Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 27

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Evangelist had previously brought his account of what was done to the Lord up to the early morning. He then turned back to describe Peter's denial, after which he returned to the morning to continue the sequence of events.¹

When the morning was come, etc.

Origen of Alexandria: They supposed that by His death they would crush His doctrine and the faith of those who believed Him to be the Son of God. With this purpose against Him, they bound Jesus, who looses those who are bound.ⁱ

St. Jerome: Observe the evil zeal of the chief priests; they watched the entire night in order to commit this murder. And they handed Him over to Pilate bound, as it was their custom to send anyone they had sentenced to death to the judge in bonds.

Rabanus Maurus: It should be observed, however, that they did not bind Him for the first time now, but earlier, when they first seized Him in the garden, as John relates (John 18:12).

St. John Chrysostom: They did not put Him to death in secret, because they wanted to destroy His reputation and the awe in which many held Him. For this reason, they intended to put Him to death openly before everyone, and therefore they led Him to the governor.²

St. Jerome: Judas, when he saw that the Lord was condemned to death, returned the money to the priests, as if it were in his power to change the minds of his persecutors.

Origen of Alexandria: Let the proponents of those fables concerning intrinsically evil naturesⁱ answer me here: from where did Judas come to acknowledge his sin, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed righteous blood, except from the good mind originally implanted in him, and from that seed of virtue which is sown in every rational soul? But Judas did not cherish this, and so he fell into this sin.

If any man was ever made of a nature destined to perish, Judas was certainly of such a nature. Indeed, if he had done this after Christ's resurrection, it might be said that the power of the resurrection brought him to repentance. But he repented when he saw Christ handed over to Pilate, perhaps remembering the things Jesus had so often spoken of concerning His resurrection.

Or, perhaps Satan, who had entered into him (John 13:27), remained with him until Jesus was handed over to Pilate. Then, having accomplished his purpose, Satan departed from him, at which point Judas repented.

But how could Judas know that Jesus was condemned, since He had not yet been examined by Pilate? One might say that Judas anticipated the outcome in his own mind from the very beginning, when he saw Him handed over. Another might explain the words, when he saw that he was condemned, as referring to Judas himself—that he then realized his terrible situation and saw that he himself was condemned.

St. Leo the Great: When he says, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood, he persists in his wicked treachery, since even in the final struggles of death he did not believe Jesus to be the Son of God, but merely a man like us. If he had not denied His omnipotence in this way, he would have received His mercy.³

St. John Chrysostom: Observe that he repents only when his sin is finished and complete, for the Devil does not allow those who are not watchful to see the evil before they carry it out.

Remigius of Auxerre: But they said, What is that to us?—that is to say, "What is it to us that He is righteous?"—See thou to it. This means, "That is your own concern; see what will come of your deed." However, some would read this as one phraseⁱ: "What are we to think of you, when you confess that the man you yourself betrayed is innocent?"

Origen of Alexandria: But when the Devil leaves someone, he watches for a time to return, and having found it, he leads the person into a second sin, and then watches for an opportunity for a third deceit. So the man who had married his father's wife later repented of this sin (1 Corinthians 5:1), but the Devil again resolved to intensify this very sorrow of repentance, so that his overwhelming grief might swallow up the one who sorrows.

Something similar took place with Judas, who after his repentance did not guard his own heart. Instead, he received that overwhelming sorrow supplied to him by the Devil, who sought to consume him, as the text continues: And he went out, and hanged himself. But if he had desired and sought an opportunity for repentance, he might have found Him who said, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11).

Or, perhaps, he wanted to die before his Master on His way to death, hoping to meet Him as a disembodied spirit so that by confession and pleading he might obtain mercy. He did not see that it is not proper for a servant of God to take his own life, but that he should wait for God's judgment.

Rabanus Maurus: He hanged himself to show that he was hateful to both heaven and earth.

Pseudo-Augustine: Since the chief priests were occupied with the murder of the Lord from the morning until the ninth hour, how can it be proven that before the crucifixion Judas returned the money he had received and said to them in the temple, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood?⁴

It is clear, however, that the chief priests and elders were not in the temple before the Lord's crucifixion, since they were present to insult Him while He was hanging on the cross. Nor can the timing be proven from the narrative order, because many things that were clearly done before are narrated after the fact, and vice versa.

This could have happened after the ninth hour, when Judas—seeing the Savior dead, the veil of the temple torn, the earthquake, the rocks splitting, and the elements terrified—was seized with fear and sorrow as a result. But after the ninth hour, the chief priests and elders were, I suppose, occupied with the celebration of the Passover. And on the Sabbath, the Law would not have allowed him to carry money. Therefore, it remains unproven to me on what day or at what time Judas ended his life by hanging.

St. John Chrysostom: The chief priests, knowing they had paid for a murder, were condemned by their own conscience. They said, “It is the price of blood.”

St. Jerome: Truly, they were straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. For if they would not put the money into the treasury because it was the price of blood, why did they shed the blood in the first place?

Origen of Alexandria: They thought it fitting to spend the price of blood on the dead. But since there are differences even in burial places, they used the price of Jesus’ blood to purchase a potter's field where foreigners might be buried, rather than in the tombs of their ancestors as they would have desired.

St. Augustine of Hippo: I believe it was brought about by God's providence that the price paid for the Savior would not provide the means for sinners' indulgence, but rather rest for foreigners. In this way, Christ could both redeem the living by shedding His blood and shelter the dead by the price of His passion.

Therefore, the potter's field is purchased with the price of the Lord's blood. We read in Scripture that the salvation of the entire human race has been purchased by the Savior's blood. This field, then, is the whole world. The potter, who is the Lord of the soil, is the one who formed the vessels of our bodies from clay. This potter's field, therefore, was purchased by Christ's blood, and for strangers who wander throughout the world without a country or home, rest is provided by Christ's blood. ¹

These foreigners are the more devout Christians who have renounced the world and have no possession in it, and so find their rest in Christ's blood. For the burial of Christ is nothing other than the rest of a Christian. As the Apostle says, “We are buried with him by baptism into death” (Romans 6:4). In this life, then, we are like foreigners.

St. Jerome: We also, who were strangers to the Law and the Prophets, have profited from the perverse disposition of the Jews to obtain salvation for ourselves.

Origen of Alexandria: Alternatively, the “foreigners” are those who remain alienated from God to the very end, for the righteous are buried with Christ in a new tomb hewn out of the rock. But those who are alienated from God, even to the end, are buried in the field of a potter—a worker in clay—which, having been bought with the price of blood, is called the field of blood.

Glossa Ordinaria: “To this day” refers to the time when the Evangelist was writing. He then confirms the event with the testimony of the Prophet, saying, “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet...” ²

St. Jerome: This passage is not found in Jeremiah at all, but in Zechariahⁱ, who is the second to last of the twelve Prophets. Something similar is told there, and though the meaning is not very different, the arrangement and the words are.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But if anyone thinks this discredits the historian, let him first know that not all copies of the Gospels have the name Jeremiah; some simply say “by the prophet.” ³

However, I do not like this defense, because the majority of the more ancient copies have “Jeremiah,” and there would be no reason to add the name and thus introduce an error. The erasure of the name, on the other hand, is easily explained by the boldness of an ignorant person who had heard this objection.

It might be, then, that the name Jeremiah occurred to Matthew's mind as he wrote, instead of Zechariah, as so often happens. He would have corrected it immediately if those who read the text during his lifetime had pointed it out to him. However, he must have thought that his memory, guided by the Holy Spirit, would not have recalled one name instead of another unless the Lord had determined that it should be written that way.

As to why God would have so determined it, the first reason is that it conveys the wonderful agreement of the prophets, who all spoke by one Spirit. This is a much greater reality than if all the words of all the prophets had been uttered through the mouth of one man. Therefore, we should receive without doubt that whatever the Holy Spirit spoke through them, each word belongs to all in common, and the whole is the utterance of each.

Suppose, for example, that today someone repeating another's words mentioned not the speaker's name, but that of a close friend of the speaker. Upon realizing the mistake and correcting himself, he might still add, “Yet I am right, if you only consider the close unanimity that exists between the two.” How much more should this be observed in the case of the holy prophets!

There is a second reason why the name Jeremiah should be allowed to remain in this quotation from Zechariah, or rather, why it should have been suggested by the Holy Spirit. It is said in Jeremiah that he bought a field from his cousin and gave him silver for it (Jeremiah 32:9), though not the same sum of thirty pieces of silver stated in Zechariah. It is plain that the Evangelist has adapted the thirty pieces of silver from Zechariah to this event in the Lord's history.

But Matthew may also wish to convey that Jeremiah's words about the field are mystically alluded to here. Therefore, he uses the name of Jeremiah, who spoke of purchasing the field, rather than Zechariah, who spoke of the thirty pieces of silver. In this way, a person reading the Gospel and finding the name of Jeremiah—but not finding the passage about the thirty pieces of silver, and instead finding the account of purchasing the field—might be prompted to compare the two passages. By doing so, the reader could discern the meaning of the prophecy and how it was fulfilled in the Lord.

As for what Matthew adds to the prophecy, “Whom they of the children of Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me,” this last phrase, “as the Lord appointed me,” is found in neither Zechariah nor Jeremiah. It must, therefore, be taken as inserted by the Evangelist with a mystical meaning, signifying that he had learned by revelation that the prophecy referred to the price for which Christ was betrayed.

St. Jerome: Far be it, then, from a follower of Christ to suppose the Evangelist guilty of falsehood. His task was not to scrutinize words and syllables, but to establish the core of the doctrine. ⁴

St. Augustine of Hippo: I recently read in a Hebrew book, given to me by a Hebrew of the Nazarene sect, an apocryphal book of Jeremiah in which I found the very words quoted here. After all, however, I am more inclined to think that Matthew took the passage from Zechariah, following the usual practice of the Apostles and Evangelists when they quote from the Old Testament: they often neglect the exact wording and attend only to the meaning. ⁵

St. Augustine of Hippo: Matthew, having finished his digression concerning the traitor Judas, returns to the course of his narrative, saying, Jesus stood before the governor. ¹

Origen of Alexandria: Notice how He who is ordained by His Father to be the Judge of the whole creation humbled Himself, and was content to stand before the judge of the land of Judea, and to be asked by Pilate, either in mockery or doubt, Are you the King of the Jews?

St. John Chrysostom: Pilate asked Christ what His enemies were continually charging Him with, for because they knew that Pilate did not care about matters of their Law, they resorted to a public charge. ²

Origen of Alexandria: Or, Pilate spoke this affirmatively, as he afterward wrote in the inscription, The King of the Jews. By answering the Chief Priest, You have said, He indirectly reproved his doubts, but now He turns Pilate's speech into an affirmation: Jesus says to him, You say so.

St. John Chrysostom: He acknowledges Himself to be a King, but a heavenly one, as it is more explicitly said in another Gospel, My kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36), so that neither the Jews nor Pilate were excusable for insisting on this accusation.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, when asked by the High Priest if He was Jesus the Christ, He answered, You have said, because He had always maintained from the Law that Christ would come. But to Pilate, who was ignorant of the Law and asks if He was the King of the Jews, He answers, You say so, because the salvation of the Gentiles is through faith in that present confession.

St. Jerome: But observe that to Pilate, who asked the question unwillingly, He did answer something; but to the chief priests and priests He refused to answer, judging them unworthy of a word: And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Luke explains what the accusations alleged against Him were: And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King (Luke 23:2). ³

But it is of no consequence to the truth in what order they relate the history, or that one omits what another inserts.

Origen of Alexandria: Neither then nor now did Jesus make any reply to their accusations, for the word of God was not sent to them, as it was to the prophets in the past. Neither was Pilate worthy of an answer, as he had no fixed or lasting opinion of Christ, but veered between contradictory assumptions.

Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?

St. Jerome: Thus, although it is a Gentile who sentences Jesus, he places the cause of His condemnation on the Jews.

St. John Chrysostom: He said this out of a desire to release Him, if He would justify Himself in His answer. But the Jews, though they had so many practical proofs of His power, meekness, and humility, were still enraged against Him and driven by a perverted judgment. Therefore, He answers nothing, or if He makes any answer, He says little, so that total silence might not be interpreted as obstinacy.

St. Jerome: Or, Jesus would not make any answer, lest if He cleared Himself, the governor would have let Him go, and the benefit of His cross would have been delayed.

Origen of Alexandria: The governor marveled at His endurance; knowing that he had the power to condemn Him, He yet remained peaceful, placid, and immovable in His prudence and gravity. He marveled greatly, for it seemed to him a great miracle that Christ, brought before a criminal tribunal, stood so fearless of death, which all people find so terrible.

St. John Chrysostom: Because Christ had answered none of the Jews' accusations in a way that would allow Pilate to acquit Him, Pilate contrived other means of saving Him.

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd a prisoner whom they wanted.

Origen of Alexandria: In this way, the Gentiles show favors to those whom they subject to themselves, until their yoke is firmly in place. Yet this practice was also found among the Jews; Saul did not put Jonathan to death because all the people pleaded for his life (1 Samuel 14).ⁱ

St. John Chrysostom: He tried to rescue Christ by means of this practice so that the Jews might not have the shadow of an excuse left. A convicted murderer, Barabbas, is put in comparison with Christ. Pilate calls him not merely a robber, but a "notable" one—that is, renowned for his crimes.

St. Jerome: In the Gospel known as "according to the Hebrews," Barabbas is interpreted as "the son of their master," who had been condemned for rebellion and murder. Pilate gives them the choice between Jesus and the robber, not doubting that Jesus would be the one more likely to be chosen.

St. John Chrysostom: "Whom do you want me to release for you?" and so on. It is as if to say, "If you will not let Him go as an innocent man, at least release Him, as a convicted one, for the sake of this holy day." For if you would have released someone whose guilt was certain, you should be much more willing to do so in a case that is doubtful. Observe how circumstances are reversed. It is the populace who are accustomed to petition for the condemned, and the ruler who grants it. But here it is the reverse: the ruler asks the people, and in doing so makes them more violent.

Glossa Ordinaria: The Evangelist adds the reason why Pilate sought to deliver Christ: "For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him." ¹

Remigius of Auxerre: John explains their envy when he says, "Behold, the world has gone after him" (John 12:19); and, "If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him" (John 11:48). Observe also that where Matthew says, "Jesus, who is called Christ," Mark says, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" (Mark 15:9). For only the kings of the Jews were anointed, and from that anointing they were called "Christs."

St. John Chrysostom: Then something else is added which alone was enough to deter anyone from putting Him to death: "While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, 'Have nothing to do with that righteous man.'" For when added to the proof from the events themselves, a dream was a significant confirmation.

Rabanus Maurus: It is to be noted that the bench (tribunal) is the seat of the judge, the throne (solium) of the king, and the chair (cathedra) of the teacher. In visions and dreams, the wife of a Gentile understood what the Jews, while wide awake, would neither believe nor understand.

St. Jerome: Observe also that visions are often granted by God to the Gentiles, and that the confession of Pilate and his wife that the Lord was innocent is a testimony from the Gentile people.

St. John Chrysostom: But why did Pilate himself not see this vision? Because his wife was more worthy; or perhaps if Pilate had seen it, it would not have been as credible, or he might not have spoken of it. Therefore, it was arranged by God that his wife should see it, so that it would be made known to everyone. And she not only sees it, but "suffers many things because of him," so that sympathy for his wife would make the husband more hesitant to put Him to death. The timing was also fitting, for she saw it that very night.

Thus, the judge was terrified through his wife. So that he might not consent to the Jews' accusation in his judgment, he himself endured a judgment in his wife's suffering. The judge is judged, and he is tortured before he tortures. ²

Rabanus Maurus: Alternatively, the devil, now at last understanding that he would lose his trophies through Christ, sought to deliver Christ from the hands of His enemies through a woman—just as he had first brought death into the world through a woman—lest through Christ's death he should lose the sovereignty of death.

St. John Chrysostom: But none of the previous events moved Christ's enemies, because envy had blinded them completely, and out of their own wickedness they corrupted the people, for they "persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus destroyed."

Origen of Alexandria: Thus it is plainly seen how the Jewish people are moved by their elders and the teachers of their system, and stirred up against Jesus to destroy Him.

Glossa Ordinaria: Pilate is said to make this reply, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" either in response to his wife's message or to the petition of the people, with whom it was a custom to ask for such a release on the feast day. ³

Origen of Alexandria: But the populace, like wild beasts raging on the open plains, wanted Barabbas released to them. For this nation had rebellions, murders, and robberies, which were practiced in deed by some of them and nourished in the minds of all who do not believe in Jesus. Where Jesus is not, there are conflicts and fights; where He is, there is peace and every good thing.

All who are like the Jews in either doctrine or life desire Barabbas to be released to them. For whoever does evil has Barabbas released in his body and Jesus bound; but he who does good has Christ released and Barabbas bound.

Pilate tried to shame them for such great injustice, asking, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" He asked this not only to shame them but also desiring to fill up the measure of their guilt. But they neither blushed that Pilate confessed Jesus to be the Christ, nor did they set any limits to their impiety. They all said to him, "Let him be crucified." In this way, they multiplied the sum of their wickedness, not only asking for the life of a murderer but also for the death of a righteous man—and the shameful death of the cross at that.

Rabanus Maurus: Those who were crucified were suspended on a cross by nails driven through their hands and feet. They perished by a lingering death, living for a long time on the cross—not because they sought a longer life, but because death was delayed to prolong their suffering. The Jews indeed contrived this as the worst of all deaths, but it had been chosen by the Lord without their knowledge, so that He could afterward place the same cross upon the foreheads of the faithful as a trophy of His victory over the Devil.

St. Jerome: Yet even after their answer, Pilate did not agree at once. In accordance with his wife's suggestion, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man," he answered, "Why, what evil has he done?" This speech of Pilate's acquits Jesus. "But they cried out all the more, saying, 'Let him be crucified!'" This was so that what is said in the Psalm might be fulfilled: "For dogs have surrounded me; a company of evildoers has enclosed me" (Psalm 22:16); and also that of Jeremiah: "My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest; they have roared against me" (Jeremiah 12:8).

St. Augustine of Hippo: Pilate pleaded with the Jews many times, desiring that Jesus might be released. Matthew witnesses to this in very few words when he says, "When Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning." He would not have written this if Pilate had not tried very hard, although he does not mention how many efforts Pilate made to release Jesus. ⁴

Remigius of Auxerre: It was a custom among the ancients that when someone wished to refuse participation in a crime, he would take water and wash his hands before the people.

St. Jerome: Pilate took water in accordance with the verse, "I will wash my hands in innocence" (Psalm 26:6). In this way, he was testifying and saying, "I have indeed tried to deliver this innocent man, but since a riot is starting and the charge of treason to Caesar is being urged against me, I am innocent of this righteous man's blood." The judge, therefore, who was compelled to give a sentence against the Lord, does not convict the accused but the accusers, by pronouncing the One who is to be crucified as innocent.

He said, "See to it yourselves," as if to say, "I am the law's minister; it is your voice that has shed this blood." Then all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children!" This curse rests upon the Jews to this day; the Lord's blood has not been removed from them.

St. John Chrysostom: Observe here the madness of the Jews. Their headlong haste and destructive passions would not let them see what they ought to see, and they cursed themselves, saying, "His blood be on us," and even brought the curse upon their children. Yet a merciful God did not ratify this sentence, but accepted those of them and their children who repented; for Paul was one of them, as were the many thousands in Jerusalem who believed.

St. Leo the Great: The impiety of the Jews, then, exceeded the fault of Pilate. But he was not guiltless, since he gave up his own jurisdiction and consented to the injustice of others. ⁵

St. Jerome: It should be known that Pilate administered Roman law, which enacted that everyone who was crucified must first be scourged. Jesus was then handed over to the soldiers to be beaten, and with whips they tore that most holy body and capacious bosom of God.

St. John Chrysostom: See, the Lord is made ready for the scourge! See how it now descends upon Him! That sacred skin is torn by the fury of the rods; the cruel force of repeated blows lacerates His shoulders. Woe is me! God is stretched out before man, and He, in whom not one trace of sin can be found, suffers punishment as a criminal. ⁶

St. Jerome: This was done that we might be delivered from those stripes of which it is said, "Many stripes are for the wicked" (Psalm 32:10). Also, in the washing of Pilate's hands, all the works of the Gentiles are cleansed, and we are acquitted of all share in the impiety of the Jews.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: At the priests' request, the populace chose Barabbas, which is interpreted "son of a father," thus foreshadowing the unbelief to come when the Antichrist, the son of sin, would be preferred to Christ.

Rabanus Maurus: Barabbas, who led a rebellion among the people, is also released to the Jews. He represents the Devil, who reigns among them to this day, so that they cannot have peace.

St. Augustine of Hippo: After the Lord's trial comes His Passion, which begins this way: "Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall," etc. ¹

St. Jerome: He had been called King of the Jews, and the Scribes and Priests had brought this charge against Him: that He claimed sovereignty over the Jewish nation. Hence the soldiers' mockery: taking away His own garments, they put a scarlet cloak on Him to represent the purple fringe that kings of old used to wear. Instead of a diadem, they put a crown of thorns on Him, and instead of a royal scepter, they gave Him a reed and worshiped Him as if He were a king.

St. Augustine of Hippo: From this, we understand what Mark means by "clothed him with purple" (Mark 15:17). Instead of the royal purple, this scarlet cloak was used in mockery, and there is a shade of purple that is very similar to scarlet. Or it may be that Mark was speaking of the purple the cloak contained, though its color was scarlet.

St. John Chrysostom: Why should we care from now on if anyone insults us, after Christ has suffered in this way? The worst that cruel outrage could do was inflicted on Christ. Not just one part, but His whole body suffered injuries: His head from the crown, the reed, and the beatings; His face, which was spit upon; His cheeks, which they struck with the palms of their hands; His whole body from the scourging, the stripping to put on the cloak, and the mock worship; His hands from the reed they put into them to mimic a scepter—as if they were afraid of omitting any indignity. ²

St. Augustine of Hippo: But Matthew seems to introduce this here as something recalled from an earlier point, not that it was done at the moment Pilate handed Him over for crucifixion. For John places it before He is handed over by Pilate.

St. Jerome: We can understand all these things mystically. For just as Caiaphas said that "it is expedient that one man should die for the people" (John 11:50), not knowing what he said, so these soldiers, in all they did, furnished sacraments for us who believe, though they acted with a different intention. In the scarlet robe, He bears the bloody works of the Gentiles; by the crown of thorns, He takes away the ancient curse; with the reed, He destroys poisonous animals; or He held the reed in His hand with which to write down the sacrilege of the Jews.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, in another sense, the Lord, having taken upon Himself all the infirmities of our body, is then covered with the scarlet-colored blood of all the martyrs, to whom the kingdom with Him is due. He is crowned with thorns—that is, with the sins of the Gentiles who once pierced Him, for the prick of the thorns weaves the crown of victory for Christ. In the reed, He takes into His hand and supports the weakness and frailty of the Gentiles, and His head is struck with it so that the weakness of the Gentiles, sustained by Christ's hand, may rest on God the Father, who is His head.

Origen of Alexandria: Or, the reed was a mystery signifying that before we believed, we trusted in that reed of Egypt, or Babylon, or some other kingdom opposed to God, which He took so that He might triumph over it with the wood of the cross. With this reed they strike the head of Christ, because this kingdom constantly beats against God the Father, who is the head of the Savior.

Remigius of Auxerre: Alternatively, the scarlet robe denotes the Lord's flesh, which is described as red because of the shedding of His blood. By the crown of thorns, He takes upon Himself our sins, because He appeared "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3).

Rabanus Maurus: Those who speak against His divinity and endeavor to maintain their error by the authority of Holy Scripture, which is written with a reed, strike the head of Christ with a reed. Those who reject the presence of His grace with abominable words and deny that Jesus has come in the flesh spit upon His face. And those who believe in Him but despise Him with perverse works mock Him with their worship.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The fact that they took His own garment off the Lord during His passion and put a colored robe on Him denotes those heretics who claimed that He had a shadowy, and not a real, body. ³