Matthew 17:22

The Lord often foretold to His disciples the mysteries of His passion, in order that when they come to pass, they might be the lighter to them from having been known beforehand.

This seems to be so like a warning He had given above, that a man might easily say that the Lord now repeated what He had said before; yet is it not so; He had not before said that He must be betrayed, but we hear now not only that He must be betrayed, but that He must be "betrayed into the hands of men." The Son of Man indeed was "delivered up" by God the Father according to the Apostle, [Rom 8:32] but different powers gave him up into the hands of men.

Thus does He ever mix the joyful and the grievous; if it grieves them that He is to be put to death, they ought to be gladdened when they hear, "And shall rise again, the third day."

For this is no long time that He speaks of continuing in death, when He says that He shall rise again on the third day.

By this announcement of the Lord the disciples were made very sorrowful, not attending to that He said, "And shall rise again the third day," nor considering what He must be to whom the space of three days was enough to destroy death.

That they were thus made exceeding sorrowful, came not of their lack of faith; but out of their love of their Master they could not endure to hear of any hurt or indignity for Him.

Now we must think that the devil has the power of death, not of that which is common and indifferent, in accordance with which those who are compacted of soul and body die, when their soul is separated from the body, but of that death which is contrary to and the enemy of Him who said, “I am the Life,” in accordance with which “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” But that it was not God who gave Him up into the hands of men, the Saviour manifestly declares when He says, “If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews.” For, when He was delivered up to the Jews, He was delivered into the hands of men, not by His own servants, but by the prince of this age who says, concerning the powers which are in the sphere of the invisible, the kingdoms which are set up against men, “All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down …

118. Matthew continues in these terms: “And when they were come to Capharnaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said to him, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes;” and so on, down to where we read: “Thou shall find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.” He is the only one who relates this occurrence, after the interposition of which he follows again the order which is pursued also by Mark and Luke in company with him.

For hereby He signifies, that what they did was not of gluttony, but pertained to some marvellous dispensation. And at the same time He lays beforehand the foundation of what He was to say touching His passion, in His controversies with others instructing His disciples, and training them now to be versed in the things which are deemed sorrowful. Because for themselves already to have this said to them, would have been grievous and galling, since we know that afterwards, being uttered, it troubled them;but spoken to others, it would become rather less intolerable to them.

And after a little while again, when He had cast out the devil, which His disciples were not able to cast out; for then too, “As they abode in Galilee,” so it saith, “Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinfulmen, and they shall kill Him, and the third day He shall rise again.”

But when they heard these things, they do not ask Him when Elias cometh; being straitened either by grief at His passion, or by fear. For on many occasions, upon seeing Him unwilling to speak a thing clearly, they are silent, and so an end. For instance, when during their abode in Galilee He said, “The Son of Man shall be betrayed, and they shall kill Him;”it is added by Mark, “That they understood not the saying, and were afraid to ask Him;”by Luke, “That it was hid from them, that they might not perceive it, and they feared to ask Him of that saying.”