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Click a verse to see commentary14. Lord's Supper and Jesus Arrested
1Now after two days was the feast of the passover and the unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him with subtlety, and kill him: 2for they said, Not during the feast, lest haply there shall be a tumult of the people. 3And while he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of pure nard very costly; and she brake the cruse, and poured it over his head. 4But there were some that had indignation among themselves, saying, To what purpose hath this waste of the ointment been made? 5For this ointment might have been sold for above three hundred shillings, and given to the poor. And they murmured against her. 6But Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. 7For ye have the poor always with you, and whensoever ye will ye can do them good: but me ye have not always. 8She hath done what she could; she hath anointed my body beforehand for the burying. 9And verily I say unto you, Wheresoever the gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. 10And Judas Iscariot, he that was one of the twelve, went away unto the chief priests, that he might deliver him unto them. 11And they, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently deliver him unto them. 12And on the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the passover, his disciples say unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and make ready that thou mayest eat the passover? 13And he sendeth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him; 14and wheresoever he shall enter in, say to the master of the house, The Teacher saith, Where is my guest-chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? 15And he will himself show you a large upper room furnished and ready: and there make ready for us. 16And the disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. 17And when it was evening he cometh with the twelve. 18And as they sat and were eating, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you shall betray me, even he that eateth with me. 19They began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? 20And he said unto them, It is one of the twelve, he that dippeth with me in the dish. 21For the Son of man goeth, even as it is written of him: but woe unto that man through whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had not been born. 22And as they were eating, he took bread, and when he had blessed, he brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take ye: this is my body. 23And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them: and they all drank of it. 24And he said unto them, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25Verily I say unto you, I shall no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. 26And when they had sung a hymn, they went out unto the mount of Olives. 27And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad. 28Howbeit, after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee. 29But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. 30And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that thou to-day, even this night, before the cock crow twice, shalt deny me thrice. 31But he spake exceedingly vehemently, If I must die with thee, I will not deny thee. And in like manner also said they all. 32And they come unto a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith unto his disciples, Sit ye here, while I pray. 33And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly amazed, and sore troubled. 34And he saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death: abide ye here, and watch. 35And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him. 36And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; remove this cup from me: howbeit not what I will, but what thou wilt. 37And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest thou not watch one hour? 38Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 39And again he went away, and prayed, saying the same words. 40And again he came, and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they knew not what to answer him. 41And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough; the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Arise, let us be going: behold, he that betrayeth me is at hand. 43And straightway, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44Now he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he; take him, and lead him away safely. 45And when he was come, straightway he came to him, and saith, Rabbi; and kissed him. 46And they laid hands on him, and took him. 47But a certain one of them that stood by drew his sword, and smote the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear. 48And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a robber, with swords and staves to seize me? 49I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but this is done that the scriptures might be fulfilled. 50And they all left him, and fled. 51And a certain young man followed with him, having a linen cloth cast about him, over his naked body: and they lay hold on him; 52but he left the linen cloth, and fled naked. 53And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and there come together with him all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. 54And Peter had followed him afar off, even within, into the court of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers, and warming himself in the light of the fire. 55Now the chief priests and the whole council sought witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found it not. 56For many bare false witness against him, and their witness agreed not together. 57And there stood up certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, 58We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands. 59And not even so did their witness agree together. 60And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? 61But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and saith unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven. 63And the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What further need have we of witnesses? 64Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be worthy of death. 65And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the officers received him with blows of their hands. 66And as Peter was beneath in the court, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest; 67and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and saith, Thou also wast with the Nazarene, even Jesus. 68But he denied, saying, I neither know, nor understand what thou sayest: and he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. 69And the maid saw him, and began again to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. 70But he again denied it. And after a little while again they that stood by said to Peter, of a truth thou art one of them; for thou art a Galilaean. 71But he began to curse, and to swear, I know not this man of whom ye speak. 72And straightway the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word, how that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
Christ Brought before the High Priest.
53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. 54 And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire. 55 And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none. 56 For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together. 57 And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, 58 We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. 59 But neither so did their witness agree together. 60 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? 61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? 64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. 65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.
We have here Christ's arraignment, trial, conviction, and condemnation, in the ecclesiastical court, before the great sanhedrim, of which the high priest was president, or judge of the court; the same Caiaphas that had lately adjudged it expedient he should be put to death, guilty or not guilty (John xi. 50), and who therefore might justly be excepted against as partial.
I. Christ is hurried away to his house, his palace it is called, such state did he live in. And there, though, in the dead of the night, all the chief priests, and elders, and scribes, that were in the secret, were assembled, ready to receive the prey; so sure were they of it.
II. Peter followed at a distance, such a degree of cowardice was his late courage dwindled into, v. 54. But when he came to the high priest's palace, he sneakingly went, and sat with the servants, that he might not be suspected to belong to Christ. The high priest's fire side was no proper place, nor his servants proper company, for Peter, but it was his entrance into a temptation.
III. Great diligence was used to procure, for love or money, false witnesses against Christ. They had seized him as a malefactor, and now they had him they had no indictment to prefer against him, no crime to lay to his charge, but they sought for witnesses against him; pumped some with ensnaring questions, offered bribes to others, if they would accuse him, and endeavored to frighten others, if they would not, v. 55, 56. The chief priests and elders were by the law entrusted with the prosecuting and punishing of false witnesses (Deut. xix. 16, 17); yet those were now ringleaders in a crime that tends to overthrow of all justice. It is time to cry, Help, Lord, when the physicians of a land are its troublers, and those that should be the conservators of peace and equity, are the corrupters of both.
IV. He was at length charged with words spoken some years ago, which, as they were represented, seemed to threaten the temple, which they had made no better than an idol of (v. 57, 58); but the witnesses to this matter did not agree (v. 59), for one swore that he said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days (so it is in Matthew); the other swore that he said, I will destroy this temple, that is made with hands, and within three days, I will build not it, but another made without hands; now these two differ much from each other; oude ise en he martyria—their testimony was not sufficient, nor equal to the charge of a capital crime; so Dr. Hammond: they did not accuse him of that upon which a sentence of death might be founded, no not by the utmost stretch of their law.
V. He was urged to be his own accuser (v. 60); The high priest stood up in a heat, and said, Answerest thou nothing? This he said under pretence of justice and fair dealing, but really with a design to ensnare him, that they might accuse him, Luke xi. 53, 54; xx. 20. We may well imagine with what an air of haughtiness and disdain this proud high priest brought our Lord Jesus to this question; "Come you, the prisoner at the bar, you hear what is sworn against you; what have you now to say for yourself?" Pleased to think that he seemed silent, who had so often silenced those that picked quarrels with him. Still Christ answered nothing, that he might set us an example, 1. Of patience under calumnies and false accusations; when we are reviled, let us not revile again, 1 Pet. ii. 23. And, 2. Of prudence, when a man shall be made an offender for a word (Isa. xxix. 21), and our defence made our offence; it is an evil time indeed when the prudent shall keep silence (lest they make bad worse), and commit their cause to him that judgeth righteously. But,
VI. When he was asked whether he was the Christ, he confessed, and denied not, that he was, v. 61, 62. He asked, Art thou the Son of the Blessed? that is the Son of God? for, as Dr. Hammond observes, the Jews, when they named God, generally added, blessed for ever; and thence the Blessed is the title of God, a peculiar title, and applied to Christ, Rom. ix. 5. And for the proof of his being the Son of God, he binds them over to his second coming; "Ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power; that Son of man that now appears so mean and despicable, whom ye see and trample upon (Isa. liii. 2, 3), you shall shortly see and tremble before." Now, one would think that such a word as this which our Lord Jesus seems to have spoken with a grandeur and majesty not agreeable to his present appearance (for through the thickest cloud of his humiliation some rays of glory were still darted forth), should have startled the court, and at least, in the opinion of some of them, should have amounted to a demurrer, or arrest of judgment, and that they should have stayed process till they had considered further of it; when Paul at the bar reasoned of the judgment to come, the judge trembled, and adjourned the trial, Acts xxiv. 25. But these chief priests were so miserably blinded with malice and rage, that, like the horse rushing into the battle, they mocked at fear, and were not affrighted, neither believed they that it was the sound of the trumpet, Job xxxix. 22, 24. And see Job xv. 25, 26.
VII. The high priest, upon this confession of his, convicted him as a blasphemer (v. 63); He rent his clothes—chitonas autou. Some think the word signifies his pontifical vestments, which, for the greater state, he had put on, though in the night, upon this occasion. As before, in his enmity to Christ, he said he knew not what (John xi. 51, 52), so now he did he knew not what. If Saul's rending Samuel's mantle was made to signify the rending of the kingdom from him (1 Sam. xv. 27, 28), much more did Caiaphas's rending his own clothes signify the rending of the priesthood from him, as the rending of the veil, at Christ's death, signified the throwing of all open. Christ's clothes, even when he was crucified, were kept entire, and not rent: for when the Levitical priesthood was rent in pieces and done away, This Man, because he continues ever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
VIII. They agreed that he was a blasphemer, and, as such, was guilty of a capital crime, v. 64. The question seemed to be put fairly, What think ye? But it was really prejudged, for the high priest had said, Ye have heard the blasphemy; he gave judgment first, who, as president of the court, ought to have voted last. So they all condemned him to be guilty of death; what friends he had in the great sanhedrim, did not appear, it is probable that they had not notice.
IX. They set themselves to abuse him, and, as the Philistines with Samson, to make sport with him, v. 65. It should seem that some of the priests themselves that had condemned him, so far forgot the dignity, as well as duty, of their place, and the gravity which became them, that they helped their servants in playing the fool with a condemned prisoner. This they made their diversion, while they waited for the morning, to complete their villany. That night of observations (as the passover-night was called) they made a merry night of. If they did not think it below them to abuse Christ, shall we think any thing below us, by which we may do him honour?