Chapter XXII.
Part III. The medicine of the passion is treated in two ways.
1. Now the feast day of unleavened bread was drawing near etc. After that part which concerns the incarnation of the Word has been completed, and that which concerns his preaching and teaching, here the passion is treated, through which Christ is the sacrificial victim. This part is divided into two. In the first, the passion is treated with respect to its antecedents: in the second, with respect to its concomitants, at: While he was still speaking, behold a crowd, below in the same chapter.
First, on the passion with respect to four
antecedents. The antecedents to the passion were four, namely the perverse machination of the traitor, about which first. The second is the dispensative institution of the Sacrament of the altar, about which at: Now the day of unleavened bread came. The third is the provident instruction of the disciples, at: And there arose also a dispute among them. The fourth is the devout supplication of prayer to God, at: And going out, he went according to his custom to the Mount of Olives.
First, concerning the machination of the traitor, four things are said.
The machination of the traitor is described according to a fourfold comparison, namely by comparison to the opportunity of the time, to the fraud of the Jewish machination, to the wickedness of the diabolical suggestion, and to the cupidity of Judas the traitor. These four things concurred in the machination of the traitor: for the opportunity of the time presented itself, Jewish perversity consented, diabolical wickedness suggested, and his own cupidity attracted.
2. (Verse 1.). First, therefore, with respect to the opportunity of the time, he says: Now there was drawing near
the feast day of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover. For the paschal time, in which the lamb was sacrificed, was opportune for killing Christ, whose death was prefigured by that typical Passover. Passover indeed means a passing over; and in John 13 it is said: "Jesus knowing that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father." Therefore, as this day drew near, on which the lamb was to be offered, the plotting of the betrayer took place two days before, according to that passage in Matthew 26: "You know that after two days the Passover will take place, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified." Whence, according to the Gospel history, Christ came to Bethany on the Sabbath day, where a supper was made for him, according to that passage in John 12: "Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus had been dead." "And they made him a supper there," etc. On the following day, however, he came to Jerusalem and was received with great joy; whence John 12: "On the next day, the great multitude that had come to the feast day, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palms and went forth to meet him." On the two following days he taught in the temple; on Wednesday the betrayal was arranged, and on the evening of Thursday he was seized, and on the solemn day, namely Friday, he was crucified. And thus, as the feast of unleavened bread drew near, he was to be handed over, on which he himself had disposed to suffer; for no one was able to plot effectively against his death before then, because he suffered when he disposed, according to that passage in John 7: "No one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come"; and John 10: "I have the power to lay it down," etc. 3. (Verse 2). Secondly, as to the fraud of the Jewish plotting, he adds: And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might kill Jesus. The chief priests were seeking—they in whom there ought to have been the prerogative of holiness; whence Exodus 28: "You shall consecrate the hands of the sons of Aaron and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priesthood." But that passage from Isaiah 1 could be said to them:
"When you multiply prayer, I will not hear." Whence these men also, with the help of the scribes, were seeking to kill the truthful teacher, according to that passage in John 7: "Why do you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you?"
These men, however, were seeking fraudulently; therefore he adds: But they feared the people; whence Jerome: "Not fearing sedition, but lest by the aid of the people he should be taken from their hands." And therefore it is said in Mark fourteen: "But they said: Not on the feast day, lest perhaps there be a tumult among the people"; and therefore they wished to do this as if in secret. For this is the custom of the perverse, according to that saying of Proverbs one: "Their feet run to evil and hasten to shed blood"; and afterwards: "They lie in wait against their own blood and plot deceits against their own souls"; because, while they seek to kill the fountain of life, they find death, according to that saying of Proverbs eleven: "He who seeks good things rises well at dawn; but he who is a searcher of evils shall be oppressed by them."
4. (Verse 3.). Third, as to the wickedness of the diabolical suggestion, he adds: Now Satan had entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve. He is said to have entered, however, not by an infusion of essence, but by a suggestion of wickedness, according to that saying of John thirteen: "When the devil had put it into the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him."
But John says that he had entered after the morsel given by the Lord; John thirteen: "And after the morsel, Satan entered into him." But the Gloss resolves this, saying: "Before the morsel, Satan had invaded him, and him whom he had previously entered in order to deceive, he afterwards entered in order to possess more fully the one handed over to him."
He gives his surname, moreover, to distinguish him from Judas, the brother of James; or because Iscariot is interpreted as "memory of mortality," and therefore he says this, because by this it is intimated that he had not been suddenly persuaded but had long meditated the crime. He also expresses his dignity, to show his ingratitude: John fifteen: "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you"; and he specially chose the Apostles from among the number of the other disciples to the dignity of the pontificate. Whence John six: "Have I not chosen you twelve? And one of you is a devil. But he spoke of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot; for he was about to betray him, since he was one of the twelve." The Lord, however, did this by dispensation, to strike fear, according to that saying of Matthew twenty: "Many are called, but few are chosen"; and to strengthen the spirit of the just, so that they would not be scandalized on account of one wicked person against the congregation of the just, because First John two: "They went out from us, but they were not of us."
5. (Vers. 4.). Fourth, as regards the greed of Judas the traitor, it is added: And he went and spoke with the chief priests and magistrates. He spoke with them because he knew that they thirsted for the blood of Christ. — He spoke words of betrayal, and therefore it adds: How he might betray him to them: in which conversation indeed he asked the price of blood, according to that passage in Matthew twenty-six: "What will you give me, and I will deliver him to you?" Whence the thirst of greed moved Judas, and the thirst of cruelty moved the chief priests: and therefore together they consented to one perverse and impious transaction.
6. (Vers. 5.). On account of which he adds: And they were glad and covenanted to give him money. They were glad over malice, according to that passage in Proverbs two: "They rejoice when they have done evil," etc. They covenanted, as if they made a pact, and the sum was thirty pieces of silver: Matthew twenty-six: "And they appointed to him thirty pieces of silver." Now thirty pieces of silver are worth three hundred common denarii. And this was the price of the ointment which Magdalene poured upon the head of Christ, according to that passage in John twelve: "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor? But he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money bag, he carried what was put into it." And therefore this price was compensated by the selling of the Lord. The figure of this preceded in the selling of Joseph, Genesis thirty-seven, where it is said according to the customary reading that he was sold for thirty denarii: and concerning this, Zechariah eleven: "They weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me: Cast it to the statuary, the handsome price at which I was valued by them."
7. (Vers. 6.). With this price, then, Judas sold Christ, and therefore it adds: And he promised. And he sought opportunity to betray him without crowds. These men shunned the crowd because they regarded him as a true Prophet: whence John seven: "Has any of the rulers believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the Law, they are accursed." Judas fled what was public and sought what was secret, because, John three, "he who does evil hates the light." — And it should be noted that Christ was delivered by the Father through most abundant piety: Romans eight: "He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all," etc.; by himself, through most ardent charity: Ephesians five: "He loved us and delivered himself up for us"; by the traitor, through most wicked greed, below in the same chapter: "Behold, the hand of him who betrays me," etc.; and Matthew twenty-six: "What will you give me," etc.
Second, concerning the dispensative institution of the Sacrament of the altar, two things are said.
8. Now came the day of unleavened bread, etc. After the Evangelist described the perverse machination of Judas the betrayer, here secondly he describes the dispensative institution of the Sacrament of the altar. And since this Sacrament was to succeed the paschal lamb, therefore this part has two parts, in the first of which is treated the preparation of the paschal meal: in the second, the eating of the lamb and the consecration of the Sacrament of the altar, at the passage: And when the hour had come, he reclined at table.
Concerning the preparation now of the paschal meal to be described, four concurrent elements are introduced, namely the opportuneness of the day, the command of the Master, the suitability of the place, and the fulfillment of the precept.
9. (Verse 7). First, as regards the opportuneness of the day to be observed, he says: Now came the day of unleavened bread, on which it was necessary for the Passover to be slain. Now this day was the fourteenth day of the month, according to that passage in Exodus 12: "You shall keep the lamb until the fourteenth day of this month, and the whole assembly of the children of Israel shall sacrifice it at evening"; and Leviticus 23: "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening is the Passover of the Lord; and on the fifteenth day of this month is the solemnity of the unleavened bread of the Lord. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread." From which it is apparent that Christ celebrated the Passover on that day on which it was customary according to the Law, and thereby he celebrated it with unleavened bread, because in Deuteronomy 16, "no leavened bread shall appear in all your borders."
10. And therefore he confected from unleavened bread, according to what was fitting for the figure: Exodus 12: "And they shall eat the flesh that night, roasted by fire, and unleavened bread with wild lettuce." This also befits this Sacrament, according to that passage in 1 Corinthians 5: "Let us feast, not with the old leaven, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity," etc. And this is confirmed by the other two Evangelists, namely Matthew and Mark, because both say that Christ celebrated the Passover on the first day of unleavened bread, in Matthew 26 and Mark 14.
But John seems to contradict this. In John 13 it is said: "Before the feast day of the Passover," etc.; and again in chapter 18: "The Jews did not enter the praetorium, lest they be contaminated, but that they might eat the Passover." And therefore the Greeks say that Christ celebrated the Passover before the fourteenth day of the month, for on that day he himself was immolated and crucified; and therefore they say that he confected from leavened bread.
But the Greeks are mistaken, because they are compelled to say that the other Evangelists said something false compared to John. They are mistaken, however, because the term passover is taken equivocally. For sometimes it is taken for the lamb itself to be slain, as it is taken here: The day of unleavened bread came, on which it was necessary to kill the passover; sometimes for the paschal food, as in John 18: "That they might eat the passover," that is, the unleavened bread, which was the food of the Passover; sometimes for the fifteenth day of the month: Leviticus 23: "On the fifteenth day of this month is the solemnity of the unleavened bread of the Lord. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. The first day shall be most solemn for you," etc. And thus it is taken in John 13. It corresponds, moreover, to the time of the figure, although he was crucified on the fifteenth day; whence the Gloss: "Although he was crucified on the following day, that is, on the fifteenth of the moon, nevertheless on this night, on which the lamb was sacrificed, he handed over the Sacraments of his flesh and blood, and being seized and bound by the Jews, he consecrated the beginning of his own immolation."
11. (Verse 8). Second, as regards carrying out the command of the Master, he adds: And he sent Peter and John, saying: Go and prepare the passover for us, that we may eat. He sent Peter and John as the two who were among the others more principal: the one as the more loving, the other as the more beloved; or on account of their signification. For Peter, meaning one who recognizes, and John, meaning one in whom is grace, intimate to us faith with charity; and these are what prepare for the eating. For through faith there is mastication, through charity incorporation; on account of which, John 6: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." Likewise, through Peter knowledge, through John virtue and grace; and these are what prepare a person. The Psalm: "Justice and judgment are the preparation of your throne"; because what knowledge dictates, virtue carries out. It is intimated therefore from this that no one ought to approach the paschal food unless prepared; on account of which, First Corinthians 11: "But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice. For he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment to himself." And therefore conversely it is said in Revelation 19: "The marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has prepared herself." For he who does not have a wedding garment is cast out from this banquet: Matthew 22: "But the king entered to see the guests, and he found there a man not clothed with a wedding garment. And he said to him: Friend, how did you come in here," etc.