ORDER OF EVENTS IN THE TRIAL OF OUR LORD-Continued. our children" (Matt. xxvii. 15-26; Mark xv. 6-15; Luke xxiii. 13-25; John xviii. 39-40). The Purple Robe, the Reed Sceptre, the Crown of Thorns.-JESUS was now handed over to the Roman soldiers. Their hatred and contempt of the seditious Jews led them to treat with great indignity a person whom they believed to be a peasant aiming at political power. Scourging always preceded a crucifixion, but in addition to this torture they added the mockery of a royal insignia, crowning His head with thorns, giving Him a reed as a sceptre, and assaulting Him with blows and violence (Matt. xxvii. 26-30; Mark xv. 15-19; John xix. 1-3). Pilate's Last Weak Effort to Release Jesus.-The scene seems to have incited PILATE to make yet another effort, and, if unsuccessful, he would at least insult the Jews. Knowing Him to be innocent, he presented Him in the robes of mockery, but he was still assailed with the cry, "Crucify Him !" "Take you Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him," rejoined PILATE, well knowing that they dared not take him at his word. Leading JESUS back into the hall, he asked Him, " Whence art thou?" and urged the question with the intimation that he had power to crucify Him, or to set Him free. The Saviour assured him that he had no power, unless it were given him from above, and then assured PILATE of the guilt of His wicked betrayers. Alarmed, PILATE determines to release Him, but again the weak and unprincipled man yields to fear, for the Jews knew what above all things he dreaded. They knew the character of his administration, and how much he feared an imperial examination into his tyrannical rule; and therefore, "If thou let this man go, thou art not Cæsar's friend," was their triumphant appeal, and the fear of acquitting a usurper induced the selfish and unjust ruler to condemn to death the innocent and the just ONE. Yielding Him to their fury he inquired, "Shall I crucify your king?" and the answer was an abjuring of the independence which had been a passion with the Jews: "We have no king but Caesar !" (Matt. xxvii. 26-30; Mark xv. 15–19; John xix. 1-16). God's Punishment of the Participators in the Crime.-The Providence of GOD took the Jews at their word, and their last futile efforts for freedom ended in their dispersion over the world. The retribution which also fell on the chief actors in this greatest of crimes which was ever enacted in the world's history was no less signal. PILATE afterwards met the actual fate which he had dreaded, for he was deposed and degraded, and in a far distant land of disgraceful exile closed his life by suicide. HEROD deservedly met a similar fate, as he was divested of power and banished for the rapacity and cruelty of his rule. After a miserable life he died in exile. CATAPHAS was deposed. There was no delay in the doom of the miserable traitor, JUDAS. In remorse he carried back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief-priests, acknowledged his sin, encountered their mockery and disdain, and the wretched man, in hopeless despair, went out and hanged himself. The chief-priests, who had perpetrated such iniquity, were yet such religious formalists that they would not return the silver to the treasury, as it had been the price of blood, and so they purchased the potter's field, without the city, as a burial-place for strangers, and thus they fulfilled to the very letter the prophecy of Zechariah (xi. 12, etc.). It may have been the place where JUDAS committed suicide, and the double memorial of the scene and the price of blood was preserved in its name, Aceldama, the field of blood (Matt. xxvii. 2-10; Acts i. 18, 19), by which it was afterwards known. 48 HELPS TO THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. SCENES AND INCIDENTS AT THE CRUCIFIXION OF OUR LORD. The incidents of the Great Sacrifice may be classified under the heads of manner, place and time. Our contemplation of the awful scene may be made more affecting by viewing these in order, while our gratitude and love may be rendered more heartfelt and fervid. It was a Roman execution, conducted in the usual form, with certain variations arising from incidental circumstances. 66 The Place Calvary. The place was necessarily without the city (Acts vii. 58; Heb. xiii. 11-13; comp. Ex. xxix. 14; Lev. iv. 11, 12, 21; vi. 30; ix. 11; xvi. 27; Num. xix. 3); but the exact locality is unknown. It was near one of the gates, and beside a public road, but there is no mention of its being on a "hill " or mount. The name of CALVARY, which occurs in Luke, is the Latin translation of the Greek word (kranion), by which all four Evangelists explain the Hebrew term GOLGOTHA (Matt. xxvii. 33, 34; Mark xv. 22, 23; Luke xxiii. 33; John xix. 17). As a mark of shame and ignominy, the criminal had to carry his cross to the place of execution, and CHRIST was thus led forth with two culprits who were "justly in the same condemnation" (Luke xxiii. 26, 32, 41; comp. Isa. liii. 12). Everlasting honor was laid on SIMON, a man of Cyrene, whom the sol· diers seized as he was entering the city, and on whom they laid the load under which JESUS had sunk. It was then that He told the women, who had followed Him weeping, to mourn rather for the judgments which were coming on the land (Matt. xxvii. 31, 32; Mark xv. 20, 21; Luke xxiii. 26-32; John xix. 17). The Crucifixion—the Prayer for His Murderers.-The condemned were stripped at the place of crucifixion and fastened to the cross, which was usually of the form known by the name of the "Roman Cross," but not nearly so high as is commonly represented. Usually the feet of the sufferer were only about a foot or two above the ground, so that, instead of being raised aloft and looking downward, JESUS suffered in the midst of His persecutors. The body was either nailed or bound by cords to the cross, and sometimes both modes were adopted. Our LORD was nailed both by the hands and the feet, as had been foretold (Ps. xxii. 16; Zech. xii. 10; John xx. 25, 27; comp. Rev. i. 7), a method exquisitely painful, though tending perhaps to shorten the torture. As in our SAVIOUR'S case, when the cross was not already fixed and standing, the sufferer was fastened to the wood as it lay on the ground, and the shock must have been agon zing when the cross was dropped into its place in the ground. Usually some drug was given to deaden the sense of these tortures, but our LORD refused the mixture of wine and myrrh that was offered to Him. He bore the agony of death in meekness and silence, as had been predicted of Him by Isaiah, and thus between two malefactors He died, the Just for the unjust, being "numbered with the transgressors" (Matt. xxvii. 38; Mark xv. 27, 28; Luke xxiii. 33; John xix. 18). While suspended on the cross His first saying-an utterance never to be forgotten-was a prayer for His murderers: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do ” (Luke xxiii. 34). The Time-the Guard.—The time of our LORD'S crucifixion was the third hour (or 9 o'clock A.M.), the very time when the morning sacrifice was offered (Mark xv. 25); and His death was at the ninth hour, which was the time of the evening sacrifice; and the space of the intervening six hours was divided at noon by the commencement of the miraculous darkness. The cross was watched by a centurion and a guard of four Roman soldiers. The garments of the sufferers were their perquisites, and so the raiment of our LORD was divided among them, except the upper robe, which was without a seam; the soldiers cast lots for it, HELPS TO THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. SCENES AND INCIDENTS AT THE CRUCIFIXION OF OUR LORD--Continued. thus unconsciously fulfilling another prophecy: "They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots" (Matt. xxvii. 35; Luke xiii. 34; John xix. 23; Ps. xxii. 18). The Inscription on the Cross.-PILATE was enabled again to insult the Jews by the inscription which, according to custom, was placed over the culprit's head to indicate his crime. Hebrew, Greek and Latin were now understood and spoken by the people in Jerusalem, and therefore he wrote the label in these tongues. This fact in some measure explains the various readings of the Evangelists, who aimed only at giving the substance of the inscription, without noting the differences of expression in the three languages. THIS IS JESUS the King of tHE JEWS (Matthew). THE KING OF THE JEWS (Mark). THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS (Luke). JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS (John). The chief priests felt the insult, and desired a change in the inscription, but PILATE contemptuously refused, saying, "What I have written, I have written" (Matt. xxvii. 31-38; Mark xv. 20-28; Luke xxiii. 26-34, 38; John xix. 17-24). The Gracious Promise to the Penitent Robber.-For three hours (9-12 A.M.) JESUS hung on the cross, exposed to the insults of the rulers and of the fickle rabble, who had changed when they saw Him apparently helpless in the hands of His enemies. Some stood to enjoy the sight, others passing in and out of the city gate wagging their heads, taunted Him with the very prophecy which was being fulfilled-the destruction of the temple of His body that it might be raised again in three days. The chief priests even professed that they would believe on Him if He would establish His Divine power by coming down from the cross; and The other, confessing the one of the culprits beside Him joined in railing at Him, asking as a proof of His For the second mission that they might be delivered from the cross. justice of their sentence, reproved his comrade, and uttered the memorable prayer, "LORD, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." time JESUS spoke, and assured the dying penitent: "Verily, I say unto thee, (Matt. xxvii. 39-44; Mark xv. 29–32; To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise Luke xxiii. 35-37, 39-43). In The Women at the Cross.-Three women, together with JOHN, lingered at the cross, His mother, her sister and Mary of Magdala-the three Marys. the hour of His agony He bade His mother to look on John as her son, and John to receive her as his mother; "and from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home" (John xix. 25). The Miraculous Darkness.—It was now noon, yet a supernatural darkness covered all the land from the sixth to the ninth hour. The Jewish months were lunar, and the Passover was in the middle of the month when the moon was full; therefore this obscuration could not be an eclipse. Deeper far than this darkness was the gloom that rested on the SAVIOUR'S soul, as He bore the burden of At the ninth hour He exclaimed, "My God! Divine wrath for the sins of men. One of my God! why hast thou forsaken me?" Catching at the word "Eli," His utter- SCENES AND INCIDENTS AT THE CRUCIFIXION OF OUR LORD-Continued. The Death of Jesus.-All that the LAMB OF GOD could do for man had been endured; and now the end of His agony and the completion of His great redemption work are announced by the utterance, "IT IS FINISHED," and yielding His soul to God, He exclaims, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit;" and, bowing His head on His breast, He expired (Matt. xxvii. 50; Mark xv. 37; Luke xxiii. 46; John xix. 30). Portents at Christ's Death-Conversion of the Centurion.-The priest who entered the holy place with the blood of the evening sacrifice at the very hour of His death saw that the veil was rent from the top to the bottom, thus intimating that " a new and living way was consecrated for us to enter into the holiest of all, by the blood of JESUS, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh ”“(Heb. x. 19, foll.). The rocks around Jerusalem were rent by an earthquake, the graves were opened, and many of the saints arose and were seen in the city after His resurrection. All these wonders and evidences did not suffice to subdue the hardened spirit of the Jews, but in the death of JESUS the Roman centurion saw enough to satisfy his mind that "this was the Son of God!" His Death Made Certain-the Water and the Blood.-At sunset the Sabbath would begin. "That Sabbath-day was a high day," being the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the first-fruits of the harvest were offered in the Temple, and whence the fifty days were reckoned to the Day of Pentecost. For that Sabbath this day was "the preparation." Now they would put away all defilements and all signs of mourning. They had just enacted a deed which would have profaned any day, but they could not endure its defilement by the consequences of their judicial murder. Their request that the sufferings of those on the cross might be ended was granted by PILATE, who consented that the soldiers might break their legs, and so hasten their death. The two malefactors were thus treated, but CHRIST was found to be dead already, hence His limbs were not broken. To be sure, however, that He was really dead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and from the wound there flowed blood and water. Thus, in the death of Him, the true Paschal Lamb, two prophecies were fulfilled-"A bone of him shall not be broken," and "They shall look on him whom they pierced" (John xix. 31-42; comp. Ex. xii. 46; Ps. xxxiv. 20; Zech. xii. 10; Ps. xxii. 16, 17; Rev. i. 7). Thus is the death of Christ attested, and even PILATE procures additional testimony from the centurion (Mark xv. 44, 45), because of his surprise at the briefness of the Sufferer's agony. Knowing the relation of these facts to the subsequent resurrection, JOHN, who was a witness of the scene, gives in detail all the incidents as they passed before his eyes. Jesus Laid in the Tomb.-JOSEPH of Arimathæa, a rich man and a memher of the Sanhedrim, and who was secretly a disciple of JESUS, applied to PILATE for the body, who, when he was satisfied that JESUS was really dead, complied with his request. The conduct of JOSEPH encouraged NICODEMUS, who brought myrrh and aloes to anoint the corpse. They took the body down from the cross, rolled it in linen with the spices, and, because the Sabbath was at hand, they laid it hastily in a newly-made sepulchre, which JOSEPH had prepared for himself, in an adjoining garden. To secure the body until the Sabbath was past, they rolled a great stone against the door and departed. Thus was the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled (liii. 9), that He should "make his grave with the rich." The chief priests remembered with anxiety the prediction that JESUS had uttered respecting His resurrection, and therefore, to guard against any devices of His followers, they obtained from PILATE a guard of soldiers, who sealed the stone and watched at the tomb (Matt. xxvii. 62-66). HELPS TO THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. The English word GOSPEL signifies "good tidings" and is applied to the Books that are the vehicles of the best of all good tidings to mankind. The Greek name (Evayyelior) of these Books had the same signification; from this latter comes the title, Evangelists, by which the writers of these good tidings are designated. These four precious Books present a concise record of the Nativity, Life, Words, Works, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of the SON OF MAN, JESUS, GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH; they unfold his character, claims and mission. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW.-There has been much discussion as to the language in which this Some Book was written and its date. have maintained that it was written in Hebrew, or rather Syro-Chaldaic; others, that its original was in Greek; and others, again, that it was written by the same inspired author in both languages. The last is probably the fact, and the Hebrew copy was written about A. D. 38, the Greek A. D. 61. St. MATTHEW relates what he saw and heard with the most natural and unassuming simplicity, in a plain and perspicuous style. "For simplicity of narrative and an artless relation of facts (without any applause, censure or digressive remarks, on the part of the historian, upon the characters introduced in it; without any intermixture of his own opinion upon any subject whatsoever), and for a multiplicity of internal marks of credibility, this Gospel certainly has no parallel among human productions." St. MATTHEW wrote primarily for the Jewish Christians, and hence his Gospel abounds, more than either of the other three, in allusions to Jewish customs, and hence, too, he dwells most on those of our Lord's words and acts that had direct reference to the Jews, and points out carefully numerous instances of the fulfillment of prophecies a line of argument especially calculated to influence the devout Israelite. It is worthy of note, that the outlines of the whole Spiritual system are in this Gospel correctly laid down. St. PAUL has amplified and illustrated, but neither he nor any other Apostle or inspired writer has brought to light one truth, the prototype of which is not found in the words and acts of EMMANUEL, as related by St. MATTHEW. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK.-St. MARK is supposed to have been "JOHN, whose surname was Mark," (Acts xii. 12), called by St. PETER, in his first Epistle (v. 13), "Marcus my son," from which it is concluded that he had been converted under St. PETER'S preaching. Some have thought that he was the young man mentioned in Mark xiv. 51, 52. He was a companion of St. PAUL and St. BARNABAS during their earlier missionary labors, but left them at Perga, in PamAfter this he laborer with the latter. phylia; some time later he became cowent to Rome (2 Tim. iv. 11), and thence into Asia, where he again met St. PETER. He wrote his Gospel, it is supposed, under that Apostle's supervision; this supposition is based upon the fact that he is spoken of by PAPIAS, a Christian writer of the Second Century, as St. PETER'S 'disciple and interpreter," and upon the additional fact that, while he omits many things honorable to that Apostle, he mentions at length all his shortcomings. In fact, JUSTIN MARTYR calls it "the Gospel of St. Peter." (See also 2 Peter i. 15, 16.) The date of the Gospel has been fixed by general consent a little later than that of St. MATTHEW-about A. D. 61. That it was written directly for Gentile and not Jewish converts is evident from the facts that quotations from the Prophets and allusions to Hebrew customs are usually avoided, and, when they occur, explanatory clauses are added. St. MARK is supposed to have died at Alexandria. 44 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE.-This Gospel was written by St. LUKE, "the beloved physician," about A. D. 63-64, while he was with St. PAUL in Rome. St. LUKE, according to the testimony of some of the Fathers, was a native of Antioch. He would appear, from his intimate acquaintance with the Greek language, as well as from his Greek name, youkas, to have been of Gentile extraction. But from the Hebrew terms occurring in his writings, and from his accurate knowledge of the Jewish religion, ceremonies and customs, it is highly probable that he was a Jewish Proselyte; and, having afterward embraced the Gospel, he became a faithful and zealous companion of St. PAUL in many of his labors and travels Acts xxviii. 15 and Philemon 24 that he (Acts xvi. 10; xx. 5, etc). We learn from |