Third, the persecution of Christ is described with respect to the special mode of oppression.
Let us examine him with insult and torment, etc. Here he touches upon the special mode of oppression, and first, with respect to those things disposing toward death: second, with respect to death itself: By a most shameful death, etc.
(Vers. 19. 20.). He says therefore: With insult, namely of words: and with torment, namely of blows: Hebrews eleven: "The saints experienced mockeries and beatings"; let us examine him, that is, let us test him. So it was done, as is clear from Matthew twenty-seven and John nineteen, because he was mocked with insulting words and struck with scourges and at last fastened with nails to the gibbet of the cross. That we may know his reverence, that is, the humility with which he reverences God: Hebrews five: "He was heard because of his reverence." And let us test his patience, namely through torments: that is, whether he is truly humble and patient. And truly so, because "when he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten," First Peter two. Gregory: "What sort of person each one is within himself, an insult inflicted reveals."
By a most shameful death: The Gloss: "That is, by the death of the cross, which up to the passion of Christ was the punishment of the guilty, but now is the trophy of victory and the glory of the Church"; Augustine: "The cross passed from the punishments of robbers to the foreheads of emperors." And because the death of the cross was most shameful, therefore to show the usefulness of Christ's death the Apostle says in Philippians two: "He humbled himself, etc., even the death of the cross."
Now the death of Christ was most shameful by reason of place, because it was outside the city at the place of Calvary, that is, the place where the heads of the beheaded were cast out, Matthew twenty-seven. By reason of time, because it was on a solemn day and at the greater hour, namely "the sixth hour," John nineteen. By reason of instrument, because it was on the wood of the cross: 1 Peter two: "He bore our sins in his body upon the wood." By reason of company, because it was among thieves, Luke twenty-three. By reason of reproach, because many reproaches were inflicted upon him as he hung, as is evident in Matthew twenty-seven.
Let us condemn him. It should be noted that Pilate condemned him by authority; the Jews, by persuasion. For there shall be regard for him from his words, that is, knowledge of the truth of his words: the Gloss: "We shall see whether after death he is able to raise up his flesh; for he said: 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will rebuild it,'" John two.
These things they thought, and they erred. Here he shows that the life of such men is to be shunned as erroneous; and first he touches upon the meritorious cause of their error; second, the matter of their error: And they knew not, etc.; third, the author of their error: But by the envy of the devil, etc.
(Vers. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.). These things, namely the aforesaid, they thought, namely the impious, and they carried them out; and they erred: whence below in chapter five: "Therefore we have erred from the way of truth, and the light of justice has not shone upon us"; likewise Proverbs fourteen: "They err who work evil." For it blinded them, namely their interior eye, their malice: whence in the prayer of Jeremiah: "Woe to us, for we have sinned; therefore our eyes are darkened"; likewise 2 Corinthians four: "The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers."
And they knew not the mysteries of God, that is, the sacred and secret counsels and dispositions concerning the passion and resurrection of Christ; Ephesians three: "The mystery was made known to me, which in other generations was not known." Nor did they hope for the reward of justice; the Gloss: "That is, of the death of Christ," namely his exaltation through death, concerning which, Philippians two: "Wherefore God also exalted him." Nor did they judge: the Gloss: "That is, understand," the honor of holy souls, that is, the salvation of holy souls to be obtained through the death and resurrection of Christ: whence the Gloss: "They did not understand that the death of Christ is the honor and salvation of souls"; the Psalm: "They are exceedingly honored," etc.; likewise 1 Peter two: "To you therefore who believe, honor," etc.
And rightly I said: Honor, because God created man imperishable, that is, having the power not to die, on the part of the body: and to the image, namely on the part of the soul; Genesis 1: "Let us make man to our image and likeness"; to the image, namely in natural endowments: of his likeness, namely in gratuitous gifts: or: to the image, in the cognitive power: to the likeness in the affective power: for image is the principle of knowing, likeness the ground of loving; for "every animal loves its like," Ecclesiasticus 13. He made him.
But by the envy of the devil, who envied the happiness of the first parents, death entered into the world.
Against this: Romans 5: "By one man sin entered, and by sin death."
It must be said that death entered through the devil suggesting and through man consenting.
But they imitate him, namely the devil, by envying the just, who are of his party, namely the impious, who are of the party of the devil. "For he himself is the head of all the wicked," as Gregory says.