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.

Verse 65-66. Behold, now ye hear His blasphemy: what do you think... Having strengthened the accusation, calling the answer blasphemy, having condemned Jesus Christ before any trial, having shown this and others the way to condemnation, he forces them also to pronounce their judgment as if there had already been an obvious crime, in order to confirm the guilty verdict in this way, and to hand Jesus Christ over as the guilty one to Pilate for murder.

Verse 66. And they answered, saying, I am guilty of death. What was desired, was expressed. A corrupt mind also gives a wrong judgment. Luke (22:66-71) wrote that they brought Jesus Christ into their Sanhedrin, saying: "If Thou art the Christ; To us. And he said unto them, If ye have a river, ye have no faith: but if ye ask, ye shall not answer me, nor let me go: henceforth shall the Son of man sit at the right hand of the power of God. And they all decided, Are thou the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye sayeth that I am. And they decided, "What else do we require a testimony?" for we ourselves have heard from His mouth. It is likely that both the high priest and the members of the Sanhedrin questioned and judged Jesus Christ; therefore He answered both him and them, but why did they not kill Jesus Christ secretly? So that it would not seem that they killed Him out of envy. They tried to kill Him publicly as a villain, in order to spoil the opinion of Him. Therefore, they made every effort to crucify Jesus Christ, and crucified the thieves with Him. But it happened quite the opposite than they wished: from the public punishment His glory was increased even more; and the seals on the tomb and the guards made the truth shine even more.

Verse 67. Then spit on His face... Terrified, heaven and earth, and all creation! To what person, what disgrace they inflicted!

Verses 67-68. And I did Him mischief: And he smote Him by the cheek, saying, Prophets unto us, O Christ, who is Thy smite? Since many had called Jesus Christ a prophet, they now mocked Him as a false prophet. Covering His face with a garment, so that He would not see, as Mark (14:65) and Luke (22:64) said, some struck Him, and others struck Him, saying: "Prophets to us, O Christ, who is to strike Thee?" Κολαφισμος (strangulation) is a blow on the neck with a hand, in which a sound is heard, and ραπισμος is a blow on the face. After the unjust condemnation, having placed Jesus Christ in the middle, as someone despised and rejected, not only the free, but also the slaves mocked Him in every possible way; in various ways they showed their wrath against Him and maliciously displayed their frenzy; but He endured all this generously, teaching us patience. They had excessive malice, but He had kindness. It is also surprising that the Evangelists, out of love for the truth, speak even of things that seem very shameful; they do not blame either Judas or the Jews as enemies, and do not exalt Jesus Christ as their Teacher, but impartially narrate everything, care only for the truth, and always touch only what is necessary.

Verse 69-70. And Peter is outside sitting in the courtyard. And one handmaid came unto him, saying, Thou wast also with Jesus of Galilee. And he denied it before all, saying, "We know not what you say." See how he who had boasted so much before was now frightened by the weak maidservant when he was forsaken by the grace of God.

Verse 71-72. And when I went out to him at the gate, another saw him, and said to those who were there, "And this is with Jesus of Nazareth." And I denied it with an oath, for I do not know Man. What fear seized him! Not only did he renounce, but even with an oath. He did not go out of the gate, but to the gate, that is, to the front yard, as Mark said (14:68).

Verses 73-74. And little by little those who stood came and said to Peter: "Verily thou art also of them, for thy conversation maketh thee manifest." Then he began to swear and swear, that I do not know Man... Mark (14:70) said: "For thou art a Galilean, and thy conversation shall be like." The Galileans had some differences in clothing and peculiarities in their dialect. Rotitisya (καταθεματζειν) means to be denied, the same as αναθεματιζειν, which was used by Mark (14:71). Both of these words mean to deny.