Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
First, Magdalene pours out costly ointment upon the head of Christ, at which Judas murmurs and makes a pact with the Jews and chief priests to sell Christ. Second, at verse 12, Christ celebrates the paschal banquet of the lamb, and in it institutes the Eucharist, and foretells that the Apostles will be scandalized and will flee that very night, and that Peter will deny Him three times. Third, at verse 32, in the garden He prays three times, is seized, and while the Apostles flee He alone is bound and led to Caiaphas, where He is falsely accused, judged guilty of death, spit upon, struck with fists, and denied three times by Peter.
Vulgate Text: Mark 14:1-72
1. Now the Pasch and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the Scribes sought how they might by some deceit seize Him and kill Him. 2. And they said: Not on the festival day, lest there be a tumult among the people. 3. And when He was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, and sat at table, there came a woman with an alabaster jar of precious ointment of spikenard, and breaking the alabaster jar, she poured it out upon His head. 4. Now there were some who took it ill within themselves, saying: Why was this waste of ointment made? 5. For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor. And they were indignant against her. 6. But Jesus said: Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a good work on Me. 7. For the poor you have always with you, and whenever you will you may do them good; but Me you have not always. 8. What she had, she did; she has beforehand anointed My body for burial. 9. Amen I say to you: Wherever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that which she has done shall also be told for a memorial of her. 10. And Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests, to betray Him to them. 11. Who hearing it were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray Him. 12. And on the first day of the Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the pasch, the disciples said to Him: Where do you want us to go and prepare for You to eat the pasch? 13. And He sent two of His disciples, and said to them: Go into the city; and there shall meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water, follow him; 14. and wherever he shall go in, say to the master of the house: The Teacher says: Where is My refectory, where I may eat the pasch with My disciples? 15. And he will show you a large upper room, furnished; and there prepare for Us. 16. And His disciples went and came into the city, and they found as He had told them, and they prepared the pasch. 17. And when evening had come, He came with the Twelve. 18. And as they were reclining and eating, Jesus said: Amen I say to you, one of you who eats with Me shall betray Me. 19. And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one: Is it I? 20. Who said to them: One of the Twelve, who dips his hand with Me in the dish. 21. And the Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man shall be betrayed: it were better for him if that man had never been born. 22. And while they were eating, Jesus took bread; and blessing it, He broke it and gave it to them, and said: Take, this is My Body. 23. And taking the chalice, giving thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24. And He said to them: This is My Blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many. 25. Amen I say to you, that I shall drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day when I shall drink it new in the Kingdom of God. 26. And after a hymn had been sung, they went forth to the Mount of Olives. 27. And Jesus said to them: You shall all be scandalized in Me this night, for it is written: I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. 28. But after I shall have risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. 29. But Peter said to Him: Although all shall be scandalized in You, yet not I. 30. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to you, that today, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you shall three times deny Me. 31. But he spoke yet the more: Even if I must die together with You, I will not deny You. And in like manner also all said. 32. And they came to a country place called Gethsemane. And He said to His disciples: Sit here while I pray. 33. And He took with Him Peter, and James, and John; and He began to feel dread and to be heavy. 34. And He said to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay here and watch. 35. And when He had gone forward a little, He fell flat on the ground; and He prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him; 36. and He said: Abba Father, all things are possible to You, take away this chalice from Me; but not what I will, but what You will. 37. And He came, and found them sleeping. And He said to Peter: Simon, do you sleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38. Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 39. And going away again, He prayed, saying the same words. 40. And when He returned, He again found them sleeping (for their eyes were heavy), and they knew not what to answer Him. 41. And He came the third time, and said to them: Sleep now, and take your rest. It is enough, the hour has come: behold, the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42. Rise up, let us go; behold, he who is to betray Me is at hand. 43. And while He was yet speaking, Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, came, and with him a great crowd, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, and the Scribes, and the elders. 44. And he who betrayed Him had given them a sign, saying: Whomever I shall kiss, that is He, hold Him, and lead Him away carefully. 45. And when he had come, immediately going up to Him, he said: Hail, Rabbi; and he kissed Him. 46. But they laid their hands upon Him and held Him. 47. But one of those who stood by, drawing a sword, struck a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. 48. And Jesus answering said to them: Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs, to seize Me? 49. I was daily with you in the temple, teaching, and you did not lay hold of Me. But that the Scriptures may be fulfilled. 50. Then His disciples leaving Him all fled away. 51. And a certain young man followed Him clothed in a linen cloth over his naked body, and they held him. 52. But he, leaving the linen cloth, fled from them naked. 53. And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and there came together all the priests, and the Scribes, and the elders. 54. And Peter followed Him from afar, even into the courtyard of the high priest; and he sat with the servants at the fire, and warmed himself. 55. And the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus, that they might put Him to death, and found none. 56. For many bore false witness against Him, and the testimonies were not in agreement. 57. And some rising up, bore false witness against Him, saying: 58. We have heard Him saying: I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands. 59. And their witness was not in agreement. 60. And the high priest rising up in the midst, asked Jesus, saying: Do You answer nothing to the things which are laid to Your charge by these men? 61. But He held His peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, and said to Him: Are You the Christ, the Son of the blessed God? 62. And Jesus said to him: I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power of God, and coming with the clouds of heaven. 63. And the high priest, rending his garments, said: What further need have we of witnesses? 64. You have heard the blasphemy: what think you? Who all condemned Him as guilty of death. 65. And some began to spit on Him, and to cover His face, and to strike Him with fists, and to say to Him: Prophesy; and the servants struck Him with slaps. 66. And when Peter was in the courtyard below, there came one of the maidservants of the high priest; 67. and when she had seen Peter warming himself, looking at him, she said: You also were with Jesus of Nazareth. 68. But he denied, saying: I neither know nor understand what you are saying. And he went outside before the courtyard, and the cock crowed. 69. And again when the maidservant had seen him, she began to say to those who stood by: This man is one of them. 70. But he again denied. And after a little while again those who stood by said to Peter: Truly you are one of them, for you are also a Galilean. 71. But he began to curse and to swear: I know not this man of whom you speak. 72. And immediately the cock crowed again. And Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him: Before the cock crows twice, you shall three times deny Me. And he began to weep.
Verse 3: A Woman Having an Alabaster Jar of Ointment of Spikenard
3. A WOMAN HAVING AN ALABASTER JAR OF OINTMENT OF SPIKENARD. — "Nard," says Pliny, book XII, chapter 12, "is a shrub with a heavy and thick root, but short, black, and brittle, though fleshy, giving off an odor like cyperus, of a pungent taste, with small, dense leaves: its tips branch out into spikes, wherefore with a double name they celebrate the spikes and the leaves of nard. Hence from the leaves of nard an ointment is made, which is called foliatum, and from the spikes one that is called spicatum; but the spicatum is better than the foliatum, because it has more substance and pith, which Galen and the pharmacists after him call the spike of nard." Hence Bede: "Nard," he says, "is an aromatic shrub, it gives off an odor like cypress," etc.
In place of spicati the Syriac has capitalis, that is, of the highest, most excellent, principal sort: for the spicatum is better than the foliatum, as I have said. In Greek it is πιστικῆς, which the translator at John chapter 12, verse 3, renders as pistici; therefore pistici is the same thing as spicati, as I shall show there. Hence the Arabic in that same place renders it optimi (best).
Verse 5: Three Hundred Denarii
5. THREE HUNDRED DENARII. — A denarius is a Roman julius, or a Spanish real. Therefore three hundred denarii make 30 Roman gold pieces, which are equivalent to 75 Belgian florins. Hence the wretched and impious Judas sold Christ for 30 silver pieces, so that in place of the 30 gold pieces which he had lost in the ointment poured out upon Christ, he might recover 30 silver pieces — that is, seven and a half Brabant or Belgian florins — by selling Christ. Therefore Magdalene was more liberal in anointing Christ than Judas in betraying Him. See here how base and sordid avarice is. Wherefore Victor of Antioch: "When the disciples," he says, "assert that that ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, they leave us to conjecture how much that woman had spent on that ointment, and what consequent eagerness of soul and devotion toward Christ she thereby showed."
Verse 8: For Burial
8. FOR BURIAL. — The Syriac: as for burial; the Arabic: for burying Me.
Verse 11: They Rejoiced
11. THEY REJOICED. — "Not only because they would seize Him without uproar, since He was conveniently being betrayed by Judas, but also because He was beginning to be held in hatred even by His own disciples," says Euthymius.
Verse 13: There Shall Meet You
13. THERE SHALL MEET YOU. — "Consider the majesty of His divinity," says St. Ambrose on Luke 22, verse 8, "He is speaking with His disciples, and already knows what is about to happen elsewhere."
Verse 14: Where Is My Refectory
14. WHERE IS MY REFECTORY? — That is, the place of My refreshment, or My refectory in which I may be refreshed with My disciples and may feed upon the lamb. In Greek κατάλυμα, that is, a lodging; the Syriac: a house of dwelling; the Arabic: a place in which I may eat the pasch.
Verse 15: Furnished
15. FURNISHED. — Set with tables, with couches or beds and carpets, moreover decorated with greenery and flowers, and with every kind of furniture and ornament: prepared for celebrating the Pasch, so that nothing was lacking except the roasting, bringing in, and eating of the lamb. The Greek, Syriac, and Arabic add ἕτοιμον, that is, ready. For God had put into the heart of the master of that house the intention of preparing the upper room as a favor to Christ, so that Christ Himself might find the place altogether adorned for the celebration of the Pasch, lest He suffer any delay with evening drawing near, when the lamb had to be roasted and eaten and the other things carried out by Christ.
Verse 18: One of You Shall Betray Me
18. ONE OF YOU SHALL BETRAY ME. — The Syriac: one of you who eats with Me, he shall betray Me.
Verse 23: And They All Drank of It
23. AND THEY ALL DRANK OF IT. — That is, after Christ had consecrated the chalice, saying: "This is My Blood," as follows. There is therefore here a prolepsis or anticipation which Mark uses, in order to show that the disciples fulfilled the command of Christ, by which He had bidden them, saying: "Drink you all of this," as Matthew has it at chapter 26:28.
GIVING THANKS. — The Syriac: He gave thanks and blessed.
Verse 33: He Began to Feel Dread and to Be Heavy
33. HE BEGAN TO FEEL DREAD AND TO BE HEAVY. — In Greek ἐκθαμβεῖσθαι καὶ ἀδημονεῖν, that is, to be terrified and in anguish; the Arabic: to be saddened and to be afraid.
Verse 36: Abba Father
36. ABBA FATHER. — In Greek Ἀββᾶ ὁ πατήρ, where ὁ πατήρ is a nominative, so that Mark may interpret the Syriac name Abba by the Greek πατήρ, as if to say: Abba, which in Greek is called πατήρ; or rather, the nominative ὁ πατήρ is taken in the place of the vocative ὦ πάτερ. For with the affection of one gently entreating, out of the innermost feeling of His heart, Christ doubled the word "Abba," that is, Father. Hence the Syriac has abba, abbi, that is, father, my father; the Arabic, O father. Indeed St. Augustine, in book III of De Consensu Evangelistarum, chapter 4, judges that Christ here spoke at the same time in Syriac and in Greek, and precisely said Ἀββᾶ ὁ πατήρ, as Mark has it. For so the Apostle says: "In whom we cry, Abba Father," Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6. "It is to be believed," says St. Augustine, "that the Lord said Abba Father, in order to signify the sacrament of His Church, which was to be gathered from Jews and Gentiles." And the Scholiast in St. Jerome: "He speaks," he says, "in Hebrew and in Greek, because there is no distinction between Jew and Greek."
Verse 38: The Spirit Indeed Is Willing
38. THE SPIRIT INDEED IS WILLING. — The Syriac: voluntary and ready.
Verse 41: The Hour Has Come
41. THE HOUR HAS COME. — The Syriac: the end (of My life) has arrived, and the hour has come; the Arabic: the end is at hand, and the hour has come.
Verse 44: Carefully
44. CAREFULLY. — In Greek ἀσφαλῶς, that is, securely, safely, surely; the Arabic: fear on His account, lest He slip out of your hands, as at other times He has slipped away.
Verse 47: But One
47. BUT ONE. — Namely Peter. "Mark is silent about the name of Peter," says Theophylact, "lest he seem to praise his own teacher, Peter, as being of greater zeal for Christ."
Verse 51: A Certain Young Man Was Following Him
51. AND A CERTAIN YOUNG MAN WAS FOLLOWING HIM, CLOTHED IN A LINEN CLOTH OVER HIS NAKED BODY, AND THEY HELD HIM. — That is, clothed in a linen or flaxen garment over his naked body: for that a sindon was a kind of linen garment fitted to the body — yet in such a way that it could easily be thrown over the back and taken off again like a tunic — is clear from the word amictus (clothed), and also from Pollux, who calls a sindon a περιβόλαιον, that is, a covering, a wrap, a cloak, a veil, a mantle, a lid.
You may ask, who was this young man? First, St. Epiphanius, in heresy 78, and St. Jerome (or whoever the author is) on Psalm 37, think that he was James, the brother of the Lord.
Second, Bede and the Gloss here, and St. Chrysostom on Psalm 13, and St. Ambrose on Psalm 36, and St. Gregory in book XIV of the Morals, chapter 23, and Baronius think that he was St. John: for he was among the Apostles the youngest in age. But that he was not John, nor James, nor any of the Apostles, is clear from what Mark had just said immediately before at verse 50: "Then His disciples (the Apostles) leaving Him, all fled."
Third, Theophylact, Euthymius, and Victor judge that this young man was someone from the household of John Mark, in which Christ had eaten the Pasch.
Fourth, more probably Cajetan, in his Jentacula, and others conjecture that this young man was a son or a servant of the farm adjacent to the garden in which Christ, while praying, was seized, who, awakened by the noise and uproar of the soldiers passing by and seizing Christ, rose from his bed and ran up to see what was happening. That he was a supporter or a disciple of Christ is clear from what Mark says: "He was following Him"; whence too the soldiers "held him," that is, having laid hold on his garment, they wished to hold him. For active verbs in Hebrew often signify an initiation or an attempt, not a completed act. For there follows:
Verse 52: But He, Leaving the Linen Cloth, Fled from Them Naked
52. BUT HE, LEAVING THE LINEN CLOTH, FLED FROM THEM NAKED. — Just as Joseph, says the Scholiast in St. Jerome, "leaving his cloak, fled naked from the hands of his impudent mistress," Genesis 39:12. Mark adds this so that from the hurried and violent flight of this young man it may be clear how great was the alarm around Christ, and how no one dared to stand beside Christ, and how heavy was the hatred of the Jews against Christ and their fury, who even attempted to assault this young man, a stranger, who was following Christ. From this it is plainly evident that they would all the more have seized the Apostles, if these had not immediately fled.
Verse 68: And the Cock Crowed
68. AND THE COCK CROWED. — Hear St. Chrysostom on Matthew 26, verse 70: "Mark indicates that Peter was not even brought to his memory by the voice of the cock, nor did he restrain himself from denial." Chrysostom adds: "This Mark alone wrote, so exquisitely setting forth both the pious care of the master toward the disciple and the weakness of Peter. Wherefore we ought especially to admire him, because he not only did not conceal his master's fault, but even more exquisitely than the others — precisely because he was a disciple — he set it down in writing."
Verse 70: For You Are Also a Galilean
70. FOR YOU ARE ALSO A GALILEAN. — That is, speaking with the idiom of the Galileans you show that you are a Galilean. Hence the Greek and the Syriac add: and your speech agrees with the speech of the Galileans; the Arabic: and your speech is like their speech.
Verse 72: And He Began to Weep
72. AND HE BEGAN TO WEEP. — In Greek ἐπιβαλὼν ἔκλαιεν, which is literally, casting himself (upon the matter) he was weeping; which you may render first, "he began to weep"; second, "he set himself to weep," that is, with great vehemence he began to weep, says Theophylact; the Arabic: and he turned himself to tears — not in the courtyard in the presence of the Jews, lest he betray himself to them, but after going out from it while he was alone, as is clear from Matthew 26, verse 75.