Catena Aurea

53. And they led Jesus away to the High Priest: and with him were assembled all the Chief Priests and the elders and the Scribes.

54. And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the High Priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire.

55. And the Chief Priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.

56. For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.

57. And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying,

58. We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

59. But neither so did their witness agree together.

GLOSS. (non occ.) The Evangelist had related above how our Lord had been taken by the servants of the Priests, now he begins to relate how He was condemned to death in the house of the High Priest: wherefore it is said, And they led Jesus away to the High Priest.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) He means by the High Priest Caiaphas, who (as John writes) was High Priest that year, of whom Josephus relates that he bought his priesthood of the Roman Emperor. There follows: And with him were assembled all the Chief Priests and the elders and the scribes.

PSEUDO-JEROME. Then took place the gathering together of the bulls among the heifers of the people. (Ps. 67:31, Vulg.) It goes on: And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the High Priest. For though fear holds him back, love draws him on.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) But rightly does he follow afar off, who is just about to betray Him; for he could not have denied Christ, if he had remained close to Him. There follows, And he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire.

PSEUDO-JEROME. He warms himself at the fire in the hall, with the servants. The hall of the High-Priest is the enclosure of the world, the servants are the devils, with whom whosoever remains cannot weep for his sins; the fire is the desire of the flesh.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) For charity is the fire of which it is said, I am come to send fire on the earth, (Luke 12:49) which flame coming down on the believers, taught them to speak with various tongues the praise of the Lord. There is also a fire of covetousness, of which it is said, They are all adulterers as an oven; (Hosea 7:4) this fire, raised up in the hall of Caiaphas by the suggestion of an evil spirit, was arming the tongues of the traitors to deny and blaspheme the Lord. For the fire lit up in the hall amidst the cold of the night was a figure of what the wicked assembly was doing within; for because of the abounding of iniquity the love of many waxes cold. Peter, who for a time was benumbed by this cold, wished as it were to be warmed by the coals of the servants of Caiaphas, because He sought in the society of traitors the consolation of worldly comfort. It goes on, And the Chief Priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death. (Matt. 24:12)

THEOPHYLACT. Though the law commanded that there should be but one High Priest, there were then many put into the office, and stripped of it, year by year, by the Roman emperor. He therefore calls chief priests those who had finished the time allotted to them, and had been stripped of their priesthood. But their actions are a sign of their judgment, which they earned on as they had prejudged, for they sought for a witness, that they might seem to condemn and destroy Jesus with justice.

PSEUDO-JEROME. But iniquity lied as the queen did against Joseph, and the priests against Susannah, but a flame goes out, if it has no fuel; wherefore it goes on, And found none. For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together. For whatever is not consistent is held to be doubtful. There follows, And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. It is usual with heretics out of the truth to extract the shadow; He did not say what they said, but something like it, of the temple of His body, which He raised again after two days.

THEOPHYLACT. For the Lord had not said, I will destroy, but, Destroy, nor did He say, made with hands, but, this temple.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) He had said also, I will raise up, meaning a thing with life and soul, and a breathing temple. He is a false witness, who understands words in a sense, in which they are not spoken.