13. (Verse 11.). Fourth, as regards the foolishness of the prince who despised him, there is subjoined: But Herod with his army despised him and mocked him, clothing him in a white garment; he despised him, I say, as powerless, because he performed no sign; as ignorant, because he answered not a word; as foolish, because he did not defend himself against his accusers. Nor did he only despise him, but also mocked him.
From which it appears that Christ was mocked with a threefold mockery, namely, by the Jews from malice, above in chapter twenty-two; by Herod from arrogance, as is said here; by the soldiers from ignorance, as in John nineteen.
14. And it should be noted that the Jews veiled his face, Herod clothed him in a white garment, the soldiers placed around him a purple vestment. From which it appears that our High Priest had in his passion pontifical vestments: the amice, namely, when he was veiled by the Jews; the alb, when he was clothed in a white garment by Herod; the chasuble, when he had the scarlet cloak; and lest anything be lacking, he had also the maniple and the stole and the cincture, while he was bound to the pillar; the crown of thorns he had in place of the mitre, and the reed in his hand in place of the pastoral staff, and in place of the gloves and the sandals he had hands and feet covered with blood. And these are worn by consecrating prelates in memory of the Lord's passion, in whose memorial the Sacrament of the altar is confected.
15. (Vers. 11. 12.). Because Herod did not find Christ worthy of death, therefore he himself also refused judgment; and so it is added: And he sent him back to Pilate, as to a friend. On account of which he adds: And Herod and Pilate became friends from that day; for before they had been enemies to one another. From which it appears that enmity with respect to the good begets friendship among the evil; therefore the evil are designated by the foxes of Samson, which have their tails tied together, because all "come together as one against the Lord and against his Christ." And therefore these two designate the persecution of the two peoples against Christ; whence the Gloss: "Just as Herod and Pilate, so Jews and Gentiles, disagreeing in race and religion, and likewise also in mind, nevertheless agree in persecuting Christians and in destroying the faith of Christ."
Concerning the condemnation of Christ, two things are said.
16. But Pilate, having called together, etc. After he described the arrest, mockery, and accusation of Christ, here in the fourth place he describes his condemnation. And since Christ was condemned so that he might be led to the gibbet of the cross, therefore this part has two sections. In the first of which is treated his condemnation to the gibbet of the cross; in the second, his being led forth to be crucified, at the place And when they led him, they seized Simon.
The condemnation of Christ to the cross is described with respect to four things.
The Evangelist therefore describes the condemnation of Christ as unjust, as impious, as extorted, and as perverted: as unjust, on account of its opposition to the law of justice; as impious, on account of its opposition to pious custom; as extorted, on account of its opposition to the will of the judge; as perverted, on account of its opposition to right reason.
17. (Vers. 13.). First, therefore, as regards intimating the repugnance between the condemnation of Christ and the justice of the law he says: Pilate, having called together the chief priests and the magistrates of the people by prefacing with a citation: for the accusers must be cited to hear the sentence by which the accused ought to be absolved or condemned, because, as is said in Acts twenty-five, "it is not the custom of the Romans to condemn any man before the one who is accused has his accusers present and receives opportunity to defend himself to wash away the charges." Therefore, according to the order of law, before the delivery of the sentence, a convocation of the parties must precede, and once they are convoked, one must proceed.
18. (Vers. 14.). Therefore it is added: He said to them: You have brought this man to me as one turning the people away, recalling the accusation: whence John eighteen: "If this man were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him to you."
19. (Vers. 14. 15.). And after the accusation follows the inquiry, therefore he adds: And behold, I, examining him before you, have found no cause in this man regarding those things in which you accuse him. But neither has Herod. For I sent you to him, and behold, nothing worthy of death has been done by him, showing his innocence, which he shows through his own examination and that of another. Whence the Gloss: "Pilate confesses that neither he nor Herod found anything in killing or mocking Christ." For rightly that word of the Psalm applies to him: "You have tested me by fire, and iniquity has not been found in me."
20. (Vers. 16.). And because it is unjust for such a one to be condemned, therefore he adds: I will therefore chastise him and release him, pronouncing an equitable sentence; for this sentence was to be delivered according to justice, since an innocent man was being accused. But Pilate did not dare to do this, but sought the assent of the adverse party, showing that he could not justly be condemned. Yet lest they could complain about the judge's release, he offers punishment of the accused in that he says he wishes to release him chastised, that is, scourged. Whence the Gloss: "I will afflict him with scourges and mockeries, as much as you command, provided you do not thirst for innocent blood"; from which the repugnance between the condemnation and the justice of the law is apparent.
21. (Vers. 17.). Second, as regards the repugnance between the condemnation and pious custom he adds: Now he was obliged to release to them on the feast day one. This obligation, however, did not flow from imperial law but from custom; whence Rabanus: "Not by the sanction of imperial law, but conquered by the annual custom of the nation, whom he rejoiced to please through such things." This custom, moreover, was on the feast day of Passover in memory of the liberation of the people from Egyptian servitude; whence in John eighteen it is said that "Pilate said: But you have a custom that I should release one to you at Passover: do you wish, therefore, that I release to you the King of the Jews?"
22. (Vers. 18.). And this offering was according to the custom of clemency, but the perversity of the Jews refuses this in regard to Christ; and therefore he adds: But the whole crowd cried out together, saying: Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas. Now the crowd sought this at the suggestion of the chief priests and scribes; whence Mark 15: "But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, that he should rather release Barabbas to them." And in this their cruelty is apparent, because they preferred a most impious murderer to the most merciful Lord.
23. (Vers. 19.). Therefore he adds: Who for a certain sedition made in the city and for murder had been cast into prison, and thus he was seditious and a murderer, and moreover a robber, as is said in John 18: "Now Barabbas was a robber." From this the perversity of the Jews is apparent, because they preferred a seditious man to the Savior, a thief to the Benefactor, and preferred the life of a murderer to the Author of life; whence Acts 3: "You denied the Holy and Just One and asked that a murderer be granted to you; but you killed the Author of life." And this was the supreme impiety: to restore life to a destroyer and to take away life from the fount of all life; whence the Gloss: "Those who chose a robber instead of Jesus, a killer instead of the Savior, a taker of life instead of the giver of life, deservedly lost salvation and life."
24. (Vers. 20.). Thirdly, as to the conflict between the condemnation and the will of the judge, he adds: And Pilate again spoke to them, wishing to release Jesus: since neither mercy availed nor equity availed, at last authority and will came forward. Now Pilate wished this, both because it was hard for him to hand over so great a man to death without cause, and also because his wife dissuaded him; whence Matthew 27: "While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying: Have nothing to do with that just man." But this will of Pilate was not full but sluggish, according to that saying in Proverbs 13: "The sluggard wills and wills not"; because he was unwilling to act against the crowd, whose will was contrary.
25. (Vers. 21.). Therefore it is added: But they cried out, saying: Crucify, crucify him: where the perverse will of the Jews is shown in this, that they seek with clamor; whence that saying in Isaiah 5 applies to them: "I expected that he would do judgment, and behold, iniquity; and justice, and behold, a cry." For the clamor of this multitude it is said in Isaiah 17: "The multitude of many peoples, like the multitude of the roaring sea, and the tumult of crowds like the sound of many waters."
Their perverse will is also apparent from this, because they seek crucifixion: whence Bede: "Great cruelty: they seek not only to kill, but even to crucify, so that, with feet and hands nailed to the wood, he might be tormented by a prolonged death," and not only prolonged, but also bitter, according to that verse of the Psalm: "They pierced my hands and my feet"; and not only bitter, but also ignominious: Wisdom 2: "Let us condemn him to a most shameful death"; whence they wished to subject him as one accursed to the punishment of a curse, because, Deuteronomy 21, "cursed by God is he who hangs on a tree." But this was not without divine disposition, according to Galatians 3: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us"; but the impious demanded this out of cruelty and wrath. For these two things, namely the clamor and the cruelty, it is said in Jeremiah 12: "My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest: it has raised its voice against me"; and again in the Psalm: "For many dogs have surrounded me, the assembly of the wicked has besieged me."
26. (Vers. 22.). Fourth, as regards the repugnance between the condemnation and right reason, there is subjoined: But he said to them a third time: What evil has this man done? I find no cause of death in him. For since there was no cause of death in him, to kill him was against the dictate of right reason. —And because for the envious mind reason does not suffice without punishment, he therefore adds: I will therefore chastise him and release him. Nor did he only say this in word, but he also did it in deed, according to John 19: "Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him." Whence the Gloss: "He offered this chastisement by mocking and scourging to the desires of the wicked, lest they rage even to the point of crucifying him."
27. (Vers. 23.). And because a perverse heart is neither led by reason nor moved by pity, therefore it is added: But they were insistent with loud voices, demanding that he be crucified, and their voices prevailed. From which it is apparent that, overcome by the force of right reason, they turn to entreaties: whence the Gloss: "They turn to entreaties, so that what they had been unable to accomplish by accusing or even by reasoning, they might now accomplish by demanding and shouting." Whence also John 19: "Pilate therefore went out again and said: Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no cause in him: and he said to them: Behold the man. When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out saying: Crucify, crucify him."
From the foregoing, therefore, it is gathered that the death of Christ is more principally imputed to the Jews than to Pilate; whence in John 19 the Lord says: "He who handed me over to you has the greater sin." For the Jews always pressed for his death, but Pilate was seen to evade in seven ways, namely: by change of jurisdiction, by allegation of innocence, by offer of mercy, by showing his own will, by declaration that this was against reason, by infliction of punishment, and finally by pouring the guilt back upon the Jewish people; whence in Matthew 27: "Pilate, having taken water, washed his hands before the people, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this just man; see to it yourselves. And the whole people answering said: His blood be upon us and upon our children."
28. (Vers. 24.). But although he wished to free him in so many ways, nevertheless out of fear he failed in the end and turned aside against the dictate of justice, mercy, his own will, and right reason toward the perverse will of the people; therefore he adds: And Pilate adjudged that their petition should be granted; and this against that passage in Exodus 23: "You shall not follow the crowd to do evil, nor in judgment shall you yield to the opinion of the many, so as to deviate from the truth."
29. (Vers. 25.). Now Pilate deviated by giving a distorted sentence in absolving the wicked man: therefore he says: And he released to them him who had been cast into prison for murder and sedition, whom they requested; and as regards the condemnation of the just man: and therefore he adds: But Jesus he delivered to their will. — Now the reason why Pilate was bent toward this most iniquitous sentence was the disordered love of pleasing the people, which draws one back from the truth; therefore in Galatians 1: "If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ"; there was also fear, lest he incur the offense of Caesar; whence in John 19: "If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar"; and it is added there that "Pilate, when he had heard this speech, was the more afraid," and then "he sat on the judgment seat" and rendered an evil sentence; on account of which in Proverbs 29 it is said: "He who fears man shall quickly fall."
The leading of Christ to crucifixion is described with regard to four things.
30. (Vers. 26.). And as they led him, etc. After the condemnation of Christ has been described, here he describes the leading away of the condemned one: concerning the description of which four things are introduced, namely: the leading of Christ to the gibbet, the lamentation of the women, the reproof of those lamenting, and the foretelling of impending calamities.