Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 26:3-5

"Then were gathered together the chief priests, and the elders of the people, unto the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas; and they took counsel together that they might take Jesus by subtlety, and kill him. But they said, Not during the feast, lest a tumult arise among people." — Matthew 26:3-5 (ASV)

Glossa Ordinaria: Then the Evangelist presents to us the hidden springs and machinery by which the Lord's Passion was brought about. ¹

Remigius of Auxerre: This "then" refers to the preceding words and means before the Feast of the Passover.

Origen of Alexandria: They were not true priests and elders, but priests and elders of what seemed to be the people of God but was, in fact, the people of Gomorrah. Not knowing God's High Priest, they plotted against Him. Indeed, they took counsel even against Him who was older than them all, not recognizing the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15).

St. John Chrysostom: With such evil intentions, they came to the chief priest, seeking approval from the very source from which a prohibition should have come. There were several chief priests at that time, while the Law allowed only one, from which it was clear that the dissolution of the Jewish state was beginning. For Moses had commanded that there should be one chief priest, whose office would be filled upon his death, but over time it became an annual position. Therefore, all those who had previously been chief priestsⁱ are here called "chief priests."

Remigius of Auxerre: They are condemned both because they were gathered together and because they were the chief priests. For the greater the number and the higher the rank of those who band together for any evil deed, the greater the enormity of their actions and the heavier the punishment stored up for them.

To show the Lord's innocence and openness, the Evangelist adds, that they might take Jesus by stealth, and kill him.

St. John Chrysostom: For what, then, did they conspire—to seize Him secretly, or to put Him to death? For both. But they feared the people and therefore waited until the feast was over, for they said, not on the feast day. The Devil did not want Christ to suffer at the Passover, so that His Passion would not be widely known. The chief priests had no fear with respect to God—namely, that their guilt would be aggravated by the season—but only took human factors into account: Lest there be an uproar among the people.

Origen of Alexandria: This was because of the factions among the people: those who favored and those who hated Christ, those who believed and those who did not.

St. Leo the Great: This precaution of the chief priests did not arise from reverence for the festival but from concern for the success of their plot. They feared an uprising at that time, not because of the guilt the people might thereby incur, but because they might rescue Christ. ²

St. John Chrysostom: But their fury overrode their caution, and finding a betrayer, they put Christ to death in the middle of the feast.

St. Leo the Great: We recognize here a providential arrangement by which the chief men of the Jews, who had often sought opportunities to carry out their cruel purposes against Christ, could not succeed until the days of the Passover celebration. For it was fitting that the things which had long been promised in symbol and mystery should be accomplished in plain reality; that the symbolic lamb should be replaced by the true one, and one sacrifice encompass the whole array of previous sacrifices. Shadows had to give way to substance, and copies to the presence of the original. Victim is exchanged for victim, blood is abolished by blood, and the festival of the Law is at once fulfilled and transformed. ³

1. non occ.
2. Serm. 58, 2
3. Serm. 58, 1