Therefore let us lie in wait for the righteous; because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings: he upbraideth us with our offending the law, and objecteth to our infamy the transgressings of our education.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Solomon 2:12 Go To Wisdom of Solomon 2
Cyril of Alexandria
AD 444
Though they had arrested the all-powerful Lord, they bound him nonetheless, the very one who came to free us from the snares of the devil and to loose the bonds of sin. They led him to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, about whom it can be argued that, in a certain way, he was the designer and instigator of the crime against Christ. It is likely that it was from him that the traitor, who had been paid off with money, requested the cohort to arrest Christ. Christ was therefore first brought to him. It seemed that he wanted to render true and actually present what had been said through the words of the prophet, "Let us bind the righteous one, because he is useless to us." And in fact Christ truly was useless to the Jews, not because he really was useless but because, lovers of sin and pleasure that they were, it seemed that he brought them nothing good. Rather, he brought a righteousness that exceeded the Law, clearly explaining what was pleasing to God, who loves virtue. The Law offered no such way, only indicating through shadows and darkness, indirectly and with difficulty, what might be of benefit to its hearers. Thus, as sunlight is in a certain way useless for one with a disease of the eyes, and he receives no benefit because his illness prevents it; and as healthy food seems more useless to sick people than to others, though by it they would recover the health they desire; so also the Lord seemed useless to the Jews, though he was the author of salvation. They, in fact, did not love salvation.
