Matthew 26:58 Ulasan

And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings,.... Meaning either all that are recorded by this evangelist, all the sermons and discourses of Christ, delivered both to the people of the Jews, and to his disciples; his conversation with the former, and his divine instructions and prudent advice to the latter, together with all his excellent parables, which are largely related in this book; or else what is said in the two preceding chapters, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the world, the state of the church, and conduct of his servants to the end of time, expressed in the parables of the virgins and talents, and concerning the last judgment and final state of all men: he said unto his disciples; who now were alone with him: having finished his prophetic, and being about to enter on his priestly office, he gives his disciples some intimations of its near approach.

Now the chief priests and elders, and all the counsel,.... Or sanhedrim, which consisted, as the Jewish writers say (u), of priests, Levites, and Israelites, of both ecclesiastics and laics; the ecclesiastics were the priests and Levites, and the laics the Israelites, or elders of the people; for if priests and Levites could not be found, a sanhedrim might consist of those only; and so those words in Deu 21:2, "thy elders", are thus interpreted (w), , this is the great sanhedrim; and though a king of Israel might not sit in the sanhedrim, yet an high priest might, if he was a man of wisdom (x), and it seems as if Caiaphas was now at the head of this council, by its being assembled at his palace; which though it was not the usual place where they met, yet might be chose at this time for greater secrecy. Now these thus assembled together, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; they first take him up, and then seek out for witnesses against him; being determined, right or wrong, to put him to death, if possible; and false witnesses too, even those whose business it was, to examine and detect false witnesses, and to inflict the same punishment upon them, which they by their false testimony intended to have brought on another, Deu 19:18. And besides, it was in the night, when it was forbid by their canons to begin the trial of capital causes, or to receive and admit of witnesses (y). Indeed the Syriac and Persic versions read, only witnesses, or witness, and leave out the word "false"; perhaps imagining, that men could never be so wicked, to seek out for false witnesses: but this need not be wondered at, when these men were bent upon the death of Christ at any rate; and were aware that nothing true could be objected to him, that would legally take away his life; and besides, their manner of procedure in judgment against a false prophet, a deceiver, and one that enticed to idolatry, and such an one they would have Jesus to be, was quite different from what they took with other persons: their canon runs thus (z): "the judgment of a deceiver, is not as the rest of capital judgments; his witnesses are hid; and he has no need, or ought not to have any premonition, or warning, as the rest of those that are put to death; and if he goes out of the sanhedrim acquitted, and one says I can prove the charge against him, they turn him back; but if he goes out condemned, and one says I can prove him innocent the do not return him. So in the Misna (a) it is said, "of all that are condemned to death in the law, none have their witnesses hidden but this (the deceiver, or one that entices to idolatry)--and they hide his witnesses behind a wall, or hedge; and he (whom he endeavoured to seduce) says to him, say what thou hast said to me privately; and if he repeats it to him, he must say, how shall we leave our God that is in heaven, and go and serve stocks and stones! if he repents, it is well; but if he should say, so we are bound to do, and so it becomes us, they that stand behind the wall, or hedge, shall carry him to the sanhedrim and stone him. In the Gemara it is thus expressed (b), "they light up a lamp in the innermost house, and set the witnesses in the outermost house, so that they can see him and hear his voice, and he cannot see them. And then follows what is said before, to which is added, "so they did to Ben Stada"; by whom they mean Jesus of Nazareth. Moreover, this need not seem strange, that they took such a course with Christ, when in the case of Stephen, they suborned and set up false witnesses against him. The sanhedrim cannot be thought to do this in person, but they sent out their officers to seek for such men, as could or would produce anything against him, and no doubt promised them an handsome reward, (u) Maimon. Hilch. Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 1, 2. Abarbinel in Tora, fol. 366. 2. (w) T. Hieros. Sota, fol. 23. 3. (x) Maimon. ib. sect. 4. (y) Maimon. ib. c. 3. sect. 3, 4. (z) lb. c. 11. sect. 5. (a) Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 10. (b) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 67. 1.

Peter followed Him afar off, He would neither keep close to Him, nor altogether leave Him, but followed afar off.

Great was the zeal of Peter, who fled not when He saw the others fly, but remained, and entered in. For though John also went in, yet he was known to the Chief Priest. He followed afar off, because he was about to deny his Lord.

Either out of a disciple’s love or out of human curiosity, Peter wanted to know what judgment the high priest would make concerning the Lord: whether he would have Christ put to death or beaten with whips. There is a difference between the eleven apostles and Peter at this point. They fled, whereas he followed the Savior from a distance.

(Verse 58.) But Peter followed Him from afar off, even unto the palace of the high priest. He followed Him from afar off, who was to deny the Lord.

He went in, either out of the attachment of a disciple, or natural curiosity, seeking to know what sentence the High Priest would pass, whether death, or scourging.

(Quaest. Ev. i. 46.) And also that the Church should follow, i. e. imitate, the Lord's Passion, but with great difference. For the Church suffers for itself, but Christ for the Church.

For had he kept close to his Lord's side, he could never have denied Him. This also shows that Peter should follow his Lord's Passion, that is, imitate it.

Peter, who was more fervently devoted to the Master, followed at a distance. If John also followed, it was not as a disciple but as an acquaintance of the high priest (Jn. 18:15).

But Peter followed him afar off. The place has been treated; here he treats of Peter arriving. First, he is led; then Peter arrives. And he does three things: because first, he touches on the manner; secondly, how he arrived while following. That he arrived, this was of fervor; that from afar, this was of fear; hence it was signified that the Church, founded on Peter's faith, would follow Christ, yet from afar; because Christ suffered for the Church, not for himself; but Peter and the Church suffered for themselves. Likewise, the place is touched upon, because even to the court of the high priest: for he did not dare to enter the house, lest he should be seen as one of the disciples of Jesus. But how he entered, Matthew passes over in silence, while John 18:15 narrates that a certain disciple was known to the high priest, and he brought in Peter. Next follows the company: and going in, he sat with the servants, that he might see the end; and he did this either out of curiosity or out of devotion. And these three things were already certain dispositions toward the fall of Peter: that he followed from afar was disposing him, because it signified that he was not firm; for he who is firm ought to draw near. Hence it is said at James 4:8: draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. For in the house is the seat of God and of the Lamb, as is found at Apocalypse, last chapter, verse 3. For in the house was perfect charity. Hence Peter did not draw near to the charity of Christ. Likewise, he had not attained to the malice of the Jews; therefore he was lukewarm; and so there befell him what is said in Apocalypse 3:16: because thou art lukewarm, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. Likewise, because the servants were wicked. Sirach 10:2: as the judge of the people is himself, so also are his ministers. And therefore it was no wonder if he fell, because he remained in wicked company. Wherefore Psalm 18:16: with the holy thou wilt be holy.

GLORIOUS ANGELIC ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, THAT CHRIST IS RISEN--HIS APPEARANCE TO THE WOMEN--THE GUARDS BRIBED TO GIVE A FALSE ACCOUNT OF THE RESURRECTION. ( = Mar 16:1-8; Luk 24:1-8; Joh 20:1). (Mat 28:1-15) In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn--after the Sabbath, as it grew toward daylight. toward the first day of the week--Luke (Luk 24:1) has it, "very early in the morning"--properly, "at the first appearance of daybreak"; and corresponding with this, John (Joh 20:1) says, "when it was yet dark." See on Mar 16:2. Not an hour, it would seem, was lost by those dear lovers of the Lord Jesus. came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary--"the mother of James and Joses" (see on Mat 27:56; Mat 27:61). to see the sepulchre--with a view to the anointing of the body, for which they had made all their preparations. (See on Mar 16:1-2). And, behold, there was--that is, there had been, before the arrival of the women. a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, &c.--And this was the state of things when the women drew near. Some judicious critics think all this was transacted while the women were approaching; but the view we have given, which is the prevalent one, seems the more natural. All this august preparation--recorded by Matthew alone--bespoke the grandeur of the exit which was to follow. The angel sat upon the huge stone, to overawe, with the lightning--luster that darted from him, the Roman guard, and do honor to his rising Lord.