Matthew 26:63-65

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 26:57-68

We have here the arraignment of our Lord Jesus in the ecclesiastical court, before the great sanhedrim. Observe, I. The sitting of the court; the scribes and the elders were assembled, though it was in the dead time of the night, when other people were fast asleep in their beds; yet, to gratify their malice against Christ, they denied themselves that natural rest, and sat up all night, to be ready to fall upon the prey which Judas and his men, they hoped, would seize. See, 1. Who they were,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 26:63

But Jesus held his peace ,.... Knowing it would signify nothing, whatever he should say, they being set upon his death, the time of which was now come; and therefore he quietly submits, and says nothing in his own defence to prevent it. To be silent in a court of judicature, Apollonius Tyanaeus F3 Philostrat. Vita Apollouii, l. 8. c. 1. says, is the fourth virtue; this Christ had, and all others: and the high priest answered and said unto him ; though Christ had said nothing, a way... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 26:64

Jesus saith unto him, thou hast said ,.... That is, thou hast said right; or as Mark expresses it, "I am", Mark 14:62 , the Christ, the anointed of God, who was so from everlasting, and in time; being before the world was, installed into, and invested with the office of mediator; and in the fulness of time, anointed with the holy Spirit without measure: he might truly say he was the Messiah, since all the characters of him in the books of the prophets, met in him; and all the miracles he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 26:65

Then the high priest rent his clothes ,.... Both his outer and inner garments. This he did, to show his zeal for the honour and glory of God, his grief and concern at the profanation of his holy name by a false oath, and his abhorrence of, and indignation at the blasphemy he supposed Christ to be guilty of, in asserting himself to be the Son of God. Some have thought, that Caiaphas in this action, transgressed the law, in Leviticus 21:10 , where it is said, that "the high priest--shall not... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 26:63

I adjure thee by the living God - I put thee to thy oath. To this solemn adjuration Christ immediately replies, because he is now called on, in the name of God, to bear another testimony to the truth. The authority of God in the most worthless magistrate should be properly respected. However necessary our Lord saw it to be silent, when the accusations were frivolous, and the evidence contradictory, he felt no disposition to continue this silence, when questioned concerning a truth, for which... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 26:64

Thou hast said - That is, I am the Christ, the promised Messiah, (see on Matthew 26:25 ; (note)); and you and this whole nation shall shortly have the fullest proof of it: for hereafter, in a few years, ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, fully invested with absolute dominion, and coming in the clouds of heaven, to execute judgment upon this wicked race. See Matthew 24:30 . Our Lord appears to refer to Daniel 7:13 ; : One like the Son of man came with the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 26:65

The high priest rent his clothes - This rending of the high priest's garments was expressly contrary to the law, Leviticus 10:6 ; : Leviticus 21:10 . But it was a common method of expressing violent grief, Genesis 37:29 , Genesis 37:34 ; Job 1:20 , and horror at what was deemed blasphemous or impious. 2 Kings 18:37 ; 2 Kings 19:1 ; Acts 14:14 . All that heard a blasphemous speech were obliged to rend their clothes, and never to sew them up again. See Lightfoot. He hath... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 26:63

Verse 63 63.I adjure thee by the living God. The high priest thought that this alone was a crime sufficient to condemn Christ, if he professed that he was the Christ. But since they all boasted of expecting redemption from Christ, he ought first to have inquired if such was the fact. That there would be a Christ, by whose hands the people were to be delivered, they would not have ventured to deny. Jesus came publicly forward, bearing the title of the Christ. Why do they not consider the fact... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 26:64

Verse 64 64.Thou hast said it. Luke inserts another reply, by which Christ reproves the malice of the priests, in not inquiring with a desire to know. If I tell you, says he, you will not believe: by which words he means, that though he were to prove to them a hundred times that he was the Christ, it would be of no avail with obstinate men. For they had not only heard, but had beheld with their eyes miracles, which, though Christ had been silent, would have confirmed his heavenly and divine... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 26:65

Verse 65 65.Then the high priest rent his garments. By this we see how little advantage was derived by wicked men from the miracles by which Christ had proved his Divinity. But we need not wonder, that under the mean garb of a servant, the Son of God was despised by those who were unmoved by any anxiety about the promised salvation. For if they had not entirely laid aside every pious feeling, their deplorable condition ought to have led them to look anxiously for the Redeemer; but when they... read more

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