Commentary on Matthew

Chapter Thirty

270 CHAPTER THIRTY n the first day of Azymes,1 the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 2 and the rest. The disciples were told to go to a certain man and say to him that the Lord, along with his disciples, wished to celebrate3 the Passover with him.4 They did as they were told and prepared the Passover.5 But it was necessary that they should know how to proceed as well as learn the name of the man. Otherwise, they would be uncertain where to go or how to execute the orders for which they were sent.6 Even so, the prophetic utterance7 [of the Lord] is connected with the task of accomplishing the present activity. The Lord did not name the man with whom he was going to celebrate the Passover (for the Christian name was not yet held in honor by believers8 who recognized God truly with eyes of the heart9 and faith). We are supposed to know that the apostles prepared the Passover of the Lord with the man who received a new name10 at the time of the Lord. 1. I.e., Feast of Unleavened Bread. 2. Mt 26.17. 3. Lit., “make the Pasch” (pascha ... facere). 4. Mt 26.18. 5. Mt 26.19. 6. The apostles, as the name indicates, were those “sent” by the Lord (Tertullian , De prescr. haer. 20.4). 7. sermo prophetiae. 8. Despite the anachronism, Hilary seems to be thinking of the time when the name Christian was the object of a profession of faith. Tertullian, Apol. 2.3; 2.10. 9. Cf. Eph 1.18, “the eyes of your hearts” (RSV). 10. The expression “new name” is found in the second- and third-century polemical literature, e.g., Cyprian, Test. 1.22 (citing Is 65.13–15); Tertullian, Ad nat. 3; Adv. Iud. 13. ON MATTHEW, CHAP. 30 271 2. After these things, Judas is indicated as the traitor,11 after whose departure the Passover is completed with the receiving of the cup and the breaking of the bread.12 He was not worthy to partake in the communion of the eternal sacraments. Indeed , we understand that Judas had immediately left from the meal because he returned with the crowd.13 He clearly could not have drunk with the Lord since he was not going to drink from the cup in the Kingdom. The Lord promised that all who were drinking from the fruit of the vine at that time would drink with him thereafter.14 When they had sung a hymn, they returned to the mountain.15 In other words, once everything was fulfilled by the power of the divine mysteries,16 they went out joyfully, rejoicing together in heavenly glory.17 3. The Lord also told the disciples about their coming weakness .18 On that same night [as his betrayal] they all would be confounded by fear and a loss of faith. The certainty of this fact is also confirmed by the authority of ancient prophecy: “Once the shepherd is struck down, the sheep will be scattered.”19 Nevertheless , he said that he was going to precede them into Galilee as the risen one,20 so that the promise of his return might console them in their weakness. 11. Mt 26.15–16, 21, 24–25. 12. Matthew’s Gospel does not specify the moment when Judas left the group, but Lk 22.21–23 (contrary to Matthew) implies that Judas was present for the entire Passover meal as well as for Jesus’ institution of the bread and cup. 13. Mt 26.47. 14. Mt 26.29. 15. Mt 26.30; Hilary cuts off from the verse the qualifier oliveti (“of Olives ”). 16. divinorum mysteriorum virtutibus (cf. 1 Cor 15.46). 17. Oddly, this is all Hilary has to say about the Last Supper. His haste to move through the passages of 26.20–30 was probably related to his preoccupation with explaining the seeming contradiction of the Divine Son confessing that his soul was troubled and sorrowful (26.37–38). This passage will become a locus classicus for those who wish to stress the stark reality of Jesus’ Incarnation and that he must be subject to all human emotions. 18. infirmitatis. 19. Mt 26.31; Zec 13.7. 20. Mt 26.32. 272 HILARY OF POITIERS But Peter...