Matthew 26:65

Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy! What further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty unto death. It was the practice of the Jews …

Then the high priest rent his garments. Here the condemnation is set forth. And first, he sets forth how he is condemned; secondly, how he is denied by a disciple. And first, he treats of the condemnation; secondly, of the mockery. Concerning the first he …

Then the high priest rent his clothes - Though the high priest was forbidden to rend his clothes (that is, his upper garment) in some cases where others were allowed to do it, Lev. xxi, 10; yet in case of blasphemy or any public calamity, it was thought allowable.

We read, in these verses, how our Lord Jesus Christ was brought before Caiaphas, the high priest, and solemnly pronounced guilty. It was fitting that it should be so. The great day of atonement was come: the wondrous type of the scapegoat was about to be completely fulfilled. It was only suitable that the Jewish high priest should do his part, and declare sin to be upon the head of the victim, before he was led forth to be crucified ( Leviticus 16:21 ). May we ponder these things and understand them.

We read, in these verses, how our Lord Jesus Christ was brought before Caiaphas, the high priest, and solemnly pronounced guilty. It was fitting that it should be so. The great day of atonement was come: the wondrous type of the scapegoat was about to be completely fulfilled. It was only suitable that the Jewish high priest should do his part, and declare sin to be upon the head of the victim, before he was led forth to be crucified ( Leviticus 16:21 ). May we ponder these things and understand them. There was a deep meaning in every step of our Lord’s passion. Let us observe in these verses that the chief priests were the principal agents in bringing about our Lord’s death. It was not so much the Jewish people, we must remember, who pushed forward this wicked deed, as Caiaphas and his companions, the chief priests. This is an instructive fact, and deserves notice. It is a clear proof that high ecclesiastical office exempts no man from gross errors in doctrine, and tremendous sins in practice. The Jewish priests could trace up their pedigree to Aaron, and were his lineal successors; their office was one of peculiar sanctity, and entailed peculiar responsibilities. A nd yet these very men were the murderers of Christ. Let us beware of regarding any minister of religion as infallible: his orders however regularly conferred are no guarantee that he may not lead us astray, and even ruin our souls. The teaching and conduct of all ministers must be tried by the Word of God: they are to be followed so long as they follow the Bible, but no longer. The maxim laid down in Isaiah must be our guide: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” ( Isaiah 8:20 ). Let us observe in the second place how fully our Lord declared to the Jewish council his own Messiahship and his future coming in glory.

The high priest rent his clothes - This rending of the high priest’s garments was expressly contrary to the law, Lev 10:6: Lev 21:10. But it was a common method of expressing violent grief, Gen 37:29, Gen 37:34; Job 1:20, and horror at what was deemed blasphemous or impious. 2Ki 18:37; 2Ki 19:1; Act 14:14. All that heard a blasphemous speech were obliged to rend their clothes, and never to sew them up again. See Lightfoot. He hath spoken blasphemy - Quesnel’s note on this is worthy of notice. “See here a false zeal, a mask of religion, and a passionate and seditious way of proceeding, tending only to incense and stir up others, all which are common to those who would oppress truth by cabal, and without proof. By crying out, ‘heresy, blasphemy, and faction,’ though contrary to all appearance, men fail not to stir up those in power, to gain the simple, to give some shadow of authority to the ill-disposed, to cast devout but ignorant people into scruples, and thereby to advance the mystery of iniquity, which is the mystery of all ages.” This was the very plan his Catholic brethren adopted in this country, in the reign of Queen Mary, called the bloody queen, because of the many murders of righteous men which she sanctioned at the mouth of her Catholic priesthood.

Then the high priest rent his clothes - The Jews were accustomed to rend their clothes as a token of grief. This was done often as a matter of form, and consisted in tearing a particular part of the garment reserved for this purpose. It was not lawful for the high priest to rip his clothes, Lev 10:6; Lev 21:10. By that was probably intended the robes of his priestly office.