1 And the whole multitude of them, rising up, led him to Pilate.
v.1
VERS. 1.-- *They led him away.* They handed him over to the Roman power, that in this manner the Jews might show themselves strangers to his killing, wherein not their innocence but their madness is shown.
2 And they began to accuse him, saying: We have found this man perverting our nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar and saying that he is Christ the king.
3 And Pilate asked him, saying: Art thou the king of the Jews? But he answering, said: Thou sayest it.
v.3
VERS. 3.-- *And Pilate.* etc. Since two things had been objected against him, namely that he forbade the assigned dues to be rendered, and that he called himself Christ, Pilate was able to hear what he had said about the tributes: *Render the things that are Caesar's to Caesar,* and thence, counting this as an open falsehood of no weight, he asked only about what he did not know. *Thou sayest it.* With the same word with which he answered the chief priests he answers the governor also, that by their own sentence both may be condemned.
4 And Pilate said to the chief priests and to the multitudes: I find no cause in this man.
v.4
VERS. 4.-- *I find no cause.* The day before he suffered, the Lord says to the disciples: *The prince of this world cometh, and he hath not anything in me*. But since the prince, that is Pilate, absolves him, in whom he finds nothing worthy of condemnation, see what the Jews do, who search out the truth not from love of equity, but labour to condemn the just man at the goad of envy.-- *He stirreth up the people.* They accuse not him, but themselves. For to have taught the people, and by teaching to have stirred them from the former sluggishness of the body, and by such an act to have passed through from Galilee as far as Judea, that is the whole land of promise, from end to end, is a judgment not of crime but of virtue. And so Pilate, thinking that the Saviour was not even to be questioned about this, but rather having got the occasion, desires to make himself free from judging him.
5 But they were more earnest, saying: He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.
6 But Pilate hearing Galilee, asked if the man were of Galilee?
7 And when he understood that he was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him away to Herod, who was also himself at Jerusalem in those days.
v.7
VERS. 7.-- *And when he knew it.* Lest he should be forced to give sentence against a guiltless man, and one whom he knew to have been handed over out of envy, he sends him to Herod to be heard, that he might be either absolved or condemned by his own tetrarch; but, lest any excuse should remain to the Jews, Herod too, who was a Jew by birth and by religion, was permitted to show what he thought about Christ, so that both regions, both Judea, in which Christ was born, and Galilee, in which he had been reared, might be shown to have conspired in his slaying. *But he answered him nothing.* He was silent and did nothing, because both Herod's unbelief did not deserve to see divine things, and the Lord was avoiding ostentation. And in Herod are signified all the impious, who do not believe the law and the prophets, and cannot see the works of Christ in the Gospel. Therefore, while the chief priests accuse him, he answers few things before Pilate, none before Herod, lest, washing away the charge and being dismissed by the prince, he should put off the profit of the cross.-- *And he mocked him.* That he is despised and mocked in a white garment signifies that for the sins of the whole world the lamb was offered up in chaste flesh, and suffered, and was buried: that he is mocked here clothed in a white garment, and, according to the other Evangelists, in a purple or scarlet one, marks the twofold kind of martyrdom with which the Church is adorned in her sufferings, so that she is white in action, red with blood. For he himself, blooming with the little flowers of his members, brings forth lilies in peace, roses in war. *And he sent him back to Pilate.* He is sent to Herod, he is sent back to Pilate; and although each of the two does not pronounce him guilty, yet each complies with the goads of another's iniquity.
8 And Herod seeing Jesus, was very glad: for he was desirous of a long time to see him, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to see some sign wrought by him.
9 And he questioned him in many words. But he answered him nothing.
10 And the chief priests and the scribes stood by, earnestly accusing him.
11 And Herod with his army set him at nought and mocked him, putting on him a white garment: and sent him back to Pilate.
12 And Herod and Pilate were made friends, that same day: for before they were enemies one to another.
v.12
VERS. 12.-- *And they were made friends.* The abominable compact which Herod and Pilate struck in the killing of Christ, their successors keep by hereditary right, while Jews and Gentiles, disagreeing in mind as they do in race and religion, nevertheless agree in persecuting Christians and in destroying the faith of Christ. In the type of Herod and Pilate, who were made friends through Jesus, the figure of the Jews and of the Gentiles is preserved: so that through Christ's passion a concord of both peoples was to come about, yet in such wise that the Gentile should first receive the kingdom of God, and pass on to the Jew the devotion of his own faith, that they too might clothe with the glory of his majesty the body of Christ, whom before they had despised.
13 And Pilate, calling together the chief priests and the magistrates and the people,
14 Said to them: You have presented unto me this man as one that perverteth the people. And behold I, having examined him before you, find no cause in this man, in those things wherein you accuse him.
v.14
VERS. 14.-- *You have presented.* Mark how great an eagerness Pilate has to release Jesus. First, when they accuse him, he says that he has found no cause in him; then, when they persist in what they have begun, he sends him to Herod, to explore whether he can find any wickedness in him, or whether he decides that he should be released. Then, when Herod's will is known, and no crime found in Jesus, he seeks the sentence of the people, to whom one must be released at the Pasch. Again also a third time, wishing to release him, he asks. But the more carefully he seeks to release him, the more criminal does he find them for his death.
15 No, nor Herod neither. For, I sent you to him: and behold, nothing worthy of death is done to him.
v.15
VERS. 15.-- *No, nor Herod either.* To reproach the hardness of the Jews or of the Gentiles, Pilate confesses that neither he nor Herod found anything in killing and mocking Christ, but that he complied with the shouts of another's cruelty.
16 I will chastise him therefore and release him.
v.16
VERS. 16.-- *I will chastise him therefore,* etc. Pilate absolves Jesus, whom he proves guiltless; but that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, he absolves indeed by judgment him whom nevertheless he crucifies in a mystery.
17 Now of necessity he was to release unto them one upon the feast day.
18 But the whole multitude together cried out, saying: Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas:
v.18
VERS. 18.-- *Away with this man,* etc. Because in place of Jesus they chose a robber, in place of the Saviour a murderer, in place of the giver of life a taker of it away, they deservedly lost salvation and life; and they gave themselves over to robberies and seditions so far that they lost both the homeland and the kingdom which they had preferred to Christ, and to this day have not received back the liberty of soul or of body which they had sold. *Barabbas,* etc. Barabbas, who is interpreted the son of their master or of their father, is himself Antichrist, whom they will prefer to Christ, they to whom it is said: *You are of your father the devil.* Pilate is interpreted the mouth of the hammerer, and signifies the devil, who is the hammer of all matter, through whom God permits the vessels to be tested, and at last crushes him, when he breaks him in the final damnation.
19 Who, for a certain sedition made in the city and for a murder, was cast into prison.
20 And Pilate again spoke to them, desiring to release Jesus.
21 But they cried again, saying: Crucify him, Crucify him.
v.21
VERS. 21.-- *Crucify him, crucify him.* Great cruelty: they seek not only to kill but to crucify him, so that with hands and feet fastened to the wood he might be slain by a lingering death, lest the pain should end too quickly, and that he might long be seen upon the cross.
22 And he said to them the third time: Why, what evil hath this man done? I find no cause of death in him. I will chastise him therefore and let him go.
v.22
VERS. 22.-- *I will chastise him,* etc. This chastisement he offered to the desires of those abominable men by way of mockery and scourging, that they might not rage as far as crucifying. This both the words of John the evangelist and the very column testify, to which the Lord was bound, which to this day shows sure signs of the Lord's blood to those who look upon it. But although Pilate does this, the insatiable fury of the sacrilegious does not cease, but presses the harder, because they had seen the accusation which they had brought against the Lord emptied out by Pilate's careful questioning. At length the shameless men turn themselves to entreaties alone, that what they had not been able to do by accusing or as it were by reasoning, they now accomplish by demanding and by shouting and by accomplishing.
23 But they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And their voices prevailed.
24 And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.
25 And he released unto them him who for murder and sedition had been cast into prison, whom they had desired. But Jesus he delivered up to their will.
v.25
VERS. 25.-- *And he released,* etc. The author of sedition and of murders is released to the Jews, that is, the devil, who for his fault had been driven from the homeland of light and sent into the prison of darkness; and therefore they cannot have peace, because they did not choose the author of peace.
26 And as they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country; and they laid the cross on him to carry after Jesus.
v.26
VERS. 26.-- *They laid hold of one,* etc. First the Lord carried the cross, but afterwards it was laid upon Simon, whom they met as they went out; and this fittingly: *For Christ suffered for us, that you should follow his steps*. But he who wishes to follow him, let him take up his cross and follow. But because Simon was not an Israelite but a Cyrenean, by him the Gentiles are designated, formerly strangers and guests to the testaments, but now in the faith citizens and of the household of God and coheirs of Christ; whence Simon is interpreted obedient, heir of Cyrene. But Simon came from the country place, that is from the village (*pagus*), from which come the pagans, who, strangers to the city of God, are ignorant of city conversation. But Simon, going forth from the village, carries the cross after Jesus, when the peoples of the Gentiles, having forsaken pagan rites, obediently embrace the footsteps of the Lord's passion.
27 And there followed him a great multitude of people and of women, who bewailed and lamented him.
v.27
VERS. 27.-- *There followed him,* etc. But they do not follow the cross with the same mind: the wicked follow that they may look with gladness on him dying; the women, that they might weep for him whom they desired to live, as about to die, as dying, and as dead. Nor is the lamentation of the women alone brought in on this ground, since many men also were grieving, but because the female sex, as more contemptible, could the more freely display before the chief priests who were present what it felt against them. But because *the Lord knoweth who are his*, passing by the crowd of the raging people, he turns his eyes and his face to the women who loved and lamented him. *Who bewailed him.* They were sorrowing for a mortal life, which was to be ended by death, not for the blind men who were killing the physician.
28 But Jesus turning to them, said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me; but weep for yourselves and for your children.
v.28
VERS. 28.-- *Daughters of Jerusalem.* Note, when he calls them sons of Jerusalem, that not only those women who had come with him from Galilee, but also many women, citizens of that same city, had attached themselves to him. *Weep not.* Do not lament me as about to die, whose resurrection can quickly loose death, whose death will destroy death and the very author of death. Rather wash yourselves and your offspring with worthy fountains of tears, lest with the faithless you be condemned in vengeance for my cross.
29 For behold, the days shall come, wherein they will say: Blessed are the barren and the wombs that have not borne and the paps that have not given suck.
v.29
VERS. 29.-- *Behold, the days shall come.* The days of the Roman siege and captivity. It is natural, when captivity threatens and the enemy's slaughter rages through the fields and the cities, that all who are able to escape seek out any high or hidden refuges in which they may hide themselves.
30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us. And to the hills: Cover us.
v.30
VERS. 30.-- *Fall upon us.* This can be understood, by way of surplus, of those who in either sex have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven.
31 For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?
v.31
VERS. 31.-- *For if in the green wood.* The green wood is Christ and his elect, the dry the impious and sinners; whence he says: If then I, who have committed no sin, who am deservedly called the tree of life and bear twelve fruits of grace in each several month, do not go out of this world without the fire of the passion, what torments await those who are empty of fruits, and moreover do not fear to give the tree of life to the flames? And *if now is the time that judgment should begin at the house of God, and all who wish to live godly in Christ suffer persecution,* what is the end of those who do not believe the Gospel?.
32 And there were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death.
v.32
VERS. 32.-- *And there were led also.* That is fulfilled which was said: *And he was reputed with the wicked*. In death he is reputed with the wicked, that in the resurrection he might quicken the wicked, he who, made man for the sake of men, gave to men the power to become the sons of God.
33 And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified him there: and the robbers, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
v.33
VERS. 33.-- *The place of Calvary.* Outside the gate of Jerusalem were places in which the heads of the condemned were struck off, and they were called places of Calvary, that is, of the beheaded. There he is crucified, that, there was the ground of the condemned, the standards of martyrdom might be raised up. *And the robbers,* etc. Execrable in the deed is the iniquity of the Jews, which crucifies the Redeemer of all as though a robber; yet in the mystery he is a good robber, who lay in wait for the devil, to carry off his vessels. By him who is on the right hand is signified the mortification of the flesh for heavenly glory; by him who is on the left, the mortification of the flesh for some cause of this world.
34 And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But they, dividing his garments, cast lots.
v.34
VERS. 34.-- *And Jesus,* etc. Because Luke set himself to write Christ's priesthood, rightly does the Lord intercede with God for his persecutors by the right of a priest, and open paradise to the robber who confesses him; nor does he pray in vain, but obtains it for those who believed after his passion. He does not pray for those who through envy and pride understood him to be the Son of God, and deny and crucify him, but for those who, having a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, knew not what they did. *Dividing.* Of these John speaks more fully. The fourfold garment signifies the Church, which consists of four parts, spread through the whole world, distributed equally, that is, harmoniously, to all the parts. The tunic allotted signifies the unity of all the parts, which is held together by the bond of charity. *Lots.* In the lot the grace of God is commended. For thus it came in one to all, when the lot pleased all; because the grace of God also comes to all in unity, and when the lot is cast it is credited not to anyone's person or merits, but to the hidden judgment of God.
35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers with them derided him, saying: He saved others: let him save himself, if he be Christ, the elect of God.
v.35
VERS. 35.-- *He saved others.* By their own sentence they condemn themselves, who even against their will confess that he saved others. He could indeed have saved himself, but because he himself is the Christ, the elect of God, he was unwilling to come down from the cross. For he who came for this, that he might be crucified for us, for this reason neglected to save himself from the cross: because by dying he took care to save, along with the rest of sinners, even those who crucified him.
36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar,
v.36
VERS. 36.-- *And the soldiers also mocked him,* etc. Note that the Jews deride the name of Christ and of the Son of God, handed down to them by the authority of Scripture. But the soldiers, ignorant of the Scriptures, insult not Christ the elect of God, but the king of the Jews. *And offering him vinegar.* Vinegar were the Jews, degenerating from the wine of the patriarchs. With this vinegar the soldiers give the Lord to drink, whom at their prompting they deliver to death.
37 And saying: If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
38 And there was also a superscription written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
v.38
VERS. 38.-- *And there was also,* etc. These three tongues were pre-eminent above the rest: Hebrew, because of the Jews glorying in the law; Greek, because of the wisdom of the Gentiles; Latin, because of the Romans holding command. Therefore, will they or nill they, the Jews, every kingdom of the world, all worldly wisdom, and all the divine sacraments of the law bear witness that Jesus is the emperor of those who believe and confess him. *This is the king of the Jews.* The title which witnesses that Christ is king is set not below but above the cross, because although on the cross he was suffering in the weakness of a man, yet above the cross he was shining in the majesty of a king; and therefore, when he had been sacrificed, the title was set above him, that it might lie open to all who wished to read, that is, to believe, that through the cross he did not lose his empire but strengthened it.
39 And one of those robbers who were hanged blasphemed him, saying: If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
40 But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing; thou art under the same condemnation?
v.40
VERS. 40.-- *He rebuked him.* The rebuke itself reveals the coming scandal of the cross even among believers, of whom some are on the right hand, others on the left.
41 And we indeed justly: for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done no evil.
42 And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom.
v.42
VERS. 42.-- *Lord, remember me.* Great grace shines out in this robber. He has no member free from the torment except his heart and his tongue; the whole of what he has free, he offers. With the heart he believes, with the mouth he confesses. He had faith, who believed that he would reign whom he saw dying beside him. He had hope, who asked for entrance. He held charity firmly, who both convicted the robber concerning his own iniquity and preached to him the life which he had come to know. Great is his virtue: he confesses him whom he sees dying in human weakness, whom the apostles were denying, whom they had seen working miracles by divine power.
43 And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
v.43
VERS. 43.-- *Amen I say to thee.* A most beautiful example of a conversion to be sought after, in that pardon is so quickly loosed to the robber, and the grace is more abundant than the petition. For the Lord always bestows more than he is asked. He was asking: *Remember me,* etc. The Lord says: *This day thou shalt be with me,* etc. Quickly does the Lord pardon, because that man is quickly converted.
44 And it was almost the sixth hour: and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
v.44
VERS. 44.-- *And there was darkness,* etc. The sun drew back its rays, either that it might not see the Lord hanging, or that the impious blasphemers might not enjoy its light. And note that at the sixth hour, that is, when the sun was about to withdraw from the centre of the world, he is crucified; at daybreak, that is, when the sun rises, he rises again, because *he died for our sins, and rose again for our justification*. When Adam had sinned after midday, that is, when the light of faith had declined, the voice of the Lord is heard; at the same moment of time, therefore, at which he had then shut paradise against the sinning Adam, the Lord now opens it to the penitent robber.
45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
v.45–46
VERS. 45, 46.-- *The veil of the temple,* etc. This was done as the Lord breathed forth his spirit, but Luke anticipates, wishing to join the miracle of the sun to the miracle of the veil. And the veil is rent, that the ark of the testament and all the sacraments of the law which were covered might appear and pass over to the Gentiles. Josephus says that the angelic powers, once the guardians of the temple, then cried out together: *Let us flee from these seats. Father,* etc. Calling upon the Father, he declares himself the Son of God. Commending his spirit, he intimates not a failure of power, but confidence in the same together with a share of power. For he loves to give glory to the Father, wherein he forms us, that we may give glory to the Creator.
46 And Jesus crying with a loud voice, said: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And saying this, he gave up the ghost.
47 Now, the centurion, seeing what was done, glorified God, saying: Indeed this was a just man.
v.47
VERS. 47.-- *And the centurion seeing.* Seeing that he thus had the power of sending forth his spirit, which none has but the Maker of souls, the very man who had crucified him, in the very scandal of the passion, confesses him the Son of God, whom the Jews after so many miracles refused to believe. Whence by the centurion is designated the faith of the Church, which, when the veil of the heavenly mysteries had been unlocked by the Lord's death, straightway affirms him just and the Son of God, while the Synagogue is silent.
48 And all the multitude of them that were come together to that sight and saw the things that were done returned, striking their breasts.
v.48
VERS. 48.-- *Striking their breasts.* That they strike their breasts as a sign of penitence and of mourning can be understood in two ways. For either they were grieving that one whose life they had loved had been unjustly slain; or, remembering that they had procured his death, they were trembling that he was the more glorified in that death. But whatever cause compelled them to beat the breast, let us see the distance between nation and nation. The Gentiles, fearing God as the Lord died, glorify him with the voice of open confession; the Jews, only striking their breasts, go home in silence.
49 And all his acquaintance and the women that had followed him from Galilee stood afar off, beholding these things.
50 And behold there was a man named Joseph who was a counsellor, a good and a just man,
v.50
VERS. 50.-- *Named Joseph.* Joseph is worthy, through the nobility of his worldly power, to receive the body; through the justice of his merits, to bury it.
51 (The same had not consented to their counsel and doings) of Arimathea, a city of Judea: who also himself looked for the kingdom of God.
52 This man went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus.
v.52
VERS. 52.-- *This man went,* etc. Not the apostles, but Joseph, just and steadfast, and Nicodemus, in whom was no guile, bury him. Such too is the burial of Christ, which has in it no fraud or iniquity; and in this the shuffling of the Jews is blocked. For if the apostles had buried him, they would say that he was not buried whom they said was carried off.
53 And taking him down, he wrapped him in fine linen and laid him in a sepulchre that was hewed in stone, wherein never yet any man had been laid.
v.53
VERS. 53.-- *In a winding-sheet.* From the simple burial of the Lord the ambition of the rich is condemned, who cannot do without riches even when dead. Mystically: he wraps Jesus in a clean winding-sheet who receives him with a pure mind. Hence also the custom of the Church holds that the sacrifice of the altar be celebrated not on silk, not on dyed cloth, but on pure linen. *And laid him.* Well, then, is Christ laid in the tomb of a just man, that the Son of man may have where to lay his head, and may rest in the dwelling of justice. Well in a new one, that he who receives Christ may walk in newness of life. No one buries Christ save he who believes in Christ. *In a monument that was hewn.* The Lord alone is enclosed in the tomb, that his burial and resurrection might be shown unlike the frailty of our nature. He was buried, but for as long as he willed; he rose again, but when he willed. *Wherein not yet.* If he were laid in a monument where another had been laid, another would be feigned to have risen. Hewn in the rock, lest, had it been built of many stones, and the foundations of the tomb dug away, he should be said to have been carried off by theft.
54 And it was the day of the Parasceve: and the sabbath drew on.
v.54
VERS. 54.-- *And it was the day,* etc. On the sixth day man was made; on the sabbath God rested. Crucified therefore on the sixth day, he fulfils the secret of the preparation. Resting on the sabbath in the sepulchre, he awaits the event of the resurrection. So must we in the sixth age of the world suffer for the Lord. In the seventh, that is, when we die, the body remains in the tomb, the soul with the Lord in rest after its labours, until in the eighth the bodies rise again.
55 And the women that were come with him from Galilee, following after, saw the sepulchre and how his body was laid.
v.55
VERS. 55.-- *The women.* When the other acquaintances of Jesus withdrew after the body was taken down, the women alone, who loved more closely, were looking upon the office of the burial, that at a fitting time they might offer the gift of their devotion, awaiting what Jesus had promised; and therefore they were the first to see him.
56 And returning, they prepared spices and ointments: and on the sabbath day they rested, according to the commandment.
v.56
VERS. 56.-- *And returning.* Having looked upon the Lord's burial, they return and prepare spices and ointments: they who, having read, heard and called to mind the Lord's passion, turn themselves to the works of the virtues in which Christ delights, and on the sabbath keep silence. Being about to come to the Lord after the sabbath with their gifts, when the preparation-day of the present life is finished they await, rejoicing in blessed rest, the time of the resurrection, at which they run to meet Christ with the fragrant spices of their deeds. *And on the sabbath,* etc. It had been commanded that the silence of the sabbath be kept from evening until evening. Therefore the women, when the Lord was buried, so long as it was lawful to work, are busied on the preparation-day in making ready the ointments until the setting of the sun; and, the sabbath being over at the going down of the sun, that coming in the morning they might anoint him, because on the evening of the sabbath, the moment of night already coming on, they could not go to the monument.