, we learn that the cock crew after St. Peter'sfirstdenial, as well as after the third. But, as we explained on xiii. 38, the second crowing, which took place after the third denial, occurred at the time ordinarily known as cockcrow, and to it St. John refers here.28. Adducunt ergo Iesum a Caipha in praetorium. Erat autem mane: et ipsi non introierunt in praetorium, ut non contaminarentur, sed ut manducarent pascha.28. Then they led Jesus from Caiphas to the governor's hall. And it was morning: and they went not into the hall, that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the pasch.28. The Evangelist here passes over much that had already been recorded by the Synoptic Evangelists. From them we learn that Christ, at this midnight meeting before[pg 320]the Council, was accused by false witnesses, convicted of blasphemy, and judged deserving of death (Matt. xxvi. 66; Mark xiv. 64). Then he was apparently given over to the charge of the servants of the high-priest, was spat upon and struck with the closed fist (colaphis) (Mat. xxvi. 67), and with the open hand or a stick (ῥαπίσμασιν); and, being blindfolded, was mockingly asked to tell who it was that struck him. Thus He remained, perhaps, till daybreak,115mocked and abused by the servants; though some think that for a part of the time He was put into prison.Then when morning was come, the Synoptic Evangelists tell us that Jesus was again brought before the Sanhedrim, which almost at once decided to hand him over to Pilate for punishment.“From Luke (as also, he might have added, from Matt. xxvii. 1; Mark xv. 1) we learn that the night council had been dissolved and that early again, in the morning of the last day of our Lord's life, another more solemn assembly (rather the same assembly) was summoned, at which all the chief-priests and elders and scribes assisted, the subject of discussion being urgent and most important. It was, besides, a wise Jewish maxim that legal proceedings especially in capital cases should be conducted in the light of day, and not in the darkness of night”(M'Carthy on St. Matt. xxvii. 1).It was after this morning council that Jesus was bound (Matt. xxvii. 2; Mark xv. 1) and led before Pilate, as St. John here narrates. At this point, when the Lord was brought before Pilate, and His death now seemed certain, Judas, touched with remorse, but not with true repentance, brought back the blood-money to the priests, and flung it in the temple; then in despair went and hanged himself (Matt. xxvii. 3-5).Then they led Jesus.The true reading is:“they lead Jesus therefore.”That is to say, in accordance with their determination to put Christ to to death, a determination of which we are informed by St. Matthew (xxvii. 1), they bring Him before the representative of Roman authority to have the sentence of death confirmed. See below on verse 29.And they went not into[pg 321]the hall(rather, the governor's residence, πραιτώριον.) The Roman Governors ordinarily dwelt at Caesarea, on the sea coast; but at the more important Jewish festivals they resided in Jerusalem, for the purpose of preventing or repressing, if necessary, any uprising of the Jewish people against Roman authority (Josephus,Bell. Jud., ii. 14, 3). When in Jerusalem, they usually occupied the palace of Herod the Great on Mount Sion. A tradition as old as the fourth century, however, states that on this occasion Pilate was staying in the castle of Antonia, beside the temple on Mount Moria.And it was morning(πρωΐ). Just as a condemnation to death at night was technically illegal according to Jewish law, so a Roman court could not be held till after sunrise. It is likely that the sun was not long risen on this morning till the Jews in their eagerness appeared with their prisoner at the residence of Pilate. The term πρωΐ is, in fact, used in St. Mark xiii. 35, for the fourth watch of the night.That they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the pasch.In our note onxiii. 1we held that the Jews, as well as our Lord, sacrificed the Paschal lamb on Thursday evening, and eat it that night; and hence we hold that“the Pasch”here referred to, which on this Friday morning was still to be eaten, was not the Paschal lamb. Had there been question of the Paschal Supper proper, then such a defilement as that contracted by entering the house of a Gentile would not have prevented the Jews from partaking of the supper; for it would appear from Lev. xv. 5, where there is question of a defilement apparently as serious as that which would be contracted from entering the house of a Gentile, that such defilement continued only“until the evening,”and, therefore, could not be a hindrance to participation in the Paschal Supper, which was eatenafterthe evening, and when the next Jewish day had begun.116There is question, then, of some of the other Paschal sacrifices which were partaken of during the seven days of the Paschal feast (Deut. xvi. 2, 3; 2 Paral. xxx. 22), perhaps of the special sacrifice[pg 322]known as the Chagigah (חגיגה).117From such a sacrifice, eaten, as we learn from the Mishna in the note below, not only at night, but alsoduring the day, a defilement contracted in the morning would exclude.In view of the anxiety of the Jews to avoid the legal defilement incurred by entering a house from which all leaven had not been removed, one cannot help wondering, with St. Augustine, at their blind hypocrisy:“O impia et stulta caecitas: habitaculo videlicet contaminarentur alieno, et non contaminarentur scelere proprio!”29. Exivit ergo Pilatus ad eos foras, et dixit: Quam accusationem affertis adversus hominem hunc?29. Pilate therefore went out to them, and said: What accusation bring you against this man?30. Responderunt, et dixerunt ei: Si non esset hic malefactor, non tibi tradidissemus eum.30. They answered and said to him: If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee.31. Dixit ergo eis Pilatus: Accipite eum vos, et secundum legem vestram iudicate eum. Dixerunt ergo ei Iudaei: Nobis non licet interficere quemquam.31. Pilate therefore said to them: Take him you, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said to him: It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.29-31. As they entered not, Pilate, now first mentioned by St. John, went out to them and asked:What accusation bring you against this man?It is very likely he had already learned something of the nature of the accusation, either on the preceding night when the Roman soldiers were required for Gethsemani, or just now before coming out of his house, but he would naturally wish to have it made formally. They, having already pronounced Jesus deserving of death, and having brought Him to Pilate merely to have the sentence of death pronounced and executed without any formality of trial, are indignant at the Roman's question, and reply as in verse 30:“If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee.”Pilate, wishing to shift from himself responsibility for Christ's death, bids the Jews to take Him, and judge Him according to their own law. This they declined to do, alleging as a reason that the Romans had taken away from the Jews the power to punish[pg 323]by death. This, however, was merely an evasion, for they knew thoroughly that Pilate's permission in the present case was sufficient warrant for their action, even if they put Jesus to death. But the motive of the Jewish leaders was to make the responsibility for His death, in the eyes of the Jewish people, rest upon the Romans.32. Ut sermo Iesu impleretur quem dixit, significans qua morte esset moriturus.32. That the word of Jesus might be fulfilled which he said, signifying what death he should die.32.That the word of Jesus might be fulfilled.The refusal of the Jews to judge Jesus according to their own law came to pass, adds St. John, that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, in which He had foretold that He should die the death of the cross (Johniii. 14;xii. 32-34; Matt. xx. 19). Had He been punished according to Jewish law, having been judged a blasphemer, He should have been stoned to death, according to Levit. xxiv. 14:“Bring forth the blasphemer without the camp, and let them that heard him put their hands upon his head, and let all the people stone him.”33. Introivit ergo iterum in praetorium Pilatus, et vocavit Iesum, et dixit ei: Tu es rex Iudaeorum?33. Pilate therefore went into the hall again, and called Jesus, and said to him: Art thou the king of the Jews?33. It was probably at this point, after they had refused to judge Jesus according to their own law, and when they saw that Pilate was not at once proceeding to condemn Him, that the Jews brought forward those three distinct charges against Him, which St. Luke records:“We have found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He is Christ the king”(Luke xxiii. 2). Upon this, Pilate returned into the house, had Jesus called in118, and questioned Him on the third count in the indictment just brought against Him. The pretension of any Jew to be the King of Palestine was a point which, as questioning[pg 324]the sovereignty of Rome, a Roman governor was bound to look to. Pilate, therefore, asked Him:Art thou the King of the Jews?The words may mean either,“Art thou He who has just now become notorious under this title?”or,“Dost thou claim the title, as it is said?”The title itself would be likely to arrest Pilate's attention, whether he had heard it spoken of before in connection with the entry into Jerusalem or only now from the Jews. And further, he would rightly conclude that the title, when thus put forward, would be fitted to call out any fanaticism which there might be in a political enthusiast. In each of the four Gospels, the first words of Pilate to Jesus are the same:“Art thou the King of the Jews?”(Matt. xxvii. 11; Mark xv. 2; Luke xxiii. 3).“The form of the sentence (σὺ εἶ) suggests a feeling of surprise in the questioner:‘Art thou, poor, and bound, and wearied, the the King of whom men have spoken?’Comp. iv. 12.”Westc. inSpeaker's Commentary.34. Respondit Iesus: A temetipso hoc dicis, an alii dixerunt tibi de me?34. Jesus answered: Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of me?34. To Pilate's question, Christ replies: Sayest thou this of thyself, from thy own knowledge or suspicion of My having taken part in seditious practices, or is it merely because of what others, through envy and jealousy, have now told thee of Me? These words were, doubtless, intended to remind Pilate that, although Governor of Judea during all the time of Christ's public life (Luke iii. 1), he had no reason from his own personal knowledge to find fault with Jesus. Hence, he ought to suspect the charges that had been made.35. Respondit Pilatus: Numquid ego Iudaeus sum? Gens tua et pontifices tradiderunt te mihi: quid fecisti?35. Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee up to me: what hast thou done?35. Pilate impatiently replies, signifying that as he was not a Jew, he might easily be ignorant of Christ's guilt, while it would be well known to Christ's countrymen who now accused Him.36. Respondit Iesus: Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo: si ex hoc mundo esset regnum meum, ministri mei utique decertarent ut non traderer Iudaeis: Nunc autem regnum meum non est hinc.36. Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence.36. In response to Pilate's question:“What hast thou done?”Jesus proceeds to explain that His is not that[pg 325]mighty temporal kingdom for which the Jews had hoped, and which the Romans might well fear; if it were, His followers would surely have striven that He should not be delivered to the Jews; but in truth it was not a temporal kingdom.My kingdom is not from hence;i.e.is notof this world, not a temporal kingdom.Inthis world it was, and is; butofthis world it is not. See xvii.15,16.37. Dixit itaque et Pilatus: Ergo rex es tu? Respondit Iesus: Tu dicis quia rex sum ego. Ego in hoc natus sum, et ad hoc veni in mundum, ut testimonium perhibeam veritati: omnis qui est ex veritate, audit vocem meam.37. Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world: that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice.37.Art thou a king then?Pilate asked; to which Jesus replied:“Thou sayest it”(Matt., Mark, Luke); or, as here,“Thou sayest that I am a king,”119meaning thou sayest truly, what is the fact. That this is the sense of the phrase, see Matt. xxvi. 64, and compare with Mark xiv. 61. Then, having made this admission, Jesus at once proceeds to point out the spiritual character of the kingdom which He had come to establish. That kingdom is His Church, which was established, not amid the clash of arms or din of battle, but by the preaching of the truth, and to which all belong, whether Jew or Roman, who hear the truth.38. Dicit et Pilatus: Quid est Veritas? Et cum hoc dixisset, iterum exivit ad Iudaeos, et dicit eis: Ego nullam invenio in eo causam.38. Pilate saith to him: What is truth? And when he said this he went out again to the Jews, and saith to them: I find no cause in him.38. At the mention of“the truth,”Pilate asks:What is truth?(ἀλήθεια, without the article). The question was not asked for information, for Pilate went out without waiting[pg 326]for an answer, but impatiently or sneeringly, as if he said:“Yes, but whatistruth?”Then Pilate went out again to the Jews, and told them that he could find in Jesus no reason for condemning Him.Then it was, probably, that as St. Luke tells us:“They were more earnest, saying: He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place”(Luke xxiii. 5).“Amid their confused and passionate exclamation, the practised ear of Pilate caught the name of‘Galilee,’and he understood that Galilee had been the chief scene of the ministry of Jesus. Eager for a chance of dismissing a business of which he was best pleased to be free, he proposed, by a master-stroke of astute policy, to get rid of an embarrassing prisoner, to save himself from a disagreeable decision, and to do an unexpected complaisancy to the unfriendly Galilean tetrarch, who, as usual, had come to Jerusalem—nominally to keep the Passover, really to please his subjects, and to enjoy the sensations and festivities offered at that season by the densely-crowded capital”(Farrar).39. Est autem consuetudo vobis, ut unum dimittam vobis in pascha: vultis ergo dimittam vobis regem Iudaeorum?39. But you have a custom that I should release one unto you at the pasch: will you therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews?40. Clamaverunt ergo rursum omnes dicentes: Non hunc, sed Barabbam. Erat autem Barabbas latro.40. Then cried they all again, saying: Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.39. Then, after Herod had examined and mocked Christ, he sent Him back to Pilate (Luke xxiii. 8-12); and now it was, after the return from Herod, that Pilate thought of releasing Jesus, in accordance with his custom of releasing a prisoner every year at the festival of the Pasch.Will you, therefore, that I release unto you the king of the Jews?or as St. Matt. has:“Whom will you that I release to you; Barabbas, or Jesus, that is called Christ?”(Matt. xxvii. 17). Barabbas, as we learn from the Synoptic Evangelists, was a“notorious prisoner,”“who was put in prison with some seditious men, who, in the sedition, had committed murder.”Pilate hoped, therefore, that the release of Jesus rather than of a notorious criminal like Barabbas would be called for. But the people, instigated by the chief-priests[pg 327]and elders (Matt. xxvii. 20), blindly called for the release of Barabbas.A robber.(λῃιστής), one who appropriates the goods of another by open violence, as opposed to the thief (κλέπτης), who takes what is not his own, secretly and by fraud.We have followed the view held by Patrizzi and the majority of commentators, that Pilate on onlyone occasion, and after the return from Herod, proposed our Lord to the Jews as the prisoner to be released. Others, as Father Coleridge and Dr. Walsh, hold that ontwodifferent occasions, once before the journey to Herod, as recorded by St. John, and once after, as recorded by the Synoptic Evangelists, Christ was proposed by Pilate as the prisoner to be released. But we are not convinced by the reasons urged in favour of this view. It is argued—(a) from the fact that in St. John the question of releasing a prisoner is first mentioned by Pilate, while in the Synoptic Evangelists the question of having a prisoner released to them is first moved by the people. But we say, in reply, that there is nothing in the Synoptic accounts which forbids us to suppose that Pilate first mentioned the matter, as in St. John:“You have a custom that I should release one unto you at the Pasch;”that then they called upon him to observe the custom on that occasion, and that he forthwith put before them the choice between Jesus and Barabbas. Certainly St. Matt. (xxvii. 17) as well as St. John represents Pilate as the first to refer to the matter.(b) Father Coleridge argues also from the fact that Pilate, in St. Matt., says to the Jews:“Whom will you that I release to you; Barabbas, or Jesus, that is called Christ?”“That he mentions Barabbas along with our Lord,”says Father Coleridge,“can only be explained by the fact that, as St. John mentions, Barabbas had been already called for by the priests and crowd, when Pilate had, for the first time, spoken of the custom.”But it seems to us that the mention of Barabbas by Pilate is sufficiently explained by the fact which St. Matthew himself had just mentioned in the preceding verse, that Barabbas was a“notorious prisoner;”and hence his name was more familiar to Pilate than the names of the other prisoners. Moreover his well-known guilt encouraged Pilate to hope that if the choice lay between him and Jesus, the Jews would surely call for the release of our Lord.[pg 328]Before quitting this chapter, it may be well to point out the different tribunals, before which, as we have seen, Jesus was led on this last night and morning of His mortal life.(1) First, then, He was led from Gethsemane before Annas.(2) He was led before Caiphas.(3) When day dawned, He was led before the Sanhedrim.(4) He was led before Pilate.(5) He was led before Herod Antipas.(6) On His return from Herod, He was again led before Pilate.[pg 329]

1-7.Jesus retires to the Garden of Gethsemani, where, having been betrayed by Judas, He freely delivers Himself up, after He had first shown His almighty power, by casting His enemies to the ground.8-11.He requests that the Apostles be allowed to depart unmolested, and forbids Peter to defend Him with the sword.12-14.He is seized, bound, and led before Annas.15-27.He is led before Caiphas, followed by Peter and John, and while being examined there, is thrice denied by Peter.28-38.He is led before Pilate, the Roman Governor, and examined by him.39-40.Pilate attempts to release Jesus, but the crowd calls for the release of Barabbas.

1-7.Jesus retires to the Garden of Gethsemani, where, having been betrayed by Judas, He freely delivers Himself up, after He had first shown His almighty power, by casting His enemies to the ground.

8-11.He requests that the Apostles be allowed to depart unmolested, and forbids Peter to defend Him with the sword.

12-14.He is seized, bound, and led before Annas.

15-27.He is led before Caiphas, followed by Peter and John, and while being examined there, is thrice denied by Peter.

28-38.He is led before Pilate, the Roman Governor, and examined by him.

39-40.Pilate attempts to release Jesus, but the crowd calls for the release of Barabbas.

1. Having finished His last discourses to the Apostles, and His prayer to the Father, Jesus accompanied by the Apostles now proceeds towards Mount Olivet (Matt xxvi. 36; Mark xiv. 32), crossing the brook of Cedron on His way. As we stated already, we believe that the discourse (xv. 1-xvi. 33) and the prayer after the Last Supper were not spoken while Christ and the Apostles passed along, but at some point of rest either outside the Supper-room or along the way. See above onxiv. 31. Nor are we to suppose from the words of this verse,“He went forth,”that it was only now Christ and the Apostles left the Supper-room. As we remarked already, had Christ and the Apostles not left the Supper-room when He gave the word to do so (xiv. 31), St. John would very probably have noted the fact, and added some word of explanation. In the verse before us, then, there is not[pg 308]question of going forth from the Supper-room but of going forth from the city. Comp. Matthew xxvi. 30, 36; Mark xiv. 26, 32.

Over the brook Cedron.Many authorities read“over the brook of the cedars”(τῶν κέδρων).Where there was a garden.SS. Matthew and Mark say that He came to“an enclosed piece of ground”(χωρίον), called Gethsemani.“Gethsemani—גת, (gath) = a wine-press, and שׂמן (shemen) = oil—was the spot where the prediction of Isaias was fulfilled:‘I have trodden the wine press alone’(Isaias lxviii. 3). A modern garden, enclosed by a wall, in which are some old olive-trees, said to date from the time of Christ, is now pointed out as the Garden of Gethsemani. It is on the left bank of the Kedron, about seven hundred and thirty feet from the east wall of the city, and immediately south of the road, from St. Stephen's Gate to the summit of Olivet .... This garden is, there is little reason to doubt, the spot alluded to by Eusebius, when he says (O. S., 2, pp. 248, 18) that‘Gethsemane was at the foot of the Mount of Olives, and was then a place of prayer for the faithful’”(Smith'sB. D.,sub voc).

The Cedron is a smallwinter-flowing(χειμάῤῥον) stream, which passes through the ravine below the eastern wall of Jerusalem, and separates the Mount of Olives from the Temple mount. For mention of it in the Old Testament see 3 Kings ii. 37; xv. 13; 4 Kings xxi. ii. 4; Jer. xxxi. 40.

St. John passes over the history of the prayer in the garden, of the appearance of the angel to strengthen Christ, and of the sweat of blood, because all this had been already recorded by the Synoptic Evangelists. (Matt. xxvi. 38-44; Mark xiv. 34-40; Luke xxii. 40-44.)

2.Who betrayed him.In the original the present participle marks the process of betrayal as going on.Jesus had often resorted thither with his disciples.The original might be rendered more exactly“Jesus and (with) his disciples often assembled there.”We know from St. Luke xxi. 37,[pg 309]that our Lord on the occasion of this last visit to Jerusalem was in the habit of spending His nights on Mount Olivet, and the same Evangelist tells us that, on this occasion after the Last Supper,“going out he went according to his custom to the Mount of Olives”(Luke xxii. 39).

3.A band of soldiers.If“the band”here means a whole cohort, it was the tenth part of a Roman legion, and contained about six hundred infantry, with thirty cavalry. The words of this verse, as well as the presence of the“tribune”(verse 12), who was the commander of a cohort, justify the belief that a whole cohort was present on this occasion. Very likely the authorities were afraid that a strongly-supported attempt might be made to save or rescue Christ from them. This large body of soldiers, strengthened by servants or officers of the temple (ὑπηρέτας) who were sent by the chief-priests and Pharisees, came furnished with arms and lights. As it was now full moon, this being the night of the 14th of the lunar month Nisan, it might seem that the lights were unnecessary, but probably the garden was considerably shaded by trees, and no doubt it was feared that Jesus might try to hide in some dark nook or lurk beneath the shrubs or trees.

4. Christ's foreknowledge is pointed out, both to prove His Divinity, and to show His readiness to suffer. For, though aware of the sufferings He was to endure, He did not seek to escape from them. He who had before withdrawn from His enemies (viii. 59;xii. 36, &c.), now that His hour was come,went forth(from the enclosure of the garden) to meet them.

We learn from St. Luke (xxii. 47) that Judas preceded the soldiers, and gave the traitor's kiss to Jesus, thus marking Him out as the person to be arrested. We learn too from St. Matthew (xxvi. 50), that Jesus addressed the traitor, even in this hour of infamy as His friend:[pg 310]“Friend, whereto art thou come?”and from St. Luke (xxii. 48), that He addressed to him the pathetic words:“Judas, dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”After meekly receiving the kiss from the wretched Apostle, Jesus addressed the crowd.

5, 6. If our view is correct, that the traitor's kiss had preceded Christ's question:“Whom seek ye?”then it would seem that the soldiers were withheld by Divine power from at once rushing on Jesus; and in order to visibly prove His power and His ability to escape from them if He wished, they were stricken to the ground. This prostration of Christ's enemies cannot be explained on natural grounds.

8.Let these go their way.The meaning obviously is, do not arrest or molest these My disciples.

9. The Evangelist sees in Christ's care for the safety of the disciples on this occasion a fulfilment of His words recorded inxvii. 12. It is true those words as spoken seem to refer only to the time then past, but as Christ then knew that He would continue to guard the Apostles from danger during the few hours of His life that remained, He meant the words to express His care for the Apostles up to the moment of His death, and therefore on this occasion at Gethsemani. His present action was, accordingly, one fulfilment of what is recorded[pg 311]inxvii. 12. We believe that Christ's care for the Apostles in the present instance regarded their bodies as well as their souls. That it regarded their bodies, may be fairly concluded from His words:“let these go their way;”and that it regarded their souls is clear from the consideration that if arrested now they would probably have fallen into sin by denying Him.

10. The Synoptic Evangelists merely say thatoneof those who were with Jesus struck the servant of the high-priest, but St. John tells us that this one was Peter. The Synoptists may have suppressed Peter's name through fear of inconvenient consequences to him, but now that the Prince of the Apostles was dead, there was no further reason for such concealment. We cannot say whether any other motive than a desire for historic completeness prompted St. John to give, as he does, the servant's name as well as Peter's.

11.Put up thy sword into the scabbard.The words are given more fully by St. Matt. (xxvi. 52, ff).The chalice ... shall I not drink it?In Matt. xxvi. 39, we read that on this same night, and in Gethsemani, before the arrival of Judas, Christ had prayed:“Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me;”but now, since it was not to pass, He accepts it willingly.

12. Thetribunewas the commander of the cohort. χιλιάρχος,[pg 312]strictly taken, means the commander of one thousand men. See above on verse 3.

13. This journey to Annas is mentioned only by St. John. Annas, though not the actual high-priest, was the head of the Sanhedrim, and a man of great authority among the Jews (see above onxi. 49), and so Jesus was brought before him in the first instance.

15. The other disciple was almost certainly our Evangelist himself (seeIntrod. I. B. 2); and the fact that he was known to the high-priest makes it probable that he belonged to a family of some importance.

But who is the high-priest into whose court Peter and John followed Jesus? Is it Caiphas that is meant, or Annas? Some think the reference is to Annas, who, it must be admitted, is called“high-priest”by St. Luke (Luke iii. 2; Acts iv. 6), and to whom it has just been stated, in verse 13, that Jesus was led. But as our Evangelist has just stated in verse 13, as he also does in xi. 49, that Caiphas was high-priest for that year, we prefer to hold that the“high-priest”here referred to is not Annas, but Caiphas. We hold, then, that what is recorded by St. John in this passage (verses 15-23) took place in the court of Caiphas, after Jesus had been led thither from Annas, and that verse 24:“Annas (had) sent,”&c., is added by St. John to guard the reader against supposing that what is recorded in verses 15-23 took place at the house of Annas. St. Cyril of Alexandria, and a few Greek and Syrian MSS. read verse 24 between verses 13 and 14.

In this view the account of St. John harmonizes at once with the Synoptic Gospels, which represent St. Peter's first denial, recorded in verse 17 here, as taking place in the court of Caiphas.

Many commentators of note, such as Patrizzi among Catholics, and Alford among Protestants, reconcile St. John's account with that of the Synoptic Evangelists in another way. They hold that the events recorded in verses 15-23 took place when Jesus was brought before Annas; but as Caiphas and Annas occupied an official residence in common, or as Annas was, perhaps, the guest of Caiphas, his son-in-law, on this night of the Paschal Supper, though it wasAnnaswho examined Christ, as recorded by St. John (verses 10-23), yet it was to the court of Caiphas, or the common court attached to the house of Annas and Caiphas, that Jesus entered (verse 15); and there, too, St. Peter denied His Master for the first time. In any of the above opinions, St. John agrees with the Synoptic Evangelists, that the place of St. Peter's first denial was the court of Caiphas: but in the second opinion, the“high priest”of verse 19 is Annas, not Caiphas. See Patriz., Liber ii. Adnot. clxxvii.

From St. Matthew (xxvi. 59) and St. Mark (xiv. 55) we learn that Caiphas was not alone on this occasion. The whole Sanhedrim was present; but as the case was an important one, this body had to meet again formally after day-dawn, to finally decide it. See below on verse28.

16.But Peter stood(was standing)at the door without.“An oriental house is usually built round a quadrangular interior court; into which there is a passage (sometimes arched) through the front part of the house, closed next the street by a heavy folding gate, with a small wicket for single persons, kept by a porter. In the text, the interior court, often paved or flagged, and open to the sky, is the αὐλή, where the attendants made a fire; and the passage, beneath the front of the house, from the street to this court is the προαύλιον (Mark xiv. 68), or πυλών (Matt. xxvi. 71). The place where Jesus[pg 314]stood before the high-priest may have been an open room or place of audience on the ground-floor, raised somewhat above the court (Mark xiv. 66) in the rear or on one side of the court; such rooms, open in front, being customary”(Robinson,Notes to Harmony).

17. It will be convenient to treat of the three denials by Peter (verses 17, 25-27) together. Many Rationalist and Protestant commentators have alleged that it is impossible to harmonize the different accounts of these denials. We hope to show, however, that there is little difficulty in harmonizing them.

To this end we would draw attention, with Dean Alford,113to the following points:—

“In the first place, we are not bound to require accordance ... in therecognitionof Peterby different persons. These may have beenmanyoneach occasionof denial, and independent narrators may have fixed on different ones among them.”

“Secondly, no reader ... will require that theactual words spoken by Petershould in each case beidentically reported.”In support of this view, Alford refers to the remarks of St. Augustine on the words:“Domine, salva nos, perimus”(Matt. viii. 25).“What matters it,”says St. Aug., referring to the different versions of the words given by the Evangelists,“whether the disciples, in calling on the Lord, really used one or another of those three expressions, or some other, not recorded by any of the Evangelists, differing from all those that are recorded, but still giving the sense, that those who called upon Him were perishing, and called on Him to save them.”

“Thirdly, I do not see that we are obliged to limit the narrative tothree sentencesfrom Peter's mouth,and no more. Onthree occasionsduring the night he wasrecognised, onthree occasions he was a denierof his Lord: such a statement may well embracereiterated expressions of recognition, andreiterated and importunate denials on each occasion.”

“And those remarks being taken into account, I premise that all difficulty is removed, the resulting inference being that the narratives aregenuine, truthful accounts of facts underlying them all.”

Similarly, Patrizzi:—“Considerare etiam juvat, ut ea difficultas quam quidam in hac historia esse putant, quod alter Evangelista ait Petrum a muliere, alter a viro, hic ab uno, ille a pluribus, fuisse interrogatum, in specie quidem gravis,[pg 315]re tamen ipsa propemodum nulla sit; ex his enim nihil aliud consequitur, nisi, non unum, sed plures, sive simul, sive alium post alios, Petrum esse percontatos, hunc autem, nisi multis ac repetitis interrogationibus adactum non respondisse, quod apprime veri simile est, imo vix dubitandum de hoc foret, etiamsi ex evangeliis id minime colligeretur”(Lib. ii. Adnot. clxxviii.) That the reader may apply these principles, and convince himself as to their sufficiency, we quote from Dr. Walsh'sHarmony of the Gospel Narratives, a tabulated statement suggesting the chief points to be attended to in the four Gospel accounts.

1st Denial:St. Matthew.: There came to hima maid servant:“Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilean.”“I know not what thou sayest.”St. Mark.: There cometh to himone of the maid servants:“Thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.”“I neither know nor understand what thou sayest.”St. Luke.: There came acertain maid servant:“This man was also with him.”“Woman, I know him not.”St. John.: Andthe maid that was portresssaid to Peter:“Art not thou also one of this man's disciples?”“I am not.”2nd Denial:St. Matthew.:As he went outto the vestibule,another maidsaw him, and she saith to them that were there:“This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”He denied with an oath:“I do not know the man.”St. Mark.: Andthe maid servantseeing him, began to say to the standers by:“This is one of them.”He denied again.St. Luke.: Andanother (Alius)says:“Thou also art one of them.”“O man, I am not.”St. John.: Peter wasstanding and warming himself; and they said to him:“Art not thou also one of his disciples?”“I am not.”3rd Denial:St. Matthew.:They that stood bysaid:“Surely thou also art one of them; for even thy speech doth discover thee.”He began to curse and swear that he knew not the man.St. Mark.:They that stood bysaid:“Surely thou art one of them; for thou also art a Galilean.”He began to curse and swear, saying:“I know not this man of whom you speak.”St. Luke.:Another mansaid:“Surely this man was with him, for he is a Galilean.”“Man, I know not what thou sayest.”St. John.:One of the servants of the high priestsaith:“Did I not see thee in the garden with him?”Peter then denied again.

1st Denial:

St. Matthew.: There came to hima maid servant:“Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilean.”“I know not what thou sayest.”

St. Mark.: There cometh to himone of the maid servants:“Thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.”“I neither know nor understand what thou sayest.”

St. Luke.: There came acertain maid servant:“This man was also with him.”“Woman, I know him not.”

St. John.: Andthe maid that was portresssaid to Peter:“Art not thou also one of this man's disciples?”“I am not.”

2nd Denial:

St. Matthew.:As he went outto the vestibule,another maidsaw him, and she saith to them that were there:“This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”He denied with an oath:“I do not know the man.”

St. Mark.: Andthe maid servantseeing him, began to say to the standers by:“This is one of them.”He denied again.

St. Luke.: Andanother (Alius)says:“Thou also art one of them.”“O man, I am not.”

St. John.: Peter wasstanding and warming himself; and they said to him:“Art not thou also one of his disciples?”“I am not.”

3rd Denial:

St. Matthew.:They that stood bysaid:“Surely thou also art one of them; for even thy speech doth discover thee.”He began to curse and swear that he knew not the man.

St. Mark.:They that stood bysaid:“Surely thou art one of them; for thou also art a Galilean.”He began to curse and swear, saying:“I know not this man of whom you speak.”

St. Luke.:Another mansaid:“Surely this man was with him, for he is a Galilean.”“Man, I know not what thou sayest.”

St. John.:One of the servants of the high priestsaith:“Did I not see thee in the garden with him?”Peter then denied again.

Thus, it is plain that there is no difficulty in regard to thefirstdenial, whether we suppose that St. Peter made use of the different expressions attributed to him, or, as seems more probable in regard to this first occasion, used only one expression, which issubstantiallyreported by the four Evangelists.

In regard to theseconddenial it is to be noted—

(a) That according to SS. Matthew and Mark the maid does not address herself to Peter, but to those who were around; so that there is no difficulty when we learn from St. Luke that Peter was addressed by a man (alius) on the occasion.

(b) St. Matthew, in the account of this denial, speaks of adifferentmaid from her who brought about the first denial. St. Mark seems to speak of thesamemaid, for he has ἡ παιδίσκη (xiv. 69), which would seem to refer tothemaid already mentioned. There is nothing improbable, however, in supposing thattwomaids spoke to those around on the occasion of the second denial.

(c) As to theplaceof the second denial, St. John says that it occurred while“Peter was standing and warming himself,”while St. Matthew says it occurred“as he went out to the vestibule,”or more correctly, according to the Greek,“after hehad goneout”(ἐξελθόντα) into the vestibule. But again we may readily explain by saying that on this occasion Peter was challenged inboth places, and denied in both.

In regard to thethirddenial, the reason given, in St. John, by the high-priest's servant, for identifying Peter as a follower of Jesus, is different from that given in the other Evangelists; but there is no difficulty in supposing that several different reasons were given by different persons.

18. We are not to connect this verse with the preceding, as if it indicated that Peter wasstandingduring the first denial. We know from St. Matthew (xxvi. 69; Comp. Mark xiv. 54; Luke xxii. 55) that he wassitting, and from St. Mark (xiv. 68) that after the first denial he went out into the passage or vestibule (εἰς τὸ προαύλιον). Hence what St. John says here is to be understood in reference to a time between the first and second denial.

The Greek here is somewhat different from the Vulgate. It would be rendered:“Now the servants and the officers were standing, having made a fire of charcoal, for it was cold, and[pg 317]they were warming themselves,”&c. The Roman soldiers had, doubtless, gone back to their quarters in the castle of Antonia, close to the Temple; and hence we find mention here of only the servants of the high-priest and the Temple guards.

19. Meantime, while Peter was denying Him in the court, Jesus was being examined by the high-priest in a room or hall of the house of Caiphas. See above on verse 16. As we have said already, we believe that Caiphas is the“high-priest”here referred to; so that St. John here supplements the account given by the Synoptic Evangelists of the preliminary trial, before Caiphas (Matt, xxvi 59-68; Mark xiv. 55-65; Luke xxii. 54-63). From the other Evangelists we learn that many false witnesses now appeared against Jesus; but the inquiry regarding Hisdisciplesanddoctrinehere recorded by St. John is mentioned by no other Evangelist.

The inquiry regarding Christ's disciples was probably intended to find out whether He had collected these followers around Him with any seditious or unlawful object; and that regarding His doctrine in the hope of convicting Him from His own mouth of blasphemy. Later on in this trial, as we learn from SS. Matt. and Mark, they did condemn Him of blasphemy, and judge Him deserving of death.

20. Jesus makes no reply regarding His disciples, because it was sufficiently plain that they followed Him from no unworthy motive, but for sake of His doctrine and its fruits. Of His doctrine, therefore He speaks. But since He, of all teachers (the twice-repeated ἐγώ is in each instance emphatic) had taught publicly, and nothing in privatethat was different fromHis public teaching[pg 318](or the meaning may be, nothing that He tried to hide), He refers his interrogator to those who had heard Him, as their testimony ought naturally to be sought rather than His in a matter that so intimately concerned Himself.

21.Behold they(these, οὗτοι)know what things I have said. Some think that Christ here referred, perhaps pointed, to the Priests and Pharisees around him, or to the crowd in the court outside; for we know from St. Luke (xxii. 61) that those outside in the court were visible from the hall where Christ was being examined. It may be, however, that οὗτοι refers simply to all and any who had at any time heard His doctrine.

22.A blow.“Alapa”is a blow on the ear; but the Greek word (ῥάπισμα) signifies any blow with the open hand or with a rod or stick. The blow was given by one of the Temple guards.

23.If I have spoken(rather, spoke)evil. It is not clear whether the reference is to the words just uttered in reply to the high-priest (verse 21), or to the general teaching of Christ. The use of the aorist here, just as in verses 20 and 21, is in favour of the latter view.

We have here an example of Christ's meekness and patience in very trying circumstances, a practical application of the words contained in Matt. v. 39.

24.“Et”is not genuine; the true reading is ἀπέστειλεν οὖν αὐτόν,“Jesus, therefore,[pg 319]had sent him,”&c.114We take it that this is added by St. John to signify that Jesushad beenalready sent to Caiphas before the events recorded in verses 15-23.“Misit”ought, then, to be“miserat,”a sense which the Aorist ἀπέστειλεν admits. Compare, for this sense of the aorist, John iv. 45, 46; xi. 30; xiii. 12; xix. 23.

25, 26. Here we have St. John's account of Peter's second and third denial. See above on verse 17. We learn from St. Luke that the third denial took place about an hour after the second.

27. From St. Mark, who, being a disciple of St. Peter, generally records more minutely the incidents connected with the Prince of the Apostles, we learn that the cock crew after St. Peter'sfirstdenial, as well as after the third. But, as we explained on xiii. 38, the second crowing, which took place after the third denial, occurred at the time ordinarily known as cockcrow, and to it St. John refers here.

28. The Evangelist here passes over much that had already been recorded by the Synoptic Evangelists. From them we learn that Christ, at this midnight meeting before[pg 320]the Council, was accused by false witnesses, convicted of blasphemy, and judged deserving of death (Matt. xxvi. 66; Mark xiv. 64). Then he was apparently given over to the charge of the servants of the high-priest, was spat upon and struck with the closed fist (colaphis) (Mat. xxvi. 67), and with the open hand or a stick (ῥαπίσμασιν); and, being blindfolded, was mockingly asked to tell who it was that struck him. Thus He remained, perhaps, till daybreak,115mocked and abused by the servants; though some think that for a part of the time He was put into prison.

Then when morning was come, the Synoptic Evangelists tell us that Jesus was again brought before the Sanhedrim, which almost at once decided to hand him over to Pilate for punishment.“From Luke (as also, he might have added, from Matt. xxvii. 1; Mark xv. 1) we learn that the night council had been dissolved and that early again, in the morning of the last day of our Lord's life, another more solemn assembly (rather the same assembly) was summoned, at which all the chief-priests and elders and scribes assisted, the subject of discussion being urgent and most important. It was, besides, a wise Jewish maxim that legal proceedings especially in capital cases should be conducted in the light of day, and not in the darkness of night”(M'Carthy on St. Matt. xxvii. 1).

It was after this morning council that Jesus was bound (Matt. xxvii. 2; Mark xv. 1) and led before Pilate, as St. John here narrates. At this point, when the Lord was brought before Pilate, and His death now seemed certain, Judas, touched with remorse, but not with true repentance, brought back the blood-money to the priests, and flung it in the temple; then in despair went and hanged himself (Matt. xxvii. 3-5).

Then they led Jesus.The true reading is:“they lead Jesus therefore.”That is to say, in accordance with their determination to put Christ to to death, a determination of which we are informed by St. Matthew (xxvii. 1), they bring Him before the representative of Roman authority to have the sentence of death confirmed. See below on verse 29.

And they went not into[pg 321]the hall(rather, the governor's residence, πραιτώριον.) The Roman Governors ordinarily dwelt at Caesarea, on the sea coast; but at the more important Jewish festivals they resided in Jerusalem, for the purpose of preventing or repressing, if necessary, any uprising of the Jewish people against Roman authority (Josephus,Bell. Jud., ii. 14, 3). When in Jerusalem, they usually occupied the palace of Herod the Great on Mount Sion. A tradition as old as the fourth century, however, states that on this occasion Pilate was staying in the castle of Antonia, beside the temple on Mount Moria.

And it was morning(πρωΐ). Just as a condemnation to death at night was technically illegal according to Jewish law, so a Roman court could not be held till after sunrise. It is likely that the sun was not long risen on this morning till the Jews in their eagerness appeared with their prisoner at the residence of Pilate. The term πρωΐ is, in fact, used in St. Mark xiii. 35, for the fourth watch of the night.

That they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the pasch.

In our note onxiii. 1we held that the Jews, as well as our Lord, sacrificed the Paschal lamb on Thursday evening, and eat it that night; and hence we hold that“the Pasch”here referred to, which on this Friday morning was still to be eaten, was not the Paschal lamb. Had there been question of the Paschal Supper proper, then such a defilement as that contracted by entering the house of a Gentile would not have prevented the Jews from partaking of the supper; for it would appear from Lev. xv. 5, where there is question of a defilement apparently as serious as that which would be contracted from entering the house of a Gentile, that such defilement continued only“until the evening,”and, therefore, could not be a hindrance to participation in the Paschal Supper, which was eatenafterthe evening, and when the next Jewish day had begun.116

There is question, then, of some of the other Paschal sacrifices which were partaken of during the seven days of the Paschal feast (Deut. xvi. 2, 3; 2 Paral. xxx. 22), perhaps of the special sacrifice[pg 322]known as the Chagigah (חגיגה).117

From such a sacrifice, eaten, as we learn from the Mishna in the note below, not only at night, but alsoduring the day, a defilement contracted in the morning would exclude.

In view of the anxiety of the Jews to avoid the legal defilement incurred by entering a house from which all leaven had not been removed, one cannot help wondering, with St. Augustine, at their blind hypocrisy:“O impia et stulta caecitas: habitaculo videlicet contaminarentur alieno, et non contaminarentur scelere proprio!”

29-31. As they entered not, Pilate, now first mentioned by St. John, went out to them and asked:What accusation bring you against this man?It is very likely he had already learned something of the nature of the accusation, either on the preceding night when the Roman soldiers were required for Gethsemani, or just now before coming out of his house, but he would naturally wish to have it made formally. They, having already pronounced Jesus deserving of death, and having brought Him to Pilate merely to have the sentence of death pronounced and executed without any formality of trial, are indignant at the Roman's question, and reply as in verse 30:“If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee.”Pilate, wishing to shift from himself responsibility for Christ's death, bids the Jews to take Him, and judge Him according to their own law. This they declined to do, alleging as a reason that the Romans had taken away from the Jews the power to punish[pg 323]by death. This, however, was merely an evasion, for they knew thoroughly that Pilate's permission in the present case was sufficient warrant for their action, even if they put Jesus to death. But the motive of the Jewish leaders was to make the responsibility for His death, in the eyes of the Jewish people, rest upon the Romans.

32.That the word of Jesus might be fulfilled.The refusal of the Jews to judge Jesus according to their own law came to pass, adds St. John, that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, in which He had foretold that He should die the death of the cross (Johniii. 14;xii. 32-34; Matt. xx. 19). Had He been punished according to Jewish law, having been judged a blasphemer, He should have been stoned to death, according to Levit. xxiv. 14:“Bring forth the blasphemer without the camp, and let them that heard him put their hands upon his head, and let all the people stone him.”

33. It was probably at this point, after they had refused to judge Jesus according to their own law, and when they saw that Pilate was not at once proceeding to condemn Him, that the Jews brought forward those three distinct charges against Him, which St. Luke records:“We have found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He is Christ the king”(Luke xxiii. 2). Upon this, Pilate returned into the house, had Jesus called in118, and questioned Him on the third count in the indictment just brought against Him. The pretension of any Jew to be the King of Palestine was a point which, as questioning[pg 324]the sovereignty of Rome, a Roman governor was bound to look to. Pilate, therefore, asked Him:Art thou the King of the Jews?The words may mean either,“Art thou He who has just now become notorious under this title?”or,“Dost thou claim the title, as it is said?”The title itself would be likely to arrest Pilate's attention, whether he had heard it spoken of before in connection with the entry into Jerusalem or only now from the Jews. And further, he would rightly conclude that the title, when thus put forward, would be fitted to call out any fanaticism which there might be in a political enthusiast. In each of the four Gospels, the first words of Pilate to Jesus are the same:“Art thou the King of the Jews?”(Matt. xxvii. 11; Mark xv. 2; Luke xxiii. 3).“The form of the sentence (σὺ εἶ) suggests a feeling of surprise in the questioner:‘Art thou, poor, and bound, and wearied, the the King of whom men have spoken?’Comp. iv. 12.”Westc. inSpeaker's Commentary.

34. To Pilate's question, Christ replies: Sayest thou this of thyself, from thy own knowledge or suspicion of My having taken part in seditious practices, or is it merely because of what others, through envy and jealousy, have now told thee of Me? These words were, doubtless, intended to remind Pilate that, although Governor of Judea during all the time of Christ's public life (Luke iii. 1), he had no reason from his own personal knowledge to find fault with Jesus. Hence, he ought to suspect the charges that had been made.

35. Pilate impatiently replies, signifying that as he was not a Jew, he might easily be ignorant of Christ's guilt, while it would be well known to Christ's countrymen who now accused Him.

36. In response to Pilate's question:“What hast thou done?”Jesus proceeds to explain that His is not that[pg 325]mighty temporal kingdom for which the Jews had hoped, and which the Romans might well fear; if it were, His followers would surely have striven that He should not be delivered to the Jews; but in truth it was not a temporal kingdom.

My kingdom is not from hence;i.e.is notof this world, not a temporal kingdom.Inthis world it was, and is; butofthis world it is not. See xvii.15,16.

37.Art thou a king then?Pilate asked; to which Jesus replied:“Thou sayest it”(Matt., Mark, Luke); or, as here,“Thou sayest that I am a king,”119meaning thou sayest truly, what is the fact. That this is the sense of the phrase, see Matt. xxvi. 64, and compare with Mark xiv. 61. Then, having made this admission, Jesus at once proceeds to point out the spiritual character of the kingdom which He had come to establish. That kingdom is His Church, which was established, not amid the clash of arms or din of battle, but by the preaching of the truth, and to which all belong, whether Jew or Roman, who hear the truth.

38. At the mention of“the truth,”Pilate asks:What is truth?(ἀλήθεια, without the article). The question was not asked for information, for Pilate went out without waiting[pg 326]for an answer, but impatiently or sneeringly, as if he said:“Yes, but whatistruth?”Then Pilate went out again to the Jews, and told them that he could find in Jesus no reason for condemning Him.

Then it was, probably, that as St. Luke tells us:“They were more earnest, saying: He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place”(Luke xxiii. 5).“Amid their confused and passionate exclamation, the practised ear of Pilate caught the name of‘Galilee,’and he understood that Galilee had been the chief scene of the ministry of Jesus. Eager for a chance of dismissing a business of which he was best pleased to be free, he proposed, by a master-stroke of astute policy, to get rid of an embarrassing prisoner, to save himself from a disagreeable decision, and to do an unexpected complaisancy to the unfriendly Galilean tetrarch, who, as usual, had come to Jerusalem—nominally to keep the Passover, really to please his subjects, and to enjoy the sensations and festivities offered at that season by the densely-crowded capital”(Farrar).

39. Then, after Herod had examined and mocked Christ, he sent Him back to Pilate (Luke xxiii. 8-12); and now it was, after the return from Herod, that Pilate thought of releasing Jesus, in accordance with his custom of releasing a prisoner every year at the festival of the Pasch.

Will you, therefore, that I release unto you the king of the Jews?or as St. Matt. has:“Whom will you that I release to you; Barabbas, or Jesus, that is called Christ?”(Matt. xxvii. 17). Barabbas, as we learn from the Synoptic Evangelists, was a“notorious prisoner,”“who was put in prison with some seditious men, who, in the sedition, had committed murder.”Pilate hoped, therefore, that the release of Jesus rather than of a notorious criminal like Barabbas would be called for. But the people, instigated by the chief-priests[pg 327]and elders (Matt. xxvii. 20), blindly called for the release of Barabbas.

A robber.(λῃιστής), one who appropriates the goods of another by open violence, as opposed to the thief (κλέπτης), who takes what is not his own, secretly and by fraud.

We have followed the view held by Patrizzi and the majority of commentators, that Pilate on onlyone occasion, and after the return from Herod, proposed our Lord to the Jews as the prisoner to be released. Others, as Father Coleridge and Dr. Walsh, hold that ontwodifferent occasions, once before the journey to Herod, as recorded by St. John, and once after, as recorded by the Synoptic Evangelists, Christ was proposed by Pilate as the prisoner to be released. But we are not convinced by the reasons urged in favour of this view. It is argued—(a) from the fact that in St. John the question of releasing a prisoner is first mentioned by Pilate, while in the Synoptic Evangelists the question of having a prisoner released to them is first moved by the people. But we say, in reply, that there is nothing in the Synoptic accounts which forbids us to suppose that Pilate first mentioned the matter, as in St. John:“You have a custom that I should release one unto you at the Pasch;”that then they called upon him to observe the custom on that occasion, and that he forthwith put before them the choice between Jesus and Barabbas. Certainly St. Matt. (xxvii. 17) as well as St. John represents Pilate as the first to refer to the matter.

(b) Father Coleridge argues also from the fact that Pilate, in St. Matt., says to the Jews:“Whom will you that I release to you; Barabbas, or Jesus, that is called Christ?”“That he mentions Barabbas along with our Lord,”says Father Coleridge,“can only be explained by the fact that, as St. John mentions, Barabbas had been already called for by the priests and crowd, when Pilate had, for the first time, spoken of the custom.”But it seems to us that the mention of Barabbas by Pilate is sufficiently explained by the fact which St. Matthew himself had just mentioned in the preceding verse, that Barabbas was a“notorious prisoner;”and hence his name was more familiar to Pilate than the names of the other prisoners. Moreover his well-known guilt encouraged Pilate to hope that if the choice lay between him and Jesus, the Jews would surely call for the release of our Lord.

Before quitting this chapter, it may be well to point out the different tribunals, before which, as we have seen, Jesus was led on this last night and morning of His mortal life.

(1) First, then, He was led from Gethsemane before Annas.

(2) He was led before Caiphas.

(3) When day dawned, He was led before the Sanhedrim.

(4) He was led before Pilate.

(5) He was led before Herod Antipas.

(6) On His return from Herod, He was again led before Pilate.

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