Mateus 27
Hilary of Poitiers · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Mateus 27:11
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Or, when asked by the High Priest whether He were Jesus the Christ, He answered, Thou hast said, because He had ever maintained out of the Law that Christ should come, but to Pilate who was ignorant of the Law, and asks if He were the King of the Jews, He answers, Thou sayest, because the salvation of the Gentiles is through faith of that present confession. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:11-12
To Pilate's question as to whether he was king of the Jews, he answered, "It is as you say." How different was the statement he had made to the priest! When the latter asked him whether he was the Christ, he said, "You have said it yourself." This answer is given to the priest as though pertaining to the past, for in many places the law had foretold the coming of the Christ. — Commentary on Matthew 32.7
Mateus 27:20-21
When Pilate offered to release Jesus, following the customary practice wherein the people were granted the privilege of gaining the freedom of one prisoner per solemn feast day, they were persuaded by their priests to choose Barabbas instead. Here already the mystery of their future infidelity is contained in Barabbas's very name, which means "son of the father." They preferred this "son of the father" to Christ. At the instigation of their leaders, they chose the Antichrist, a man of sin and son of the devil. They chose the one elected for damnation over the author of life. — Commentary on Matthew 33.2
Mateus 27:20-21
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] At the desire of the Priests the populace chose Barabbas, which is interpreted 'the son of a Father,' thus shadowing forth the unbelief to come when Antichrist the son of sin should be preferred to Christ. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:28-30
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Or otherwise; The Lord having taken upon Him all the infirmities of our body, is then covered with the scarlet coloured blood of all the martyrs, to whom is due the kingdom with Him; He is crowned with thorns, that is, with the sins of the Gentiles who once pierced Him, for there is a prick in thorns of which is woven the crown of victory for Christ. In the reed, He takes into His hand and supports the weakness and frailty of the Gentiles; and His head is smitten therewith that the weakness of the Gentiles sustained by Christ's hand may rest on God the Father, who is His head. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:28-30
The beaten Lord is dressed in a scarlet robe, a purple cloak and a crown of thorns, and a reed is placed on his right hand. Bending their knees before him, they mock him. Having taken upon himself all the infirmities of our bodies, he is covered with the scarlet blood of all the martyrs destined to reign with him, and he is cloaked with the high honor of the prophets and patriarchs in purple cloth. He is also crowned with thorns, that is, with the former sins of the remorseful Gentiles, so that glory might derive from the destructive and useless things, plaited on his divine head, which they contrive. The sharp points of the thorns aptly pertain to the sins from which a crown of victory is woven for Christ. The reed symbolizes the emptiness and weakness of all those Gentiles, which is held firm in his grasp. His head, moreover, is struck. As I believe, not much harm was done to his head from being struck with the reed; however, the typical explanation for this is that the bodily weakness of the Gentiles that was previously held in Christ's hand finds comfort now in God the Father, for he is the head. But amid all this, while Christ is mocked, he is being adored. — Commentary on Matthew 33.3
Mateus 27:32
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] For a Jew was not worthy to bear Christ's cross, but it was reserved for the faith of the Gentiles both to take the cross, and to suffer with Him. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:33
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Such is the place of the cross, set up in the centre of the earth, that it might be equally free to all nations to attain the knowledge of God. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:34
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Or, He therefore refused the wine mingled with gall, because the bitterness of sin is not mingled with the incorruption of eternal glory. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:35
That they distributed his clothes by casting lots for them rather than by cutting them up signifies the eternal incorruptibility of Christ's body. — Commentary on Matthew 23.4-5
Mateus 27:35
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Thus on the tree of life the salvation and life of all is suspended. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:35-38
The life and salvation of all things was hung from the tree of life with a thief on his left and a thief on his right. This demonstrates that the entire human race is called to the mystery of the Lord's suffering. — Commentary on Matthew 23.4-5
Mateus 27:38
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Or otherwise; Two thieves are set up on His right and left hand, to signify that the entire human race is called to the Sacrament of the Lord's Passion; but because there shall be a division of believers to the right, and unbelievers to the left, one of the two who is set on His right hand is saved by the justification of faith. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:40
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] What forgiveness then for them, when by the resurrection of His body they shall see the temple of God rebuilt within three days? — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:44
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] That both the thieves cast in His teeth the manner of His Passion, shows that the cross should be an offence to all mankind, even to the faithful. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:46
Night following day marks a division of times. Thus is fulfilled the triad of days and nights, and the hidden mystery of God's work is perceived with astonishment by all of creation. The cry to God in truth is the voice of a body departing, having declared the separation of the Word of God from itself. He wonders why he is being abandoned when he exclaims, "God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" But he was forsaken because his humanity had to pass even through death. It must be considered carefully that he gave up the spirit with a loud cry after he drank from the sponge full of vinegar offered to him on a reed. Wine is the honor and power of immortality, but it soured through the fault of the vessel or through carelessness. Therefore, since this wine had soured in Adam, he himself accepted it and drank from the nations. The fact that it was offered to him to drink from a sponge on a reed signifies that he took from the bodies of the Gentiles the sins which had ruined eternity and transferred our sins to himself, uniting them to his immortality. — Commentary on Matthew 33.6
Mateus 27:46
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] (de Trin. x. 50 &c.) From these words heretical spirits contend either that God the Word was entirely absorbed into the soul at the time it discharged the function of a soul in quickening the body; or that Christ could not have been born man, because the Divine Word dwelt in Him after the manner of a prophetical spirit. As though Jesus Christ was a man of ordinary soul and body, having His beginning then when He began to be man, and thus now deserted upon the withdrawal of the protection of God's word cries out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Or at least that the nature of the Word being transmuted into soul, Christ, who had depended in all things upon His Father's support, now deserted and left to death, mourns over this desertion, and pleads with Him departing. But amidst these impious and feeble opinions, the faith of the Church imbued with Apostolic teaching does not sever Christ that He should be considered as Son of God and not as Son of Man. The complaint of His being deserted is the weakness of the dying man; the promise of Paradise is the kingdom of the living God. You have Him complaining that He is left to death, and thus He is Man; you have Him as He is dying declaring that He reigns in Paradise; and thus He is God. Wonder not then at the humility of these words, when you know the form of a servant, and see the offence of the cross. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:48
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Vinegar is wine, which has turned sour either from neglect, or the fault of the vessel. Wine is the honour of immortality, or virtue. When this then had been turned sour in Adam, He took and drunk it at the hands of the Gentiles. It is offered to Him on a reed and a spunge; that is, He took from the bodies of the Gentiles immortality spoiled and corrupted, and transfused in Himself into a mixture of immortality that in us which was spoiled. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:50
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Or, He gave up the ghost with a loud voice, in grief that He was not carrying the sins of all men. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:51
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] The earth quaked, because it was unequal to contain such a body; the rocks rent, for the Word of God that pierces all strong and mighty things, and the virtue of the eternal Power had penetrated them. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:51
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Or, The veil of the temple is rent, because from this time the nation was dispersed, and the honour of the veil is taken away with the guardianship of the protecting Angel. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:51-52
Immediately thereafter the curtain of the temple was torn. After that the people were split into factions. The glory of the curtain along with the protection of its defending angel was taken away. — Commentary on Matthew 33.7
Mateus 27:51-52
The earth shook. For the earth could not hold this dead man. Rocks were split, for the Word of God and the power of his eternal goodness rushed in, penetrating every stronghold and principality. Graves were opened, for the gates of death had been unlocked. And a number of the bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose. Dispelling the shadows of death and illuminating the darkness of hell, Christ destroyed the spoils of death itself at the resurrection of the saints, who saw him immediately. The centurion and the guards who witnessed this disturbance of the entire natural order confessed him to be the Son of God. — Commentary on Matthew 23.7
Mateus 27:52
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] The graves were opened, for the bands of death were loosed. And many bodies of the saints which slept arose, for illumining the darkness of death, and shedding light upon the gloom of Hades, He robbed the spirits of death. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:57
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Mystically, Joseph affords a figure of the Apostles. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:57
Joseph of Arimathea, having asked Pilate to return Jesus' body, wrapped it in a shroud, placed it in a new tomb carved out from a rock and rolled a stone in front of the entrance to the tomb. Although this may indeed be the order of events and although it was necessary to bury him who would rise from the dead, these deeds are nevertheless recounted individually because each of them is not without some importance. Joseph is called a disciple of the Lord because he was an image of the apostles, even though he was not numbered among the twelve apostles. — Commentary on Matthew 33.8
Mateus 27:59
It was he who wrapped the Lord's body in a clean linen shroud; in this same linen we find all kinds of animals descending to Peter from heaven. It is perhaps not too extravagant to understand from this parallel that the church is buried with Christ under the name of the linen shroud. Just as in the linen, so also in the confession of the church are gathered the full diversity of living beings, both pure and impure. — Commentary on Matthew 33.8
Mateus 27:59
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] He wraps the body in a clean linen cloth, in which same linen sheet were let down to Peter out of heaven all manner of living creatures; whence we understand, that under the representation of this linen cloth the Church is buried together with Christ. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:60
The body of the Lord, therefore, through the teaching of the apostles, is laid to rest in the empty tomb newly cut from a rock. In other words, their teaching introduced Christ into the hardness of the Gentile heart, which was uncut, empty and previously impervious to the fear of God. And because he is the only one who should penetrate our hearts, a stone was rolled over the entrance to the tomb, so that just as no one previous to him had been introduced as the author of divine knowledge, neither would anyone be brought in after him. — Commentary on Matthew 33.8
Mateus 27:60
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] The Lord's body moreover is laid in a chamber hewn out of rock, empty and new; that is, by the teaching of the Apostles, Christ is conveyed into the hard breast of the Gentiles hewn out by the toil of teaching, rude and new, hitherto unpenetrated by any fear of God. And for that besides Him ought nothing to enter our breasts, a stone is rolled to the mouth, that as before Him we had received no author of divine knowledge, so after Him we should admit none. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 27:64-66
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Their fear lest the body should be stolen, the setting a watch on the tomb, and sealing it, are marks of folly and unbelief, that they should have sought to seal up the tomb of One at whose bidding they had seen a dead man raised from the tomb. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas