And the scripture was fulfilled, which said, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
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Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
De. Con. Evan., iii, 11: This we must understand to be what Matthew expresses by, “mixed with gall”; for he put gall for anything bitter, and wine mingled with myrrh is most bitter; although there may have been both gall and myrrh to make the wine most bitter.
That which follows, “But He received it not,” must mean, He received it not to drink, but only tasted it, as Matthew witnesses. And what the same Matthew relates, “He would not drink, "Mark expresses by, “He received it not,” but was silent as to His tasting it.
Quaest. Vet. et Nov. Test. 65: Therefore he wishes to imply that is was the Jews who passed sentence concerning the crucifixion of Christ at the third hour; for every condemned person is considered as dead, from the moment that sentence is passed upon him. Mark therefore showed that our Saviour was not crucified by the sentence of the judge, because it is difficult to prove the innocence of a man so condemned.
Still there are not wanting persons who assert that the prepar...
Or, since this Simon is not called aman a Jerusalem, but a Cyrenian, (for Cyrene is a city in Libya,) fitly is he taken to mean the nations of the Gentiles, which were once foreigners and strangers to the covenants, but now by obedience are heirs of God, and join theirs with Christ. Whence also Simon is fitly interpreted ‘obedient’, and Cyrene ‘an heir’. But heis said to come from a country place, for a country place is called ‘pagos’ in Greek, wherefore those whom we see to be aliens from the city of God, we call pagans. Simon then coming out from the country carries the cross after Jesus, when the Gentile nations leaving pagan rights embrace obediently the footsteps of our Lord's Passion. There follows: “And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is being interpreted, the place of Calvary. "There are places without the city and the gate, in which the heads of condemned persons are cut off, and which receive the name of Calvary, that is, of the beheaded. But the Lord was crucif...
And with the wicked he was reputed: Heb. πξπδ, nimma, i.e, was numbered, was counted. See what I have said on Isaiah 53:12. The reason Isaiah , because Christ took to Himself our place, our account and reckoning. But we were wicked. He therefore was reckoned with the wicked, that He might make us, instead of wicked, just, righteous, and holy.
After the condemnation of Christ, and the insults heaped upon Him when He was condemned, the Evangelist proceeds to relate His crucifixion, saying, “And led Him out to crucify Him.”
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 bal...
Now John says that He Himself bare His cross, for both took place; for He first bore the cross Himself, until some one passed, whom they compelled, and who then carried it. But he mentioned the name of his sons, to make it more credible and the affirmation stronger, for the man still lived to relate all that had happened about the cross.
Or, they may have brought different things, in order , some vinegar and gall, and others wine mixed with myrrh.
But their casting lots for His garments was also meant as an insult, as though they were dividing the clothes of a king; for they were coarse and of no great value. And John's Gospel shows this more clearly, for the soldiers, though they divided everything else into four parts, according to their number, cast lots for the coat, which “was without seam, woven from the top throughout.” .
They did this that men might have a bad opinion of Him, as though He also were a robber and a malefactor. But it was done by Providence to fulfil the Scripture...
