Chapter XIX.
1-5. Jesus is scourged, crowned with thorns, clothed with a purple garment, and mockingly saluted by the soldiers as King of the Jews; then shown to the people.
6-7. The people, led on by the Priests and their servants, demand Christ's death.
8-12. Pilate becomes still more unwilling to interfere with Jesus, and again examines Him, and makes known his intention of releasing Him.
13-16. Then the Jews charge him with disloyalty to the Roman Emperor, and at length Pilate gives way and delivers Jesus to be crucified.
17-22. Jesus is led to Calvary, and crucified between two robbers.
23-24. The soldiers divide His other garments among four of them, but cast lots for His tunic.
25-27. Jesus gives John to the Blessed Virgin as her son, and her in turn to him as his mother.
28-30. Jesus, having partaken of the vinegar which was offered to Him in a soaked sponge, dies.
31-37. The legs of the two robbers are broken, and the side of Jesus pierced with a lance.
38-42. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus embalm and bury the body of Jesus.
| 1. Tunc ergo apprehendit Pilatus Iesum, et flagellavit. | 1. Then, therefore Pilate took Jesus, and scourged him. |
1. After he had released Barabbas, Pilate now thought of another but a cruel means of saving the life of Jesus. He had Him scourged, hoping thus to satisfy the fury of His enemies (Luke xxiii. 22). Then was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaias: “I have given my body to the strikers, and My cheeks to them that plucked them: I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me, and spat upon me” (Isaias 1. 6).
Had Christ been scourged by Jewish authority, according to the Jewish law He should not have received more than forty stripes. “According to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the stripes be: Yet so that they exceed not the number of forty: lest thy brother depart shamefully torn before thy eyes” (Deut. xxv. 2, 3). By Jewish practice the number of stripes was restricted to thirty-nine (See 2 Cor. xi. 24). But as the scourging was ordered by Pilate, it was, doubtless, inflicted according to the cruel Roman method, in which there was no limit to the number of stripes that might be inflicted. The word used by the Greek translator of St. Matthew and by St. Mark in reference to this scourging is φραγελλώσας, which, like that used by St. John (ἐμαστίγωσεν), signifies a scourging with whips or flagella[120] (not rods, which were sometimes used by the Romans; Acts xvi. 22. Comp. 2 Cor. xi. 25). The flagellum was chiefly used in the punishment of slaves. It was made of cords or thongs of leather, knotted with bones or circles of bronze, or pieces of hard wood, and sometimes terminated by hooks in which latter case it was called a scorpion. No wonder that Horace (Sat. 1, 3, 119) speaks of it as “horribile flagellum.” It was with this brutal instrument of torture, then, that our Lord was mangled on this morning by the fierce Roman soldiers.
The pillar to which according to tradition our Lord was tied while being scourged, was brought from Jerusalem to Rome, in 1223 a.d. “In a small shrine to the right of the chapel (in the Church of St. Praxedes on the Esquiline, near St. Mary Major's), is preserved the marble pillar to which our Lord is said to have been bound. It measures two feet three inches in height, not including its circular pedestal, which is two inches high; its lower diameter is one foot and a-half, its upper is only nine inches, and its top was attached to a ring, the perforation for which remains” (Dr. Donovan's Rome, Ancient and Modern).
| 2. Et milites plectentes corronam de spinis, imposuerunt capiti eius: et veste purpurea circumdederunt eum. | 2. And the soldiers platting a crown of thorns, put it upon his head: and they put on him a purple garment. |
2. There is a difficulty here when we compare this verse with Matt. xxvii. 26-29; Mark xv. 15-18. For, while St. [pg 331] John here represents the crowning with thorns[121] and the incident of the cloak as preceding the sentence of death (see verse 16), SS. Matthew and Mark seem to say that they followed it.
Hence, some have held that Christ was twice crowned with thorns and clad with a cloak, and hailed as King of the Jews: once before the sentence as signified here, and once after as indicated by SS. Matthew and Mark.
But it seems the more probable opinion that these events occurred only once, and before the sentence was passed, as St. John records. In this view, SS. Matthew and Mark do not record these events and the sentence in the order in which they occurred.[122] We would suggest, in support of this view, that these Evangelists, in recording the sentence by which Barabbas recovered his liberty (Matt. xxvii. 26; Mark xv. 15), depart from the order of time to record in connection with the liberation of Barabbas the condemnation of Jesus. Thus the sentence of death, though following the crowning with thorns is represented in the two first Gospels as preceding it.
A purple garment. If it be objected that while the cloak according to St. John was purple, according to St. Matthew it was scarlet, we reply that the same difficulty occurs on a comparison of St. Matthew with St. Mark, for the latter also says the cloak was purple; and yet all admit that SS. Matthew and Mark refer to the same occasion. In reality, the two Greek words translated purple and scarlet seem to have been frequently interchanged.
“Πορφύρα is vaguely used to signify different shades of red, and is especially convertible with crimson = κοκκίνη, Matt.” (Alf. on St. Mark xv. 17).
| 3. Et veniebant ad eum, et dicebant: Ave rex Iudaeorum: Et dabant ei alapas. | 3. And they came to him, and said: Hail, king of the Jews, and they gave him blows. |
3. Hail, king of the Jews. The soldiers had derisively arrayed Him in the insignia of royalty; nothing was wanting but the mockery of their homage; this they now offer. St. Matthew is more explicit: “And bowing the knee before him, they mocked him, saying: Hail, king of the Jews” (Matt. xxvii. 29).
And they gave him blows. From St. Matthew we learn, [pg 332] too, that “spitting upon him, they took the reed, and struck his head” (Matt. xxvii. 30).
| 4. Exivit ergo iterum Pilatus foras, et dicit eis: Ecce adduco vobis eum foras, ut cognoscatis quia nullam invenio in eo causam. | 4. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith to them: Behold I bring him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in him. |
4. Pilate now brought Jesus forth, hoping that the wretched plight to which our Saviour had been reduced, that the mockery and degradation and suffering to which He had been subjected, would satisfy them, and with this view he says to them in effect: Behold I bring Him forth to you that I may make known to you again that I can find no reason for condemning Him; see, then, the miserable state to which He is reduced, and be satisfied.
| 5. (Exivit ergo Iesus portans coronam spineam, et purpureum vestimentum). Et dicit eis: Ecce homo. | 5. Jesus therefore came forth bearing the crown of thorns, and the purple garment. And he saith to them: Behold the Man. |
5. This verse gives us the graphic description of an eye-witness. Behold the Man. “Behold” is an interjection, not a verb. It it were a verb, “man” would be in the accusative case governed by it. This, indeed, is what is suggested by our translation and punctuation: “Behold the Man.” But in the original, “man” is in the nominative case (ὁ ἄνθρωπος), and the meaning is: Behold, here before you is the Man.
| 6. Cum ergo vidissent eum pontifices et ministri clamabant dicentes: Crucifige, crucifige eum, Dicit eis Pilatus: accipite cum vos et crucifigite: ego enim non invenio in eo causam. | 6. When the chief priests therefore and the servants had seen him, they cried out, saying: Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith to them: Take him you, and crucify him; for I find no cause in him. |
6. As soon as Jesus appeared, the chief-priests and the ministers at once raised the savage cry, fearing lest the sight of His bleeding and mangled body might melt the hearts of the people.
Pilate's words: Take him, you, and crucify him, are thought by some to be ironical, as if he said: Take him you, if you dare. We prefer, however, to understand the words, [pg 333] like the similar words in verse [xviii. 31], as the expression of his desire to please the Jews. He was convinced that Jesus was innocent, and was unwilling himself to condemn Him; yet, to please the Jews, he would permit them to put Him to death.
| 7. Responderunt ei Iudaei: Nos legem habemus, et secundum legem debet mori, quia Filium Dei se fecit. | 7. The Jews answered him: We have a law; and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. |
7. The Jews answered him: We have a law. The Jews reply, that though the Roman governor sees nothing in Him for which to condemn Him, yet, according to their law, Jesus has incurred the penalty of death: “He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die; all the multitude shall stone him” (Lev. xxiv. 16).
Because he made himself the Son of God. Note here that the Jews understood Christ to have claimed to be the natural Son of God. Had they understood Him to speak of Himself merely as an adopted son, they could not have blamed Him, for the just are frequently spoken of in the Old Testament as sons of God. From St. Luke xxiii. 2, then, we know that the Jews understood Jesus to claim to be “Christ, the King;” that is to say, to be the Messias; and from the verse before us we learn that they understood Him to claim to be the Son of God. As such then, and for such claims on His part, He was put to death; and the fact that He chose rather to die, than explain away or withdraw these claims, proves that He was understood correctly.
| 8. Cum ergo audisset Pilatus hunc sermonem, magis timuit. | 8. When Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared the more. |
8. He feared the more. When Pilate heard that Christ claimed to be the Son of God, he became more afraid to interfere with or condemn Him. Already her dream which Pilate's wife had made known to him (Matt. xxvii. 19), and the majesty, serenity, and evident innocence of Jesus, must have greatly impressed the governor.
| 9. Et ingressus est praetorium iterum, et dixit ad Iesum: Unde es tu? Iesus autem responsum non dedit ei. | 9. And he entered into the hall again, and he said to Jesus: Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. |
9. Again, therefore, he entered the palace (πραιτώριον). Jesus, too, was led in, and Pilate [pg 334] questioned Him in reference to the accusation just made against Him. You have been charged with claiming to be the Son of God: Whence art thou? from heaven, or of earth, like other men? Pilate was unworthy of an answer, or else Jesus thought it useless to explain to one who would not understand or believe it His eternal generation from the Father, and accordingly He was silent.
| 10. Dicit ergo ei Pilatus: Mihi non loqueris? nescis quia potestatem habeo crucifigere te et potestatem habeo dimittere te? | 10. Pilate therefore saith to him: Speakest thou not to me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? |
10. Speakest thou not to me? In the original the pronoun, standing at the head of the clause, is emphatic. Speakest thou not to me, the representative of Roman power, who have authority (ἐξουσίαν) to liberate or crucify thee?
Knowest thou not that I have power, &c. The more probable order of the clauses is: “I have power to release thee, and I have power to crucify thee,” the motive of hope standing before that of fear.
| 11. Respondit Iesus: Non haberes potestatem adversum me ullam, nisi tibi datum esset desuper. Propterea qui me tradidit tibi, maius peccatum habet. | 11. Jesus answered: Thou shouldest not have any power against me, unless it were given thee from above. Therefore he that hath delivered me to thee, hath the greater sin. |
11. Pilate's claim to unlimited power over Him makes Jesus again break silence. His words are an implicit admission that Pilate possesses power over Him, but at the same time a reminder that there was One greater than even a Roman governor, without whose permission Pilate could do nothing against Him.
Unless it were given thee from above. From the original, in which we have ἦν δεδομένον, not ἦν δεδομένη (datum, not data), it is clear that the verb has not “power” for its subject, but is to be taken impersonally: Unless it were given thee from above to have such power.
“From above” has been taken by some to refer to the Sanhedrim, as if Christ here referred to it as a higher tribunal than Pilate's; but this view cannot be admitted. Not only is it opposed to the ordinary sense of ἄνωθεν (iii. 31; James i. 17; iii. 15, 17), but it would make our Lord say that Pilate had received his power from the Sanhedrim—a statement which would not be correct. “From above”, then, means: from heaven or from God.
Therefore he that hath delivered (παραδούς, not παραδιδούς) me to thee hath the greater sin. Some, as Kuinoel, hold that διὰ τοῦτο is here [pg 335] merely a formula of transition (like the Hebrew לבן, Judg. viii. 7, &c.), of which no account is to be taken. The meaning is then sufficiently clear. But if, as most commentators take for granted, we are to give διὰ τοῦτο its ordinary inferential force, the connection is very obscure, and has been variously explained.
(a) Some thus: Because you exercise your power unwillingly therefore your sin is less than that of Caiphas and the Sanhedrim, who have delivered me to you, and are forcing you to condemn me. But it is rightly objected against this interpretation, that the word “unwillingly,” upon which it turns, is neither expressed nor suggested in the text.
(b) Others thus: Since you have received from God power over Me, but have not had an opportunity of judging of My character, therefore your sin is less than that of Caiphas and the Sanhedrim, who with the clearest evidences of My Divinity before them have yet condemned Me and delivered Me to you. But it is objected to this view also, that the words upon which the interpretation hinges, are not found in the text.
(c) Others thus: since you possess lawful authority, therefore the Sanhedrim is more guilty in handing Me over to you than it would be, if you possessed not this authority. For, in handing Me over to you, they try to brand Me as a malefactor, and they surrender Me to one who has the power to put Me to death, even by the cruel death of crucifixion. In this view, held by Toletus, the sin of the Sanhedrim is compared, not with that of Pilate, but with what their own sin would have been, had they merely brought Jesus before some unlawful tribunal.
The last connection, though, perhaps, not sufficiently obvious, is the most natural. The meaning of the whole verse is: You have lawful authority indeed, but not independently of God; and since you have lawful authority, therefore, My accusers are the more guilty.
The words “he that hath delivered me to thee” refer primarily to Caiphas, the high-priest, but include the Sanhedrim with him in the responsibility for delivering up Christ.
| 12. Et exinde quaerebat Pilatus dimittere eum. Iudaei autem clamabant, dicentes: Si hunc dimittis, non es amicus Caesaris: omnis enim qui se regem facit contradicit Caesari. | 12. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying: If thou release this man, thou art not Cesar's friend. For whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Cesar. |
12. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him. Pilate, who had hitherto tried to shirk the trial of Jesus, or to [pg 336] induce the Jews to call for His release, now “sought” himself to release Him. At this juncture, when all other motives had failed to move Pilate, the Jews exasperated charge him with being the enemy of Cæsar, if he refuse to condemn one who claimed to be a sovereign within Cæsar's dominions. Their words conveyed to Pilate that they would denounce him to Cæsar, in case he persisted in refusing to condemn Jesus. Tiberius (14-37 a.d.), who was Roman Emperor at the time, was, according to Suetonius (Vit. Tib., c. 58), a most suspicious tyrant, and one with whom, as Tacitus tells us: “Majestatis crimen omnium accusationum complementum erat” (Ann. iii. 38).
| 13. Pilatus autem cum audisset hos sermones, adduxit foras Iesum: et sedit pro tribunali, in loco qui dicitur Lithostrotos, hebraice autem Gabbatha. | 13. Now when Pilate had heard these words, he brought Jesus forth; and sat down in the judgment seat, in the place that is called Lithostrotos, and in Hebrew Gabbatha. |
13. Now when Pilate had heard these words, he brought Jesus forth. Pilate, through fear of the Emperor, at length gave way, and Jesus, who had remained within the house after the interrogation (verses 9-11), while Pilate was signifying his own intention to the people (verse 12), was now brought forth, and Pilate formally took his seat to pass sentence of death.
In the place that is called Lithostrotos, and in Hebrew Gabbatha. The Rev. Vers. renders: “At a place called the Pavement, but in Hebrew Gabbatha.” The judgment-seat was usually in front of the Praetorium, on an elevated platform. The Syro-Chaldaic word Gabbatha means a high place, probably from the root גבה (Gabhah), and such high places were usually paved with many-coloured stones, hence the name “Lithostrotos” (from λίθος, a stone, and στρωτός, covered, or paved). Suetonius (Caes. 8, 46) says that Julius Cæsar carried such a pavement with him on his expeditions.
| 14. Erat autem parasceve paschae, hora quasi sexta, et dicit Iudaeis: Ecce rex vester. | 14. And it was the parasceve of the pasch, about the sixth hour, and he saith to the Jews: Behold your king. |
14. And it was the parasceve of the Pasch. “Parasceve” (Gr. παρασκευή) means preparation, or day of preparation, and the expression: “the [pg 337] parasceve of the Pasch” might mean the day of preparation for the Paschal feast, and hence the day before the feast began. This, indeed, is the meaning given to the phrase by all those who hold that Christ, in the last year of His mortal life, celebrated the Paschal Supper a day before the Jews.[123] They hold that St. John here signifies that the Jewish Pasch had not yet begun. But the phrase may have, and we believe has, a different meaning. We know from St. Mark that “Parasceve” was another name for Friday; “It was the Parasceve, that is, the day before the Sabbath” (Mark xv. 42). Friday naturally enough got this name, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Sabbath.
By “the parasceve of the Pasch,” then, we understand the Friday of the Paschal week, and we take it that St. John here indicates the day of the week, as in the words immediately following he indicates the hour of the day. His readers, some of whom were, doubtless, acquainted with the Synoptic Gospels, would be already aware that this day was the first of the Paschal week, and not the eve of the festival. See above on [xiii. 1].
About the sixth hour. A very great difficulty arises from a comparison of this account with that of St. Mark. For St. Mark says: “And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.... And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour” (Mark xv. 25, 33).
Thus, while St. John represents our Lord as condemned about the sixth hour, St. Mark represents Him as already crucified at the third hour. How, it is asked, could He be crucified at the third hour, if He was not condemned till the sixth?
Many solutions of this difficulty have been proposed, but some of them are so improbable, that we will not delay upon them. When, for instance, St. Augustine says that St. Mark, in stating that the Jews crucified Jesus at the third hour, means that at that time they crucified Him with their tongues by calling for His crucifixion, it is plain from the whole context of St. Mark that such a view cannot be admitted; because he evidently speaks of the real nailing of Jesus to the cross. Thus he says: “And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the inscription of his cause was written over, The King of the Jews. And with him they crucify two thieves, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.... And they that passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying: [pg 338] ... save thyself, coming down from the cross” (Mark xv. 25-30).
But, setting aside the less probable methods of reconciliation, we must notice four which have found favour with commentators.
(1) Maldonatus and many of the older commentators hold that besides the division of the Jewish day into twelve hours, there was also another division into four periods, corresponding to the four watches of the night.[124] Thus, at the Pasch, which occurred about the time of the vernal equinox, these four periods, or “hours,” would be respectively—(a) from 6 to 9 a.m.; (b) from 9 a.m. to noon; (c) from noon to 3 p.m.; and (d) from 3 to 6 p.m. According to Mald., these periods were called respectively, the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth “hour.” He curiously supposes, however, that sometimes any one of these “hours” or periods was referred to either by the name of the hour with which it began, or by the name of that with which it closed. Hence the period between 9 a.m. and noon, or, to speak more correctly, a time within that period—about 11.30 a.m.—is referred to by St. Mark as the third hour; while a time within the same period, but about an hour earlier is referred to by St. John as the sixth hour.
This view is now generally abandoned, and not without reason. For, in the first place, there are no solid grounds for believing that the fourfold division of the Jewish day here supposed, ever existed. In the second place, even if it had existed, we should require a great deal of proof, indeed, before we could believe that the “hours” were numbered in so strange and confusing a fashion.
(2) More probable than the preceding is the view of Cornely (Introd., vol. iii., § 73, 3). He, too, like Mald., holds the above fourfold division of the day, but says that the divisions were called respectively, the first, third, sixth, and ninth hour. Now, the Synoptic Evangelists, he says, follow this fourfold division of the day; and, hence, St. Mark's third hour is the time from 9 a.m. to noon. St. John, on the other hand, reckons according to the more accurate Jewish method of dividing the day into twelve equal parts; and, therefore, his phrase, “about the sixth hour,” means about noon. Cornely thinks that the vagueness of the phrase: “About the sixth hour” justifies us in supposing [pg 339] that the time when Pilate passed sentence upon our Lord, according to St. John, may have been as early as half-past ten. Thus, condemned about half-past ten, Jesus could be led out to Calvary and put upon the cross before noon; in other words, while, as St. Mark says, it was still the third hour.
Though this view is more probable than the preceding, we cannot accept it. For it supposes, like the preceding, a division of the day into four “hours,” for which Cornely offers no evidence any more than Maldonatus. Moreover, we cannot bring ourselves to believe that St. John would refer to a time so early as half-past ten as “about the sixth hour.”
(3) Others think that while St. Mark follows the Jewish division of the day, and, therefore counts the hours from sunrise, St. John, on the other hand, follows the Greek method, and counts them from midnight. Thus, about the time of the equinox, St. Mark's “third hour” would mean about 9 a.m., while St. John's “about the sixth hour” would mean about 6 a.m. According to this view, our Lord was condemned about 6 a.m., and nailed to the cross about 9 a.m.
Against this view, it is held by many writers that St. John, like the other Evangelists, counts the hours of the day from sunrise, that is to say, according to the Jewish method.[125]
But a still more serious difficulty against this view arises from the difficulty of finding time for all the events of the morning of the Crucifixion between day-dawn and 6 a.m.—the time at which, in this opinion, our Lord was condemned by Pilate. “Those events ... were—(1) the meeting of the Council; (2) the procession to Pilate's Court; (3) the various incidents recorded by the four Evangelists on the occasion of our Lord's first appearance before Pilate's tribunal; (4) the sending of our Lord to Herod; (5) the interview between our Lord and Herod; (6) the mocking of our Lord by Herod's soldiers; (7) the [pg 340] return to the Court of Pilate; (8) the scourging; (9) the crowning with thorns; (10) the mocking of our Lord by the Roman soldiers; (11) the incident of the ‘Ecce Homo,’ and (12) the final interview, within the Praetorium, between our Lord and Pilate, at the close of which Pilate came forth, and, after a final effort to obtain the liberation of our Lord, took his place on the judgment seat, ‘and it was now about the sixth hour.’
(4) “It would seem, then, that the most satisfactory solution of the difficulty is that given by the great majority of modern commentators—Catholic as well as Protestant—namely, that an error has crept into the text of St. John's Gospel, and that the true reading of the passage in question there (xix. 14), is to be obtained by substituting ‘third’ for ‘sixth.’
“Manifestly, such a correction of the text removes the difficulty we are considering. On the one hand, it leaves abundance of time before Pilate's sentence—three or four hours—for the events of the earlier part of the morning. On the other hand, it leaves quite sufficient time—an interval, it may be supposed, of nearly an hour—between the passing of the sentence and the actual crucifixion; for St. John's statement, that it was ‘about’ the third hour, might surely be understood of any time between half-past eight and nine o'clock; and St. Mark's words are quite consistent with the supposition that our Lord was crucified at any time between nine and ten.
“And it is not to be supposed that the emendation of the text is suggested merely on a priori grounds. For (1) this reading is actually found in one of the five Greek MSS. of the New Testament that rank highest in antiquity and authority—Codex D. (Cantabrigiensis or Bezae): this MS dates probably from the 5th or 6th century. Moreover (2) we have in its favour the very strong testimony of an ancient writer, the author of the Chronicon Paschale (circ. a.d. 630), who adopts this reading on the authority of many ‘accurate copies,’ and mentions the striking fact that the clause was thus read in St. John's original autograph of his Gospel, then extant, and, of course, deeply venerated by the faithful in the Church at Ephesus.” (See Patrizzi, De Evangeliis, lib. ii., n. 195.)
“But, it may be objected, is it not a somewhat forced hypothesis to suppose that an interchange of two words so dissimilar as τρίτη and ἕκτη,—the Greek words for ‘third’ and ‘sixth’ respectively—could have occurred by an error of transcription? By no [pg 341] means. For, in the first place, it must be remembered that the usage was almost universal of using the numeral characters—which, in Greek consist of letters of the alphabet—instead of writing the words in full. Thus the change would consist merely in the substitution of one letter for another. But, furthermore, it is essential to explain that when the ancient MSS. of the Greek Testament were written, it was the usage to employ only capital, or, as they are called, uncial letters—thus those MSS. themselves are commonly known as uncial. Now, since the character by which the numeral 3 was represented was gamma, the third letter of the Greek alphabet, its uncial form was Γ. The character by which the numeral 6 was represented was the now obsolete digamma, at one time the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet: its uncial form was Ϝ.
“Thus then we find that the error which, it is suggested, has crept into this verse of the text of St. John consisted merely in the interchange of the characters Ϝ and Γ—a mistake so easily made that its very facility constitutes a strong antecedent probability in favour of the view that it, in fact, occurred.”[126]
In this view, which seems to us the most probable, Christ was condemned about the third hour. As the third hour at the season of the Pasch extended from about 8 till 9 a.m., St. Mark's “third hour” may refer to a time immediately after 8 a.m. This opinion allows abundance of time for the events which on that Good Friday morning preceded the sentence of death. For, as the sun at the Pasch rose about 6 a.m., day-dawn began about half-past four; and thus we have nearly four hours from the assembling of the Sanhedrim, before which Jesus was led at dawn, till the sentence was pronounced upon Him by Pilate. In this view, our Lord was put upon the cross about 9 a.m.
Behold your king. This, like Pilate's words in the next verse, was probably said to annoy the Jews because they had forced him to condemn Jesus.
| 15. Illi autem clamabant: Tolle, tolle, crucifige eum. Dicit eis Pilatus: Regem vestrum crucifigam? Responderunt pontifices: Non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem. | 15. But they cried out: Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith to them: Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered: We have no king but Cesar. |
15. We have no king but Caesar. Though the Jews were at this time chafing under the dominion of the Romans, [pg 342] the chief priests, blinded by their hatred of Christ, here proclaimed their submission to the Roman yoke.
| 16. Tunc ergo tradidit eis ilium ut crucifigeretur. Susceperunt autem Iesum, et eduxerunt. | 16. Then therefore he delivered him to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him forth. |
16. And now Pilate at last delivered Jesus to them to be crucified, having first, as St. Matthew tells us, gone through the vain ceremony of washing his hands, as if he could thus wash his soul from the guilt of weakly consenting to Christ's death!
| 17. Et baiulans sibi crucem, exivit in eum qui dicitur Calvariae locum, hebraice autem Golgotha: | 17. And bearing his own cross he went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha. |
17. The words “and led him forth,” are probably not genuine. We learn from the Synoptic Evangelists that Jesus was now mocked, stripped of the purple cloak, and clothed with His own garments. Then, like Isaac of old (Gen. xxii. 6), bearing the wood on which He was to suffer, Jesus went forth (comp. [xviii. 1]) to the place where He was crucified. By Jewish as well as Roman law the execution should take place outside the city; Numb. xv. 35; 3 K. xxi. 13. And Cicero says: Quid enim attinuit, cum Mamertini more atque instituto suo, crucem fixissent post urbem in via Pompeia, &c. (Verr. v. 66). Calvary, which is now within the walls of Jerusalem, was then outside them, lying to the west of the city. A very old tradition represents Jesus as falling three times beneath the cross on His way to Calvary; and the three Synoptic Evangelists tell us that Simon of Cyrene[127], probably a Jew who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Pasch, was forced to carry the cross. It is disputed whether Simon was made to bear the cross alone [pg 343] or merely to assist Jesus. The latter view is frequently followed in paintings, but the former seems more probable. Jesus was now worn and weak, and as the Jews were impatient to hurry on to the place of punishment; perhaps, too, through a fear that He might otherwise die on the way and deprive them of the pleasure of seeing Him writhing on the cross, they would be more likely to relieve Him from even helping to carry the cross. “Nota,” says A Lapide, “non videri Simonem crucem gestasse cum Christo hac ratione, ut Christus priorem crucis partem, Simon posteriorem portaret, uti pingunt pictores; sed ipsum solum totam Christi praeeuntis crucem gestasse” (A Lap. on St. Matt. xxvii. 32).
St. Luke alone mentions the incident of the women of Jerusalem, who followed Jesus bewailing and lamenting for Him (Luke xxii. 27-31). A very ancient tradition represents the Blessed Virgin as meeting Jesus in this sad procession to Calvary.
Calvaria in the Vulgate is not a proper name. “It is simply the Latin for κρανίον, a bare skull, and used in Vulgate only here (Matt.) and in the parallel passages of Mark, Luke, and John when describing the crucifixion—nowhere else in the Old or New Testament. Golgotha was the Hebrew name of the spot where our Lord was crucified. The pure Hebrew form of the word גלגלת (Gulgoleth), meaning a skull (from גלל (galal) to roll, to be round), is found in Judges ix. 53. Thence came the Chaldaic (rather we should say, Syro-Chaldaic), Gulgalta, abbreviated into Golgotha. But why was the place called Golgotha, or skull? Either because criminals were commonly executed on that spot, and many skulls were found there bleaching in the sun (St. Jerome and most modern Catholic comm.); or the mound was skull-like (St. Cyril of Jerusalem alludes to this view, but refutes it); or (according to tradition) the skull of the first man, Adam, was buried there (Orig., St. Epiph., and nearly all the fathers) ...: In accordance with this opinion (of the fathers), we see so often in paintings and pictures a skull placed at the foot of the cross. Although we read constantly in sermons of the hill of Calvary, there is little to show that there was any hill or mound on the spot named Golgotha. St. Cyril of Jerusalem objects to the derivation of Calvary from the mound being skull-shaped, because he says there was no hill there. In the whole history of the Passion no mention is made of the mount or hill of Calvary.... The traditional spot is simply on a high ground, like Holborn in London, or Patrick's-hill in [pg 344] Dublin, or the Pantheon in Paris” (Dr. M'Carthy, on St. Matthew, xxvii. 33).
| 18. Ubi crucifixerunt eum, et cum eo alios duos hinc et hinc, medium autem Iesum. | 18. Where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the midst. |
18. Whether Jesus was nailed to the cross while it was lying upon the ground, or whether the cross was first erected and He then raised up to it by ropes and ladders, is disputed.[128]
As to the shape of the cross, too, on which He was crucified, there is a slight difference of opinion. Setting aside the crux simplex, which was merely an upright stake, the crux compacta, so called from the parts being joined together, was threefold: “decussata (cut into two equal parts), like the letter X; commissa, like the letter T, and immissa, or Latin +, which differs from the commissa, by having the long upright beam projecting over the transverse bar” (M'Carthy). The almost unanimous tradition of the fathers holds that Christ died upon the Latin cross, and there is no reason to doubt that this is correct.
And with him two others. These are described as “robbers” (λῃισταί), by St. Matt. (xxvii. 38), and St. Mark (xv. 27), and as “malefactors” by St. Luke (xxiii. 32). It may possibly have been to add to His disgrace and shame that the Jews had these punished together with Jesus. “And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith: And with the wicked he was reputed” (Mark xv. 28).
| 19. Scripsit autem et titulum Pilatus: et posuit super crucem, Erat autem scriptum: Iesus Nazarenus, rex Iudaeorum. | 19. And Pilate wrote a title also: and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. |
19. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. It was usual to indicate in some such way the name and offence of those crucified, and so Pilate had an inscription placed over the head of Jesus, giving His name, and the reason why He suffered. We should have expected, however, that Pilate would have caused to be written: Jesus of Nazareth who claimed to be king of the Jews. But no, either to annoy the Jews, or by an over-ruling Providence, Pilate wrote: “King of the Jews,” thus [pg 345] proclaiming Christ's royal dignity even while he crucified Him.
The title is slightly different in all four Evangelists. Hic est Jesus Rex Judaeorum (Matthew); Rex Judaeorum (Mark); Hic est Rex Judaeorum (Luke); Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum (John).
It is very probable that St. John gives the precise words of the title, the others the substance. For all that is at present legible[129] of the Hebrew text of the title agrees exactly with St. John.
The title, written on a whitened wooden tablet, together with the true cross, nails, and lance, was discovered during the excavations ordered by an English woman, St. Helen, the mother of Constantine the Great, about the year 326 a.d. The title was placed by St. Helen in the Church of the Holy Cross on the Esquiline, in Rome, where it is still venerated. See Dr. Donovan's Rome, Ancient and Modern, vol. i., p. 508.
| 20. Hunc ergo titulum multi Iudaeorum legerunt: quia prope civitatem erat locus, ubi crucifixus est Iesus: et erat scriptum hebraice, graece, et latine. | 20. This title therefore many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. |
20. The place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city. Calvary was less than a mile from the centre of Jerusalem, and as the city was then crowded, many read the title. The title was in three languages, that all might be able to read it. The Jews resident in Palestine could read the Syro-Chaldaic; the strangers could read the Greek; and the Roman soldiers, the Latin. It was formerly held by some commentators that the three inscriptions were in Latin, but written in Syro-Chaldaic, Greek, and Latin characters, respectively. This opinion, however, has nothing to recommend it. The obvious sense of the verse before us, and the relics of the title, prove that the inscription was in three different languages. Many authorities reverse the order of the two last clauses in this verse: “in Latin, and in Greek.”
| 21. Dicebant ergo Pilato pontifices Iudaeorum: Noli scribere, Rex Iudaeorum: sed quia ipse dixit: Rex sum Iudaeorum. | 21. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Write not, the king of the Jews, but that he said: I am the king of the Jews. |
21. Then the chief priests. Rather, “the chief priests of the Jews, therefore,” &c.
| 22. Respondit Pilatus: Quod scripsi, scripsi. | 22. Pilate answered: What I have written, I have written. |
22. What I have written, I have written. Pilate, already tired of the painful business, and disgusted with the Jews, refused to make any change in what he had written.
| 23. Milites ergo cum crucifixissent eum, acceperunt vestimenta eius (et fecerunt quatuor partes: unicuique militi partem), et tunicam. Erat autem tunica inconsutilis, desuper contexta per totum. | 23. The soldiers therefore when they had crucified him, took his garments (and they made four parts, to every soldier a part) and also his coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. |
23. It was the custom to give the clothes to the executioners. The tunic was the inner garment worn next the skin, and reaching from the neck to the ankles. It was usually fastened round the neck with a clasp.
| 24. Dixerunt ergo ad invicem: Non scindamus eam, sed sortiamur de illa cuius sit. Ut scriptura impleretur, dicens: Partiti sunt vestimenta mea sibi: et in vestem meam miserunt sortem. Et milites quidem haec fecerunt. | 24. They said then one to another: Let us not cut it, but let us cast lots for it whose it shall be; that the scripture might be fulfilled, saying: They have parted my garments among them: and upon my vesture they have cast lots. And the soldiers indeed did these things. |
24. As Christ's tunic was seamless, and the soldiers thought it a pity to tear it, they cast lots for it; God so ordaining, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. According to an old tradition, the tunic had been woven for Jesus by the Blessed Virgin's own hands.
| 25. Stabant autem iuxta crucem Iesu mater eius, et soror matris eius, Maria Cleophae, et Maria Magdalene. | 25. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. |
25. By the cross. There is no contradiction between this and the Synoptic Evangelists (Matt. xxvii. 55; Mark xv. 40; Luke xxiii. 49), who represent the women as [pg 347] standing “afar off;” for they refer to a time subsequent to Christ's death, St. John to a time when He was hanging on the cross still alive.
His mother's sister. Mary of Cleophas was the wife of Cleophas, and mother of the Apostle James the Less. She was a cousin of the Blessed Virgin. Some writers, however, prefer to think, that she is called a “sister,” because her husband Cleophas was brother to St. Joseph.
| 26. Cum vidisset ergo Iesus matrem, et discipulum stantem quem diligebat, dicit matri suae: Mulier, ecce filius tuus. | 26. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing, whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. |
| 27. Deinde dicit discipulo: Ecce mater tua. Et ex illa hora accepit eam discipulus in sua. | 27. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own. |
26, 27. Woman (γύναι) is the same term by which Jesus addressed His mother at the marriage feast of Cana (John [ii. 4]). Its use on the present sad, solemn occasion were itself sufficient proof that the term implies no disrespect. (See above on [ii. 4].) The virgin disciple is here commended to the Blessed Virgin's care, to be loved and treated as her son; and she, in turn, to His care, to be loved and respected and supported as a mother. There is no reason for doubting the common opinion that St. Joseph was dead at this time; had he been still alive, the Blessed Virgin would, doubtless, have remained under his care.
To his own (εἰς τὰ ἴδια, i.e. δώματα). The meaning is that he took her to where he himself abode. He may have had a house of his own, for his father seems to have been a man of some means (Mark i. 20), and the expression would most naturally refer to his own house (Acts xxi. 6). But it is possible, too, that he merely lodged in another's house. In [xvi. 32], it is predicted that the Apostles should be scattered every man to his own (εἰς τὰ ἴδια), and very few of these poor Galilean fishermen can have owned houses in Jerusalem.
Regarding the common belief that St. John, at the foot [pg 348] of the cross, represented the whole human race, or, at least, all the faithful, it must be said that the fathers make no mention of this view, and that there is nothing in the obvious literal sense of the passage to indicate that St. John held any such representative capacity.
| 28. Postea sciens Iesus quia omnia consummata sunt, ut consummaretur scriptura, dixit: Sitio. | 28. Afterwards Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst. |
28. Afterwards, when three o'clock was come, Jesus, knowing that He had done all for which He had been sent, and that the prophecies regarding the Messias had been fulfilled in Himself, in order that one remaining prophecy might be accomplished, said: I thirst. Sorrow, and suffering, and the loss of blood had exhausted the humours of the body, and naturally produced thirst.
| 29. Vas ergo erat positum aceto plenum. Illi autem spongiam plenam aceto, hyssopo circumponentes, obtulerunt ori eius. | 29. Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar. And they putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to his mouth. |
29. Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar. Some think that the “vinegar” was the posca, or thin wine, which was the ordinary drink of the Roman soldiers, and that it was there on this occasion for their use. But the fact that the sponge and hyssop seem to have been at hand, provided apparently for the sake of the victims, makes it very probable that the vinegar also was provided on their account. We must carefully distinguish this occasion from another referred to by SS. Matt. and Mark, prior to the crucifixion (Matt. xxvii. 34; Mark xv. 23). These Evangelists refer to the present occasion also, but they speak of only one who took the sponge, and gave Christ to drink (Matthew xxvii. 48; Mark xv. 36). We may reconcile St. John's account with theirs, by saying that he simply uses the indefinite plural for the singular; or that he ascribes to many what was done by one with their approval. One of those present, then, probably a soldier, took a sponge,[130] and soaked it in vinegar, and fastened it around the point of a sprig of hyssop, and then reached it up to our Lord's [pg 349] mouth that He might suck it. Thus was the Scripture accomplished: “And in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink” (Ps. lxviii. 22). Many think that the vinegar was given to hasten death.
Hyssop is an aromatic plant, which grows upon walls. Its stalks are less than two feet long, so that our Lord's mouth seems not to have been raised higher above the ground than such a stalk in a man's outstretched arm could reach.
| 30. Cum ergo accepisset Iesus acetum, dixit: Consummatum est. Et inclinato capite tradidit spirituum. | 30. Jesus therefore when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost. |
30. It is consummated; that is, all the purpose of My life is completed; only one thing remains, that I finish My course and crown My life and sufferings by My death. Then, as St. Luke tells us: “Jesus crying with a loud voice, said: Father into thy hands I commend my spirit. And saying this he gave up the ghost” (Luke xxiii. 46).
He gave up the ghost. He gave up His soul into the hands of His eternal Father. The expression used seems to be employed with the special purpose of showing that His death itself was a voluntary act (comp. x. [17], [18]). “Spiritum cum verbo sponte dimisit, praevento carnificis officio.” (Tertull. Apol., ch. 21, p. 58.) And St. Augustine on this verse says beautifully: “Quis ita dormit quando voluerit, sicut Jesus mortuus est quando voluit? Quis ita vestem ponit quando voluerit, sicut se carne exuit quando vult? Quis ita cum voluerit abit, quomodo ille cum voluit obiit? Quanta speranda vel timenda potestas est judicantis, si apparuit tanta morientis?”
It may be useful to set down here together what are commonly referred to as the seven last “words” of Jesus on the cross. The Synoptic Evangelists record four of them, and St. John the other three. The first was: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke xxiii. 34); the second, addressed to the good thief: “Amen, I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise” (Luke xxiii. 43); the third: “Woman behold thy son,” together with the words addressed to St. John: “Behold thy mother” (John xix. 26, 27); the fourth: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew xxvii. 46; Mark xv. 34); the fifth: “I thirst” (John xix. 28); the sixth: “It is consummated” (John xix. 30); and the seventh: [pg 350] “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke xxiii. 46).
| 31. Iudaei ergo (quoniam parasceve erat), ut non remanerent in cruce corpora sabbato (erat enim magnus dies ille sabbati), rogaverunt Pilatum ut frangerentur eorum crura, et tollerentur. | 31. Then the Jews (because it was the parasceve) that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the sabbath-day (for that was a great sabbath-day) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. |
31. (Because it was the parasceve) that the bodies, &c. We would take away the brackets. The fact that it was Friday, and that the Sabbath was, therefore, near, made the Jews anxious to have the bodies removed. This verse strongly confirms the view we hold (see above on verse 14) that St. John means by parasceve, the day before the Sabbath, that is to say, Friday; not the day before the Paschal feast. For, in the present verse the fact that it was the parasceve is evidently taken to imply that the next day would be the Sabbath.
For that was a great sabbath day. The better-supported Greek reading would be rendered: For great was the day of that sabbath (ἐκεινου τοῦ σαββάτου). The meaning is that this Sabbath was specially solemn, because it was the Sabbath that fell within the Paschal week.
And that they might be taken away. We read in Deut. xxi. 22, 23: “When a man hath committed a crime for which he is punished with death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a gibbet, his body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the same day.” It was more than usually necessary to have the bodies buried on the same day in the present case, as the next day was to be a Sabbath, and a very special Sabbath, too. And as the Sabbath began at sunset, hence the anxiety of the Jews [pg 351] to have the bodies removed. The breaking of the legs was intended to insure death. With the Romans it was usual to let the bodies of the crucified hang till they rotted.
| 32. Venerunt ergo milites: et primi quidem fregerunt crura, et alterius, qui crucifixus est cum eo. | 32. The soldiers therefore came: and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him. |
| 33. Ad Iesum autem cum venissent, ut viderunt eum iam mortuum, non fregerunt eius crura: | 33. But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. |
| 34. Sed unus militum lancea latus eius aperuit, et continuo exivit sanguis et aqua. | 34. But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately there came out blood and water. |
34. Opened (Vulg., aperuit) his side. It is very much more probable that the verb in the original is ἔνυξεν (pierced) not ἤνοιξεν (opened). A spear; (λόνχη). This was the long lance of a horseman. The lance is now preserved and venerated in Rome, in St. Peter's. It wants the point, which is kept in the holy chapel in Paris.
It is uncertain whether it was Christ's right side or left that was pierced with a lance. According to the Ethiopian Version, and the apocryphal Gospels of Nicodemus and the Infancy, it was the right. Thus a very early tradition points to the right side, and it was on his right side, too, that St. Francis was marked when he received the sacred stigmata.
And immediately there came out blood and water. It is disputed whether this flow of blood and water was natural or miraculous.
(1) Some hold that each flow was miraculous, because in a dead body blood does not flow and water is not found in the region of the heart.
(2) Others, on the contrary, hold that in each case the flow was quite natural, because in a dead body the clot or red corpuscles become separated from the serum or watery substance of the blood, and both would naturally flow out when Christ's side was pierced. This opinion, however, is improbable, as the best modern physiologists say it would require four hours after death to effect this separation,[131] and no such length of time can be admitted between the death of Christ at three o'clock and the piercing of his side, for he had to be buried before sunset, that is to say, at the latest, about 6 p.m.
(3) Hence others hold that Christ's heart had broken, and that the blood which had therefore flowed into the pericardium, or sheath of the heart, had become, when extravasated, rapidly dissolved into its constituent elements. This view is held by some writers of great authority. See Dr. Stroud's Treatise on the Physical Cause of the Death of Christ. Against it, however, we have the opinion of physiologists, that the heart never breaks except in those in whom the organism has been long diseased; and it is contrary [pg 352] to the common opinion that Christ took or had a diseased body, or any diseased organ.
(4) Hence, with Corluy, we think the most probable view is, that the blood flowed naturally from a body only a short time dead, the water miraculously. Certainly the fathers generally seem to see in this flow of blood and water a mystery, something that was not ordinary or natural, and many think that our Evangelist himself, in the next verse, insists upon the truth of what he says, as if it were something wholly unnatural and difficult to believe. It may, however, be replied to this latter argument that he insists upon the truth of the facts, not because anything miraculous and difficult to believe had taken place, but because there was question of the fulfilment of two important Messianic prophecies.
According to the fathers, the flow of blood typified the Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist, that of water, the Sacrament of Baptism. Thus St. Cyril of Alex.: “Lancea latus ejus perfodiunt, unde cruor aqua mistus scaturiit, quod Eulogiae mysticae et baptismatis imago quaedam erat atque primitiae.”
| 35. Et qui vidit, testimonium perhibuit: et verum est testimonium eius. Et ille scit quia vera dicit: ut et vos credatis. | 35. And he that saw it hath given testimony: and his testimony is true. And he knoweth that he saith true; that you also may believe. |
35. And he that saw (hath seen) it hath given testimony. “It” is not represented in the original, and ought not to stand in our English version, as it seems to determine the reference to be merely to the sight of the flow of blood and water. We take the object of the verb “hath seen,” to be all that is stated in the two preceding verses; namely, that Christ's legs were not broken, that His side was pierced, and that blood and water flowed. That this is the meaning is proved by the next verse.
That you also may believe. The sense is not that you also may believe that blood and water flowed, or that Christ really died; but, with Beel.; Bisp., Corl., that you also, as well as I, may more firmly believe that Jesus is the Messias foretold by the prophets. These words, then, express the full purpose that our Evangelist had in view in testifying to the facts just stated. ἵνα (that) may be taken to depend upon the three preceding clauses, or upon the words immediately preceding: “saith true.”
| 36. Facta sunt enim haec, ut scriptura impleretur: Os non comminuetis ex eo. | 36. For these things were done that the scripture might be fulfilled: You shall not break a bone of him. |
36. For these things were done. “For” establishes the connection, and proves, we [pg 353] think, the view we hold. It is as if the Evangelist said: these things happened, and I insist upon their truth, because they afford a strong argument why you should believe that Jesus was the Messias.
You shall not break a bone of him, had reference in its literal sense (Exod. vii. 46; Num. ix. 12) to the Paschal lamb; yet, St. John tells us here that the prophecy was fulfilled in Christ. Hence we have here an invincible argument for the existence of a mystical sense in Scripture.
| 37. Et iterum alia scriptura dicit: Videbunt in quem transfixerunt. | 37. And again another scripture saith: They shall look on him whom they pierced. |
37. The quotation is from Zach. xii. 10, according to the Hebrew text, except that, perhaps, the correct reading in Zach. is “on me,” and not “on him.” The passage in Zach. is Messianic in its literal sense, and the context shows that there is question of looking upon Jesus in sorrow and regret for what had taken place. We know from St. Luke that “all the multitude returned (from Calvary) striking their breasts” (xxiii. 48).
| 38. Post haec autem rogavit Pilatum Ioseph ab Arimathaea (eo quod esset discipulus Iesu, occultus autem propter metum Iudaeorum), ut tolleret corpus Iesu. Et permisit Pilatus. Venit ergo, et tulit corpus Iesu. | 38. After these things Joseph of Arimathea (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews) besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave leave. He came therefore and took away the body of Jesus. |
38. After these things. We learn from SS. Matthew and Mark that when Joseph approached Pilate it was evening (Matthew xxvii. 57; Mark xv. 42). Joseph was “a rich man” (Matthew xxvii. 57), “a noble counsellor” (Mark xv. 43), that is a member of the Sanhedrim, “a good and a just man” (Luke xxiii. 50).
Arimathea. Opinion is divided as to whether this was Rama in the tribe of Benjamin (Matt. ii. 18), or Rama (Ramathaimsophim) in the tribe of Ephraim (1 Kings i. 1). The latter, the birthplace of the Prophet Samuel, is called Ramatha in 1 Kings i. 19. St. Luke calls Arimathea “a city of Judea” (Luke xxiii. 51). St. Jerome (Onom. sacr., 2nd Ed., p. 178) identifies Arimathea with Remftis, now Rantieh, on the plain North of Lydda. See Smith's B. D. sub voc.
Secretly. Till now he had been a disciple in secret, but after the death of Christ both he and Nicodemus boldly appeared in public as devoted friends of their dead Master.
And Pilate gave leave. Permission was usually given to the friends of one who had been executed to bury his body. Sometimes, indeed, [pg 354] Roman Governors granted such permission only on receiving money from the friends (Cic., Verr. v. 45), but in the present instance Pilate granted the privilege gratis (“Donavit corpus Jesu,” Mark xv. 45).
We learn from St. Mark that Pilate gave the body only after he had summoned the centurion and learned that Jesus was dead (Mark xv. 44, 45).
He came therefore and took away the body of Jesus. We learn from St. Mark (xv. 46), and St. Luke (xxiii. 53), that he “took down” the body of Jesus, either aiding in or directing the work. Hence he must have returned to the foot of the cross, before the orders given to the soldiers (verses 31, 32) were fully carried out. If we suppose Joseph to have come soon after the Jews (verse 31) to Pilate, the governor, before granting his request, would naturally wish to be certain that Jesus was dead, and would therefore summon the centurion and make inquiry (Mark xv. 44, 45); then Joseph, returning from wherever Pilate was at the time, arrived before the body of our Lord had been taken down by the soldiers.
| 39. Venit autem et Nicodemus, qui venerat ad Iesum nocte primum, ferens mixturam myrrhae et aloës, quasi libras centum. | 39. And Nicodemus also came, he who at first came to Jesus by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. |
39. He who at first came to Jesus by night. The reference is to the visit recorded above in [iii. 1], ff. St. John alone makes mention of Nicodemus on this occasion. The phrase “at first” may imply that Nicodemus visited Christ on other occasions, or it may indicate merely the beginning of Christ's ministry. The present public act of reverence in the light of day, beside a crowded city, is thrown into relief by contrast with the timid visit then paid “by night.”
Bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. [pg 355] “The compound was made of the gum of the myrrh tree, and a powder of the fragrant aloe wood. The amount of the preparation (‘about a hundred pound weight,’ that is, a hundred Roman pounds of nearly twelve ounces) has caused some needless difficulty. The intention of Nicodemus was, without doubt, to cover the body completely with the mass of aromatics. Comp. 2, Chro. (Paralip.) xvi. 14: for this purpose the quantity was not excessive as a costly gift of devotion.” (Westc. in The Speaker's Commentary.)
| 40. Acceperunt ergo corpus Iesu, et ligaverunt illud linteis cum aromatibus, sicut mos est Iudaeis sepelire. | 40. They took therefore the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. |
40. And bound it in linen cloths (ὁθόνια). They bound the body in swathes of linen cloth covered with layers of the aromatic mixture. The Synoptists speak only of “a linen cloth” (σινδών) in which the body was “wrapped.” We may naturally suppose that the body when embalmed was wrapped in a large linen cloth.
A new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid. We learn from St. Matthew (xxvii. 60), that the sepulchre belonged to Joseph, and from all the Synoptists that it was hewn out of a rock, and therefore artificial. As no other body had been buried in the sepulchre, there could be no possible doubt that the body that rose was that of our Lord.
| 41. Erat autem, in loco ubi crucifixus est, hortus, et in horto monumentum novum, in quo nondum quisquam positus erat. | 41. Now there was in the place, where he was crucified, a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid. |
| 42. Ibi ergo propter parasceven Iudaeorum, quia iuxta erat monumentum, posuerunt Iesum. | 42. There therefore because of the parasceve of the Jews they laid Jesus, because the sepulchre was nigh at hand. |
42. Because the sepulchre was nigh at hand. It seems to be implied that if there had been more time, some other sepulchre would have been chosen. As it was, because the Sabbath was at hand they laid Him in the tomb that was most convenient. St. John writing for the Christians of Asia Minor, speaks of “the parasceve of the Jews,” because when he wrote, Saturday was the Parasceve of Christians, the day of rest having been already changed from Saturday to Sunday, in honour of our Blessed Lord's resurrection. (See Acts xx. 7; 1 Cor. xvi. 2.)