CHAPTER 3

From Psalm cviii.

Still of Judas, and of the Apostle elected in His Room, and of the Jewish Nation.

[Passage quoted, Ps. cviii. 1-8.]

AND the Apostle Peter is a sufficient witness that this prophecy refers to the traitor Judas, when, after the Saviour's Ascension, all the apostles being gathered together with many of the brethren, he stood up in the midst, and said: ^{- 203 -} 

"Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost spake before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the (475) dwellers at Jerusalem, insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. For it is written in the Book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishopric let another take."

Peter, then, in saying thus, suggested that another must be chosen in place of Judas, to fill up the deficient number of the twelve apostles, so that the prophecy might be fulfilled. And when the lot had been cast, it fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the twelve apostles. Since this was (b) thus fulfilled, it follows that the person who speaks in this Psalm can only be our Saviour, Who thought good to anticipate by the record of the Holy Spirit the very prayer that was sent up by Him to the Father at the time of His Passion, foretelling what would happen to Him in the future.

He says, then, "O God, pass not over my praise in silence," praying that the instruction delivered by Him to His disciples and the praise of the new Covenant might not be lost in silence, but might live to the end of time. "The (c) mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the crafty "would have special application to Judas, who went to the Chief Priests and said to them:

"What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him unto them."

And after making this covenant against Him, he was one of those that sat down with Him at the Feast of the Passover, when our Saviour—

"sat down with the twelve, and as they were eating, (d) said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one ^{- 204 -} of you shall betray me. And being very sorry they began to say unto him, Lord, is it I?"

Among whom was Judas, who opened that mouth of his, full of deceit and irony, and answered, "Is it I, Rabbi? "a crafty mouth indeed, with which he gave the signal to the conspirators against our Saviour, saying, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he." And he fulfilled his words by acts, when he went to Jesus, and said to Him, "Hail, Rabbi, and kissed him." And Jesus said to him, "Friend, wherefore art thou come? "and "Judas, betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss? "So then in anticipation, he says by the Psalm:

"The mouth of the crafty is opened upon me. They have spoken against me with crafty tongue, and have encircled me with words of hatred, and have fought against me without a cause."

Here He has in mind not only Judas, but the other conspirators against Him. For the Gospel relates, that even while the Saviour was still speaking to His disciples—

"behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves from the chief priests and elders of the people! To whom the Lord said, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the Temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But this is all come to pass, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."

And He says also in the Psalms: "Instead of loving me, they spake evil of me, but I continued to pray." This, too, was fulfilled, when, as our Saviour prayed with the eleven apostles in the place called Gethsemane, and departed from them a little way, and knelt down to His Father, and prayed a second and a third time, Judas with the Rulers of the Jews matured his conspiracy, collecting and leading the multitude of them that were prepared to take Him with swords and staves.

And they did evil to Him instead of good, and gave Him hate in return for His love, when they were ill-disposed towards the Saviour, and Benefactor and Teacher, Who had given them such healing and treatment by His words and teaching and all sorts of benefits. In return for which, ^{- 205 -} since they did evil to Him instead of good, and gave Him hatred for love, He rightly adds:

"Set a sinner over him, and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he is judged let him go forth condemned, and let his prayer be turned into sin; let his days be few, and another take his office." 

And the holy apostle, applying this Scripture to the traitor, shewed clearly by anticipation what would be the end of these things. Now you yourself can see, how a sinful ruler and head was given to the Jewish race, after their presumptuous deeds against the Saviour, and how they were forced to serve strangers and idolaters instead of their ancient godly rulers. Who would not be struck by the (477) fulfilment of the prediction? For the oracle says, "Let his days be few," and there is no doubt that the whole period after their plot against our Saviour was short, during which they appeared to abide, after which they underwent the siege and were utterly destroyed, and then another took office, namely the people founded by Christ.

And you will understand the rest of the Psalm in a similar (b) sense. The words that follow, spoken as of certain children of Judas, "Let his children be orphans," and the like, may be referred primarily to Judas, and secondarily to all who like him betray the word of salvation. And you may understand in a similar way, his wife, and the sins of his father, and of the Jewish Synagogue, which is called his mother. For I think that this is meant by "let not the sin of his mother be done away." But just as in the preceding (c) prophecy, our Lord and Saviour was called a beggar and a poor man, as I have pointed out in expounding, "Blessed is the man that considereth the poor and needy," so in the present Psalm He is called by these names.

May such and such judgments fall on Judas, He says, and those who have like desires to his. What those judgments are He adds in these words:

"Because he remembered not to do mercy, and persecuted the poor and the beggar and the stricken in spirit even unto death. He loved cursing and it shall come to him; he wished not blessing, and it shall be far off from him."

And a little lower down He again calls Himself a poor man (d) and a beggar, and says: ^{- 206 -} 

"And thou, Lord most high, have mercy on me, for thy name's sake, for good is thy mercy. Save me, for I am poor and a beggar." 

And he adds after an interval:

"My knees were weak through fasting, and my flesh was changed for lack of oil, and I become a jest to them. They saw me, and shaked their heads at me." (478)

And all this was fulfilled, when "The passers-by reviled him, wagging their heads and saying, He saved others, himself he cannot save." And since, even now, the Jews draw down the curse of their fathers upon themselves, and are wont with blasphemy and impious words to anathematize our Lord and Saviour and all that believe on Him, He goes on to say:

"They shall curse, hut thou wilt bless. May they that arise against me be ashamed, but thy servant shall rejoice. Let them who speak evil of me be clothed with shame, and be clothed in confusion as with a cloak. (b) But I will confess the Lord with my mouth, and amid many will I praise him, for he stood by the right hand of the poor, to save my soul from the persecutors."

And it is quite clear, even now, to what evils they that invoke curses in their synagogues have grown accustomed, never at all being able to recover from those same times, while He offers to His Father in the midst of many nations the praise of His new Covenant, having the Father working with Him, Who sits at His own right hand. "Wherefore," (c) He says, "in the midst of many will I praise him, for he stood at the right hand of the poor." And He assures of His own preservation after death in the words: "To save my soul from the persecutors." For after He had said above, "He persecuted the poor man and the beggar and him that was stricken in heart even unto death," and had shewed forth His own death outlining the prophecy, He said figuratively, "For he stood at the right hand of the poor, to save his soul from the persecutors."