The Passover of the New Kingdom The lord entered Jerusalem as the Passover lambs to be. He offered himself the unique sacrifice for the entire humanity and his life a redemption for all 1- The Passover and the Cross 1-2 2- Plotting against him 3-5 3- Powering of the fragrant oil for his burial 6-13 4- Judas’ Betrayal 14-16 5- The Passover offering 17-25 6- The last supper 26-30 7- Warning them of doubting 31-46 8- In Gethsemane 36-46 9- Arresting the Lord 47-56 10- The Religion Judgment 57-68 11- Peter Denial 69-75 1-The Passover and Cross. (Matt. 26:1,2) “Now it cause to pass, when Jesus has Finished all there sayings, that he said to his disciples, “ You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified’.” In the Lord’s words to his disciples, he bonds the Passover with the cross, since it is the unique Passover the Lord himself has offered. This to cross with the believing humanity from the fatal bondage, to the real restfulness. He also up-lefts them from the concern about the earthly life, to enter with them to his Father’s embrace. We have previously studied this relationship in chapter 12 of the book of Exodus. The mystery of the Passover is fulfilled in the Lord’s body. He was led us as a lamb, and slaughtered as a sheep and He has thus saved us from the bondage of the world(Egypt). He has delivered us from Satan’s slavery just as from Pharaoh. He has given us His seal by His Spirit. And our physical members by his blood. He is the one who has saved us from slavery to freedom.; from darkness to light; from death to life; from injustice to the everlasting kingdom. Father Melito, bishop of Sardis. We cross from the physical love to propriety and virtue, from our old ignorance to the real knowledge of God, from evil to virtue, in the hope of entering the glory of righteousness instead of the shame of sin, and hence we cross from death to incorruption. St. Cyril the great. 2-Plotting Against Him: https://coptic-treasures.com/ (Matt. 36: 26-5) “Then the chief priests, the scribes and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. But they said “not during the feast, lest there be an a uproar among the people’ The church is concerned about this action, and therefore it has dedicated every Wednesday, year round, except in the fifty days, so the believers fast, in remembrance of his plotting. The religious authorities assembled together to plot killing Him instead of witnessing for the truth and preaching it. It was appropriate for the chief priest, who intercedes for the people, to rejoice at the coming of the greatest Chief Priest, who alone is able to make enter everyone to His heavenly Father’s embrace. The scribes had to be thrilled because what they were studying in documents, that is the written word of God, has been fulfilled by God’s incarnate coming, to dwell amongst His people, encountering Him and getting in unity with Him. The elders of the people as well as, had to be overwhelmed with joy on seeing the multitude surrounding the Messiah the king. We expected them all to assemble in the court of the chief priest, announcing their joy with the Messiah the King who could fulfill what they were unable to do, and neither did their forefathers. But due to the appearance of worshiping and the law literacy, as well as the temporary honors, and running after positions and dignitaries---------- all of these together have shut their hearts against the truth, and so they plotted against Him to kill Him. Indeed, they have assembled together in the court of the chief priest, all drown together by their fatal literal thinking and their insistence on conspiring to kill ‘life’ itself. They were not aware that what they were doing was only killing their deadly literacy. They assumed they were able to kill life by the cross. But this cross alone was able to scarify their deadly literacy, and grant them the Spirit that builds up they thought they were able to suppress the breath of light with their own darkness. They did not realize that this Light was scattering their darkness, and that they themselves would be enlightened by His own light. They feared the multitudes gathered to celebrate the annual Passover, and they did not realize that because of their conspiracy they participated in fulfilling the unmatched new Passover. He alone is able to make them cross over from the fatal literacy to the enliving Spirit. +The ……..of Jesus supported their ruler against the Glory of Christ, and struggled against the Lord of all. But we all realize they only did this against themselves and were only entrapping themselves .they Have dug for themselves a pit for their own devastation. As the psalmist says (Ps.9:15) ‘The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made, in the net which they hid, their own foot is caught .’ But the savior, the Lord of everyone, even through His right hand alone is able to, and strong enough to cast away corruption and death, yet He was the One to yield all willingly of His own will power. He has become ………..to taste of the death for the sake of giving life to all, so he would delete corruption and wipe away the sin of the world, and save those under the adverse hand, so overpowering and intolerable. St. Cyril the great https://coptic-treasures.com/ 3- Pouring the Fragrant Oil for His Burial: The events were put together to fulfill the Passover by means of the cross, the issue for which the Son of God has become incarnate. In Bethany in the house of Sairon the leper, a woman came forth to pour a vessel of priceless fragrance as He was sitting. This was as a prophecy for His burial, it was as if this woman’s deed represents a deed of love the church offers in its entirety for this pure body, who has accepted His own death willingly for the sake of its salvation, as a mystery of the real Passover. Many have met the Lord Jesus representatives of the catholic church, for He is the bridegroom. But this woman seems to me she has surpassed them all, after the Mother of God Saint Mary who has carried the Lord in the womb. She is the symbol of the church, and His Kingdom has been carried inside her, the mystery of the church’s life and its joy. The church that has not yet been seen met with her Groom, through the Samaritan women (John 4) who had been married to five men, and the one with who she was living was not her husband. The man of truth came to take her to the real well of water to quench her thirst, and she overflowed the entire world with the mystery of her satisfaction. In the midst of human crowds, the church of the new covenant secretly encountered the real physician to her, touching His clothes, and the flow of blood stopped (Matt 9). The church blemishes are wiped away through the power that was released to its inner depths. The church developed, that was previously had fallen under the verdict of death, as a prostitute caught in the very act (John 7: 53-8:11) It has then taken by force His forgiving mercies. The church has been freed as a poor widow who enters the Lord’s house, not knowing what to offer except two cents, which was all she had; this was an acceptable offering of love. The church, moreover, has met the mother of Zabadee’s sons, offering her sons to the Groom so they be blessed with His eternal kingdom through their partnership with Him in His cup, and getting dyed with His won dye. In the personality of Martha, the church came forth serving her Groom (Luke 10) in the person of His single …., as an offering of sublime excessive love. In the house of Simon the Pharisee, the sinful woman came barging in the assembly (Luke 7) and she stood at the Lord’s feet, weeping, and she wet his feet with the tears, and wiped them with her hair. She kissed His feet and rubbed them with fragrant oil (Luke 7:38). She represented the mystery of the church membership. It is the entrance to the Lord Jesus to encounter Him without being hindered by the Pharisee life of Simon’s. The soul stands in humility weeping in tears of repentance at the Savior’s feet. She bends with her head, that is, with the thoughts and hair, her physical beauty, wiping the Lord’s feet. She is declaring her repentance, mingled with joy, for she is kissing His feet and pouring the fragrant oil in them. This declares the beautiful fragrant of Christ in her life. As for this woman who met the Lord in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, she came to declare the most perfect encounter of the two brides, the church & the Groom. This was in heavenly splendor, poring out all her life, a fragrant oil of https://coptic-treasures.com/ great price, filling up heaven and earth with the beautiful fragrance of love. This meeting makes us enter into overwhelming mysteries, before which I stand in amazement that I am unable to express. It carries the mystery of eternal life, which no human language could record as it is. Firstly: This woman is probably the Saint Mary, Martha, Lazarus’s sister. She is known for her peaceful sitting at the Savior’s feet, listening to Him, and speaking to Him. Whereas Martha was busy in her many chores. She knew how to sell everything so as to possess the priceless pearl. In her continuous meeting with the Lord, she came to know the mystery of the cross, and she realized His death and His burial, not as historical events she was awaiting in fear and confusion, but as godly deeds, so overwhelming. This is why she was exerting every effort to save all what she could to offer the vessel of fragrant oil, so priceless, at the right time and the right place. In the fragrant vessel, the Lord could see the heart of the church, His bride. It had realized the mystery behind His death, as a good and joyful mystery to the soul. This is why He said affirmingly that wherever this gospel is preached in all over the world, what this women did will be mentioned. The evangelist St. Mark said that she broke the vessel! What an amazing mystery; for the church has seen the lord offering His life in sacrifice on the cross, and the springs oh His love breaking out through His open and pierced side. She, too, came as Mary, as a bottle of fragrant oil, breaking it voluntarily, and the fragrant of her love is exploded through the perfume. In this way love is blended with love, and pain is blended with pain, and the cross with the cross, and the pierced with the broken vessel, poured on the sanctified body. Secondly: The encounter took place in Bethany, In Simon the leper’s house. This is Bethany, Mary’s birthplace. The Lord came to this place preferring it to Jerusalem. There he rested every night. Bethany means ‘the house of suffering’ or ‘the house of tolerance’. He has come to us, to the land of our pain, to meet Him through our pain. We are aware of His burial, let us be buried with Him, let us offer our life to Him as sacrifice for His sake. She met Him in the house of Simon the leper; he might have been a leper healed by Him. The lord has come to us, to our leprous and defiled, not to …. It or to get disgusted at it, for it could not blemish the Holy One. It is He who would rather cleanse it. At this point the church, holy and pure, with encounter her Groom who dwells in her house, so as to offer Him an offering of thanksgiving. Just as the Pharisee nature of Simon was unable to deprive the sinful woman of meeting the Lord and to express her repentance (Luke 7) it was also not possible for Simon’s …. Here to hide the grateful Mary’s meeting the source of her sanctification. Thirdly: The timing of the meeting was extremely accurate, for the Lord came after He had raised Lazarus her brother from the dead, as an thanksgiving offering. She was joyful her brother was raised from the grave, so she came willingly so she would be buried with her Groom in the holy grave, and would be raised by Him and in Him. But what is surprising is that she offers it in the last day the Lord comes to Bethany. This was on a Wednesday, after the Jewish rulers had conspired together to kill Him. There only remained the Covenant Thursday, in which the Lord would https://coptic-treasures.com/ be arrested to be judged and crucified. If she had been one day late she would not have been given this great honor, and she would not have been worthy of prophesying His burial. It is God’s Spirit that made her realize in her depths the suitable time to meet Him in this unique way. + The Lord accepted the fragrant oil to be poured on His head, so the church would be well-perfumed and well-preserved. Do not be anointed with the filth of teachings given by the ruler of this world, Satan, lest he leads you to imprisonment, away from the life prepared for you. St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch + Christ is not in need of any fragrance, and neither do the martyrs need the candlelight. But the woman poured the fragrant oil to honor Christ, and He therefore accepted the reverence in her heart. St. Jerome 4- Judas’ Betrayal: Father Joseph says, “What other thing of more profit to the entire world could she offer such as the blessings of the sincere suffering of the Lord? Despite this, the traitor who betrayed the Lord and handed Him to the suffering, gained nothing of his betrayal, but he was rather actually harmed, for it was said about him (Matt 26:24)” But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” The outcome of his dead did not revert to him according to its result in actual facts, but rather according to what he wished for and believed in.” At the time when St. Mary cautiously went in to meet her Groom at Bethany, eager to be buried with Him, Judas ‘the disciple was selling the Lord for a few pennies as a slave. Judas was with the Lord most of the days, spending long hours, and even days, and sew Him make amazing miracles and heard Him a great deal. He also obtained from the Lord the authority to preach and make miracles, yet, despite all of this, his heart did not encounter the Lord due to his love of money. But as for the woman, she saw nothing of all this, and neither did she hear the Lord as much as he did, nor was she given the authority, yet she knew Him by means of the purity of her heart. For greed has blinded the heart of Judas, so as to sell His Lord. But as for the woman, she came forth in love, in the warmth of the Spirit, to receive the salvation and the right of hidden preaching. Mary was not blessed in being a disciple; for, the mystery behind the power is not due to man’s position or his job, but rather the power is in his ……life. St. John Chryostom says, “ The virtuous person, even if he may be a slave or a prisoner, is the happiest of all people. Vice is so weak, whereas virtue is strong indeed. “ Mary has offered her riches as a gift to the Lord, so she may remain rich inside herself, even if she seemed to have no money. Judas sold his master for silver in his hands. As St. John Chrysostom says, “He who is not rich within himself, cab never be rich, just as he would never be poor, if he is not poor in his mind. If the soul is more sublime than the body, the members lesser sublimity have no authority with which to act even on itself. But what is of more sublimity will have authority over it and change it. Money is of no use if the soul is in poverty, and there is no harm in poverty if the soul is rich.” https://coptic-treasures.com/ Just as St. Mary represents the honest souls that come forth in love to Him, so does Judas represent the deceitful souls that seek evil and sell their Master for some temporary pleasure. At this point we have to realize that not every sin may falls into is betrayal to the Lord. But to chase it and seek it, and when man asks for it in neglect of the Lord and His precious blood, then this is counted treason! + The very same hand which received the blessed gift a few moments ago, has stood up to receive the money for conspiring the death of her Lord. St. Cyril El Orshileing + When the disciples prepared the Passover, Christ ate with them, for He was tolerant with the traitor. Before embracing him to the table of love and endless tenderness, even tough he was a traitor, the devil has been able to set foot in him. St. Cyril the great. + The evangelist says ‘one of the twelve’ (Matt 26:14,47). This shows something of extreme importance, for the sin of treason is made more clear. He who has honored him, making the apostolic honors, and has made him beloved and embraced him to the sanctified table, this one has become a way and a means of killing Christ. St. Cyril the great + What place did Satan find Judas? Satan could not draw neat all those about whom we spoke, such as the blessed St. Peter or St. …… or St. John, for their hearts were firm and their love to Christ was stable. But Satan found a place in the traitor because of the disease of bitter greed of which the righteous St. Paul has said “the source of all evil” (1…6:10) which has defeated him. St. Cyril the great 5- The Passover offering: The more the hour of crucifixion drew near, the more the evangelist put into details every action the Lord Jesus made. This is to reveal the mysteries in His salvation deed. (Matt 26:17-19) “Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, ‘where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover’ and He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples’ So the disciples did as Jesus directed them, and they prepared the Passover.” Why did the disciples ask the Lord this question? Firstly: May be because the disciples, since they have followed Christ, they left everything behind, and have become like people having no particular place where to prepare the Passover. St. John Chrysostom says, “From this it is evident He had no home, or any place of accommodation, and it is assumed they too were likewise, otherwise they would have begged Him to go there.” https://coptic-treasures.com/ Secondly: The Passover, according to the Jewish custom was carried out on a family level. Every family would slaughter he Passover sheep. If the family could not afford that, they could join another family in performing this ritual. But the Lord Jesus provided a new concept for the new Passover. The family that celebrates it, has the head of Jesus Christ Himself, and the members are related on a spiritual basis in Christ, and through any blood relation. (Matt 26:20-21) “ When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve, now as they were eating, He said, ‘Assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray Me.’ “ What is surprising is that the Lord spoke of His betrayer in the midst of them all, without pointing at him. The Lord was concerned about His own salvation, without hurting the betrayer’s feelings. But when the Lord saw they were truly sorrowful, and each of them asked Him, (Matt 26:22) “Lord, is it I?” The Lord got concerned about them lest they be disturbed and die in their despair, and therefore He had to point at him. Lest the disciples assume that what was about to happen to the Lord is out of weakness, He confirmed to them assumingly (Matt 26:24) “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” The Lord declared the misery that would befall Judas so as to assure them that what is being fulfilled, even though it is of God’s provision, yet what Judas was doing is not to e fulfilled without his own will. Judas was evil indeed, and God has used his wickedness to fulfill His divine issues. 6- The Last Supper: as they were eating the symbolic Jewish Passover (Matt 26:26-28) “Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying ‘Drink from it all of you, for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’” St. Cyril the great comments on the last supper saying, “By what means can man on earth, wrapped in death come back to incorruption? I answer and say that this dead body has to share in the power of the Giver of life descending from God. As for the power of the Giver which belongs to God the Father, this is the only begotten Son, the Word, whom He sent to us as Savior and a Redeemer. How did He send Him to us? St. John the evangelist tells us very clearly, (John 1:14) “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” When we eat the holy body of Christ, our Savior of us all, and drink of His precious blood, we thus obtain the life in us, for we become as if we are one with Him; we dwell in Him, and He too reigns in us. Do not doubt, for this is true, since He is the One who says it clearly (John 6)’ This is my flesh, this is My blood.’ Rather, accept the word of the Savior in faith, for He is the Truth who can never lie.” This happened in the evening (Matt 26:20). As St. John Chrysostom says, “The evening is a definite sign of fulfilling the times, the …….. have now drew near to that same end.” When the Lord had completed the Passover, so He would not seem to be easy in the law, He offered Himself a new Passover in place of the entire humanity. He https://coptic-treasures.com/ declared the sacrifice of the cross was not fulfilled haphazardly. It was of His own will that He handed Himself over to the cross. He transformed the bread and the wine into His own flesh and blood, sanctified, a true sacrifice given for the remission of sins (Matt 26:28). He has offered them to His church for us to obtain through generations, as a confirmation to the continuance of the cross sacrifice. It is a live sacrifice, a unique and unequalled one, by means of which He grants the believers His sanctified flesh and blood as the mystery of their lives. St. John Chrysostom says, “Many say now we wish to see His form, His clothes, His sandals, oh? Here you are seeing Him, touching Him, eating Him. Indeed, you do wish to see His clothes, and here He is giving you Himself. This is not only that you see Him, but also o touch Him, eat Him, and accept Him inside you.” The Lord goes on to say (Matt 26:29) “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the wine from now until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” What is this ‘new’ that we will drink with Him in our Father’s kingdom other than our enjoyment in the partnership of the unity with God in the sacrifice of His Son in the heavens on a new level. It is an extension of the current liturgy, but in a way that can not be uttered! After they had eaten (Matt 26:30) “When they had ….. a hymen, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” The thanksgiving sacrifice was fulfilled, and was concluded in hymens. This is what happens in the church in every godly liturgy in which the liturgy Eucharist is concluded in joyful hymens concerning the Psalm 150. 7- Warning Them of Doubting: The Lord went to the Mount of Olives voluntarily, so as to receive the cup from the Father’s hands. This is how He accepts to carry the heavy burden of our sins on His shoulders, offering himself sacrifice of iniquity for us, in our place. On His way to the cross, He warned His disciples, and encouraged them, speaking all the while of the cross and the resurrection as well. He said, (Matt 26:31,32) “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike the Shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” By means of the cross, the enemy wished to strike the shepherd so as to scatter the flock. But the cross has been changed to the resurrection, and the Lord will go ahead of us to Galilee. The word ‘Galilee’ means ‘a neighborhood’, or a ‘circle’. It is as if the Lord by means of His resurrection has gone ahead of us in a new circle, or a new region. He is the Prime of those asleep, and He carries in Himself the resurrected life, so that with Him we enter, and also in Him, in the circle of this life, new and resurrected. St. Peter the apostle assumed he is able to stand next to the Lord, and never to doubt Him. But what St. Peter did not know about himself, his Creator knew it, and assured him (Matt 26:34) “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” St. Peter was sure of himself on no basis, for he said (Matt 26:35) “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” What St. Peter the apostle said, was likewise said by all the disciples. We are so badly in need of going to the Father’s embrace, for He knows our every weakness. We should not be sure of ourselves, but rather in the Father’s https://coptic-treasures.com/ grace, that is able to raise us from these weakness. We may think we are able to exercise the holy and virtuous life, and we are unaware of the fact that we are weak in every way, and could fall in only a moment! As St. Cyril the great says, “ Let us not pride ourselves on His gifts.” What is surprising is that the Lord Jesus who has warned His disciple of the result of Satan’s temptation to him, for he would deny Him three times , He also gave him a word of comfort, that he would rise up again and even support his ……. (Luke 22:31-34). 8- In Gethsemane: When the Lord came to Gethsemane, He told His disciples (Matt 26:36,3..) “ ‘Sit here while I go and pray over there.’ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.” Gethsemane is an Aramicte word meaning ‘an oil grinder’. It is as if the Lord, so willingly, is entering this grinder and that it was not possible for the disciples to enter with Him there. But He choose St. Peter and the sons of Zebedee as witnesses to see Him for a while; yet, they are unable to and they slept instead. This happened a second time; He asked them to be up with Him, yet they could not. The third time He said to them (Matt 26:40) “Sleep now and rest.” In a prophetic spirit, Isaiah the prophet saw Him at Gethsemane, where He underwent the real wine press, He therefore said, (Is. 63:1-3) “who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, this One who is glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength? ‘I who speak in the righteousness, mighty to save.’ Why is Your apparel red, and Your ….. like one who treads in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the people no one was with Me.” The Lord has undergone the winepress all by Himself, and He says, (Matt 26:38) “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even to death.” The secret and reason of His sorrow, is not because of the fear of physical suffering, but it was due to the weighty iniquity which the Lord could not bear or tolerate. But it was for this that He came, and in our place, He yielded in obedience to the Father, so as to carry the death of sin in Him. He cries out (Matt 26:39) “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” As St. Augustine says, “The will of the Father and the Son are one and the same, for they have one Spirit. Then why did He say so? He has come in our place, we who have rejected God’s will, and hence He yielded gladly to the cross , in obedience to the Father, and at the same time, He wanted this as well. This is what the Lord Himself has declared when He said (John 3:16) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” The sacrifice and effort here is God’s loving will. At the same time the apostle says (Gal 2:20) “Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” He has shed Himself, so full of Love. + It is impossible that the Son of Man has said “O My Father, if it is possible, et this cup pass from Me” due to His fear! The Lord Jesus would not reject the sacrifice of death, until the gift of salvation reaches all of humanity. The scholar Oreganus https://coptic-treasures.com/ + “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death” Let us offer our thanks that Jesus has a real body and a real soul. For, if the Lord had not taken the human nature in its totality, humanity would not have been saved. If He had taken the physical form only, with no soul, He would have saved the body, without the soul, though we need the salvation of the soul more than we do that of the body. He has taken the body and the soul together so as to save them, to save the entire man just as He had created him. St. Jerome. + Being God, who has taken the form of man, He lived the role of physical weakness, so there would be no pretext for the evil ones who deny the incarnation. Though He said so, yet the followers of Mani still do not believe, and …….. denies the incarnation, and Mercion claims this is only fantasy. He has manifested Himself that He carries a real body. St. Ambrosias. St. Cyril the great thinks the mystery in the grief of the Lord Jesus is the rejection of Israel to His Prime Son to Him, for he says + Just as He wept over Lazarus in compassion for the entire human race, for He has become a prey to corruption and to death, likewise do we say that He was sorrowful here when he saw Jerusalem surrounded by major misfortunes, and there was no remedy for these disasters. St. Cyril the great. + His suffering was not fulfilled without His own will, yet from another aspect it was very grievous, for it led to the Jewish assembly rejection and its downfall. It was not His will that Israel would be the Lord’s killer, exposing himself to condemnation, blame, and deprivation fro God’s gifts, whereas previously they were His people. They alone were His people, His chosen ones and His heirs! St. Cyril the great The Lord went to pray as well, so as to teach us, for He tells His disciples (Matt 26:41) “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” St. Jerome says, ”whereas my soul is strong, and it leads me to life, yet my body is weak, and draws me to death.” It is an urgent need that we pray, so God would support our souls, and raises up our bodies from their weakness. St. Cyril the great speaks to us of the necessity to follow the Lord’s example in time of temptation, He says, “He was praying when those who wished to arrest Him were close by. No one is to understand that at this point He is pleading like someone in need of strength or support from someone else. For, He Himself is God the Father’s strength, able and authoritative, He rather did this so as to teach us, so He would cast away our carelessness at the time of temptation, and when persecution oppresses us, and when deception is harbored against us, and the net of death plotted for us. Our means of salvation is to be watchful, to …. Down, https://coptic-treasures.com/ and entreat Him, and ask for help from above, so we do not get weakened and are inflicted with terrifying devastation.” The Lord has asked them to be watchful; yet after He had prayed three times, He returned to them and said (Matt 26:45) “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.” When the Lord hands Himself over to death, we sleep and rest. He is the cause of our restfulness; He goes to the cross to pay our own debt, He suffers, so we are restful, He is crucified so we be crowned! 9- Arresting the Lord: The Lord Jesus took the last row so as to carry our suffering and drink the cup till the end, in our place. He had to accept the pain at the hands of one of His disciples, and through one kiss, His wound was as bitter as could be. The prophet saw Him wounded, and he asked Him (Zech. 13:6) “What are these wounds between Your arms?” And the Lord answers in bitterness (Zech. 13:6) “ Those with witch I was wounded in the house of My friends.” The wounds increase in their bitterness because they came wrapped up in the covering of false love, and tender words that carry under the poisonous evil. We, too, when we unite with the Lord Jesus , we are encountered by one of our own ‘household’, as Judas. He cuts short the Spirit of truth in us, for he says that man’s enemies are of his own household. The Lord gave Judas the last chance, even at the last moments when He was being arrested . He blamed him in gentle words (Matt 26:50) “Friend, why have you come?” With a kiss, Judas gave up his Master. As St. Ambrosias says, “You are offering a kiss, you who do not know the mystery of a kiss. What is wanted is not the kiss of lips, but rather the kiss of the heart and the soul.” St. Peter the apostle stretched out his hand, took his sword to strike Melchus, the servant of the chief priest, and he cut his ear (Matt 26:51). But the Lord commanded him to put his sword in its place, and He healed the servant’s ear, saying (Matt 26:52-54) “for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” When man uses violence for his service under the pretence of defense for the Lord Jesus the Truth, he will be like St. Peter who strikes with the sword and cuts the ear of the servant, and he loses the listening to the voice of the Word. The word of violence increases the stubbornness of those who resist, and makes them lose their spiritual listening to the Truth. They are no longer eager to cease their resistance, and are not keen for the truth. In gladness did the Lord stand the wounds of His resistants, but He could not stand the disciples’ defense for Him in using the sword. What St. Peter had as bitterness towards those who crucified the Lord was in His eyes, of the evil sword. As St. Ambrosias says, “Jesus did not wish to be defended against the wounds of those who persecuted Him. He rather wished all to be healed by these wounds.” https://coptic-treasures.com/ + He did not want us to use the swords in resisting our enemies, but rather to use love and reverence, and thus win over those against us. St. Paul teaches us something similar when saying (2 Cor. 10:5) “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” This is because the war for the sake of the truth is spiritual, and the weapon that makes us saints is mental and full of God’s love. St. Cyril the great. + St. Peter cut the right ear of the servant of the chief priest. This act was a sign of the inability of the Jews to good listening , for they did not listen well to the words of Jesus. They have rather honored the left ear, that is, they obeyed their impulses that sprung up from their fanaticism. They have thus become (2 Tuin. 3:13) “ deceiving and being deceived” As the book says (Matt 15:19) “And in vain they worship Me, teaching as ….. the commandments of men.” + It is as if St. Peter has revealed what is in their depths that the spiritual right ear has been cut off, since they paid more attention to the left ear and listened to falsehood. But the Lord has come to heal the right ear and to make it listen to spiritualities. St. Cyril the great. 10- The Religious Judgment: The judge stood before the scribes, the chief priests and the elders to be judged as a blasphemer. They were supported by false witnesses in their accusations, yet He remained silent. He was accused of being a blasphemer for the words He said (Matt 26:61) “I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.” This was false accusation, for He did not say so. He rather said (John 2:19) “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” He was actually speaking of the temple of His body (John 2:12). But as for them, they understood He was speaking of the Jerusalem temple. As for the other the second aspect of blasphemy, it was because He said of Himself He is Christ the Son of God. When the chief asked Him about this, He answered (Matt 26:64) “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The chief priest was unable to bear the Lord’s answer, so he tore his clothes. This was a sign of the tearing down of the Levite priesthood and its coming to an end. A new priesthood thus came up on the rites of Milchezedec. St. Cyril the great comments on the chief priest’s question to the Lord Jesus (Matt 26:63) “ I put You under oath by the living God: tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God! “St. Cyril says, “Tell me why are you asking Him this? Is it to know if He is the Christ? You can easily know Him by means of the law and the prophets. Search in the books of Moses, and you will see Him described in various ways. https://coptic-treasures.com/ Investigate into the prophetic books and you will hear them declaring His godly and amazing miracles.” 11- St. Peter’s Denial: St. Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. Then one servant girl came forth to accuse him of being with Jesus. But he denied it before all. As he was going out at the gateway, another maid saw him and accused him as did the first one. But again he denied it. After a while, those close by said his speech betrayed him. But he …. To curse and swear he didn’t know Him, at that moment the rooster crowed. The soul that remains slothful, sitting outside, and does not go with the Lord to the cross to know its inner depths, can never witness but it rather denies. If it goes out to the gateway, that is, to live without a secretive life, then it repeats its denial, and many chase this soul so as to wage it to deny. But as for the soul that goes to the cross, and draws near to it, as John did, this does not deny, but it rather ….. from the Lord Jesus His own mother as a mother to itself. St. Cyril the great speaks of the weakness of St. Peter the apostle and his repentance saying, “Christ had not yet risen from the dead, and neither did He cancel death, nor did He wipe away ….., therefore the fear of death as above the capabilities of human nature. The apostle has condemned himself by his own conscience, for he wept bitterly soon after. He wept in regret, in bitter tears, because of his very serious sin. He was not careless in his repentance, just as he has quickly fallen in sin, likewise did his tears fall due to it.he not only wept, but he wept in sincere bitterness. He is as a man who has fallen, and in courage he got up a second time, for he knows how merciful the Lord can be, as He said to one of His prophets (Jer. 8:4) “will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away and not return?” in his return he did not lose the sign, but he rather continued as previously, as a true disciple. “St. Ambrosias also says, “St. Peter wept because he committed n error. He is like someone who was ….. and got lost; and so he wept and did not apologize, for the tears do not ask for forgiveness, but they rather obtain it. Jesus looked at him, so he wept bitterly. O. Lord Jesus, look upon us, and let us know to weep over our sins”
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