Then came he to his disciples, and said unto them,
Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
All Commentaries on Matthew 26:45 Go To Matthew 26
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” All this belongs to the divine economy. “Into the hands of sinners” is said to make it clear that he was not liable to any charge but that this course of events was due to human wickedness. Finally he says, “Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” By all these means he was teaching them that this course of events was not something that happens of necessity, without human willing or out of human weakness. It is all unfolding, without denying freedom, as God’s own secret dispensation. Even though he foreknew that Judas would come, so far was he from fleeing, he even went to meet him. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
