John, Chapter 13, verses 31-38
31 commandeth them to love one another, 36 and forewarneth Peter of his denialJohn, Chapter 14, verse 1
1 Christ comforteth his disciples with the hope of heaven14
14:1 Let not your heart be troubled - At my departure. Believe - This is the sum of all his discourse, which is urged till theydid believe, Joh 16:30. And then our Lord prays and departs.
John, Chapter 18
1 Judas betrayeth Jesus, 6 The officers fall to the ground, 10 Peter smiteth off Malchus' ear, 12 Jesus is taken and led unto Annas and Caiaphas, 15 Peter's denial, 19 Jesus examined before Caiaphas. His arraignment before Pilate, 36 His kingdom, 40 The Jews ask Barabbas to be let loose18
18:1 A garden - Probably belonging to one of his friends. He might retire to this private place, not only for the advantage of secret devotion, but also that the people might not be alarmed at his apprehension, nor attempt, in the first sallies of their zeal, to rescue him in a tumultuous manner. Kedron was (as the name signifies) a dark shady valley, on the east side of Jerusalem, between the city and the mount of Olives, through which a little brook ran, which took its name from it. It was this brook, which David, a type of Christ, went over with the people, weeping in his flight from Absalom. Mat 26:30; Mar 14:26; Luk 22:39.
18:3 A troop of soldiers - A cohort of Roman foot.
18:6 As soon as he said, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground - How amazing is it, that they should renew the assault, after so sensible an experience both of his power and mercy!But probably the priests among them might persuade themselves and their attendants, that this also was done by Beelzebub; and that it was through the providence of God, not the indulgence of Jesus, that they received no farther damage.
18:8 If ye seek me, let these (my disciples) go - It was an eminent instance of his power over the spirits of men, that they so far obeyed this word, as not to seize even Peter, when he had cut off the ear of Malchus.
18:9 Joh 17:12.
18:10 Then Simon Peter - No other evangelist names him. Nor could they safely. But St. John, writing after his death, might do it without any such inconvenience.
18:13 Annas had been high priest before his son - in - law Caiaphas.And though he had for some time resigned that office, yet they paid so much regard to his age and experience, that they brought Christ to Annas first. But we do not read of any thing remarkable which passed at the house of Annas; for, which reason, his being carried thither is omitted by the other evangelists. Mat 26:57; Mar 14:53; Luk 22:54.
18:17 Art thou also - As well as the others, one of this man's disciples - She does not appear to have asked with any design to hurt him.
18:20 I spake openly - As to the manner: continually - As to the time: in the synagogue and temple - As to the place. In secret have I said nothing - No point of doctrine which I have not taught in public.
18:21 Why askest thou me - Whom thou wilt not believe?
18:22 Answerest thou the high priest so? - With so little reverence?
18:24 Now Annas had sent him to Caiaphas - As is implied Joh 18:13.Bound - Being still bound, Joh 18:12.
18:28 They went not into the palace themselves, lest they should be defiled - By going into a house which was not purged from leaven, Deu 16:4. Mat 27:2; Mat 15:1; Luk 23:1.
18:31 It is not lawful for us to put any man to death - The power of inflicting capital punishment had been taken from them that very year. So the sceptre was departed from Judah, and transferred to the Romans.
18:32 Signifying what death he should die - For crucifixion was not a Jewish, but a Roman punishment. So that had he not been condemned by the Roman governor, he could not have been crucified. Joh 3:14.
18:36 My kingdom is not of this world - Is not an external, but a spiritual kingdom; that I might not be delivered to the Jews - Which Pilate had already attempted to do, Joh 18:31, andafterward actually did, Joh 19:16.
18:37 Thou sayest - The truth. To this end was I born - Speaking of his human origin: his Divine was above Pilate's comprehension.Yet it is intimated in the following words, I came into the world, that I might witness to the truth - Which was both declared to the Jews, and in the process of his passion to the princes of the Gentiles also. Every one that is of the truth - That is, a lover of it, heareth my voice - A universal maxim. Every sincere lover of truth will hear him, so as to understand and practise what he saith.
18:38 What is truth? - Said Pilate, a courtier; perhaps meaning what signifies truth? Is that a thing worth hazarding your life for?So he left him presently, to plead with the Jews for him, looking upon him as an innocent but weak man.
Matthew, Chapter 26, verses 57-75
57 is carried to Caiaphas, 69 and denied of Peter26
26:57 They led him away to Caiaphas - From the house of Annas, the father - in - law of Caiaphas, to whom they had carried him first. Mar 14:53; Luk 22:54; Joh 18:12.
26:58 But Peter followed him afar off - Variously agitated by conflicting passions; love constrained him to follow his Master; fear made him follow afar off. And going in, sat with the servants - Unfit companions as the event showed.
26:60 Yet found they none - On whose evidence they could condemn him to die. At last came two false witnesses - Such they were, although part of what they said was true; because our Lord did not speak some of those words at all; nor any of them in this sense.
26:64 Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man - He speaks in the third person, modestly, and yet plainly; Sitting on the right hand of power - That is, the right hand of God: And coming upon the clouds of heaven - As he is represented by Daniel, Dan 7:13-14. Our Lord looked very unlike that person now!But nothing could be more awful, more majestic and becoming, than such an admonition in such circumstances!
26:65 Then the high priest rent his clothes - Though the high priest was forbidden to rend his clothes (that is, his upper garment) in some cases where others were allowed to do it, Lev 21:10; yet in case of blasphemy or any public calamity, it was thought allowable. Caiaphas hereby expressed, in the most artful manner, his horror at hearing such grievous blasphemy.
26:67 Then - After he had declared he was the Son of God, the sanhedrim doubtless ordered him to be carried out, while they were consulting what to do. And then it was that the soldiers who kept him began these insults upon him.
26:72 He denied with an oath - To which possibly he was not unaccustomed, before our Lord called him.
26:73 Surely thou art also one of them, for thy speech discovereth thee - Malchus might have brought a stronger proof than this. But such is the overruling providence of God, that the world, in the height of their zeal, commonly catch hold of the very weakest of all arguments against the children of God.
26:74 Then began he to curse and to swear - Having now quite lost the reins, the government of himself.
John, Chapter 19, verses 1-16, 25-42
1 Christ is scourged, crowned with thorns and beaten, 4 Pilate is desirous to release him, but being overcome with the outrage of the Jews, he delivered him to be crucified, 23 They cast lots for his garments, 26 He commendeth his mother to John, 28 He dieth, 31 His side is pierced, 38 He is buried by Joseph and Nicodemus19
19:7 By our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God - Which they understood in the highest sense, and therefore accounted blasphemy.
19:8 He was the more afraid - He seems to have been afraid before of shedding innocent blood.
19:9 Whence art thou? - That is, whose son art thou?
19:11 Thou couldst have no power over me - For I have done nothing to expose me to the power of any magistrate. Therefore he that delivered me to thee, namely, Caiaphas, knowing this, is more blamable than thou.
19:13 Pilate sat down on the judgment seat - Which was then without the palace, in a place called, in Greek, the pavement, on account of a beautiful piece of Mosaic work, with which the floor was adorned: but in Hebrew, Gabbatha - Or the high place, because it stood on an eminence, so that the judge sitting on his throne might be seen and heard by a considerable number of people.
19:14 It was the preparation of the passover - For this reason both the Jews and Pilate were desirous to bring the matter to a conclusion.Every Friday was called the preparation, (namely, for the Sabbath.) And as often as the passover fell on a Friday, that day was called the preparation of the passover.
Matthew, Chapter 28, verses 3-20
1 Christ's resurrection is declared by an angel to the women, 9 He himself appeareth unto them, 11 The high priests give the soldiers money to say that he was stolen out of his sepulchre, 16 Christ appeareth to his disciples, 19 and sendeth them to baptize and teach all nations28
28:6 Come, see the place where the Lord lay - Probably in speaking he rose up, and going before the women into the sepulchre, said, Come, see the place. This clearly reconciles what St. John relates, Joh 20:12, this being one of the two angels there mentioned.
28:7 There shall ye see him - In his solemn appearance to them all together. But their gracious Lord would not be absent so long: he appeared to them several times before then. Lo, I have told you - A solemn confirmation of what he had said.
28:9 Hail - The word in its primary sense means, "Rejoice:" in its secondary and more usual meaning, "Happiness attend you."
28:10 Go tell my brethren - I still own them as such, though they so lately disowned and forsook me.
28:13 Say, his disciples came by night, and stole him while we slept - Is it possible, that any man of sense should digest this poor, shallow inconsistency? If ye were awake, why did you let the disciples steal him? If asleep, how do you know they did?
28:16 To the mountain where Jesus had appointed them - This was probably Mount Tabor, where, (it is commonly supposed,) he had been before transfigured. It seems to have been here also, that he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once.
28:18 All power is given to me - Even as man. As God, he had all power from eternity.
28:19 Disciple all nations - Make them my disciples. This includes the whole design of Christ's commission. Baptizing and teaching are the two great branches of that general design. And these were to be determined by the circumstances of things; which made it necessary in baptizing adult Jews or heathens, to teach them before they were baptized; in discipling their children, to baptize them before they were taught; as the Jewish children in all ages were first circumcised, and after taught to do all God had commanded them. Mar 16:15.
Mark, Chapter 15, verses 16-32, 43-47
15 Upon the clamour of the common people, the murderer Barabbas is loosed, and Jesus delivered up to be crucified, 17 he is crowned with thorns, 19 spit on and mocked, 21 fainteth in bearing his cross, 27 hangeth between two thieves, 29 suffereth the triumphing reproach of the Jews, 39 but confessed of the centurion to be the Son of God, 43 and is honourably buried by Joseph15
15:16 Praetorium - The inner hall, where the praetor, a Roman magistrate, used to give judgment. But St. John calls the whole palace by this name. Mat 27:27; Joh 19:2.
15:17 Purple - As royal robes were usually purple and scarlet, St. Mark and John term this a purple robe, St. Matthew a scarlet one. The Tyrian purple is said not to have been very different from scarlet.
15:21 The father of Alexander and Rufus - These were afterward two eminent Christians, and must have been well known when St. Mark wrote.
15:22 Mat 27:33; Luk 23:33; Joh 19:17.
15:24 St. Mark seems to intimate, that they first nailed him to the cross, then parted his garments, and afterward reared up the cross.
15:25 See note Mar 15:24
15:28 Isa 53:12.
15:29 Mat 27:39.
Matthew, Chapter 27, verses 33-66
26 and looseth Barabbas. Christ is crowned with thorns, 34 crucified, 40 reviled, 50 dieth and is buried, 66 his sepulchre is sealed and watched27
27:33 A place called Golgotha, that is, the place of a skull - Golgotha in Syriac signifies a skull or head: it was probablycalled so from this time; being an eminence upon Mount Calvary, not far from the king's gardens. Mar 15:22; Luk 23:33; Joh 19:17
27:34 They gave him vinegar mingled with gall - Out of derision: which, however nauseous, he received and tasted of. St. Mark mentions also a different mixture which was given him, Wine mingled with myrrh: such as it was customary to give to dying criminals, to make them less sensible of their sufferings: but this our Lord refused to taste, determining to bear the full force of his pains.
27:35 They parted his garments - This was the custom of the Romans.The soldiers performed the office of executioners, and divided among them the spoils of the criminals. My vesture - That is, my inner garment. Psa 22:18.
27:45 From the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the earth unto the ninth hour - Insomuch, that even a heathen philosopher seeing it, and knowing it could not be a natural eclipse, because it was at the time of the full moon, and continued three hours together, cried out, "Either the God of nature suffers, or the frame of the world is dissolved." By this darkness God testified his abhorrence of the wickednesswhich was then committing. It likewise intimated Christ's sore conflicts with the Divine justice, and with all the powers of darkness.
27:46 About the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice - Our Lord's great agony probably continued these three whole hours, at the conclusion of which be thus cried out, while he suffered from God himself what was unutterable. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? - Our Lord hereby at once expresses his trust in God, and a most distressing sense of his letting loose the powers of darkness upon him, withdrawing the comfortable discoveries of his presence, and filling his soul with a terrible sense of the wrath due to the sins which he was bearing. Psa 22:1.
27:48 One taking a sponge, filled it with vinegar - Vinegar and water was the usual drink of the Roman soldiers. It does not appear, that this was given him in derision, but rather with a friendly design, that he might not die before Elijah came. Joh 19:28.
27:50 After he had cried with a loud voice - To show that his life was still whole in him. He dismissed his spirit - So the original expression may be literally translated: an expression admirably suited to our Lord's words, Joh 10:18: No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself.He died by a voluntary act of his own, and in a way peculiar to himself. He alone of all men that ever were, could have continued alive even in the greatest tortures, as long as he pleased, or have retired from the body whenever he had thought fit. And how does it illustrate that love which he manifested in his death? Insomuch as he did not use his power to quit his body, as soon as it was fastened to the cross, leaving only an insensible corpse, to the cruelty of his murderers: but continued his abode in it, with a steady resolution, as long as it was proper. He then retired from it, with a majesty and dignity never known or to be known in any other death: dying, if one may so express it, like the Prince of life.
27:51 Immediately upon his death, while the sun was still darkened, the veil of the temple, which separated the holy of holies from the court of the priests, though made of the richest and strongest tapestry, was rent in two from the top to the bottom: so that while the priest was ministering at the golden altar (it being the time of the sacrifice) the sacred oracle, by an invisible power was laid open to full view: God thereby signifying the speedy removal of the veil of the Jewish ceremonies the casting down the partition wall, so that the Jews and Gentiles were now admitted to equal privileges, and the opening a way through the veil of his flesh for all believers into the most holy place.And the earth was shaken - There was a general earthquake through the whole globe, though chiefly near Jerusalem: God testifying thereby his wrath against the Jewish nation, for the horrid impiety they were committing.
27:52 Some of the tombs were shattered and laid open by the earthquake, and while they continued unclosed (and they must have stood open all the Sabbath, seeing the law would not allow any attempt to close them) many bodies of holy men were raised, (perhaps Simeon, Zacharias, John the Baptist, and others who had believed in Christ, and were known to many in Jerusalem,) And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, went into the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared to many - Who had probably known them before: God hereby signifying, that Christ had conquered death, and would raise all his saints in due season.
27:54 The centurion - The officer who commanded the guard; and they that were with him feared, saying, Truly this was the Son of God - Referring to the words of the chief priests and scribes, Mat 27:43: He said, I am the Son of God.
27:56 James - The less: he was so called, to distinguish him from the other James, the brother of John; probably because he was less in stature.
27:57 When the evening was come - That is, after three o'clock; the time from three to six they termed the evening. Mar 15:42; Luk 23:50; Joh 19:38.
27:62 On the morrow, the day that followed the day of the preparation - The day of preparation was the day before the Sabbath, whereon they were to prepare for the celebration of it.The next day then was the Sabbath according to the Jews.But the evangelist seems to express it by this circumlocution, to show the Jewish Sabbath was then abolished.
27:63 That impostor said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again - We do not find that he had ever said this to them, unless when he spoke of the temple of his body, Joh 2:19, Joh 2:21. And if they here refer to what he then said,how perverse and iniquitous was their construction on these words, when he was on his trial before the council? Mat 26:61. Then they seemed not to understand them!
27:65 Ye have a guard - Of your own, in the tower of Antonia, which was stationed there for the service of the temple.
27:66 They went and secured the sepulchre, sealing the stone, and setting a guard - They set Pilate's signet, or the public seal of the sanhedrim upon a fastening which they had put on the stone.And all this uncommon caution was overruled by the providence of God, to give the strongest proofs of Christ's ensuing resurrection; since there could be no room for the least suspicion of deceit, when it should be found, that his body was raised out of a new tomb, where there was no other corpse, and this tomb hewn out of a rock, the mouth of which was secured by a great stone, under a seal, and a guard of soldiers.
Luke, Chapter 23, verses 32-49
27 He telleth the women that lament him the destruction of Jerusalem, 34 prayeth for his enemies, 39 Two evildoers are crucified with him, 46 His death23
23:34 Then said Jesus - Our Lord passed most of the time on the cross in silence: yet seven sentences which he spoke thereon are recorded by the four evangelists, though no one evangelist has recorded them all. Hence it appears that the four Gospels are, as it were, four parts, which, joined together, make one symphony. Sometimes one of these only, sometimes two or three, sometimes all sound together. Father - So he speaks both in the beginning and at the end of his sufferings on the cross: Forgive them - How striking is this passage! While they are actually nailing him to the cross, he seems to feel the injury they did to their own souls more than the wounds they gave him; and as it were to forget his own anguish out of a concern for their own salvation. And how eminently was his prayer heard! It procured forgivenessfor all that were penitent, and a suspension of vengeance even for the impenitent.
23:35 If thou be the Christ; Luk 23:37.If thou be the king - The priests deride the name of Messiah: the soldiers the name of king.
23:38 Mat 27:37; Mar 15:26; Joh 19:19.
23:39 And one of the malefactors reviled him - St. Matthew says, the robbers: St. Mark, they that were crucified with him, reviled him.Either therefore St. Matthew and Mark put the plural for the singular (as the best authors sometimes do) or both reviled him at the first, till one of them felt "the overwhelming power of saving grace."
23:40 The other rebuked him - What a surprising degree was here of repentance, faith, and other graces! And what abundance of good works, in his public confession of his sin, reproof of his fellow criminal, his honourable testimony to Christ, and profession of faith in him, while he was in so disgraceful circumstances as were stumbling even to his disciples! This shows the power of Divine grace. But it encourages none to put off their repentance to the last hour; since, as far as appears, this was the first time this criminal had an opportunity of knowing any thing of Christ, and his conversion was designed to put a peculiar glory on our Saviour in his lowest state, while his enemies derided him, and his own disciples either denied or forsook him.
23:42 Remember me when thou comest - From heaven, in thy kingdom - He acknowledges him a king, and such a king, as after he is dead, can profit the dead. The apostles themselves had not then so clear conceptions of the kingdom of Christ.
23:43 In paradise - The place where the souls of the righteous remain from death till the resurrection. As if he had said, I will not only remember thee then, but this very day.
23:44 There was darkness over all the earth - The noon - tide darkness, covering the sun, obscured all the upper hemisphere. And the lower was equally darkened, the moon being in opposition to the sun, and so receiving no light from it. Mat 27:45.
23:45 Mar 15:38.
23:46 Father, into thy hands - The Father receives the Spirit of Jesus: Jesus himself the spirits of the faithful.
23:47 Certainly this was a righteous man - Which implies an approbation of all he had done and taught.
23:48 All the people - Who had not been actors therein, returned smiting their breasts - In testimony of sorrow.
13
13:31 Jesus saith - Namely, the next day; on Thursday, in the morning.Here the scene, as it were, is opened, for the discourse which is continued in the following chapters. Now - While I speak this, the Son of man is glorified - Being fully entered into his glorious work of redemption. This evidently relates to the glory which belongs to his suffering in so holy and victorious a manner.
13:33 Ye cannot come - Not yet; being not yet ripe for it. Joh 7:34.
13:34 A new commandment - Not new in itself; but new in the school of Christ: for he had never before taught it them expressly.Likewise new, as to the degree of it, as I have loved you.
13:36 Peter saith, Lord, whither goest thou? - St. Peter seems to have thought, that Christ, being rejected by the Jews, would go to some other part of the earth to erect his throne, where he might reign without disturbance, according to the gross notions he had of Christ's kingdom. Thou canst not follow me now - But Peter would not believe him. And he did follow him, Joh 18:15.But it was afar off. And not without great loss.
13:38 The cock shall not have crowed - That is, cock crowing shall not be over, till thou hast denied me thrice - His three - fold denial was thrice foretold; first, at the time mentioned here; secondly, at that mentioned by St. Luke; lastly, at that recorded by St. Matthew and Mark.