Verse 55. In that hour Jesus spake unto the people, As a thief hast come forth with weapons and drekols to see me; all the days I have sat in church with you, and do not eat me. And by this He shows that He was not taken by their power. As they couldn't take Him then, so they couldn't now, if only He didn't want to. Luke (22:52) says that Jesus Christ said this to the chief priests, the rulers of the temple, who were gathered against Him. He probably spoke to them and to the people. From this it will be seen that Judas, having taken a detachment of the servants of the chief priests and Pharisees, went in front, followed by some of the chief priests, the rulers of the temple, and the elders, as Luke has indicated in the passage indicated, partly to encourage the messengers, and partly to see that they might not be bribed. He calls the leaders of the temple those who guarded the temple together with the soldiers; Judas had spoken to them before.

Verse 56. Behold, all things may come to pass, that the prophetic writings may be fulfilled... All this, that is, that I desired to be taken, happened in order to receive the fulfillment of the prophetic Scriptures, which only spoke of My death.

Verse 56. Then all the disciples left Him, fleeing. When they heard that Jesus Christ, in accordance with the Scriptures, gave Himself up voluntarily, and saw that it would no longer be possible for Him to flee from them, they fled, in accordance with His true prediction. Mark (14:51-52) added that a certain young man, wrapped in a veil over his naked body, followed Him; and the soldiers seized him. But he, leaving the veil, fled naked from them. Some say that the young man was from the house in which Jesus Christ ate the Passover, and others say that it was James, the brother of the Lord, who used only clothes all his life. He wrapped himself in a blanket on the nag, i.e. on the body.

Verse 57. (The soldiers) led Jesus to Caiaphas the bishops, where the scribes and elders were gathered. Mark (14:53) and Luke (22:54) wrote a similar thing; but John, who, beginning with this passage, writes about everything more extensively and in more detail, as he was present at all this, says (18:12-13): "And the Spira, and the thousands, and the servants of Judaism, took Jesus and bound Him, and brought Him to Anna first: For Caiaphas's father-in-law, who was the bishop of that year. Then, having told in detail all that happened in the house of Annas, which the other Evangelists omitted, he says at the end: "And His ambassador Anna is bound to Caiaphas as a bishop" (18:24).

Verse 58. And Peter followed Him from afar to the bishop's court... Soon returning, he and John saw Jesus Christ off from afar. John, as an acquaintance of the high priest, was allowed to come closer, as he himself narrates (John 16:15). The other three Evangelists unanimously mention Peter alone, out of necessity, in order to show that the Saviour's prophecy about his denial was fulfilled, and in order to teach how bad it is to rely on oneself and not to trust in God. And John also mentioned himself for the sake of accuracy; but so that it would not seem that he was praising himself for following the Teacher in such danger, he hid his name and said: "And after Jesus went Simon Peter and the other disciple" (John 18:15).

Verse 58. And going inside, sitting with the servants, he saw the end. The three Evangelists say that Peter's three denials took place in the court of Caiaphas, and John says that in the court of Annas, his father-in-law; and yet they do not disagree with each other, because they both had one house and one courtyard, having two separate rooms in them. It should be said that, according to Matthew (26; 69, 71, 73), first one maidservant frightened Peter, then another, and finally those who stood there; according to Mark (14; 66, 69, 70), first one maidservant, then the same again, and finally those who stood there; according to Luke (22; 56, 58, 59), first the servant, then someone else, and finally someone else; and according to John (18; 17, 2, 5, 26), first the servant doorkeeper, then some others, and finally one of the servants of the high priests, a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off. But if you look closely, you won't even find any disagreement. At the first renunciation there was one servant, whom the four Evangelists mention. At the second denial, according to John, some asked Peter; these some were: the maidservant of whom Matthew spoke, and the same one mentioned by Mark, and someone else of whom Luke wrote. Mark and Matthew alike said that at the third denial Peter was asked by those who were standing there, among whom there could be another mentioned in Luke, namely, this was the servant of the high priest of whom John spoke. Having paid attention to what had to be noticed, it is necessary to explain what follows, namely, what happened in the house of Caiaphas, and which John did not mention as related by the other Evangelists.

Verse 59-60. And the bishop and the elders and the whole assembly sought false witness against Jesus, that they might kill Him, and not find Him... As it seemed to them, testimonies, but in truth, perjury; or, knowing that no evidence would be found against the innocent, they sought perjury. They wanted to condemn Him as guilty, and therefore they form a judgment seat, and seek false witness; they themselves become both judges and accusers; they try to accuse Him before themselves, since they have never hoped to overcome Him before other judges.

Verse 60. And many false witnesses approached, but did not find..., because the witnesses did not agree with each other in their testimony, as Mark said (14:56): "And the witness is not equal to the testimony." David's prophecy was also fulfilled, which says: "His sin shall be searched, and it shall not be found" (Psalm 9:36).

Verse 60-61.And after two false witnesses came to the church, he said: I can destroy the church of God, and in three days I will build it. but he did not say, "I will destroy," but "destroy," and moreover, he did not speak of the temple made with hands, but of His Body. That is why the evangelist called them false witnesses. St. Mark (14:57-59) said: "And those who stood up to bear false witness against Him, saying, 'For we have heard Him speak, that I will destroy this church made with hands, and in three days I will build another church not made with hands.' And neither is their witness equal. Many testified on the subject, but only two of those mentioned by Matthew agreed, and others, of whom Mark said their testimony was not sufficient, disagreed.

Verse 62-63. And the bishop arose and said to Him, "Dost thou declare that these are witnesses against Thee? And Jesus was silent... Seeing the unfinished judgment seat, which was more like the judgment seat of robbers and the tribunal of tyrants, and knowing that it would be in vain to defend Himself before them, Jesus Christ was silent.

Verse 63. And the bishop said to Him, "I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou speakest unto us, if Thou art the Christ, the Son of God?" He cursed, wishing to provoke him to answer in order to seize upon him and accuse Jesus Christ. He added: Son of God, because both kings and prophets were called anointed (χριστοι) from the word "to anoint" (χριεσθαι). Mark (14:61) said: "The Son of the Blessed, that is, of God, Who is blessed and glorified."

Verse 64. Jesus said to him, "Thou hast spoken... And here, if we discard: if so, it remains: Thou art the Christ, the Son of God. Mark (14:62) says that Jesus Christ said: I am. He said both: Thou didst say, I am. Though He knows that they will not believe in Him, yet He does His duty, so that afterwards they may not say, If He had confessed Himself after the exorcism, we would have believed.

Verse 64. And I say unto you, From henceforth ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming upon the clouds of heaven. From nowhere, that is, a little later. Indicates the time after the Resurrection. See Me, Whom you now kill, sitting at the right hand of the power of God, or co-throned with God and the Father, and at the Second Coming coming from above on the clouds of heaven, as God. He said, "See ye not that they may see Him thus, but because it is so testified of Him; or these words are directed to those of them who should have believed in Him, since to see is to know. And Luke (22:69) says: "From henceforth shall the Son of Man sit at the right hand of the power of God," that is, the time of evil against Me is short; after a while I will be higher than those who devise evil.

Verse 65. Then the bishop tore apart his vestments, saying, as if he were blasphemy, saying, "What more do we require witnesses..." It was the custom of the Jews to tear their garments when they saw or heard anything terrible or sad, as the high priest did even now, as if he had heard an intolerable blasphemy. In doing so, he unwittingly prophesied that the Jewish high priesthood would be destroyed.