56. (Verse 46.). Second, as to the tearful expiration of Christ, he adds: And crying out with a loud voice, Jesus said: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. - But there seems to be a contradiction among the Evangelists. For in Matthew twenty-seven and Mark fifteen it is said that he cried out: "Eli, Eli"; and in John nineteen it is said that he cried out: "It is finished." But all of this is true, because he cried out three times. And first he said what Matthew says, then second, what John says, and third, what Luke says. - And the Evangelist Luke himself indicates this in what he adds: And saying these things, he expired. From which it is apparent that he expired while simultaneously crying out and praying, in order to show that he himself is our true high priest; on account of which, Hebrews five: "Who in the days of his flesh, offering prayers and supplications to him who was able to save him from death, with a strong cry and tears, was heard for his reverence." "And being consummated, he became to all who obey him the cause of eternal salvation, called by God a high priest according to the order of Melchisedech." Therefore he expired while simultaneously crying out and weeping, so that in the tears the true passion and humanity of Christ might be understood, and in the cry, his Divinity; because, since no one can cry out by nature unless he has sufficient blood in the heart and breath for respiration, it is impossible that anyone should by nature expire and cry out at the same time. And therefore he showed in the cry of death that he is omnipotent, and he demonstrated to be true what he said in John ten: "I have the power to lay down my life, and I have the power to take it up again." "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself"; and therefore Isaiah fifty-three: "If he shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be directed in his hand."
57. (Vers. 47.). Third, as to the faithful confession of the centurion, he adds: Now the centurion, seeing what had been done, glorified God, saying: Indeed this man was just. This faithful confession had its origin from the sight of the wonders that occurred in the commotion of the world and especially in the manner of dying; whence Matthew twenty-seven: "Now the centurion, and they that were with him, having seen the earthquake and the things that were done, were greatly afraid, saying: Indeed this was the Son of God." But in Mark fifteen it is said that "the centurion, seeing that crying out so he had expired, said: Indeed this man was the Son of God." Luke, however, comprehends both when he says: The centurion seeing what had been done. Whence in this centurion there appeared a readiness among the Gentiles for faith, and conversely among the Jews an obstinacy toward unbelief. On account of which Bede also says: "Seeing that he had the power of releasing his spirit, which none can have except the Creator of souls, the very one who had crucified him confesses him to be the Son of God in the very scandal of the Passion—him whom the Jews after his miracles refused to believe." But because the chief priests, though they had seen these things, did not glorify God, they were therefore blinded, according to that passage in Romans one: "Because when they had known God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened."
58. (Vers. 48.). Fourth, as to the trembling compunction of the people, he adds: And all the multitude of those who had come together to that spectacle and saw the things that were done, striking their breasts, returned. The striking of the breast is a sign of penitence and compunction, as above in the eighteenth chapter concerning the publican, who "struck his breast, saying: God, be merciful to me a sinner." By this multitude is understood the Jewish people, who, although they saw the truth, as the centurion did, only struck their breasts but did not break forth into the voice of confession. Whence the Gloss says: "Let us see the difference between nation and nation: the Gentiles, as Christ died, glorify God with the voice of open confession; the Jews, only striking their breasts, return home in silence." Whence they returned home, because, although it seemed to them that what had been done against Christ was unjust, nevertheless they had little or no affection toward him.
59. (Vers. 49.). Nor is it surprising, because even all his acquaintances regarded him as a stranger, although they had not entirely lost their affection: therefore he adds: But all his acquaintances stood at a distance, and the women who had followed him from Galilee, seeing these things. And thus was fulfilled that word of the Psalm: "You have put far from me friend and neighbor, and my acquaintances from misery"; Job nineteenth: "He has put my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances have withdrawn from me as strangers." And the reason for this was that he was now most poor and despised and put to death; Proverbs nineteenth: "The brothers of a poor man hate him; moreover, his friends have withdrawn far from him." Nevertheless, the glorious Virgin and our Lady, holy Mary, was not put far away, neither in affection nor in position. For it is said in John nineteenth: "But there stood by the cross of Jesus his Mother and his Mother's sister"; and she was most close in affection: whence above in the second chapter: "A sword shall pierce your own soul." Whence him whom she bore with joy in his nativity, in his passion she brought forth with sorrows.
60. (Vers. 50.). And behold, a man named Joseph etc. After the Evangelist described Christ's arrest, mockery, accusation, condemnation, crucifixion, and death, here at last he describes his burial . Concerning the description of which, four things are introduced, namely the dignity of the one burying, the honor of the burial, the opportuneness of the time and the reverence of the women at the burial.
First, therefore, as to the dignity of the one burying, he says: And behold, a man. He points him out as worthy and suitable for burying Christ; on account of which he describes him by name, when he says: Named Joseph; so that, just as Joseph had nourished Christ, as is said in Matthew first: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary, your wife," etc.; and again in the second chapter: "Take the child and his Mother"; so another Joseph would bury him and place him like a grain of wheat in his granary, just as that Joseph who stored up grain for the peoples in Egypt, Genesis forty-first.
He also describes him by dignity, saying: Who was a decurion: the Gloss: "A decurion is one who is of the order of the curia and administers the office of the curia." Or a decurion is so called because he presided over ten, just as a centurion was over a hundred, according to that passage in Exodus eighteenth: "Jethro said to Moses: Choose for yourself men in whom there is truth and who hate avarice, and appoint from them tribunes and centurions and commanders of fifty and commanders of ten, who shall judge the people." — And he is also described by his life, when he adds: A good and just man: good interiorly, and just exteriorly, according to that passage in Matthew twelfth: "A good man brings forth good things from the good treasure of his heart."
61. (Vers. 51.). He describes him from his will, when he adds: This man had not consented to their counsel and deeds: whence that verse of the Psalm fittingly applies to him: "Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly," etc.; and Jerome says that some have said that that Psalm should be understood, by a certain appropriation, as referring to this Joseph.
He describes him from his homeland, when he says: From Arimathaea, a city of Judea: this is the same as Ramatha, which was the city of Samuel, according to what is said in 1 Kings 1: "There was a certain man from Ramathaim Sophim"; whence the Gloss: "This is Ramatha, the city of Elkanah and Samuel." - He describes him from the devotion of faith, when he adds: Who himself also was waiting for the kingdom of God, as is said of Simeon above in chapter two, that "he was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him."
62. (Vers. 52.). He describes him from his constancy, when he adds: This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus: and this indeed he did with great constancy, fearing neither the ferocity of the Gentiles nor the malice of the chief priests, since, in Mark 15, "he went in boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus." Whence Joseph, who had previously hidden himself, as is said in John 19, that "he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews," here now revealed himself. In this it is given to understand that disciples of the truth ought to manifest themselves in the moment of necessity: for it is said above in chapter nine: "Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his majesty and the Father's," etc.
63. In the moral sense, however, by this Joseph is understood the prelate, who snatches Christ from the hand of Pilate, that is, from the hand of tyrants; who ought to be a man not only in sex, but in maturity and manliness, because in Ecclesiasticus seven it is said: "Do not seek to be made a judge, unless you have the strength to break through iniquities." He ought to be a Joseph, namely one seeking his own and others' advancement, according to that passage of Genesis forty-nine: "Joseph is a fruitful son, a fruitful son." He ought to be a noble councillor, that is, one nobly handling the affairs of Christ's court, according to that passage of First Corinthians four: "Let a man so account of us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God"; whence in Second Timothy two the Apostle said to the prelate: "Labor as a good soldier of Christ." And such a one is noble, according to that passage of Proverbs, the last chapter: "Her husband is noble in the gates, when he sits among the senators of the land." He ought to be a good and just man, like Job; Job one: "That man was simple and upright," etc. He ought to be one dissenting from evil counsel, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus thirty-seven: "Guard your soul from an evil counselor"; because, in Romans one, "not only those who do such things are worthy of death, but also those who consent to those who do them." He ought to be from Arimathea, which is interpreted as "watchfulness of giving," so that he may watch over the flock entrusted to him; Proverbs twenty-seven: "Diligently know the face of your flock," etc.; and therefore above in chapter two it is said that "the shepherds were keeping watch and guarding the watches of the night," etc. He ought to be one awaiting the kingdom of God, according to that passage of James five: "Behold, the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, bearing patiently, until he receives the early and the late rain." — Such a prelate, therefore, in whom there is manliness, diligence, nobility of character, justice, innocence, watchfulness, and confidence, is fit to receive Christ crucified in his members and to place him in a place of rest and ecclesiastical unity.
64. (Verse 53). Secondly, as to the honor of the burial, he adds: And having taken him down, he wrapped him in a clean linen cloth: for this was most fitting for the most pure flesh of Christ. Whence it was instituted in the Church that corporals should be of simple linen cloth, clean, not dyed nor colored with various colors. For just as the altar bears the figure of the cross, and the chalice that of the tomb, and the paten that of the stone placed over it, so the corporal bears the figure of the burial cloth. Whence the verse:
The altar represents the cross, the chalice the tomb, and the paten the stone; the white linen holds the office of the burial cloth.
And therefore as a figure of this it is said in the last chapter of Proverbs: "She made fine linen and sold it, and delivered a girdle to the Canaanite." As a figure of this also it is said in Ezekiel 9 that "the man who was in the midst of six men was clothed in linen"; and this as a sign of innocence, by reason of which he is compared to the immaculate and most white lamb; on account of which his bride also ought to be clothed in innocential purity: Revelation 19: "The marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has prepared herself. And it was granted to her that she should cover herself in fine linen, shining and white. For the fine linen is the justifications of the Saints."
65. But because this purity existed most perfectly in Christ alone, who alone was "free among the dead," therefore he alone was buried in a new tomb; and for this reason he adds: And he placed him in a hewn tomb, in which no one had yet been laid. Bede: "The Lord alone is enclosed in the tomb, so that his burial and resurrection might be shown to be unlike the frailty of our nature." Whence Isaiah 11: "The nations shall beseech him, and his sepulchre shall be glorious." Then was verified that word of Lamentations 3: "My life has fallen into the pit, and they placed a stone over me." Moreover, he was placed in a hewn tomb because it was fitting that it should be so for Christ, who was "a stone cut from the mountain without hands," Daniel 2. This was also done so that no one could say that the tomb had been dug through; on account of which guards were also appointed as proof of the true resurrection. "Now the tomb, as the expositors say, was like a certain round house hewn in the rock, of such height that a man with outstretched hand could scarcely touch the top, having its entrance from the east. The place of the buried body was on the north side, hewn from the rock itself, having seven feet in length, rising three palms from the ground, entirely open on the southern side, from where the body was brought in." Now such an arrangement was most fittingly suited to Christ's sepulchre, whose rising and setting, sleep and resurrection, like the sun of justice, illuminated the whole world, according to that word of Ecclesiastes 1: "The sun rises and sets"; and after: "it goes round through the south and turns to the north"; so that thus by the power of the rising Christ "the spirit might come from the four winds and breathe upon the slain who are to be raised up." Whence it is said in Isaiah 43: "From the east I will bring your seed, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north: Give up; and to the south: Do not hold back."
66. (Vers. 54.). Third, regarding the opportuneness of the time, he says: And it was the day of preparation, and the Sabbath was dawning. The day of preparation is Friday, which is therefore called parasceve, which is interpreted as "preparation," because on it were prepared the things that were necessary for the Sabbath; and thus it was the sixth day of the week, on which the Lord suffered at midday, but was buried in the evening, that is, on the eve of the Sabbath, because, just as the sixth day was fitting for Christ's death and crucifixion, so the seventh was fitting for his burial and Christ's rest. Whence Bede: "On the sixth day man was made, on the seventh God rested; on the sixth day, therefore, the Crucified One fulfills the mystery of restoration, resting in the tomb on the Sabbath he awaits the event of the resurrection." Therefore, as a figure of this, it is said in Genesis 2: "God rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had done. And he blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he had ceased from all his work."
67. And on account of this, Saint Luke, specifying the time of Christ's burial, did not keep silent but expressly mentioned the Sabbath, both on account of the mystery of allegory, as has been touched upon, and on account of the mystery of tropology, because in this it is signified that man through six ages ought to be afflicted and crucified with Christ, so that in his death he may have a sabbath rest, according to that passage in Job 5: "In six tribulations he will deliver you, and in the seventh no evil shall touch you"; because, Revelation 14, "blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Henceforth now, says the Spirit, let them rest from their labors." And therefore he says pointedly that the Sabbath was dawning, when night was beginning, because that night was terminated in light: so also the death of the just is terminated in light and life, so that a man may say that word of the Psalm: "And night is my illumination in my delights: for darkness shall not be darkened before you, and night shall be illuminated as the day."
68. He also said this for the certitude of the truth of the history, so that from this it may appear that parasceve is said not with respect to the first day of unleavened bread, as the Greeks say, but with respect to the Sabbath. For although the first day of unleavened bread was most solemn, it was nevertheless permitted to prepare food on it, but not on the Sabbath, and especially not on the great Sabbath, which was then the day of unleavened bread. Whence in John 19 it is said: "For that day of the Sabbath was a great day"; great indeed it was, because it was the Sabbath; greater, because it was the Paschal Sabbath; greatest, because then was accomplished the fulfillment of the figure through the truth. And then the Sabbath ceased when it was fulfilled, and the Lord's day succeeded, to be celebrated, because, now having the truth of the seventh day through Christ's rest, we await the resurrection and glorification of the eighth day, which has already been begun in our Head and will be consummated in us in the general resurrection.
69. And it should be noted that the Sabbath according to the letter was called the seventh day: Exodus 20: "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord." And this ceases: Hosea 2: "I will cause all her joy to cease, her solemnity, her new moon, and her Sabbath."
According to allegory, it is called the rest of Christ in the tomb, through which the liberation of souls was accomplished: on account of which, above in the thirteenth chapter: "But this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, for eighteen years now, ought she not to be loosed from this bond on the day of the Sabbath?" It is called the rest of holy souls: Hebrews 4: "There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works." - According to tropology, however, it is called rest from the commission of sin: Jeremiah 17: "Do not carry burdens on the day of the Sabbath." It is called the rest of contemplation, according to that passage in Ezekiel 46: "The gate of the inner court, which looks toward the east, shall be closed for the six days on which work is done; but on the day of the Sabbath it shall be opened"; because to those who contemplate, the light of Truth is opened. It is also called the state of religious life or the observance of evangelical perfection: Isaiah 58: "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your will on my holy day, you shall be called a delightful Sabbath and a glorious holy gift." - According to anagogy, however, the Sabbath is called the rest of eternal delight: the last chapter of Isaiah: "There shall be Sabbath after Sabbath." - Thus the seventh day of the Sabbath, according to the fourfold face of the wheel, that is, the understanding of Scripture, has a sevenfold meaning, so that the Sabbath is called bodily rest, the rest of Christ, the repose of souls, cessation from the commission of sin, the leisure of contemplation, the state of religious life, and the peace of everlasting happiness.
70. (Verse 55.) Fourth, as regards the reverence of the women in following after, he adds: And the women who had come with him from Galilee followed after and saw the tomb. They did this from an affection of piety; whence the Gloss: "When the other acquaintances of Jesus departed after the body was laid down, only the women, who loved more ardently, attended to the office of burial"; and they did this so that they might mourn the dead one whom they had previously loved when he was about to die. And this is a matter of piety and devotion, according to that passage in Sirach 38: "My son, shed tears over the dead, and as one suffering grievously begin to weep, and according to judgment cover his body, and do not despise his burial." "And mourn according to his merit."
Therefore these pious women not only looked upon the burial place, but also upon the buried body: and therefore he adds: And how his body was laid, namely, they saw, and this in order to bestow the service of kindness.
71. (Verse 56.) On account of which he adds: And returning, they prepared spices and ointments: for this was permitted on the day of preparation, but on the Sabbath not at all.
And therefore he adds: And on the Sabbath indeed they rested according to the commandment. For Leviticus twenty-three: "Six days you shall do work: the seventh day, because it is the rest of the Sabbath, shall be called holy."
- But there seems to be a contradiction among the Evangelists: for in Mark sixteen it is said that "when the Sabbath had passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that coming they might anoint Jesus"; similarly also in Matthew twenty-eight. - But to this Jerome responds, saying: "The women, after the Lord was buried, returning home, as long as it was permitted, prepared spices and ointments, namely until sunset, and afterward they rested the whole Sabbath until the next sunset: and then, having recovered the permission to work, they again bought other spices, because those which they had prepared were not sufficient, and that whole night between the Sabbath and the Lord's day they prepared them, so that coming at dawn to the tomb they might anoint the body of Jesus."