_When Jesus had finished all these sayings_ The sayings or discourses which he began to deliver on his leaving the temple, (Matthew 24:1,) and continued, till he had declared all that is contained in the two preceding Chapter s; _He said unto his disciples, Ye know_, &c. When he sat down on the moun... [ Continue Reading ]
The _chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders_ They together constituted the sanhedrim, or great council, which had the supreme authority both in civil and ecclesiastical affairs. _Assembled together unto the palace of the high-priest_ Namely, to deliberate how they might take Jesus, and put h... [ Continue Reading ]
_When Jesus was in the house of Simon the leper_ That is, who had been a leper, but, as seems highly probable, had been healed by Jesus. At least, it is not to be thought that he was now a leper, for in that case he would not have been suffered to live in a town, nor would any Jew have come to an en... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then one of the twelve_ Judas Iscariot, having been more forward than the rest (Joh 12:4) in condemning the woman, thought himself, as it appears, peculiarly affronted by the rebuke which Jesus now gave to all his apostles. Rising up, therefore, he went straightway into the city to the high-priest'... [ Continue Reading ]
_On the first day of unleavened bread_ Being Thursday, the fourteenth day of the first month, Exodus 12:6; Exodus 12:15. _The disciples came, saying, Where wilt thou that we prepare the passover?_ They meant at what house. _And he said, Go into the city to such a man_ This implies that Jesus named t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when the even was come_ At the proper hour; _he sat down with the twelve_ To taste first, according to the custom of those days, the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs, before the lamb was served up. After which they proceeded as is related in the note on Matthew 26:2. And _as they did eat h... [ Continue Reading ]
_And as they were eating, Jesus took bread_ The _bread_, or cake, which the master of the family used to divide among them, after they had eaten the passover. This custom our Lord now transferred to a nobler use. _This_ bread _is_, that is, signifies or represents, _my body_, according to the style... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he took the cup_ Called by the Jews _the cup of thanksgiving;_ which the master of the family used likewise to give to each after supper. _And gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this_ That is, of the wine which it contains. _For this is my blood_ That is, the sign of my blood; _of the new... [ Continue Reading ]
_But I well not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine_, &c. He had made the same declaration concerning the passover-cup, Luke 22:18; and therefore, it is probable, his meaning upon the whole was, that he would neither partake of the passover nor of the sacrament, till he had the satisfaction t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when they had sung a hymn_ Which was constantly sung at the close of the passover. It consisted of six psalms, from the 113th to the 118th. See the contents of Psalms 113. _They went out into the mount of Olives_ That is, after some other facts had occurred, and some other instructions, advices... [ Continue Reading ]
_Peter answered and said_ According to Luke 22:31, our Lord had warned Peter before they left the house, of a violent assault which would be made upon him by Satan; and on Peter's declaring his readiness to go with Christ _to prison and death_, Christ had warned him that he would be overcome by the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then cometh Jesus to a place called Gethsemane_ A garden, lying, it seems, at the foot of the mount of Olives, which had its name, probably, from its soil and situation, the word, from גיא שׂמנים, signifying, _the valley of fatness. And saith to the disciples, Sit ye here_ Probably near the garden... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he went a little further_ Luke says, _He was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast_, so that the apostles could still both see and hear him; _and fell on his face_ It seems _he first knelt down, Luke 22:41_, and then, as the ardour of his soul increased, prostrated himself on his face to the... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he cometh unto the disciples_ Unto the three from whom he had withdrawn himself a little way; _and findeth them asleep_ Notwithstanding the distress they saw him in, and the strict command that he had given them to watch. It seems a supernatural heaviness had fallen upon them. _And saith unto P... [ Continue Reading ]
_He went away again the second time_ For the sorrow of his soul still continued; _and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup_, &c. If it be necessary, in pursuance of the great end for which I came into the world, that I should endure these grievous sufferings, _thy will be done_ I acquiesce in th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rise, let us be going_ Namely, to meet those who are coming to arrest me, and to go along with them whithersoever they shall lead us. _Behold, he is at hand that doth betray me_ Though they had not come within sight, our Lord perfectly knew the precise moment of their approach, and gave his discipl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus said, Friend_ Gr. εταιρε, _companion; wherefore_ Gr. εφ ' ω, _For what_, or _against whom, art thou come?_ Against me, thy Teacher, Saviour, and Lord? And to put me into the hands of murderers? Our Lord also added, (see Luke 22:48,) _Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?_ Art thou so vil... [ Continue Reading ]
_In that same hour, Jesus said to the multitude_ And particularly unto the _chief priests and elders_, &c, Luke 22:52, _Are ye come out as against a thief_, &c. Or robber, that would make a desperate resistance, armed in this way with _swords and staves_, as if you came to seize me at the hazard of... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they led him away to Caiaphas_ From Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, to whom they had carried him first; _where the scribes and the elders_ Or chief members of the sanhedrim; _were assembled_ Doubtless by a summons from Caiaphas, and were waiting for Jesus to be brought before them. _But P... [ Continue Reading ]
The _chief priests, and all the council, sought false witness_ “When the council found that Jesus declined answering the questions, whereby they would have drawn from him an acknowledgment of his being the Messiah, they examined many witnesses to prove his having assumed that character; for it appea... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the high-priest arose_, (Mark, _stood up in the midst,_) _and said, Answerest thou nothing?_ When the high-priest found that Jesus took little notice of the things which the witnesses alleged against him, he rose from his seat in a passion, supposing that our Lord intended to put an affront upo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the high-priest rent his clothes_ Though the high-priest was forbidden to rend his clothes, (that is, his upper garments,) in some cases, where others were allowed to do it, (Leviticus 10:6; and Leviticus 21:10;) yet in case of blasphemy, or any public calamity, it was thought allowable, 2 Kin... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then did they spit in his face_, &c. _Spitting in the face_ was the greatest contempt and disgrace which could possibly be shown. See Numbers 12:14. _Buffeting_, or striking a person with the fist on the temples, was esteemed one of the most disgraceful punishments by the Greeks, from whom the Roma... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now Peter_, &c. Our Lord's trial in the high-priest's palace, and Peter's denying him, being contemporary events, either of them might be related first, as the historian might think most proper. Matthew and Mark describe the trial first, as being the principal fact, but Luke introduces it after Pet... [ Continue Reading ]
_When he was gone out into the porch_ Or portico, as Dr. Doddridge renders it, who observes, “I apprehend that the word προαυλιον, (used by Mark here.) most exactly answers to the Latin word _vestibulum_, by which many interpreters render it. And, considering the magnificence of the Jewish buildings... [ Continue Reading ]
To be spared and released. And while you asked for the deliverance of so vile a wretch, you inhumanly and insolently _killed the Prince of life_ Even him who had life in himself, and was appointed to be the Author of life, spiritual and eternal, and glory, to his followers. Observe the antithesis:... [ Continue Reading ]