Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 132–137

“And those passing by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying: Ah, you who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise the chief priests too, mocking him with the scribes and elders and Pharisees, said: He saved others; he cannot save himself. If he is the king of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, I am the Son of God.” No one who stands, or who walks uprightly, blasphemes Jesus. For it was those passing by who blasphemed him, and, as the Greek has it, those going past, who also, when the wall of the vineyard has been broken down by God, strip the grapes of those who remain. For it is written: “Why have you broken down its wall, so that all who pass along the way pluck it?” As long as one's feet stand …, one does not blaspheme Jesus. But if he has fallen, or gone past, or passed over, or turned aside, then he blasphemes him. Such are those who have fallen into evil works, and those who have left the eternal boundaries and the way of the heavenly Church, and are tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the deceit of men, by craftiness in contriving error. For if anyone says that all heresies are those who go past and turn aside, he will not sin; since they too are counted among those passing by, and blaspheme Jesus, not having a steady head but moving it up and down; for they are not wise, nor do they have their eyes in their head, where they ought to have had them, as Ecclesiastes says: “The eyes of the wise man are in his head.” So it is the work of those who go past and turn aside to blaspheme Jesus, the Son of God, since no one speaking in the Spirit says “Jesus is anathema.” There are various words of the blasphemers, one of which is blasphemous because it is spoken by those who neither understand nor listen to what is said, nor to what they affirm. For Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days”; but those passing by, like false witnesses, said against Jesus what he had not said, attacking him: “Ah, you who destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.” For he himself does not destroy the temple, but builds up what others destroy: whether the temple of his own body, which had been handed over to death by the Jews, or the temple of his witnesses and of all who have had the word of God in them and have died for piety through the plots of the impious. For the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God and will rise. And they lied not only in saying, “you who destroy the temple,” but also in what they said, “and I will rebuild it in three days.” For he did not say that he would rebuild the temple, but that he would raise it up. For the word “building” does not indicate a sudden work, but “raising up” does. And those who mocked him said, “Save yourself”; but he, receiving power from the Father, did this too, and more; for to all who receive his word he showed his salvation. And they, mocking, said, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” But he did not show himself as Son of God to those who mocked him; he showed it to those who believed in him, after he had carried out what he had to carry out in those three days, when, having descended to the lower world, put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit, he preached to the spirits in prison who had once disobeyed, when the patience of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. And he was not left there, as he himself said: “For you will not leave my soul in hell.” But he also had to ascend to his own Father and God, so that, ascending on high, he might lead captivity captive and receive gifts for men, and after this show himself stronger than death, saying to it: “Where, O death, is your sting?” Likewise, while the others were passing by and blaspheming him, the chief priests and the scribes too, passing by, themselves also said to him, overwhelmed by the mighty works he had done before: “He saved others; he cannot save himself”; evidently not believing that he who could save others could much more save himself; and they promised to believe in him as the king of Israel if they saw him come down from the cross. But he did not care to do anything unworthy because of the injury of their mockery, nor to do what they said, against reason and order.

“And the robbers who had been crucified with him also reproached him in the same way.” In our work on John we explained, as best we could, about the two robbers who were crucified with Christ, who according to Matthew and Mark both reproached him on the cross. But according to Luke, one of the robbers hanging there blasphemed, saying, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.” But the other answered and rebuked him, saying: “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what our deeds deserve; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus answered and said to the one who had rebuked the blasphemer, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” It is fitting, then, to understand that at first both robbers blasphemed the Lord, but after this one of them was converted and believed, reflecting within himself on the miracles he had heard were done by Jesus, and perhaps also seeing the change in the air and the darkness coming on, unaccustomed and not as it often used to happen. Or perhaps, as we also said there, these two robbers who both blasphemed are different ones. But the robber who was saved can be a figure of those who, after many iniquities, have believed in Christ and said to Christ, “We have been crucified with him and conformed to the death of Christ,” and always say to the Son of God, “Remember us when you come into your kingdom”; and therefore they are in paradise with him. “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.” At this text some slander the truth of the Gospel, saying: How can what is said be true according to the text, that there was darkness over all the earth from the sixth hour until the ninth, an event which no history reports? And they say that, as happens in an eclipse of the sun, so an eclipse of the sun happened then. But an eclipse of the sun has always, since the world began, happened at its own time. An eclipse of the sun, as it usually occurs in the regular course of the times, happens at no other time than at the conjunction of sun and moon, when the moon, running beneath, meets the sun and blocks its rays, and by its meeting dims its light. But at the time when Christ suffered there was plainly no conjunction of the moon with the sun, since it was the time of the Passover, which by custom is kept when the moon is full of the sun's light and shines through the whole night. How, then, could an eclipse of the sun happen when the moon was full and had the full light of the sun? Some of the believers, wishing to bring some defence against these things, and hard pressed by the arguments of those who make such claims, said this: If no new wonder had happened at the time of Christ's passion, but everything had followed the usual course, that eclipse of the sun would be believed to have happened in the usual course. But since it is established that the other wonders which happened then did not happen in the usual course, but were new and astonishing (for the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split, and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised), it is plain that that eclipse of the sun too, in keeping with the other wonders, happened in a new way, against the usual course. Again, against this the sons of this world, who are more prudent than the sons of light in their generation, say: Suppose that that eclipse of the sun happened against the usual course, at a time not long ago, under Roman rule, so that there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour; how is it that none of the Greeks and none of the barbarians wrote of so wonderful an event at that time, especially those who wrote chronicles and noted anything new of the kind that ever happened anywhere, but only your authors wrote of it? Phlegon indeed wrote in his Chronicles that it happened in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, but he did not indicate that it happened at full moon. See, then, whether this objection is not strong and able to move every wise man, who agrees neither with those who speak in this way nor with those who write in that way, but hears everything with reason and judgement. Indeed, it is not hard for each of the faithful who believes, though not with reason and judgement, to be so constant in faith that, even if they bring a thousand charges against the faith of the Gospel to destroy our faith, he is not moved at all by the words of those who, pretending to believe the Gospel Scriptures, seize the occasion of one question or another, difficult or perhaps insoluble, and, opposing the Scriptures, hasten to take the faith of Christ and of his Gospels out of our soul, bringing in certain wonderful things and wishing to reduce the wonders accomplished by the power of God to certain worldly regularities. I have judged it good, therefore, taking up the good purpose of those who desire to be constant in faith, to find answers to their charges on behalf of the truth of the Gospel, as far as God gives me strength, so that the faithful may be fortified in faith not only by simple faith but also by the reason of faith. We say, then, that Matthew and Mark did not say that an eclipse of the sun happened then; nor does Luke, according to most copies, which read thus: “And it was about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the earth until the ninth hour, and the sun was darkened.” But some copies do not have “darkness came, and the sun was darkened,” but this: “Darkness came over all the earth, the sun failing.” Perhaps someone, wishing to say something more clearly, as he thought, dared to put “the sun failing” in place of “and the sun was darkened,” thinking that darkness could not have come except by the sun failing. But I think rather that those who plot against the Church of Christ changed this word, so as to read that the darkness came because the sun failed, in order that the Gospels might plausibly be refuted according to the inventions of those who wish to refute them. I think, then, that just as the other signs which happened at his passion happened only in Jerusalem, so the darkness too came only over all the land of Judea until the ninth hour. By “these things happened only in Jerusalem” I mean: that the veil of the temple was torn, that the earth shook, that the rocks were split, that the tombs were opened. For rocks were not split outside Judea, nor were other tombs opened than those which were in Jerusalem, or perhaps in the land of Judea. Nor did any other land shake then than the land of Jerusalem; for it is not reported anywhere that the whole element of the earth shook at that time, so that, for example, those in Ethiopia and India and Scythia felt it; if that had happened, it would without doubt be found in the histories of some of those who wrote chronicles of new events. So, as the words “the earth shook” refer to the land of Jerusalem, or, if one wishes to extend it more widely, to the land of Judea, so too, when it says that darkness came over all the land from the sixth hour to the ninth, understand that it came over all the land of Judea, or certainly only over Jerusalem. Whoever understands it in this way understands it without fault, so that, wishing to show the greatness of the miracle, he does not fall into the ridicule of the wise of this world, and produce unbelief rather than faith in wise men. But someone says against this: If the darkness over all the land of Judea and Jerusalem at that time did not come from an eclipse of the sun but from another cause, show the cause. To him we answer as follows. First, the evangelists did not name the sun at all in this place, but said only that darkness came over all the land. If, then, darkness came over all the land without the sun being named, it follows without doubt that we understand certain very dark clouds, and perhaps not one but many great ones, gathered over the land of Judea and Jerusalem to cover the rays of the sun, and so deep darkness came from the sixth hour until the ninth. We have said how it happened in such a place. Perhaps the darkness that could be felt in Egypt for three days also came about in this way, not from an eclipse of the sun, but either because dark clouds gathered together or because the air there became thicker at that time over the Egyptians alone. For all the sons of Israel, as Scripture testifies, had light where they lived. For it is also impossible, in an eclipse of the sun, which comes from the meeting of the moon with the sun, for darkness to last three continuous days; and some other cause of the darkness in Egypt would be believed only if the sun had been named, or said to be darkened at that time; but as it is, the book of Exodus says nothing else than that Moses stretched out his hand to heaven, and there was darkness and gloom, and the rest, over all the land of Egypt for three days, and no one saw his brother, nor did anyone rise from his bed for three days. And the argument for my saying “over all the land of Judea or Jerusalem,” so that we do not understand the whole element of the earth, is what is written in the third book of Kingdoms, where Obadiah, the steward of Ahab, said to Elijah: “What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death? As your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you; and when they said, He is not here, he burned the kingdom and its regions, because he could not find you.” For who is so stony, reading this, as to think that Ahab, king of Israel, sent to every nation in the world and every kingdom on earth looking for Elijah, and burned every place where it was said, “Elijah is not here”? Without doubt these things were said with exaggeration, to show that he searched for him thoroughly among the nations around Judea, as far as he could search. We have also said in other places that, since two general kinds of creatures were made on the sixth day, first the animals, and then man, made in the image of God, it follows that the sixth day too is understood to have been divided between the two kinds of creatures: so that the animals are understood to have been created before the sixth hour, and at the sixth hour the Lord said, “Let us make man in our image,” and made him then. That is why it was fitting that he who was dying for the salvation of that same man should be hung on the cross at that very sixth hour, and that for this reason, from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth. And as, when Moses stretched out his hand to heaven, darkness came upon the Egyptians who held God's servants in slavery, an image of the darkness to come which was to seize the Egyptians, so likewise, when Christ at the sixth hour stretched out his hands on the cross toward heaven over the people who had cried, “Away with this man from the earth,” and, “Crucify, crucify him,” darkness came, and they were deprived of all light; and that was an image of the darkness to come which was to seize the Jewish nation, because they dared to lay their hands on the true light. Hence from that time the whole nation has been filled with darkness, as the prophet says: “Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see.” Again, under Moses there was darkness and gloom over all the land of Egypt for three days, and no one saw his brother, nor did anyone rise from his bed for three days; but all the sons of Israel had light in all the places where they lived. But under Christ darkness came over all the land of Judea for three hours, while there was light over all the rest of the earth, the light that everywhere illuminates the whole Church of God in Christ. And if the darkness lay over all the land of Judea until the ninth hour, it is plain that its light shone again; for when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved. But that darkness lay over the land of Judea for three hours shows that because of their sins they were deprived of the light of God the Father, of the splendour of Christ, and of the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

“About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of those who stood there, when they heard it, said: This man is calling Elijah.” We must inquire, in a manner worthy of God, what that loud voice of Christ was: whether it was loud in that it magnified great mysteries by its content, or loud to the senses and the bodily hearing. I think that every voice of Christ the Son of God is loud, even if it is gentle; and Scripture testifies to this, especially in those places where it wishes to raise the hearer up, so that he passes beyond what many can understand in these passages and does not stay there, although the simple understanding contains some truth, so that he may understand some things worthily because of the Lord's loud voice. Since, then, by these words he shows that there is something great hidden in his crying to God, “Why have you forsaken me?”, we must inquire what it means that Christ was forsaken by God. For it is not right to believe that he lied when he said, “Why have you forsaken me?” And some, under the colour of piety toward Jesus, and because they cannot explain what it is for Christ to be forsaken by God, think and say: It is true that he took the form of a servant … and seeing in these things the will of him who sent him to such things, we understand that, as regards those things in which he had been the form of the invisible God and the image according to the Father, he was forsaken by the Father when he took the form of a servant, and forsaken for men's sake, so as to undergo such great things and to come to death, even death on a cross, which among men is thought most shameful. For the extremity of his forsakenness came when they crucified him and put over his head, as if mocking him, letters saying, “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.” The extremity of his forsakenness was also that he was crucified between robbers, that those passing by blasphemed him, wagging their heads at him, and that the rulers with the scribes said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself”; and further, that even the robbers reproached him on the cross. So you will be able to understand plainly what he means by saying, “Why have you forsaken me?”, comparing the glory he had with the Father with the shame he endured when he despised the cross. For his throne was like the sun before God, and like the moon established for ever, and he was a faithful witness in heaven; but afterwards, speaking of those for whom he says, “Why have you forsaken me?”, he added: “But you have rejected and brought to nothing, you have put off your Christ; you have overturned the covenant of your servant, you have profaned his holiness on the earth,” and the rest. And as long as the light of the sun remained, though he was enduring such great things, he did not say, “Why have you forsaken me?” But after he saw that darkness had come over all the land of Judea until the ninth hour, he said with his loud voice, “Why have you forsaken me?”, wishing to show by this: You have forsaken me willingly, Father, and handed me over, emptied, to such calamities, so that the people who had been honoured by you may receive the reward of what they dared against me, filling up the measure of their fathers and of what they did to the prophets, so that they may be deprived of the light of your regard and cast into darkness, as though you, God, were no longer present to them. But you have also forsaken me for the salvation of the Gentiles, so that the forsaking of Israel might become the salvation of the Gentiles. But what good have those from the Gentiles who believed done, that by my precious blood poured out on the earth for them I should redeem them from the evil one who had held them? And why did you turn your face away, and I was troubled, so that I said, “My soul is sorrowful unto death”? Or what worthy thing will the men do for whom I suffer these things, that I should suffer these things for them? As the prophet too foretold of this very thing long before, as if crying to you and saying: “What profit, Father, has come to men in my blood, while I go down to corruption? Will the dust confess to you, or declare your truth?” And perhaps also, seeing the sins of the men for whom he was suffering, he said, “Why have you forsaken me,” so that I have become like one who gathers stubble at harvest, and like one who gleans grapes at the vintage, when there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fruit? And I say this because the godly man has perished from the earth, and there is no one among men who sets things right. So do not think that the Saviour said these things in a human way because of the calamity that had come upon him on the cross. For if you take it so, you will not hear the loud voice in which he spoke them, nor seek what is worthy of the divine voice. So darkness came over all the land from the sixth hour until the ninth; but before the ninth hour had passed, at about that hour, the Lord cried out with a loud voice, saying what is written, as if asking that the sun should rise on the land and dispel the darkness of the three hours, as we explained above.

“And some of those who stood there, when they heard it, said: This man is calling Elijah. But the others said: Wait, let us see whether Elijah comes to save him.” If they had heard that he was calling on God, they would surely have marvelled at his prayer on the cross, greater than the prayer of Jonah praying in the belly of the whale, and would have been edified, so as never to cease praying to God even when placed in the utmost calamities. I say that Christ's prayer was greater than Jonah's in the belly of the whale because of the greatness of the things it shows, and because of the great disposition of his voluntary passion.

“And at once one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.” And he fulfilled in himself the prophecy that speaks of him: “And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” That is why, according to John too, when Jesus had received the vinegar with gall, he said, “It is finished,” meaning this too, which Scripture had foretold of me. One may aptly use this text against those who have written or are writing malicious things against Christ, of whom Isaiah says, “Woe to those who write malice”; for in writing they write malice. I mean those who have left behind writings, speaking iniquity on high. And one will use this text on seeing them gather from certain hearsay, whether pagan words or barbarian talk, and compose a narrative like a sponge, filling it not with a drinkable word, nor with wine that gladdens the heart of man, nor with the water of refreshment, but with something contrary, harmful, and undrinkable, a vinegar of the mind; and they put this sponge on the reed of their writing, and, as far as in them lies, injure Jesus with such a drink. And some give Jesus wine mixed with gall to drink, which Jesus, the Son of God, will not drink; others give not wine but vinegar. And perhaps those who think according to the Church's teaching but live badly give him wine mixed with gall to drink; but those who attach to Christ wisdoms foreign to the truth, as though he had said them, fill the sponge with vinegar, put it on a reed, and give it to him to drink. And there are those who, as John writes, offer both vinegar and gall to his mouth. And perhaps those who only think wrongly fill the sponge with vinegar, put it on the reed of their writing, and give him to drink; but those who both think wrongly about Christ's dispensations and live wickedly put a sponge full of vinegar with gall and hyssop on the reed of Scripture and offer it to his mouth. But he who will not even drink his wine because of the gall mixed with it will much less drink vinegar, or vinegar mixed with gall. Therefore let us receive from our Saviour Jesus himself, who is the true vine, wine pure of all sharpness and bitterness, wine that gladdens the heart of man and the heart of the Son of God himself, and give it to him and his disciples to drink, so that he may say of us, who give drink well to him and his disciples, “I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.” Let us receive too the water of refreshment with which the Good Shepherd nourishes the righteous, so that those who are fed by him may say, “He has brought us up beside the water of refreshment.”