And the scripture was fulfilled, which said, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
All Commentaries on Mark 15:28 Go To Mark 15
Jerome
AD 420
Here Abel is brought out into the field by his brother, to be slain by him. Here Isaac comes forth with the wood, and Abraham with the ram caught in the thicket. Here also Joseph with the sheaf of which he dreamed, and the long robe steeped in blood. Here is Moses with the rod, and the serpent hanging on the wood. Here is the cluster of grapes, carried on a staff. Here is Elisha with the piece of wood sent to seek for the axe, which had sunk, and which swam to the wood; that is, mankind, which by the forbidden tree, fell down to hell, but by the wood of the cross of Christ, and by the baptism of water, swims to paradise. Here is Jonah out of the wood of the ship sent down into the sea and into the whale’s belly for three days .There follows: “And they compel Simon aCyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His cross.”.
But the Jews relate that in this spot of the mountain the ram was sacrificed for Isaac, and there Christ is made bald, that is, separated from His flesh, that is, from the carnal Jews. There follows: “And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh.”.
He also refused to take sin for which He suffered, wherefore it is said of Him, I then paid the things thatI never took. Birds, when they fly in the air, take the shape of a cross; a man swimming in the waters is borne up by the form of across. A ship is blown along by its yards, which are in the shape of the cross. The letter Tan is written as the sign of salvation and of the cross.
Now the garments of the Lord are His commandments, by which His body, that is, the Church is covered; which the soldiers of the Gentiles divide amongst themselves, that there may befour classes with one faith, the married, and the widowed, those who bear rule, and those who are separate. They cast lots for the undivided garment, which is peace and unity. It goes on: “And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. "Mark has introduced this truly and rightly, for at the sixth hour darkness overspread the earth, so that no one could move his head. Let us now consider, why Mark has said, “It was the third hour.” He had already said positively, “And when they had crucified Him, they parted His garments;” as also the others declare, that when He was crucified His garments were divided. Now if Mark had wished to fix the time of what was done, it would have been enough to say, “And it was the third hour,” why did He add, “and they crucified Him,” unless it was that he wished to point to something which had gone before, and which if enquired into wouldbe explained, since that same Scripture was to be read at a time, when it was known to the whole Church at what hour our Lord was crucified, by which means any error might be taken away, and any falsehood be refuted. But because he knew that the Lord was fixed to the cross not by the Jews but by the soldiers, as John very plainly shews, he wished to intimate that the Jews had crucified Him, since they cried out, “Crucify Him,” rather than those who executed the orders of their chief according to their duty. It is therefore implied, that it took place at the third hour when the Jews cried out, “Crucify Him,” and it is most truly shown that they crucified Him, when they so cried out. But in the attempt of Pilate to save the Lord, and the tumultuous opposition of the Jews, we understand that a space of two hours was consumed, and that the sixth hour had begun, before the end of which, those things occurred which are related to have taken place from the time when Pilate gave up the Lord, and the darkness overspread the earth. Now he who will apply himself to these things, without the hard-heartedness of impiety, will see that Mark has fitly placed it at the third hour, in the sameplace as the deed of the soldiers who were the executors of it is related.
He wrote it in three languages, in Hebrew, “Melech Jeudim”; in Greek, ; in Latin, “Rexconfessorum”. These three languages were consecrated to be the chief, in the superscription on the cross, that every tongue might record the treachery of the Jews.
Truth was numbered with the wicked; He left one on His left hand, the other He takes on the right, as He will do at the last day. With a similar crime they are allotted different paths; one precedes Peter into Paradise, the other Judas into hell. A short confession won for him a long life, and a blasphemy which soon ended is punished with endless pain.
