MATTHEW 26:24 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.”
The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. The divine necessity of the passion (as it is written) paired with the personal accountability of the betrayer (woe to that man). The better not to have been born communicates the severity of the judgment: the betrayal that fulfills prophecy does not reduce the betrayer's guilt.
Church Fathers on Matthew 26:24
The Lord had above foretold His Passion, He now foretels who is to be the traitor; thus giving him place of repentance, when he should see that his thoughts and the secret designs of his heart were known.
'With the twelve,' it is said, for Judas was personally among them, though he had ceased to be so in merit.
For this reason also, because in Christ’s Passion, wherein the true sun hasted to his setting, eternal refreshment was made ready for all believers.
Read all 25 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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