7,/5-.2V LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. Dinjision- Section , "* m^ W^j^ (U^jaJ-^ b^o .2Lo S 6 JUL 18 1924 ™E \^ TRIALS AND CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST BY y A. P. STOUT Author of "Journeys and Deeds of Jesus," and " Chronology of Christ's Life." CINCINNATI STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY 1891 Copyright, 1885, by Standard Publishing Co. PREFACE. THE TRIALS. Jesus' trial before Annas is given only by John ; the one before the Sanhedrists, by Matthew and Mark ; the one be- fore the Sanhedrin, by Luke ; the first one before Pilate, mainly by John; the one before Herod Antipas, by Luke; the second trial before Pilate, mainly by the Synoptists ; while the last one, the most exciting and wonderful of all, is given only by John. THE DYING UTTERANCES. The Savior's first dying utterances are given only by Luke ; the second two, by John ; the fifth, by Matthew and Mark; the sixth and seventh, by John; and the last one, only by Luke. PRAISE TO JOHN. It is to John alone we are indebted for a record of the Savior's first trial, the last one, and the closing events of the crucifixion ; embracing the breaking of the robbers' legs, the early death of Jesus, the lance thrust, and the flow of blood and water from His side. THE BEST METHOD. The only way one can obtain a complete and connected knowledge of the Savior's Trials and Crucifixion is by ar- 4 Preface. ranging the Gospel narratives in chronological order, and by- making one evangelist alternately supply the omissions of another. Such is the nature of this book ; and the author believes that all who carefully read it will obtain a far more perfect knowledge of the Savior's shameful trials and vic- torious death than they could acquire by any other method of study. . A. P. Stout. Norv. I^th, iSSj. CHRONOLOGICAL SYNOPSIS OF THE TRIALS AND CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST Jesus taken to Annas Prophecy of Caiaphas Jesus before Annas Jesus smitten on the face Jesus sent to Caiaphas by Annas How Peter got in the palace Peter's denials =•= Jesus before Sanhedrists Jesus mocked by policemen Jesus before Sanhedrin Suicide of Judas Jesus before Pilate(i) Jews demand a license to kill. Pilate asks the Jews to judge Jesus Jews had no power to kill Jesus accused of treason JesHS questioned on his kingship, but does not answer Jesus puts a question to Pilate Jesus answers Pilate Pilate acquits Jesus Jesus accused of many things He says nothing. Pilate says, " Hearest Thou ? " etc He answered nothing Pilate marveled greatly Jesus accused of disturbing the peace.. Jesus before Herod Antipas He answers Herod nothing Chief-priests accuse Jesus Jesus mocked before Herod Herod returns Jesus to Pilate Pilate and Herod become friends Pilate acquits Jesus Pilate seeks to release Jesus Pilate sits down on judgment-seat Pilate receives a message Pilate washes his hands Pilate acquits Jesus Pilate consents to Jesus' death Pilate has Jesus scourged Pilate's soldiers mock Jesus Pilate writes a title for the cross The Jews object to the title Jesus before Pilate (3) Pilate acquits Jesus FOUND IN record OF Matt, Matt. Matt. Matt Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt, Matt. Matt, Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke '•'All the quotations are not printed in this book. (5) Chronological Synopsis, Pilate says, " Behold the Man" Pilate again acquits Jesus Jesus charged with being the "Son of God" Pilate takes Jesus into Judgment-Hall, and questions Him Pilate seeks to release Jesus Pilate sits down on judgment-seat Pilate cries, " Behold your King ! " Pilate consents to Jesus' death Jesus is re-clothed with His own raiment Jesus bears His cross ^ Simon bears Jesus' cross Jesus followed by weeping women Arrival at Golgotha Jesus offered vinegar. Crucifixion of Jesus First dying utterance Crucifixion of the robbers Reading the inscription Parting Jesus' garments Seamlessness of Jesus' coat Number of soldiers who crucified Jesus Casting lots for His coat - Jesus mocked by the multitude Jesus mocked by Sanhedrists Jesus mocked by the Roman soldiers Jesus offered vinegar Jesus mocked by the robbers Prayer of the penitent robber Second dying utterance Jesus' mother by the cross Jesus looked at His mother Third dying utterance Fourth dying utterance John takes Mary to his home The darkness Fifth dying utterance Sixth dying utterance Jesus offered vinegar Seventh dying utterance Eighth dying utterance Rending of the veil The earthquake How the centurion was affected Smiting of breasts The holy women at the cross... Breaking the robbers' legs The lance thrust The water and the blood Fulfillment of prophecy FOUND IX RECORD OF Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Mark Mark John John John John John John John John John John Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke Luke John John John John John John John John John Luke John John John John John Mark Mark Mark Mark Luke Luke Luke John John John John John John John THE TRIALS OF CHRIST. SECTION L— JESUS BEFORE ANNAS. John xviii. 12-14, 19-24. 12 So the band and the chief captain, and the officers of the Jews, seized Jesus and bound Him, 13 And led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was high priest that year. 14 Now Caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. 19 The high priest therefore asked Jesus of His disciples, and of His teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, I have spoken openly to the world ; I ever taught in synagogues, and (7) 8 The Trials of Christ. in the temple, where all the Jews come to- gether ; and in secret spake I nothing. 21 Why askest thou me? Ask them that have heard me, what I spake unto them: be- hold, these know the things which I said. 22 And when He had said this, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, Answerest Thou the high priest so ? 23 Jesus answered him. If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil : but if well, why smitest thou Me ? 24 Annas therefore sent Him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. ON SECTION I. On that ever-memorable night — Thursday night, April 14, A. D. 30 — a semi-ecclesiastical mob went from Jerusalem to Gethsemane, surrounded, arrested, tied, and led "the Prince of Peace " to the crafty Sadducean ex-high-priest Annas. This deicidal company was composed of a band of Roman soldiers, Jewish temple police, chief priests, elders of the Jews, and a multitude of others ; all of whom were armed and led on by the chief Roman captain, who himself was led on by one of the Savior's apostles — the notorious Judas Iscariot. The Savior of mankind patiently endured seven distinct trials at the hands of the Jerusalemic deicides. The first three — the one before Annas, the one before Caiaphas and Sanhedrists, and the morning session before the Sanhedrin — Section I. 9 were ecclesiastical and Jewish. The first trial before Pontius Pilate, the one before Herod Antipas, and the last two before Pilate, were Roman and secular. 13 ♦* To Annas first." — Three things conspired to induce the mob to lead Jesus first to Annas : First, because the Jews still regarded Annas as their real high priest. This, as Dr. Lange says, "was entirely according to the theocratic feeling of legitimate right on the part of the Jews. They considered Annas as their real high priest ; Caiaphas, on the other hand, they were compelled to acquiesce in, as the high priest of the year " (Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 304). Annas was deposed from the priesthood by the heathen Roman power ; which could not, in the eyes of the Jews, give or take away a sacred and spiritual office. Therefore, it was but natural that the strong Jewish police force, that went to arrest Jesus, should lead Him to Annas first. Secondly, be- cause Annas was the most crafty and influential man con- nected with the priesthood. Thirdly, and least of .11, be- cause Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas. 14 ** Gave counsel," etc. — These words refer to the lan- guage made use of by Caiaphas in a death-council* held in Jerusalem by the Sanhedrists, immediately after the resurrec- tion of Lazarus. It was in that bloody council that Caiaphas first publicly made known his intention to accomplish the death of Jesus. In so doing, even in his wrath, he made an ^unconscious prophecy, which reminds one of the language of David, " Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee : the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain " (Ps. Ixxvi. 10). . . . [Verses 15-18, referring to Peter's first denial of the Lord, have been transferred to Section Second, in order to preserve the continuity of the trial before Annas.] 19 "The high priest." — These words refer to Annas, as * See John xi. 46-53. lO The Trials of Christ. verse 24 shows. He was addressed as high priest long after he was deposed by the Romans. See Luke iii. 2 ; Acts iv. 6. The great chronologist Karl Wieseler says : ** It is also per- fectly clear, that the President of the Sanhedrin, the Nasi, might bear this name (high priest), especially from Acts v. 21, 27; vii. I ; ix. i, 2; xxii. 5; xxiii. 2, 4; and xxiv. i, in which passages the word uniformly denotes either persons who summoned the Sanhedrin, or who spoke first in it, and issued orders ; in short, the president." "Asked Jesus of His disciples, and of His teaching." — For many months prior to that fatal night, Annas and Caiaphas had been watching every public movement of Jesus. And, when their Pharisaic spies informed them that great multitudes went out from Jerusalem to the top of Mount Olivet to make a grand ovation to Him ; that they cut branches from the trees and scattered them in the way; that many took off their outer garments and carpeted the road -before Him ; that the multifudes that went before, and the multitudes that followed after, carried palm-branches in their hands, and flourished them in the air, shouting at the top of their voices, " Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord \ Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" — yea, when they heard that in the midst of these wonderful demon- strations, acclamations and proclamations. He rode triumph- antly into the Holy City and swayed the multitudes before Him, and drew the world after Him ; yea, then it was that an indescribable awe seized them, and they greatly feared that the temple and lucrative priesthood might suddenly be wrested from their clutches ; therefore, thenceforth they sought, day by day* and night by night, to arrest Him, to =•'■ See Mark xi. 18, 28 ; xii. 12, 28 ; xiv. i, 10 ; John xii. 36. Section I. II spy out His doctrine, the nature of His kingdom and the number and names of His followers. Hence, Annas was greatly rejoiced, and disarmed of his fears, when Jesus stood before him guarded by the Jewish temple police, with His hands tied behind Him, and with the marks of the bloody sweat of Gethsemane on His face. This was an hour of supreme importance to the crafty Annas; for he well knew that on the previous Tuesday, Jesus had thwarted the purpose of, and put to silence, the chief priests, the elders, the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the Phari- saic expert lawyer, all of whom had been sent by the San- hedrin " to catch Him in His words " (Mark), to " entangle Him in His talk " (Matt.). But now, He stood in the pres- ence of one whose purpose He could not thwart, and whose questions He could not put aside by asking others. Therefore, Annas confidently expected the answers to his questions to re- veal the extent of Jesus' anti-Rabbinic doctrine and His rela- tion to and sympathy with the Roman Empire. Thus he began:. "Jesus, I perceive that for a long time you have been teach- ing an occult doctrine, and gathering about you many disci- ples, for the express purpose of publicly proclaiming you. ' King of Israel ' at this very Passover. "What secret doc- trine have you been teaching ? How many followers have you ? and what the nariies of the leading ones ? " Jesus an- swered the first question in part by saying, " In secret spake I nothing," and refused to answer it in part by saying, " Ask them that have heard Me what 1 spake unto them." The second and third questions Jesus passed over in utter silence, for He did not intend that His disciples should be arrested. Such a half-and-half-way answering of questions not only- confused, but angered Annas ; which was no sooner seen than a contemptible slave smote Jesus in the face with his- hand. Annas knew that he could extort nothing further 12 The Trials of Christ. from the lips of Jesus ; and He knew that Annas* was not the legal high priest, and that no words He could utter, or tefuse to utter, would save Him from the jaws of the gaping lion to whom fate had shut Him up. 24 •' Sent Him bound," etc. — A sign that Caiaphas' long- cherished bloody purpose should be carried out. [The send- ing of Jesus to Caiaphas was across an open court : see notes and diagram facing Section III.] SECTION IL— PETERS FIRST DENIAL 54 "And they seized Him, and led Him away, and brought Him into the high priest's iiouse " (Luke xxii.). 15 " And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so •did another disciple " (John xviii.). 54 '' But Peter followed afar off" (Luke xxii.). 15 ''Now that disciple [John] was known unto the high priest, and entered in with Jesus into the court of the high priest ; 16 But Peter was standing at the door with- out. So the other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, went out and spake unto Tier that kept the door, and brought in Peter. *See the word " Annas," in Historical Appendix. Section 11. 13 1 8 * * Now the servants and officers were stand- ing there, having made a fire of coals " (John xviii.) ' ' in the midst of the court*' (Luke xxii. 5 5), * ' for it was cold ; and they were warming them- selves : and Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself" (John xvili. 18). 55 " And when they . . , had sat down together, Peter sat in the midst of them ** (Luke xxii.), *' to see the end " (Matt. xxvi. 59), 56 *' And a certain maid, seeing him as he sat in the light of the fire, and looking stead- fastly upon him, said, This man also was with Him. 57 " But he denied, saying. Woman, I know Him not " (Luke xxii.), " I know not what thou sayest " (Matt, xxvii. 70). " And he went out into the porch, and the cock crew" (Mark yiw.6Z)^ ON SECTION II. — Peter's first denial. When *' the Prince of Peace " was arrested in Gethsemane, all the apostles, save Judas, forsook Him and ran for their lives. John was the last to leave the Savior's side, and the first to return to it. He returned in time to go with Jesus into the palace of Caiaphas. Peter — poor Peter — having been scared worse, ran further, and returned later — but returned in time to keep in sight of the torches and lanterns, and to see the mob enter the palace at the great gate, and the Roman soldiers disperse. And then with fear, and love, and hope. 14 The Trials of Christ. and doubt, he stilly skulked along the darkest way up to the wicket gate, and there tremblingly stood. John, being in- formed of this, went out and said, " Brother Peter, come into the palace." Peter said, "No, I am afraid I shall be arrested for having cut Malchus' ear off; for he is a servant of Caia- phas, and you know he hates Jesus and His apostles with a perfect hatred. Have you heard anything said about arrest- ing me ? " " Not a word," says John ; " Malchus' ear is as good as it ever was." " What have they done with the Master?" says Peter. "They took Him to Annas," said John, " but the servants have built a fire in the open court and are warming themselves. Come in, Peter." He went in, stood by the fire,and warmed his hands, but cold was his heart ; for a storm was raging in his soul — a storm far more disas- trous than the one in the midst of which he walked on the raging billows of the Galilean Sea. He sat down among the servants and officer, in the too great light of the fire. Then it was that a maid approached, steadfastly gazed him in the eyes, pointed her finger in his guilty face, and said, '* Peter, thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth." He was off his guard, and doubtless felt that nothing but a lie would save him. It came : " Woman,* I know Him not " — "I know not what thou sayest." In fact, he told two lies; first, in that he said he did not know Jesus ; secondly, in that he said he did not know what the woman was talking about. He wanted to make the maid, and especially the officers hard by, * Annas and Caiaphas doubtless were occupying the same palace at this time. This is evident from the fact that all of Peter's denials oc- curred in the same court, by or near the same fire ; while the position of Jesus changed from Annas to Caiaphas. In Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. VI., p. 59; Lange's Life of Christ, Vol, IV., p. 305; Farrar's Life of Christ, Vol. II., p. 328; and in Karl Wieseler's Chronological Synopsis of the Gospels, the reader will find the same position taken. See explanation of the diagram facing Section III. Section II. 15 believe that he knew nothing whatever of what was going on before Annas. Soon after this, he slunk out into the porch, and may it not have been as Jesus was being led across the cpen court from Annas to Caiaphas ? (See diagram, page 16.) John committed a great mistake in leading Peter on to such a slippery path. What has become of Peter's willingness to go into prison with Jesus ? what of his determination to die with Him? what of his willingness to fight for Him ? what of his sword ? He lost them all in the garden — lost them, in part, at least, because he slept when he should have prayed. From the same cause, many a Christian has lost as much, with more disgrace. See notes on Section IV. *dbb Open Court Diagram of Caiaphas' Palace, Illustrative of Jesus Annas, before Sanhedrists, and of Peter's Denials Copyright, 1886, by Standard Publishing Company. (16) Diagram of Caiaphas' Palacb. Ejrpianaiion.—" The houses of the great in the East are rather a group of buildings, or chambers, of unequal height, near or above each other, with passages between and intervening open spaces, the different structures having independent entrances and separate roofs. Such a house, or rather cluster of houses, has usually the form of a large hollow square, the four sides of which surround a roomy court, paved in some cases, in others planted with trees and ornamented with a lawn of soft green In some houses there is also a fore-court, enclosed from the street by walls, and, in all, the inner court is reached by an archway through the front building—' the porch,' in the aar- ratives of the Gospels." — Dr, Geikie. Jesus IS led to A — Annas, where he is guarded hy d i> ir b — Jewish temple-police. /. Peter follows Jesus, and halts at Wicket gate. 2 2. John takes Peter into the Open Court, where he stands by the fire. 3. Peter sits down among the servants, warms, and denies his Lord while He is on trial before A. 4 4. Peter sneaks out into the porch as Jesus is being led to Caiaphas and Sanhedrists C d Positions of Caiaphas and Annas during the trial. E. Position of Jesus Positions in which Sanhedrists sat. g g. Scribes who wrote out the condemnation of Jesus, j. Peter returns to the fire, and makes his third denial, h. Supposed point where "the Lord turned and looked upon Peter." i i i. Jesus is taken into the Fore Court guarded, and beaten by Jewish temple-police. 6. Peter goes out and weeps bitterly. Jjj' Jesus is taken to Council Chamber. See diagram, Sec. 7. (17) SECOND TRIAL. SECTION III.— JESUS BEFORE THE SANHEDRISTS. 24 "Annas therefore sent Him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest " (John xviii.). 57 ** And they that had taken Jesus led Him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together" (Matt. xxvi.). 53 '* And there come together with him al] the chief priests and the elders and the scribes " (Mark xiv.). 59 *' Now the chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put Him to death ; 60 **And they found it not, though many false witnesses came. But afterward came two, and said, 61 *'This man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days" (Matt. xxvi.). ''And there stood up certain, and bare false witness against Him, saying, Section III. 19 58 " We heard Him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands. 59 ''And not even so did their witness agree together. 60 " And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest Thou nothing ? what is it which these witness against Thee? 61 ''But He held His peace, and answered nothing" (Mark xiv.). 63 "And the high priest said unto Him, I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 64 "Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast' said: nevertheless I say unto you, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. 65 "Then the high priest rent his garments, saying. He hath spoken blasphemy : what fur- ther need have we of witnesses ? behold, now, ye have heard the blasphemy : what think ye ? They answered and said, He is worthy of death" (Matt. xxvi.). 64 "And they all condemned Him to be guilty of death" (Mark xv.). 20 The Trials of Christ. ON SECTION III. — JESUS BEFORE THE SANHEDRISTS. John is the only one M'ho tells us that Jesus was taken be- fore Annas, and sent by him to Caiaphas. The Synoptists,* omitting the first trial, necessarily speak of the matter as though Jesus was taken direct from Gethsemane to Caiaphas ; and yet they do not exactly say so, but leave easy room for John's historical addition, for which we thank him. Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrists was illegal t from first to last. This trial was planned and controlled by the Saddu- cean high priest, Joseph Caiaphas. He began to gather together his colleagues as soon as, if not before, the mob of dignitaries left Jerusalem for the Savior's arrest ; and when He was brought before him, he was more than ready to give vent to his long pent-up feelings of vengeance. The Pharisees Sunk out of Sight. — Caiaphas' court was exclusively ecclesiastical ; the Pharisees, as a class, having withdrawn their opposition to Jesus. Just before the Savior left the temple for the last time (which was on Tuesday, April I2th, of Passion Week), He delivered a condemnation sermon of seven-told-woes against the scribes and Pharisees, which forever killed the opposition of the latter, but seems to have whet the anger of the former. There is no evidence that the Pharisees persecuted Jesus after that time. Matthew drops their history, as a class, with that event (xxiii. 29), and the only mention he makes of them thereafter is in reference to guarding the Savior's tomb * Matthew, Mark and Luke. fThe time, the place, and the number of Sanhedrists present — all were illegal. See the word " Sanhedrin." Dr. Lange quotes Sepp as saying that " the midnight session had only been opened by the little council of three-and-twenty, or the members of the priesthood in the house of Caiaphas." Section III. 21 (xxvii. 62), Mark drops their history a little earlier, but on the same memorable day, and never mentions them again (Mark xii. 13). Luke drops the history of the Pharisees with the date of the Savior's triumphal entry, and never men- tions them again (xix. 39). John drops their history with Wednesday of Passion Week, and never mentions them again, save in an incidental way. See John xii. 42, and xviii. 3, which last really refers to the scribes and elders who were of Pharisean extraction. This exonerates the Pharisees from the death of Jesus, and throws the guilt where it rightfully belongs, on the chief priests, scribes, and elders. It was the chief priests who hired Judas to betray Jesus (Matt. xxvi. 14). The chief priests, scribes and elders sent officers to arrest Jesus (Mark xiv. 43). It was the chief priests, scribes and elders who sought for false witnesses, and pronounced the first sentence of death on Jesus (Section III.). They also led Him before the Sanhedrin, and pronounced a second sentence of death on Him (Section VII.). To them Judas returned the blood- money (Section VIII.). It was the chief-priests, scribes and elders who led Jesus to Pilate, and demanded a license to kill Him (Sections IX. and X.). They also accused Him of treason (Section XI.) ; of many things (Section XIV.) ; of disturbing the peace (Section XV.). It was the chief priests and scribes who vehemently accused Jesus before Herod Antifias (Section XVI.). The chief priests and elders per- suaded the multitude to cry out for the release of Barabbas, and for the crucifixion of Jesus (Section XVIII.). They also cried, *' His blood be on us and on our children " (Section XIX.). The chief priests objected to the title for Jesus' cross (Section XXIII.); and when Pilate brought Him out on the pavement, " wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe," with the blood streaming from a score of gashes, and rolling down His cheeks, — yea, when Pilate cried out in pity, 22 The Trials of Christ. •* Behold the Man ! " — their ready answer was, ** Crucify Him ! crucify Him ! " (Section XXIV.) They also gave the last cry, " We have no king but Csesar ! " — the one that led Pilate to deliver Jesus to be crucified (Section XXVH.). The chief priests, scribes and elders mocked Jesus as He wa§ dying (Section XXXIV,). These were the deicides, and not the Pharisees. My position is new, but tenable; and it seems to me that no intelligent Bible student can trace this scarlet thread chronologically along, without arriving at the conclusion that the chief priests, scribes and elders were responsible for, and guilty of, the blood of the Lord. I would grade the guilt of those who directly figured in the death of Jesus in the following order, viz. : Most guilty^ Joseph Caiaphas ; next, Annas ; next, chief priests, scribes and elders; next, Herod Antipas; next, Judas Iscariot ; least guilty, Pontius Pilate. Caiaphas was the first official who pronounced the sentence of death on Jesus; but Pilate was the only one who pronounced Him innocent, and sought to save His life ; and for so doing he shall have a word of eulogy. See notes on Section XXVH. 59 " Sought false v^^itnesses," etc. — Matthew's statement reflects eternal disgrace on that would-be ecclesiastical courts for he says there was not an honest man among them, and that they were united in seeking false witnesses. They were determined to have no other kind. Why was it Caiaphas did not have John put on the witness-stand ? He was present, and known to him. Because he was hunting for liars, who were by no means scarce. We have a record of the oaths of two of them. Liar Number One swore he heard Jesus say, " I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days" (Matt.). Liar Number Two swore he heard Him say, •* I will Section III. 23 destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands " (Mark). Each statement was utterly false. The time when Jesus was said to have threatened to destroy the temple, was at the first cleansing of it, when He said to the Jews, <* Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up But He spake of the temple of His body " (John). If Jesus had threatened to destroy the Jerusalem temple, and both witnesses had sworn to that effect, they might have had some ground for complaint ; but as it was, there was less than nothing to Caiaphas in their testimony ; for one witness off- set the oath of the other. Caiaphas saw that his case was growing rapidly against him ; and he resolved to take the whole matter into his own hands; for he well knew that the Sanhedrists in this case were to him like clay in the hands of the potter. Therefore, he sprang to his feet, and with pontifical assumption said to Jesus, " Answerest Thou nothing ? what is it which these witness against Thee ? " He was silent ; and that silence to Caiaphas was both awful and eloquent. Jesus on Oath. — The high priest then lost his self-control, sprang towards the bound Christ, and, with uplifted arm and threatening voice, said, ** I put Thee on Thy oath by the living God, whose curse falls on those who swear falsely by Him, and require Thee to tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus answered, " I am." Caia- phas then stooped down, rent his fine linen robe from bottom to top; then turned to the Sanhedrists, and cried, ''Blas- phemy ! blasphemy ! blasphemy ! What further need have we of witnesses? He hath blasphemed. He is guilty of death. What say you, my colleagues ? " Their answer was ready, and was one answer — " He is guilty of death." It was so recorded, and thus ended the trial before the Sanhed- rical mob. 24 The Trials of Christ. Dr. Lange, in speaking of Jesus' answer to Caiaphas, saysi ♦* It was a moment which was filled with the powers of eternity in a most mysterious manner. Here, in the oath of Christ, the Everlasting swore by Himself (Isa. xlv. 23). But it M'as a tragical moment, as never any other was. For this word, — * I am He, the Messiah ' — the people of Israel had waited for centuries, as for the watchword of their redemp- tion. The Jews had for years sought to elicit this word from the Lord ; and at first, perhaps, with the desire to worship Him, if He only would be a Messiah alter their sense ; and now, when He declares it, it is to them a savor of death unto death. They charge it upon Him as a crime worthy of death " (Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 309). In this trial, Caiaphas assumed the positions of judge and prosecuting attorney, the latter of which he doubtless contin- ued to assume during all the Savior's trials. No one repre- sented the Defendant's interest, and not a witness was brought forward in His behalf. Caiaphas blasphemed ; for, to speak of Christ as He did, was blasphemy in the strictest sense. See my article on Blasphemy. " It was before a mob of dignitaries, not a * court,' that Jesus was brought" (Dr. Geikie, Vol. II., p. 515)- SECTION IV.— PETER'S SECOND AND THIRD DENIALS OF CHRIST 58 "And after a little while another saw him and said, Thou also art of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not " (Luke xxiii.). Section V. 25 71 "And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and saith unto them that were there, This man also was with Jesus the Nazarene. 72 ''And again he denied with an oath, I know not the Man " (Matt, xxvii.). ON SECTION IV. Strictly speaking, Peter denied the Lord five times. First, by the fire, when questioned by a maid. See Section II. Secondly, in the porch, when questioned by a man. See above. Thirdly, in the porch, when questioned by the sec- ond maid. See above. Fourth, by the fire, when questioned by diff'erent parties. See Sec. V. Fifth, by the fire, when questioned by different parties. See Section V. and the notes thereon. SECTION V. -^PETERS FOURTH AND FIFTH DENIALS, 25 *'Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore unto him, Art thou also one of His disciples ? He denied, and said, I am not " (John xviii.). 70 ' ' And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them : 2() The Trials of Christ. for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto " (Mark xv., A. V.*). 26 ** One of the servants of the high priest, being a kinsman of him whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with Him ? " (John xviii.). 74 "Then began he to curse and to swear, saying,! knownotthe Man"(Matt.xxvii., A. V.). 60 ' * And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. 61 "And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter" (Luke xxiii., A. V.). 72 " And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice " (Mark xv.). 62 ' ' And Peter went out and wept f bitterly " (Luke xxiii., A. V.). ON SECTION V. Soon after Peter returned to the fire he was questioned by different parties to the same effect, ** Art thou a disciple of Jesus?" to all of whom he emphatically declared, "I am not." In a short time some of the same parties questioned him again, saying, "Peter, surely thou art one of Jesus' disciples, for thou hast the Galilean brogue, and thy speech ■•• All scripture not marked A. V. is the text of the Revised Version. ■j- " He drew his mantle over his head," so should the word be rendered (before or while doing which he must immediately have gone out), "and wept" (Greswell, Vol. III., p. 210.) Section V. 27 betrays thee ; " and before he could frame an answer to that sharp thrust, one of the servants of the high-priest, who was akin to the man whose ear Peter cut off, said, ** Peter, I saw thee in the garden with Jesus; I saw thee cut Malchus' ear off; I saw thee run." There was no dodging, and the only thing he could do was to try to shield himself by a flat denial, and by bitter oaths. But all this was a signifi- cant failure ; for, while in the very act of cursing and swear- ing, the cock by crowing announced the repetition of his sin ; and before its voice had died away on the morning air, the Lord, who was being led past the fire, turned and looked upon Peter. That look, though Jesus was a bound prisoner ; though He was condemned to die ; though not a word He spoke; that look, though filled with pity, love and grace, though brief its stay, was more for him to face than the Gethsemane mob, the maids, and all things else beside. It reflected the light of heaven in his face, and revealed the grace of Jesus to his soul, by causing him to remember that in the guest-chamber He had foretold that bitter moment, and accompanied His prediction with a prayer, that when the fearful crisis came, his faith in Him might not utterly fail. It did not. That look and prayer caused him to see that Christ had been to God and prearranged a grace for him, in that his hour of sin and shame. Such a benediction from the Lord, in a moment of so much trouble, shame and sin, caused Peter to realize the depth of the love of Christ, as he had never known it, and to see himself as his Master saw him — a sinner, a fallen and disgraced apostle. It was more than his soul could endure; he completely broke down, bowed his head in sorrow, covered his face with his hands, sobbed the sob of true penitence ; and went out and wept, and doubtless sought — and, it is to be hoped, obtained — the forgiveness of that Lord whom he so recently, repeatedly, and bitterly denied. 28 The Trials of Christ. What an awful night that was to Peter — a night ever to be remembered, but never to be forgotten ! In speaking of Peter's last denial of his Lord, Dr. Lange says : *' At this moment Jesus was led past the group which threateningly surrounded the denying disciple. He probably heard the last words of his imprecations. He turned round and looked upon him. His look declared how deeply the disciple had fallen, how terribly he had wounded His heart, and how it bled, not only by his means, but also for his sake." (Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 318.) See also Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. VI., p. 62. BETWEEN TRIALS. SECTION VL— JESUS MOCKED IN CAIAPHAS' PALACE. 63 "And the men that held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. 64 ''And they blindfolded Him" (Luke xxiii.) 67 ''Then did they spit in His face and buffet Him ; and smote Him with the palms of their hands, 6% " Saying, Prophesy unto us. Thou Christ : who is he that struck Thee ? " (Matt, xxvii.) 65 ''And many other things spake they against Him " (Luke xxiii.). ON SECTION VI. Soon after Jesus was condemned to death by the Sanhe- drists, the Jewish temple police led Him into the fore-court of Caiaphas' palace, where they guarded Him until the dawn of the morning. See first diagram, p. 16. There is no evidence that Jesus was taken from Caiaphas' palace to a barrack or station- house to be kept until the morning. The Sanhedrists' strong 29 3b The Trials of Christ. desire to keep the Savior's arrest a secret from the multitude would, of itself, forbid such a move. Edersheim is of this opinion (Vol. II., pp. 564, 565). In speaking of this mock- ery. Dr. Geikie says : '* Meanwhile, Jesus was left in charge ■of the rough temple police, while the judges separated for an hour or two of sleep. There was nothing now to restrain the coarse natures to whom the condemned prisoner had been consigned. . . . Their passions, indeed, intensified their bitterness, for they were fierce Jewish bigots. He was to die as a false prophet, and as such they treated Him, rack- ing their ingenuity to invent insult and injury. Having blindfolded Him, some struck him violently on the head with their fists, or perhaps with the vine-stick which the Roman centurions and other officials carried as their sign of rank, and were wont to use on the face or head of the soldiers ; for some of the captors of Jesus had such staves with them ; others struck Him with their open hands, while still others, adding the greatest indignity an Oriental could offer, spat in His face; crying, as they insulted and tortured Him, Pro- phesy to us, Thou Messiah, who is it that did it ? The hands they had bound had healed the sick, and raised the dead ; the lips they smote had calmed the winds and the waves. One word, and the splendors of the Mount of Trans- figuration would have filled the chamber ; one word, and the menials now sporting with Him at their will would have perished. But, as He had begun and continued, He would end — as self-restrained in the use of His awful powers on His own behalf as if He had been the most helpless of men. Divine patience and infinite love knew no wearying. He had but to will it and walk free, but He came to die for man, and He would do it." (Life of Christ, Vol. II., p. 526.) See also Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 320 ; Farrar's Life of Christ, Vol. II., p. 344. For the most brutal mockery endured by Jesus, see Section XXII. Diagram of the Council Chamber, Illustrative of the Savior's Trial before the Sanhedrin. Explanation (For description of Council Chamber, see article, "The Great Sanhedrin," in Historical Index, words, "Place of Meet- ing.'*) — a b. Position of Annas and Caiaphas in Sanhedrin Posi- tions in which Sanhedrists sat. C. Position of Jesus before Sanhedrin. d d d d. Jewish temple-police who guarded Jesus, e e. Scribes who wrote out the condemnation of Jesus, Arrow heads indicate the journey of Jesus from Palace of Caiaphas, to Sanhedrin in Council Chamber, and from thence to Pontius Pilate. Copyright, (32) 5, by Standard Publishing Company. THIRD TRIAL. SECTION V I L— JESUS BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN. Luke xxii. 66-71. 66 And as soon as it was day, the assembly of the elders of the people was gathered to- gether, both chief priests and scribes ; and they led Him away into their council, saying, 6j If Thou art the Christ, tell us. But He said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not be- lieve, 68 And if I ask you, ye will not answer. 69 But from henceforth shall the Son of man be seated at the right hand of the power of God. 70 And they all said. Art Thou then the Son of God ? And He said unto them, Ye say that — I Am. 71 And they said, What further need have we of witness ? for we ourselves have heard from His own mouth. 34 The Trials of Christ. ON SECTION VII. Luke is the only one who gives a record of the illegal pro- ceedings of the legal meeting of the Sanhedrin. Matthew and Mark most briefly state there was such a meeting. It was stated in Section III. that the Savior's trial before the Sanhedrists was illegal from first to last. First, the place was illegal ; they should have met in their council-chamber. Secondly, the time ; capital cases could not be begun or con- cluded in the night. Thirdly, the number present was most probably insufficient. Fourth, the decision had no foundation whatever, save in the hellish hatred of the San- hedrists. See my article on the Sanhedrin ; headings, " Place of Meeting " and '* Rules Governing Sanhedrin." The morning session of the Sanhedrin was not for the pur- pose of a new and formal trial, but for the purpose of making legal that which they had done illegally. This is evident from the fact that no new witnesses /w or con were brought forth, and that the only question put to Jesus was the one on the answer to which He was condemned by the Sanhedrists in the night session. See Section III. '♦Several hours after this night scene, at the first dawn of day, about six A. M., the full Sanhedrin, which had been summoned during the night, held its sitting, as we learn from the three Gospels. What legitimacy might be lacking in the proceedings of the nocturnal sittimg of the Sanhedrin, was to be completely made up by the morning sitting, with- out prejudice to the authority and the — in the main point — decisive action of the former. In many ways the day sitting was necessarily the complement of the nocturnal court. According to the rule, the sittings of the Sanhedrin were held by day, in the morning, particularly in cases of capital crime. . . . Further, especially in cases of important questions, they were to be held in the customary place, not at Section VII. 35 the high priest's house, and with as nearly the full number of members as possible. . . . The rule was, that though the sentence of acquittal might be spoken on the day on which the trial began, the sentence of condemnation must be postponed until the following day. For all these reasons, therefore, the high priest adjourned the final decision until the morning ; and it is to be noticed that in the night he had prudently refrained from both a formal vote and the formal sentence — 'Thou Jesus art guilty ' — as well as finally from the motion to refer the crime to the Romans. There never- theless was no lack of illegality." (Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. VI., p. 63). The most important thing to be done by this body, after ratifying the decision of the night session, was to so formu- late the death sentence as to obtain from Pilate a license to execute Jesus. The death sentence was about as follows : Friday, April 15, a. u. c* 783. Jesus of Nazareth is condemned to death by us^ for committing blasphemy. Signed, Joseph Caiaphas, President. Annas, Father of the House of Judgment. , Scribe. , Scribe. See diagram, p. 32. See also notes on Section X. On the foregoing trial, see Andrews' Life of Our Lord, pp. 508, 509 ; Dr. Farrar, Vol. II., p. 351 ; Dr. Geikie, Vol. II., P- 529. *See foot-note on Section XVI. 36 The Trials of Christ. SECTION VIII. — THE LAMENTABLE JUDAS. Matthew xxvii. 3-10. 3 Then Judas, which betrayed Him, when he saw that He was condemned, repented himself, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver * to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood. But they said, What is that to us ? see thou to it. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, and departed ; and he went away and hanged himself. 6 And the chief priests took the pieces of silver, and said, It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood. 7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. 8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying. And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was priced, whom certain of the children of Israel did price ; *The thirty pieces of silver amounted to about $15.00 of our money. This was then the price of a slave. (Ex. xxi. 32.) Section VIII. 37 10 And they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me. ON SECTION VIII. — TIME AND PLACE OF JUDAS* DEATH. Article i. — ** The former examination clearly took place in the palace of the high priest, but this, as we may infer from verse 66, in the usual council-chamber of the Sanhedrin, which, according to the rabbinical writers, was not in the palace of the high priest, but in the temple. This conclave was situated parft'm insancto, zxid partim in profano ; that is, it stood upon the confines of the priests' court and of the men's. At the time of the former examination, so early in the morn- ing, the temple would be shut up ; but at the time of the latter, viz., after the dawn of day, it would be open: and there is reason to conclude from Matt, xxvii. i, 5, that the very consultation there spoken of was held in the temple. ♦•That condemnation of our Lord, which is said to have produced this change of mind, is clearly referred by St. Matthew (xxvii. 3) to the condemnation by the Sanhedrin (xxvi. 66), before : it could have nothing to do with the con- demnation by Pilate ; first, because no such condemnation had yet taken place ; and secondly, because that was not a distinct condemnation, independent of this, but merely the execution of the sentence of the Sanhedrin in consequence of this. " The abduction of Jesus to Pilate was not that He might be condemned afresh, but the necessary consequence of His being condemned already. The judgment of the council had pronounced Him worthy of death ; which, in the absence of the power of life and death, was the utmost they could do. But to give effect to the judgment, it was necessary to resort 38 The Trials of Christ. to the civil governor. The abduction to Pilate, therefore^ might justly be considered the sign and seal of our Savior's death. "If all this was known to Judas, that is, if he had been present during the course of proceedings from the time of the seizure of the person of Jesus, until now, . . . (which supposition there is no reason to call in question), then, if his repentance at the issue of his perfidy ever took place, it would most naturally occur at this critical moment, when the fate of his Master seemed to have been decided upon. . . . " For the scene was certainly the temple, and the temple was the regular place for holding the assemblies of the council. . . . *' At this time, then, the Sanhedrin, or most of their body, would be in the temple, ot course ; and it is clear that Judas was there too, a spectator, as it would seem, of the result : and if he was there in any such capacity, our Lord must have been there also. Consequently He had been removed from the palace of the high priest thither. Had not this been the case, the transaction between Judas and the council, which ended in his throwing down the pieces of silver, would have taken place in the palace of the high priest, not in the tem- ple ; for there is no reason to suppose he made choice of the latter intentionally. Our Lord's final examination, then, and His ultimate abduction to Pilate, took place in and from the temple. Nor do I think that the providence of God, with a view to the preservation of the typical character in which He was to suffer, would allow them to take place in and from any other quarter." (Edward Greswell's Dissertations, Vol. HI., pp. 204, 217, 218 and 219.) Article 2. — "Judas did not repent in the Scriptural sense ; but a change of mind and feeling came over him. . . With the commission of sin, all the bewitching, intoxicating influences which incited to it have passed away. Section VIII. 39 and only the naked fact remains. All the glamour has been dispelled ; all the reality abideth. If we knew it, probably scarcely one oul of many criminals but would give all he has, nay, life itself, if he could recall the deed done, or awake from it to find it only an evil dream. But it can not be ; and the increasingly terrible reality is, that it is done, and done forever. Yet this is not repentance, or, at least, God alone knows whether it is such ; it may be, and in the case of Judas it only was change of mind and feeling towards Jesus. Whether this might have passed into repentance ; whether, if he had cast himself at the feet of Jesus, as undoubtedly he might have done, this would have been so, we need not here ask. . . . The road, the streets, the people's faces — all seemed now to bear witness against him and for Jesus. He read it everywhere ; he felt it always ; he imagined it, till his whole being was on flame. What had been ; what was ; what would be ! Heaven and earth receded from him ; there were voices in the air, and pangs in the soul ; and no escape, help, counsel or hope anywhere. It was despair, and his a desperate resolve. He must get rid of these thirty pieces of silver, which, like thirty serpents, coiled around his soul with terrible hissing of death. Then, at least, his deed would have nothing of the selfish in it ; only a terrible error, a mistake, to which he had been incited by these Sanhe- drists. Back to them with the money, and let them have it again ! And so forward he pressed, amidst the wandering crowd, which would give way before that haggard face with the wild eyes, that crime had made old in those few hours, till he came upon that knot of priests and Sanhedrists, per- haps at that very moment speaking of it all. A most unwel- come sight and intrusion on them, this necessary but odious figure in the drama — belonging to its past, and who should rest in its obscurity. But he would be heard; nay, his words would cast the burden on them, to share it with him, 4P The Trials of Christ, as with hoarse cry he broke into this : ' I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood ! ' They turned from him with impatience, in contempt (as so often the seducer turns from the seduced — and God help such!), with the same fiend- ish guilt of hell : ' What is that to us ? see thou to it ! ' And presently they were again ^deep in conversation or consulta- tion. For a moment he stared wildly before him, the very thirty pieces of silver that had been weighed to him, and which he had now brought back, and would fain have given them, still clutched in his hand. For a moment only, and then he wildly rushed forward, towards the sanctuary itself, probably to where the Court of Israel bounded on that of the priests, where generally the penitents stood in waiting while in the Priests' Court the sacrifice was offered for them. He bent forward, and with all his might hurled from him those thirty pieces of silver, so that each resounded'as it fell on the marble pavement. Out he rushed from the temple, out of Jerusalem, into solitude. Whither shall it be ? Down into the horrible solitude of the Valley of Hinnom, the ♦ Tophet ' of old, with its ghastly memories, the Gehenna of the future, with its ghostly associations. But it was not soli- tude, for it seemed now peopled with figures, faces, sounds. Across the Valley, and up the steep sides of the mountain ! We are now ' on the potter's field ' of Jeremiah — somewhat to the west, above where the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys merge. . . . Here jagged rocks rise perpendicularly: perhaps there was some gnarled, bent, stunted tree. Up there he climbed to the top of that rock. Now slowly and deliberately he unwound the long girdle that held his gar- ment. It was the girdle in which he had carried those thirty pieces of silver. He was now quite calm and collected. With that girdle he will hang himself on that tree close by, and when he has fastened it, he will throw himself off from that jagged rock. It is done, but as, unconscious, not yet Section VIII, 41 dead perhaps, he swung heavily on that branch, under the unwonted burden the girdle gave way, or perhaps the knot, which his trembling hands had made, unloosed, and he fell heavily forward among the jagged rocks beneath, and per- ished in the manner of which St. Peter reminded his fellow- disciples in the days before Pentecost (Acts i. 18, 19)." Edersheim, Vol. II., p, 573.) West X u c / c o 1 V Praetorli im OP d Judgment Hall h r \tk s e \l ^ V 4 o b\> cc 3 O Pavement Audience East DiAGKAU or Hbrod's Palace, Illustrative or Jesos' First Trial Before Pontius Pilate. Copyright, i886, by Standard Publishing Company. (42) Diagram ok Herod's Paiacb. (Herod's Palace, see History of, in Historical Appftndix.) Explanation. — H Pilate's judgment-seat, a a a. Sanhedrin send Jesus into Judgment Hall to Pilate, b b b. Pilate takes Jesus out on to the Pavement, and asks for the charges against Him. c c. Position of Jesus and Pilate, d d. Pilate takes Jesus into Judgment Hall, and questions Him on His Kingship, e e. Pilate takes Jesus out on to the Pavement, and pronounces Him innocent, b b Position of Pilate and Jesus. ^ i g. Pilate sends Jesus to Herod Antipas. (43) BETWEEN TRIALS. SECTION IX.— LEADING JESUS TO PILATE. I **And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate " (Mark xv.). I ** And the whole multitude of them arose and led Him unto Pilate" (Luke xxiii., A.V.). 28 ** Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment : and it was early ; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled ; but that they might eat the passover " (John xviii., A. V.). ON SECTION IX. Matthew and Mark tell us nothing of the questions put to Jesus by the Sanhedrin (Section VIL), but mention the bind- ing and leading of Him from their council-chamber to Pilate. John, having omitted the trial before the Sanhedrin, neces- sarily speaks of the leading to Pilate as though it occurred Section IX. 45 immediately after the trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhe- drists (See Sections III., VII.) Jesus was bound, and stood during the trial before Annas, and also during the entire trial before the Sanhedrists. See Sections I., III. After this trial, and during the mockery in the fore-court, in the palace of Caiaphas, Jesus seems to have been unbound, and to have remained so until the close of the trial before the Sanhedrin. See Sections VL, IX., and the first diagram, p. i6. The leading of Jesus from the palace of Caiaphas to the council-chamber, and the trial there, had caused a multitude of people to be gathered together, all of whom, together with the chief priests, scribes, and elders, headed by Caiaphas, led Jesus to Pontius Pilate. Greswell thinks this was soon after five o'clock in the morning (Vol. III., p. 228). '* The decision of the Jewish authorities having been duly signed and sealed, and Jesus once more securely bound. He was led off, strongly guarded from rescue, to the official residence of Pilate, on Mount Zion. It was still early, but Eastern life anticipates the day, for the heat of noon requires rest during the hours busiest with us. The way ran from the West Hall of the Temple oyer the Tyropseon by a bridge, and across the open space of the Xystus, with its pillared porches. The palace of Herod, now Pilate's headquarters, lay just beyond — the proud residence of the Roman knight who held the government for the Emperor Tiberias. . . . Now, for the first time, Jesus entered the gates of a king's palace ; the home of ' men in soft raiment ' — entered it as a prisoner." (Dr. Geikie, Vol. n., p. 53I-) Dr. Farrar, in speaking of Jesus being led to Pilate, says : ** At Jerusalem he occupied one of the two gorgeous palaces which had been erected there by the lavish architectural extravagance of the first Herod, It was situated in the Upper City to south-west of the Temple Hill, ^nd, like the similar building at Csesarea, having passed from the use of 46 The Trials of Christ. the provincial king to that of the Roman governor, was ■called Herod's Prsetorium." (Vol. II., p. 364.) See Acts xxiii. 35. See diagram facing Section X. See also Histori- •cal Appendix, \fords, ** Herod's Palace." FOURTH TRIAL. SECTION X,— JESUS BEFORE PILATE. 29 Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man ? 30 They answered and said unto him, If He were not a malefactor, we would not have de- livered Him up unto thee. 31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye Him, and judge Him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death : 32 That the saying of Jesus might be ful- filled, which He spake, signifying what death He should die. (John xviii., A. V.) ON SECTION X. Jesus was led, with a rope round His neck and with His liands tied behind Him, from the council-chamber in the Temple to the palace of Herod. When Caiaphas and his clique arrived, he sent Jesus, by the hands of the Jewish police, into the judgment hall to Pilate, whilst they remained West Fraetorlum op d Judgment Hall , . \t I r e ^^ N { 1 \ b 4 \ cc s c ■a \ Pavement / Audience East Diagram of Herod's Palace, Illustrative of Jesus' First Trial Before Pontius Pilate. Copyright, 1886, by Standard Publishing Company. (48) Diagram op Herod's Palacei (Herod's Palace, see History of, in Historical Appendix.) Explanation. — ■ Pilate's judgment-seat, a a a. Sanhedrin send Jesus into Judgment Hall to Pilate, b b b. Pilate takes Jesus out on to the Pavement, and asks for the charges against Him. c c. Position of Jesus and Pilate, d d. Pilate takes Jesus into Judgment Hall, and questions Him on His Kingship, e e. Pilate takes Jesus out on to the Pavement, and pronounces Him innocent, b b Position of Pilate and Jesus, s i S' Pilate sends Jesus to Herod Antipas, (49) 50 Tlie Trials of Christ, without, lest their devilish natures should be defiled by enter- ing the palace of a heathen governor. In Pontius Pilate, three things were greatly in Jesus' favor. First, he had no theological bias against His teaching. Secondly, he believed Him to be innocent as to political matters. Thirdly, he hated the Jews, and was inclined to do whatever would displease them. Therefore, Jesus' trial before Pilate had, on the part of the Roman governor, a favorable beginning. Pilate's fkst act was to take the bound Christ out on to the pavement, and ask for the charges against Him. This shows he intended the Prisoner to have a legal trial. Caiaphas did not present the charges, nor make their contents known ; for he well knew that Pilate knew but little, and cared less, whether Jesus had or had not blasphemed. He also knew that a religious question did not properly belong before a political governor. For these reasons, he shrewdly kept the real charges in the background, put on a bold front, and demanded the governor to crucify Jesus on the bare state- ment of the Sanhedrists that He was an " evil-doer " (R. V.). Pilate's knowledge of the difficulty between Jesus and the Sanhedrists, and the presence of so many of them on the pavement with gaping mouths, convinced him that the real charge against the Savior was a religious one, and there- fore said to them, *' I apprehend the charge against this Man to be an ecclesiastical one, not political, and belongs before the Sanhedrin, not before me. Therefore, take Him, and judge Him according to the laws of that body, and if He has sinned against it, excommunicate Him. This was the golden opportunity for Caiaphas to have informed Pilate that they had already tried and condemned Jesus, and to have presented the charges, which he doubtless had sealed and in his pocket. He would not do this, for he knew that if Pilate read the charges, he would see the case to be an ecclesiastical squab- ble, and would dismiss the case at once ; for it was perfectly Section XL 5 1 understood that the heathen governor would punish no one to gratify the religious fanaticism of the Jews. See Dr. Geikie, Vol. II., p. 535. Dr. Farrar, Vol. II., p. 367. Lange's X-ife of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 339. Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. VI., pp. 83-88. Andrews' Life of Our Lord, p. 516. Caiaphas saw distinctly that, in order to obtain a hearing before Pilate, he must bring a charge against Jesus of a polit- ical nature. Therefore he dropped the original charge, and trumped up a charge of treason against Him. See notes on Section XL SECTION XL— JESUS CHARGED WITH TREASON. And they began to accuse Him, saying, We found this Man perverting our nation, and for- bidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ a King (Luke xxiii. 2). ON SECTION XI. Caiaphas' charge of treason against Jesus touched Pilate officially, and compelled him to investigate the case. Dr. Lange says concerning this charge, " It addressed itself to the charges of conspiracy, sedition, and high treason." 52 The Trials of Christ. SECTION XIL— JESUS QUESTIONED BY PILATE. 33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto Him, Art Thou the King of the Jews ? 34 Jesus answered Him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of Me ? 35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered Thee unto me : w^hat hast Thou done ? 36 Jesus answered. My kingdom is not of this world : if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews : but now is My king- dom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art Thou a King, then ? Jesus answered. Thou sayest that I am a King. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice. 38 Pilate said unto Him, What is truth? (John xviii., A. V.) ON SECTION XII. (See diagram facing Section X.) ** Pilate now set about the judicial examination of Jesus. Section XI I. 53 He withdrew into the interior of the prsetorium, and had Jesus summoned thither. We observe in the sequel, that the Roman judge alternately occupies a threefold position. When he speaks to the Jews about the proceedings, he is standing without on the square, in front of the palace, among them. When he undertakes the judicial hearing, he withdraws with the accused, and with the witnesses who take part in the proceeding, into the judgment-hall, carefully, no doubt, at- tended by some representatives of the complainants. But when he declares the judicial sentence, he mounts the judg- ment-seat, which is erected on a consecrated foundation on the elevated stone platform." (Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 341.) In a foot-note he says: ** Pilate could not have with- -drawn into the praetorium with the accused in order to hear Him in secret, for Roman judgments must be held publicly. {Friedlieb, 104.) He withdrew, it is probable, that the trial might be proceeded with undisturbed. Therein the com- plainants were represented by individuals who determined to renounce the keeping of the Passover, with the purpose of •celebrating the smaller Passover subsequently. Such a par- ticipation in the trial, moreover, according to the principle of publicity, was free also to the dependents of Jesus ; and among them some might determine to be present at the trial, at the cost of the keeping of the Passover, more easily than most of the Jews. Thus the question of Strauss is an- swered. Whence had the Evangelists knowledge of the trial going on in the inside of the Praetorium ? " Pilate began the examination by saying to Jesus, "Art Thou the King of the Jews?" To have answered yes, ■would have been to acknowledge the charge of treason. To iiave answered no, would have been to deny His spiritual kingship. Jesus asked Pilate if the question was born of his own mouth, or of the mouths of the Jews ; to which he 54 1^^^ Trials of Christ, indignantly replies : "I am no Jew. Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered Thee unto me : what hast thou done ? " Jesus answered : " My kingdom is not of this, world," it is not a fighting kingdom. Pilate begins to see that Jesus' definition of the word ** king " and the Jews' defini- tion are world-wide different ; and he wonders whether Jesus can be a king, and says : " Art Thou a King, then ? " Jesus in substance said: "I am the spiritual King of a kingdom, that is not of this world." Pilate concluded that if His kingdom was not a fighting one, and not of, and perhaps not in, this world, he could do the Roman government no harm. Therefore, he took Jesus^ went out on the pavement, and pronounced Him innocent. See Section XHI. See Farrar, Vol. II., p. 369; Lange's- Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 342; Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. VI., p. 88; Geike, Vol. II., p. 537. SECTION XIIL— JESUS ACQUITTED- BY PILATE. 38 "And when he had said this he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I FIND IN Him no fault at all " (John xviii.,. A. V.) Section XV. 55 SECTION XIV. —JESUS ACCUSED OF MANY THINGS. 3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked Him, saying, An- swerestThou nothing? behold how many things they accuse Thee of. 5 But Jesus no more answered anything ; insomuch that Pilate marveled (Mark xv.). SECTION XV.— JESUS ACCUSED OF DISTURBING THE PUBLIC PEACE. 5 And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place (Luke xxiii., A. V.) ON SECTIONS XIII., XIV., XV. As soon as Pilate had pronounced Jesus innocent, there came a storm of accusations from the chief priests, to all of which He answered nothing. This caused Pilate to marvel, and doubtless the chief priests marveled also. They were 56 The Trials of Christ. now without any charge against Jesus ; for Pilate had de- cided that the charge of conspiracy against the Roman government and against Csesar was without grounds. Next they accuse Jesus of disturbing the public peace, all the way from Galilee to Jerusalem. As soon as Pilate heard them speak of Galilee, the thought struck him that he might get rid of further trouble in the already troublesome case, by sending Jesus to Herod Antipas, the Governor of Galilee, who was at Jerusalem at that time, and residing in the Asmonean palace, which lay between his praetorium and the temple. See notes on Section XVI. FIFTH TRIAL. SECTION XVL— JESUS BEFORE HEROD ANTIPAS. 6 When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the Man were a Galilean. 7 And as soon as he knew that He belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time. 8 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was ex- ceeding glad: for he was desirous to see Him of a long season, because he had heard many- things of Him ; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by Him. 9 Then he questioned with Him in many words : but He answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him. JESUS MOCKED BY HEROD's SOLDIERS. 1 1 And Herod with his men of war set Him 58 The Trials of Christ. at naught, and mocked Him, and arrayed Him in a gorgeous * robe, and sent Him again to Pilate. 12 And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together : for before they were at enmity between themselves (Luke xxiii., A. V.). ON SECTION XVI. **Antipas had come from Tiberias, to show how devoutly he honored the Law, and had taken his residence in the old castle of the Asmoneans, which still remained in the hands of his family. It was near the Xystus, and exactly opposite the Temple, to which he could cross by the upper bridge, over the Tyropsean Valley, between Zion and Moriah." In another place he says : "The old palace of the Asmoneans, in which Antipas lodged, was a short way from Pilate's splendid official residence. It lay a few streets off to the north-east, within the same old city wall, on the slope of Zion, the leveled crest of which was occupied by the vast palace of Herod, now the Roman headquarters. Both were in the old, or upper, city, and through the narrow streets — with raised pathways, and middle sunk to prevent defilement to passers-by — Jesus was now led, under escort of a detach- ment of the Roman troops on duty." (Dr. Geikie, Vol. II., * Having, therefore, put a white robe — the Jewish royal color — on Jesus, as if to show that he had no fear of such a King, he sent Him back to Pilate, Geikie (Friedlieb, 109) says that it seems very doubtful whether this was the white robe of the candidatus, and prefers to con^ sider it a gorgeous robe, designed to express Herod's contempt for the pretensions of this King. Quoted by Lange, Vol. IV., p. 349. See Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. VI., p. 103. Section XV I. $9 pp. 500 and 540.) Dr. Farrar, Vol. II., p. 372. See article on Herod Antipas. Pilate's main object in sending Jesus to Herod Antipas, was to rid himself of further trying the Savior ; for he saw that the chief priests, scribes and elders thirsted for His blood. Antipas was "exceedingly glad" to see Jesus ; that is to say, exceedingly glad to see Him bound ; for he had had fears because of Him — fears that He, like John, might face to face condemn Him for his adultery (Luke iii. 19 and Matt, xiv. 4). This is doubtless the reason Antipas did not attend the Savior's ministry. He knew his guilty conscience could not stand up before the purity of His teaching. Herod's fear of being exposed was doubtless the cause of his threat- ening to kill Jesus (Luke xiii. 31). But when he saw Him bound hard and fast, and guarded by Roman soldiers, his fears took wings and flew away. If there was one official in Palestine whom Jesus hated (if I may use the word), that man was the Galilean prince, Herod Antipas. He is the only one whom the Savior nicknamed, and He rightly called him ''that fox" (Luke xiii. 32). Herod Antipas— the very name breathes corruption and cruelty ; Herod Antipas, the man who imprisoned and beheaded Jesus' forerunner ; Herod Antipas, the double-dyed adulterer, threatener of the Son of God ; — could Jesus perform a miracle for, or even answer, such a wretch as he? Nay, verily, '« as a sheep before her shearer is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth " (Isa liii. 7). The chief priests and scribes, who had followed Jesus from Pilate's prsetorium, then stood and vehemently accused Him, to all, and in spite of all which, he preserved a perfect yet awful silence — a silence Herod was fain to break, by the mockery of his soldiers, and by putting on Jesus a gor^ geous robe. This was the second mockery Jesus endured ; see Section VI. Diagram of Herod's Palace, Illustrative of Jesus' Second Trial before Pilate. Copyright, (60) by Standard Publishing Company. Diagram op Herod's Palace. Explanation. — a a a. Herod Antipas returns Jesus to Pilate (Sec* tion 17). b b b. Pilate takes Jesus out on to the Pavement, and seeks to release Him (Sections 17 and 18). c. Pilate sits down on the judg- ment seat, and receives a warning message from his wife (Section 19). d. Pilate rises from the judgment seat, and washes his hands (Section 19), e. Pilate sits down on the judgment seat, and consents to Jesus' death (Section 20). f f. Pilate takes Jesus, and has his soldiers scourge Him (Section 21). g g g- Jesus is taken into the Pretorium Hall, mocked, crowned with thorns, and spit upon (Section 22). h h h, Pilate returns into the palace, and writes the inscription for Jesus* cross (Section 23). See next diagram, Sec. 24. (61) SIXTH TRIAL. SECTION XVIL— JESUS BEFORE PILATE. 13 And Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 And said unto them, Ye brought unto me this Man, as one that perverteth the people : and behold, I, having examined Him before you, found no fault in this Man touching those things whereof ye accuse Him : 15 No, nor yet Herod: for he sent Him back unto us : and behold, nothing worthy of DEATH HATH BEEN DONE BY HiM. 16 I will therefore chastise Him, and release Him (Luke xxiii.). ON SECTION XVIL When Herod Antipas saw Jesus would answer no ques- tions, and perform no miracle to please His gaping curiosity, he put himself in the attitude of a rowdy, and wreaked his vengeance on Jesus by joining his body-guard in mock- ing Him. When he became tired of his deviltry, he 62 Section XVI L 63 resolved to return Jesus to Pilate, and wrote and sent the following by the hands of those who had brought the Lord to Him : AsMONEAN Palace, Jerusalem, ) Friday, April 15, a. u. c* 783. / Honorable Pontius Pilate : — I have examined Jesus of Naza- reth, according to your request, and find no cause of death in Him. Herod Antipas, Governor of Galilee. It is evident that Herod did not send his message to Pilate by word of mouth ; neither did the latter send His message to the former in that way. Doubtless Herod accompanied the surging, hooting company, as it returned to Pilate's judg- ment-hall with Jesus. Herod would naturally remain outside the palace until Pilate sent for Him to come in and confer with Him. I take this to be the time and place the two govern- ors became friendly. Great emergencies and great calamities often bury personal difficulties. It was so on this tremendous occasion : all parties buried their differences in order to ac- complish the death of Jesus. ** It was the day of the union of all evil men, of all wicked men. of all sinners, against the Lord" (Lange, Vol. IV., p. 349). In all that vast multitude that attended the last two trials, there was but one man who *It is certain that Herod dated his communication from the founding of Rome; for the practice of numbering the years from the birth of Christ was not adopted for five hundred years after that event. Jesus was born four years earlier than the time from which we date — or b. c. 4 — which would correspond to the 750th year of Rome. Granting Jesus to be thirty-three years old when He died, Herod's note to Pilate would be dated as above, a. u. c. 783. On the date of Christ's birth and death, see Andrews' Life of Our Lord; Wieseler's Chronological Synopsis of the Gospels, p. 126; Gres- well. Vol. I., pp. 381, 446 ; Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. IL, pp. 101-131. Andrews is very full on this point ; and Keim I regard as incorrect. 64 -/ he Trials of Christ. had the moral courage to lift up his voice in behalf of the bound and derided Christ, and that man was Pontius Pilate. Herod's decision and presence greatly strengthened him in his purpose to release Jesus. Accordingly, he took the Gali- lean prince and Jesus out on to the pavement, and called the chief priests and rulers of the people to him, and declared to them that in his judgment, and in the judgment of Governor Herod (pointing to him), Jesus had done nothing worthy of death, and that he intended to chastise Him a little and set Him free. This was met by a storm of opposition, and Pilate saw that to release Jesus at once would in all probability result in a riot that could only be quelled by the shedding of much blood and by the loss of many lives. It tasked his ingenuity to the utmost, to know how to prevent a riot and to tame down the wrath of the surging multitude, so that He dared to release Jesus. It was about this time he bethought himself of a custom he had of releasing a prisoner to the people at each passover, whomsoever they desired. See notes on Section XVIII. SECTION XVIIL—BARABBAS OR JESUS. 39 < . . **Ye have a custom that I should release unto you one at the passover " (John xviii.). 17 "(For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast)" (Luke xxiii., A. V.). Section XVIII. 65 8 ** And the multitude went up and began to ask him to do as he was wont to do unto them " (Mark xv.). 16 ** And they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas " (Matt, xxvii.) ; 7 ''Lying bound with them that had made insurrection, men who in the insurrection had committed murder " (Mark xv.). I^IRST EFFORT. 17 *' When therefore they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them. Whom will ye that I release unto you ? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? " (Matt, xxvii.) 10 ''For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered Him up " (Markxv.). 20 "Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus " (Matt, xxvii.). 18 " And they cried out all at once, saying. Away with this Man, and release unto us Ba- rabbas " (Luke xxiii., A. V.). SECOND EFFORT. 20 ' ' And Pilate spake unto them again, de- siring to release Jesus " (Luke xxiii.) : 66 The Trials of Christ. 9 * ' Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews ? " (Mark xv.). 40 "Not this man, but Barabbas "(John xviii.). 21 " But they shouted, saying, Crucify, crucify Him " (Luke xxiii.). 22 '' Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ ? They all say unto him, Let Him be crucified " (Matt, xxvii.). THIRD EFFORT. 22 ** And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath He done ? I have found NO CAUSE OF DEATH IN HiM : I wiU therefore chas- tise Him and release Him " (Luke xxiii.). 14 ''But they cried out exceedingly, Crucify Him" (Mark xv.). ON SECTION XVIII. "When Pilate took Jesus out on the pavement, and reminded the people that it was his custom to release a prisoner at each passover (whomsoever they would), the tumultuous throng rushed around the pavement and besought him to release a prisoner. But before taking further steps, Pilate called the Sanhedrists to come forward on the pavement ; for they had stationed themselves among the multitudes for the purpose of creating a riot, in case the governor should release Jesus, as they had good cause to believe he would. In speaking of this, Dr. Lange says: "Pilate waited till the Section XVI I I. 67 tumult subsided [Matt, xxvii. 17], till he saw the parties of the accused and the accuser again opposed before him. This would take some time, for the members of the Sanhedrin had mingled themselves among the crowds of people m order to stir them up, and to instruct them in case the judge should declare that Jesus should be set free." (Vol. IV., p. 350.) Therefore, Pilate's every effort to release Jesus was attended with a stern probability that it would be followed by a riot and bloodshed. In the proposition to release a prisoner, Pilate recognized the right of the people to choose who should be released. In doing this, he manifested honesty ; for established custom is unwritten law. If it had been left for Pilate to choose the one to be released, we know whom he would have chosen — " the King of the Jews." But because he did not have that right, he put the question, *' Whom will ye that I release unto you ? Barabbas, or Jesus which IS called Christ?" There were three powerful reasons why the Jews preferred Barabbas to Jesus; first, because he was the son of a Rabbi ; secondly, because he was a zealot for the temple; and thirdly, because Jesus was, as they thought, the enemy of the temple and of the priesthood. Therefore, when Pliate asked them whom they would have released, their answer was ready, *' Away with this Man, and release unto us Barabbas." Yea, it seems that some of them broke forth with cries for Barabbas before the question was put. See Mark xv. 8. Yea, the word " Barabbas " had been given them as their unchangeable watchword. When Pilate put the question to them the second time, he clearly indi- cated his choice by saying, *' Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews ? " But they cried, *' Not this Man, but Barabbas." Pilate then asked them what he should do with Jesus, to which their ready answer was, ** Let Him be cruci- fied." The third time, Pilate proposed His release on the ground of His innocence, and declared his intention to re- 68 The Trials of Christ. lease Him. This fanned their anger to a flame, and they cried out exceedingly, " Crucify Him." See notes on Section XIX. SECTION XIX.— PILATE ON THE JUDGMENT-SEA T 19 ''When he was set down on the judgment- seat, his wife* sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream be- cause of Him" (Matt, xxvii.). 24 So when Pilate saw that he prevailed nothing, but rather that a tumult was arising, he took water and washed f his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood OF THIS RIGHTEOUS Man ; See ye to it. 25 And all the people answered and said. His blood be on us, and on our children (Matt, xxvii.). -On the time of the dream of Pilate's wife, see Greswell, Vol, III., p. 232. See also Dr. Geikie, Vol. II., pp. 544, 545, and Farrar, Vol. II., p, 375; Dr. Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 351. t "The custom, though Jewish (Deut. xxi : 6, 7, 'All the elders . . shall wash their hands, . . . and say. Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it'), was also Greek and Roman" (Farrar). Section XIX. 6g ON SECTION XIX. When the answer to Pilate's second proposal to release Jesus came in a perfect hailstorm of wrath, he sat down on his judgment-seat, paralyzed in his effort, and convinced that he was going to be compelled to consent to the death of Jesus. At this moment of tremendous suspense, his wife sent a message, warning him to have nothing to do in shedding the blood of the righteous Jesus; stating that in a dream she had had something like a presentiment that her husband was about to imbrue his hands in the blood of the Son of God. This to Pilate seemed like a message from the upper world (perhaps it was |. It brought him to his feet; and, calling for a vessel of water, he washed his hands in the presence of that vast multitude, exclaiming, •' I call on this vast company to witness that I have not, and do not condemn Jesus of Nazareth ; and that I am innocent of His blood ; if He is slain. His blood shall be on you; see to it." Then came the cry of triumph, '* His blood be on us and on our children." Pilate saw that the storm of wrath was ready to burst over his head, and that to release Jesus, would be to have Him mur- dered on the spot. Overcome, he sank back in his judgment- chair — but see notes on Section XX. The Revenges of History.— <' And now mark, for one moment, the revenges of History. Has not His blood been on them, and on their children ? Has it not fallen most of all on those most nearly concerned in that deep tragedy? Before the dread sacrifice was consummated, Judas died in the horrors of a loathsome suicide. Caiaphas was deposed the year following. Herod died in infamy -and exile. Pilate, wearied out with misfortunes, died in suicide and banish- ment, leaving behind him an execrated name. The house of Annas was destroyed a generation later by an infuriated yo The Trials of Christ. mob, and his son was dragged through the streets, and scourged and beaten to his place of murder. Some of those who shared in and witnessed the scenes of that day — and thousands of their children — also shared in and witnessed the long horrors of that siege of Jerusalem which stands unparalleled in history for its unutterableness and fearfulness. . . . They had accepted the guilt of blood, and the last pages of their history were glued together with the rivers of their blood, and that blood continued to be shed in wanton cruelties from age to age." (Dr. Farrar, Vol. II., pp. 388- 390.) SECTION XX.— CONSENTING TO JESUS' DEATH. 24 * ' And Pilate gave sentence that what they asked for should be done" (Luke xxiii.). 15 " And Pilate, wishing to content the mul- titude, released unto them Barabbas, and deliv- ered Jesus (when he had scourged Him) to be crucified " (Mark xv.). ON SECTION XX. The above verses, including Matt, xxvii. 26, describe that which Pilate intended to be the conclusion of the Savior's shameful and protracted trials. This is evident from the sequel in the Synoptists' narratives. Especially from Luke's, Section XX. 71 where the Savior is represented as being scourged, and led immediately thereafter to Calvary. That Pilate intended this to be the close of the Savior's trials, is further evidenced by the fact that he at this time had Him scourged, which -wss the customary prelude to crucifixion. Mark clinches this thought, ** delivered Jesus (when he had scourged Him) to be crucified." When Pilate delivered the Savior into the hands of the lictors, he intended to go to Calvary as soon as the necessary preparations could be made. I emphasize this thought because it has (so far as I know) never been brought out; and because it has much to do in properly interpreting the feelings and motives of Pilate. It should be remembered that he did not at this time, and never did, pass the death sentence on Jesus. He consented that the multitude might force him to crucify the Lord, he shifting, or claiming to shift, the entire responsibility on them. See notes on Sec- tions XXII., XXIII. BETWEEN TRIALS. SECTION XXL ^ SCOURGING JESUS. I Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged Him (John xix.). ON SECTION XXI. ''Victims condemned to the cross first underwent the hideous torture of the scourge, and this was forthwith inflicted on Jesus. Pilate, in person, commanded it to be carried out. * Go, bind His hands, and let Him be beaten,' was the order, for this terrible prelude to crucifixion." Roman citizens were still exempted, by various laws, from this agonizing and painful punishment, which was employed sometimes to elicit confessions, sometimes as a substitute for execution, and at others as the first step in capital sentences. It was in full use in the provinces, and lawless governors did not scruple to enforce it even on Roman citizens, in spite of their protests that they were so. Jesus was now seized by some of the sol- diers standing near, and, after being stripped to the waist, was bound in a stooping posture, His hands behind His back, to a post, or low pillar, near the tribunal. He was then beaten, till the soldiers chose to stop, with knots of rope, or plaited leather thongs, armed at the ends with acorn-shaped drops of lead, or small, sharp-pointed bones. In many cases, Sectmi XXI. 75 not only was the back of the person scourged, cut open in all directions : even the eyes, the face, and the breast were torn and cut, and the teeth not seldom knocked out. The judge stood by, to stimulate the sinewy executioners by cries of "Give it Him," — but we may trust that Pilate, though his office required his presence, spared himself this crime. Under the fury of the countless stripes, the victims some- times sank, amidst screams, convulsive leaps and distortions, into a senseless heap ; sometimes died on the spot; sometimes were taken away an unrecognizable mass of bleeding flesh, to find deliverance in death, from the inflammation and fever, sickness and shame. The scourging of Jesus was of, the severest, for the soldiers employed as lictors, in the absence of these special officials, who were not allowed to procurators, only too gladly vented on any Jew the grudge they bore to the nation, and they would, doubtless, try if they could not force out the confes- sion which His silence had denied to the governor. Besides, He was to be crucified, and the harder the scourging, the less life would there be left, to keep them on guard at the cross afterwards. What He must have endured is pictured to us by Eusebius, in the Epistle of the Church in Smyrna. * All around were horrified to see them (the martyrs),' says he, *so torn with scourges that their very veins were laid bare, and the inner muscles and sinews, and even the very bowels, exposed.'" (Dr. Geikie, Vol. 11. , pp. 547, 548.) See diagram, p. 60. "Jesus was probably not scourged with rods, but with a scourge twisted of leather thongs [Friedlieb, 115]. On the frightful weight and effect of the Roman scourging, and the shocking thirst for blood of the Romans of that time gener- erally, comp. Sepp, iii. 511." (Quoted by Lange, Vol. III., P- 356). Keim gives substantially the same description of the 74 The Trials of Christ. scourging. Vol. VI., pp. 116-118. Dr. Farrar, Vol. II., PP- 379, 380. Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 355. *' A twofold scourging was in use among the Romans. The one was inflicted on those who were already condemned to crucifixion. It was so barbarous that the criminals often gave up the ghost during its execution. Further, scourging was also applied without the consequent punishment of death, either to bring the delinquents to some sort of confession^ or to punish them for a crime. The latter kind of scourging was what Pilate allowed to be inflicted on Jesus. It was not inferior in cruelty to the former, although its severity de- pended wholly on the will of the magistrates." (Friedlieb, 114.) "On the difference between the Jewish and Roman scourging, see Sepp, iii. 510." It is a great mistake to conclude, as Sepp does, that Pilate had Jesus scourged for the purpose of eliciting from Him a confession of guilt ; for he did not believe He needed to make such a confession. He was scourged because it was customary to scourge criminals before leading them to cruci- fixion. It is also a great mistake to conclude that Jesus was twice scourged. The scourging referred to in Matt, xxvii. 26, and in Mark xv. 15, is the same as that referred to in John xix. I. Matthew, Mark and John mention the scourg- ing at the proper time. Luke omits it. But for John, we would know nothing of the Savior's last trial before Pilate. See Sections XXIV.-XXVII. Hear the words of the great prophet on the scourging of Jesus, ** He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and with His stripes we are healed " (Isa. liii. 5). *' I gave my back to the smiters" (Isa. 1. 6 ; I. Peter ii. 24). BETWEEN TRIALS. SECTION XXI I. —JESUS MOCKED BY PILATE'S SOLDIERS. 27 "Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto Him the whole band of soldiers. 28 *' And they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe. 29 ' ' And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand : and they bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him, saying. Hail, King of the Jews ! 30 '' And they spit upon Him, and took the reed, and smote Him on the head " (Matt, xxvii., A. v.). 3 " And they smote Him with their hands " (John xix., A. V.). ON SECTION XXII. This is the third time the dear Redeemer was mocked on this fatal day. First, in the palace of Caiaphas, by the 75 *]6 The Trials of Christ. Jewish police (Section VI,) ; secondly, in the Asmonean palace, by Herod's soldiers (Section XVI.) ; and thirdly, in the prsetorium-hall in Herod's palace (Section XXII.). See -diagram, page 60. Hard by the pavement, and in the pres- ence of the vast multitude, Jesus vi^as publicly stripped, and shamefully beaten. At the conclusion of the scourging, those who guarded Jesus put His own raiment on Him, led Him into the prsetorium-hall, and called together " the whole band of soldiers." This refers to a cohort, which in a military sense among the Romans denoted a company gener- ally composed of six hundred foot soldiers. This is further evident, when we consider Pilate's former difficulty with the Jews, and their disposition to rebel against him during the passovers. Therefore, he would go to Jerusalem from Caesarea with not simply a body-guard, but with a sufficient military force to quell any riot that might occur. From these facts, it is evident that the mock homage, mock coronation, and brutal treatment of the blessed Redeemer took place in the presence of at least five hundred Roman soldiers. This inhuman treatment of the Son of God was not ordered, or witnessed, by Pilate, but grew out of the wickedness of the Roman guards, who had been demoralized by the example of the Sanhedrists. The death of the Lord Jesus being decided on, the Ro- mans' utter hatred of the Jews (for Jesus was a Jew), the "Sanhedrin's terrible condemnation of Him, and the union of the Romans and the Jews, took all opposition out of the way, -conspired to, and called forth, all the hellishness of the bestialized Roman soldiery. Keim says: "The whole of the guards of the palace, a cohort of at least five hundred men, perhaps the body-guard that Pilate had brought with him from Caesarea, were called forth and drawn up in the palace-yard, in order to preserve order. ... As there was some appearance of a revolu- Section XXIL 77 tionary movement among the people, Pilate would wish to be prepared for whatever might transpire." (Vol. VI., pp. 123, 124.) In another place, in speaking of the Jewish feasts, he says: *' Pilate was compelled to honor them by observing the graceful custom of granting a pardon at the passover ; but Roman troops — at least one thousand men, often more — kept guard in the temple courts and in the fort Antonia, which commanded the temple, in order to suppress insurrection ; while the procurator residing in Csesarea, with a chosen body of Romans, could make his appearance in Jerusalem, by way of Antipatris, in twenty-four hours ; and even the governor of Syria often went up to the feasts, as on these occasions the nation was particularly disposed to reveal its temper." (Vol. I., p. 267.) *• And they stripped Him." — Stripping Jesus is not men- tioned by Mark (xv. i6, 17), but he speaks of the re-clothing Him. (xv. 20) ; therefore, he is in perfect harmony with Matthew. Jesus was not stripped of His raiment, when He was clothed with a white robe by Herod Antipas ; neither did He wear it longer than His arrival in the prsetorium-hall before Pilate. Therefore, the stripping referred to in this section means Jesus' own raiment. " Put on Him a scarlet robe." — Dr. Geikie says: "They threw over His shoulders a scarlet sagum, or soldier's cloak, as a rough burlesque of the long and fine purple one, worn only by the Emperor," (Vol. II., p. 549). Theodore Keim says: " They jestingly threw round Him, instead of the Israelitish outer garment, a small circular cloak, and fastened it with a buckle upon His right shoulder. The sagum or plaudamentum was also worn by Roman generals and impe- rators, and was conferred as an honor upon foreign kings ; but in these cases it was larger and of better material and color, and furnished with a golden buckle. Thus Jesus was made to represent such an imperator in the sagum, according 78 The Trials of Christ. to Mark and John, a king in purple." (Vol. VI., pp. 119, 120.) See also Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 357. ^ The Crown of Thorns. — We can not certainly tell the kind of thorns used in constructing this fearful instrument of torture. Dr. Geikie thinks it was constructed from the branches of a dwarf bush called Nubk, which still grows near Jerusalem. Ellicott says: "The choice of the plant was not suggested by the sharpness of its thorns : the soldiers took what first came to hand, utterly careless whether it was likely to inflict pain or not." This is about all we can know of this. " A reed in His right hand." — This signifies that He was unbound. The reed was to indicate mock ruling. In one short word, let us review this tragic scene : Jesus is taken into the prsetorium-hall, stripped of His raiment, clothed with a war-cloak, a crown of thorns placed on His head, a reed put in His right hand ; Roman soldiers in turn pass before Him, bowing their knees as they go, and saying, '* Hail, King of the Jews ! " then spit in his face, then take the reed and strike the crown, driving the thorns deep into the flesh, making the blood gush from a score of gashes, then smite Him with their hands. This scene, in point of wickedness, is an indescribable one; and when the attempt is made, the strongest words both bend and break. Was all this endured for me ? Dear reader, was it not for thee ? For thee ! — not for thee only, but for every weary soul who penitently desires to take the Lord Jesus to be his Savior, and to follow in His commands. Let this brutal scene (which is enough to make the heart turn sick) close with the wonderful words of the great prophet, *' I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair : I hid not my face from shame and spitting " (Isa. 1. 6). See notes on Section XXIII. Section XXIII. 79 SECTION XXIII — WRITING THE TITLE FOR JESUS' CROSS. 19 And Pilate wrote a title (John xix.). ON SECTION XXIII. The Evangelists do not mention the crosses for the robbers, nor the titles of their crimes ; and yet they had both. This omission can be accounted for in part, because they were condemned to crucifixion, the time set, the titles and crosses prepared, prior to the Savior's arrest ; and in part, because there was nothing extraordinary about their titles, while, on the other hand, everything connected with Jesus' title was extraordinary. We thank John for his brief word, telling us who wrote the title for our Savior's cross. When and where was this title written ? It is evident that Pilate did not write it prior to Jesus' being sentenced to crucifixion. This was first decided at the time indicated in Section XX. It is also evident that he did not write it during the time Jesus was being scourged ; for his official duty required him to witness that brutal scene. The next event in the Savior's tragedy was His mockery in the praetorium-hall. It was during this brutal enactment that Pilate went into his palace, ordered the Savior's cross made, wrote the title for it, and made general preparations for the crucifixion of Jesus and the robbers. This becomes quite evident when we consider that when Pilate had Jesus scourged, he had no thought of making further effort to save His life. This is further evidenced by the fact that when Pilate consented to Jesus' crucifixion the second time, the guards, the great company of soldiers, the 8o The Trials of Christ, crosses, the titles — all things were in readiness at the pave- ment for the journey to Calvary. See " On Section XXVIII." That Pilate wrote the title in Jerusalem, and that it was not nailed to the cross until the company reached Calvary, is witnessed by this : those who were condemned to death had the titles of their crimes written in large black letters, on white boards, and carried ^before them, o-r hung from their necks as they were led forth to crucifixion. ** In leading to his death a person condemned to cruci- fixion, it was usual to carry before him, or put on him, an inscription, stating the crime for which he suffered ; and sometimes such inscription was fastened to his cross, as in the present instance." (Kitto.) " On a white tablet the cause of His execution was re- corded. We know not whether He bore it on His neck, or whether it was carried before Him, for both modes were practiced." (Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 373.) '* According to the definition of Suidas, quoted by Pearson, the board was a tablet or table, whitened with a coating of gypsum, and commonly used for writing any public notices. But whether this was carried before the Savior or hung round His neck, seems uncertain, but the former much more prob- able." In speaking of the Golgotha procession. Dr. Geikie says : "The soldiers stepped into their ranks, and the prisoners were set under guard in their places, each carrying, hung from his neck, a whitened board, proclaiming in large black letters the offences for which he was about to die ; unless, indeed, as in some cases, a soldier bore it before them." (Vol. II., p. 559.) Dr. Farrar says the board containing the title of the crime for wliich one was to be crucified " was sometimes hung round the neck." (Life of Christ, Vol. IL, p. 396.) Section XXI I I. 8 1 " Ordinarily, the progession was headed by the centurion, or rather preceded by one who proclaimed the nature of the crime, and carried a white wooden board, on which it was written." (Edersheim, Vol. II., p. 583.) " The official white tablet . . . accompanied the pro- cession to the place of execution and contained the title of the crime, as well as the name of the criminal." (Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. VI., p. 150.) ** The title in question must have been prepared before the procession set out, and brought by the soldiers with them. . . . It is probable, then, that Pilate was getting the title ready while the soldiers and the rest of the band were employed in the mockery of Jesus." (Greswell, Vol. III., pp. 246, 247.) It is not certain whether the robbers' titles were nailed to their crosses. We are of the opinion they were not. For the wonderful significance of the title on Jesus' cross, see Section XXX. For the events that occurred between the writing of the title and the starting to Golgotha, see Sections XXIV.- XXVII. West Audience Diagram of Herod's Palace, Illustrative of Jesus' Last Triai. Before Pilatb, etc. Copyright, 1886, by Standard Publishing Company. (82) Diagram of Herod's Palace. Explanation. — a a a a. Pilate goes out on to the Pavement, and pronounces Jesus innocent (Section 24). a 2. Pilate has Jesus brought out on to the Pavement, and cries, " Behold the Man !" i 2 j. Herod, Annas, Caiphas. b b b. Pilate takes Jesus in to the Praetorium Hall, and asks Him if He is the Son of God, but gets no answer (Section 25). < c c. Pilate leaves Jesus in Praetorium Hall, goes out on to Pavement, and seeks to release Him (Section 26). c 2. Pilate brings Jesus out on to the Pavement, d. Pilate sits down on his judgment seat, and cries out, " Behold your King." e. Pilate delivers Jesus to his soldiers (Sec» don 27). /. Pilate's soldiers take Jesus, and put His own raiment on Him (Section 28). g. Golgatha procession. (83) LAST TRIAL. SECTION XXIV.— JESUS BEFORE PILATE, 4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring Him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in Him. . 5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them. Behold the Man ! 6 When the chief priests, therefore, and offi- cers saw Him, they cried out, saying, Crucify Him, Crucify Him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye Him, and crucify Him : for I find no FAULT in Him. 7 The Jews answered Him, We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God. 8 When Pilate therefore heard that sayings he was the more afraid (John xix., A. V.). 84 Section XXIV. 8$ ON SECTION XXIV. Our notes on Section XXIII. left Pilate in his palace. He went into it, to make preparations for the immediate cru- cifixion of Jesus. He came out, determined to release Him. He had released Barabbas (Section XX.) to the multitude, and Jesus could not now be released under the plea of their custom. What changed his mind ? He had publicly prom- ised the multitude he would crucify Jesus according to their will (Section XX.) What changed his mind? The cross and title were ready : what changed his mind ? His officers were ready to call the procession into line : what could have changed his mind ? This : — as he was passing through the prsetorium-hall, he saw the Savior, clothed in a scarlet robe, bruised, mangled, bleeding — bleeding, as he had never seen a mortal man. This changed his mind, touched his heart, and inspired him anew to seek to release Him. The release of Barabbas, the promise to crucify Jesus, and the boiling expectation of the multitude who would not be defeated, had completely compromised Pilate's ability to save Him : and yet, in the face of these human insurmountable barriers, and with the strongest probability of a riot, he went boldly out on the pavement, and publicly exclaimed, ** Behold, I am going to bring Jesus out to you, that you may all know that I find no fault in Him." Then the guards led Jesus out on to the pavement by the side of Pilate. There He stands, with His hands bound, clothed in a scarlet robe all spotted and streaked with blood ; a crown of thorns on His head ; the blood oozing from a score of thorn-gashes ; dried blood in His hair, on His face, on His hands, and with the very marks of the soldier's spittle on Him. There He stands — weak, lonely, friendless, homeless, defenseless, tear- 86 The Trials of Christ. stained, blood-stained creature. •• Behold the Man ! " cried Pilate. ** His visage was so marred, more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men " (Isa. Hi. 14). Surely such a sight would have moved any heart that was not as hard as rock. But it did not touch the hearts of the chief priests and Jewish officers ; for, when they saw Him thus, they cried out, "Crucify, crucify Him." Pilate says, "Take Him and crucify Him yourselves ; for I — will — not — do — it ; for I find no fault in Him." Then they fell back on their orig- inal charge by saying, " He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." " Son of God ! Son of God ! Son of God ! " said Pilate to himself; " I must know what that means before I further go ; this mysterious Man may be from another world ; I will ask Him." See notes on Section XXV. SECTION XXV.— JESUS BEFORE PILATE, 9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art Thou ? But Jesus gave Him no answer. 10 Then saith Pilate unto Him, Speakest Thou not unto me? knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and have power to release Thee ? Section XXVI. 87 1 1 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above : therefore he that delivered Me unto thee hath the greater sin (John xix., A. v.). ON SECTION XXV. When the chief priests charged Jesus with saying that He was the Son of God, Pilate was the more afraid, and took Him into the prsetorium-hall, and asked Him from what place, or world, He had come; but received no answer. Pilate said to Him, "Jesus, speakest Thou not tome? know- est Thou not that I have the power to release thee, and have also power to crucify Thee ? Dost Thou not know that Thy c^oss is ready and waiting for Thee ? Dost thou not know that my soldiers are waiting my commands to crucify Thee ? Speakest Thou not to me — to me, representative of the Roman Empire?" Jesus' wonderfully significant answer was, " If it were not a matter of divine permission, thou couldst have no power at all over Me : therefore Caiaphas, who delivered Me to thee, hath a greater sin than thee." See notes, Section XXVI. ; see also diagram, page 82. SECTION XXVI— JESUS BEFORE PI LA TE. 12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release Him : but the Jews cried out, saying, If 88 The Trials of Christ. thou let this Man go, thou art not Caesar's friend; whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar (John xix., A. V.). ON SECTION XXVI. When Jesus told Pilate he would be powerless lo crucify Him, without the divine permission, he seems to have been more fearful than ever, and went out on to the pavement again and sought to release Him. But he was met by the most terrible expression that had fallen upon his ears, *' If thou let this Man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. He speaks against Caesar, and if thou let Him go, we will report thy trea- son to the emperor." The Jews knew that the Roman Em- peror appointed and removed the governors of the provinces at will ; therefore, they threatened Pilate with the loss of his position if he did not yield to their demand. This threat struck Pilate at the weakest point. But how glaring the hypocrisy of these Jews ! They pretended to love the gov- ernment of Rome, and to revere her king ; whilst in their hearts they hated both with a perfect hatred. This threat struck Pilate with terror ; — but see notes on Section XXVII. SECTION XXVIL— JESUS BEFORE PILA TE. 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the Section XXVII. 89 judgment seat in a place that is called the Pave- ment, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 And it was the preparation of the pass- over, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King ! 15 But they cried out, Away with Him, away with Him ! crucify Him ! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered. We have no king but Caesar. 16 Then delivered he Him therefore unto them to be crucified (John xix., A. V.). ON SECTION XXVII. Our notes on Section XXVI. left Pilate on the pavement, threatened by the Jews that if he liberated Jesus, they would send a charge of treason against him to Rome, to Tiberias Claudius Nero Caesar. When he heard this — this, the most terrible of all words he had heard from their lips — he or- dered Jesus brought out of the prsetorium-hall on to the pavement,* and then sat down on his judgment-seat ; and in that awful place, at that awful time, he made his farewell and touching appeal for the I^ord and Savior Jesus Christ. It was made not to the cold judgment, but to the sympathy of the multitude : *« Behold your King — bleeding, sad, pale, sick at heart, half dying ! have you not hearts to pity Him? " But in that vast multitude, not a voice of pity was *" It is worthy of special note, that when Jesus was brought out on the pavement each time during this trial, he had on no garment save the scarlet robe. See Sections XXII. and XXVIII. 90 The Trials of Christ. heard — not a single soul would speak a word for the ** Man of Sorrows," the bleeding ** Lamb of God." Not one of His apostles would raise his voice in behalf of his Master. Even the beloved John, whom Jesus loved, stood speechless by. The holy Galilean women who had administered to Him during the days of His ministry stood speechless aud riveted on the spot. His brethren, too, stand helplessly by. And His own dear Mother, on bended knees, and with upturned face to heaven's God, wrings her hands, and bleeds at heart, but can not speak. Will God let the gates of heaven ajar, speak, and own His Son ? or shall earth speak, and disown Him ? "Away with Him ! away with Him ! crucify Him ! " rose from a thousand voices. And now comes the farewell word, " Shall I crucify your King?" And now the final yell, •* We have no king but Caesar." This ended all — Jesus is dead. Edersheim says: ** With this cry, • We have no king but Caesar,' Judaism was, in the person of its representatives, guilty of denial of God, of blasphemy, of apostasy. It committed suicide." (Vol. IL, p. 581.) "Where can be seen political tyranny, legitimate hier- archy, and mob uproar, in a wilder medley than here, where all political powers have united to raise themselves in one great diabolical chaos against the Prince of the Kingdom of God ? " (Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 366.) THE CRUCIFIXION. SECTION XXVIIL—ON THE WAY TO DEA TH. 31 ''And . . . they took the robe off from Him, and put His own raiment on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him " (Matt. xxvii., A. v.). 17 *' And He bearing His cross went forth '* (John xix., A. V.). 26 ' ' And as they led Him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. 27 "And there followed Him a great com- pany of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him. 28 ''But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 29 "For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say. Blessed are the barren^ 91 92 The Trials of Christ. and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. 30 "Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us ; and to the hills, Cover us. 31 * ' For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? 32 *' And there were also two other, malefac- tors, led with Him to be put to death " (Luke xxiii., A. v.). ON SECTION XXVIII. It has been stated that during the last trial before Pilate, Jesus was clothed only with a scarlet robe, which was put on Him in the praetorium-hall. At the close of that trial, and immediately before starting to Calvary, He was reclothed with His own raiment. The strong probability is that the crown of thorns was taken off His head at this time, though there is no statement in scripture or in history to that effect. The old notion, that Jesus carried His cross, just as it was when He was crucified on it, is far from the truth. The upright part of the cross was at least ten feet high, and of sufficient thickness to bear the weight of a man, after it was cut half in two, to inlet the transverse beam, which, of itself, was of sufficient size to bear the weight of the person to be crucified. These two pieces weighed not less than one hun- dred pounds, and perhaps much more ; which, as we shall presently see, Jesus was utterly unable to carry any consider- able distance. This becomes evident when we consider the wonderful mental and physical toils He endured from the Section XX VI 11. 95 time He entered Gethsemane until this hour ; during all which time He most probably did not taste food, and surely did not close His eyes in sleep. The fact is, Jesus was barely able to walk alone when the procession started to Calvary. Therefore, it was a physical impossibility for Him to carry the crosSj as He in pictures is represented to have borne it. We must not manufacture a miracle, in order to support tra- ditionary teaching. It would have been a miracle for Jesus to carry His entire cross from Herod's palace to Calvary. Such was not the custom ; for the cross was not put together until arriving at the place of execution. It consisted of four pieces ; a strong upright post, a transverse beam, a strong wooden pin (astride of which the crucified person sat), and a white board on which were written the name, and title of the crime, of the person. The upright posts of the three crosses were doubtless taken to Calvary in advance of the procession. The part of the cross Jesus really did carry a short distance was the transverse beam. According to Dr. Geikie, the transverse beam consisted of two parts. "The cross used at Calvary consisted of a strong post, which was carried beforehand to the place of execution, and of two cross-pieces, borne to the spot by the victim, and afterwards nailed to the upright, so that they slanted forward and let the sufferer lean on his outstretched hands, and thus relieve the pressure of his body downwards. A stout, rough wooden pin in the middle of the upright post supplied a seat of fitting agony, for the weight of the body would other- wise have torn it from the cross. . . . Each also bore the cross-beams of his cross, fastened together like the letter V, with his arms bound to the projecting ends." (Vol. II., PP- 558, 559.) '* An ancient Roman custom condemned guilty slaves to be led through the streets with the neck fastened in a V-shaped wooden fork, originally the support of the chariot pole, and 94 The Trials of Christ. then to be whipped to death with rods or to be dragged to the cross. As crucifixion became more customary, the acute- angled fork was replaced by the so-called patibulu7n, probably two long, horizontal beams of wood, the ends of which could be brought together, and between which the head of the criminal was placed, and his hands stretched out and bound to the other ends. In this wretched plight, he was dragged forth to the place of execution, where, with his patibulum^ the transverse beam to the vertical part of the cross, he was hung up and fastened on with nails. We are unwilling to think that to the other sufferings of Jesus was added that of the torturing disgrace of the neck-yoke, with His hands bound thereto. . . . There is still proof that that ancient form of punishment was no longer the invariable rule, and that Jesus in particular — as His clothing and His subsequent exemption by means of a representative show — was laden with His cross ; that is, with the transverse beam of the cross only lying upon His arms." (Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. VI., pp. 124, 125.) See also Dr. Farrar, Vol. II., p. 345 ; Edersheim, Vol. II., P- 583- We are of the opinion that Jesus bore only the transverse beam of His cross, and that only a short distance. For a description of the board that was nailed to Jesus' cross, see notes on Section XXIII. All things in readiness, the deicidal procession started on its deathward way. First came an officer bearing the inscrip- tion board, and proclaiming the crime for which the Son of Mary was to suffer ; then Jesus, bearing His cross, guarded by four soldiers ; then one of the robbers, guarded by four soldiers, preceded by an officer bearing an inscription board, and proclaiming the nature of the crime for which he was to die ; then the other robber, likewise ; then the holy women, among whom was the mother of Jesus ; then the soldiers j Section XXIX, 95 then the Sanhedrists ; then a motley throng — on foot, on horseback, m vehicles, any way and every way. And thus they proceeded to the deadly spot. The reader will find an interesting but fanciful article on this subject in Ben-Hor, p. 529. SECTION XXIX. — ARRIVAL AT GOLGOTHA. 33 And when they had come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 34 They gave Him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall : and when He had tasted thereof, He would not drink (Matt, xxvii., A. V.). * ON SECTION XXIX. Golgotha, or Calvary, •' Hill of Dying," was outside the city, and a little northwest of Herod's palace. See Andrews' Life of Our Lord, p. 560; Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. VL, p. 132. As soon as the procession had reached Calvary, the Roman soldiers formed a large death-circle around the spot of death. Inside that circle could be seen Pontius Pilate, the centurion who commanded the executions, twelve Roman soldiers, twelve spears, the three upright posts of the crosses planted ^6 The Trials of Christ. in the ground, two robbers, and the Lord Jesus Christ. On the ground inside the circle could also be seen three trans< verse beams for the crosses, three hammers, nails, cords, short ladders, and vessels containing the soldiers* food and wine. Outside the death-circle could be seen the fainting mother of our Lord, and the devout women who had followed Him all the way from Galilee. The centurion now commands the transverse beams nailed on the upright posts. It is done, and the cruel work is now ready to commence. One touch of humanity, and the barbarous murdering must begin. A Roman soldier offers Jesus an anaesthetic, to deaden the sensibility of His nervous system. He refuses to drink it. "All things are now ready," said the centurion; "let Jesus be crucified first." But see notes on Section XXX. for the continuation of this thought. This anaesthetic consisted of a sour wine, spiced with myrrh. " The Roman soldier carried his wine with him, which was of an inferior quality, but was often strengthened in its effect probably by mixture with spices. Among the Jews even in later times, it had become a prevailing custom to ofter a draught of intoxicating and stupefying wine to those who were being led to execution ; and the rabbis conceived that they saw therein a custom of pious gentleness, which they sought to base even upon a passage of holy Scripture (Prov. xxxi. 6). Even in the days of the Christian martyrs, it still occurred that sympathizing brethren in the faith and friends of those condemned to death offered in compassion such a cup to them on their journey to the place of execution." (Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV., pp. 382, 383.) This anaesthetic was prepared by the good women of Jeru- salem, and it is altogether probable that it was offered to the Savior at their request. In speaking of this wine (or vine- gar, as it is in the A. V.), Matthew had his mind on the fol- Section XXX. 97 lowing passage: "They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink " (Ps. Ixix. 21). Keim gives nothing new on this. SECTION XXX. — THE CRUCIFIXION. THAT OF JESUS. 25 "And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him " (Mark xv., A. V.). 34 *' And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do " (Luke xxiii.) 19 ** And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. 20 ' ' This title therefore read many of the Jews : for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek. 21 "The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews, but that He said, I am King of the Jews. 22 " Pilate answered. What I have written, I have written " (John xix., A. V.). 5 Q> The Saviour's Cross. Copyright, i886, by Standard Publishing Company. 98 Section XXX. 99 THAT OF THE ROBBERS. 27 ** And with Him they crucify two rob- bers; one on His right hand, and one on His left. 28 ''And the Scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And He was numbered with transgres- sors" (Mark xv.; Isa. liii. 12). ON SECTION XXX. After Jesus had refused the anaesthetic, the soldiers stripped Him of His raiment, until, according to history, He stood before that motley, gaping, countless throng, entirely nude. He was then '* lifted up " (by the help of ladders and cords) and set astride the rough wooden pin that served for a cruel seat, and His forearms tied to the transverse beam ; then one o>f the soldiers adjusted the right hand to the center of the beam, placed the point of a huge nail in the palm, and with many cruel strokes drove it to the head. He then passed to the other side, and nailed the left hand in the same manner. Then His knees were drawn up, until the soles of the feet rested flat on the tree (for such I believe it was), and a large rvail driven through each of them. It was about this time Jesus prayed for the wicked wretches who were crucifying Him: " Father, forgive them ; for they know not what they do." If they had known, they would not have struck a blow — " they would not have crucified the Lord of glory '* (I. Cor. ii. 8). One more cruelty, and Jesus will be crucified. One of the soldiers ascends a ladder, placed behind the cross, and nails the title-board on the upright post above 100 The Trials of Christ. Jesus' head, sending hundreds of pangs through as many- quivering nerves. Jesus is crucified. Pilate, by this inscription, stung the Jews as deep as his venom could reach ; for he had published in the three great languages of the world, and to all peoples of the world, that Jesus of Nazareth was the King of the Jews, and that they had crucified Him. The Sanhedrists petition Pilate to change the title, but he said as much as to say to them, •* You made me take back my spoken words concerning crucifying Jesus, but you can not make me go back on my written words. What I have written I will not change." The next fearful event was the crucifixion of the robbers^ which took place in the same manner as that of Jesus, with the exception that the inscription-boards do not seem to have been nailed to their crosses. ON SECTIONS XXIX. AND XXX. •'The cross was high enough if the feet of the delinquent did not touch the ground ; the wood was not to be wasted, and it had to be kept in mind that the condemned must be able himself to carry the transverse beam of his cross. Thus, at Jesus' crucifixion, it is assumed that He was raised at most only one or two feet above the ground, so that a short hyssop stalk would suffice to carry the vinegar sponge to His mouth. The wood chosen was that which could be most easily ob- tained, and the beams were shaped roughly ; in the neighbor- hood of Jerusalem, olive-wood would most probably be em- ployed. . . . As a rule, the upright part of the cross, •without the transverse beam, was set up before the con- demned was fastened to it. It very seldom occurred that the condemned was crucified upon the wood as it lay on the ground, to be afterwards set up. The malefactor was stripped Section XXX. loi naked by the executioners, and then attached by the soldiers to the transverse part of the cross, which might consist of cither one or two pieces of wood." (Keim's Jesus of Naz- ara, Vol. VI., p. 144.) See also the article on " Crucifixion," in Historical Ap- pendix. In another place Keim says: " Polycarp stripped himself entirely (Eus. IV. 15)." '• Among the Jews, there was a certain amount of covering." " Athan, Ambrose, Origen, speak of perfect nudity." On the unclothing of Jesus, see Friedlieb, 143. *< Apulius has the striking comparison : naked as a new-born babe, or as the crucified." "There was a twofold manner of crucifixion. Either the condemned were lifted up to the cross, already erected, or they were fastened to in while it was on the ground ; the former manner seems to have been the more usual." (Fried- lieb, 142). " It was much more common first to erect the cross, and then to set the condemned on the small projecting bar, and proceed with the fixing to the cross." (Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV,, p. 386.) The seat of the cross is specially mentioned on p. 381. Bynaeus calls the seat " the sedile of the cross." Andrews is of the opinion that persons to be crucified were nailed to the crosses after they were planted in the ground (P- 535). " The cross-pieces were nailed in their places on the up- right posts, sometimes before, sometimes after, the posts themselves had been set up." (Dr. Geikie, Vol. II., p. 562.) See also p. 643, where several writers are quoted as believing that the crucified were stripped entirely nude. 102 The Trials of Christ. SECTION XXXL— JESUS' ^GARMENTS. 23 "The soldiers, therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part, and also the coat : now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24 ' * They said therefore one to another. Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be : that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith. They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did " (John xix.) 36 "And sitting down, they watched Him there " (Matt, xxvii., A. V.). ON SECTION XXXI. Jesus' garments consisted of five parts : a sudar, or head- dress ; a tunic, or seamless coat, worn next to the body ; a tallith, or cloak worn over the tunic ; a girdle, fastened round the waist, and sandals. The Roman military law appointed four soldiers to execute criminals. Each of the four who crucified the Savior took a garment ; one the sudar, one the tallith, one the girdle, and the other the sandals. Then they cast lots for the tunic, or seamless coat, which probably was. given to the centurion. Section XX XL 103 The garments of the crucified belonged, according to Roman custom, to the executioners. Keim says, in after times it was not so. The soldiers' act of taking Jesus' gar- ments was not a cruelty, but a privilege. Their sitting down and watching Jesus was not an intended cruelty, but a bounden duty. In the following quotations, I give the reader the best description of Jesus dress known to me : "On His head, held in its place by a cord, He wore a white sudar, the ends of which hung down His shoulders. Over His tunic, which reached to the hands and feet, was a blue tallith, with the prescribed tassels at the four corners, but only as large as Moses required. It was so thrown over Him, and so held together, that the gray, red-striped under- garment (tunic) was little seen, and His feet, which had sandals, not shoes, were only noticed occasionally when He moved." (Geikie, Vol. II., p. 135.) "There is, indeed, great reason for the belief of some that Jesus and His followers differed, alike in dress, demeanor, mode of life, and customs, from the teachers of the day and their followers. The simple tunic and upper-garment may have had the tallith worn by all other Jews, but we may be certain that the tassels at its corners were in contrast to the huge, ostentatious size affected by the rabbis. Nor can we imagine that either Jesus or the twelve sanctioned by their use the superstitious leathern phylacteries, which others bound, with long fillets, on their left arm and their forehead at prayers." (Geikie, Vol. II., p. 128.) '* He does not wear the white ephod of the Levite, or the sweeping robes of the scribe. There are not, on His arm and forehead, the tephillin and phylacteries, which the Pharisees make so broad ; and though there is at each corner of His dress the fringe and blue ribbon which the Law enjoins, it is not worn of the ostentatious size affected by those who wished to parade the scrupulousness of their 104 1^^^ Trials of Christ. obedience. He is in the ordinary dress of His time and country. He is not bare-headed, as painters usually repre- sent Him ; for to move about bareheaded in the Syrian sun- light is impossible ; but a white keffiyeh, such as is worn to this day, covers His hair, fastened by an aghal or fillet round the top of the head, and falling back over the neck and shoulders. A large blue outer robe, or tallith, pure and clean, but of the simplest materials, covers His entire person, and only shows occasional glimpses of the ketoneth, a seam- less woolen tunic of the ordinary striped texture so common in the East, which is confined by a girdle round the waist, and which clothes Him from the neck almost down to the sandaled feet." '* By the Law ■■• of Moses, every Jew was to wear at each corner of his tallith a fringe or tassel, bound by a ribbon of symbolic blue, to remind him that he was holy to God. Two of these fringes usually hung down at the bottom of the robe ; one hung over the shoulder, where the robe was folded round the person." (Farrar, Vol. I., pp. 311, 312, 355-) "After they had finished their work, they shared among them His clothes, which by Roman right fell to their lot. Of the upper-garment they probably made four parts, loosening =•= 37 " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 38 " Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments, throughout their genera- tions, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: 39 " And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye used to go a whoring, 40 "That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God " (Num. xv. 37-40.) 12 " Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself" (Deut. xxii. 12), Section XXXI. 105 the seams. But the under-garment (tunic) could not thus be unsewn because it was without seam — worked in one piece — a kind of dress which resembled the priestly garment, as it must have been in use, however, among the poor Galileans. . . . In thus casting lots upon the vesture of Christ, the amusement of the soldiers took the character of a game at dice." (Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 390, 391.) In speaking of Jesus' dress, Keim says : "In fact, the general appearance, demeanor, style of life, and habits, were such as had never been heard of in Israel for a teacher and a school. To the dress-mantle and under-garment were want- ing the four enormously large tassels of the scribes, the ridiculous symbols of their extraordinary observance of the Divine commands ; on the forehead and the arm failed alto- gether the superstitious and truly leathern phylacteries, and to the head unnecessary, slovenly, and affected roughness by which Pharisees, Essenes, and the disciples of John made themselves conspicuous. . . . Jesus spoke approvingly of the Baptist for having allowed nothing effeminate in dress or habit ; He made it a part of His own condition of life not to have where to lay His head ; and He enjoined upon His apostles the simplest apparel and equipments. Therefore, it is not to be supposed that He wore a costly coat like that of the high-priests, but most likely one given Him by the women." (Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. L, pp. 343, 344.) See also Friedlieb, 149 ; Sepp, III., 552 ; Strauss' New Life of Jesus, English translation. Vol. II., p. 371. io6 The Trials of Christ. SECTIONS XXXII. , XXXIII, XXXI V,— THE MOCKERY AT THE CROSS. BY THE MULTITUDE. 39 "And they that passed by railed at Him, wagging their heads, 40 ''And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thy- self: if Thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross" (Matt, xxvii.). BY SANHEDRISTS AND THE ROBBERS. 41 "In like manner also the chief priests mocking Him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42 " He saved others ; Himself He can not save. He is the King of Israel ; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe on Him. 44 "He trusteth on God; let Him deliver Him now, if He desireth Him : for He said, I am the Son of God. 44 " And the robbers also that were crucified with Him cast upon Him the same reproach " (Matt, xvii., R. V.) Section XXXV. 107 BY THE ROMAlSf SOLDIERS. 36 " And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, offering Him vinegar, 37 "And saying, If Thou be the King of the Jews, save Thyself" (Luke xxiii., A. V.). ON SECTIONS XXXII. , XXXIII., XXXIV. In the foregoing Scripture statements, Jesus is taunted with having said He was able to destroy the Jerusalem temple, with claiming to be the Son of God and King of Israel. la this nefarious wickedness, the robbers joined for a time ; but one soon repented ; see Section XXXV. This view harmo- nizes the statement of Matthew with that of Luke concerning the mockery by the robbers. "Offering Him Vinegar." — Jesus was offered vinegar three times: first, on arriving at Calvary (Matt, and Mark) ; secondly, soon after He was nailed to the cross (Luke only) ; and lastly, just before His death (Matt., Mark and John). SECTION XXXV. — THE DYING ROBBERS. 39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, saying. Art not Thou the Christ ? save Thyself and us. io8 The Trials of Christ. 40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, Dost thou not even fear God, seeing Thou art in the same condemnation ? 41 And we indeed, justly ; for we receive the •due reward of our deeds : but this Man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said, Jesus, remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom. 43 And He said unto him. Verily I say XJNTO THEE, TO-DAY SHALT THOU BE WITH Me IN PARADISE (Luke xxiii., R. V.). ON SECTION XXXV. I assume that the robbers faced the west, that Jesus faced the east, in order that He might face the malefactors, and the temple He was accused of threatening to destroy. This position is well adapted to account for the conversation that passed between the robbers and the Savior. In this case, they looked Jesus in the face when they mocked Him ; and the penitent one also looked Him in the face, when he cried, *' Jesus, remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom." This position also seems to be the true one, when we consider that the inscription on Jesus' cross faced the city ; and that when the soldiers went to break the limbs of all, they came to the thieves first, and last to Jesus. For a chronological arrangemeut of the Savior's utterances •on the cross, see notes on Section XL. Section XXXVI. lo^ SECTION XXXVL — THE LAST WORDS TO HIS MOTHER AND TO JOHN 25 But there were standing by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clophas, and Mary Magda- lene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold THY SON ! 27 Then saith He to the disciple. Behold THY MOTHER ! And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home (John xix.). ON SECTION XXXVL In the above section, we have, on the human side, one of the most touching incidents connected with the death of the dear Redeemer. The writer fittingly and humbly keeps in the background until the nature of the narrative forces him to speak at least indirectly of himself. Hard by the circle formed around the crosses, there stood a small, but devoted, group — Mary, the mother of Jesus ; Salome, the mother of the *' disciple whom Jesus loved ; " Mary, the wife of Clo- phas ; Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils; and John, the sweet-spirited and most devoted fol- lower, whom, of all the well beloved apostles, Jesus loved the best. This apostle, who leaned on Jesus' bosom at the no The Trials of Christ. Paschal Supper, at the Lord's Supper, and stood nearest to Him during the long and shameful trials — this disciple, as love's last act, leads four holy, weeping, broken-hearted women to Calvary, to witness the dying agonies of their Lord, his Master. In that little group weepingly stood a^ woman with a bruised, broken, bleeding heart — the mother of the human nature of the Divine Son who hung bleeding on the cross before her. There were earthly and fleshly relations between that holy group and the Divine Man, that all the powers of hell and pains of Calvary could not induce the blessed Savior to overlook. Although death is piercing His soul from every side, the powers of darkness gathering thick and fast about Him, His soul making an atonement for the sins of the world ; yet, notwithstanding all, when He sees His mother on bended knees, wringing her hands and weeping — weeping as only heaven's favored mother, the mother of the Divine Son, could weep — then for a moment He fixed His gaze on her who had cradled Him in Bethlehem's manger, and said as the parting words to her, ** Woman, behold thy son! " And then to John, who stood by her, "Behold thy mother ! " Then the disciple whom Jesus loved took the weeping, faintirtg Mary to his own home, and speedily re- turned to the cross, to see the Savior close His eyes in death. So far as we know, he is the only apostle who did witness the closing moments of the Savior's agonies. ** Looking up to Him, John saw the light of higher than earthly victory on His pale features, and felt his faith confirmed forever " (Geikie). Section XXX VII I. iii SECTION XXXVIL—- DARKNESS AT NOONDAY. 33 "And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour " (Mark xv., A. V.). 45 "And the sun was darkened" (Luke xxiii., A. v.). ON SECTION XXXVII. All the events of the crucifixion recorded in Sections XXX. to XXXVI. occurred between the hours of nine and twelve o'clock. At high noon, God drew a great black vail over the face of the sun, sent the hush of heaven on the hellish mockery at the cross, and clothed all nature in mourning ; whilst His well beloved Son was enduring a man-forsakenness, and, in some mysterious sense, a God-for- sakenness. ( For eulogy on Pontius Pilate, see Historical Appendix.) SECTION XXXVIII ^ THE CRY OF SEEMING GOD- FORSAKENNESS. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabach- 112 TJte Trials of Christ. thani ? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ? (Mark XV., A. V.) SECTION XXXIX. — THE THIRST OF JESUS. 28 "After this, Jesus, knowing that all things are now finished, that the scripture might be accomplished, saith, I thirst. 29 * * There was set there a vessel full of vinegar ; so they put a sponge full of the vin- egar upon hyssop, and brought it to His mouth " (John xix.). 49 ** And the rest said. Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save Him " (Matt, xxvii.). SECTION XL.— THE DEATH OF JESUS 30 *' When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar " (John xix.), ** He cried again with a loud voice " (Matt, xxvii. 50, A. V.), " It is Section XL. 113 finished: and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit " (John xix.). 46 '' And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands I com- mend My spirit : and having said this, He gave up the ghost " (Luke xxiii., A. V.). ON SECTIONS XXXVIII., XXXIX., XL. The Savior's utterances on the cross occurred in the fol- lowing order, viz. : 1. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke, Section XXX.) 2. To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise (Luke, Sec- tion XXXV.) 3. Woman, behold thy son (John, Section^XXXVL) 4. Behold thy mother (John, Section XXXVI.) 5. Eloi, Eloi, etc. (Matt., Mark, Section XXXVIII.) 6. I thirst (John, Section XXXIX.) 7. It is finished (John, Section XL.) 8. Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit (Luke, Section XL.) The first four utterances occurred between the hours of nine and twelve o'clock ; the last four within the first fifteen minutes after three o'clock P. M. This work is not to contain any theological views ; there- fore, I pass this tremendous subject, comparatively sileat. Keim on the Death of Jesus.— In speaking of the won- derful sufferings of Jesus on the cross, Keim says : "In all this feverishness, in all this sense of oppression, in all this exhaustion, perhaps no protection from the sky and nothing from men except the continuous scorn and the once-given 1 14 The Trials of Christ. vinegar-water. . . . God be praised, He was no super- human prodigy, He was a raan ; and in the terrible catas- trophe He was no intemperate enthusiast ; He was a sage. Not merely a sage, He was a sage even in His silence, and because He kept silence. . . . Yet not for a moment could the death of the Messiah be allowed to appear as the death of an ordinary man, of a criminal. If men did not shudder at and mourn over the terrible deed committed under the sanction of the common practice, then God must mourn; and He must not merely mourn over an occurrence which He had in fact Himself ordained, but He must at the same time bring the victorious fruit of this sanguinary work under the eyes of men. "That to the end He was silent in His agony before His judges and His revilers, and that He silently accepted His terrible, divinely-appointed destiny, is the sign of a royal Man who, in spite of the harshness and the cruel contradic- tion of His fate, was strong to walk in that way which His mind and will had long since acknowledged to be inevitable, a severe but wise dispensation of God. He could complain, but that would be to murmur ; He could censure, but that would not be to sacrifice Himself; He could recant and descend from the cross, but that would be to repudiate His Messiahship. He suffered, and, though it was against nature, yet it was His vocation to do so. He suffered, believing that God willed it, purposing to atone by His blood, sure of giving to His own the last promised farewell gift, hoping that it was only His body, and not His soul, which He was sacri- ficing, but that He would ascend from His cross to the heaven of God, to the final Messiahship. This is the golden substance of His silence, the golden sermon without words. " It was God's will to make the Hero of our faith spirit- ually and morally perfect, and to bind mankind forever to Section XLL ii5 His person by repentance and love. Therefore God deliv- ered Him up, and forbade angels and men to save Him from the cross. . . • " But such a combination of conviction, performance, voca- tion and destiny had never occurred. In His unfathomable profundity, the Man of idealism stands on the height of His Messiahship without a parallel in word and deed ; and man. kind loves Him who thus died for it, and thanks Pilate that, instead of contemptuously acquitting Jesus, or procuring for Him a private death within the walls of Cassarea, he per- mitted Him to die publicly in the presence of the people, apparently so dishonorably, but in reality so grandly. . . . " Verily, nowhere in the world's history does the enigma of Providence stand before us in such gigantic proportions as in the Divine permission of the cruel death of the Man at whose hands God received back His world — His human race." (Jesus of Nazara, pp. 163, 170, 164, 165, 166.) SECTION XLL^MIRACLES AT JESUS' DEATH. 5 1 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom ; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent ; 52 And the graves were opened; and many- bodies of the saints which slept arose, ii6 The Trials of Christ. 53 And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many (Matt, xxvii., A. V.) ON SECTION XLI. *' According to Matthew's order of events, many of the graves of the saints flew open when the Savior died, aud left their bodies exposed to the bleaching sun, and to the curious gaze of the ten thousand passers-by, from His death until after His resurrection (xxvii. 50-53). There has evidently been, on the part of some one, a bad handling of this part of Matthew's Gospel. The saints evidently rose from death immediately after Christ's resurrection. Therefore, Matt, xxvii. 52, 53, should stand immediately after xxviii. 4." (Stout's Chronology of Christ's Life, p. 387.) SECTION XLI L — THE CONSCIENCE- SMITTEN DEICIDES. 54 ** Now the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earth quake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying. Truly, this was the Son of God " (Matt, xxvii.). Section XLIIL 117 48 **And all the multitudes that came to- gether to this sight, when they beheld the things that were done, returned smiting their breasts " (Luke xxiii.) ON SECTION XLII. At the close of the deicidal work, Almighty God gave the soldiers and the multitude a partial realization of the fact that they had imbrued their hands in the holy blood of His only begotten Son ; and they returned, smiting their breasts, while their consciences accused them of having crucified God. SECTION XLIIL — PIERCING JESUS' SIDE. 31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 The soldiers therefore came, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with Him : ii8 The Trials of Christ. 33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs. 34 Howbeit one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and straightway there came out blood and water. 35 And he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true : and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye also may believe. 36 For these things came to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken (Ex. xii. 46). 37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on Him whom they pierced (John xix.; Zech. xii. 10). ON SECTION XLIII. In the notes on Section XXXV., we assumed that Jesus was made to face the thieves, and the temple ; and by this position we can readily see how the soldiers came to break the legs of the robbers, before attempting to break the legs of the Savior. They were keeping guard in front of Jesus, with the robbers between them and Him ; and, therefore, not by choice, but by circumstance, they approached the robbers first. If their positions had been reversed, the Savior's side would have been pierced first. The Savior's side was not pierced by an upward and gentle touch of a narrow Roman spear ; but by a fearful thrust, made almost on a level, with both hands, by a very wide Section XLIIL 119 spear. That the gash was very large, is evident from the Redeemer's language to the chronic doubter: "Thomas,! perceive that thou dost not believe I am raised from the grave. Reach hither thy finger, Thomas ; now thrust it deep into this nail-hole in My hand. This, Thomas, is the print of one of the nails that was driven through my hands on the cross." Then He made bare His side, and said: "Thomas, reach hither thy hand; now thrust thy whole hand deep into My side, and be not faithless, but believing." He began to make the thrust, but was awe- stricken, and paralyzed by faith, so that he started backward, threw up his hands, and exclaimed : " My Lord and my God ! " He was cured. A critical and chronological survey of the physical and mental sufferings of the Savior, from the time He entered Gethsemane until He reached Calvary, considered in connec- tion with the excruciating pains of the cross, make a suffi- cient explanation as to His early death. We need no miracle to explain why He died so soon ; but, on the other hand, we almost need a miracle to explain how He endured so much before dying. HISTORICAL APPENDIX. ANNAS. Annas was a Sadducee, and was appointed high-priest by Quirinius, Governor of Syria. He held the office from A. D. 7 to A. D. 14, when he was deposed by Valerius Gratus, Proc- urator of Judaea. "The conjunction of the two names of Annas and Caiaphas probably indicated that, although Annas was deprived of the pontificate, he still continued to preside over the Sanhedrin — a conclusion not only borne out by Acts iv. 6, where Annas appears as the actual president, and by the terms in which Caiaphas is spoken of as merely one of them, but by the part which Annas took in the final condem- nation of Jesus" (Life and Times of Jesus, Edersheim, Vol. I., p. 264). **No figure is better known in contemporary Jewish history than that of Annas ; no person deemed more fortunate or successful, but none also more generally execra- ted than the high-priest. He had held the pontificate for only six or seven years; but it was filled by not fewer than five of his sons, by his son-in-law, and by a grandson. He enjoyed all the dignity of the office, and all its influence also, since he was able to promote to it those most closely connect- ed with him. And, while they acted publicly, he really di- rected affairs, without either the responsibility or the re- straints which the office imposed. His influence with the Romans he owed to the religious views which he professed, to his open partisanship with the foreigner, and to his enor- 122 Trials of Christ. mous wealth. The Sadducean Annas was an eminently safe churchman, not troubled with any special convictions, nor with Jewish fanaticism, a pleasant and a useful man also, who was able to furnish his friends within the Praetorium with large sums of money. We have seen what immense revenues the family of Annas must have derived from the Temple- booths, and how nefarious and unpopular the traffic was. The names of those bold, licentious, unscrupulous, degenerate sons of Aaron were spoken with whispered curses. Without referring to Christ's interference with that Temple-traffic, which, if his authority had prevailed, would of course have been fatal to it, we can understand how antithetic in every respect a Messiah, and such a Messiah as Jesus, must have been to Annas, He was as resolutely bent on His death as his son-in-law, though with his characteristic cunning and coolness, not in the hasty, bluff manner of Caiaphas" (Eder- sheim, Vol. II., p. 547). "Avarice, the besetting sin of Judas — the besetting sin of the Jewish race — seems to have been the besetting sin of the family of Hanan" (Annas). "It was they who had founded the famous four shops under the twin cedars of Olivet — in which were sold things legally pure, and which they had manipulated with such commercial cunning as artificially to raise the prices of doves to a gold coin apiece, until the peo- ple were delivered from this gross imposition by the indig- nant interference of a grandson of Hillel. There is every reason to believe that the shops which had intruded even un- der the temple porticoes were not only sanctioned by their authority, but even managed for their profit. To interfere with these, was to rob them of one important source of that wealth and worldly comfort to which they attached such ex- travagant importance. There was good reason why Hanan, the head representative of the viper brood, as a Talmudic author calls them, should strain to the utmost his cruel pre- Historical Appendix. 123 rogative of power to crush a prophet whose actions tended to make him and his powerful family at once wholly contempt- ible and comparatively poor" (Farrar, Vol. II., p. 334). BLASPHEMY. Strictly speaking, blasphemy is speaking evil of God. " Re. member this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that a foolish people have blasphemed thy name " (Ps. Ixxiv. 18). '*My name continually is blasphemed" (Isa. lii. 5). "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as it is written" (Rom. ii. 24). It also means any phase of evil speaking against God. "And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, and let them bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst curse God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him that he die" (I. Ki. xxi. 10). "And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment, and said unto them. Your blood be upon your own heads ; I am clear : from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles" (Acts xviii. 6). In Hosea vii. 16, blasphemy means reproach or derision; and in II. Sam. xii. 14, it means to despise Judaism. Among the Jews, the blasphemer was punished by stoning. And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and the son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp ; and the son of the Israelitish woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed : and they brought him to Moses. And his mother's name was Shelomith. . . . And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying. Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp ; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whoso- ever curseth his God shall bear his sin. And he that blas- phemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to 124 Trials of Christ, death ; all the congregation shall certainly stone him : as well the stranger, as the homeborn, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death " (Lev, xxiy. 10-16). The Jews understood Lev. xxiv. 16 to prohibit them from pronouncing the name of Jehovah under any circumstances; hence they did not. One divine says: "Three things are es- sential to this crime: i, God must be the object; 2, the words spoken or written . . . must be injurious in their na- ture ; and, 3, he who commits the crime must do it knowing- ly." **By the laws of England and of many of the United States, blasphemies of God, as denying His being or provi- dence, and all contumelious reproaches of the Lord Jesus Christ, profane scoffing at the Holy Bible, or exposing it to contempt, are offenses punishable by fine and imprisonment" (Blackstone's Commentaries, Bk. IV., ch. iv.). "According to the law of Scotland, blasphemy is punished with death ; these laws, however, in the present age are not enforced " (McClintock & Strong's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, Vol. L, p. 830). It was a Jewish ordinance that the clothes should be rent on the hearing of a blasphemy; and herein it was specially ordered that the high-priest should rend his clothes from be- low upward, whereas ordinarily the rent was made from above downward. This rent was not to be sewn up again (Sepp, iii. 473). Upon the ceremony of the rending of the clothes, see Friedlieb, 92. The high-priest certainly was not to rend his sacred garments ; but he wore them only on high festivals in the temple (92). The passages forbidding the high-priests to rend their garments are Lev. x. 6, and xxi. 10. Byneus tells us that the Jewish doctors understood this to refer only to the sacred robe used in the temple ser- vice. He also tells us the rent was to be in front, from the bottom to the top. Lightfoot, on Matt. xxvi. 65, quotes from the tract Sanhedrim : '* They that judge a blasphemer first ask Historical Appendix. 125 the witness, and bid him speak out plainly what he hath heard; and when he speaks it, the judges, standing on their feet, rend their garments, and do not sew them up again " (quoted in Lange's Life of Christ, Vol. IV., p. 310}. CAIAPHAS. Caiaphas was appointed high-priest by Valerius Gratus, A. D. 25, shortly before he left Judsea. He held his office during the entire procuratorship of Pontius Pilate (who suc- ceeded Gratus), and until some time after Marcellus (Pilate's successor) was appointed. Caiaphas was deposed by Vitellius, Governor of Syria, in A. D. 36, having held his office eleven years. Dr. Geikie has strangely contradicted himself on this point. In Vol. II., p. 502, he says: "At the time of the con- demnation of Jesus, Caiaphas had held the high-priesthood for seventeen years; " and on page 336, in the same volume, he says: "Caiaphas had been appointed by the Procurator Valerius Gratus, shortly before the governor left the prov- ince, in A. D. 25 — when Jesus was about twenty years of age ; and he continued to hold his great office till the year A. d. 36, when he was removed by the Proconsul Vitellius, shortly after the recall of Pilate." The last statement is correct. It is only by a retrospective and chronological view of the life of Caiaphas, that the full turpitude of his crime can be seen. As early as the feast of Purim (Adar — March), which was just before Jesus entered upon the second year of his minis- try, the Jerusalem Jews "sought to slay him" (John v. 16). We charge Caiaphas with inciting the Jews to this murderous effort; for the common Jews did not lead the Sanhedrists and the high-priest, but vice versa. Therefore, if Caiaphas was not the prime mover in this black iniquity, he was surely in com- plicity with the Jews, and according to the language of him whom they sought to kill, was already in the sight of God a murderer (Matt. xv. 19). 1 26 Trials of Christ. In the following September, as soon as Jesus had made His appearance in the Court of the Women, in the Temple, at the feast of Tabernacles, He was surrounded by Caiaphas* clique, who "sought to take Him: but no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come" (John vii. 30). On the last day of the feast of Tabernacles the San- hedrists sent officers to arrest Jesus ; but when they heard His burning words, " If any Man thirst, let Him come unto Me and drink," they were divinely smitten, and returned to them and said, "Never Man spake like this Man" (John vii. yj, 46). There can be no doubt that Caiaphas was the leading spirit in the Sanhedrin, and most probably the presi- dent of it. As soon as Jesus arrived at the feast of Dedication (in the following December) He found Himself surrounded by Caia- phas' clique, who sought again to take Him : but He escaped out of their hand, and went away again beyond Jor- dan, into the place where John at first baptized " * (John x. *This was Bethabara, a little village on the east bank of the River Jordan, and a little northeast of Jericho. Jesus dearly loved Beth- abara, and the Jordan at this place, and it was perfectly natural that He should ; for here the Baptizer stationed himself and announced Him near at hand. Loved this place because in the River Jordan the Bap- tizer had immersed hundreds, and perhaps thousands, calling them to repentance and to faith in Him. But he loved this place most dearly, because He Himself was buried beneath the swift-rolling waves of Jor- dan, and because immediately thereafter, at the edge of the river, God first, and for the first time, publicly owned Him as His son. Dr. Geikie, in speaking of the baptism of Jesus, says: "Holy and pure before sinking under the waters, He must yet have risen from them with the light of a higher glory in His countenance. His past life was closed ; a new era had opened. . . . It was the true moment of His entrance on a new life. Past years had been buried in the waters of Jordan. He entered them as Jesus, the Son of Man ; He rose from them, the Christ of God." Further on he calls the baptism of Jesus: "The consecra- tion from on high to the office of the Messiah, and, as such, the true birth-hour of Christianity" (Vol. I., pp, 413, 414). Moreover, Jesus Historical Appe7idix. 127 39, 40). About two months after this Jesus was summoned to Bethany, and as soon as He had raised Lazarus from the grave the Pharisees hastened to the Sanhedrists, and "told them what things Jesus had done" (John xi. 46). Immedi- ately after this they held a death-council, saying: " What do we ? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe in Him : and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation " (John xi, 47, 48). Caiaphas could conceal his murderous intent no longer, and, rising before the assembly with great pontifical assumption, said : " Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not" (John xi. 49, 50). These words were an expression of Caiaphas's avowed pur- pose to take the life of Jesus, at whatever cost. "Then, from that day forth, they took counsel together to put Hmi to death " (John xi. 53). Jesus, knowing this, withdrew from Jerusalem, and went to Ephraim, near to a wilderness place, where he remained with His apostles until about the time of the passover. Just before the time of the passover the Sanhedrists gave "a commandment that, if any man knew where He were, he should shew it, that they might take Him " (John xi. 57). loved this place because, from the banks of the Jordan, He took His first official step in the work of human redemption. It was at Beth- abara that He was proclaimed by John to be " The Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world" (John i. 29). Here He gained His first five disciples, and it was at this place He tarried, and baptized the first disciples He gained after the first five (John i. 35 ; and iii. 22). WIDTH AND DEPTH OF JORDAN. It has been urged that the River Jordan was too shallow for John to have practiced immersion. Lynch says: " A short distance above the Dead Sea the River Jordan is forty yards wide and twelve feet deep — then, fifty yards wide and eleven feet deep— then, eighty yards wide and seven feet deep — then, one hundred yards wide and three feet deep upon the bar" (p. 267). This is an unbiased statement. 128 The Trials of Christ. When the Sanhedrists saw Jesus making His humble tri- umphal march around the southern brow of the Mount of Olives, and saw the seemingly universal reverence shown Him, and heard those who went with great demonstration before Him, and those who followed with great demonstra- tion behind Him, all shout at the top of their voices: *' Ho- sanna, hosanna, hosanna to the Son of David : Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the high- est." ''They said among themselves. Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after Him" (Matt. xxi. 9, and John xii. 19). Henceforth they sought the more earnestly to accomplish Jesus's death, but, seem- ingly, to but little effect until Tuesday night, April 12th, in Passover week. It was at this time the Sanhedrists were holding a clandestine death-council, into which Judas man- aged to creep. He must have foreshadowed his purpose in order to gain admittance. The Sanhedrists "were glad" when Judas rose and said: "What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto youg?" (Matt.). Judas was the very man for whom they had long been looking ; but they had not expected Jesus's Judas to be their Judas; but it was so, and they were only too glad that it was so. The bloody compact was soon made, and the amount of blood-money was to be about $15.90. Who was the leading spirit in this death-coun- cil? Caiaphas. Who acted as spokesman in making this bloody contract? Caiaphas. Who finally paid Judas the money for his deceitful work ? Caiaphas. He was the blood- iest man connected with the death of Jesus ; for in his breast the spirit of murder had been rankling for a whole year. The foregoing will, in some measure, prepare the reader to understand how it was that Caiaphas was so enraged at Jesus as soon as He was brought before him and the Sanhedrists, His terrible wrath was but the bursting of the storm that had long been gathering. Caiaphas a Christian ? No. Caiaphas Historical Appendix. 1 29 a high priest ? No. Caiaphas a moral man ? Nay, verily ; he was the bloodiest deicide of the deicidal mob. Pontius Pilate was a Christian compared to him. Jesus almost said this when He said to Pilate : " He who delivered Me to thee, hath a greater sin than thee." See Section IH., and the notes thereon. CRUCIFIXION. "Death by the cross was the most terrible and the most dreaded and shameful punishment of antiquity — a punish- ment, the very name of which, Cicero tells us, should never come near the thoughts, the eyes, the ears, of a Roman citi- zen, far less his person. It was of eastern origin, and had been in use among the Persians and Carthaginians long, long before its employment in the Western countries. Alex- ander the Great adopted it in Palestine, from the Phoenicians, after the defence of Tyre, which he punished by crucifying two thousand citizens when the place surrendered. Crassus signalized its introduction into Roman use by lining the road from Capua to Rome with crucified slaves. . . . Augus- tus finally inaugurated its general use, by crucifying six thou- sand slaves at once in Sicily. It was not a Jewish punishment. It was the punishment inflicted by heathenism, which knows no compassion or reverence for man as man, on the worst of criminals, on highway robbers, rebels and slaves, or on provincials, who, in the eyes of Rome, were only slaves if they fell into crime." — Geikie. "Crucifixion was a punishment used by the Grecians, Romans, Egyptians, and many other nations, but not by the Jews. It was indeed permitted by the law to hang a man on a tree, but only after he had been put to death (Deut. xxi. 21- 23). Upon this, Maimonides, quoted by Ainsworth, remarks : ' After they are stoned to death, they fasten a piece of timber in the earth, and out of it there crosseth a piece of wood ; then 130 The Trials of Christ. they tie both hands one to another, and hang them unto the setting of the sun.' " — Andrews. "This mode of punishment — unintelligible to the milder Christian customs of our times, and partially suppressed throughout the civilized world three centuries after Christ by the first Christian emperor, Constantine,* by way of propitia- tion to the exalted sufferer and his followers on the cross — was distinctively pagan, and was a refined invention for the purpose of making the death of the condemned as painful as it was prolonged. The Jews, who in this respect, as well as others, were more humane than their cotemporaries, did not practice this horrible custom. . . . The cruel and lawless Alexander Janngeus alone once made use of it in a frightful manner, and is therefore charged by Josephus with cruelty and godlessness. Even Herod was prudent enough to avoid its use. . . . It seems that the Greeks and Romans derived the punishment of the cross from the East, where it was practiced by the Phoenicians, the crudest neighbors of the Jews. It is well known that Alexander the Great, adopting the Phoenician custom of the country, caused two thousand Syrians to be nailed to the cross. In Italy and Sicily the punishment of the cross dates back to ancient times, probably under Phoenician influences, and was originally inflicted only upon slaves, robbers, deserters, and cowards. Cicero says that humane masters did not inflict it even upon slaves, and Julius Caesar caused captured pirates to be strangled before they were subjected to the mode of dishonoring the dead cus- * Kitto says : " The punishment of crucifixion was abolished by Con- stantine, who was led to deem it unseemly that the most atrocious vil- lains, and persons guilty of the most flagrant crimes, should suffer death in the same manner as the blessed Savior. He therefore directed that hanging should thereafter be the punishment of those crimes which had formerly been punished by crucifixion." Historical Appendix. 1 3 ^ ternary among the most vicious nations, viz., hanging upon the cross." ... thage and Rome employed iron naiis. Strong, sharp-pointed iron nails . . were driven into the hands — first into the right and then into the left— until they passed through and were firmly fastened in Jhe wood. The wretched man was lifted, by cords and with the help of ladders, to the top of the post to which the middle of the cross beam was now at- tached, either by being inlet or bound on. He was placed upon the insignificant, horn-like peg, the sedile, which pro- jected from the middle of the cross, and was intended not to ease the sufferer, but to support the weight, which otherwise would have torn the limbs from the nails, and even endan- gered the attachment of the transverse beam. Next, the feet, after having been stretched downward, were fastened to the post. This was done either by driving an iron spike through each foot, or the feet were placed together and one large spike was driven through both." " The Acts of Pilate indulge in fanciful statements about the girding of Jesus with a white linen cloth, the clothing of Him with a scarlet woolen robe, and the pressing of the crown of thorns afresh upon His head ; and the Fathers think that He had kept the crown of thorns upon His head all the way from the city. Recently critics have been strongly inclined to believe that Jesus was furnished with at least such a cloth round His loins as is mentioned in the first form of the Acts of Pilate. But the evidence for this hitherto collected is not quite sufacient, since Artemidor attests the nudity of those who were crucified ; and the delicate attention which was re- quired (and that only in former times) in the case of athletes would not be required in the case of a criminal, especially among soldiers who lacked any sense of propriety, and who looked upon the clothes of the victim as their booty " (Keim's Jesus of Nazara, Vol. VI, p. 148). All things considered, we 132 The Trials of Christ. are forced to the shocking thought that the Savior was spared no indecency whatever; for His crucifixion was Roman, and not Jewish. GREAT SANHEDRIN. •* This was the Supreme Council, or Supreme Court of Jus- tice, of the Jewish nation before and during the days of Christ. It consisted of seventy-one members. These members repre- sented three classes of the nation, viz.: The priests, who were represented by their chief, called in the Bible the chief priests, of whom there were most probably four and twenty (I. Chron. xxiv. 4, 6 ; Matt, xxvii. i ; John vii. 32 ; xi. 47 ; xii. lo). The elders (Matt. xvi. 21 ; xxi. 23; xxvi. 3, 47, 57, 59; xxvii. I, 3, 12, 20, 41 ; xxviii. 12 ; Mark viii. 31 ; xi. 27 ; xiv. 43, 53 ; Luke ix. 22 ; xx. i ; xxii. 52 ; John viii. 9 ; Acts iv. 5, 23 ; vi. 12 ; xxiii. 14; xxv. 15) ; also called elders of the people (Acts iv. 8 . . . Luke xxiii. 13; xxiv. 20; Acts iii. 17). These elders, who most probably were also twenty-four in number (Rev. iv. 4) were the representatives of the laity, or the peo- ple generally. The scribes — lawyers — interpreters of the law in ecclesiastical and civil matters, represented that particular portion of the community which consisted of the literary laity, and most probably were twenty-two in number." John uses the word "Pharisee" to denote the Sanhedrin (John i. 24; iv. I ; viii. 3 ; xi. 46). PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT. "The Sanhedrin was presided over by a President, called Nasi— /n«f^, patriarch — and a Vice President, styled the fath- er of the house of judgment.''^ PLACE OF MEETING. The legal place for the Sanhedrin to meet was in the " Hall of Squares," on the south side of the temple court. "The Historical Appendix. 133 room they met in was a rotunda, half of which was built with- out the temple and half within ; that is, one semi-circle was within the compass of the temple, the other semi-circle was built without, for the Senators to sit in, it being unlawful for any one to sit down in the temple. The right of judging in capital * cases belonged to this court, and the sentence could not be pronounced in any other place but in the hall called Laschathaggazith, or the hall paved with stones " (Encyclo- paedia Britannica). ORDER IN WHICH THE SANHEDRISTS SAT. "The judges before whom Jesus was led sat, turbaned, on cushions or pillows, in Oriental fashion, with crossed legs, and unshod feet, in a half circle ; Caiaphas, as high priest, in the center, and the chief, or oldest, according to precedence, on each side. The prisoner was placed, standing, before Caiaphas ; at each end of the semicircle sat a scribe, to write out the sentence of acquittal or condemnation. Some bailiffs, with cords and thongs, guarded the accused, while a few others stood behind to call witnesses, and, at the close, to carry out the decision of the judges." — Dr. Geikie. JURISDICTION AND POWER OF THE SANHEDRIN. This Supreme Court tried cases both political and ecclesi- astical. After Judaea became a Roman province, the right to execute a prisoner was withdrawn from the Sanhedrin and vested in the Procurator. This change was made A. D. 7, when Coponius was appointed Procurator of Judaea. The Sanhedrin retained the right to try a prisoner according to the law, but the sentence which they passed could not be carried into execution until they had obtained the written permit of the Roman Procurator, who at this time was Pon- * " Such cases could only be tried and capital sentence pronounced in the regular meeting place of the Sanhedrin." — Edersheim. 134 The Trials of Christ. tius Pilate. False prophets could be tried alone by the San- hedrin. Hence the Savior's language (Luke xiii. 2>7))' It required the presence of twenty-three members of the Sanhedrin to form a quorum. RULES GOVERNING TRIAL BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN. 1. Their great axiom was: "The Sanhedrin is to save, not to destroy life." 2. The accused is to be held innocent until proven to be guilty. 3. No man could be tried and condemned in his absence (John vii. 51). 4. In the beginning of a trial of capital punishment, the President solemnly admonished the witnesses to remember the preciousness of human life, and to take care that they for- got nothing that could tell in the prisoner's favor. To secure this a council was appointed to see that all possible was done for his acquittal. 5. Capital cases could not be begun on a day preceding a Sabbath, or public feast. 6. No criminal trial could be begun or concluded in the night. 7. A verdict of guilty could not be pronounced until the day after the trial. 8. The judges who condemned a criminal to death had to fast all day before making said condemnation. They were to assemble on the day following the trial, and examine the evi- dence, and see whether there was any contradiction on the part of the witnesses. 9. Votes of the youngest members of the Sanhedrists were taken first, that they might not be influenced by their seniors. 10. No one could be executed on the same day on which the sentence of death was passed. 11. A herald preceded the one who was to be executed, Historical Appendix. 1 3 5 and cried: " A, son of B, has been found guilty of death, be- cause he committed such and such a crime, according to the testimony of C and D. If any one knows anything to clear him, let him come forward and declare it " (Ed. v. 2, p. 584). 12. The property of the executed was not confiscated, but passed over to his heirs, or to his nearest friends. MODES OF PUNISHMENT AMONG THE JEWS. From time immemorial the Jews had only four modes of punishment, viz.: stoning, burning, beheading, and strangling.' ORIGIN OF THE GREAT SANHEDRIN. The Jews ascribe the origin of the Sanhedrin to Moses (Ex. xviii, 24-26). Keim says: ''The Sanhedrim, the Sanhedrim of Israel, or of Jerusalem, did not, as the Rabbis teach, take its rise — at least in the form in which it is tangible to us — in the ancient Mosaic times, from which only the number of the Seventy Elders of Moses was borrowed, but in the times that followed the exile, more exactly — as is shown by its Greek name, ' The sitting together ' — in the time of the Asmonaean princes of the second century before Christ, when the Jewish learning of the scribes first flourished, and the Greek language was cultivated in Israel. . . . B. c. 107." * Kitto, in speaking of the Sanhedrin of Christ's day, says : "No mention is made of the existence of such a council in all the Old Testament, and this silence seems quite decisive, as, if it existed, it could not have failed to occupy such a posi- tion, and to have been so connected with the public affairs of the country, that not to notice it would be much the same as to omit any notice of the Senate in a history of Rome. It was doubtless intended as an imitation of the Mosaicai Insti- tution, and the difference may be accounted for by a reference ■-'•The foregoing articles have been taken largely verbatim from Mc- Clintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature. 136 The Trials of Christ. to the period of its establishment, which was apparently in the age of the Maccabees." Farrar says: *«The Sanhedrin was the successor of the Great Synagogue." "This was about 350 years B. c." — Geikie. "THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE," According to Jewish tradition, denotes the council first ap- pointed after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity to reorganize the religious institutions and literature of the people. . . . As to its date, the convention of this Great Synagogue was most probably one of Nehemiah's last acts. ... It could not, therefore, have taken place be- fore B, c. 424. The Great Synagogue was most probably held a few years after the above date of Nehemiah's second visit. The whole period of the Great Synagogue, about 104 years (b. C. 404-300), or from the latter days of Nehemiah to the death of Simon the Just, who was the last, link of the chain constituting the synod. It then passed into the Sanhedrin, when the whole of its constitution was changed. . . . According to tradition, the Great Synagogue consisted of one hundred and twenty members." It is held that: ** At the time when the Great Synagogue is held to have passed over into the Great Sanhedrin, the representatives consisted of seventy, M-hich became the fixed rule for the Sanhedrin." SACRED LAWS OF THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE. 1. Not to intermarry with heathens. 2. To keep the Sabbath day holy. 3. To observe the Sabbatical year. 4. Every one to pay annually a third of a shekel to the Temple. 5. To supply wood for the altar. 6. Regularly to pay the priestly dues (Nehemiah x. 28- 39). Historical Appendix, 137 HEROD ANTIPAS Was the son of Herod the Great by Malthace, who was a Sa- maritan. " He inherited of his father's dominions only Gal- ilee and Perea (b. C. 5) as tetrarch, with a yearly income of two hundred talents. He first married the daughter of the Arabian king, Aretas, but afterward became enamored with Herodias, his half-brother Philip's wife, and contracted a clandestine marriage with her, on account of which the Ara- bian princess indignantly returned to her father. Herodias inveigled her new husband into the execution of John the Baptist (Matt. xiv. 4). His former father-in-law, Aretas. . . brought war against him on pretenses of a dispute about boundaries, but probably, in reality, to avenge the insult to his daughter, and entirely routed his army, but was obliged to desist from farther steps by the intervention of the Romans " (McClintock and Strong's Biblical Cyclopaedia, Vol. I., p. 275)- HEROD'S PALACE. In speaking of the Savior's arrest, Dr. Geikie says : "Pilate, also, had arrived from Csesarea to secure, in person, the pres- ervation of order in the dangerous days of the feast. His quarters were in the new palace, built by Herod the Great, on Zion. It was the pride of Jerusalem. * The kinds of stone used in its construction,' says Josephus, ' were countless. Whatever was rare abounded in it. The roofs astonished every one by the length of their beams and the beauty of their adornment. Vessels, mostly of gold and silver, rich in chasing, shone on every side. The great dining-hall had been constructed to supply table-couches for three hundred guests. Others opened in all directions, each with a different style of pillar. The open space before the palace was laid out in broad walks, planted with long avenues of different trees, and bordered by broad, deep canals and great ponds, flowing with 138 The Trials of Christ. cool, clear water, and set off along the banks with innumer- able works of art. It was the vast citadel-palace, in which the tragedies of the family of Herod have been enacted. Here Archelaus had reigned, and Glaphra had died. By right of war, the Romans had taken it, as the chief building of the city, for the residence of the procurators, and had made it the Praetorium, or headquarters. Its enclosure — large enough to permit almost an army to be gathered in it, if necessary — ran along the inner side of the first city wall, and was connected with the great castles of white stone — Mariamne, Hippicus, and Phasaelus — which Herod had built, the whole constitut- ing, in fact, a vast fortification.' " In speaking of Jesus being taken before Pilate, Theodore Keim says : "A long procession moved, about 7 A. M., from the temple spaces towards the buildings devoted to the pur- poses of the government. . . . The governor's residence lay, not where legend has placed it to the north of the temple near the fortess Antonia, but in the upper city on the south- west of the temple hill. A gate and a bridge-like viaduct across the ravine that lay between, led directly from the west porch of the temple across Xystus, a public place surrounded by columns, to the old royal palace of the Asmonasans, then still further westward and higher to the new palace of King Herod. Thus it often happened that the Roman Governor inherited the splendid edifices of the local kings. The Pro- praetor of Sicily occupied the castle of King Herod, and the Procurator of Judaea the forsaken palaces of Herod, both in Jerusalem and in Caesarea by the sea. Down to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem the building was still frequently called ' the king's castle,' or by the Roman name for the 'governor's house,' the praetorium, or by the mixed name of * The Praetorium of Herod.' It is incorrect to translate prae- torium, as Luther does, by the term, * court of justice,' al- though it often served as such. . . . Situated on the Historical Appendix. 1 3 9 northwest of the upper city, contiguous to the first city wall, with its imposing white towers, Mariamne,Hippicus,Phasaelus, was itself in part a tyrant's stronghold and in part a fairy pleasure-house. A wall thirty cubits high, crowned with towers at regular distances, ran round the whole, which was so large that a small army could be stationed therein. The building itself, with a magnificent prospect over the whole of Jerusalem, spread out into two colossal wings, whose regal splendor, far surpassing even the marvelous work of the tem- pie, is again and again mentioned, with emphasis, by the Jewish historian as exhibiting worthy monuments of the Ro- man imperial friends, after whom the one wing was called, •the Caesareum,' and the other, ' ^grippeum.' Among the numerous chambers, which were remarkable for the variety of their decorations and for their rich gold and silver uten- sils, the most conspicuous were the great room for men and the great dining-hall, furnished with one hundred table- couches, and therefore capable of accommodating three hun- dred distinguished guest. The floors and walls were covered with the rarest and the most diverse stones, the ceilings showed gigantic beams and splendid decorations. Outside, the buildings were surrounded by intricate colonnades of the most diversfied architecture. Beyond these again were mag- nificent green parks, with broad walks, deep canals, and cis- terns which poured their water out of brazen mouths, whilst numbers of tame doves among the turrets scattered about the basins, gave animation to, and completed the picture " (Jesus of Nazara, Vol. VI., pp. 79-81). PAVEMENT— GABBATHA. '•Trials in the open air were common, for Roman law courted publicity. Roman governors, and the half-Roman Herod and his sons, erected their tribunals, indifferently, be- fore the palace, in the market-place, in the theatre, in the I40 The Trials of Christ. circus, or even in the highways. Pilate therefore caused his official seat to be set down on a spot known, in Jerusalem, as Gabbatha — the high place — from its being raised above the crowd, and as 'The Pavement,' because it was laid, accord- ing to Roman custom, where judges sat, with a mosaic of colored stones. It was, very possibly, a permanent erection, square, or of crescent shape, of costly marble in keeping with the splendor so dear to Herod, its builder ; projecting from the front of the 'Judgment Hall,' in the palace, and easily accessible by a doorway from it. It was a maxim of Roman law that all criminal trials should be held on a raised tribunal, that all might see and be seen" (Dr. Geikie). " fcABBATHA, high, or elevated. In Greek, paved with stones. This was the Hebrew name of a place in Pilate's pal- ace (John xix. 13), whence he pronounced sentence against our Savior. It was probably an eminence, or terrace, paved with stone or marble, and of considerable height. It was properly a tessellated marble pavement of mosaic work. From the time of Sylla, ornamental pavements of this sort became common among the wealthy Romans ; and when they went abroad on military expeditions, or to administer the government of a province, they carried with them pieces of marble ready fitted, which, as often as an encampment was formed, or a court of justice opened, were regularly spread around the elevated tribunal on which the commander or presiding officer was to sit. Julius Caesar followed this cus- tom in his expeditions " (Calmet's Dictionary). "Gabbatha, the Greek word, signifies literally, stone- paved, and is frequently used to denote a pavement formed of ornamental stones of various colors, commonly called a tessellated or mosaic pave??ient. . . . The Roman governors, although they tried causes and conferred with their council (Acts XXV. 12), within the prsetorium, pronounced sentence in the open air" (Kitto). Historical Appendix. 141 PR.CTORIUM Hall. — Matthew terms this part of Herod's Palace "the common hall " (xxvii. 27); Mark, "the Prsetor- ium hall" (xv. 16); and John, "the judgment hall" (xviii. 28, 2>Z » ^i^- 9)' It has been seen that Herod's Palace was sometimes termed Praetorium, but the foregoing references are to the place where trials were held and where the proc- urator's soldiers were stationed. Herod's Palace at Csesarea was also termed Prsetorium (Acts xxiii. 35). Judgment Seat. — This was a fine large chair on the pave- ment from which the governors pronounced sentences. "The ivory curule chair of the procurator — his seat of state and sign of office ; or, perhaps, the old golden seat of Archelaus, was set down on the tessellated floor of the tribunal, which was large enough to let the assessors of the court — Roman citizens, who acted as nominal members of the judicial bench — sit beside Pilate ; for Roman law required their pres- ence. On lower elevations sat the officers of the court, friends of the procurator, and others whom he chose to honor " (Dr. Geikie). Keim advances the same idea in reference to Pilate's chair or judgment-seat, and says: "Beside him, upon benches, were the council or the assessors of the court, sub-officials, friends, Roman citizens, whose • presence could not be dis- pensed with, and who were not wanting to the procurators of Judaea, although our reports do not mention them. The steps leading to the tribunal were occupied by the Sanhe- drists Avho delivered up their victim. There was sitting room on the tribunal also for the accusers and the accused ; but for the subjects in Judasa this custom did not prevail, and Jesus in particular stood" (Vol. VI. p. Z']). PILATE. Pilate was the sixth Roman procurator of Judaea. He was appointed by Tiberius Caesar in the spring of A. d. 26, and 142 The Trials of Christ. held his office until A. D. 36. Dr. Geikie says : " Pilate will- fully set himself to insult and violate the sacred customs. . . . Philo,* his contemporary, charges him with accepting bribes, with acts of unwonted violence, with robberies, with shameful treatment of many, with wanton insults and threats, continual executions contrary to law, aad aimless and griev- ous cruelties. * He was a malicious and furious man,' says Philo, < unwilling to do anything that he thought would please his subjects.' '' Kittosays: "Pilate , . . under- stood but little of, or cared but little for, the peculiar charac- ter of the people whom he was appointed to rule. By his utter disregard of the religious feelings of the people . . . he gave much offense, greatly disturbed the repose of the country, and laid the foundation for many troubles and re- volts that afterwards followed. One instance of this is afford- ed by the affair of the standards, as related in Matt. xxiv. 15, This doubtless applies to the Roman standards, which were abominable to the Jews, on account of the images upon them, to which the Roman soldiers paid idolatrous reverence. But it may be naturally asked, ' Did not the Roman soldiers stationed at Jerusalem carry these usual images on their standards previous to the siege ? Josephus affords the an- swer. Pilate was the first who brought these images to Jeru- salem, and set them up there in the night time; but as soon as the people knew it, they came in multitudes, and interced- ed with Pilate many days that he would remove the images. On the sixth day he ordered the soldiers to have their weap- ons ready, and when the Jews petitioned him again, he gave a signal to the soldiers to surround them, and threatened im- mediate death unless they would cease distracting him. But * " Philo was born in Alexandria, about the year 20 B. c. He was a descendant of Aaron, and belonged to one of the wealthiest and most influential families among the Jewish merchant princes of Egypt." — Edersheim. Historical Appendix. 145 they threw themselves on the ground, and laid their necks bare, offering to die rather than see their laws transgressed; on which Pilate, affected by their firm resolution to keep their laws inviolable, commanded the images to be carried back from Jerusalem to Cassarea. "On another occasion Pilate bethought himself of conse- crating golden bucklers to Tiberius in the palace of Herod in Jerusalem. The bucklers bore no images of any kind, but only an inscription expressing their dedication to Tiberius. The Jews, however, took alarm, and a great body of the people, headed by the magistrates and the four sons of Her- od, repaired to Pilate, to entreat him not to persist in a mat- ter so contrary to their law. But Pilate was deaf to their entreaties and expostulations. . . . They accordingly did write to Rome, and Tiberius wrote back immediately to Pi- late, expressing great displeasure, and ordering the bucklers to be withdrawn. This anecdote rests on the authority of Philo the Jew." Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Eusebius say that Pilate sent a written report of the trials and death of Christ to Tiberius, and that he wrote back to Jerusalem that divine honors be paid to Him. In about one year after the death of Jesus, a great tumult arose between the Jews and Pilate because he appropriated some of their sacred money to building an aqueduct. Subsequently Pilate led an army against the Samaritans at Mt. Gerizim and massacred them, for which he was reported to Vitellius, Governor of Syria, who ordered him to go to Rome and give an account of him- self to the Emperor Tiberius. According to Eusebius, Pilate was banished to Vienna in Gaul, where he committed suicide, A. D. 38. 144 The Trials of Christ. PROCURATORS OF JUD^A. Name. I Coponius,* By whom Appointed. . Augustus Caesar, 2 Marcus Ambivius, . Augustus C^sar, 3 Annius Rufus, 4 Valerius Gratus, 5 Pontius Pilate,! 6 Marcellus, . Augustus Caesar, . Tiberius Caesar, . . Tiberius Caesar, . . Vitellius, President of Syria, . . . . Claudius Caesar, , . Claudius Caesar, . 7 Herod Agrippa I. 8 Cuspius Fadus, . 9 Tiberius Alexander, Claudius Caesar, . 10 Ventidius Cumanus, Claudius Caesar, . 11 Antonius Felix, . . Claudius Caesar, . 12 Porcius Festus, . . Nero Caesar,^ . . 13 Albinus, .... Nero Caesar, . . 14 Gessius Floris, . . Nero Caesar, . . ROMAN EMPERORS. Time in Office. A. D. 6 to A. D. 9 9 to 12 to 15 to 26 to 36 to 40 to 44 to 46 to 49 to 53 to 60 to 62 to 64 to 12 15 26 36 40 44 46 49 53 55 62 63 65 I. Julius C^sar was the first Roman emperor. He was born in Rome, b. c. 100, and was one of three who consti- tuted the triumvirate of Rome, B. c. 60. History says he was so named from his having been born by a surgical operation. The name Caesar was assumed or conferred on all the Roman emperors after Julius Caesar. * Many authors denominate Herod Archelaus as a procurator of Ju- daea. This is incorrect, because Judaea did not become a Roman prov- ince until the deposition of Archelaus, which was A. D. 6. This is in harmony with Greswell, and McClintock and Strong. t Pilate was subject to Vitellius, Governor of Syria, who sent him to Rome to give an account of himself to Tiberius Caesar. \ There is a variety of opinions as to dates at this point. I have re- ceived my information largely from Greswell, Smith, and from McClin- tock and Strong. Historical Appendix. 145 2. Augustus C^sar was born b. c. 62. He was the son of Caius Octavius, whose name he bore. He was adopted and educated by Julius Caesar, who changed his name from Octavius to Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus. He was emperor of Rome from B. c. 30 to A. D. 14. The only reference made to him in the Gospels is in Luke ii. i. It was Augustus who removed Archelaus from his ethnarchy, and attached Judaea and Samaria to the province of Syria. Augustus died Aug- ust 19th, A. D. 14, in the 76th year of his age. It was Aug- ustus who had the honor of shutting the Temple of Janus, as a token of peace when the Prince of Peace made His ad- vent into this world. 3. Tiberius C^sar (full name, Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar) was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero, and was born at Rome, November i6th, b. c. 45. He became emperor in his 55th year, and died in his 78th year, having reigned 23 years. He is said to have been despotic in his government, and cruel in disposition. The ministry of John the Baptist, and the ministry and death of the Savior are said to have oc- curred during the reign of Tiberius. See Luke iii, I ; Matt, xxii. 17. 4. Caligula, or Caius C^sar, was the son of Germanicus, and was born August 31st, A. d. 12. He was emperor of Rome from A. D. 37 to A. d, 41, and was assassinated on the 24th of January of that year. 5. Claudius C^^s.^r (full name, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Caesar Augustus Germanicus) was the son of Drusus, and was born August 1st, B. C. 10. He became emperor A. D. 41, and reigned until October 13th, A. D. 54, at which time he was poisoned by his niece and wife, Agrippina. 6. Nero C.-esar (full name, Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus) was born at Antium, in Latium, a. d. 37. When Nero was about 17 years old, his mother poisoned her hus- band, and succeeded in raising Nero to the throne in A. D. 54. 146 The Trials of Christ. In A. D. 59 Nero poisoned his mother. In A. D. 62 he repu- diated his wife, Octavia. In A. D. 64 the burning of Rome occurred, which was imputed to Nero. He committed sui- cide on June llth,* A. D. 68, in the 32nd year of his life, and in the 14th year of his reign. 7. Galea was born December 24th, 3 B. c, and died Jan- uary 15 th, A. D. 69. He began his reign in A. d. 68, and was murdered in the forum at Rome seven months afterward. 8. Otho was born a. D. 32, and died in April, A. D. 69. He aided in placing Galba on the throne, for which service he expected to become his successor ; but he was greatly dis. appointed, for he appointed Piso Licinianus. "This disap- pointment and his heavy debts made him desperate ; and he said publicly that if he were not emperor he would be ruined. He accordingly conspired among the guards, who proclaimed him emperor, and put Galba to death, after a reign of seven months. Otho committed suicide, having reigned only 95 days." — American Cyclopadia. 9. VlTELLiUS was born A. D. 15. He was proclaimed em- peror on the death of Otho in A. D. 69. He was killed by being dragged through the streets of Rome. 10. Vespasian was born a. d. 9. In 66 Nero sent him to Palestine. In 71 he and his son Titus took Jerusalem and de- stroyed the Jewish nation. It is said that he persecuted Christianity only so far as it was identified with Judaism. He began to reign A. D. 69, and died in A. D. 79, in the tenth year of his reign. History says he was the second Roman emperor who died a natural death, and the first who trans- ferred the empire to his son. 11. Titus ffull name, Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus) was the son of Vespasian and Flavia. He was born in Rome, December 30th, a. d. 40. He reigned from A. D. 79 to Sep- * Greswell places his death on the 9th of June, A. D. 68 (Vol. IV., pp. 70-72). Historical Appendix, 147 tember 13th, A. d. 81, which was the third year of his reign. 12. DoMiTiAN (full name, Titus Flavius Domitianus) was the youngest son of Vespasian and Domitilla. He was a brother to Titus, and reigned from a. d. 8i to September iSth, A. D. 96, when he was assassinated. In a. d. 95 a persecu- tion was waged against Christians, and Eusebius says: *' Dom- itian was the second who raised a persecution against us, and established himself as successor of Nero in his hatred and hostility to God." 13. Nerva was the thirteenth Roman emperor. His full name was Marcus Cocceius. Dion says he was born a. d. 32. He was noted for his kindness to the early Christians. It is said that the poetry of Nerva recommended him to the favor of Nero, who bestowed on him great military honors in a. d. 96. «' He was employed in offices of trust during the reigns of Vespasian and Titus, but he incurred the suspicion of Do- mitian," who banished him. He became emperor on Sep- tember 18th, A. D. 96, which was the day on which Domitian was assassinated. He died a. d. 98, having reigned 16 months and 9 days. 14. Trajan was born September i8th, a. d. 52, and died in August, A. D. 117. Nerva chose him as his successor. He became emperor in A. d. 98, and reigned about 19 years. EULOGY ON PONTIUS PILATE. It is almost impossible for a Christian to deal charitably with, or to form an unbiased judgment concerning Pilate. This is caused, in part, by the fact that he was so directly connected with the condemnation and death of our Savior, and in part because Christians unconsciously feel that all their sympathy must necessarily be on the side of Jesus, and that 148 The Trials of Christ. it would be infidel for them to fail to condemn any one who was in any way connected with His death. These forces, operating in connection with eighteen hundred years of preju- dice against Pilate, lead many to entirely overlook the divine will and divine ordering of this mysterious tragedy. We frankly admit that Pontius Pilate committed a mysterious sin connected with the mysterious death of our Lord Jesus Christ ; but the turpitude of his sin is not to be determined by our prejudice against him, nor by our sympathy or love for the blessed Savior. He does not want our sympathy or love when it will do the slighest injustice to a soul. In order to charitably and justly judge concerning the acts of Pilate, we must rid ourselves of the monster, prejudice, and have a careful knowledge of his historical and spir- itual surroundings. He was a heathen, and on that account was not responsible for his acts to the extent he is judged to have been. This is evidenced by the fact that the age in which he lived was preeminently infidel, and the peo- ple among whom he grew up, heathens and pagans. In the age immediately preceding the Savior's birth, Julius Caesar, the first Roman Emperor, and, as such, the highest authority in the state-religion, and in all religious questions, openly de- clared, in a speech in the Senate, that there was no such thing as a future life — no immortality of the soul. He also argued that those who were condemned for crimes should be kept alive, because death was in reality an escape from punish- ment, and, therefore, not an evil. He said : " Death is a rest from troubles to those in grief and misery — not a punishment. It ends all the evils of life, and there is neither care nor joy beyond it." In speaking of this matter. Dr. Geikie says: *• Nor was there any one to condemn such a sentiment even from such lips. Cato, the ideal Roman, a man whose aim it was to 'fulfill all righteousness,' in the sense in which he un- derstood it, passed it over with a few words of light banter ; Historical Appendix . 149 and Cicero, who was also present, did not care to give either assent or dissent, but left the question open as one which might be decided either way at pleasure" (Vol. I., p. 28). Edersheim, in speaking of this age, says: "Religion, philos- ophy and society had passed through every stage to that of despair. . . That under such conditions all real belief in a personal continuance after death must have ceased among the educated classes needs not demonstration." "In such circumstances, any thing like real religion was manifestly impossible. Rome tolerated, and, indeed, incorporated, all national rites. But among the populace religion had degen- erated into abject superstition." . . "The only religion on which the state insisted was the deification and worship of the Emperor." . . " Among the most repulsive symptoms of the general religious decay may be reckoned prayers for the death of a rich relative, or even for the satisfaction of un- natural lusts, along with horrible blasphemies, when such prayers remained unanswered." . . " It has been rightly said that conscience, as we understand it, was unknown to heathenism. Absolute right did not exist. Might was right. The social relations exhibited, if possible, even deeper cor- ruption. The sanctity of marriage ceased. Female dissipa- tion and the general dissoluteness led at last to an almost entire cessation of marriage. Abortion, and the exposure and murder of newly-born children, were common, and toler- ated. Unnatural vices, which even the greatest philosophers practiced, if not advocated, attained proportions which defy description." . . "What is worst, the noblest spirits of the time felt that the state of things was utterly hopeless. Society could not reform itself; philosophy and religion had nothing to offer — they had been tried and found wanting. Seneca longed for some hand from without to lift it up from the mire of despair; Cicero pictured the enthusiasm which would greet the embodiment of true virtue, should it ever ap- 150 The Trials of Christ. pear on the earth ; Tacitus declared human life one great farce, and expressed his conviction that the Roman world lay under some terrible curse" (Edersheim, Vol, I., pp. 257— 260). It did lay under such a curse, and so does any nation that will write such epitaphs as the following on the tombs of its dead: "To eternal sleep;" '* I was not, and I became; I was, and am no more." On the tomb of a child : *' To the unjust gods who robbed me of life." On the tomb of a girl of twenty: " I lift my hands against the god who took me away, innocent as I am." It was in the midst of this dark, heathen, pagan and God- less age that the intellectual and moral natures of Pilate were formed. When looked at in this dark, historical background Pilate becomes an opaque body, and loses much of the intel- ligence he is supposed to have had, and is relieved of much of the fearful responsibility that is said to have rested on him when dealing with the immaculate Son of God. Pontius Pilate could form no conception of a religion that was sepa- rate and apart from a political organization. Therefore, to him, the spiritual nature of Jesus and the spiritual nature of His kingdom, were little less than a blind myth. What did he know about " the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"? Nothing. What meaning did he attach to the words, " Son of God" ? They were to him almost meaning- less. He had never heard of a Roman god of that name. He knew no living god except the Emperor — Tiberius Caesar. These things being true, the highest conception Pilate could have, was that Jesus was an innocent, but mis- guided religious enthusiast. By virtue of his blissful igno- rance, and by the virtue of his noble acts, he was by far the most innocent man who was in any way guilty of the death of Jesus. When ** the Man of Sorrow " was first brought before Historical Appendix, 1 5 1 Pilate, he gave the Sanhedrists to distinctly understand that he intended Him to have a fair and impartial trial, which is evidenced by the very words in which he opened the case : "What accusation bring ye against this Man?" Not only so, but at this early period he sought to shift the responsi- bility of trying Jesus off on to the Sanhedrists, under the plea that the offense he was charged with was not political but ecclesiastical, and on that account belonged before them, not before him. This act of Pilate's caused the Sanhedrists to drop their religious charge, and to bring one of treason against Jesus, claiming that He had set Himself up as a King in direct opposition to King Tiberius Csesar— the Roman Emperor. This charge, the shrewd Sanhedrists well knew, Pilate dared not whiff aside. True to Csesar, true to the complainants, true to the Prisoner, Pilate took Jesus into the Judgment Hall, and questioned Him on His kingship. During this remarkable interview Jesus informed him that He was born a king, of a kingdom that is not of this world ; that His follow- ers had not fought, and would not fight, to have Him released from his hands, or the hands of the Jews. And thus Pilate reasoned with himself : " If His kingdom is not of this world, if His servants have not fought and will not fight, then He has done the Roman Empire no harm, and can not politically harm it. With this decision upon his tongue, he hastily withdrew from the Judgment Hall, mounted the pavement, and, in the presence of the countless throng, enthusiastically declared : •' I FIND IN Him no fault at all." As soon as Pilate heard that Jesus was a resident of Galilee, that much of His teaching had been done there, he sent Him to the governor of that land (who was then in Jerusalem), hoping thereby to rid himself of the fearful task of trying this mysterious Being, who seemed to have come from a far oft world. When Herod returned Jesus to Pilate, he went out 152 The Trials of Christ. on the pavement, summoned the Sanhedrists around him, and called them to record that he had formally acquitted Jesus ; that he had sent him to Governor Herod (pointing to him, for he was on the pavement), and that he had found no cause of death in Him, and therefore he should set Him free. This he sought to do in the most legitimate way, by reminding the people that it was his custom to release one prisoner at the passover whomsoever they desired, at the same time ex- horting them to choose the King of the Jews. But this was met by a storm of opposition, and by a multitude of cries from all sides for the release of Barabbas. In the midst of the thundering of their wrath, and in the midst of the riot- ous demonstrations, Pilate stepped forward, laid aside his judgeship and volunteered himself an attorney and exhorter in the Savior's behalf, and thus began : "Whom will ye that I release unto you ? Barabbas, the rioter, the murderer, or Jesus, against whom there has been no crime proven ? Will you not permit Him to be released as the boon of this pass- over ? " No sooner had he ceased to speak — yea, before the words had died away upon his tongue — he was again over- whelmed with cries for Barabbas. Half confused, Pilate said to them : '* If I release Barabbas, what shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?" " Crucify Him, crucify Him," was the prompt reply. Then Pilate made the third appeal : '* Why should I crucify Jesus? What evil has He done ? T have examined Him concerning every charge you have brought against Him, and I have found NO CAUSE of death in Him ; I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go." This statement set their blood on fire, and a riot on foot. When Pilate saw he could prevail nothing, and that a hurri- cane of wrath was ready to burst upon his head, he sank back into the judgment seat for the purpose of consenting to the Savior's death. It was at this awful crisis-moment that a soldier rushed on to the pavement and handed an open com- Historical Appendix, 1 5 3 munication to Pilate. It was a message from Procla, his wife, and read as follows : '* Have thou nothing to do in condemn- ing that Just Man, whom the Jews have brought before thee ; for I have suffered everything in a dream this morning be- cause of Him ! Stimulated afresh by this strange message, which seemed to be more than human, Pilate rose from the judgment seat, took a basin of water, and in the presence of the vast deicidal mod symbolically washed his hands, at the same time exclaiming aloud: *' I will have nothing to do in slaying this just Man, If you slay Him, all the guilt shall be on you, for I AM INNOCENT OF THE BLOOD OF THIS JUST Person ; see ye to it." Then came the fearful, the hellish, the awful cry: "We will gladly take the responsibility; if this Man is slain unjustly, then let His blood be on our heads, and on the heads of our children." It was at this time, and with this understanding, that Pilate sat down on the judgment seat, and for the first time consented that Jesus should be crucified according to the deicides' will. He consented, not that he condemned Him, for he never did ; not that he found any fault in Him, for he did not ; not that he was willing to have Him crucified, for he had defended him singlehanded, alone, and that, too, at the risk of His own life, and at the risk of the lives of hundreds. He consented because he thought he did not have the power to save His life, and because he thought it better to sacrifice Him to their will than that the street should flow with blood. This thought is most clearly set forth in Pilate's report of the death of Jesus to Tiberius Caesar, in which he says : •' I have been at length forced to consent to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, to prevent a tumult among the Jews, though it was very much against my will; for the world never saw, and probably never will see, a man of such extraordinary piety and uprightness. . . I did all I could to save Him from the malice of the Jews, but the fear of a total insurrection 154 The Trials of Christ. made me sacrifice Him to the peace and interests of your em- pire " (Quoted by Kitto). Pilate's boldness, trueness to and love for Jesus, become still more evident when we consider that after he had public- ly promised the Jews that he would crucify Him, after he had Him scourged, after ordering His cross to be hastily made and taken to the place of execution, after writing the title for it, after ordering his soldiers to form in line at the pavement preparatory to the Calvary march ; yea, as he was passing through the judgment hall to the pavement, prepar- atory to going to Calvary, he saw "the Man of Sorrow,'* with tied hands, bruised, mangled, crowned with thorns, the blood oozing from a score of gashes, coursing its way down His cheeks, down His beard and garment even to the floor. As he stood and gazed in the pale face of the friendless, de- fenseless, swooning, bleeding Christ — clothed in a scarlet robe, soaked through and through with His blood — then it was his Roman heart melted into pity, that he revoked his promise to crucify Him, and resolved that at all hazards He should have one more trial, one more chance to save His life. With this resolution burning in his soul, he rushed out on the pavement, and to the great astonishment and utter indigna- tion of the howling mob, exclaimed : " Behold, I bring Him FORTH TO YOU THAT YE MAY KNOMr THAT I FIND NO FAULT IN Him." In order to prevent a riot Pilate left the pavement with a promise on his tongue that he would crucify Jesus ; therefore the multitude confidently expected when he returned from the palace it would be to proceed to Calvary at once, but when he returned, to their great astonishment, he boldly re- voked the promise to crucify, and announced the Prisoner innocent. Revoked the promise with the distinct under- standing that in so doing he hazarded his own life and the lives of hundreds of others. This act required true boldness. Historical Appendix. 155 strong love for justice, if not love for Jesus, and we are not much surprised that Tertullian called Pilate a "Christian in conscience." We deny that Pontius Pilate was a coward, but assert him to have been the boldest and truest non-professing friend Jesus had in Jerusalem at that time, as the sequel plainly shows. When Pilate pronounced Jesus innocent, he had him brought out on the pavement, wearing the crown of thorns and the bloody, purple robe, and sought to touch a chord of sympathy in the hearts of the multitude by calling on them to "Behold the Man." But there was no sympa- thy for Jesus, in all that vast multitude that dared express itself in words. On the other hand, cries of " Crucify Him, cruci- fy Him, crucify Him," rose from every side. And now, will no one speak in the Lord's behalf? Will not some one of His apostles enter a protest against this crucifixion cry ? Where is the fiery Peter, who in the darkness of the night, in the midst of a storm, trod the proud waves of the angry Galilean sea? Will he not now speak out for his Lord and Master? Where are "the sons of thunder," who desired to call fire from heaven on the enemies of Jesus? Will not they defend their Master in this. His extreme humiliation? Silence reigns. Where is the lovely and the beloved John, " that disciple whom Jesus loved " — the one whose head rested on his Savior's bosom at the Paschal Supper, and also at the Sup- per of the Lord ? Will he not now speak out for Christ ? No voice is heard. Where are the holy women, who so faithfully administered to Jesus' wants in far off Galilee, and followed Him from there to here ? Will they not cry aloud for Jesus ? An awful stillness breaks the silence. Where is Mary, the tender mother of Jesus? Standing weeping on the outside of the vast throng, with a broken, bleeding heart, and so choked with sorrow she can not speak. Is there not one soul in this multitude of thousands and thousands who will speak one word in the bleeding Savior's behalf? Is there 156 The Trials of Christ. who dares lift up his voice in behalf of the thorn-crowned, pale-faced, bleeding Christ. Who is he? The hated, heathen Roman governor of Judsea — Pontius Pilate : hear his grand proclamation, every word of which is worthy to be printed in letters of fine gold, set in a background of seven times refined silver, — "If Jesus must be put to death, THEN YOU MUST TAKE HiM, AND CRUCIFY HiM YOURSELVES ; FOR, I WILL NOT DO IT; FOR I FIND NO FAULT IN HiM." The terrible and trying circumstances under which these words were spoken, make them the grandest and sweetest sentence that ever fell from the lips of Pilate; and should win for him a place of affection in every Christian heart. God be thanked there was one man (though a heathen) who stood up for Jesus to the last, declaring Him to be innocent. It matters not what a few moments or sentences may bring forth ; for this grand act, Pontius Pilate deserves to have his name trumpeted from one end of the earth to the other. As soon as the Sanhedrists saw that Pilate had acquitted Jesus of the political charge ; they dropped it, and brought up the original one, claiming that He had blasphemed in that '* He made Himself the Son of God." This was the first time this charge had been made against Jesus, before Pilate ; therefore, he took Him into the Judgment Hall, and asked Him whether He was of this, or from some other world ; and as an answer receiyed — silence. Then Pilate said to Jesus, " Speakest Thou not to me — to me — representative of the Roman World ? Knowest Thou not that at the nod- ding of my head, the Jews would instantly crucify Thee? Knowest Thou not that Thy cross has been taken to Calvary and is awaiting Thy coming? Knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and power to set Thee free, and speakest Thou not to me? Jesus then said unto him, ** Pilate, thou couldest have no power whatever over Me, if it had not been given thee by my Father in heaven ; but I Historical Appendix. 157 say unto thee, that Joseph Caiaphas, who delivered Me to thee hath a greater sin to answer for than thou hast." These words breathed enough of an unknown world, and an unknown God, to make Pilate more anxious than ever to release his mysterious Prisoner. Therefore he left Jesus in the Judgment Hall, went out on the pavement, and again plead to save his life — which was an acquittal of the charge of blasphemy. As soon as Pilate had acquitted Jesus, the Sanhedrists dropped the charge of blasphemy, and returned to the charge of treason; claiming that Jesus had spoken against Caesar, and was guilty of treason against the Roman Empire ; and that if he let Him go, he would also be guilty of treason, and would be so reported to Caesar. Pilate then had Jesus led out on the pavement, still wearing the purple- bloody-robe, and with the crown of thorns still sticking in His head. This done, he sat down on the judgment-seat for the second time ; to give the assenting sentence of death ; and as he tremblingly gazed in the pale and bloody face of the miraculously silent Sufferer, the tenderest chord of his soul was touched, and he sought once more to reach a chord of sympathy in the hearts of the Jews, by pointing to Jesus, and exclaiming to them, — "Behold your King." There was no sympathy there — nothing but murder, for they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him." Pilate then saw that his lips must very soon pronounce the dreadful, fatal words; but chokes of utterance, and can not speak them now ; for other words crowd upon his tongue and struggle into birth : "Shall I crucify your King? " Then the chief priests gave a riotous — the victorious yell: ** We have no king but C^sar." The awful crisis is this moment at hand; for Pilate dis- tinctly sees that to further defend the Savior would cause a bloody riot, and implicate himself in a charge of treason to the Roman Emperor. Therefore, after seven distinct ac- 158 The Trials of Christ. quittals, and many manly efforts to save the Savior's life, ho consents, against his will, that He may be crucified. But then, was there not a divine power over Pilate that stayed his hand ? Here let the curtain fall. INDEX. Annas, History of, .121 Annas, Jesus before, ...... 7 Antipas, History of, ...... - 121 Antipas, Jesus before, . . . . . • 57 Barabbas, ......... 64 Bethabara, . . . . , . , . 126 Blasphemy, ......... 123 Bloodiest parties, ....... 21 Caesars, ......... 144 Caiaphas, Palace of, , . 16 Caiaphas, History of, ...... . 125 Caiaphas, Jesus before, ...... 18 Calvary, On the way to, ...... 91 Chronological Synopsis, ...... c Council Chamber, ....... 32 Cross, Diagram of, ....... 98 Crosses, Position of, ...... . 108 Crucifixion, History of, ..... . 129 Crucifixion, that of Jesus. ...... 97 Crucifixion, that of robbers, ..... 99 Crucifixion, how conducted, .... lOO, loi Darkness, . . . . . . . . .111 Death sentence, ........ 35 Deicides, 116 Dying utterances, . . . . , , . .113 Eloi 1,1 Emperors, Roman, 144 Garments, I02 Golgotha, 95 Herod, Palace of, 42, 48, 60, 137 Herod, Jesus before, 57 «*I thirst," . . . . . . . .112 159 i6o Index. "It is finished," . Jordan and Bethabara, Judas, Death of, Judas, Greswell on, . Judas, Edersheim on. Miracles, . Mocking Jesus, Mother of Jesus, Pavement, Peter's five denials, . Peter's footsteps. Diagram of, Pilate, Jesus taken to, Pilate, Jesus before (i), Pilate acquits Jesus, . Pilate, Jesus before (2), Pilate consents to Jesus' death Pilate scourges Jesus, Pilate, Jesus before (3), Pilate, Eulogy on, Pharisees sunk out of sight, Philo, .... Procurators of Judaea, Revenges of history. Robbers, The dying, Sanhedrists, Jesus before, Sanhedrin, Jesus before, . Sanhedrin, Jesus condemned by, Sanhedrin, The great, Scarlet robe, . Scourging, Side of Jesus, Synagogue, The great, Thorns, Crown of, Title, when written, . Treason, Charge of, 126, 29, 57> 75 12 27 36 37 38 15 , 106, 107 109 • 139 24, 25 . 16 44 47-54 54 62-70 70 . 72 84-90 [47-158 20 . 142 144 . 69 107 . 18 ' 35 132 75-77 72-74 . 117 136 . 78 79 . 51 DATE DUE DEMCO 38-297 ,^i ^'y" A '•t i y ''>, .^'' ' .>■ >'' ^ <• ■*%. t , ^Uv ' /r ' 'v V BS2425 .588 The trials and crucifixion of Christ. Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00053 7508