Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 26:1-2

"And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these words, he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days the passover cometh, and the Son of man is delivered up to be crucified." — Matthew 26:1-2 (ASV)

St. Hilary of Poitiers: After the discourse in which the Lord had declared that He would return in splendor, He announced His approaching Passion to them, so that they might learn the close connection between the sacrament of the Cross and the glory of eternity.

Rabanus Maurus: "All these sayings" refers to His teachings about the consummation of the world and the day of judgment. Or, He had "finished" because He had fulfilled in action and preaching all things from the beginning of the Gospel to His Passion.

Origen of Alexandria: Yet it is not simply "all," but "all these," for there were other sayings He had to speak before He would be delivered up.

St. Augustine of Hippo: We gather from John's account that six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, and from there entered Jerusalem sitting on a donkey. After this, the events that are related to have happened in Jerusalem took place. We understand, therefore, that four days elapsed from His coming to Bethany, making this two days before the Passover. The difference between the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread is this: the name Passover is given to the one day on which the lamb was slain in the evening, that is, the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day, when the people came out of Egypt, the festival of unleavened bread followed. The Evangelists, however, seem to use the terms interchangeably.^{i 1}

St. Jerome: The Passover, called in Hebrew Phase, does not come, as most think, from the Greek πασχειν ("to suffer"), but from the Hebrew word meaning "to pass over." This is because the destroyer passed over when he saw the blood on the doors of the Israelites and did not strike them, or because the Lord Himself walked on high, helping His people.

Remigius of Auxerre: Or, it is because, by the Lord's help, the Israelite people, freed from Egyptian bondage, passed forth into liberty.

Origen of Alexandria: He did not say, "After two days the feast of the Passover will be," or "will come," but rather, "the Passover will be offered."ⁱ He said this not to mean the ordinary annual Passover, but a Passover such as had never been before.

Remigius of Auxerre: Mystically, it is called the Passover because on that day Christ passed from this world to His Father—from death to life, from corruption to incorruption—and because He redeemed the world by causing it to pass in salvation from the slavery of the Devil.

St. Jerome: After the two days of the shining light of the Old and New Testaments, the true Passover is slain for the world. Likewise, our Passover is celebrated when we leave the things of earth and hasten to the things of heaven.

Origen of Alexandria: He foretells His crucifixion to His disciples, adding, And the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. This fortified them against the shock of surprise that the sight of their Master being led to crucifixion would have otherwise caused.

He expresses it impersonally—"will be delivered"—because multiple agents were at work: God delivered Him up in mercy for the human race; Judas delivered Him from greed; the priests from envy; and the Devil from fear that His teaching would pluck the human race from his hand. The Devil, however, was little aware of how much more would be accomplished by His death than by either His teaching or His miracles.

1. de Cons. Ev., ii, 78