Saying, Sir, we remember that this deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
All Commentaries on Matthew 27:63 Go To Matthew 27
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Sir, we have remembered, that that seducer, this impostor, this cheat; so they called our blessed Redeemer; from whence, says St. Augustine, Christians may learn to be patient under the greatest injuries.
Said: . after three days I will rise again. This, therefore, must have been well known among the Jews. (Witham)
The chief motive, which influenced the high priest on this occasion, was probably the apprehension lest this prediction of Christ's resurrection should be verified. The wonderful prodigies which took place at his death, and especially the opening of the graves, (though none arose it is believed till after Christ's resurrection, since Christ is called the first-born from the dead, 1 Colossians i. 18. and the first-fruits of them that sleep, 1 Corinthians xv. 20.) might naturally appear as preludes to what he had so often foretold. It is true they had no idea but of a temporal passing resurrection , like that of Lazarus, which they had seen: yet they judged that such an event might be attended with the most serious consequences. Hence, it is probable, that they gave them most express injunctions to put Jesus to death by all means, and to secure the body in the monument: for, it is certain, they formed a similar design against the life of Lazarus, whose resurrection occasioned many to believe in Jesus. (Haydock)
They were not satisfied with taking his life; they must, moreover, deprived him of his good name. (Menochius)
The chief priests could not yet be satisfied, after the horrid murder they had committed, unless they stirred up the minds of the people to a still greater height, by calumniating this innocent Lamb of God, and calling him an impostor, who was the most innocent of men, and spread abroad their poisonous doctrines in every sentence they uttered. (St. Jerome)
