Nevertheless, although the deed is not praised, the mystery is commended. For in this it is signified that the power of Peter's priesthood took away the observance of the rite of the legal priesthood, which was a servitude. — Or certainly by the cutting off of this ear it is understood that that people, who in name is called king, but in truth is a servant, lost spiritual understanding; whence the Gloss on John 18: "The servant of the high priest, who is called Malchus, that is, king, is the Jewish people, who through unbelief was made a servant of impiety, who lost the right ear, so that he might hear only the usefulness of the letter." Hence Peter did not take away this ear, but showed it to have been taken away; whence the Gloss: "The ear was taken away, not by Peter removing it, but by divine judgment revealing it to have been taken away."
64. (Vers. 51.). Third, as regards the power of the Savior, he adds: But Jesus answering said: Permit even this, as if to say: proceed no further, because patience must be shown, not wrath; kindness, not vengeance.
Therefore he adds: And when he had touched his ear, he healed him. In this the benignity of Christ is shown in a wondrous manner, that he healed the servant who was seizing him, wounded in the act of persecution. Then most especially he fulfilled that which he commanded in Matthew 5: "Do good to those who hate you."
In this his wondrous power appeared, because by touch alone he united what had been severed, which neither art nor nature could do. And through this he showed himself able to resist, to give life and to kill, according to that passage of Deuteronomy 32: "I will kill, and I will make alive; I will strike, and I will heal, and there is none who can deliver from my hand."
In this also the wondrous power of Christ appeared, because together with omnipotence there was such great patience: whence in John 18 it is said that "Jesus went forth to meet them and said to them: Whom do you seek? When therefore He said to them: I am He, they went backward and fell to the ground." Christ therefore showed in this also the power of might and patience and beneficence: whence the Gloss: "He never forgets mercy, who does not allow even His enemies to be wounded." —He also indicated with this a mystery of wisdom. For by the healing of the severed ear it is understood that the Lord will one day restore hearing and understanding of the truth to the Jewish people, according to that passage of Isaiah 10: "The remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob, to the mighty God. For if your people Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted." Whence the Gloss: "The ear cut off and healed signifies hearing, with the oldness removed, renewed, so that it may be in newness of spirit and not in oldness of the letter ".
65. (Verse 52). Fourth, as to the deceit of the Jews, he adds: But Jesus said to those who had come to Him, the chief priests and magistrates of the temple and the elders, whom He names specifically, because all these things were done by the authority of the leaders: and that passage of 1 Esdras 9 was fulfilled: "The hand of the princes and magistrates was first in this transgression"; and Daniel 13: "Iniquity came forth from the elder judges of the people, who seemed to govern the people." For the princes seemed to govern by authority, the magistrates by learning, the elders by both, and yet these men devised wickedness.
66. (Verses 52–53). And therefore He addresses them, saying: Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs? When I was daily with you in the temple, you did not stretch out your hands against Me; from which their foolishness is shown: whence Ambrose: "It is foolish to seek with swords Him who willingly hands Himself over, and to search in the night through a traitor for one hiding, whom they daily saw teaching in the temple." Their wickedness is also shown, because they sought a just man as a robber, an unarmed man with weapons; they sought the true light in darkness; which indeed the darkness of their sins caused. Whence He adds: But this is your hour and the power of darkness: because, John 3, "he who does evil hates the light"; and Job 24: "The eye of the adulterer watches for darkness." On account of which the demons also, because they counsel evil, are called powers of darkness, according to that passage of Ephesians 6: "Against the princes and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness." We ought to flee these darknesses, according to that passage of Ephesians 5: "Do not be partakers in the unfruitful works of darkness." In this darkness is he who hates Christ, the light and the brother of the human race, 1 John 2: "He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."
Second, concerning the denial of Peter, four things are touched upon.
67. (Vers. 54.). Having apprehended him etc. After the described apprehension of Christ, here is described the denial of Peter; for whose full description four things are introduced, namely Peter's own tepidity in fearing, fragility in denying, the Lord's compassion in receiving him back, and Peter's faithfulness in returning.
First therefore, as regards Peter's tepidity in fearing, after the apprehension of the Master, he says: Having apprehended him, they led him to the house of the high priest. But Peter was following him from afar. Peter was following from afar, because he feared to draw nearer; for he had already been left alone; whence Mark 14: "Then the disciples, leaving him, all fled," according to that passage of Proverbs 19: "The brothers of the poor man hated him; moreover his friends also withdrew far from him"; Psalm: "You have put my acquaintances far from me" etc. For love unites and causes one to draw near, and conversely tepidity of love causes one to withdraw far away; and this tepidity was already beginning to be in Peter.
68. (Vers. 55.). And therefore he adds: Now when a fire had been kindled in the middle of the courtyard and they were sitting around it, Peter was in their midst: in which is shown the tepidity of love and of the interior fire. Whence the Gloss: "What the malignant assembly was carrying on inside the house of the high priest, the fire kindled outside amid the cold of the night was figuratively demonstrating. Growing numb from this cold for a time, Peter began to warm himself at the coals of the servants, as it were, because he was seeking the consolation of temporal comfort in the company of the faithless"; and concerning this fire, Micah 6: "Still there is fire in the house of the wicked and treasures of iniquity." And here it is intimated that when the fire of iniquity and cupidity abounds—concerning which Job 15: "Fire shall devour the tents of those who gladly accept bribes"—the fire of charity shall grow cold, concerning which above in chapter 12: "I have come to cast fire upon the earth" etc. Whence also Matthew 24: "Because iniquity shall abound, the charity of many shall grow cold." And made lukewarm by this fire, a man becomes prone to denying Christ and indeed to every evil.
69. (Vers. 56. 57.). Second, as regards the fragility of Peter in denying, he adds: When a certain maidservant had seen him sitting by the light and had gazed upon him, she said : This man also was with him. But he denied him, saying: Woman, I do not know him: in which Peter's fragility appears, because, as Gregory says, "struck by the voice of a single woman, while he feared to die, he denied the Life." But the devil first assails Peter through a woman in remembrance of the prior deed, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 25: "From a woman was the beginning of all sin"; and again in chapter 42: "Does not the moth come forth from garments? So from a woman comes the iniquity of man."
70. (Vers. 58.). And lest Peter could excuse himself on account of being taken by surprise, the inquiry is therefore repeated, when it adds: And after a little while, another seeing him said: You also are one of them. But Peter said: O man!, I am not. Peter repeats the denial because he did not abandon the company of the wicked. Whence Augustine says: "How harmful are the words of the wicked, which compel Peter to deny the Lord or to deny knowing as a man him whom among his fellow disciples he had confessed to be the Son of God." Whence that saying of First Corinthians fifteen is verified: "Evil communications corrupt good manners."
71. (Vers. 59. 60.). And because Peter still did not take heed for himself, he therefore repeated the denial a third time. Whence it is added: And after an interval of about one hour, a certain other man affirmed, saying: Truly this man also was with him, for he is a Galilean. And Peter said: Man, I do not know what you are saying. And the word of the Lord was fulfilled, from above in the same chapter: "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." — Now this threefold denial, according to Bede and Jerome, took place in the courtyard of Caiaphas; but according to Augustine, in the Book on the Harmony of the Evangelists, it was begun in the house of Annas and completed in the courtyard of Caiaphas, with which John agrees.
Now the Lord permitted Peter to deny him, as Chrysostom says, so that Marcion might be confounded, so that no one would presume of himself, so that all would believe Christ in all things, so that others might take heed for themselves, and "so that the prelate of the Church might learn from his own fall how he ought to show mercy to others," and also so that, rising again more strong, he might show that to be true which is said in Romans eight: "We know that for those who love God, all things work together unto good." He was therefore permitted to deny three times to show that we offend God in a threefold manner, namely by heart, mouth, and deed. And he was impelled by three persons as a mystery of threefold temptation, and at a threefold interval to designate the threefold admonition. And concerning these three things, he was asked three times: do you love me? Three times it was said to him: feed ; and a threefold solemnity of Peter is celebrated.
72. (Vers. 60. 61.) Thirdly, as to the compassion of the Lord in coming to his aid, it is added: And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. And the Lord, turning, looked upon Peter. He sent beforehand the crowing of the cock by which Peter might be moved outwardly, and by the gaze of the Lord he might be moved inwardly, because in this twofold manner the compassion of Christ raises up sinners: outwardly, by moving them through the crowing of the cock, that is, through the admonition of preachers; Job thirty-eight: "Who has given the cock understanding?" Whence the Church also sings:
The cock reproves those lying down and rebukes the drowsy, because it is said to the preacher in Second Timothy chapter four: "Reprove, entreat, rebuke," etc. And at its crowing there comes the gaze of divine mercy, concerning which in the Psalm: "For he has looked forth from his holy height: the Lord has gazed from heaven upon the earth." Augustine in On the Harmony of the Evangelists : "The Lord looked upon Peter not with human eyes, but with divine ones"; Wisdom chapter four: "The regard of God is upon his elect"; and the Psalm: "He looks upon the earth," etc.
73. (Verse 61.). Fourth, as regards the faithfulness of Peter in returning, it is added: And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, as he had said: Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times; and in this he acknowledged his fault, upon the acknowledgment of which penance follows.
74. (Verse 62.). And therefore he adds: And going out, Peter wept bitterly, that is, he shed tears from the great bitterness of compunction; whence Ambrose says: "He wept most bitterly, so that tears might wash away the offense; and you likewise wash away your fault with tears." This bitterness, moreover, is the greatest part of penance; whence Ambrose says: "I read of tears; I do not read of satisfaction." Tears of this kind, when they proceed from bitterness, incline the Lord to forgiveness. As a figure of which it is said in Fourth Kings chapter twenty: "Hezekiah wept with a great weeping"; and it is added there that the Lord delivered him from the danger of death. And therefore the holy prophet David, in the person of the penitent man, says in the Psalm: "I will wash my bed every night; I will water my couch with my tears." From which it is apparent what the fruit of the permitted denial was, namely, an example of penance and compunction; on account of which the Lord also drew the princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, out of the filth of vices. On account of which, First Timothy chapter one: "I was a blasphemer and a persecutor and insolent, but therefore I obtained mercy," "so that in me first Christ Jesus might show all patience, for the instruction of those who would believe in him unto eternal life."
Concerning the mocking of Christ, two things are said.
75. (Verses 63–64.). And the men who held him, etc. After having described the arrest of Christ and the denial of Peter, here secondly he describes the mocking of the Lord after his arrest. And since this mocking was done by shameless and plotting Jews, therefore he first treats of the insolence of the mockers; second, of the malice of the plotters, at the passage: And when it was day.
And since Christ is "the power of God and the wisdom of God," and according to this is to be honored in a twofold way, therefore by way of opposition a twofold dishonoring of Christ is described here, namely, through the mocking of him with respect to a deficiency of power and with respect to a deficiency of wisdom.
First, therefore, as regards the mocking of Christ as powerless, it is said: And the men who held him mocked him, striking him . And they blindfolded him and struck his face. As a figure of this, it is said in Job 16: "Reproaching me, they struck my cheek; they were sated with my punishments"; and Micah 5: "With a rod they shall strike the cheek of the judge of Israel." But they could not have done this unless he himself willed to endure it mercifully, according to that passage in Isaiah 50: "I gave my body to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who plucked them"; and Lamentations 3: "He shall give his cheek to the one who strikes him; he shall be filled with reproaches." This cheek, nay rather this beautiful face, upon which "the Angels desire to gaze," which "is full of graces" and "desired by all nations," which is the salvation of those who behold it — the impious Jews blindfolded, spat upon, and struck; but the Lord endured this for our sake. Whence Jerome says: "The Lord willed to be spat upon, that he might wash us; he willed to be blindfolded, that he might remove the veil of guilt and ignorance from our hearts; he willed to be struck on the head, that he might restore our head to health; he willed to be beaten with blows and mocked with words, that we with our lips and hands, that is, with words and works, might applaud."
76. (Vers. 64.). Second, as regards the mocking of Christ as ignorant, he adds: And they questioned him, saying: Prophesy: Who is it that struck you? But they did this in mockery, mocking him who had said he was a true Prophet, of whom it is said in Deuteronomy 18: "The Lord will raise up a Prophet from your nation; you shall hear him as you would me." This Prophet they did not hear but interrogated with insult, according to that passage in Wisdom 2: "Let us interrogate him with insult and torment," because they struck him at the same time.
77. (Vers. 65.). And because it is not possible to narrate all the insults inflicted upon Christ, therefore, in order to conclude all things in a certain summary, he adds: And they said many other things blaspheming against him; and thus is fulfilled in them that passage of Isaiah 1: "Woe to the sinful nation, to a people heavy with iniquity! They have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are alienated backward." But Christ endured these things voluntarily, according to that passage of the Psalm: "The reproaches of those who reproached you have fallen upon me"; and this, so that he might give us an example for despising reproaches. Whence Hebrews 12: "Consider him who endured such opposition against himself"; and Chrysostom: "That divine head was struck by polluted and abominable men. What care, then, shall be ours henceforth regarding insults, after Christ has suffered these things?" But many are rather imitators of the Jews; whence Bede: "He who was then struck by the blows of the Jews is now struck by the blasphemies of false Christians, and he who was spat upon with the saliva of unbelievers is now dishonored by the mad reproaches of the faithful." Whence concerning such people can be understood that passage of Job 30: "They abominate me and flee far from me, and they do not hesitate to spit in my face"; and concerning such people Augustine says: "Those who blaspheme Christ reigning in heaven sin no less than the Jews who crucified him walking on earth."