Arrest, Trial and Crucifixion

And Jeremiah says, “They gave the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price was set, whom some of the sons of Israel priced; and they gave them for the potter’s field” (Matthew 27:9-10; Zechariah 11:13).

46. That they will bind Him. Isaiah says, “Woe to your soul, for they have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying, ‘Let us bind the righteous man, for he is troublesome to us’” (Isaiah 3:9-10). And Solomon says, “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, for he is troublesome to us; he is a burden to us even to look at” (Wisdom of Solomon 2:12, 14).

47. That they will put Him on trial. David says in the 69th Psalm, “Save me, O God, for the waters have come in up to my soul. I am stuck fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no foothold” (Psalm 69:1-2). And again he says in the 71st Psalm, “In You, Lord, I have hoped; let me never be put to shame. In Your righteousness rescue me and deliver me,” and so on (Psalm 71:1-2). And Isaiah says, “Against whom have you opened your mouth? And against whom have you let loose your tongue? Against whom but the gentle, the humble and the quiet?” (Isaiah 57:4; 66:2). And again, “My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest; it has raised its voice against me; therefore I have hated it” (Jeremiah 12:8). “It was not I who refused; it was they who refused me. Therefore I have forsaken my house” (Jeremiah 12:7).

48. That they will strike Him and treat Him with contempt. Micah says, “They will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek” (Micah 5:1). And, “The one abhorred by the nations, by the servants of rulers: kings will see him, and rulers will rise up and worship him” (Isaiah 49:7). And elsewhere he says, “But I do not disobey, nor do I answer back. I have given my back to the whip and my cheeks to blows, and I did not turn my face away from the shame of spitting” (Isaiah 50:5-6).

49. That the apostles will flee. David says in the 38th Psalm, “My friends and my neighbors drew near and stood opposite me” (Psalm 38:11). And again, “You have put my acquaintances far from me” (Psalm 88:8). And, “I looked for someone to grieve with me, and there was none, and for someone to comfort me, and I found none” (Psalm 69:20).

50. That Peter will deny Him. Isaiah says, “And he was afraid of mortal man, of those who will wither like grass; but he has forgotten Me, says the Lord” (Isaiah 51:12-13).

51. That they will crucify Him. Jeremiah says, “But I was like an innocent lamb led to be sacrificed” (Jeremiah 11:19). And Isaiah says, “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer” (Isaiah 53:7). And Wisdom says, “Let us condemn him to a shameful death” (Wisdom of Solomon 2:20). And again, “Come, let us put wood into his bread, and let us wipe him out from the land of the living” (Jeremiah 11:19). And David says, “They pierced my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22:16).

52. That they will crown Him with thorns. In the Song of Songs it says, “Go out and look, daughters of Jerusalem, at the crown with which his mother crowned him” (Song of Solomon 3:11). And Isaiah says, “I waited for it to yield grapes, but it yielded thorns” (Isaiah 5:4).

53. That they will give Him vinegar and gall to drink (Psalm 69:21). David says in the 69th Psalm, “They gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psalm 69:21). And Moses says, “Is this how you repay the Lord?” (Deuteronomy 32:6). And in the Song of Songs it says, “He came into my garden, my sister, my bride, and they gathered my myrrh” (Song of Solomon 5:1). And again, “My hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers were full of myrrh” (Song of Solomon 5:5). And again it says, “I will give you spiced wine to drink” (Song of Solomon 8:2).

54. That they will clothe Him in a scarlet robe. Isaiah says, “Who is this who comes from Edom, the red of his garments from Bozrah, this one splendid in his robe, with might? Why are your garments red, and your clothing as if from a trodden winepress?” (Isaiah 63:1-2).

55. That He will keep silent when He is tried. David says in the 38th Psalm, “I became like a man who does not hear and who has no rebukes in his mouth” (Psalm 38:14). And again, “But I, like a deaf man, did not hear, and was like a mute man who does not open his mouth” (Psalm 38:13). And Isaiah says, “And he, because he has been afflicted, does not open his mouth; like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth in his humiliation” (Isaiah 53:7-8).

56. That He will be mocked. David says in the 109th Psalm, “They saw me; they shook their heads” (Psalm 109:25). And in Wisdom it says, “If he is a righteous son of God, He will help him” (Wisdom of Solomon 2:18). “He claims to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord” (Wisdom of Solomon 2:13).

57. That He who hangs on the tree is Himself the Life. Moses says, “Your life will hang on a tree before your eyes, and you will be afraid day and…” (Deuteronomy 28:66)