Matthew 26

Matthew 26:6

THE DENIAL AND REPENTANCE OF PETER.—THE DESPAIR OF JUDAS

[Matthew 26, 6. Mark 14, 6. Luke 22, 5. John 18, 5]

PETER and John had followed Jesus at a distance, even to the house of the High Priest, in order to see the end¹. In the court-yard there was a fire², which Peter approached to warm himself. While there, Peter was noticed by one of the maid-servants of the High Priest. She looked at him, and said: “This man also³ was with Jesus of Nazareth.” Peter denied Him, saying: “Woman, I know Him not⁴.” Immediately the cock crew.

After a little while a man, coming to Peter, exclaimed: “Thou also art one of them.” But Peter said: “O man, I am not.” Now, after the space of an hour, a certain servant saw Peter, and pointing him out to the others, affirmed: “Surely, thou art also one of them,

¹ To see the end. St. John was known to the household of Caiphas, on which account the woman at the door let him in by the gate which was closed to the crowd outside; and at his request she also admitted Peter. After this, John left the house to go and tell all that had occurred to the Mother of Jesus, but Peter remained in the outer court to watch the issue of the examination.

² A fire. The nights in the spring are very cold in Palestine. ³ Also, i. e. he as well as John.

⁴ I know Him not. He feared that he might be arrested and condemned on account of being our Lord’s disciple. After this challenge, Peter, although the servants paid no further attention to the woman’s words, thought it more prudent to leave the court, and went and stood by the door.

— LXXII. THE DENIAL AND REPENTANCE OF PETER.

for even thy speech¹ doth discover thee!” But Peter swore² that he knew not the man!³ Then the cock crew a second time.

And the Lord, turning⁴, looked⁵ at Peter. That look pierced his heart. Remembering the words of his Divine Master: “Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice”, he went out⁶, and wept⁷ bitterly.

During that fearful night, Jesus was guarded in the court by the soldiery⁸, who amused themselves by inflicting upon Him all manner of insults; they spat upon Him⁹, blindfolded Him, and struck Him¹⁰ in the Face. Early in the morning¹¹,

¹ Thy speech. The accent of the Galileans was broader than that of the inhabitants of Judæ. Among the men servants standing by was a cousin of Malchus, whose ear Peter had cut off, and this man said that he had seen him in the garden.

² Swore. “He began to curse and to swear.” Now that the servants actually recognised him, and as by this time his Master had been sentenced to death by the Sanhedrim. Peter’s fear increased, and he not only denied being our Lord’s follower, but denied that he even knew Him. He even confirmed his lie by an oath!

³ The man. Thus did he style his Lord and Master, of Whom he had once confessed: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Now he made out that Jesus was an absolute stranger to him!

⁴ Turning. Our Blessed Lord was at that moment being led away from the council chamber. It was not the unjust sentence of the Sanhedrim, or the brutal treatment of the attendants which caused Him then His bitterest pain—but the denial given by His chosen apostle!

⁵ Looked. With a glance which, while full of sorrow and compassion, was one of light and grace. This one telling look from the eyes of his suffering Saviour pierced the very heart of Peter, who, in spite of what he had done, loved his Lord most dearly. He at once saw the greatness of his sin, and an unspeakable sorrow filled his heart.

⁶ Went out. Unobserved, for all eyes were now fixed on Jesus.

⁷ Wept. There he stood outside, in the darkness of the night. His heart was weighed down by the bitterest grief, and the tears gushed irresistibly from his eyes. Truly it must have been a moving sight!

⁸ The soldiery. Having been condemned to death on the charge of blasphemy, our Blessed Lord was given over to these ruffians to treat Him as they liked.

⁹ Spat upon Him. As a sign of utmost contempt. The face is the noblest part of a man; and therefore any insult directed against it, especially spitting, has been, in all ages, regarded as the very extreme of indignity. And yet our Lord suffered this indignity, not once, but repeatedly!

¹⁰ Struck Him. Saying: “Prophesy, who is it that struck Thee?” or, in other words: “Surely, if Thou art the Messias, as Thou sayest Thou art, Thou must know, without seeing, who is striking Thee!” They wished to imply that Jesus was a deceiver, and did not know who it was that struck Him. Jesus made no reply to their questionings, which was interpreted by His tormentors to mean that He was unable to reply, and they met His silence by a fresh shower of insults, ridicule and ill-treatment; and blaspheming, many other things they said against Him.

¹¹ In the morning. On Friday morning. — LXXII. THE DESPAIR OF JUDAS. the council¹ assembled² to pronounce sentence of death on Jesus.

Then Judas³ began to be sorry for having betrayed his Divine Master, and going to the chief priests, he would have given back the thirty pieces of silver he had received as the price of his treason, saying: “I have sinned⁴ in betraying innocent blood.” But they replied: “What is that to us?⁵ Look thou to it.” Then, being filled with remorse, and losing all hope, he cast down the pieces of silver in the Temple, and went and hanged himself⁶ with a halter.

¹ The council, i. e. the full and entire council, including those who had not been there during the night. Probably the previous scene of the mock trial was re-enacted once more.

² Assembled. It assembled again because, to be legal, a sentence had to be pronounced by daylight, so that the one they had passed in the night was invalid. They wished, moreover, to consult together how they could best ensure the carrying out of their sentence. The Romans had taken away from the Sanhedrim its power of life and death, so that the sentence they had pronounced could not be executed unless the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, confirmed it.

³ Judas. Judas knew perfectly well how bitterly the chief priests and Pharisees, who formed a majority in the Sanhedrim, hated Jesus, and he might have foreseen that they would condemn Him to death, once they had Him in their power. But his greed for money blinded him, and deprived him of the use of his reason; so that it was only after he had received the blood-money, and his passion was appeased, that the voice of his conscience made itself heard, and reproached him with being guilty of the death of his Master. The thirty pieces of silver for which he had so eagerly craved no longer gave him any pleasure; they burnt his fingers and constantly reminded him of his terrible crime. In the hope of obtaining peace of mind, he resolved to return the money to those from whom he had received it, and, by openly confessing his guilt, he hoped to get the sentence of death against our Lord repealed.

⁴ I have sinned. By betraying an innocent Man for money. His conscience continually tormented him with the thought that it was through his crime that innocent blood would be shed.

⁵ What is that to us? They did not even reply: “What! is He not guilty? Does He not deserve death?” No, with cold contempt they merely said: “What is it to us whether He be innocent or not? See you to that, and reconcile it with your conscience as best you can!” They did not accept back the blood-money, because to do so would have been a tacit confession of the injustice of what they had done; and nothing would have persuaded them to set Jesus free. When Judas, therefore, saw that nothing could avert the consequences of his deed, he fell into despair, and hanged himself. He committed the sin of suicide, and crowned his criminal life by a criminal death.

⁶ Hanged himself. The rope with which he hanged himself broke, and he fell to the ground; and, says St. Peter (Acts 1, 18): “Being hanged, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.”

— LXXII. THE DENIAL AND REPENTANCE OF PETER. COMMENTARY.

Our Blessed Lord’s Omniscience. When, the evening before, our Lord said to His disciples: “All of you shall be scandalized in Me this night”, Peter would not admit the possibility of such a thing in his case: “Although all shall be scandalized”, he protested, “I will never be scandalized!” In spite of his protest, our Lord then distinctly told him: “To-day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice”; and so it came to pass. He knew beforehand precisely how many times, and exactly at what hours Peter would deny Him; and, though He could not possibly have seen with His eyes at the time, what was happening in the outer court of the High Priest’s house, He knew exactly what was occurring. Our Blessed Lord proved Himself to be Omniscient, i. e. God.

Peter’s sin was a very grievous one. Out of fear of man, Peter lied three times, and denied his faith; and the third time he even swore falsely. The sin of Peter grew, and became more grievous each time he committed it. At his first denial, he simply said of our Lord: “I know Him not.” The second time, he asserted: “I know not the Man”, thus repudiating as a disgrace any connexion with Jesus; and the third time he confirmed this assertion by an oath. He contemptuously called his Lord and Master “the Man”, acting as if he did not even know His Name! And this was the same Peter who, but a few hours before, had declared that he was ready to lay down his life for his Lord!

The following circumstances may serve as a partial excuse for Peter. He was thoroughly exhausted, excited, confused, and half out of his mind with sorrow at the events of that terrible night. Moreover, from the moment he joined the company of his Master’s fierce enemies, he was in a very real danger of death. Finally, he did not sin from malice, but from weakness and panic; and he did not lose his faith, although he outwardly denied it.

The causes of Peter’s fall were these: 1. He did not avoid the proximate occasions of sin; for at the time of his fall he was associating with the enemies of Christ. If he had left their company even after his first denial, he would not have fallen so low. “He that loveth danger shall perish in it” (Ecclus. 3, 27). 2. He had paid too little attention to our Lord’s warning words: “Satan hath desired to sift you as wheat . . . This night thou shalt deny Me thrice”; and he trusted too much in himself: “Though all shall be scandalized, yet not I. I will lay down my life for Thee!” When he said those words he meant them, for Peter had a very firm faith in our Lord, and an ardent love for Him; but he ought not to have forgotten that he was a weak man, and that without God’s grace he could not remain faithful. Our Lord had said to him but a very short time before, as they were walking up the Mount of Olives: “Without Me you can do nothing!” 3. He

— LXXII. THE DENIAL AND REPENTANCE OF PETER.

fell, therefore, through over self-confidence, and by neglecting our Lord’s exhortation: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation!”

Peter’s fall should be a warning to us, to carefully avoid bad companions, and the occasions of sin; to remember our weakness and instability; and not to trust too much in ourselves, but to ask humbly for the assistance of grace. It was not without reason that our Lord taught us to pray: “Lead us not into temptation!” St. Paul says (1 Cor. 10, 12): “He that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall!”

The conversion of Peter was the work of the preventing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. The cock crew immediately after his first denial; and this was intended to remind him of his Lord’s warning words, and of his own promise to lay down his life for Him. However, he paid no heed to this first cock crow, and fell deeper into sin; for an outward warning is of no avail without the inward voice of grace. Even the second cock-crow would not have moved him in his distraction, had not our Lord at the same moment cast his gracious glance on the fallen apostle. With that one look which met his eye, grace penetrated the soul of the unfaithful apostle, and gave him light to see how low he had fallen, and how grievously he had sinned. His heart and will were moved, he detested his sin, and bitterly repented of it. Peter corresponded with the helping grace which was given to him; he opened his heart to it, obeyed its promptings, and was therefore converted. To Judas also great grace was given, in the Garden of Gethsemani, but he resisted it, and therefore perished in his sins.

The repentance of Peter was both real and supernatural. So great was his grief of soul for the sin which he had committed, that bitter tears of contrition flowed from his eyes. His contrition was also supernatural, and was indeed a perfect contrition, for he was sorry purely because he had offended his beloved Lord, and because he had increased His sufferings; for of all our Lord’s sufferings the one that pained Him most was that Peter, His highly-favoured and chosen apostle, should be ashamed of Him and deny Him in such a cowardly manner. Peter repented of his fall from perfect love for his Divine Master, whose countless benefits and graces he had repaid with such base ingratitude. Let us, too, if we fall into mortal sin, do penance at once, as Peter did, and awaken a perfect contrition in our hearts. His repentance, furthermore, was no passing one: his sorrow for his sin oppressed him all his life, and it is said that each time he heard a cock crow he was moved to a sense of contrition for his sin, and that his eyes were always red with weeping. All his life long he worked mightily for the glory of his Master and the salvation of souls, and unceasingly preached the Gospel, till at last he gave up his life for Jesus. Great was his fall, but still greater was his penance: and he has by his contrition and life-long satisfaction become the model of a true penitent.

— LXXII. THE DESPAIR OF JUDAS.

The compassion of Jesus. In the midst of His sufferings Jesus, while tormented by His enemies and unjustly condemned to death, forgot Himself and thought of His fallen apostle, and sought to recall and convert him by His glance. He did not upbraid him, nor punish him, but cast on him one look of love and compassion to bring him to a knowledge of his sin, and to kindle in him the hope of forgiveness. O, how unfathomable is the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus!

Divine wisdom permitted Peter’s fall 1. so that Peter might become very humble, and, as the vicar of the Good Shepherd, might be gentle and considerate to those under his charge; 2. that all men might learn to know the mercy of God and the power of grace, and that no sinner might give himself up to despair.

What the Sufferings of Jesus were. It is with deep emotion and compassion that we approach the thought of what our Lord Jesus suffered that night. For hours together a low, ruffianly rabble amused itself by mocking the Son of God! These men abused Him and insulted Him in every way that they could think of: they struck Him with their brutal fists, they tore out His hair, they spat on His Sacred Face; and Jesus bore all silently and without complaint. His Sacred Face, full of gentleness and grace, was marred with bruises, and dishonoured by the spittle of the very scum of humanity! Truly and terribly were David’s words of prophecy fulfilled (Ps. 21, 7): “I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people!” If we contemplate our Saviour in this state of deep abjection, we too could almost put the question to Him: “Art Thou the Christ? Art Thou the Son of God? Why dost Thou suffer this terrible treatment?” This is His answer: “I suffer this for love of thee; to make satisfaction for thy sins, and to give to thee an example of humility and patience.”

The repentance, confession, and despair of Judas. When Judas perceived the consequence of his treachery, his conscience reproached him with the awful thought: “I am guilty of the murder of my God!” And then Satan, who had taken possession of his heart by reason of his obduracy, drove him to despair. Before the deed was done, he induced Judas to sin, blinding him so that he did not perceive the heinousness of his crime, nor consider its consequences; but once the sin had been committed, he showed its full horror to the wretched sinner, and whispered to him as he had once whispered to Cain, that his sin was too great to be forgiven. Judas might have obtained pardon even then, had he possessed the proper dispositions. It is true that “he repented himself”, and that he made a really good resolution of amendment, for at no price would he have committed the sin again. He confessed his guilt by the words: “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood”; and he made what satisfaction he could, for he gave back the blood-money, and tried to get the sentence of death reversed—but, for all this, he was wanting in true penance. Now, what did he lack? The

— LXXII. THE DESPAIR OF JUDAS.

sorrow of Judas was wanting in hope, and such a sorrow does not lead back to God, but rather leads to despair and to an eternal separation from God. Judas’ sin in betraying our Lord was a terribly grievous one; and yet the worst sin he committed was that of despairing of the grace and mercy of God. His first sin might have found forgiveness, but there exists no forgiveness for the sin of despair; for he who despairs of God’s pardon denies the infinite mercy of God, and cannot therefore benefit by it. To despair of God’s mercy is one of the sins against the Holy Ghost, and it is said of these sins that they will not be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come (see chapter XXVII). Furthermore, Judas’ confession of his sin availed him nothing. If, full of confidence in his Saviour, the God of love and mercy, he had thrown himself at His Feet, confessed his guilt to Him, and implored His forgiveness, he would most surely have obtained it; but, as it was, in his despair of God’s mercy, he sought for consolation from men, and confessed his guilt merely to the members of the Sanhedrim. When they rejected him contemptuously, and laid all the responsibility on him, his last comfort was torn from him, and the burden of his guilty life was so heavy, that he had not the courage to bear it any longer. He felt that he had nothing more to hope for from heaven, and could find no peace on earth, so he hanged himself between heaven and earth, and to the crime of deicide added that of suicide.

Suicide is a terrible sin, for he who commits it does not only kill his body, but also his soul, since at the very moment of his death he is committing a mortal sin, and flinging his soul into hell.

Continued resistance of grace leads to eternal ruin. When our Lord chose Judas to be an apostle, no doubt he was full of good intentions and worthy of the choice. But by degrees he became the cause of great sorrow to his Divine Master, for his passions gained more and more dominion over him. Jesus bore with him, and repeatedly and solemnly warned him. When, a year before His death, and just after He had promised the Blessed Sacrament, our Lord gave to His apostles the choice whether to leave Him or not, Peter, in the name of the others, confessed his faith in Him as the Son of God, and pledged his allegiance to Him. But Jesus answered: “Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil.” In these words He alluded to Judas, and distinctly gave it to be understood that he would be unfaithful to Him, and a tool of the devil. Judas, however, dissembled and remained with Jesus, hoping to turn his service of Him to his own advantage; and when he quite lost all hopes of an earthly Messias, and consequent prosperity for himself, he compensated himself for his disappointment by frauds and thefts. Thus he persisted in sin, and abused the patience, gentleness and love of Jesus, by continuing in his evil mode of life, instead of being moved and converted. The unworthy apostle believed that, because his Master was so kind, he could go on sinning with impunity, and he sinned therefore against the goodness and mercy of

— LXXII. THE DESPAIR OF JUDAS.

his Lord. Thus he sank deeper and deeper, until at last he sold his Master, and bartered away his own soul; and when he realized the consequences of his vile treachery, his presumption changed suddenly to despair. God’s mercy is, indeed, infinitely great, but meanness and baseness had grown to such dimensions in the heart of the traitor by reason of his long course of deceit and hypocrisy, that he had lost all sense of what is great and noble, and could not form the idea of God’s infinite mercy, than which nothing greater or more noble can be imagined. And thus it was that the once loved and chosen apostle of Jesus became a “son of perdition” (John 17, 12), and went “to his own place” (Acts 1, 25).

Sin bears two aspects. Before sin is committed it bears a pleasant, attractive aspect, so that the foolish sinner scarcely fears it at all, and even expects to be made happy by it. But hardly is the sin committed than it shows its true colours, which are hideous and horrible. Once a man has gratified his evil passions, he finds out with dismay that far from being the happier for it, he is robbed of all joy of heart and peace of conscience; and he bitterly reproaches himself, for he now perceives that sin is indeed the greatest of all evils. Thus it was with our first parents, and thus it was with Judas.

APPLICATION. You too have denied Jesus in deed if not in word. Whenever you sin wilfully you act as if you were not a disciple of Jesus Christ, and knew nothing of His love and holiness, and as if you had never promised fidelity to Him. If, however, you have become like Peter by your sin, be like him also in your penance. Have you ever bewailed your sins as sincerely and bitterly as did Peter?

Contemplate with deep emotion of heart how, during that long night, your Saviour was the butt of rude and wanton men, and how he was ill-treated, scoffed at, and loaded with ignominy. Do not forget that He who bore all this for love of you was the Incarnate Son of God! Excite in your heart a deep feeling of compassion for your despised Lord, and promise Him that you will always love Him and will never despise His holy commandments.

If it is ever your misfortune to commit a mortal sin, do not follow the example of Judas, who lived in a state of sin till he became hardened in it; but follow the example of Peter, who immediately repented and was converted for good and all.

Never sin by a presumptuous confidence in God’s mercy, for the fact of His being so infinitely good and merciful ought to make you love Him with your whole heart, and keep you from ever offending Him.

— LXXIII. JESUS BEFORE PILATE AND HEROD.

Matthew 26:17

THE LAST SUPPER: THE WASHING OF THE FEET

[Matthew 26, 17-19. Mark 14, 12-16. Luk. 22, 14-18. John 15, 1-20]

ON the first day of the Azymes¹, or unleavened bread, when the Paschal lamb was to be sacrificed, the disciples² went to Jesus and said to Him: “Where wilt Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the Pasch?“³ He said to Peter and John: “Go ye into the city⁴, and there shall meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water: follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in, say to the master of the house: ‘The Master saith: Where is My refectory⁵, where I may eat the Pasch with My disciples?’ He will show you a large dining-room, furnished⁶, and there prepare ye for us.”

¹ The Azymes. The Paschal feast was also called the feast of unleavened bread, because on it only unleavened bread might be eaten (Old Test XXXIII). The “first day of unleavened bread” was the day preceding the Pasch, i. e. a Thursday, because in that year the Pasch fell on a Friday. On the eve of the feast the head of every family had to kill, or have killed, a lamb in the outer court of the temple. In the evening it was roasted whole and eaten.

² The disciples. Who, being the spiritual sons of our Lord, formed with Him a family.

³ The Pasch. The Paschal lamb.

⁴ The city. Jesus was at that time at Bethania (Mat. 26, 6), but the pasch had to be eaten in Jerusalem.

⁵ My refectory (Mark 14, 14). i. e. the room which is already prepared for Me (Fig. 83, p. 630) Our Lord speaks as if He had previously made arrangements with this man to eat the Pasch at his house.

⁶ Furnished. With cushions. It was the custom among the Jews to eat the Pasch reclining on cushions, and clad in festal garments. The Scribes and doctors

— LXV. THE LAST SUPPER: THE WASHING OF THE FEET.

The disciples went into the city, found all as He had told them, and prepared the Pasch. In the evening¹, Jesus came with the other apostles. And when they were at table Jesus said to them: “With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you before I suffer. For I say unto you that I will not eat of it, till² it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

He then rose from supper, and laid aside His garment, and having taken a towel, He girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of his disciples,

and to wipe them with the towel. But when He came first to Peter, the apostle said in surprise: “Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?“³

of the law had decided that the command to eat the pasch standing, and girt ready for a journey, only applied to the tune of Israel’s servitude.

¹ In the evening. For the Pasch might not be eaten till after sunset.

² Not till. This is the last time I eat the Jewish Paschal lamb [the type and shadow] with you, because now the tune has come when the true Paschal lamb [the fulfilment and reality] is given for you: the old Paschal lamb will henceforth be eaten new in the kingdom of God, i. e. the Church.

³ Wash my feet! What! You, the Son of God, to wash the feet of me, a poor sinner, as if you were my servant!

— LXIV. THE LAST SUPPER: THE WASHING OF THE FEET.

Jesus answered and said: “What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” Peter continued to resist, saying that his Divine Master should never wash his feet. Then Jesus said to him: “If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with Me.‘¹ Thereupon Peter humbly replied: “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus saith to him: “He that is washed needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. And you are clean², but not all.‘³

After He had washed the feet of the twelve apostles, He sat down again at the table, and told them that since He, their Lord and Master, had given them such an example, they were to imitate Him in practising humility.

COMMENTARY.

Omniscience of our Lord. He knew beforehand that Peter and John would meet a man in the city, carrying a pitcher of water, who would go straight into the house where Jesus had arranged to eat the pasch. He also saw into the heart of Judas, and knew that he was meditating His betrayal.

The last Pasch. Jesus had a great desire to eat “this”, the last typical Pasch, with His disciples. When He had eaten this Paschal lamb with them, the Old Covenant was closed, and the New Covenant of grace began; for immediately after the Paschal feast our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist, in which the true Lamb of God is offered up, and given to the faithful to be the Food of their souls. The loving Heart of Jesus longed to institute the New Covenant of grace, to offer Himself up in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood for our salvation, and to give Himself to us for the nourishment of our souls. Therefore He said: “With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you.”

The Real Presence. Our Lord tells His disciples beforehand what is the holy Eucharist which He will presently institute. It is the fulfilment of the Paschal lamb. Therefore the Eucharist must be His own Self, His own Body and Blood, the real Lamb of God, and must be a sacrifice.

The object of the washing of feet. Firstly, our Lord wished to cleanse His disciples perfectly from sin, and prepare their souls for the

¹ No part with Me. No part in the graces given by Jesus, and especially in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar, which He intended to institute immediately after the washing of feet. This threat had its effect on Peter, for he could conceive nothing more terrible than to be separated from his beloved Lord.

² Clean. i. e. from sin, for by your faith and love you have obtained pardon, and now you only require to be cleansed of your small daily faults.

³ Not all. Meaning Judas the traitor, who was not clean from sin. — LXV. JESUS INSTITUTES THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT.

reception of His Body and Blood, teaching us by this ceremony that we must wash our souls in the holy Sacrament of Penance before we receive Holy Communion. Secondly, our Lord desired by this washing of their feet to give to His apostles and to all Christians an example of humility and brotherly love. St. John (13, 3) says that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet “knowing that the Father had given Him all things into His hands, and that He came from God and goeth to God”. It was, therefore, in the full consciousness of His divine power and majesty that our Lord laid aside His upper garment, girded Himself with a towel, poured water into the basin, knelt down on the ground before each of His apostles, and washed their feet, as if He had been their servant! What self-abasement! What love! Let us remember that He gave us this example that we too might be humble and serve one another.

Virtues shown by St. Peter on this occasion. Humility. Love of our Lord. Obedience.

In commemoration of the washing of the feet, Bishops wash the feet of twelve poor men on Maundy Thursday. This ceremony is called the Mandatum, i. e. the Commandment.

APPLICATION. You could show to others—to your parents, brothers, neighbours &c., far more love than you have hitherto shown. Consider no service or labour for them humiliating. Do it cheerfully, and in imitation of our dear Lord. Never say, when any disagreeable service is required of you: “Oh, such and such an one ought to do this”; but say: “Dear Lord, I will do it for love of Thee!”

Matthew 26:27

JESUS INSTITUTES THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT

[Matthew 26, 27, 29. Mark 14, 22, 26. Luke 22, 17—20]

HAVING washed the feet of His disciples, Jesus sat down$^(1)$ again at table, and having loved His own, He loved them to the end$^(2)$ (St. John), i. e. to the end of all times. He desired with great desire to leave them an everlasting memorial and pledge

$^(1)$ Satanism. The sequence of the events of that evening is as follows: After sunset on Thursday, the vigil of the Pasch, which fell on Friday, our Lord ate the typical Paschal lamb with His apostles. After the Paschal feast He rose, washed the disciples’ feet, and then sat down again at table and instituted the Sacrament of His love, as the Pasch of the New Testament

— LXV. JESUS INSTITUTES THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT.

of His love. He therefore took bread¹ in His holy and venerable Hands, and, raising His Eyes to heaven, He blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to His apostles, saying: “Take ye and eat: this² is My Body, which is given³ for you; do this⁴ for a commemoration⁵ of Me.” In like manner, taking the chalice, He gave thanks, and blessed it, saying: “Drink ye all⁶ of this⁷. For this is My Blood of the New Testament⁸, which shall be shed for many, for the remission of sins.‘⁹

COMMENTARY.

The Real Presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. A year before (as you learnt in chapter XXXIV), our Lord had promised to give to His disciples His Flesh to eat and His Blood to drink; and now, at the Last Supper, He fulfilled His promise. By His almighty and efficacious words: “This is My Body; this is My Blood”, Jesus changed the bread into His Body, and the wine into His Blood, and gave them to be partaken of by His apostles. The appearances, the shape, colour, taste &c., of the bread and wine remained, therefore our Lord gave His Body and Blood to be received by the apostles under the form of bread and wine. The apostles neither doubted nor questioned His words, for the promise of the Blessed Sacrament made a year before as well as the preceding promise that “He would eat the Paschal lamb new in His kingdom”, had already prepared them for the mystery. As Jesus solemnly took bread, raised His Eyes to heaven &c., they said within themselves: “Now the Master is going to perform that which He promised to do, a year ago in the synagogue at Capharnaum.” By

¹ Bread. The unleavened, wheaten bread, which alone could be used for the Pasch (Old Test XXXIII). This bread was made in the form of cakes, and was broken, not cut. The Jews call it “mazzah” (sweetness).

² This. What I am now holding in my hands and handing to you ³ Given. Or sacrificed for you. ⁴ Do this. What I have just done.

⁵ For a commemoration. “To show forth the death of the Lord till He come” (1 Cor. 11, 26).

⁶ Drink ye all. Our Lord says expressly, “drink ye all”; for He handed it to one only, and this one had to pass it on. All were to drink out of one chalice, as was customary at the Paschal feast.

⁷ Of this. Namely what is contained in the chalice.

⁸ The New Testament. In chapter XXXVI Old Test we saw that Moses sealed the institution of the Old Covenant with the blood of victims; so now, at the Last Supper, our Lord Jesus Christ instituted a New Covenant and sealed it with His Precious Blood. The words: “This is My Blood of the New Testament” mean, therefore: Through this My Blood, present in the chalice, I seal and confirm My New Covenant.

⁹ For the remission of sins. Shed for the salvation of men, who, through the merits of My Most Precious Blood, shall obtain forgiveness of their sins.

— LXV. JESUS INSTITUTES THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT.

the words: “Do this in commemoration of Me”, our Lord gave to the apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests of the Church, the power of changing bread and wine into His Body and Blood, and of distributing them to the faithful; so that, to this day, in the holy Mass, bishops and priests change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus when, speaking in His name, they pronounce the words: “This is My Body; this is My Blood.” The Sacrament, in which the Body and Blood of our Lord are thus present and received, is called the Most Holy Sacrament, because it is more holy than the other Sacraments; Jesus Himself, and not only His grace, being therein received.

The holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Our Lord did not give His Sacred Body and Blood, under the form of bread and wine, only to be received by His apostles; He offered them, first, as a sacrifice to His heavenly Father. That the most holy Sacrament is a Sacrifice is shown by the separation of the Blood from the Body, as also by the words of institution: “This is My Body, which is given for you”, which is offered up for your salvation¹. Our Lord therefore instituted the Most Holy Sacrament to be a Sacrifice, and commanded the apostles and their successors to continue to offer this unbloody Sacrifice, which we call the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Our Lord offered up the first Mass at the Last Supper, and in it we can distinguish the three principal parts of the Mass. First, “He took bread, gave thanks, and blessed it”: that was the Offertory. Then He said: “This is My Body. This is My Blood”, and by these almighty words changed the bread into His Sacred Body, and the wine into His Precious Blood: that was the Consecration. Finally, the apostles ate His Body and drank His Blood: that was the Communion.

Institution of the Priesthood. To offer sacrifice is the office of a priest, as you have already learnt in the Old Testament. When our Lord Jesus Christ, by His words: “Do this in remembrance of Me”, gave to His apostles the power to change the bread and wine, and to offer up the spotless Sacrifice of the New Testament, He instituted the priesthood of the New Covenant.

Institution of the New Covenant. Moses confirmed and consecrated the Old Covenant by the blood of victims. Our Lord refers to this

¹ In the Greek text of St. Luke (22, 20) our Lord’s words when He gave the chalice to the apostles hear the same meaning: “This is My Blood which is shed for you”, (not “shall be shed for you”). The shedding of the blood for them takes place here under the appearances of bread and wine; in other words, the blood is sacrificed blood. St. Paul’s account of the institution of the Blessed Sacrament conveys the same meaning. The passage (1 Cor. 11, 24) can be thus translated: “This is My Body, which is broken for you.” Now, on the Cross, the Body of our Lord was not broken (see chapter LXXV), therefore the word “broken” can only be understood of His Sacred Body, present under the appearance of bread.

— LXV. JESUS INSTITUTES THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT.

when He said: “This is My Blood of the New Testament.” I institute a new and eternal Covenant, and in confirmation of it I give my own Blood as a sacrifice, to be drunk by you. The blood of victims with which Moses sprinkled the people of Israel could not, of itself, deliver men from sin, and make them pleasing to God, for its whole efficacy lay in its being the type of the Precious Blood of Jesus, which taketh away the sins of the world. That which Moses did, as a visible type, our Lord did in reality. By giving His Precious, Sin-cleansing Blood, He instituted the New Covenant of grace which redeemed man, and by the Sacrament and Sacrifice of His Body and Blood, He gave him a lasting memorial of His love, and an inexhaustible source of grace.

The true Paschal Lamb. Now you can understand why our Lord instituted the Blessed Sacrament immediately after the Paschal feast. The Jewish Paschal lamb was the most perfect type of the Blessed Sacrament. Our Lord first ate the typical Paschal lamb, and by so doing closed the Old Testament: having done so, He instituted the Blessed Sacrament, the true Paschal Feast, and with it instituted the New Testament of grace: thus at the Last Supper we see shadow and substance together, type and antitype. Jesus Christ, in the Blessed Sacrament, is our Paschal Lamb, because He first sacrifices Himself for us, and then gives Himself to us as our Food; and it is for this reason that the words: “Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us”, are said in the Mass just before the priest’s Communion. The Jewish Paschal lamb was sacrificed and eaten first as a means and then as a memorial of the deliverance from the bondage in Egypt: our Paschal Lamb is sacrificed and eaten as a perpetual means and memorial of our deliverance from the slavery of sin and Satan, and in thanksgiving for the grace of Redemption.

Types which find their fulfilment in the Blessed Sacrament as the Food of our souls: 1. The Tree of Life in the garden of Paradise; 2. The Paschal lamb; 3. The manna in the wilderness; 4. The wonderful food of Elias. 5. Our Lord Himself prefigured the Blessed Sacrament by two miracles: when He changed the water into wine, and multiplied the loaves and fishes.

Types which find their fulfilment in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: 1. The sacrifice of Melchisedech; 2. The unbloody sacrifices of the Old Law, especially the meat-offerings.

Prophecies which have been fulfilled by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: 1. The prophecy spoken by the mouth of David (Ps. 109, 4): “The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent. Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.” 2. The prophecy of Malachias (Mal. 1, 11): “In every place there is sacrifice; and there is offered to My name a clean oblation.”

The Feast of Corpus Christi. The Blessed Sacrament being the Church’s most precious treasure, and the centre of all her worship of

— LXV. JESUS INSTITUTES THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT.

God, it is fitting that she should every year solemnly commemorate the institution of this most holy mystery. Now, since we cannot keep Maundy Thursday as a feast of joy, because it is a day of fasting, and devoted to the memory of our Lord’s sufferings, the Church has selected another Thursday, the Thursday after the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, to be observed as a solemn Feast of thanksgiving for the institution of the Blessed Sacrament. This glorious Feast is called the Feast of Corpus Christi, or of the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The love of Jesus as shown in the Most Holy Sacrament. Jesus, having loved His own unto the end, bequeathed Himself to them in this Sacrament of His love, as the most priceless of memorials, to dwell always with them, to be sacrificed for them, and to be united to them in the most intimate way by Holy Communion. As a solemn testament He gave to us His Body and Blood, His Humanity and Divinity, in short Himself, with all His graces and merits; thus the Holy Eucharist is the abiding memorial of our Lord’s infinite and inconceivable love. The circumstances under which our Lord Jesus instituted the Blessed Sacrament reveal His unbounded love. He instituted It “the same night in which He was betrayed” (1 Cor. 11, 23), and therefore at the very time when the hatred of His enemies was at its highest pitch, and when they were actually making their preparations to put Him to death. He instituted It, though He knew that there was a vile traitor among His chosen followers, and that many, many Christians would despise and dishonour Him in this Sacrament. Neither the deadly hatred of His enemies, nor the ingratitude of the faithful, could deter Him from giving them this final and enduring proof of His love. Oh, how mighty, how deep is the love which our Lord and Saviour has for ungrateful man! The Sanhedrim had met to resolve upon the death of Jesus: the soldiers were all ready to seize Him: His traitor apostle was about to betray Him. Surely all this will abate His love even at the last moment! Yes, if His love be human, it will; but His love was the love of God, and it was not quenched. He responded to the hatred and treachery of men by the institution of the Most Holy Sacrament, thus giving to the human race a proof of love so intense, that it never could have entered into the hearts of men to conceive it. And -as St. Paul says- this wonderful love was shown by our Lord on the night when He was betrayed. At the very moment that faithless men were betraying their God, He invented a new means of proving His love for them. While they were preparing for Him a most cruel death, He gave to them the means of attaining eternal life. Just when human hatred was doing all it could to remove Him from the world, He discovered a new way of remaining always in the world. He wrought the most astounding miracle of Omnipotence, that He might remain with them. Even as He went forth from the Father without leaving Him, so did He go forth from the world without leaving it. And this He did “on the night when He was betrayed”, just as if nothing had occurred to quench His love,

— LXXVI. JESUS FORETELLS THE TREASON OF JUDAS.

but rather as if man had done everything he could to kindle it! Then, having done this for us, He went forth to give Himself up into the hands of His enemies—to die for them!

In the Holy Mass a little water is mixed with the wine. This is done, because the wine changed by our Lord at the Last Supper was mixed with water, this mixture being strictly prescribed for the wine used at the Paschal feast. The mixture of water with the wine at Mass has also a symbolical meaning, and is intended to remind us that in Jesus Christ there are two natures in One Divine Person.

APPLICATION. In the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar our Lord and Saviour is present under the appearances of bread and wine. You ought therefore to worship Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament with living faith and the deepest adoration. Have you done so? Have you always genuflected, as you ought, on entering a church? Do you always kneel down during the Elevation? Have you, finally, a devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? Never forget when you are in church that you are in the presence of your Divine Saviour, who will one day come back to this earth in great power and majesty to be your Judge! Be very reverent and devout in the House of God, and repeat these words as often as you can: “Blessed and praised be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar!”

Matthew 26:47

JESUS IS APPREHENDED AND BOUND

[Matthew 26. 47. 56. Mark 14. 45. 49. Luke 22. 47-51. John 17. 1-12]

WHILE Jesus was yet speaking, Judas¹ came with a great crowd of soldiers² and servants from the chief priests and ancients. Now the traitor had given them a sign, saying:

¹ Judas. He came in the capacity of leader of the troop (Luke 22.47), the strength of which was out of proportion to its purpose; but the enemies of our Lord were determined that Jesus should not escape by any neglect on their part. The troop consisted of the Temple guard, and the armed servants of the High Priest and the Sanhedrim.

² Soldiers. “With swords and lanterns”. They carried lanterns to make sure that Jesus should not escape them in the darkness of the night.

— LXX. JESUS IS APPREHENDED AND ROUND.

“Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is He; hold Him fast!” As soon as he saw Jesus, he approached Him, saying: “Hail, Rabbi!” and he kissed Him¹. Jesus said to him: “Friend², whereto art thou come? Judas, dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

Then, advancing towards the troop, He said: “Whom seek ye?” They answered: “Jesus of Nazareth”. He said to them with a look of majesty: “I am He!” At the sound of His Voice they started back, and fell³ to the ground as though they had been struck by lightning. When they had raised themselves up, He asked them again: “Whom seek ye?” They spoke as before: “Jesus of Nazareth”. He answered: “I have told you that I am He. If, therefore, you seek Me, let these⁴ go their way.“⁵ They then laid hold of Him.

The apostles, seeing this, asked their Lord if they might not strike with the sword in His defence. But Peter⁶, without waiting for permission, struck a servant of the High Priest, called Malchus, and cut off his right ear. Then Jesus said to Peter: “Put up thy sword into the scabbard. Thinkest thou⁷ that I cannot ask My Father, and He will give Me presently more than twelve legions”

¹ Kissed Him. A kiss is the token of love, faithfulness and reverence; but Judas made use of it for purposes of treachery. The hypocrite did not wish to appear a traitor in the eyes of Jesus and His apostles, but our Lord let him know at once that He saw through his hypocrisy.

² Friend. I have always treated you as My friend, and yet now you come to Me with the vile purpose of betraying Me! You abuse the token of friendship to betray the Messias! Our Lord wished to move the hard heart of Judas by these words, and to bring him to realise the vileness of his deed. Judas might even then have been saved if he had contritely implored our Lord’s forgiveness; but, in spite of all, he remained obstinate, and returned defiantly to the hand of soldiers and servants.

³ And fell. All fell flat on the ground, and Jesus remained alone standing in the midst of His powerless enemies. He could have fled had He wished it; but He remained where He was, and having commanded the troop of ruffians not to injure His apostles, He gave Himself into their hands.

⁴ These. The apostles.

⁵ Their way. He implied by these words that they were at liberty to seize Him, and therefore encouraged them to lay hands on Him.

⁶ Peter. His love for Jesus made him rash.

⁷ Thinkest thou. If I wished to resist by force the violence which is about to be done to Me, many thousands of angels would come to My aid; so I do not need your help.

⁸ Twelve legions. i. e. twelve times 6,000. KNECHT, Commentary. 3. ed. — LXX. JESUS IS APPREHENDED AND BOUND.

of angels? How then shall the Scriptures¹ be fulfilled that so it must be done?” So saying, He touched the ear² of Malchus and healed him. He then held out His Hands, and they bound Him³ and led Him away. Then the disciples all fled⁴, leaving Him alone in the hands of His enemies.

COMMENTARY.

The Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before our Blessed Lord gave Himself up into the hands of His enemies, He manifested His Godhead in several ways: 1. By casting His enemies to the ground by His words: “I am He!” The power of these simple words sufficed to fell to the ground a whole troop of rough soldiers and servants who were thirsting to capture Him. Jesus required no help from outside, no legions of the heavenly host; His word alone sufficed to render his enemies powerless, and their weapons harmless; for it was the word of Him who “shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall slay the wicked” (Is. 11, 4). By thus overthrowing the troop and bidding them rise again, our Lord proved that no human force, but only the excess of His love could chain Him. He manifested His Divinity 2. in the effect produced by His command that His disciples should be left untouched. Although He was Himself a captive in the hands of the ruffians who had seized Him, He spoke to them as a Master to his slaves, as a conqueror to those he had vanquished; and they, full of hatred as they were both towards Himself and His doctrine, obeyed Him without demur, and did not dare

¹ The Scriptures. The Old Testament Scriptures, which by their prophecies and types so clearly show that the Redeemer must suffer and die. It is the will of My Father that I should suffer, and therefore I give Myself up, of My own will, into the hands of My enemies.

² The ear. And, by a wonderful miracle, completely restored his ear to its right place

³ Bound Him. Like a criminal! Truly this was a deed which cried to heaven for vengeance! Picture to yourself how roughly and cruelly these soldiers and servants treated our Divine Saviour! They were exasperated at having been cast to the ground by the very sound of His Voice, and now they vented their rage on Him who so patiently gave them His Hands to be bound. They thrust Him here and there, abused Him, and secured Him as tightly as they could with their chains and ropes.

⁴ Fled. When they saw that Jesus would not hear of resistance, and even voluntarily gave His Hands to be bound, they lost all courage, and fled in a panic, lest they too should be seized. But Peter and John did not quite forsake Him, but “followed Him afar off” so as not to lose sight of Him, and to learn what would become of Him. Fear and love struggled within their hearts. Love drew them on to follow Jesus, while fear kept them from following Him too closely. Peter, who but a few hours before had declared that he would lay down his life for Him, now discreetly kept at a distance!

— LXX. JESUS IS APPREHENDED AND BOUND.

to lay a finger on any of those men who, after their Master’s death, were destined to spread His doctrine over the face of the earth. They did not even venture to touch Peter, or take vengeance on him for attacking and wounding Malchus. Was not this a wonderful thing? Our Blessed Lord manifested His Divinity 3. by His miracle, which instantaneously cured the wounded Malchus; 4. by calling God His Father, who was ready at His request to send legions of angels to His aid; and 5. in the proof afforded of His Omniscience by the way in which His disciples, through their cowardice and flight, fulfilled that which He had foretold of them: “All you shall be scandalized in Me this night, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed.”

1. His Goodness to Judas was also divine. He did not refuse his treacherous kiss: He suffered His sacred Face to be touched by the lips of this vile traitor, and He even called him: “Friend!” “I have always treated you as My friend, He meant to imply, ‘why therefore do you come now at the head of My enemies, and betray Me to them by a kiss!’’ This loving treatment on the part of our Lord was to the ungrateful traitor a last hour of grace. Jesus gave him to understand that He still loved him in spite of his vile crime, and was ready to forgive him even now, if he would repent; but Judas resisted this last grace, and remained hardened and unmoved.

2. His Goodness to the eleven Apostles. Full of loving care for them, though willing Himself to be taken captive and led away to death, He desired to assure freedom and life to His disciples. His enemies might rage against Himself, but they must not lay a finger on those whom He loved, and it was only on this condition that He gave Himself into their hands. Oh, how loving is the Heart of Jesus!

3. His Goodness to Malchus. He exercised His Omnipotence and healed Malchus, who, like his master, Caiphas, was one of our Lord’s bitterest enemies, and who had pressed forward so as to be the first to seize Him. Jesus has taught us not only by His word, but by His example, that we are to return good for evil, and to love even our enemies.

The voluntary and vicarious Sufferings of our Lord Jesus. Jesus gave Himself up to His enemies, of His own will. He went to meet them, encouraged them to seize Him, and offered His Hands to be bound. He gave up His liberty, to atone to God for our abuse of the liberty He has given us. He gave Himself up as a prisoner, to save us from the everlasting prison of hell. He let Himself be bound, that we might be delivered from the bonds of sin and Satan.

The malice, ingratitude and depravity of Judas. Our Blessed Lord had loaded this man with benefits and graces. He had chosen him to be an apostle; He had let him witness His miracles and the holiness of His life; He had imparted to him His divine doctrine; He had borne

42* — LXXI. JESUS BEFORE ANNAS AND CAIPHAS.

with him patiently and warned him lovingly, had washed his feet and given him His own Body and Blood to be his Food; and yet he repaid his Master’s love with the basest treachery, placed himself at the head of His enemies, feigned friendship for Him, called Him Master, and betrayed Him with a kiss! But Christians behave quite as basely and ungratefully when they make an unworthy Communion!

APPLICATION. When we contemplate Jesus, bound and taken prisoner, we feel as if we could cry out to these Jews: “Hold! How can you bind the Hands of Him Who has shed such blessings on you! Unbind Him, for He is your God Who delivered you from the bondage of Egypt, Who went before you in a pillar of cloud, and led you into the Promised Land. Woe to you if you lay a hand on Him!” Thus would we fain cry out, but faith says to us: “Spare your indignation! The Jewish servants and pagan soldiers could not have held and bound Jesus if it had not been for your sins! Be not angry with those men, for they knew not what they did; but rather be angry with yourself and your sins, and bear in mind that, each time you sin, you are forging new bonds to bind Jesus and lead Him away to death!”

You are quite right to detest the black ingratitude of Judas; but remember how often you too have been ungrateful to your Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. Bear in mind, especially, that every mortal sin is a shameful act of ingratitude towards God, your Father, and a dark act of treachery towards Jesus, your Redeemer.

Matthew 26:57

JESUS BEFORE ANNAS AND CAIPHAS

[Matthew 26, 57. Mark 14, 55. Luke 22, 54. John 18, 23]

THE troop of soldiers and servants first led Him bound¹ before Annas², a former High Priest, and the father-in-law of

¹ Led Him bound. What a tale of ignominy and ill-treatment is contained in these few words! Both the soldiers and the chief priests’ servants knew how intensely their employers hated Jesus, and that the best way to gain favour with them was to maltreat our Blessed Lord. They bound His Hands together tightly and cruelly, and having put a rope round His neck dragged Him by it into the city, abusing and maltreating Him all the way. The road to Annas’ house took about half an hour to traverse, and during that half-hour our Lord, according to tradition, fell to the ground seven times in consequence of the inhuman treatment to which He was subjected.

² Annas. The Romans were in the habit of setting up and deposing the High Priests in the most arbitrary manner. At the time of our Lord’s Death

— LXXI. JESUS BEFORE ANNAS AND CAIPHAS.

Caiphas, the High Priest of that year. Annas questioned¹ Jesus concerning His disciples and His doctrine. Jesus calmly told him that He had spoken openly², and he might question those who had heard Him. Then one of the servants who stood by gave Jesus a blow³, saying: “Answerest thou the High Priest so?” Jesus meekly⁴ replied: “If I have spoken ill, give testimony of the evil; but if well, why strikest thou Me?”

Annas sent Jesus bound to Caiphas⁵, who had meanwhile assembled the Great Council of the Jews. Now he and the whole council would willingly have found some pretext for putting Jesus to death; but they could find none, although many false witnesses⁶ had appeared against Him.

At last there came two false witnesses who affirmed that they had heard Jesus saying He would destroy the Temple, and after three days build it up again. But they still contradicting each

there were therefore several High Priests, for even those who were deposed kept the title. Caiphas was the fourth High Priest since Annas’ deposition, but Annas still exercised great influence, for Caiphas had married his daughter, and Caiphas himself had no strength of character. Annas and Caiphas both lived on Mount Sion, about a hundred and seventy yards apart. To reach the house of Caiphas they had to pass that of Annas, so the troop led Jesus there on the way, both to curry favour with him, and because the Sanhedron had not yet had time to assemble at the High Priest’s house.

¹ Questioned. Although he had no authority to put the questions, His interrogation was, moreover, superfluous, as both the disciples and doctrine of Jesus must have been well known to him.

² Openly. Our Blessed Lord attempted no defence; He merely appealed to the many impartial witnesses before whom He had openly preached.

³ A blow. Annas, who hated our Lord, allowed this man’s brutal conduct to pass without even reproof.

⁴ Meekly. In order to bring the rufian to a sense of his injustice.

⁵ To Caiphas. Annas was in a great dilemma, for he could not answer our Lord’s calm words; and, moreover, he had no authority to pass sentence on Him. The only thing he could do was to have our Blessed Lord’s bonds replaced, and send Him to Caiphas, at whose house part of the Sanhedron had assembled as soon as the news of the capture of Jesus had reached its members. It was now about three o’clock in the morning, yet the chief priests and Pharisees were but too willing to give up their night’s rest in order to gratify their hatred of Jesus.

⁶ False witnesses. They had already made up their minds to put Jesus to death, but they called witnesses in order to preserve some appearance of justice, and to enable them to pass a legal sentence; for, by the Jewish law, sentence of death might not be pronounced unless the offence of the accused were proved by the unanimous testimony of at least two witnesses. If the testimony of witnesses did not agree, the evidence was adjudged false (see the story of Susanna, Old Test, LXXVI).

— LXXI. JESUS BEFORE ANNAS AND CAIPHAS.

other, the High Priest arose and said to Jesus: “Answerest Thou¹ nothing to the things which these witness against Thee?” Jesus was silent². Then the High Priest said to him: “I adjure³ Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us if Thou be the Christ⁴, the Son of the living God?” Jesus answered⁵: “Thou hast said it. I say to you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven.‘⁶ Then the High Priest rent⁷ his garments, saying: “He hath blasphemed⁸; what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy; what think you?” They answered: “He is guilty of death.‘⁹

¹ Answerest Thou. Their evidence did not agree as to the exact expressions used by our Lord. He had not said “I will destroy this Temple”, but “Destroy this Temple”, or in other words, if you destroy it. Moreover He had not said: “Destroy the Temple”, but this temple, meaning His Body (chapter XV). Finding that the evidence of the false witnesses did not serve his purpose, the High Priest induced Jesus to speak, in the hope that His own words would incriminate Him and afford ground for accusation.

² Silent. He would not answer false evidence, or defend Himself against the lies of men. Had it been really the truth which His judges desired to ascertain, they could have easily seen that the evidence was absolutely worthless, by reason of the contradictions contained in it. The silence of our Blessed Lord filled the judges with despair, for it took from them all pretext for condemning Him. Then it was that Caiphas resorted to a final measure, by adjuring our Lord, in the holy and terrible name of God, to speak, and thus forced an oath on Him. The way in which a judicial oath was applied in those days was this: the judge suggested the oath to the accused, who accepted it by replying to the question put, by a simple “yes” or “no”. This was how Caiphas applied an oath to our Lord.

³ I adjure. I demand of Thee under a solemn oath to tell me &c.

⁴ The Christ. The Messias, and the Son of God in the fullest sense of the word. Our Lord no longer kept silence, for the High Priest was justified in putting this question to Him. The question was put in the name of God, and its subject was one of the last importance to the whole world. Therefore Jesus gave to this solemn question an equally solemn answer.

⁵ Answered. “I am the true Son of God.” And as He knew that this assertion, made even on oath, would obtain no credence. He added as a proof of the truth of His words: “Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man &c.”

⁶ Of heaven. As Judge. One day their own eyes would convince them that He was the Almighty Son of God.

⁷ Kent. As a sign of his indignation.

⁸ Blasphemed. By making Himself out to be the Son of God, and God Himself. And without further loss of time Caiphas (by his words: “What think you?”) put it to the vote as to what punishment our Blessed Lord deserved.

⁹ Of death. For by the Jewish law the punishment of blasphemy was death by stoning (Lev. 24, 16). Without even considering whether our Lord’s solemn assertion on oath might not, after all, be true, they pronounced His words to be blasphemy, and with awful blindness and malice, pronounced on the All Holy One the most unjust sentence that has ever been pronounced¹

— LXXI. JESUS BEFORE ANNAS AND CAIPHAS. COMMENTARY.

Our Blessed Lord’s own testimony to His Divinity. In the face of death Jesus affirmed on oath that He was the promised Redeemer and the Son of God, and in the most solemn manner possible ascribed to Himself divine power and majesty! To the question put to Him on oath by the High Priest He replied, not as an accused man might address his judge, but as a ruler would address his subject, and threatened His hardened accusers with the divine judgments He would hold in His Hand when coming again in the clouds of heaven! Truly that was not the speech of a man, but of God! The members of the Sanhedrim quite understood that Jesus declared Himself to be God, for it was on this plea that they condemned Him to death for blasphemy. And later on, when they accused Him to Pilate, they said: “We have a law, and according to the law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God!” So it was on account of His own testimony that our Blessed Lord was condemned to death. As His enemies could prove nothing against Him, they turned His testimony that He was the Son of God into a crime, for which they put Him to death. He met His Death, therefore, for bearing testimony to His Divinity!

The Gentleness of Jesus. Our Blessed Lord had proved His Godhead not only by His great miracles (and especially by the raising of Lazarus, which not even His enemies could contest), but by the extraordinary holiness of His life and by His truly divine virtues. When He was brought before Annas, Jesus showed a gentleness which has never been equalled. The rufianly servant struck the Face of the Most High, with an unjust, painful and shameful blow; and Jesus bore this horrible treatment with patience. He did not upbraid or threaten the man, but pointed out to him the injustice of his action, with calm and gentle words. “Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of Heart!”

Sharing the guilt of the sins of others. Annas sinned in this way by not punishing, nor even blaming, his servant for his unjust and illegal treatment of Jesus.

False witness. The two witnesses sinned against the eighth Commandment; and they sinned grievously, because they gave false evidence on a very important matter.

Oaths. The example of Jesus, Who accepted the oath applied to Him by the High Priest, teaches us that it is lawful and right to take an oath when it is required of us in a court of justice, by those in authority.

APPLICATION. It was for love of us that Jesus let Himself be bound, buffeted, struck in the Face, abused, blasphemed, and sentenced to death! He suffered all this to make satisfaction for our sins, and turn away from us the sentence of everlasting

— LXXII. THE DENIAL AND REPENTANCE OF PETER.

punishment which they had drawn down on us. Thank your Redeemer for His unbounded love, and prove, this very day, by your patience and gentleness, that you love Him in return.

Every wilful sin we commit is, so to speak, a blow struck on the Face of our Divine Lord. Whenever you are on the point of sinning, your conscience says to you: “Do not do it! God has forbidden it!” But then, perhaps, you reply: “All the same I will do it. What is it to me that God has forbidden it!” Do you not see that to act in this way is to strike the Face of God with a blow? And if you go on to commit the sin really, those words of our Blessed Lord are in truth addressed to you: “Why strikest thou Me?” O Lord Jesus, for love of Thee, I will never more commit a wilful sin!