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.

Verse 74-75. And cry out the loops. And I will remember the word of Jesus, which was spoken to him, "That he shall not even proclaim the loops first, but deny Me three times..." Mark (14:68, 72) said that when Peter denied for the first time, then a rooster crowed; and when he denied for the third time, then the rooster crowed for the second time. He noted this to show that the first crowing of the rooster did not remind him of this. And Luke (22:61) writes that after the rooster crowed, the Lord, turning around, looked at Peter in order to remind him with this gaze. Fear took possession of him so much that he almost died; and not only the first, but also the second crowing of the rooster he still did not notice and needed the Savior's gaze for this. Notice the weakness that in a short time he denied three times and pronounced three renunciations one after the other, not deliberately interrogated, but casually questioned in passing.

Verse 75. And he went out, weeping bitterly. He went out, fearing lest they should seize him as a weeping man; and he did not cry in any way, but bitterly. Mark (14:72) said that he began to weep. John omitted it as told by others. If you have seen sin, look at repentance. For this reason both the sins and the repentance of the saints are recorded, so that we, having sinned, may imitate their repentance. Peter's fall was allowed not only for the reasons indicated, but also in order that he might learn to forgive sinners, knowing their weakness from his own — since he was to be made a pastor — so that, in performing great miracles, he would be humble-minded and, remembering his fall, ascribe everything to God; [in the same way, the Apostle Paul, by God's permission, struggled with temptations, so that he would not be exalted, as he himself said (2 Corinthians 12:7)], but mainly so that there would be a wonderful example of repentance for those who sinned. If the first of the disciples, who saw and performed such miracles, fell to the point of renunciation, but after he had realized his crime and repented, not only washed it away in a short time, but was made shepherd of the other disciples and performed many and great miracles, then no sinner need despair, but immediately repent, looking at the riches of the Lord's mercy. And here it should be noted that, according to Matthew (26, 59, 67, 69) and Mark (14, 55, 65, 66), first there was an interrogation before the high priest, then the mockery of Jesus Christ of the Jews, and after that the denial of Peter; and according to Luke (22, 56, 63, 66), first the denial of Peter, then the mockery, and after that, when the day had already come, the interrogation took place. They not only related what had happened, but also paid attention to the order of events; and Luke, having occupied himself only with the narration of what had happened, did not pay attention to the very order of events.

CHAPTER XXVII

Verses 1-2. And in the morning, all the bishops and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus, that they might kill Him: and they bound Him, and delivered Him up to the hegemon of Pontius Pilate. Mark (15:1) and Luke (23:1) said the same; and John (18:28) says: "And Jesus was led from Caiaphas to the praetor." And it was morning, and they did not enter into the praetor, that they should not be defiled, but that they should eat the Passover. All night long they led Him and tortured Him. But, what madness! thirsting for blood, betraying to death, they did not consider themselves defiled, but considered it a defilement to enter the praetorium — straining out a mosquito, they swallowed a camel.

Verses 3-4. Then, seeing Judas betraying Him, as having condemned Him, repented, returned the thirty pieces of silver to the bishop and the elder, saying: "Having betrayed the innocent blood of those who have sinned...", seeing that Jesus Christ was condemned to death by the Jews. He should have repented to the point of betrayal; But such is the devil: before committing a sin, he does not allow evil to be seen, so that repentance does not follow, and after committing it, he gives this opportunity to plunge a person into sorrow and despair. "Sinners," said Judas, "giving up the innocent Blood to be shed.

Verse 4. And they decide, What have we to eat? You will see. Saying, "Those who have sinned, having betrayed the innocent blood," Judas testified that Jesus Christ was dying innocently, and the Jews, saying, "What have we eat? thou hast seen, and they have agreed with his testimony; Thus the truth was witnessed by the enemies. But prompted by anger, they laid all the blame on Judas, and, intoxicated with passion, hastened to murder.

Verse 5. And he threw down the pieces of silver in the church, and went away: and he went and hanged himself. To confess one's sin before everyone and throw away the pieces of silver was a matter of repentance, but to hang oneself is a matter of despair. Judas recognized all the evil, repented and confessed it, but did not ask forgiveness from Him Who could grant it. The devil did not allow him to repent before Christ, against Whom he had sinned, but removed him even before he repented, since he could not endure the pangs of his conscience. He should have had recourse to the merciful Christ, but he resorts to death in order to be freed from a sad and desperate life as soon as possible. And he did not immediately receive what he so much desired: noticed by some, he was taken off the noose; then he lived for some time in a solitary place, and having fallen down, that is, having risen higher and falling on his face, he sat in two, and all his swollen intestines were poured out, as the Book of Acts says (1:18). Although it is written in the same passage that Judas acquired the land with unrighteous reward, it was not after an attempt to hang himself, as some think. Explaining this, Chrysostom says that the land acquired by unrighteous reward is the potter's land, because the thirty pieces of silver with which it was bought were for Judas a reward for the unrighteousness which he had shown to the Teacher: what can be more unrighteous than His betrayal? Let us also, lovers of money, remember how Judas committed a sin, and did not use money, but destroyed his soul.