Chapter V.—Of the Accounts Which are Given by All the Four Evangelists in Regard to What Was Done and Said on the Occasion of His Apprehension; And of the Proof that These Different Narratives Exhibit No Real Discrepancies.

15. When we follow the versions presented by Matthew and Mark, we find that the history now proceeds thus: “And while He yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude, with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed Him, gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is He; hold Him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master; and kissed Him.” 781    Matt. xxvi. 47–56; Mark xiv. 43–50. First of all, however, as we gather from Luke’s statement, He said to the traitor, “Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?”782    Luke xii. 48. Next, as we learn from Matthew, He spoke thus: “Friend, wherefore art thou come?” Thereafter He added certain words which are found in John’s narrative, which runs in the following strain: “Whom seek ye? They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am He. And Judas also, which betrayed Him, stood with them. As soon then as He had said unto them, I am He, they went backward, and fell to the ground. Then asked He them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am He: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way; that the saying might be fulfilled which He spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.”783    John xviii. 4–9. [This passage is more naturally placed before the kissing by Judas.—R.]

16. Next comes in a passage, which is given by Luke as follows: “When they which were about Him saw what would follow, they said unto Him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And one of them smote the servant of the high priest,” as is noticed by all the four historians, “and cut off his ear,” which, as we are informed by Luke and John, was his “right ear.” Moreover, we gather also from John that the person who smote the servant was Peter, and that the name of the man whom he thus struck was Malchus. Next we take what Luke mentions, namely, “Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far;”784    Luke xxii. 51. with which we must connect the words appended by Matthew, namely, “Put up thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?”785    Matt. xxvi. 52–55. Along with these words we may also place the question to which John tells us He gave utterance on the same occasion, namely, “The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?”786    John xviii. 11. And then, as is recorded by Luke, He touched the ear of the person who had been struck, and healed him.

17. Neither should we let the idea disturb us, that some contradiction may be found in the circumstance that Luke tells us how, when the disciples asked Him whether they should smite with the sword, the Lord replied in these words, “Suffer ye thus far,” in a manner which might seem to imply that He thus expressed Himself, after the blow had been struck, in terms bearing that He was satisfied with what had been done so far, but desired nothing further to be done; whereas the language which is employed by Matthew might give us rather to understand that this whole incident of the use which Peter made of the sword was displeasing to the Lord. For it is more correct to suppose that when they put the question to Him, “Lord, shall we smite with the sword?” He replied then, “Suffer ye thus far;” His meaning being this: “Let not what is about to take place agitate you. These men are to be suffered to go thus far; that is to say, so far as to apprehend me, and thus to effect the fulfilment of those things which are written of me.” We have further to suppose, however, that during the time which passed in the interchange of the question addressed by them to the Lord, and the reply returned by Him to them, Peter was borne on by his intense desire to appear as defender, and by his stronger excitement in the Lord’s behalf, to deal the blow. But while these two things might easily have happened at the same time, two different statements could not have been uttered by the same person in one breath.787    That is to say, while Christ’s answer to the disciples and Peter’s act might easily have been synchronous, the Lord could not have addressed Himself in different senses to two distinct parties at the same time, namely, to the persons who put the question, and to Peter. For the writer would not have used the expression, “And Jesus answered and said,” unless the words were a reply to the question which had been addressed by those who were about Him, and not a statement directed to Peter’s act. For Matthew is the only one who has recorded the judgment passed by Jesus on Peter’s act. And in that passage the phrase which Matthew has employed is also not in the form, “Jesus answered Peter thus, Put up thy sword;” but it runs in these terms: “Then said Jesus unto him, Put up thy sword;” from which it appears that it was after the deed that Jesus thus declared Himself. What is contained, again, in the phraseology used by Luke, namely, “And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far,” must be taken to have been the reply which was returned to the parties who had put the question to Him. But inasmuch as, according to our previous explanation, the single blow with which the servant was struck was delivered just during the time when the terms of the said question and answer were passing between these persons and the Lord, the writer has considered it right to record that act in the same particular order, so that it stands inserted between the words of the interrogation and those in which the response was couched. Consequently, there is nothing here in antagonism to the statement introduced by Matthew, namely, “For all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword,”—that is to say, those who may have used the sword. But there might appear to be some inconsistency here if the Lord’s answer were taken in a sense which would show Him to have expressed approval on this occasion of the voluntary use of the sword, even although it was only to the effect of a single wound, and that, too, not a fatal one. The words, however, which were addressed to Peter may be understood, as a whole, in an application quite in harmony with the rest; so that, bringing in also what Luke and Matthew have reported, as I have stated above, we obtain the following connection: “Suffer ye thus far. Put up thy sword into its place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword,” etc. In what way, moreover, this sentence, “Suffer ye thus far,” is to be understood, I have explained already. And if there is any better method of interpreting it, be it so. Only let the veracity of the evangelists be maintained in any case.

18. After this, Matthew continues the narrative, and mentions that in that hour He addressed the multitude as follows: “Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.”788    Matt. xxvi. 53. Then He added also certain words, which Luke introduces thus: “But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”789    Luke xxii. 53. Next comes the sentence given by Matthew: “But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.” This last fact is recorded also by Mark. The same evangelist makes also the following addition: “And there followed Him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and when they laid hold on him, he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.” 790    Mark xiv. 52.

CAPUT V. De his quae in ejus apprehensione facta et dicta omnes commemorant, quomodo inter se nihil appareat dissentire.

15. Adhuc ergo ipso loquente, sicut dicunt Matthaeus et Marcus, ecce Judas unus de duodecim venit, et cum eo turba multa cum gladiis et fustibus, a principibus sacerdotum et senioribus populi. Qui autem tradidit eum, dedit illis signum dicens: Quemcumque osculatus fuero, ipse est, tenete eum. Et confestim accedens ad Jesum, dixit: Ave, rabbi. Et osculatus est eum (Matth. XXVI, 47-56, et Marc. XIV, 43-50). Dixitque illi primo, quod ait Lucas, Juda, osculo Filium hominis tradis (Luc. XXII, 47-53)? deinde quod Matthaeus, Amice, ad quid venisti? Deinde dixit, quod Joannes commemorat: Quem quaeritis? Responderunt ei: Jesum Nazarenum. Dicit eis Jesus: Ego sum. Stabat autem et Judas, qui tradebat eum, cum ipsis: ut ergo dixit eis, Ego sum, 1167 abierunt retrorsum, et ceciderunt in terram. Iterum ergo eos interrogavit: Quem quaeritis? Illi autem dixerunt: Jesum Nazarenum. Respondit Jesus: Dixi vobis quia ego sum: si ergo me quaeritis, sinite hos abire. Ut impleretur sermo quem dixit, Quia quos dedisti mihi, non perdidi ex ipsis quemquam (Joan. XVIII, 2-11).

16. Videntes autem, sicut Lucas dicit, ii qui circa ipsum erant, quod futurum erat, dixerunt ei: Domine, si percutimus in gladio? Et percussit unus ex ipsis, quod omnes quatuor dicunt, servum principis sacerdotum, et amputavit auriculam ejus, sicut Lucas et Joannes dicunt, dexteram. Qui autem percussit, secundum Joannem Petrus erat: quem percussit autem, Malchus vocabatur. Deinde quod Lucas dicit, Respondens Jesus ait: Sinite usque huc; et adjunxit quod Matthaeus commemorat, Converte gladium tuum in locum suum. Omnes enim qui acceperint gladium, gladio peribunt. An putas quia non possum rogare Patrem meum, et exhibebit mihi modo plus quam duodecim legiones Angelorum? Quomodo ergo implebuntur Scripturae, quia sic oportet fieri? His verbis adjungi potest quod illum eo loco dixisse Joannes commemorat, Calicem quem dedit mihi Pater, non vis bibam illum? Tunc, sicut Lucas dicit, tetigit auriculam illius qui percussus erat, et sanavit eum.

17. Nec moveat quasi contrarium sit quod Lucas dixit, interrogantibus discipulis si percuterent in gladio, Dominum respondisse, Sinite usque huc: quasi post illam percussionem ita dictum fuerit, ut placuerit ei usque huc factum, sed amplius fieri noluerit; cum in verbis quae Matthaeus posuit, intelligatur potius totum factum quo usus est gladio Petrus, Domino displicuisse. Illud enim verius est, quod cum eum interrogassent dicentes, Domine, si percutimus in gladio? tunc respondit, Sinite usque huc: id est, non vos moveat quod futurum est; permittendi sunt huc usque progredi, hoc est, ut me apprehendant, et impleantur quae de me scripta sunt. Sed inter moras verborum interrogantium Dominum et illius respondentis, Petrus defensionis aviditate et majori pro Domino commotione percussit: sed non potuerunt etiam simul dici, quae simul fieri potuerunt. Non enim diceret, Respondens autem Jesus, nisi illorum interrogationi responderet, non facto Petri. Nam de facto Petri quid judicaverit, Matthaeus solus dixit. Ubi etiam non dixit Matthaeus, Respondit Jesus Petro, Converte gladium tuum; sed dixit. Tunc ait illi Jesus, Converte gladium tuum: quod post factum apparet dixisse Dominum. Illud vero quod Lucas posuit, Respondens autem Jesus ait, Sinite usque huc, illis qui interrogaverant responsum esse accipiendum est: sed quia, ut diximus, inter verba interrogantium et respondentis Domini, facta est uno ictu percussio, hoc ordine judicavit esse narrandum, ut etiam inter verba interrogationis et responsionis eam insereret. Non est ergo contrarium hoc ei quod dixit Matthaeus, Omnes enim qui acceperint gladium, gladio peribunt, id est, qui usi fuerint gladio. Videri autem posset contrarium, si Dominus ex illa responsione, saltem usque ad unum, 1168 nec ipsum lethale vulnus, usum tamen gladii spontaneum approbasse demonstraretur. Quanquam etiam Petro dictum totum congruenter intelligi possit, ut sic connectatur et quod Lucas et quod Matthaeus retulit, quemadmodum supra commemoravi, Sinite usque huc; et, converte gladium tuum in locum suum. Omnes enim qui acceperint gladium, gladio peribunt, etc. Quomodo autem sit intelligendum, Sinite usque huc, jam exposui: et si aliter melius potest, ita sit; dum tamen Evangelistarum veritas constet.

18. Postea sequitur Matthaeus, et commemorat eum in illa hora dixisse turbis: Tanquam ad latronem existis cum gladiis et fustibus comprehendere me. Quotidie apud vos sedebam docens in templo, et non me tenuistis. Tunc addidit etiam verba quae Lucas ponit: Sed haec est hora vestra, et potestas tenebrarum. Hoc autem totum factum est, sicut Matthaeus dicit, ut implerentur Scripturae Prophetarum. Tunc discipuli omnes relicto eo fugerunt; sicut et Marcus dicit. Sequebatur autem illum unus adolescens amictus sindone, sicut idem Marcus commemorat; et cum tenuissent eum, rejecta sindone nudus profugit ab eis.