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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/21814-8.txt b/21814-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a12bc9b --- /dev/null +++ b/21814-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7605 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ, by James Stalker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ + A Devotional History of our Lord's Passion + +Author: James Stalker + +Release Date: June 12, 2007 [EBook #21814] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIAL AND DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +THE TRIAL AND DEATH + +OF + +JESUS CHRIST + + +A Devotional History of our Lord's Passion. + + + +BY + +JAMES STALKER, D.D. + + + +AUTHOR OF "LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST," "LIFE OF ST. PAUL," "IMAGO CHRISTI," +ETC. + + + +CRUX DOMINI PALMA, CEDRUS, CYPRESSUS, OLIVA. + + + +HODDER & STOUGHTON + +NEW YORK + +GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1894, + +BY + +A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON. + + + + +TO MY WIFE + + + + +PREFACE + +Ever since I wrote, in a contracted form, _The Life of Jesus Christ_, +the desire has slumbered in my mind to describe on a much more extended +scale the closing passages of the Saviour's earthly history; and, +although renewed study has deepened my sense of the impossibility of +doing these scenes full justice, yet the subject has never ceased to +attract me, as being beyond all others impressive and remunerative. + +The limits of our Lord's Passion are somewhat indeterminate. +Krummacher begins with the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Tauler with +the Feet-washing before the Last Supper, and Rambach with Gethsemane; +most end with the Death and Burial; but Grimm, a Roman Catholic, the +latest writer on the subject, means to extend his _Leidensgeschichte_ +to the end of the Forty Days. Taking the word "passion" in the strict +sense, I have commenced at the point where, by falling into the hands +of His enemies, our Lord was deprived of voluntary activity; and I have +finished with the Burial. No doubt the same unique greatness belongs +to the scenes of the previous evening; and I should like to write of +Christ among His Friends as I have here written of Him among His Foes; +but for this purpose a volume at least as large as the present one +would be requisite; and the portion here described has an obvious unity +of its own. + +The bibliography of the Passion is given with considerable fulness in +Zöckler's _Das Kreuz Christi_; but a good many of the books there +enumerated may be said to have been superseded by the monumental work +of Nebe, _Die Leidensgeschichte unsers Herrn Hesu Christi_ (2 vols., +1881), which, though not a work of genius, is written on so +comprehensive a plan and with such abundance of learning that nothing +could better serve the purpose of anyone who wishes to draw the +skeleton before painting the picture. Of the numerous Lives of Christ +those by Keim and Edersheim are worthy of special notice in this part +of the history, because of the fulness of information from classical +sources in the one and from Talmudical in the other. Steinmeyer +(_Leidensgeschichte_) is valuable on apologetic questions. On the +Seven Words from the Cross there is an extensive special literature. +Schleiermacher and Tholuck are remarkably good; and there are volumes +by Baring-Gould, Scott Holland and others. + +In the sub-title I have called this book a Devotional History, because +the subject is one which has to be studied with the heart as well as +the head. But I have not on this account written in the declamatory +and interrogatory style common in devotional works. I have to confess +that some even of the most famous books on the Passion are to me +intolerably tedious, because they are written, so to speak, in oh's and +ah's. Surely this is not essential to devotion. The scenes of the +Passion ought, indeed, to stir the depths of the heart; but this +purpose is best attained, not by the narrator displaying his own +emotions, but, as is shown in the incomparable model of the Gospels, by +the faithful exhibition of the facts themselves. + +GLASGOW, 1894. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + +I. THE ARREST + +Matt. xxvi. 47-56; Mark xiv. 43-50; Luke xxii. 47-53; John viii. 1-11. + + +II. THE ECCLESIASTICAL TRIAL + +Matt. xxvi. 57-68; Mark xiv. 51-65; Luke xxii. 54-71; John xviii. +12-14, 19-24. + + +III. THE GREAT DENIAL + +Matt. xxvi. 69-75; Mark xiv. 66-72; Luke xxii. 54-62; John xviii. +15-18, 25-7. + + +IV. THE CIVIL TRIAL + +Matt. xxvii. 11; Mark xv. 2; Luke xxiii. 2-4; John xviii. 28-38. + + +V. JESUS AND HEROD + +Luke xxiii. 5-12. + + +VI. BACK TO PILATE + +Matt. xxvii. 15-23; Mark xv. 6-14; Luke xxiii. 13-25; John xviii. 39, +40. + + +VII. THE CROWN OF THORNS + +Matt. xxvii. 26-30; Mark xv. 15-20; Luke xxiii. 25; John xix. 1-5. + + +VIII. THE SHIPWRECK OF PILATE + +Matt. xxvii. 24, 25; Mark xv. 15; Luke xxiii. 25; John xix. 5-16. + + +IX. JUDAS ISCARIOT + +Matt. xxvii. 3-10; Acts i. 18, 19. + + +X. VIA DOLOROSA + +Matt. xxvii. 31-3; Mark xv. 20, 21; Luke xxiii. 26; John xix. 16, 17. + + +XI. THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM + +Luke xxiii. 27-31. + + +XIL. CALVARY + +Matt. xxvii. 33-8; Mark xv. 27, 28; Luke xxiii. 32, 33; John xix. 18-22. + + +XIII. THE GROUPS ROUND THE CROSS + +Matt. xxvii. 39-44, 55, 56; Mark xv. 29-32; Luke xxiii. 35-7, 49; John +xix. 23-5. + + +XIV. THE FIRST WORD FROM THE CROSS + +Luke xxiii. 34. + + +XV. THE SECOND WORD FROM THE CROSS + +Luke xxiii. 39-43. + + +XVI. THE THIRD WORD FROM THE CROSS + +John xix. 25-27. + + +XVII. THE FOURTH WORD FROM THE CROSS + +Matt. xxvii. 46-9; Mark xv. 34-6. + + +XVIII. THE FIFTH WORD FROM THE CROSS + +John xix. 28. + + +XIX. THE SIXTH WORD FROM THE CROSS + +John xix. 30. + + +XX. THE SEVENTH WORD FROM THE CROSS + +Luke xxiii. 46. + + +XXI. THE SIGNS + +Matt. xxvii. 50-4; Mark xv. 38, 39; Luke xxiii. 44, 45, 47. + + +XXII. THE DEAD CHRIST + +John xix. 31-7. + + +XXIII. THE BURIAL + +Matt. xxvii. 57-61; Mark xv. 42-7; Luke xxiii. 50-6; John xix. 38-42. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE ARREST + +Our study of the closing scenes of the life of our Lord begins at the +point where He fell into the hands of the representatives of justice; +and this took place at the gate of Gethsemane and at the midnight hour. + +On the eastern side of Jerusalem, the ground slopes downwards to the +bed of the Brook Kedron; and on the further side of the stream rises +the Mount of Olives. The side of the hill was laid out in gardens or +orchards belonging to the inhabitants of the city; and Gethsemane was +one of these. There is no probability that the enclosure now pointed +out to pilgrims at the foot of the hill is the actual spot, or that the +six aged olive trees which it contains are those to the silent shadows +of which the Saviour used to resort; but the scene cannot have been far +away, and the piety which lingers with awe in the traditional site +cannot be much mistaken. + +The agony in Gethsemane was just over, when "lo," as St. Matthew says, +"Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude." They +had come down from the eastern gate of the city and were approaching +the entrance to the garden. It was full moon, and the black mass was +easily visible, moving along the dusty road. + +The arrest of Christ was not made by two or three common officers of +justice. The "great multitude" has to be taken literally, but not in +the sense of a disorderly crowd. As it was at the instance of the +ecclesiastical authorities that the apprehension took place, their +servants--the Levitical police of the temple--were to the front. But, +as Jesus had at least eleven resolute men with Him, and these might +rouse incalculable numbers of His adherents on the way to the city, it +had been considered judicious to ask from the Roman governor a division +of soldiers,[1] which, at the time of the Passover, was located in the +fortress of Antonia, overlooking the temple, to intervene in any +emergency. And some of the members of the Sanhedrim had even come +themselves, so eager were they to see that the design should not +miscarry. This composite force was armed with swords and staves--the +former weapon belonging perhaps to the Roman soldiers and the latter to +the temple police--and they carried lanterns and torches, probably +because they expected to have to hunt for Jesus and His followers in +the recesses of His retreat. Altogether it was a formidable body: they +were determined to make assurance doubly sure. + + +I. + +The leader of them was Judas. Of the general character of this man, +and the nature of his crime, enough will be said later; but here we +must note that there were special aggravations in his mode of carrying +out his purpose. + +He profaned the Passover. The better day, says the proverb, the better +deed. But, if a deed is evil, it is the worse if it is done on a +sacred day. The Passover was the most sacred season of the entire +year; and this very evening was the most sacred of the Passover week. +It was as if a crime should in Scotland be committed by a member of the +Church on the night of a Communion Sabbath, or in England on Christmas +Day. + +He invaded the sanctuary of his Master's devotions. Gethsemane was a +favourite resort of Jesus; Judas had been there with Him, and he knew +well for what purpose He frequented it. But the respect due to a place +of prayer did not deter him; on the contrary, he took advantage of his +Master's well-known habit. + +But the crowning profanation, for which humanity will never forgive +him, was the sign by which he had agreed to make his Master known to +His enemies. It is probable that he came on in front, as if he did not +belong to the band behind; and, hurrying towards Jesus, as if to +apprise Him of His danger and condole with Him on so sad a misfortune +as His apprehension, he flung himself on His neck, sobbing, "Master, +Master!" and not only did he kiss Him, but he did so repeatedly or +fervently: so the word signifies.[2] As long as there is true, pure +love in the world, this act will be hated and despised by everyone who +has ever given or received this token of affection. It was a sin +against the human heart and all its charities. But none can feel its +horror as it must have been felt by Jesus. That night and the next day +His face was marred in many ways: it was furrowed by the bloody sweat; +it was bruised with blows; they spat upon it; it was rent with thorns: +but nothing went so close to His heart as the profanation of this kiss. +As another said, who had been similarly treated: "It was not an enemy +that reproached me, then I could have borne it; neither was it he that +hated me that did magnify himself against me, then I would have hid +myself from him; but it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide and mine +acquaintance; we took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house +of God in company." [3] Before the kiss was given, Jesus still +received him with the old name of Friend; but, after being stung with +it, He could not keep back the annihilating question, "Judas, betrayest +thou the Son of man with a kiss?" + +The kiss was the sign of discipleship. In the East, students used to +kiss their rabbis; and in all likelihood this custom prevailed between +Christ and His disciples. When we become His disciples, we may be said +to kiss Him; and every time we renew the pledge of our loyalty we may +be said to repeat this act. We do so especially in the Lord's Supper. +In our baptism He may be said to take us up in His arms and kiss us; in +the other sacrament we obtain the opportunity of returning this mark of +affection. + + +II. + +Probably Judas, being ahead of the band he was leading, went somewhat +into the shadows of the garden to reach Jesus; and no doubt it was +expected that Jesus would try to get away. But, instead of doing so, +He shook Himself free from Judas and, coming forward at once into the +moonlight, demanded, "Whom seek ye?" + +At this they were so startled that they reeled back and, stepping one +on another, fell to the ground. + +Similar incidents are related of famous men. The Roman Marius, for +instance, was in prison at Minturnae when Sylla sent orders that he +should be put to death. A Gaulish slave was sent to dispatch him; but, +at the sight of the man who had shaken the world, and who cried out, +"Fellow, darest thou to slay Caius Marius?" the soldier threw down his +weapon and fled.[4] + +There are many indications scattered through the Gospels that, +especially in moments of high emotion, there was something +extraordinarily subduing in the aspect and voice of Christ.[5] On the +occasion, for example, when He cleared the temple, the hardened +profaners of the place, though numerous and powerful, fled in terror +before Him. And the striking notice of Him as He was going up to +Jerusalem for the last time will be remembered: "Jesus went before +them, and they were amazed; and, as they followed, they were afraid." + +On this occasion the emotion of Gethsemane was upon Him--the rapt sense +of victory and of a mind steeled to go through with its purpose--and +perhaps there remained on His face some traces of the Agony, which +scared the onlookers. It is not necessary to suppose that there was +anything preternatural, though part of the terror of His captors may +have been the dread lest He should destroy them by a miracle. +Evidently Judas was afraid of something of this kind when he said, +"Take Him and lead Him away safely." + +The truth is, they were caught, instead of catching Him. It was a +mean, treacherous errand they were on. They were employing a traitor +as their guide. They expected to come upon Christ, perhaps when He was +asleep, in silence and by stealth; or, if He were awake, they thought +that they would have to pursue Him into a lurking-place, where they +would find Him trembling and at bay. They were to surprise Him, but, +when He came forth fearless, rapt and interrogative, He surprised them, +and compelled them to take an altogether unexpected attitude. He +brought all above board and put them to shame. + +How ridiculous now looked their cumbrous preparations--all these +soldiers, the swords and staves, the torches and lanterns, now burning +pale in the clear moonlight. Jesus made them feel it. He made them +feel what manner of spirit they were of, and how utterly they had +mistaken His views and spirit. "Whom seek ye?" He asked them again, to +compel them to see that they were not taking Him, but that He was +giving Himself up. He was completely master of the situation. +Singling out the Sanhedrists, who probably at that moment would rather +have kept in the background, He demanded, pointing to their excessive +preparations, "Be ye come out as against a thief, with swords and +staves? When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no +hands against Me." He, a solitary man, though He knew how many were +against Him, had not been afraid: He taught daily in the temple--in the +most public place, at the most public hour. But they, numerous and +powerful as they were, yet were afraid, and so they had chosen the +midnight hour for their nefarious purpose. "This is your hour," He +said, "and the power of darkness." This midnight hour is your hour, +because ye are sons of night, and the power ye wield against Me is the +power of darkness. + +So spake the Lion of the tribe of Judah! So will He speak on that day +when all His enemies shall be put under His feet. "Kiss the Son, lest +He be angry, and ye perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a +little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him." + + +III. + +We cannot recall to mind too often that it was the victory in the +Garden that accounted for this triumph outside the gate. The +irresistible dignity and strength here displayed were gained by +watching and prayer. + +This, however, is made still more impressively clear by the fate of +those who did not watch and pray. On them everything came as a +blinding and bewildering surprise. They were aroused out of profound +slumber, and came stumbling forward hardly yet awake. When hands were +laid on Jesus, one of the disciples cried, "Shall we smite with the +sword?" And, without waiting for an answer, he struck. But what a +ridiculous blow! How like a man half-awake! Instead of the head, he +only smote the ear. This blow would have been dearly paid for had not +Jesus, with perfect presence of mind, interposed between Peter and the +swords which were being drawn to cut him down. "Suffer ye thus far," +He said, keeping the soldiers back; and, touching the ear, He healed +it, and saved His poor disciple. + +Surely it was even with a smile that Jesus said to Peter, "Put up again +thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish +with the sword." Inside the scabbard, not outside, was the sword's +place; it was out of place in this cause; and those who wield the sword +without just reason, and without receiving the orders of competent +authority, are themselves liable to give life for life. + +But it was with the high-strung eloquence with which He had spoken to +His enemies that Jesus further showed Peter how inconsistent was his +act. It was inconsistent with his Master's dignity; "For," said He, +"if I ask My Father, He would presently give Me more than twelve +legions of angels;" and what against such a force were this +miscellaneous band, numbering at the most the tenth part of a legion of +men? It was inconsistent with Scripture: "How then shall the +Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" It was inconsistent +with His own purpose and His Father's will: "The cup which My Father +hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" + +Poor Peter! On this occasion he was thoroughly like himself. There +was a kind of rightness and nobleness in what he did; but it was in the +wrong place. If he had only been as prompt inside Gethsemane to do +what he was bidden as outside it to do what he was not bidden! How +much better if he could have drawn the spiritual sword and cut on the +ear which was to be betrayed by a maid-servant's taunt! Peter's +conduct on this occasion, as often on other occasions, showed how poor +a guide enthusiasm is when it is not informed with the mind and spirit +of Christ. + + +IV. + +Perhaps it was by the recollection of how deeply he had vowed to stick +by Christ, even if he should have to die with Him, that Peter was +pricked on to do something. The others, however, had said the same +thing. Did they remember it now? It is to be feared, not: the +apparition of mortal danger drove everything out of their minds but the +instinct of self-preservation. Sometimes, in cases of severe illness, +especially of mental disease, the curious effect may be observed--that +a face into which years of culture have slowly wrought the stamp of +refinement and dignity entirely loses this, and reverts to the original +peasant type. So the fright of their Master's arrest, coming so +suddenly on the prayerless and unprepared disciples, undid, for the +time, what their years of intercourse with Him had effected; and they +sank back into Galilean fishermen again. This was really what they +were from the arrest to the resurrection. + +Here again their conduct is in absolute contrast with their Master's. +As a mother-bird, when her brood is assailed, goes forward to meet the +enemy, or as a good shepherd stands forth between his flock and danger, +so Jesus, when His captors drew nigh, threw Himself between them and +His followers. It was partly with this in view that He went so boldly +out and concentrated attention on Himself by the challenge, "Whom seek +ye?" When they replied, "Jesus of Nazareth," He said, "I am He: if +therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way." And the fright into +which they were thrown made them forget His followers in their anxiety +to secure Himself. + +This was as He intended. St. John, in narrating it, makes the curious +remark, that this was done that the saying might be fulfilled which He +spake, "Of them which Thou gavest Me have I lost none." This saying +occurs in His great intercessory prayer, offered at the first Communion +table; but in its original place it evidently means that He had lost +none of them in a spiritual sense, whereas here it seems to have only +the sense of losing any of them by the swords of the soldiers or by the +cross, if they had been arrested with Him. But a deep hint underlies +this surface meaning. St. John suggests that, if any of them had been +taken along with Him, the likelihood is that they would have been +unequal to the crisis: they would have denied Him, and so, in the +sadder sense, would have been lost. + +Jesus, knowing too well that this was the state of the case, made for +them a way of escape, and "they all forsook Him and fled." It was +perhaps as well, for they might have done worse. Yet what an +anticlimax to the asseveration which everyone of them had made that +very evening, "If I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee in any +wise!" I have sometimes thought what an honour it would have been to +Christianity, what a golden leaf in the history of human nature, had +one or two of them--say, the brothers James and John--been strong +enough to go with Him to prison and to death. We should, indeed, have +missed St. John's writings in that case--his Revelation, Gospel and +Epistles. But what a revelation that would have been, what a gospel, +what a living epistle! + +It was not, however, to be. Jesus had to go unaccompanied: "I have +trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with Me." +So they "bound Him and led Him away." + + + +[1] _Speira_=cohors, tenth part of legion. See Ramsay, R.A., 381. + +[2] _katephilesen_. It is used of the woman who was a sinner, when she +kissed the feet of the Saviour. + +[3] Psalm lv. 13-14. + +[4] Other instances in Süskind, _Passionsschule_, _in loc_. + +[5] See fuller details in _Imago Christi_, last chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE ECCLESIASTICAL TRIAL + +Over the Kedron, up the slope to the city, through the gates, along the +silent streets, the procession passed, with Jesus in the midst; +midnight stragglers, perhaps, hurrying forward from point to point to +ask what was ado, and peering towards the Prisoner's face, before they +diverged again towards their own homes.[1] He was conducted to the +residence of the high priest, where His trial ensued. + +Jesus had to undergo two trials--the one ecclesiastical, the other +civil; the one before Caiaphas the high priest, the other before +Pontius Pilate the governor. + +The reason of this was, that Judaea was at that time under Roman rule, +forming a portion of the Roman province of Syria and administered by a +Roman official, who resided in the splendid new seaport of Caesarea, +fifty miles away from Jerusalem, but had also a palace in Jerusalem, +which he occasionally visited. + +It was not the policy of Rome to strip the countries of which she +became mistress of all power. She flattered them by leaving in their +hands at least the insignia of self-government, and she conceded to +them as much home rule as was compatible with the retention of her +paramount authority. She was specially tolerant in matters of +religion. Thus the ancient ecclesiastical tribunal of the Jews, the +Sanhedrim, was still allowed to try all religious questions and punish +offenders. Only, if the sentence chanced to be a capital one, the case +had to be re-tried by the governor, and the carrying out of the +sentence, if it was confirmed, devolved upon him. + +It was at the instance of the ecclesiastical authorities that Jesus was +arrested, and they condemned Him to death; but they were not at liberty +to carry out their sentence: they had to take Him before Pilate, who +chanced at the time to be in the city, and he tried the case over +again, they of course being the accusers at his bar. + +Not only were there two trials, but in each trial there were three +separate stages or acts. In the first, or ecclesiastical trial, Jesus +had first to appear before Annas, then before Caiaphas and the +Sanhedrim during the night, and again before the same body after +daybreak. And in the second, or civil trial, He appeared first before +Pilate, who refused to confirm the judgment of the Jews; then Pilate +attempted to rid himself of the case by sending the Culprit to Herod of +Galilee, who happened also to be at the time in Jerusalem; but the case +came back to the Roman governor again, and, against his conscience, he +confirmed the capital sentence. + +But let me explain more fully what were the three acts in the +ecclesiastical trial.[2] + +Jesus, we are informed by St. John, was taken first to Annas. This was +an old man of seventy years, who had been high priest twenty years +before. As many as five of his sons succeeded him in this office, +which at that period was not a life appointment, but was generally held +only for a short time; and the reigning high priest at this time, +Caiaphas, was his son-in-law. Annas was a man of very great +consequence, the virtual head of ecclesiastical affairs, though +Caiaphas was the nominal head. He had come originally from Alexandria +in Egypt on the invitation of Herod the Great. He and his family were +an able, ambitious and arrogant race. As their numbers multiplied, +they became a sort of ruling caste, pushing themselves into all +important offices. They were Sadducees, and were perfect types of that +party--cold, haughty, worldly. They were intensely unpopular in the +country; but they were feared as much as they were disliked. Greedy of +gain, they ground the people with heavy ritual imposts. It is said +that the traffic within the courts of the temple, which Jesus condemned +so sternly a few days before, was carried on not only with their +connivance but for their enrichment. If this was the case, the conduct +of Jesus on that occasion may have profoundly incensed the +high-priestly caste against Him. + +Indeed, it was probably the depth of his hatred which made Annas wish +to see Jesus in the hands of justice. The wary Sadducee had in all +likelihood taken a leading part in the transaction with Judas and in +the sending out of the troops for Christ's apprehension. He, +therefore, waited out of bed to see what the upshot was to be; and +those who took Jesus brought Him to Annas first. But whatever +interrogation Annas may have subjected Him to was entirely informal.[3] + +It allowed time, however, to get together the Sanhedrim. Messengers +were dispatched to scour the city for the members at the midnight hour, +because the case was urgent and could not brook delay. None knew what +might happen if the multitude, when it awoke in the morning, found the +popular Teacher in the hands of His unpopular enemies. But, if the +trial were all over before daybreak and Jesus already in the strong +hands of the Romans before the multitude had learnt that anything was +going on, there would be nothing to fear. So the Sanhedrim was +assembled under cloud of night; and the proceedings went forward in the +small hours of the morning in the house of Caiaphas, to which Jesus had +been removed. + +This was not strictly legal, however, because the letter of the law did +not allow this court to meet by night. On this account, although the +proceedings were complete and the sentence agreed upon during the +night, it was considered necessary to hold another sitting at daybreak. +This was the third stage of the trial; but it was merely a brief +rehearsal, for form's sake, of what had been already done.[4] +Therefore, we must return to the proceedings during the night, which +contain the kernel of the matter. + +Imagine, then, a large room forming one side of the court of an +Oriental house, from which it is separated only by a row of pillars, so +that what is going on in the lighted interior is visible to those +outside. The room is semicircular. Round the arc of the semicircle +the half-hundred or more[5] members sit on a divan. Caiaphas, the +president, occupies a kind of throne in the centre of the opposite +wall. In front stands the Accused, facing him, with the jailers on the +one side and the witnesses on the other. + +How ought any trial to commence? Surely with a clear statement of the +crime alleged and with the production of witnesses to support the +charge. But, instead of beginning in this way, "the high priest asked +Jesus of His disciples and of His doctrine." + +The insinuation was that He was multiplying disciples for some secret +design and teaching them a secret doctrine, which might be construed +into a project of revolution. Jesus, still throbbing with the +indignity of being arrested under cloud of night, as if He were anxious +to escape, and by a force so large as to suggest that He was the head +of a revolutionary band, replied, with lofty self-consciousness, "Why +askest thou Me? Ask them that heard Me what I have said unto them; +behold, they know what I said." Why had they arrested Him if they had +yet to learn what He had said and done? They were trying to make Him +out to be an underground schemer; but they, with their arrests in +secrecy and their midnight trials, were themselves the sons of darkness. + +Such simple and courageous speech was alien to that place, which knew +only the whining of suppliants, the smooth flatteries of sycophants, +and the diplomatic phrases of advocates; and a jailer, perhaps seeing +the indignant blush mount into the face of the high priest, clenched +his fist and struck Jesus on the mouth, asking, "Answerest Thou the +high priest so?" Poor hireling! better for him that his hand had +withered ere it struck that blow. Almost the same thing once happened +to St. Paul in the same place, and he could not help hurling back a +stinging epithet of contempt and indignation. Jesus was betrayed into +no such loss of temper. But what shall be said of a tribunal, and an +ecclesiastical tribunal, which could allow an untried Prisoner to be +thus abused in open court by one of its minions? + +The high priest had, however, been stopped on the tack which he had +first tried, and was compelled to do what he ought to have begun +with--to call witnesses. But this, too, turned out a pitiful failure. +They had not had time to get a charge properly made out and witnesses +cited; and there was no time to wait. Evidence had to be extemporized; +and it was swept up apparently from the underlings and hangers on of +the court. It is expressly said by St. Matthew that "they sought false +witness against Jesus to put Him to death." To put Him to death was +what in their hearts they were resolved upon,--they were only trying to +trump up a legal pretext, and they were not scrupulous. The attempt +was, however, far from successful. The witnesses could not be got to +agree together or to tell a consistent story. Many were tried, but the +fiasco grew more and more ridiculous. + +At length two were got to agree about something they had heard from +Him, out of which, it was hoped, a charge could be constructed. They +had heard Him say, "I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, +and within three days I will build another made without hands." It was +a sentence of His early ministry, obviously of high poetic meaning, +which they were reproducing as the vulgarest prose; although, even thus +interpreted, it is difficult to see what they could have made of it; +because, if the first half of it meant that He was to destroy the +temple, the second promised to restore it again. The high priest saw +too well that they were making nothing of it; and, starting up and +springing forward, he demanded of Jesus, "Answerest Thou nothing? What +is it which these witness against Thee?" He affected to believe that +it was something of enormity that had been alleged; but it was really +because he knew that nothing could be founded on it that he gave way to +such unseemly excitement. + +Jesus had looked on in absolute silence while the witnesses against Him +were annihilating one another; nor did He now answer a word in response +to the high priest's interruption. He did not need to speak: silence +spoke better than the loudest words could have done. It brought home +to His judges the ridiculousness and the shamefulness of their +position. Even their hardened consciences began to be uneasy, as that +calm Face looked down on them and their procedure with silent dignity. +It was by the uneasiness which he was feeling that the high priest was +made so loud and shrill. + +In short, he had been beaten along this second line quite as completely +as he had been along the first. But he had still a last card, and now +he played it. Returning to his throne and confronting Jesus with +theatrical solemnity, he said, "I adjure Thee by the living God that +Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God." That is to +say, he put Him on oath to tell what He claimed to be; for among the +Jews the oath was pronounced by the judge, not by the prisoner. + +This was one of the great moments in the life of Christ. Apparently He +recognised the right of the high priest to put Him on oath; or at least +He saw that silence now might be construed into the withdrawal of His +claims. He knew, indeed, that the question was put merely for the +purpose of incriminating Him, and that to answer it meant death to +Himself. But He who had silenced those by whom the title of Messiah +had been thrust upon Him, when they wished to make Him a king, now +claimed the title when it was the signal for condemnation. Decidedly +and solemnly He answered, "Yes, I am"; and, as if the crisis had caused +within Him a great access of self-consciousness, He proceeded, +"Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of +power and coming in the clouds of heaven." [6] For the moment they +were His judges, but one day He would be their Judge; it was only of +His earthly life that they could dispose, but He would have to dispose +of their eternal destiny. + +It has often been said that Christians have claimed for Christ what He +never claimed for Himself; that He never claimed to be any more than a +man, but they have made Him a God. But this great statement, made upon +oath, must impress every honest mind. Every effort has, indeed, been +made to deplete its terms of their importance and to reduce them to the +lowest possible value. It is argued, for example, that, when the high +priest asked if He were "the Son of God," he meant no more than when he +asked if He were "the Christ." But what is to be said of Christ's +description of Himself as "sitting on the right hand of power and +coming in the clouds of heaven"? Can He who is to be the Judge of men, +searching their hearts to the bottom, estimating the value of their +performances, and, in accordance with these estimates, fixing their +eternal station and degree, be a mere man? The greatest and the wisest +of men are well aware that in the history of every brother man, and +even in the heart of a little child, there are secrets and mysteries +which they cannot fathom. No mere man can accurately measure the +character of a fellow-creature; he cannot even estimate his own. + +How this great confession lifts the whole scene! We see no longer +these small men and their sordid proceedings; but the Son of man +bearing witness to Himself in the audience of the universe. How little +we care now what the Jewish judges will say about Him! This great +confession reverberates down the ages, and the heart of the world, as +it hears it from His lips, says, Amen. + +The high priest had achieved his end at last. As a high priest was +expected to do when he heard blasphemy, he rent his clothes, and, +turning to his colleagues, he said, "What need have we of witnesses? +behold, now ye have heard His blasphemy." And they all assented that +Jesus was guilty, and that the sentence must be death. + +Sometimes good-hearted Bible-readers, in perusing these scenes, are +troubled with the thought that the judges of Jesus were conscientious. +Was it not their duty, when anyone came forward with Messianic +pretensions, to judge whether or not his claim was just? and did they +not honestly believe that Jesus was not what He professed to be? No +doubt they did honestly believe so. We must ascend to a much earlier +period to be able to judge their conduct accurately. It was when the +claims of Jesus were first submitted to them that they went astray. +He, being such as He was, could only have been welcomed and appreciated +by expectant, receptive, holy minds. The ecclesiastical authorities of +Judaea in that age were anything but expectant, receptive and holy. +They were totally incapable of understanding Him, and saw no beauty +that they should desire Him. As He often told them Himself, being such +as they were, they could not believe. The fault lay not so much in +what they did as in what they were. Being in the wrong path, they went +forward to the end. It may be said that they walked according to their +light; but the light that was in them was darkness. Their proceedings, +however, on this occasion will not tend to soften the heart of anyone +who looks into them carefully. They had hardly the least show of +justice. There was no regular charge or regular evidence, and no +thought whatever of allowing the Accused to bring counter-evidence; the +same persons were both accusers and judges; the sentence was a foregone +conclusion; and the entire proceedings consisted of a series of devices +to force the Accused into some statement which would supply a +colourable pretext for condemning Him.[7] + +But it was by what ensued after the sentence of condemnation was passed +that these men cut themselves off forever from the sympathy of the +tolerant and generous. A court of law ought to be a place of dignity; +when a great issue is tried and a solemn judgment passed, it ought to +impress the judges themselves; even the condemned, when a death +sentence has been passed, ought to be hedged round with a certain awe +and respect. But that blow inflicted with impunity at the commencement +of the trial by a minion of the court was too clear an index of the +state of mind of all present. There was no solemnity or greatness of +any kind in their thoughts; nothing but resentment and spite at Him who +had thwarted and defied them, lessened them in the public estimation +and stopped their unholy gains. A perfect sea of such feelings had +long been gathering in their hearts; and now, when the opportunity +came, it broke loose upon Him. They struck Him with their sticks; they +spat in His face; they drew something over His head and, smiting Him +again, cried, "Christ, prophesy who smote Thee." [8] One would wish to +believe that it was only by the miserable underlings that such things +were done; but the narrative makes it too clear that the masters led +the way and the servants followed. + +There are terrible things in man. There are some depths in human +nature into which it is scarcely safe to look. It was by the very +perfection of Christ that the uttermost evil of His enemies was brought +out. There is a passage in "Paradise Lost," where a band of angels, +sent out to scour Paradise in search of Satan, who is hidden in the +garden, discover him in the shape of a toad "squat at the ear of Eve." +Ithuriel, one of the band, touches him with his spear, whereat, +surprised, he starts up in his own shape,-- + + "for no falsehood can endure + Touch of celestial temper, but returns + Of force to its own likeness." + +But the touch of perfect goodness has often the opposite effect: it +transforms the angel into the toad, which is evil's own likeness. + +Christ was now getting into close grips with the enemy He had come to +this world to overcome; and, as it clutched Him for the final wrestle, +it exhibited all its ugliness and discharged all its venom.[9] The claw +of the dragon was in His flesh, and its foul breath in His mouth. We +cannot conceive what such insult and dishonour must have been to His +sensitive and regal mind. But He rallied His heart to endure and not +to faint; for He had come to be the death of sin, and its death was to +be the salvation of the world. + + + +[1] Here would come in the curious little notice in St. Mark: "And +there followed Him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about +his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him; and he left the +linen cloth and fled from them naked"; on which I have not commented, +not well knowing, in truth, what to make of it. It may be designed to +show the rudeness of the soldiery, and the peril in which any follower +of Jesus would have been had he been caught. Some have supposed that +the young man was St. Mark, and that this is the painter's signature in +an obscure corner of his picture. (See Holzmann in _Handcommentar zum +Neuen Testament_.) In the first volume of the _Expositor_ there is a +paper on the subject by Dr. Cox, but it does not throw much light on it. + +[2] On the Sanhedrim and the high priests see Schürer, _The Jewish +People in the Time of Christ_, div. ii., vol. i. + +[3] This, many think, is what is given in St. John. + +[4] Many think that this is what is given in St. Luke. + +[5] The full number was seventy-one, including the president. + +[6] See Psalm cx. 1, and Dan. vii. 13. + +[7] Even Jost, the Jewish historian, calls it a murder; but he does not +believe that there was an actual trial; and in this Edersheim agrees +with him. + +[8] In allusion to His claim to be the Messianic Prophet. The Roman +soldiers, on the other hand, ridiculed His claim to be a King. + +[9] "The central figure is the holiest Person in history, but round Him +stand or strive the most opposed and contrasted moral types. . . . The +men who touch Him in this supreme hour of His history do so only to +have their essential character disclosed."--FAIRBAIRN. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE GREAT DENIAL + +To the ecclesiastical trial of our Lord there is a side-piece, over +which we must linger before proceeding to the civil trial. At the very +hour when in the hall of the high priest's house Christ was uttering +His great confession, one of His disciples was, in the court of the +same building, pouring out denial after denial. + + +I. + +When Jesus was bound in Gethsemane and led away back to Jerusalem, all +His disciples forsook Him and fled. They disappeared, I suppose, among +the bushes and trees of the garden and escaped into the surrounding +country or wherever they thought they would be safe. + +But two of the Twelve--St. Peter and St. John, who tells the +story--soon rallied from the first panic and followed, at a +distance,[1] the band in whose midst their Master was. Keeping in the +shadow of the trees by the roadside, keeping in the shadow of the +houses in the streets, they stole after the moving mass. At last, when +it got near its destination--the palace of the high priest---they +hurried forward; and St. John went in with the crowd; but somehow, +probably through irresolution, St. Peter was left outside in the +street; and the door was shut. + +To understand what follows, it is necessary to describe more in detail +the construction of such a house as the high priest's palace; for it +was very unlike most of our houses. A Western house looks into the +street, but an Oriental into its own interior, having no opening to the +front except a great arched gateway, shut with a heavy door or gate. +When this door is opened, it discloses a broad passage, penetrating the +front building and leading into a square, paved courtyard, open to the +sky, round which the house is built, and into which its rooms, both +upstairs and downstairs, look. A similar arrangement is to be seen in +some large warehouses in our own cities, or you may have seen it in +large hotels on the Continent. It only requires to be added that on +the side of the passage, inside the outer gate, there is a room or +lodge for the porter or portress, who opens and shuts the gate; and in +the gate there is a little wicket by which individuals can be let in or +out. + +When the band conducting Jesus appeared in front of the palace, no +doubt the portress opened the large gate to admit them and then shut it +again. They passed under the archway into the court, which they +crossed, and then entered one of the apartments overlooking the +courtyard. But the police and other underlings employed in the arrest, +their work being now done, stayed outside, and, as it was midnight and +the weather was cold, they lighted a fire there under the open sky and, +gathering round it, began to warm themselves. + +As has been said, John went in through the gate with the crowd, but +Peter was somehow shut out. John, who seems to have occupied a higher +social position than the rest of the Twelve, was known to the high +priest, and, therefore, probably was acquainted with the palace and +knew the servants; and, when he noticed that Peter had been left out, +he went to the portress and got her to let him in by the wicket-gate. + +It was a friendly act; and yet, as the event proved, it was +unintentionally an ill turn: John led Peter into temptation. The best +of friends may do this sometimes to one another; for the situation into +which one man may enter without peril may be dangerous to another. One +man may mingle freely in company which another cannot enter without +terrible risks. There are amusements in which one Christian can take +part, though they would ruin another if he touched them. A mind +matured and disciplined may read books which would kindle the fire of +hell in a mind less experienced. There are always two things that go +to the making of a temptation: there is the particular set of +circumstances to be encountered on the one hand, and there is the +peculiar character or history of the person entering into the situation +on the other. We need to remember this if we are to defend either +ourselves or others against temptation. + + +II. + +John no doubt, as soon as he got Peter inside the door, hurried away +across the court into the hall where Jesus was, to witness the +proceedings. + +Not so Peter. He was not familiar with the place as John was; and he +had the shyness of a plain man at the sight of the inside of a great +house. Besides, he was under fear of being recognized as a follower of +Christ and apprehended. Now also the unlucky blow he had made at +Malchus at the gate of Gethsemane had to be paid for, because it +greatly increased his chance of detection. + +He remained, therefore, just inside the great door, watching from the +shadows of the archway what was going on inside, and, without knowing +it, himself being watched by the portress from her coigne of vantage. +He was ill at ease; for he did not know what to do. He did not dare to +go, like John, into the judgment-hall. Perhaps he half wished he could +get out into the street again. He was in a trap. + +At last he strolled forward to the group round the fire and, sitting +down among them, commenced to warm himself. It was a miscellaneous +group there in the glare of the fire, and no notice was taken of him. +He took his place as if he were one of them. + +It was, however, a dangerous situation in another sense than he +supposed. It was of bodily peril he was in terror; he did not +anticipate danger to his soul; yet this was very near. It is always +dangerous when a follower of Christ is sitting among Christ's enemies +without letting it be known what he is. "Blessed is the man that +walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of +sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." It is more than +probable that when Peter sat down the air was ringing with jest and +laughter about Jesus; but he did not interrupt: he kept silence and +tried to look as like one of the scorners as he could. But not to +confess Christ is the next step to denying Him. + +Temptation, as is its wont, came suddenly and from the most unexpected +quarter. As has been said, when he was skulking beneath the archway, +his movements were noted by the portress. They were suspicious, and +she, with a woman's cleverness, divined his secret. Accordingly, when +she was relieved at her post by another maid, she not only pointed him +out to this companion and communicated to her what she thought about +him, but, in passing to her room, she went up to the fire among the +soldiers and, looking him straight in the face, said, with a malicious +twinkle in her eye, This is one of the Nazarene's followers. + +Peter was taken completely by surprise. It was as if a mask had been +torn from his face. In a moment the instinct of terror seized him; +perhaps, too, the instinct of shame at being thought a disciple of Him +they were mocking. Indeed, there was a further shame: how could he +confess himself the disciple of the Master whom he had heard blasphemed +without protest? He had denied his Master in act before he denied Him +in word; and the preceding act made the word also necessary. "I do not +know what you mean," he said, with a surly frown; and away she tripped +laughing, having done her work quite successfully. + +None pursued the subject. But Peter was uneasy, and took the earliest +opportunity of escaping from the fireside. He went away into the +archway, intending apparently, if he could, to get out of the place +altogether. But here the trap was closed; for the other maid, whose +attention had been directed to him, and who may have been laughing from +a distance at her neighbour's sally, was standing at the door of her +lodge, with two or three men; and, pointing him out to them as he came +forward, she said, "That is one of the Nazarene's followers." + +Poor Peter! felled to the ground a second time by the touch of a +woman's hand. But how often has the saucy tongue and jeering laugh of +a woman made a man ashamed of the highest and holiest! Peter flung at +her an angry oath and, turning on his heel, went back again to the fire. + +He was now completely panic-stricken, and lost all self-control. He +was boiling with conflicting emotions and could not keep quiet. +Assuming an air of defiance and indifference, he plunged into the +conversation, speaking loudly to throw off suspicion, but really +defeating his own object; for he drew attention on himself, and they +scanned him the more narrowly the more excited he became. A relative +of Malchus, whose ear he had cut off, recognised him. His loud country +voice and rough Galilean accent aroused the suspicions of others. To +bait such a pretender was a welcome diversion in the idle night, and +soon they were all in full cry after the quarry. + +Peter was thoroughly lost; like a bull in the arena attacked and +stabbed on every side, he became blind with rage, terror and shame; +and, pouring out denials, he added to them oaths and curses hurled at +his adversaries. + +The latter element was, no doubt, the resurrection of an old +fisherman's habit, long since dead and buried. Peter was just the man +likely to be a profane swearer in his youth--the headlong man of +temper, who likes to say a thing with as much emphasis and exaggeration +as possible. This is a sin whose power is generally broken instantly +at conversion. While there are sins which linger on for years and +require to be crucified by inches, profane swearing often dies an +instantaneous death. But even in this case it is difficult to get quit +of the evil past. In Peter this sin may have seemed to die at his +conversion; for years it had been dead and buried; yet, when the +favourable moment came, lo and behold, there it was again in vigorous +life. Old habits of sin are hard to kill. We seem to have killed and +buried them; but do you not sometimes hear a knocking beneath the +ground? do you not feel the dead thing turning in its coffin, and see +the earth moving above its grave? This is the penalty of the days +given to the flesh. Till his dying day the man who has been a drunkard +or a fornicator, a liar or a swearer, will have to keep watch and ward +over the graveyard in which he has buried the past. + +Yet there was a kind of method in the madness of Peter's profanity. +When he wanted to prove that he was none of Christ's, he could not do +better than take to cursing. They did not credit his assertions that +he had no connection with his Master, but they could not help believing +his sins. Nobody belonging to Jesus, they knew, would speak as Peter +was doing. It is one of the strongest testimonies to Jesus still, that +even those who do not believe in Him expect cleanness of speech and of +conduct from His followers, and are astonished if those who bear His +name do things which when done by others are matters of course. + + +IV. + +While Peter was in the midst of this outbreak of denial and profanity, +suddenly he saw the eyes of his tormentors turned away from him to +another object.[2] It was Jesus, whom His enemies had condemned in the +neighbouring judgment-hall, and whom they were now leading, amidst +blows and reproaches, across the courtyard to the guard-room, where He +was to be kept for two or three hours till a subsequent stage of His +trial came on. As Jesus stepped down out of the hall into the +courtyard, His ear had caught the accents of His disciple, and, stung +with unutterable anguish, He turned quickly round in the direction +whence the sounds proceeded. At the same moment Peter turned, and they +looked one another full in the face. Jesus did not speak; for a single +syllable, even of surprise, would have betrayed His disciple. Nor +could He linger; for the soldiers were hurrying Him on. But for a +single instant their eyes met, and soul looked into soul. Who shall +say what was in that look of Christ?[3] There may be a world in a +look. It may be more eloquent than a whole volume of words. It may +reveal far more than the lips can ever utter. One soul may give itself +away to another in a look. A look may beatify or plunge in the depths +of despair. + +The look of Jesus was a talisman dissolving the spell in which Peter +was held. Sin is always a kind of temporary madness; and it was +manifestly so in this case. Peter was so bewildered with terror, anger +and excitement that he did not know what he was doing. But the look of +Jesus brought him to himself, and immediately he acted like a man. He +made at once for the exit with impetuous speed.[4] And now nothing +stood in his way: he got past the maid and her companions without +trouble. For, indeed, the trap of temptation is only an illusion. To +a resolute man it presents no obstacles. + +But further, the look of Christ was a mirror in which Peter saw +himself. He saw what Christ thought of him. The past came rushing +back. He was the man who, in a great and never-to-be-forgotten moment, +had confessed Christ and earned His hearty recognition. He was the man +who, a few hours ago, had vowed, above all the rest, that he never +would deny his Master. And now he had deserted Him and wounded Him to +the heart in His utmost need. He had placed himself among His enemies +as one of themselves and, with oaths and curses, trodden His sacred +name beneath his feet. He had put off the disciple and reverted to the +rudeness of his godless youth. He was a perjured traitor. All this +was in that look of Christ. + +But there was far more in it. It was a rescuing look. If any friend +had met Peter rushing out from the scene of his sin, he might well have +been terrified for what might happen. Where was he rushing to? Was it +to the precipice over which Judas plunged not many hours afterwards? +Peter was not very far from that. Had it been an angry look he saw on +Christ's face when their eyes met, this might have been his fate. But +there was not a spark of anger in it. There was pain, no doubt, and +there was immeasurable disappointment. But deeper than these--rising +up from below them and submerging them--there was the Saviour's +instinct, that instinct which made Him reach out His hand and grasp +Peter when he was sinking in the sea. With this same instinct He +grasped Him now. + +In that look of an instant Peter saw forgiveness and unutterable love. +If he saw himself in it, he saw still more his Saviour--such a +revelation of the heart of Christ as he had never yet known. He saw +now what kind of Master he had denied; and it broke his heart. It is +this that always breaks the heart. It is not our sin that makes us +weep; it is when we see what kind of Saviour we have sinned against. +He wept bitterly; not to wash out his sin, but because even already he +knew it had been washed out. The former weeping is a pelting shower; +this is the close, prolonged downpour, which penetrates deep and +fertilises the plants of the soul at their very roots. + +Indeed, this was the real beginning of all the good St. Peter was to do +in the world. But we will not speak of this now. Let our last thought +be of Him who, in the crisis and extremity of His own suffering, when +He heard His name not only denied but mingled with oaths and curses, +yielded not one moment to the resentment which such an act of treachery +might have occasioned, but, forgetting His own sorrows and overmastered +with the instincts of the Saviour, threw into a look such a world of +kindness and of love that, in an instant, it lifted the falling +disciple from the gulf and set him on the rock where he ever afterwards +stood, himself a rock in the constancy of his faith and the vigor of +his testimony. + + + +[1] _makrothen _. + +[2] It is to St. Luke we owe the account here given of Peter's +awakening; but he also refers to the crowing of the cock, the only +cause mentioned by the other Evangelists. There is no difficulty in +understanding that such a psychological crisis may have been due to two +lines of suggestion. + +[3] Mrs. Browning's sonnets on this subject must be quoted in full: + + "Two sayings of the Holy Scriptures beat + Like pulses in the Church's brow and breast; + And by them we find rest in our unrest, + And, heart-deep in salt tears, do yet entreat + God's fellowship, as if on heavenly seat. + The first is JESUS WEPT; whereon is prest + Full many a sobbing face, that drops its best + And sweetest waters on the record sweet. + And one is where the Christ, denied and scorned, + LOOKED UPON PETER. Oh to render plain, + By help of having loved a little and mourned, + That look of sovran love and sovran pain, + Which He, who could not sin yet suffered, turned + On him who could reject but not sustain. + + "The Saviour looked on Peter. Ay, no word, + No gesture of reproach; the heavens serene, + Though heavy with armed justice, did not lean + Their thunders that way; the forsaken Lord + _Looked_ only on the traitor. None record + What that look was; none guess; for those who have seen + Wronged lovers loving through a death-pang keen, + Or pale-cheeked martyrs smiling to a sword, + Have missed Jehovah at the judgment call. + And Peter from the height of blasphemy-- + 'I never knew this man'--did quail and fall, + As knowing straight THAT GOD; and turnèd free, + And went out speechless from the face of all, + And filled the silence, weeping bitterly. + + I think: that look of Christ might seem to say: + 'Thou, Peter! art thou a common stone + Which I at last must break My heart upon, + For all God's charge to His high angels may + Guard My feet better? Did I yesterday + Wash _thy_ feet, My beloved, that they should run + Quick to destroy me 'neath the morning sun? + And do thy kisses, like the rest, betray? + The cock crows coldly. Go, and manifest + A late contrition, but no bootless fear! + For, when thy final need is dreariest, + Thou shall not be denied, as I am here; + My voice to God and angels shall attest, + _Because I KNOW this man, let him be clear_.'" + +[4] This may be the meaning of _epibalon_; but it is much disputed. +Other interpretations are: (1) = _epeballe klaiein_, he began to weep; +(2) with head covered--in mourning. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CIVIL TRIAL + +In the chapter before last we saw the Sanhedrim pass a death sentence +on Jesus. Gladly would they have carried it out in the Jewish +fashion--by stoning. But, as was then explained, it was not in their +power: their Roman masters, while conceding to the native courts the +power of trying and punishing minor offences, reserved to themselves +the prerogative of life and death; and a case in which a capital +sentence had been passed in a Jewish court had to go before the +representative of Rome in the country, who tried it over again, and +might either confirm or reverse the sentence. Accordingly, after +passing sentence on Jesus themselves, the Sanhedrists had to lead Him +away to the tribunal of the governor. + + +I. + +The representative of Imperial Rome in Palestine at this time was +Pontius Pilate. The position which he held may perhaps be best +realised by thinking of one of our own subordinate governors in India; +with the difference, however, that it was a heathen, not a Christian +power, that Pilate represented, and that it was the spirit of ancient +Rome, not that of modern England, which inspired his administration. +Of this spirit--the spirit of worldliness, diplomacy and expediency--he +was a typical exponent; and we shall see how true to it he proved on +this momentous day.[1] + +Pilate had occupied his position for a good many years; yet he neither +liked his subjects nor they him. The Jews were among the most +intractable and difficult of all the states which the officials of Rome +had to manage. Mindful of the glory of their ancient history, and +still cherishing the hope of universal empire, they were impatient of +the yoke of subordination; they were constantly discovering in the +conduct of their rulers insults directed against their dignity or their +religion; they complained of the heavy taxation and pestered their +rulers with petitions. Pilate had not got on at all well with them. +Between him and them there was no sympathy. He hated their fanaticism. +In his quarrels with them, which were frequent, he had freely shed +their blood. They accused him of corruption, cruelty, robbery, and +maladministration of every description. + +The residence of the governor was not in Jerusalem, in which no one +accustomed to the pleasures of Rome--its theatres, baths, games, +literature and society--could desire to live, but in the new coast city +of Caesarea, which in its splendour and luxury was a sort of small +imitation of Rome. Occasionally, however, the governor had to visit +the capital for business reasons; and usually as on this occasion, he +did so at the time of the Passover. + +When there, he took up his residence in what had formerly been the +royal palace while Judaea still had a king. It had been built by Herod +the Great, who had a passion for architecture; and it was situated on +the hill to the south-west of the one on which the temple stood. It +was a splendid building,[2] rivalling the temple itself in appearance, +and so large as to be capable of containing a small army. It consisted +of two colossal wings, springing forward on either side, and a +connecting building between. In front of the latter stretched a broad +pavement; and here, in the open air, on a raised platform, was the +scene of the trial; because the Jewish authorities would not enter the +building, which to them was unclean. Pilate had to yield to their +scruples, though probably cursing them in his heart. But, indeed, it +was quite common for the Romans to hold courts of justice in the open +air. The front of the palace, all round, was supported by massive +pillars, forming broad, shady colonnades; and round the building there +extended a park, with walks, trees and ponds, where fountains cast +their sparkling jets high into the sunshine and flocks of tame doves +plumed their feathers at the water's edge. + +Through the huge gateway, then, of this palatial residence, the Jewish +authorities, with their Prisoner in their midst, came pouring in the +early morning. Pilate came out to receive them and seated himself on +his chair of state, with his secretaries beside him, and behind him, no +doubt, numbers of bronzed Roman soldiers with their stolid looks and +upright spears. The Accused would have to ascend the platform, too; +and over against Him stood His accusers, with Caiaphas at their head. + +What a spectacle was that! The heads of the Jewish nation leading +their own Messiah in chains to deliver Him up to a Gentile governor, +with the petition that He should be put to death! Shades of the heroes +and the prophets, who loved this nation and boasted of it and foretold +its glorious fate, the hour of destiny has come, and this is the result! + +It was an act of national suicide. But was it not more? Was it not +the frustration of the purpose and the promise of God? So it certainly +appeared to be. Yet He is not mocked. Even through human sin His +purpose holds on its way. The Jews brought the Son of God to Pilate's +judgment-seat, that both Jew and Gentile might unite in condemning Him; +for it was part of the work of the Redeemer to expose human sin, and +here was to be exhibited the _ne plus ultra_ of wickedness, as the hand +of humanity was lifted up against its Maker. And yet that death was to +be the life of humanity; and Jesus, standing between Jew and Gentile, +was to unite them in the fellowship of a common salvation. "Oh the +depth both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are +His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" + + +II. + +Pilate at once demanded what was the accusation which they brought +against the Prisoner. + +The reply was a characteristic one, "If He were not a malefactor, we +would not have delivered Him up unto thee." This was as broad a hint +as they could give that they desired the governor to waive his right to +re-try the case, accepting their trial of it as sufficient, and content +himself with the other half of his prerogative--the passing and the +execution of the sentence. Sometimes provincial governors did so, +either through indolence or out of compliment to the native +authorities; and especially in a religious cause, which a foreigner +could not be expected to understand, such a compliment might seem a +boon which it was not unreasonable to ask. + +But Pilate was not in a yielding mood, and retorted, "Take ye Him and +judge Him according to your law." This was as much as to say: If I am +not to hear the case, then I will neither pass the sentence nor inflict +the punishment; if you insist on this being a case for yourselves as +ecclesiastics, then keep it to yourselves; but, if you do, you must be +content with such a punishment as the law permits you to inflict. + +To them this was gall and wormwood, because it was for the life of +Christ they were thirsting, and they well knew that imprisonment or +beating with rods was as far as they could go. The cold, keen Roman, +as proud as themselves, was making them feel the pressure of Rome's +foot on their neck, and he enjoyed a malicious pleasure in extorting +from them the complaint, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to +death." + +Forced against their will and their expectation to formulate a charge, +they began to pour forth many vehement accusations; out of which at +length three emerged with some distinctness--first, that He was +perverting the nation; second, that He forbade to pay the imperial +tribute; and third, that He set Himself up as a king. + +It will be observed that they never mentioned the charge on which they +had condemned Him themselves. It was for none of these three things +that they had condemned Him, but for blasphemy. They knew too well, +however, that if they advanced such a charge in this place, the +likelihood was that it would be sneered out of court. It will be +remembered how a Roman governor, mentioned in the life of St. Paul, +dealt with such a charge: "Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a +matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I +should bear with you; but, if it be a question of words and names, and +of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. +And he drave them from the judgment-seat." [3] And, although of course +Pilate could not have dared to exhibit the same cynical disdain for +what he would have called Jewish superstition, yet they knew that it +was in his heart. + +But their inability to bring forward the real charge put them in a +false position, the dangers of which they did not escape. They had to +extemporise crimes, and they were not scrupulous about it. + +Their first charge--that Jesus was perverting the nation[4]--was vague. +But what are we to say of the second--that He forbade to pay the +imperial tribute? When we remember His reply that very week to the +question whether or not it was lawful to pay tribute--"Render unto +Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are +God's"--it looks very like a deliberate falsehood.[5] There was more +colour in their third statement--that He said He was Christ a King--for +He had at their tribunal solemnly avowed Himself to be the Christ. +Yet, in this case, also, they were well aware that to the ear of a +Roman the claim that He was a king would convey a different meaning +from that conveyed to their ears by the claim to be the Christ. +Indeed, at bottom their objection to Him was just that He did not +sufficiently claim to be a king in the Roman sense. They were eagerly +looking for a king, of splendour and military renown, to break the +Roman yoke and make Jerusalem the capital of a worldwide empire; and it +was because the spirit and aims of Jesus were alien to such ambitions +that they despised and hated Him. + +Pilate understood perfectly well with whom he was dealing. He could +only be amused with their zeal for the payment of the Roman tribute. +One of the Evangelists says, "He knew that for envy they had delivered +Him." How far he was already acquainted with the career of Jesus we +cannot tell. He had been governor all the time of the movement +inaugurated by the Baptist and continued by Christ, and he can hardly +have remained in entire ignorance of it. The dream of his wife, which +we shall come to soon, seems to prove that Jesus had already been a +theme of conversation in the palace; and perhaps the tedium of a visit +to Jerusalem may have been relieved for the governor and his wife by +the story of the young Enthusiast who was bearding the fanatic priests. +Pilate displays, all through, a real interest in Jesus and a genuine +respect. This was no doubt chiefly due to what he himself saw of His +bearing at his tribunal; but it may also have been partly due to what +he had already heard about Him. At all events there is no indication +that he took the charges against Jesus seriously. The two first he +seems never to have noticed; but the third--that He was setting Himself +up as a king, who might be a rival to the emperor--was not such as he +could altogether pass by. + + +III. + +Pilate, having heard the accusations, took Jesus inside the palace to +investigate them. This he did, no doubt, for the purpose of getting +rid of the importunity of His accusers, which was extreme. And Jesus +made no scruple, as they had done, about entering the palace. Shall we +say that the Jews had rejected Him, and He was turning to the +Gentiles--that the wall of partition had now fallen, and that He was +trampling over its ruins? + +In the silence, then, of this interior hall He and Pilate stood face to +face--He in the prisoner's lonely place, Pilate in the place of power. +Yet how strangely, as we now look back at the scene, are the places +reversed! It is Pilate who is going to be tried--Pilate and Rome, +which he represented. All that morning Pilate was being judged and +exposed; and ever since he has stood in the pillory of history with the +centuries gazing at him.[6] In the old pictures of the Child Christ by +the great masters a halo proceeds from the Babe that lights up the +surrounding figures, sometimes with dazzling effect. And it is true +that on all who approached Christ, when He was in the world, there fell +a light in which both the good and the evil in them were revealed. It +was a search-light, that penetrated into every corner and exposed every +wrinkle. Men were judged as they came near Him. Is it not so still? +We never show so entirely what is in us as by the way in which we are +affected by Christ. We are judging ourselves and passing sentence on +ourselves for eternity by the way in which we deal with Him. + +Pilate asked Him, "Art Thou the King of the Jews?" referring to the +third charge brought against Him. The reply of Jesus was cautious; it +was another question: "Sayest thou this of thyself, or did others tell +it thee of Me?" He desired to learn in what sense the question was +asked--whether from the standpoint of a Roman or from that of the Jews; +because of course His answer would be different according as He was +asked whether He was a king as a Roman would understand the word or +according as it was understood by the Jews. + +But this answer nettled Pilate, perhaps because it assumed that he +might have more interest in the case than he cared to confess; and he +said angrily, "Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have +delivered Thee unto me." If he intended this to sting, the blow did +not fail of its mark. Ah, tingling shame and poignant pain! His own +nation--His own beloved nation, to which He had devoted His life--had +given Him up to the Gentile. He felt a shame for it before the +foreigner such as a slave on the block may feel before her purchaser +for the father and the family that have sold her into disgrace. + +Jesus at once proceeded, however, to answer Pilate's question on both +sides, both on the Roman political and then on the Jewish religious +side. + +First, He answered negatively, "My kingdom is not of this world!" He +was no rival of the Roman emperor. If He had been, the first thing He +must have done would have been to assemble soldiers about Him for the +purpose of freeing the country from the Roman occupation, and the very +first duty of these soldiers would have been to defend the person of +their king; but it could be proved that at His arrest there had been no +fighting on His behalf, and that He had ordered the one follower who +had drawn a sword to sheathe it again. It was not a kingdom of force +and arms and worldly glory He had in view. + +Yet, even in making this denial, Jesus had used the words, "My +kingdom." And Pilate broke in, "Art Thou a king then?" "Yes," replied +Jesus; "to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the +world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." This was His +kingdom--the realm of Truth. It differs widely from that of Caesar. +Caesar's empire is over the bodies of men; this is over their hearts. +The strength of Caesar's empire is in soldiers, arms, citadels and +navies; the strength of this kingdom is in principles, sentiments, +ideas. The benefit secured by Caesar to the citizens is external +security for their persons and properties; the blessings of Christ's +kingdom are peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost. The empire +of Caesar, vast as it was, yet was circumscribed; the kingdom of Christ +is without limits, and is destined to be established in every land. +Caesar's empire, like every other earthly kingdom, had its day and +passed out of existence; but the kingdom of Truth shall last for +evermore. + +It has been remarked that there was something Western rather than +Oriental in this sublime saying of Christ. What a noble-minded Jew +longed for above all things was righteousness; but what a noble-minded +Gentile aspired after was truth. There were some spirits, in that age, +even among the heathen, in whom the mention of a kingdom of truth or +wisdom would have struck a responsive chord. Jesus was feeling to see +whether there was in this man's soul any such longing. + +He approached still nearer him when He added the searching remark, +"Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice;" for it was a hint +that, if he loved the truth, he must believe in Him. Jesus preached to +His judge. Just as the prisoner Paul made Felix the judge tremble, and +Agrippa the judge cry out, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a +Christian," so Jesus, with the instinct of the preacher and the +Saviour, was feeling for Pilate's conscience. He who fishes for the +souls of men must use many angles; and on this occasion Jesus selected +a rare one. + +There will always be some who, though common appeals do not touch them, +yet respond to this delicate appeal. Is truth a magic word to you? do +you thirst for wisdom? There are those to whom the prizes which the +majority strive for are as dross. The race for wealth, the pride of +life, the distinctions of society--you laugh at them and pity them. +But a golden page of a favourite poet, a thought newly minted in the +glowing heat of a true thinker's mind, a pregnant word that sets your +fancy ranging through eternity, a luminous doctrine that rises on the +intellectual horizon like a star,--these are your wealth. You feel +keenly the darkness of the world, and are perplexed by a hundred +problems. Child and lover of wisdom, do you know the King of Truth? +This is He who can satisfy your craving for light and lead you out of +the maze of speculation and error. + +But is it true, as He says here, that everyone who is of the truth +heareth His voice? Is not the world at present full of men and women +who are in search of truth, yet pass Christ by? It is a very strong +word He uses; it is, "every one who has been born of the truth." Have +you actually clambered on Truth's knees, and clung to her neck, and fed +at her breast? There are many who seek truth earnestly with the +intellect, but do not desire it to rule their conduct or purify their +heart. But only those who seek truth with their whole being are her +true children; and to these the voice of Christ, when it is discerned, +is like the sunrise to the statue of Memnon or as the call of spring to +the responsive earth. + +Alas! Pilate was no such man. He was incapable of spiritual +aspiration; he was of the earth earthy; he sought for nothing which the +eye cannot see or the hand handle. To him a kingdom of truth and a +king of truth were objects of fairyland or castles in the air. "What +is truth?" he asked; but, as he asked, he turned on his heel, and did +not wait for an answer. He asked only as a libertine might ask, What +is virtue? or a tyrant, What is freedom? + +But he was clearly convinced that Jesus was innocent. He judged Him to +be an amiable enthusiast, from whom Rome had nothing to fear. So he +went out and pronounced His acquittal: "I find in Him no fault at all." + + + +[1] On Pilate there is an essay of extraordinary subtlety and power in +Candlish's _Scripture Characters_. + +[2] An eloquent account in Keim (vi., p. 80, English tr.), who gives +the authorities: "in part a tyrant's stronghold, and in part a fairy +pleasure-house." + +[3] Acts xviii. 14-16. + +[4] _ethnos_, not _laos_: they were speaking to a heathen. + +[5] Keim calls it "a very flagrant lie." + +[6] "Socrates, quum omnium sapientissime sanctissimeque vixisset, ita +in judicio capitis pro se dixit, ut non supplex aut reus, sed magister +aut dominus videretur judicum."--CICERO. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +JESUS AND HEROD + +Pilate had tried Jesus and found Him innocent; and so he frankly told +the members of the Sanhedrim, thereby reversing their sentence. What +ought to have followed? Of course Jesus ought to have been released +and, if necessary, protected from the feeling of the Jews. + +Why was this not what happened? An incident in the life of Pilate, +narrated by a secular historian, may best explain. Some years before +the trial of Jesus, Pilate, newly settled in the position of governor +of Judaea, resolved to remove the headquarters of the Roman army from +Caesarea to Jerusalem; and the soldiers entered the Holy City with +their standards, each of which bore the image of the emperor. To the +Jewish mind these images were idolatrous, and their presence in +Jerusalem was looked upon as a gross insult and desecration. The +foremost men of the city poured down to Caesarea, where Pilate was +staying, and besought him to remove them. He refused, and for five +days the discussion went on. At length he was so irritated that he +ordered them to be surrounded by soldiers, and threatened to have them +put to death unless they became silent and dispersed. They, however, +in no way dismayed, threw themselves on the ground and laid bare their +necks, crying that they would rather die than have their city defiled. +And the upshot was that Pilate had to yield, and the army was withdrawn +from Jerusalem.[1] + +Such was the governor, and such were the people with whom he had to +deal. He was no match for them, when their hearts were set on anything +and their religious prejudices roused. In the present case they did +with him exactly as they had done on that early occasion. He declared +Jesus innocent, and thereupon the trial ought to have been at an end. +But they raised an angry clamour--"they were the more fierce," says St. +Luke--and began to pour out new accusations against the Prisoner. + +Pilate had not nerve enough to resist. He weakly turned to Jesus +Himself, asking, "Hearest Thou not what these witness against Thee?" +But Jesus "answered to him never a word." He would not, by a single +syllable, give sanction to any prolongation of the proceedings: +"insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly." Flustered and +irresolute himself, he could not comprehend this majestic composure. +The stake of Jesus in the proceedings was nothing less than His life; +yet He was the only calm person in the whole assemblage. + +Suddenly, however, amidst the confusion a way of escape from his +embarrassing situation seemed to open to Pilate. They were crying, "He +stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from +Galilee to this place." The mention of Galilee was intended to excite +prejudice against Jesus, because Galilee was noted as a hotbed of +insurrection. But it set agoing a different train of thought in the +mind of Pilate, who asked anxiously if He was a Galilean. It had +flashed upon him that Herod, the ruler of Galilee, was in the city at +the time, having come for the Passover celebration; and, as it was not +an unusual procedure in Roman law to transfer a prisoner from the +territory where he had been arrested to his place of origin or of +domicile, it seemed to him a happy inspiration to send Jesus to be +tried by the ruler of the province to which He belonged, and so get rid +altogether of the case.[2] He acted at once on this idea; and, under +the escort of Pilate's soldiers, Jesus and His accusers were sent away +to the ancient palace of the Maccabees, in which Herod used to reside +on his visits to the Holy City. + +Thus was Jesus, on this day of shame, tossed, like a ball, from hand to +hand--from Annas to Caiaphas, from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to +Herod, with more to follow; and these weary marches[3] in chains and in +the custody of the officers of justice, with His persecutors about Him, +are not to be forgotten in the catalogue of His sufferings. + + +I. + +There are several Herods mentioned in the New Testament, and it must be +made clear which of them this was. + +The first of them was he who slew the babes of Bethlehem, when the +infant Saviour was carried away to Egypt. He was called Herod the +Great, and reigned over the whole country, though only by permission of +the Romans. At his death his dominions were divided among his sons by +the foreigner, who thus more effectually brought the country under +control; for the smaller the size of subject states the more absolute +is the power of the suzerain. Judaea was given to Archelaus; but it +was soon taken from him, to be administered by the Romans themselves +through their procurators, of whom Pilate was one. Galilee and Peraea +were given to another son, Antipas; and a region more to the north to a +third, Philip. Our present Herod is Antipas. + +He was a man of some ability and at the outset of his career gave +promise of ruling well. Like his father, he had a passion for +architecture, and among his achievements in this line was the building +of the city of Tiberias, well known in connection with modern missions. +But he took a step which proved fatal when he entered into an intrigue +with Herodias, the wife of his own brother Philip. She left her +husband to come to him, and he sent away his own wife, the daughter of +Aretas, the king of Arabia Petraea. Herodias was a much stronger +character than he; and she remained at his side through life as his +evil genius. Better aspirations were not, however, wholly extinguished +in him even by this fall. When the Baptist began to fire the country, +he took an interest in his preaching, and invited him to the palace, +where he heard him gladly, till John said, "It is not lawful for thee +to have her." For this the great preacher was cast into prison; but +even then Herod frequently sent for him. Manifestly he was under +religious impression. He admired the character and the teaching of +John. It is said "he did many things." Only he could not and would +not do the one thing needful: Herodias still retained her place. +Naturally she feared and hated the man of God, who was seeking to +remove her; and she plotted against him with implacable malignity. She +was only too successful, making use of her own daughter--not Antipas', +but her first husband's--for her purpose. On the king's birthday +Salome danced before Herod and so intoxicated him with her skill and +beauty, that, heated and overcome, he promised--the promise showing the +man--to give her whatever she might ask, even to the half of his +kingdom; and when the young witch, well drilled by her mother in the +craft of hell, asked the head of the man of God, she was not refused. + +This awful crime filled his subjects with horror, and when, soon +afterwards, King Aretas, the father of his discarded wife, invaded the +country, to revenge his daughter's wrong, and inflicted on him an +ignominious defeat, this reverse was popularly regarded as a divine +punishment for what he had done. His own mind was haunted by the +spectres of remorse, as we learn from the fact that, when he heard of +the preaching of Jesus, his first thought was that this was John the +Baptist risen from the dead. Indeed, from this point he seems to have +rapidly deteriorated. Feeling the aversion of the minds of his +subjects, he turned more and more to foreign customs. His court became +distinguished for Roman imitations and affectations. The purveyors of +pleasure, who in that age hawked their wares from one petty court to +another--singers, dancers, jugglers and the like--were welcome at +Tiberias. The fibre of his character was more and more relaxed, till +it became a mere mass of pulp, ready to receive every impression but +able to retain none. His annual visits to Jerusalem even, at Passover +time, were inspired less by devotion than by the hope of amusement. In +so large a concourse there would at any rate be acquaintances to see +and news to hear; and who could tell what excitement might turn up? + + +II. + +His reception of Jesus was thoroughly characteristic. Had he had the +conscience even of a bad man, he might have been abashed to see the +Baptist's Friend. Once he had been moved with terror at the mere +rumour of Jesus; but that was all past; these emotions had been wiped +out by newer ones and forgotten. He was "exceeding glad" to see Him. +First, it was an excitement; and this was something for such a man. +Then, it was a compliment from the Roman; indeed, we are told that +Pilate and he had aforetime been at enmity, but by this attention were +made friends again. His delight, however, arose chiefly from the hope +that he might see Jesus working a miracle. For two or three years his +own dominions had been ringing with the fame of the Miracle-worker, but +Herod had never seen Him. Now was his chance; and no doubt entered his +mind that Jesus would gratify his curiosity, or could count it anything +but an honour to get the opportunity of displaying His skill. + +Such was Herod's estimate of Christ. He put Him on the level of a new +dancer or singer; he looked on His miracles as a species of conjuring +or magic; and he expected from Him the same entertainment as he might +have obtained from any wandering professor of magical arts. + +At once he addressed Him in the friendliest manner and questioned Him +in many words. Apparently he quite forgot the purpose for which Pilate +had sent Him. He did not even wait for any replies, but went rambling +on. He had thought much about religion, and he wished Jesus to know +it. He had theories to ventilate, puzzles to propound, remarks to +make. A man who has no religion may yet have a great deal to say about +religion; and there are people who like far better to hear themselves +talking than to listen to any speaker, however wise. No mouth is more +voluble than that of a characterless man of feeling. + + +III. + +Herod at last exhausted himself, and then he waited for Christ to +speak. But Jesus uttered not a word. The silence lasted till the +pause grew awkward and painful, and till Herod grew red and angry; but +Jesus would not break it with a single syllable. + +For one thing, the entire proceedings were irrelevant. Jesus had been +sent to Herod to be tried; but this had never been touched upon. Had +Jesus, indeed, desired to deliver Himself at all hazards, this was a +rare opportunity; because, if He had yielded to Herod's wishes and +wrought a miracle for his gratification, no doubt He would have been +acquitted and sent back loaded with gifts. But we cannot believe that +such an expedient was even a temptation to Him. Never had He wrought a +miracle for His own behoof, and it is inconceivable that He should have +stooped to offer any justification of the estimate of Himself which +this man had formed. Jesus was Herod's subject; but it was impossible +for Him to look upon him with respect. How could He help feeling +disdain for one who thought of Himself so basely and treated this great +crisis so frivolously? To one who knew Herod's history, how loathsome +must it have been to hear religious talk from his lips! There was no +manliness or earnestness in the man. Religion was a mere diversion to +him. + +To such Christ will always be silent. Herod is the representative of +those for whom there is no seriousness in life, but who live only for +pleasure. There are many such. Not only has religion, in any high and +serious sense, no attraction for them, but they dislike everything like +deep thought or earnest work in any sphere. As soon as they are +released from the claims of business, they rush off to be excited and +amused; and the one thing they dread is solitude, in which they might +have to face themselves. In certain classes of society, where work is +not necessary to obtain a livelihood, this spirit is the predominant +one: life is all a scene of gaiety; one amusement follows another; and +the utmost care is taken to avoid any intervals where reflection might +come in. + +Religion itself may be dragged into this circle of dissipation. It is +possible to go to church with substantially the same object with which +one goes to a place of amusement--in the hope of being excited, of +having the feelings stirred and the aesthetic sense gratified or, at +the least, consuming an hour which might otherwise lie heavy on the +hands. With shame be it said, there are churches enough and preachers +enough ready to meet this state of mind half-way. With the fireworks +of rhetoric or the witchery of music or the pomp of ritual the +performance is seasoned up to the due pitch; and the audience depart +with precisely the same kind of feeling with which they might leave a +concert or a theatre. Very likely it is accounted a great success; but +Christ has not spoken: He is resolutely mute to those who follow +religion in this spirit. + +Sometimes the same spirit takes another direction; it becomes +speculative and sceptical and, like Herod, "questions in many words." +When I have heard some people propounding religious difficulties, the +answer which has risen to my lips has been, Why should you be able to +believe in Christ? what have you ever done to render yourselves worthy +of such a privilege? you are thinking of faith as a compliment to be +paid to Christ; in reality the power to believe in Him and His words is +a great privilege and honour, that requires to be purchased with +thought, humility and self-denial. + +We do not owe an answer to the religious objections of everyone. +Religion is, indeed, a subject on which everyone takes the liberty of +speaking; the most unholy and evil-living talk and write of it nothing +doubting; but in reality it is a subject on which very few are entitled +to be heard. We may know beforehand, from their lives, what the +opinions of many must be about it; and we know what their opinions are +worth. + +It may be thought that Jesus ought to have spoken to Herod--that He +missed an opportunity. Ought He not to have appealed to his conscience +and attempted to rouse him to a sense of his sin? To this I answer +that His silence was itself this appeal. Had there been a spark of +conscience left in Herod, those Eyes looking him through and through, +and that divine dignity measuring and weighing him, would have caused +his sins to rise up out of the grave and overwhelm him. Jesus was +silent, that the voice of the dead Baptist might be heard. + +If we understood it, the silence of Christ is the most eloquent of all +appeals. Can you remember when you used to hear Him--when the words of +the Book and the preacher used to move you in church, when the singing +awoke aspiration, when the Sabbath was holy ground, when the Spirit of +God strove with you? And is that all passed of passing away? Does +Christ speak no more? If a man is lying ill, and perceives day by day +everything about him becoming silent--his wife avoiding speech, +visitors sinking their voices to a whisper, footsteps falling and doors +shutting noiselessly--he knows that his illness is becoming critical. +When the traveller, battling with the snow-storm, sinks down at last to +rest, he feels cold and painful and miserable; but, if there steals +over him a soft, sweet sense of slumber and silence, then is the moment +to rouse himself and fight off his peace, if he is ever to stir again. +There is such a spiritual insensibility. It means that the Spirit is +ceasing to strive, and Christ to call. If it is creeping over you, it +is time to be anxious; for it is for your life. + + +IV. + +How far Herod understood the silence of Jesus we cannot tell. It is +too likely that he did not wish to understand. At all events he acted +as if he did not; he treated it as if it were stupidity. He thought +that the reason why Jesus would not work a miracle was because He could +not: a pretender's powers generally forsake him when he falls into the +hands of the police. Jesus, he thought, was discredited; His Messianic +claims were exploded; even His followers must now be disillusioned. + +So he thought and so he said; and the satellites round his throne +chimed in; for there is no place where a great man's word is echoed +with more parrot-like precision than in a petty court. And no doubt +they considered it a great stroke of wit, well worthy of applause, when +Herod, before sending Him back to Pilate, cast over His shoulders a +gorgeous robe--probably in imitation of the white robe worn at Rome by +candidates for office. The suggestion was that Jesus was a candidate +for the throne of the country, but one so ridiculous that it would be a +mistake to treat Him with anything but contempt. Thus amidst peals of +laughter was Jesus driven from the presence. + + + +[1] Josephus, "Ant.," XVIII., 3, 1. + +[2] It may be questioned whether it was for trial he sent Jesus to +Herod or only for advice, as Festus caused St. Paul's case to be heard +by Agrippa. + +[3] Called "die Gänge des Dulders," in German devotional literature. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +BACK TO PILATE + +The sending of Jesus to Herod had not, as Pilate had hoped, finished +the case, and so the Prisoner was brought back to the imperial palace. + +Herod had affected to treat Jesus with disdain; but in reality, as we +are now aware, he had himself been tried and exposed. And Jesus +returned to do the same thing for Pilate--to make manifest what manner +of spirit he was of; though Pilate had no conception that this was +going to happen: he was only annoyed that a case of which he thought he +had got rid was thrown on his hands again. He had reluctantly to +resume it, and he carried it through to the end; but, before this point +was reached, his character was revealed, down to its very foundations, +in the light of Christ. + +Herod's spirit was that of frivolous worldliness--the worldliness which +tries to turn the whole of life into a pastime or a joke; Pilate's was +that of strenuous worldliness--the worldliness which makes self its aim +and subordinates everything to success. Of the two this is perhaps the +more common; and, therefore, it will be both interesting and +instructive to watch its self-revelation under the search-light of +Christ's proximity. + + +I. + +Pilate might perhaps have been justified in suspending the release of +Jesus till after he received Him back from Herod; because, although he +had himself found no fault in Him, his ignorance of Jewish laws and +customs might have made him hesitate about his own judgment and wish, +before absolutely settling the case, to obtain the opinion of an +expert. When, however, he learned that the opinion of Herod coincided +with his own, there was no further excuse for delay. + +Accordingly he plainly informed the Jews[1] that he had examined the +Prisoner and found no fault in Him; he had also sent Him to Herod with +a like result. "Therefore," he continued. Therefore--what? +"Therefore," you expect to hear, "I dismiss Him from the bar acquitted, +and I will protect Him, if need be, from all violence." This would +have been the only conclusion in accordance with logic and justice. +Pilate's conclusion was the extraordinary one: "Therefore I will +chastise Him and release Him." He would inflict the severe punishment +of scourging as a sop to their rage, and then release Him as a tribute +to justice. + +Was a more unjust proposal ever made? Yet it was thoroughly +characteristic of the man who made it as well as of the system which he +represented. The spirit of imperial Rome was the spirit of compromise, +manoeuvre and expediency; as the spirit of government has too often +been elsewhere, not only in the State but also in the Church. Pilate +had settled scores of cases on the same principle--or no principle; +scores of officials were conducting their administration throughout the +vast Roman empire in the same way at that very time. Only to Pilate +fell the sinister distinction of putting the base system in operation +in the case where its true character was exposed in the light of +history. + +But ought we not to believe that in all other cases, however obscure +the victims, the spirit manifested by Pilate has been equally +displeasing to God? In our Lord's picture of the Last Judgment one +striking trait is that all are astonished at the reasons assigned for +their destiny. Those on the right hand are credited with feeding +Christ when He was hungry, giving Him drink when He was thirsty, and so +forth; and they ask in surprise, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry and fed +Thee, or thirsty and gave Thee drink? In like manner those on the left +are accused of seeing Christ hungry but neglecting to feed Him, of +seeing Him thirsty and refusing to give Him drink, and so forth; and +they ask, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry or thirsty and ministered not +to Thee? You perhaps think they say so to conceal the sins of which +they are conscious? Not at all. They are really astonished: they +think their identity has been mistaken and that they are about to be +punished for sins they have never committed. They are only aware of +having neglected a few children or old women not worth thinking about. +But Christ says, Each of these stood for Me, and, when you neglected or +injured them, you were doing it unto Me. Thus may all life at the last +prove far more high and solemn than we now imagine. Take care how you +touch your brother man; you may be touching the apple of God's eye: +take care how you do an injustice even to a child; you may find out at +the last that it is Christ you have been assailing. + + +II. + +Pilate had cut himself loose from principle when he declared Jesus to +be innocent and yet ordered Him to be chastised. He thought, however, +that he could guide his course safely enough to the point at which he +aimed. We are to see how completely he failed and at last suffered +total shipwreck. Hands were stretched out towards him, as he advanced, +some to save him, some to do the reverse; but the impulse of his own +false beginning carried him on to the fatal issue. + +The first hand stretched out to him was a loving and helpful one: it +was the hand of his wife. She sent to tell him of a dream she had had +about his Prisoner and to warn him to have nothing to do with "that +just man." + +Difficulties have been made as to how she could know about Christ; but +there is no real difficulty. Probably, while Jesus was away at +Herod's, Pilate had entered the palace and told his wife about the +singular trial and about the impression which Jesus had made upon his +mind. When he left her, she had fallen asleep and dreamed about it; +for, though our version makes her say, "This night I have dreamed about +Him," the literal translation is "this day"; and of course there might +be many causes why a lady should fall asleep in the daytime. Her dream +had been such as to fill her with a vague sense of alarm, and her +message to her husband was the result. + +This incident has taken a strong hold of the Christian imagination and +given rise to all kinds of guesses. Tradition has handed down the name +of Pilate's wife as Claudia Procula; and it is said that she was a +proselyte of the Jewish religion; as high-toned heathen ladies in that +age not infrequently became when circumstances brought the Old +Testament into their hands. The Greek Church has gone so far as to +canonise her, supposing that she became a Christian. Poets and artists +have tried to reproduce her dream. Many will remember the picture of +it in the Doré Gallery in London. The dreaming woman is represented +standing in a balcony and looking up an ascending valley, which is +crowded with figures. It is the vale of years or centuries, and the +figures are the generations of the Church of Christ yet to be. +Immediately in front of her is the Saviour Himself, bearing His cross; +behind and around Him are His twelve apostles and the crowds of their +converts; behind these the Church of the early centuries, with the +great fathers, Polycarp and Tertullian, Athanasius and Gregory, +Chrysostom and Augustine; further back the Church of the Middle Ages, +with the majestic forms and warlike accoutrements of the Crusaders +rising from its midst; behind these the Church of modern times, with +its heroes; then multitudes upon multitudes that no man can number +pressing forward in broadening ranks, till far aloft, in the white and +shining heavens, lo, tier on tier and circle upon circle, with the +angels of God hovering above them and on their flanks; and in the +midst, transfigured to the brightness of a star, the cross, which in +its rough reality He is bearing wearily below. + +Of course these are but fancies. In the woman's anxiety that no evil +should befall the Innocent we may, with greater certainty, trace the +vestiges of the ancient Roman justice as it may have dwelt in the noble +matrons, like Volumnia and Cornelia, whose names adorn the pristine +annals of her race; while the wife's solicitude to save her husband +from a deed of sin associates her with the still nobler women of all +ages who have walked like guardian angels by the side of men immersed +in the world and liable to be coarsened by its contact, to warn them of +the higher laws and the unseen powers. We can hardly doubt that the +hand of God was in this dream, or that it was outstretched to save +Pilate from the doom to which he was hastening. + + +III. + +Another hand, however, was now stretched out to him; and he grasped it +eagerly, thinking it was going to save him; when it suddenly pushed him +down towards the abyss. It was the hand of the mob of Jerusalem. + +Up to this point the actors assembled on the stage of Christ's trial +were comparatively few. It had been the express desire of the Jewish +authorities to hurry the case through before the populace of the city +and the crowds of Passover strangers got wind of it. The proceedings +had accordingly gone forward all night; and it was still early morning. +As Jesus was led through the streets to Herod and back, accompanied by +so many of the principal citizens, no doubt a considerable number must +have gathered. But now circumstances brought a great multitude on the +scene. + +It was the custom of the Roman governor, on the Passover morning, to +release a prisoner to the people. As there were generally plenty of +political prisoners on hand, rebels against the detested Roman yoke, +but, for that very reason, favourites and heroes of the Jewish +populace, this was a privilege not to be forgotten; and, while the +trial of Jesus was proceeding in the open air, the mob of the city came +pouring through the palace gates and up the avenue, shouting for their +annual gift. + +For once their demand was welcome to Pilate, for he thought he saw in +it a way of escape from his own difficulty. He would offer them Jesus, +who had a few days before been the hero of a popular demonstration, and +as an aspirant to the Messiahship would, he imagined, be the very +person they should want. + +It was an utterly unjust thing to do; because, first, it was treating +Jesus as if He were already a condemned man, whereas Pilate had himself +a few minutes before declared Him innocent; and, secondly, it was +staking the life of an innocent man on a guess, which might be +mistaken, as to the fancy of the mob. No doubt, however, Pilate +considered it kind, as he felt sure of the disposition of the populace; +and, at all events, the chance of extricating himself was too good to +lose. + +The minds of the mob it turned out, however, were pre-occupied with a +favourite of their own. Singularly enough his name also appears to +have been Jesus: "Jesus Barabbas" is the name he bears in some of the +best manuscripts of the gospel of St. Matthew.[2] He was "a notable +prisoner," who had been guilty of insurrection in the city, in which +blood had been spilt, and was now lying in jail with the associates +whose ringleader he had been. A bandit, half robber half +insurrectionary leader, is a figure which easily lays hold of the +popular imagination. They hesitated, however, when Pilate proposed +Jesus; and Pilate seems to have sent for the other prisoner, that they +might see the two side by side; for they could not, he thought, +hesitate for a moment, if they had the opportunity of observing the +contrast. + +But this brief interval was utilised by the Sanhedrists to persuade the +multitude. It must be remembered that this was not the Galilean crowd +by which Jesus had been brought in triumph into the city a few days +before, but the mob of Jerusalem, with whom the ecclesiastical +authorities had influence.[3] The priests and scribes, then, mingled +among them and used every artifice they could think of. Probably their +most effective argument was to whisper that Jesus was obviously the +choice of Pilate, and therefore should not be theirs. + +If Pilate actually placed the two Jesuses side by side on his platform, +what a sight it was! The political desperado, stained with murder, +there; the Healer and Teacher, who had gone about continually doing +good, the Son of man, the Son of God, here. Now which will you +have--Jesus or Barabbas? And the cry came ringing from ten thousand +throats, "Barabbas!" + +To Jesus what must that have meant! These were the inhabitants of +Jerusalem, whom He had longed to gather as a hen gathereth her chickens +under her wings; they were the hearers of His words, the subjects of +His miracles, the objects of His love; and they prefer to Him a +murderer and a robber. + +This scene has often been alleged as the self-condemnation of +democracy. _Vox populi vox Dei_, its flatterers have said; but look +yonder: when the multitude has to choose between Jesus and Barabbas, it +chooses Barabbas. If this be so, the scene is equally decisive against +aristocracy. Did the priests, scribes and nobles behave better than +the mob? It was by their advice that the mob chose. + +It is poor sport, on either side, to pelt opponents with such +reproaches. It is better far to learn holy fear from such a scene in +reference to ourselves, to our own party and to our country. What are +we to admire? Whom are we to follow? In what are we to seek +salvation? Certainly there are great questions awaiting the democracy. +Whom will it choose--the revolutionist or the regenerator? And to what +will it trust--cleverness or character? What spirit will it adopt as +its own--that of violence or that of love? Which means will it +employ--those which work from without inwards, or those which work from +within outwards? What end will it seek--the kingdom of meat and drink, +or the kingdom which is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy +Ghost? But such questions are not for the democracy alone. All +classes, all parties, every generation and every country have, from +time to time, to face them. And so has the individual. Perhaps all +the great choices of life ultimately resolve themselves into this +one--Jesus or Barabbas? + + +IV. + +To Pilate the choice of Barabbas must have been not only a surprise, +but a staggering blow. "What then," he asked, "shall I do with Jesus?" +Probably he expected the answer, Give us Him too; and there can be +little doubt that he would willingly have complied with such a request. +But, instead of this, there came, quick as echo, the reply, "Crucify +Him!" and it was more a command than a request. + +He was now made sensible that what he had considered a loophole of +escape was a noose into which he had thrust his head. He might, +indeed, have intimated that he had only given them the prerogative to +save one of the two lives, not to take either of them away. But +virtually he had put both prisoners at their disposal. In this way, at +all events, the mob interpreted the situation; and he did not venture +to contradict them. + +He was, however, deeply moved, and he did a very unusual thing: calling +for a basin of water, he washed his hands before them all and said, "I +am innocent from the blood of this just Person; see ye to it." This +was an impressive act; yet its impressiveness was too theatrical. He +washed his hands when he ought to have exerted them. And blood does +not come off so easily. He could not abnegate his responsibility and +cast it upon others. Public men frequently think they can do so: they +say that they bow to the force of public opinion, but wash their hands +of the deed. But if their position, like Pilate's, demands that they +should decide for themselves and take the consequences, the guilt of +sinful action clings to them and cannot be transferred. This whole +scene, indeed, is a mirror for magistrates, to show them down what dark +paths they may be pushed if they resign themselves to be the mere tools +of the popular will. Pilate ought to have opposed the popular will at +whatever risk and refused to do the deed of which he disapproved. But +such a course would have involved loss to himself; and this was the +real reason for his conduct. + +The populace felt their triumph, and in reply to his solemn +dissociation of himself from Christ's death sent back the insulting +cry, "His blood be on us and on our children." Pilate was afraid of +the guilt, but they were not. Well might the heavens have blackened +above them at that word, and the earth shuddered beneath their feet! +Profaner cry was never uttered. But they were mad with rage and +reckless of everything but victory in the contest in which they were +engaged. Still, their words were not forgotten in the quarter to which +they were directed; and it was not long before the curse which they had +invoked descended on their city and their race. Meanwhile they gained +their end: the will of Pilate was breaking down before their +well-directed persistency. + + + +[1] "On the return of Jesus from Herod, the Sanhedrists do not seem to +have been present. Pilate had to call them together, presumably from +the temple."--EDERSHEIM. + +[2] See Keim's note. Westcott and Hort reject it. Some have further +seen an impressive coincidence in the name Barabbas, interpreting it +"son of the father." Jesus was by no means a rare name. + +[3] Hence the contrast, common in popular preaching, between the +multitude crying "Hosanna" and the same multitude crying "Crucify" is +incorrect. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE CROWN OF THORNS. + +Pilate had failed in his attempt to save Jesus from the hands of His +prosecutors, whose rage against their Victim was only intensified by +the struggle in which they had engaged; and there was no course now +open to him but to hand Jesus over to the executioners for, at least, +the preliminary tortures of crucifixion. + +It is not in accordance with modern Christian sentiment to dwell very +much on the physical sufferings of Christ. Once the feeling on this +subject was very different: in old writers, like the mystic Tauler, for +example, every detail is enlarged upon and even exaggerated, till the +page seems to reek with blood and the mind of the reader grows sick +with horror. We rather incline to throw a veil over the ghastly +details, or we uncover them only so far as may be necessary in order to +understand the condition of His mind, in which we seek His real +sufferings. + +The sacred body of our Lord was exposed to many shocks and cruelties +before the final and complicated horrors of the crucifixion. First, +there was His agony in the garden. Then--not to speak of the chains +laid on Him when He was arrested--there was the blow on the face from +the servant of the high priest. After His condemnation by the +ecclesiastical authorities in the middle of the night they "did spit in +His face and buffeted Him;" and others smote Him with the palms of +their hands, saying, "Prophesy unto us, Thou Christ. Who is he that +smote Thee?" The present is, therefore, the fourth access of physical +suffering which He had to endure. + +First, they scourged Him. This was done by the Roman soldiers by order +of their master Pilate, though the governor, in all likelihood, retired +from the scene while it was being inflicted. It took place, it would +appear, on the platform where the trial had been held, and in the eyes +of all. The victim was stripped and stretched against a pillar, or +bent over a low post, his hands being tied, so that he had no means of +defending himself. The instrument of torture was a sort of knout or +cat-o'-nine-tails, with bits of iron or bone attached to the ends of +the thongs. Not only did the blows cut the skin and draw blood, but +not infrequently the victim died in the midst of the operation. Some +have supposed that Pilate, out of consideration for Jesus, may have +moderated either the number or the severity of the strokes; but, on the +other hand, his plan of releasing Him depended on his being able to +show the Jews that He had suffered severely. The inability of Jesus to +bear His own cross to the place of execution was no doubt chiefly due +to the exhaustion produced by this infliction; and this is a better +indication of the degree of severity than mere conjecture. + +After the scourging the soldiers took Him away with them to their own +quarters in the palace and called together the whole band to enjoy the +spectacle. Evidently they thought that He was already condemned to be +crucified; and anyone condemned to crucifixion seems, after being +scourged, to have been handed over to the soldiery to be handled as +they pleased, just as a hunted creature, when it is caught, is flung to +the dogs. And, indeed, this comparison is only too appropriate; +because, as Luther has remarked, in those days men were treated as only +brutes are treated now. To us it is incomprehensible how the whole +band should have been called together merely to gloat over the +sufferings of a fellow-creature and to turn His pain and shame into +brutal mockery. This, however, was their purpose; and they enjoyed it +as schoolboys enjoy the terror of a tortured animal. It must be +remembered that these were men who on the field of battle were inured +to bloodshed and at Rome found their chief delight in watching the +sports of the arena, where gladiators butchered one another to make a +Roman holiday. + +Their horseplay took the form of a mock coronation. They had caught +the drift of the trial sufficiently to know that the charge against +Jesus was that He pretended to be a king; and lofty pretensions on the +part of one who appears to be mean and poor easily lend themselves to +ridicule. Besides, in their minds there was perhaps an amused scorn at +the thought of a Jew aiming at a sovereignty above that of Caesar. +Foreign soldiers stationed in Palestine cannot have liked the Jews, who +hated them so cordially; and this may have given an edge to their scorn +of a Jewish pretender. + +They treated Him as if they believed Him to be a king. A king must +wear the purple. And so they got hold of an old, cast-off officer's +cloak of this colour and threw it over His shoulders. Then a king must +have a crown. So one of them ran out to the park in which the palace +stood and pulled a few twigs from a tree or bush. These happened to be +thorny; but this did not matter, it was all the better; they were +plaited into the rude semblance of a crown and crushed down on His +head. To complete the outfit, a king must have a sceptre. And this +they found without difficulty: a reed, probably used as a +walking-stick, being thrust into His right hand. Thus was the mock +king dressed up. And then, as on occasions of state they had seen +subjects bow the knee to the emperor, saying, "_Ave, Caesar!_" so they +advanced one after another to Jesus and, bending low, said, "Hail, King +of the Jews!" But, after passing with mock solemnity, each turned and, +with a burst of laughter, struck Him a blow, using for this purpose the +reed which He had dropped. And, though I hardly dare to repeat it, +they covered His face with spittle! + +What a spectacle! It might have been expected that those who were +themselves poor and lowly, and therefore subject to the oppression of +the powerful, would have felt sympathy and compassion for one of their +own station when crushed by the foot of tyranny. But there is no +cruelty like the cruelty of underlings. There is an instinct in all to +wish to see others cast down beneath themselves; and, especially, if +one who has aimed high is brought low, there is a sense of personal +exultation at his downfall. Such are the base passions which lie at +the bottom of men's hearts; and the dregs of the dregs of human nature +were revealed on this occasion. + +What must it have been to Jesus to look on it--to have it thrust on His +sight and into contact with His very person, so that He could not get +away? What must it have been to Him, with His delicate bodily organism +and sensitive mind, to be in the hands of those rude and ruthless men? +It was, however, necessary, in order that He might fully accomplish the +work which He had come to the world to perform. He had come to redeem +humanity--to go down to the very lowest depths to seek and to save the +lost; and, therefore, He had to make close acquaintance with human +nature in its worst specimens and its extremest degradation. He was to +be the Saviour of sinners as bad and degraded as even these soldiers; +and, therefore, He had to come in contact with them and see what they +were. + + +Thus have I passed as lightly as was possible over the details; nor +would my readers wish me to dwell on them further. But it will be +profitable to linger on this spot a little longer, in order to learn +the lessons of the scene. + +First, notice in the conduct of the tormentors of Jesus the abuse of +one of the gifts of God. In the conduct of the Roman soldiers from +first to last the most striking feature is that at every point they +turned their work into horseplay and merriment. Now, laughter is a +gift of God. It is a kind of spice which the Creator has given to be +taken along with the somewhat unpalatable food of ordinary life. It is +a kind of sunshine to enliven the landscape, which is otherwise too +dull and sombre. The power of seeing the amusing side of things +immensely lightens the load of life; and he who possesses the gift of +evoking hearty and innocent mirth may be a true benefactor of his +species.[1] + +But, while laughter is a gift of God, there is no other gift of His +which is more frequently abused and converted from a blessing into a +curse. When laughter is directed against sacred things and holy +persons; when it is used to belittle and degrade what is great and +reverend; when it is employed as a weapon with which to torture +weakness and cover innocence with ridicule--then, instead of being the +foam on the cup at the banquet of life, it becomes a deadly poison. +Laughter guided these soldiers in their inhuman acts; it concealed from +them the true nature of what they were doing; and it wounded Christ +more deeply than even the scourge of Pilate. + +A second thing to be noticed is that it was against the kingly office +of the Redeemer that the opposition of men was directed on this +occasion. It was different on a former occasion, when He was abused at +the close of the ecclesiastical trial. Then it was His prophetic +office that was turned into ridicule: "when they had blindfolded Him, +they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, Prophesy who is it +that smote thee." Here, on the other hand, the ridicule was directed +against Him entirely on the ground of His claiming to be a king. The +soldiers considered it an absurdity and a joke that one apparently so +mean, friendless and powerless should make any such pretensions. + +Many a time since then has the same derision been awakened by this +claim of Christ. He is the King of nations. But earthly kings and +statesmen have ridiculed the idea that His will and His law should +control them in their schemes and ambitions. Even where His authority +is nominally acknowledged, both aristocracies and democracies are slow +to recognise that their legislation and customs should be regulated by +His words. He is King of the Church. Andrew Melville told King James: +"There are two kings and two kingdoms in Scotland; there is King James, +the head of this commonwealth, and there is Christ Jesus, the King of +the Church, whose subject James VI. is, and of whose kingdom he is not +a king, nor a lord, nor a head, but a member." The entire history of +the Scottish Church has been one long struggle to maintain this truth; +but the struggle has frequently been carried on in the face of +opposition almost as scornful as that which assailed Jesus in Pilate's +palace. Most vital of all is the acknowledgment of Christ's kingship +in the realm of the individual life; but it is here that His will is +most resisted. In words we acknowledge allegiance to Him; but in which +of us has the victory over the flesh been so complete that His full +claim has been conceded, to have the arrangement of our business and +our leisure and to dictate what is to be done with our time, our means +and our services? + +A third lesson is to recognise that in what Jesus bore on this occasion +He was suffering for us. + +Of all the features of the scene the one that has most impressed the +imagination of Christendom is the crown of thorns. It was something +unusual, and brought out the ingenuity and wantonness of cruelty. +Besides, as the wound of a thorn has been felt by everyone, it brings +the pain of the Sufferer nearer to us than any other incident. But it +is chiefly by its symbolism that it has laid hold of the Christian +mind. When Adam and Eve were driven from the garden into the bleak and +toilsome world, their doom was that the ground should bring forth to +them thorns and thistles. Thorns were the sign of the curse; that is, +of their banishment from God's presence and of all the sad and painful +consequences following therefrom. And does not the thorn, staring from +the naked bough of winter in threatening ugliness, lurking beneath the +leaves or flowers of summer to wound the approaching hand, tearing the +clothes or the flesh of the traveller who tries to make his way through +the thicket, burning in the flesh where it has sunk, fitly stand for +that side of life which we associate with sin--the side of care, fret, +pain, disappointment, disease and death? In a word, it symbolises the +curse. But it was the mission of Christ to bear the curse; and, as He +lifted it on His own head, He took it off the world. He bore our sins +and carried our sorrows. + +Why is it that, when we think of the crown of thorns now, it is not +only with horror and pity, but with an exultation which cannot be +repressed? Because, cruel as was the soldiers' jest, there was a +divine fitness in their act; and wisdom was, even through their sin, +fulfilling her own intention. There are some persons with faces so +handsome that the meanest dress, which would excite laughter or disgust +if worn by others, looks well on them, and the merest shreds of +ornament, stuck on them anyhow, are more attractive than the most +elaborate toilets of persons less favoured by nature. And so about +Christ there was something which converted into ornaments even the +things flung at Him as insults. When they called Him the Friend of +publicans and sinners, though they did it in derision, they were giving +Him a title for which a hundred generations have loved Him; and so, +when they put on His head the crown of thorns, they were unconsciously +bestowing the noblest wreath that man could weave Him. Down through +the ages Jesus passes, still wearing the crown of thorns; and His +followers and lovers desire for Him no other diadem. + +Fourthly, this scene teaches the lesson of patience in suffering. + +I remember a saint whom it was my privilege to visit in the beginning +of my life as a minister. Though poor and uneducated, she was a person +of very unusual natural powers; her ideas were singularly original, and +she had a charming pleasantness of wit. Though not very old, she knew +that she was doomed to die; and the disease from which she was +suffering was one of the most painful incident to humanity. Often, I +remember, she would tell me, that, when the torture was at the worst, +she lay thinking of the sufferings of the Saviour, and said to herself +that the shooting pains were not so bad as the spikes of the thorns. + +Christ's sufferings are a rebuke to our softness and self-pleasing. It +is not, indeed, wrong to enjoy the comforts and the pleasures of life. +God sends these; and, if we receive them with gratitude, they may lift +us nearer to Himself. But we are too terrified to be parted from them +and too afraid of pain and poverty. Especially ought the sufferings of +Christ to brace us up to endure whatever of pain or reproach we may +have to encounter for His sake. Many would like to be Christians, but +are kept back from decision by dread of the laughter of profane +companions or by the prospect of some worldly loss. But we cannot look +at the suffering Saviour without being ashamed of such cowardly fears. +If the crown of thorns now becomes Christ so well as to be the pride +and the song of men and angels, be assured that any twig from that +crown which we may have to wear will one day turn out to be our most +dazzling ornament. + + + +[1] A ministerial friend told me that he once, in the hearing of Dr. +Andrew Bonar, made reference to some things in the life of St. Paul +which seemed to him to betray on the part of the apostle a sense of +humour. He was not very sure how Dr. Bonar might take such a remark, +and at the close he asked if he agreed with him. "Not only," was the +reply, "do I agree with you, but I go further: I think there are +distinct traces of humour in the sayings and the conduct of our Lord;" +and he proceeded to quote examples. Everyone is aware how Dr. Bonar +himself knew how to combine with the profoundest reverence and +saintliness a strain of delightful mirth; and the absence of this is +the great defect of his otherwise charming autobiography. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE SHIPWRECK OF PILATE + +We have lingered long at the judgment-seat of Pilate. Far too long. +Pilate has detained us. He knew perfectly well, the first glance he +bestowed on the case, what it was his duty to do. But, instead of +acting at once on his conviction, he put off. Of such delay good +seldom comes. Pilate gave temptation time to assail him. He resisted +it, indeed; he fought hard and long against it; but he ought never to +have given it the chance. And he miserably succumbed in the end. + + +I. + +When Pilate delivered Jesus over to be scourged, it looked as if he had +surrendered Him to the cross; and so in all probability the Jews +thought, because scourging was the usual preliminary to crucifixion. +He, however, had not yet abandoned the hope of saving Jesus: he was +still secretly adhering to the proposal he had made, to chastise Him +and then let Him go. Perhaps, if he retired into the palace while the +scourging was taking place, his wife may have urged him to make a +further effort on behalf of that Just Man. + +At all events he came out on the platform, round which the Jews were +still standing, and informed them that the case was not finished; and, +as Jesus, whose scourging was now over, came forward, he turned round +and, pointing to Him, exclaimed with deep emotion, "Behold the Man." + +It was an involuntary expression of commiseration,[1] an appeal to the +Jews to recognize the unreasonableness of proceeding further: Jesus was +so obviously not such an one as they had tried to make Him out to be; +at all events He had suffered enough. + +But the Christian mind has in all ages felt in these words a sense +deeper than Pilate intended. As Caiaphas was uttering a greater truth +than he knew when he said it was expedient that one should die for the +whole people, so in uttering this exclamation the governor was an +unconscious prophet. Preachers in every subsequent age have adopted +his words and, pointing to Jesus, cried, "Behold the Man!" Painters +have chosen this moment, when Jesus came forth, bleeding from the cruel +stripes and wearing the purple robe and crown of thorns, as the one in +which to portray the Man of Sorrows; and many a priceless canvas bears +the title _Ecce Homo_. + +From Pilate's lips there fell two words which the world will never +forget--the question, "What is truth?" and this exclamation, "Behold +the Man!" And the one may be taken as the answer to the other. When +the question, "What is truth?" is put with deep earnestness, what does +it mean but this?--Who will make God known to us? who will clear up the +mystery of existence? who will reveal to man his own destiny? And to +these questions is there any answer but this; "Behold the Man"? He has +shown to the sons of men what they ought to be; His is the perfect +life, after which every human life ought to be fashioned; He has opened +the gates of immortality and revealed the secrets of the other world. +And, what is far more important, He has not only shown us what our life +here and hereafter ought to be, but how the ideal may be realised. He +is not only the image of perfection but the Saviour from sin. +Therefore ought the world to turn to Him and "behold the Man." + + +II. + +Pilate hoped that the sight of the sufferings of Jesus would move the +hard hearts of His persecutors, as it had moved his own. But the only +response to his appeal was, "Crucify Him, crucify Him." It is to be +noted, however, that these cruel words now came from "the chief priests +and officers." Apparently the common people were moved: they might +have yielded, if their superiors had allowed them. But nothing could +move those hard hearts; indeed, the sight of blood only inflamed them +the more; and they felt certain that by sheer persistence they could +break down Pilate's opposition. + +He was at his wits' end and replied to them angrily, "Take ye Him and +crucify Him; for I find no fault in Him"; meaning probably, that he was +willing to yield the Prisoner up to their will, if they would take the +responsibility of executing Him; if, indeed, he had in his mind any +clear meaning and was not merely uttering an exclamation of annoyance. + +They perceived that the critical moment had arrived, and at last they +let out the true reason for which they desired His death: "We have a +law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of +God." + +This was the ground on which they had condemned Him themselves, though +up to this point they had kept it concealed. They had not mentioned +it, because they thought that Pilate would jeer at it. It had on him, +however, a very different effect. All the morning he had been feeling +uneasy; and the more he saw of Jesus the more he disliked the part he +was playing. But now at length the mention of His claim to be the Son +of God caused his fears to take a definite and alarming shape. It +revived in his mind the stories, with which his own pagan religion was +rife, of gods or sons of the gods who had sometimes appeared on earth +in disguise. It was dangerous to have to do with them; for any injury +inflicted on them, even unconsciously, might be terribly avenged. He +had discerned in Jesus something mysterious and inexplicable: what if +He were the son of Jehovah, the native deity of Palestine, as Castor +and Pollux were sons of Jupiter? and might not Jehovah, if He were +injured, blast the man who wronged Him with a curse? Such was the +terror that flashed through his mind; and, taking Jesus once more +inside the palace, he asked Him, with a mixture of awe and curiosity, +"Whence art Thou?" + +Jesus gave him no answer, but again retired into the majestic silence +which at three points already had marked His trial. In the whole +conduct of the Saviour in His sufferings there is nothing more sublime +than these pauses; but it is not easy at every point to gauge the state +of mind to which they were due. Why was Jesus silent at this point? +Some have said, because it was impossible to answer the question. He +could not have said either Yes or No; for, if He had said that God was +His Father, Pilate would have understood the statement in a grossly +pagan sense; and yet, to avoid this, He could not say that He was not +the Son of God. So it was best to say nothing. + +The true explanation, however, is simpler. Jesus would say nothing +about whether He was the Son of God or not, because He did not wish to +be released on this ground. Not as a son of God, but as an innocent +man, which Pilate had again and again acknowledged Him to be, was He +entitled to be set free; and His silence called upon Pilate to act on +this acknowledgment. + +The judge was more than ever astonished; and he was irritated a little +at being thus treated. "Speakest Thou not unto me?" he asked, +flushing; "knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee and have +power to release Thee?" Poor man! it was to be seen before many +minutes had passed how much power he had. And what was this power of +which he boasted? He spoke as if he had arbitrary discretion to do +whatever he pleased. No just judge would make such a claim: justice +takes from him the power to follow his own inclination if it be unjust. +It was of this Jesus reminded him when He now answered with quiet +dignity, "Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, unless it were +given thee from above." [2] He reminds him that the power he wields is +delegated by Heaven, and therefore not to be used according to his own +caprice, but according to the dictates of justice. Yet He added, +"Therefore he that delivered Me unto thee hath the greater sin." He +acknowledged that Pilate was in a position in which he was compelled to +try the case: he had not taken it up at his own hand, as the Jewish +authorities had done. + +Thus Jesus recognised all the difficulties of His judge's position and +was willing to make for him every allowance. This was He whom Pilate +had, a few minutes before, given over to torture. Was there ever such +sublime and unselfish clemency? Could there have been a more complete +triumph over resentment and irritation? If the silence of Christ was +sublime, no less sublime, when He did speak, were His words. + + +III. + +Pilate felt the greatness and the magnanimity of his Prisoner, and came +forth determined at all hazards to set Him free. The Jews saw it in +his face. And at length they brought out their last weapon, which they +had been keeping in reserve and Pilate had been fearing all the time: +they threatened to complain against him to the emperor; for this was +the meaning of what they now cried: "If thou let this man go, thou art +not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against +Caesar." + +There was nothing which a Roman provincial governor so much dreaded as +a complaint lodged against him at Rome. And in Pilate's case such an +accusation, for more reasons than one, would have been specially +perilous. The imperial throne was occupied at the time by one who was +a most suspicious master. Tiberius seemed to delight in humiliating +and disgracing his subordinates. Besides, at this very period he was +peculiarly dangerous. A diseased body, the punishment of vices long +indulged, had made his mind gloomy and savage; in fact, he was little +better than a madman--morose, suspicious and malicious. Nor was any +charge so likely to inflame him as the one which they proposed to lay +against Pilate. It was well known at Rome that the hope of a Messiah +was spread throughout the East; and any provincial governor supposed to +be favouring or even conniving at the claims of such a pretender would +certainly be recalled, probably exiled, and possibly executed. _Amicus +Caesaris_, "Caesar's friend," was one of the most coveted titles of a +man in Pilate's position; and to be accused of acting as no friend of +Caesar's could act was the most serious of all dangers. + +But there was something else which lent point to the threat of the +Jewish authorities: Pilate well knew that his administration could not +bear the light of an investigation such as would inevitably follow a +complaint from his subjects. It is a curious thing that in a secular +writer of that age we find an account of another occasion on which this +same threat was held over Pilate; and the writer who mentions it adds: +"He was afraid that if a Jewish embassy were sent to Rome, they might +discuss the many maladministrations of his government, his extortions, +his unjust decrees, his inhuman punishments." [3] Such had been the +character of Pilate's past life; and now, when he was going to do a +humane and righteous act, it stayed his hand. There is nothing which +so frustrates good resolutions and paralyzes noble efforts as the dead +weight of past sins. Those who are acquainted with secret and +discreditable chapters of a man's history are able, wielding this +knowledge over his head, to say, Thou shalt not do this good act which +thou wishest to do, or, Thou shalt do this evil and shameful thing +which we bid thee. There are companies in which men cannot utter the +fine, high-sounding things they would say elsewhere, because there are +present those who know how their lives have contradicted them. What is +it that mocks the generous thought rising in our minds, that silences +the noble word on our lips, that paralyzes the forming energy of our +actions? Is it not the internal whisper, Remember how you have failed +before? This is the curse of past sin: it will not let us do the good +we would. + +But, if a man has thus committed himself by an evil past, what is he to +do? What ought Pilate to have done? There is only one course. It is +to summon together the resources of his manhood, defy consequences, and +do the right forthwith, come what may. One step taken in loyalty to +conscience, one word of confession spoken, and in a moment the power of +the tyranny is broken, and the spellbound man is free to issue forth +from the inglorious prison of the past. + +Alas, Pilate was not equal to any such effort. For the sake of +righteousness, for the sake of this impressive and innocent but obscure +and friendless Galilean, to face a complaint at Rome and run the risk +of exile and poverty--the man of the world's philosophy could not rise +to any such height. He belonged to the world, whose fashion and +favour, pleasures and comforts were the breath of his nostrils; and, +when he heard the menace of his subjects, he surrendered at discretion. + +Thus Jewish passion and persistency triumphed. Pilate resisted, but he +was forced to yield inch by inch. He wished to do right; he felt the +spell of Jesus; and it irritated him to have to go against his +conscience, but his subjects compelled him to obey their wicked will. +Yet the true reason of his failure was in himself--in the shallowness +and worldliness of his own character, which this occasion laid bare to +the very foundations.[4] + + +IV. + +There was little more to do. The mind of Pilate was very savage and +his heart very sore. He had been beaten and humiliated; and he would +gladly inflict some humiliation on his opponents, if he could find a +way. He ascended the judgment-seat, "in a place that is called the +Pavement, but in the Hebrew Gabbatha"--an act similar in significance, +I suppose, with our judges' habit, before pronouncing a death sentence, +of putting on the black cap. Pointing to Jesus, he exclaimed, "Behold +your King!" It was as much as to say that he believed this really to +be their Messiah--this poor, bleeding, mishandled Man. He was trying +to cut them with a taunt. And he succeeded: smarting with pain they +shouted, "Away with Him! away with Him! crucify Him!" "What," he +proceeded, "shall I crucify your King?" And, borne away with fury, +they responded, "We have no king but Caesar." What a word to come from +the representatives of a nation to which pertained "the adoption and +the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service +of God and the promises!" It was the renouncement of their birthright, +the abandonment of their destiny. Pilate well knew what it had cost +their proud hearts thus to forswear the hopes of their fathers and +acknowledge the right of their conqueror; but to compel them to swallow +this bitter draught was some compensation for the cup of humiliation +they had compelled him to drink. And he took them at their word. + + + +[1] Perhaps also of admiration. Pilate had never before seen so +impressive a specimen of humanity; and the contrast between the +sweetness and majesty of His appearance and the indignities which He +had suffered drew from him this involuntary exclamation. One recalls +Shakespeare's words about Brutus: + + "His life was gentle, and the elements + So mixed in him, that nature might stand up + And say to all the world, This was a Man!" + +[2] We are much tempted on account of the "therefore" to explain "from +above" as referring to the Jewish tribunal. + +[3] Philo. + +[4] It is a striking illustration of the irony of history that Pilate +was overtaken by the very fate to escape which he abandoned Jesus. +Soon after the Crucifixion his subjects lodged a complaint against him +at Rome. He was recalled from his province and never returned. +Ultimately, it is said, he terminated his existence with his own hand, +"wearied out with miseries." Many legends in subsequent centuries +clustered about his name. Several spots were supposed to be haunted by +his restless and despairing spirit, notably a spring in Switzerland on +the top of Mount Pilatus, which was thought to have derived its name +from him; but this is more than doubtful. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +JUDAS ISCARIOT + +To the civil trial of our Lord there is a sad appendix, as we have +already had one to the ecclesiastical trial. Christ's great confession +in the palace of the high priest was accompanied by the great denial of +Peter outside; and the proceedings in the court of Pontius Pilate were +accompanied by the final act of the treachery of Judas. Only in the +latter case we are not able with the same accuracy to fix the +circumstances of time and place. + + +I. + +Judas is one of the darkest riddles of human history. In the Vision of +Hell the poet Dante, after traversing the circles of the universe of +woe, in which each separate kind of wickedness receives its peculiar +punishment, arrives at last, in the company of his guide, at the +nethermost circle of all, in the very bottom of the pit, where the +worst of all sinners and the basest of all sins are undergoing +retribution. It is a lake not of fire but of ice, beneath whose +transparent surface are visible, fixed in painful postures, the figures +of those who have betrayed their benefactors; because this, in Dante's +estimation, is the worst of sins. In the midst of them stands out, +vast and hideous, "the emperor who sways the realm of woe"--Satan +himself; for this was the crime which lost him Paradise. And the next +most conspicuous figure is Judas Iscariot. He is in the mouth of +Satan, being champed and torn by his teeth as in a ponderous engine. + +Such was the mediaeval view of this man and his crime. But in modern +times opinion has swung round to the opposite extreme. Ours is an age +of toleration, and one of its favourite occupations is the +rehabilitation of evil reputations. Men and women who have stood for +centuries in the pillory of history are being taken down; their cases +are retried; and they are set up on pedestals of admiration. Sometimes +this is done with justice, but is other cases it has been carried to +absurdity. Nobody, it would appear, has ever been very bad; the +criminals and scoundrels have been men whose motives have been +misunderstood. Among those on whose behalf the attempt has thus been +made to reverse the verdict of history is Judas Iscariot. Eighteen +centuries had agreed to regard him as the meanest of mankind, but in +our century he has been transmuted into a kind of hero. The theory is +of German origin; but it was presented to the English public by De +Quincey, who adorned it with all the persuasiveness of his meretricious +genius. + +It is held that the motive of Judas was totally different from the one +hitherto supposed: it was not filthy lucre. The smallness of the price +for which he sold his Master--it was less than four pounds of our +money, though the value of this sum was much greater then--proves that +there must have been another motive. The traditional conception is +inconsistent with Christ's choice of him to be a disciple; and it is +irreconcilable with the tragic greatness of his repentance. His view +of Christ's enterprise was no doubt of a material cast: he expected +Christ to be a king, and hoped to hold a high place in His court: but +these ideas were common to all the disciples, who to the very end were +waiting to see their Master throw off the cloak of His humble condition +and take to Himself His great power and reign; only they left the time +and the means in their Master's hands, not venturing to criticise His +proceedings. Judas was not so patient. He was a man of energy and +practicality, and he allowed himself to believe that he had discerned a +defect in the character of his Master. Jesus was too spiritual and +unworldly for the enterprise on which he had embarked--too much +occupied with healing, preaching and speculating. These would be well +enough when once the kingdom was established; but He was losing His +opportunities. His delay had turned against Him the authoritative +classes. One vast force, indeed, was still on His side--the enthusiasm +of the populace--but even of it He was not taking advantage. When, on +Palm Sunday, He was borne into the capital by a crowd throbbing with +Messianic expectation, He seemed to have in His hand what Judas +supposed to be the object of His life; but He did nothing, and the +crowd dispersed, disappointed and disheartened. What Jesus required +was to be precipitated into a situation where He would be compelled to +act. He lacked energy and decision; but, if He were delivered into the +hands of the authorities, who were known to be seeking His life, He +could hesitate no longer. When they laid hands on Him, He would of +course liberate Himself from them, and His miraculous power would +exhibit itself in forms so irresistible as to awaken universal +enthusiasm. Thus would His kingdom be set up in magnificence; and the +man whom the king would delight to honour would surely be the humble +follower by whose shrewdness and audacity the crisis had been brought +about. + + +II. + +Even if this were the true history of Judas, his conduct would not, +perhaps, be as innocent as it looks. In the course of His life our +Lord had frequently to deal with persons who attempted, from what +appeared to themselves to be good motives, to interfere with His +plans--to precipitate Him into action before His time or to restrain +Him when His time had come--and He always resented such interference +with indignation. Even His own mother was not spared when she played +this part. To do God's will exactly, neither more nor less, neither +anticipating it nor lagging behind it, was the inner-most principle of +the life of Jesus; and He treated any interference with it as a +suggestion of the Evil One. + +Still the theory will not hold water. The Scriptures know nothing of +it, and it is inconsistent with the tone of moral repulsion in which +they speak of Judas. Besides, they assign a totally different motive. +They affirm that Judas was a thief and stole out of the bag from which +Jesus gave to the poor and supplied His own wants--a sacrilege which +most thieves would have scorned. It is in entire accordance with this +that the word with which he approached the Sanhedrim was, "How much +will ye give me?" That he was willing to accept so little proves how +strong his passion was. + +It is altogether impossible that a character of this kind can have been +combined with the generous although mistaken enthusiasm which the +theory attributes to him.[1] But, on the other hand, the passion of +avarice may easily have been nourished by brooding with disappointment +on Messianic visions; and the theory of De Quincey may supply important +hints for unravelling the mystery of his career. + +There can be no doubt that at one time the life of Judas seemed full of +promise. Jesus, who was so strict about permitting any to follow Him, +would not have chosen him into the apostolic circle unless he had +exhibited enthusiasm for His person and His cause. He well knew, +indeed, that in his motives there was a selfish alloy; but this was the +case with all His followers; and fellowship with Himself was the fire +in which the alloy was to be purged out. + +In the other apostles this process actually took place: they were +refined by fellowship with Him. Their worldliness, indeed, remained to +the end of His earthly career, but it was growing less and less; and +other ties, stronger than their hopes of earthly glory, were slowly but +surely binding them indissolubly to His cause. In Judas, on the +contrary, the reverse process took place: what was good in him grew +less and less, and at last the sole bond which held him to Christ was +what he could make out of the connection. + +When the suspicion first dawned on him that the hope of a Messianic +kingdom was not to be fulfilled, the inner man of Judas underwent a +critical change. This happened a year before the end, on the occasion +when Christ resisted the attempt of His followers to take Him by force +and make Him a king, and when many of His disciples went back and +walked no more with Him. At that time Jesus warned Judas against the +evil spirit which he was allowing to take possession of his mind by the +strong saying, "Have I not chosen you twelve? and one of you is a +devil." But the disciple did not heed the warning. Perhaps it was at +this stage that he commenced to steal from the bag which he carried. +He felt that he must have some tangible reward for following Christ, +and he justified his peculation by saying to himself that what he was +taking was infinitely less than he had been led to expect. He regarded +himself as an ill-used man. + +Under the practice of this secret sin his character could not but +rapidly deteriorate. Jesus dropped a word of warning now and then; but +it had the reverse of the desired effect. Judas knew that Jesus knew; +and he grew to hate Him. This was by far the worst aspect of the case. +The other disciples were becoming more and more attached to their +Master, because they felt increasingly how much they owed Him; but +Judas did not feel that he owed Him anything: on the contrary, his +feeling was that he had been betrayed. Why should he not betray in +turn? There may even have been an element of scorn in selling Christ +for so little. + +More than one of the Evangelists seem to connect the treachery of Judas +directly with the scene at Bethany in which Mary anointed Jesus with +costly ointment. Apparently this beautiful act brought all the evil in +his heart to such a head that an outbreak could no longer be deferred. +His spite found vent in the angry contention that the money ought to +have been given to the poor. It was a large sum, off which he could +have taken an unusually large slice of booty. But probably there was +more in the occasion to incense Judas. To him this feasting and +anointing, at the moment when the crisis of Christ's fortunes had +obviously come, appeared sheer folly; as a practical man he despised +it. It was manifest that the game was up; a leader loitering and +dreaming in this fashion at the crisis of his fate was doomed. It was +time to get out of the ship, for it was clearly sinking; but he would +do so in such a way as to gratify his resentment, his scorn and his +love of money all at once. + +Thus the master-passion of Judas was nourished from potent springs. +But, indeed, avarice in itself is one of the most powerful of motives. +In the teaching of the pulpit it may seldom be noticed, but both in +Scripture and in history it occupies a prominent place. It is +questionable if anything else makes so many ill deeds to be done. +Avarice breaks all the commandments. Often has it put the weapon into +the hand of the murderer; in most countries of the world it has in +every age made the ordinary business of the market-place a warfare of +falsehood; the bodies of men and the hearts of women have been sold for +gold. Why is it that gigantic wrongs flourish from age to age, and +practices utterly indefensible are continued with the overwhelming +sanction of society? It is because there is money in them. Avarice is +a passion of demonic strength; but it may help us to keep it out of our +hearts to remember that it was the sin of Judas. + + +III. + +The repentance of Judas is alleged as the sign of a superior spirit. +Certainly it is an indication of the goodness which he once possessed, +because it is only by the light of a spark of goodness that the +darkness of sin can be perceived; and the more the conscience has been +enlightened the severer is the reaction when it is outraged. Those who +have in any degree shared the company of Christ can never afterwards be +as if they had not enjoyed this privilege; and religion, if it does not +save, will be the cruellest element in the soul's perdition. + +It is not certain at what point the reaction in the mind of Judas set +in.[2] There were many incidents of the trial well calculated to +awaken in him a revulsion of feeling. At length, however, the +retributive powers of conscience were thoroughly aroused--those powers +which in all literature have formed the theme of the deepest tragedy; +which in the Bible are typified by Cain, escaping as a fugitive and a +vagabond from the cry of his brother's blood; which in Greek literature +are shadowed forth by the terrible figures of the Eumenides, with +gorgon faces and blood-dropping eyes, following silently but +remorselessly those upon whose track they have been set; and which in +Shakespeare are represented in the soul-curdling scenes of Macbeth and +Richard III. He was seized with an uncontrollable desire to undo what +he had done. The money, on which his heart had been set, was now like +a spectre to his excited fancy. Every coin seemed to be an eye through +which eternal justice was gazing at his crime or to have a tongue +crying out for vengeance. As the murderer is irresistibly drawn back +to the spot where his victim lies, he returned to the place where his +deed of treachery had been transacted and, confronting those by whom he +had been employed, handed back the money with the passionate +confession, "I have betrayed innocent blood." But he had come to +miserable comforters. With cynical disdain they asked, "What is that +to us? See thou to that." They had been cordial enough to him when he +had come before, but now, after the instrument has served their turn, +they fling it contemptuously aside. The miserable man had to turn away +from the scorn of the partners of his guilt; but he could keep the +money no longer--it was burning in his hands--and, before escaping from +the precincts, he flung it down. This is said to have happened in that +part of the temple which could be entered only by the priests;[3] and +he must either have made a rush across the forbidden threshold or +availed himself of an open door to fling it in. Not only did he desire +to be rid of it, but a passionate impulse urged him to leave with the +priests their own share of the guilt. + +Then he rushed away from the temple. But where was he going? Oh that +it had been in him to flee to Christ--that, breaking through all +obstacles and rules, he had rushed to Him wherever He was to be found +and cast himself at His feet! What if the soldiers had cut him down? +Then he would have been the martyr of penitence, and that very day he +would have been with Christ in Paradise. Judas repented of his sin; he +confessed it; he cast from him the reward of iniquity; but his +penitence lacked the element which is most essential of all--he did not +turn to God. True repentance is not the mere horror and excitement of +a terrified conscience: it is the call of God; it is letting go the +evil because the good has prevailed; it includes faith as well as fear. + + +IV. + +The manner of his end is also used as an argument in favour of the more +honourable view of Judas. The act of suicide is one which has not +infrequently been invested with a glamour of romance, and to go out of +life the Roman way, as it is called, has been considered, even by +Christians, an evidence of unusual strength of mind. The very reverse +is, however, the true character of suicide: except in those melancholy +cases where the reason is impaired, it must be pronounced the most +contemptible act of which a human being is capable. It is an escape +from the burdens and responsibilities of existence; but these burdens +and responsibilities are left to be borne by others, and along with +them is left an intolerable heritage of shame. From a religious point +of view it appears in a still worse light. Not only does the suicide, +as even heathen writers have argued, desert the post of duty where +Providence has placed him, but he virtually denies the character and +even the existence of God. He denies His character, for, if he +believed in His mercy and love, he would flee to instead of from Him; +and he denies His existence, for no one who believed that he was to +meet God on the other side of the veil would dare in this disorderly +way to rush into His presence. + +The mode of Judas' suicide was characteristically base. Hanging does +not appear to have been at all usual among the Jews. In the entire Old +Testament there is said to occur only a single case; and, strange to +say, it is that of the man who, in the principal act of his life also, +was the prototype of Judas. Ahithophel, the counsellor and friend of +David, betrayed his master, as Judas betrayed Christ; and he came to +the same ignominious end. + +It would seem, further, that the hanging of Judas was accompanied with +circumstances of unusual horror. This we gather from the account in +the beginning of Acts.[4] The terms employed are obscure; but they +probably signify that the suicidal act was attended by a clumsy +accident, in consequence of which the body, being suspended over a +precipice and suddenly dropped by the snapping of the rope, was mangled +in a shocking manner, which made a profound impression on all who heard +of it.[5] + +And this sense of his end being accursed was further accentuated in the +minds of the early Christians by the circumstance that the money for +which he had sold Christ was eventually used for the purchase of a +graveyard for burying strangers in. The priests, though they picked up +the coins from the floor over which Judas had strewn them, did not, +scrupulous men, consider them good enough to be put in the sacred +treasury; so they applied them to this purpose. The public wit, +hearing of it, dubbed the place the Field of Blood; and thus the +cemetery became a kind of monument to the traitor, of which he took +possession as the first of the outcasts for whom it was designed. + + +The world has agreed to regard Judas as the chief of sinners; but, in +so judging, it has exceeded its prerogative. Man is not competent to +judge his brother. The master-passion of Judas was a base one; Dante +may be right in considering treachery the worst of crimes; and the +supreme excellence of Christ affixes an unparalleled stigma to the +injury inflicted on Him. But the motives of action are too hidden, and +the history of every deed is too complicated, to justify us in saying +who is the worst of men. It is not at all likely that those whom human +opinion would rank highest in merit or saintliness will be assigned the +same positions in the rewards of the last day; and it is just as +unlikely that human estimates are right when they venture to assign the +degrees of final condemnation. Two things it is our duty to do in +regard to Judas: first, not so to palliate his sin as to blunt the +healthy, natural abhorrence of it; and, secondly, not to think of him +as a sinner apart and alone, with a nature so different from our own +that to us he can be no example. But for the rest, there is only one +verdict which is at once righteous, dignified and safe; and it is +contained in the declaration of St. Peter, that he "went to his own +place." + + + +[1] Hanna, in _The Last Day of Our Lord's Passion_, attempts to combine +both motives, but without being able really to unite them; they remain +as distinct as oil and water. + +[2] If, as St. Matthew seems to indicate, Judas disappeared from the +scene long before the end of the trial, this is strongly against the +theory of De Quincey, according to which he must have stayed to the +last moment, hoping to see Jesus assert Himself. + +[3] _En to nao_. + +[4] St. Matthew knows best the beginning, St. Luke the end of the story. + +[5] De Quincey's interpretation of the words as a description of mental +anguish must be felt by every reader of the brilliant essay to be +forced and unnatural. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +VIA DOLOROSA + +We have finished the first part of our theme--the Trial of Jesus--and +turn now to the second and more solemn part of it--His Death. The +trial had been little better than a mockery of justice: on the part of +the ecclesiastical authority it was a foregone conclusion, and on the +part of the civil authority it was the surrender of a life acknowledged +to be innocent to the ends of selfishness and policy. But at last it +was over, and nothing remained but to carry the unjust sentence into +execution. So the tribunal of Pilate was closed for the day; the +precincts of the palace were deserted by the multitude; and the +procession of death was formed. + + +I. + +Persons condemned to death in modern times are allowed a few weeks, or +at least days, to prepare for eternity; but Jesus was crucified the +same day on which He was condemned. There was a merciful law of Rome +in existence at the time, ordaining that ten days should intervene +between the passing of a capital sentence and its execution; but either +this was not intended for use in the provinces or Jesus was judged to +be outside the scope of its mercy, because He had made Himself a king. +At all events He was hurried straight from the judgment-seat to the +place of execution, without opportunity for preparation or farewells. + +Of course the sentence was carried out by the soldiers of Pilate. St. +John, indeed, speaks as if Pilate had simply surrendered Him into the +hands of the Jews, and they had seen to the execution. But this only +means that the moral responsibility was theirs. They did everything in +their power to identify themselves with the deed. So intent were they +on the death of Jesus, that they could not leave the work to the proper +parties, but followed the executioners and superintended their +operations. The actual work, however, was performed by the hands of +Roman soldiers with a centurion at their head. + +In this country executions are now carried out in private, inside the +walls of the prison in which the criminal has been confined. Not many +years ago, however, they took place in public; and not many generations +ago the procession of death made a tour of the public streets, that the +condemned man might come under the observation and maledictions of as +many of the public as possible. This also was the manner of Christ's +death. Both among the Jews and the Romans executions took place +outside the gate of the city. The traditional scene of Christ's death, +over which the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is built, is inside the +present walls, but those who believe in its authenticity maintain that +it was outside the wall of that date. This, however, is extremely +doubtful; and, indeed, it is quite uncertain outside which gate of the +city the execution took place. The name Calvary or Golgotha probably +indicates that the spot was a skull-like knoll; but there is no reason +to think that it was a hill of the size supposed by designating it +Mount Calvary. Indeed, there is no hill near any gate corresponding to +the image in the popular imagination. In modern Jerusalem there is a +street pointed out as the veritable _Via Dolorosa_ along which the +procession passed; but this also is more than doubtful. Like ancient +Rome, ancient Jerusalem is buried beneath the rubbish of centuries.[1] +From the scene of the trial to the supposed site of the execution is +nearly a mile. And it is quite possible that Jesus may have had to +travel as far or farther, while an ever-increasing multitude of +spectators gathered round the advancing procession. + +One special indignity connected with the punishment of crucifixion was +that the condemned man had to carry on his back through the streets the +cross upon which he was about to suffer. In pictures the cross of +Jesus is generally represented as a lofty structure, such as a number +of men would have been needed to carry; but the reality was something +totally different: it was not much above the height of a man,[2] and +there was just enough of wood to support the body. But the weight was +considerable, and to carry it on the back which had been torn with +scourging must have been excessively painful. + +Another source of intense pain was the crown of thorns, if, indeed, He +still wore it. We are told that before the procession set out towards +Golgotha the robes of mockery were taken off and His own garments put +on; but it is not said that the crown of thorns was removed. + +Most cruel of all, however, was the shame. There was a kind of savage +irony in making the man carry the implement on which he was to suffer; +and, in point of fact, throughout classical literature this mode of +punishment is a constant theme of savage banter and derision.[3] + +There is evidence that the imagination of Jesus had occupied itself +specially beforehand with this portion of His sufferings. Long before +the end He had predicted the kind of death He should die; but even +before these predictions had commenced He had described the sacrifices +which would have to be made by those who became His disciples as +cross-bearing--as if this were the last extreme of suffering and +indignity. Did He so call it simply because His knowledge of the world +informed Him of this as one of the greatest indignities of human life? +or was it the foreknowledge that He Himself was to be one day in this +position which coloured His language? We can hardly doubt that the +latter was the case. And now the hour on which His imagination had +dwelt was come, and in weakness and helplessness He had to bear the +cross in the sight of thousands who regarded Him with scorn. To a +noble spirit there is no trial more severe than shame--to be the object +of cruel mirth and insolent triumph. Jesus had the lofty and refined +self-consciousness of one who never once had needed to cringe or stoop. +He loved and honoured men too much not to wish to be loved and honoured +by them; He had enjoyed days of unbounded popularity, but now His soul +was filled with reproach to the uttermost; and He could have +appropriated the words of the Psalm, "I am a worm and no man; a +reproach of men and despised of the people." + +The reproach of Christ is all turned into glory now; and it is very +difficult to realise how abject the reality was. Nothing perhaps +brings this out so well as the fact that two robbers were sent away to +be executed with Him. This has been regarded as a special insult +offered to the Jews by Pilate, who wished to show how contemptuously he +could treat One whom he affected to believe their king. But more +likely it is an indication of how little more Christ was to the Roman +officials than any one of the prisoners whom they put through their +hands day by day. Pilate, no doubt, had been interested and puzzled +more than usual; but, after all, Jesus was only one of many; His +execution could be made part of the same job with that of the other +prisoners on hand. And so the three, bearing their crosses, issued +from the gates of the palace together and took the Dolorous Way. + + +II. + +Though He bore His own cross out of the palace of Pilate, He was not +able to carry it far. Either He sank beneath it on the road or He was +proceeding with such slow and faltering steps that the soldiers, +impatient of the delay, recognised that the burden must be removed from +His shoulders. The severity of the scourging was in itself sufficient +to account for this breakdown; but, besides, we are to consider the +sleepless night through which He had passed, with its anxiety and +abuse; and before it there had been the agony of Gethsemane. No wonder +His exhaustion had reached a point at which it was absolutely +impossible for Him to proceed farther with such a burden. + +One or two of the soldiers might have relieved Him; but, in the spirit +of horseplay and mischief which had characterised their part of the +proceedings from the moment when Christ fell into their hands, they lay +hold of a casual passer-by and requisitioned his services for the +purpose. He was coming in from the region beyond the gate as they were +going out, and they acted under the sanction of military law or custom. + +To the man it must have been an extreme annoyance and indignity. +Doubtless he was bent on business of his own, which had to be deferred. +His family or his friends might be waiting for him, but he was turned +the opposite way. To touch the instrument of death was as revolting to +him as it would be to us to handle the hangman's rope; perhaps more so, +because it was Passover time, and this would make him ceremonially +unclean. It was a jest of the soldiers, and he was their +laughing-stock. As he walked by the side of the robbers, it looked as +if he were on the way to execution himself. + +This is a lively image of the cross-bearing to which the followers of +Christ are called. We are wont to speak of trouble of any kind as a +cross; and doubtless any kind of trouble may be borne bravely in the +name of Christ. But, properly speaking, the cross of Christ is what is +borne in the act of confessing Him or for the sake of His work. When +anyone makes a stand for principle, because he is a Christian, and +takes the consequences in the shape of scorn or loss, this is the cross +of Christ. The pain you may feel in speaking to another in Christ's +name, the sacrifice of comfort or time you may make in engaging in +Christian work, the self-denial you exercise in giving of your means +that the cause of Christ may spread at home or abroad, the reproach you +may have to bear by identifying yourself with militant causes or with +despised persons, because you believe they are on Christ's side--in +such conduct lies the cross of Christ. It involves trouble, discomfort +and sacrifice. One may fret under it, as Simon did; one may sink under +it, as Jesus did Himself; it is ugly, painful, shameful often; but no +disciple is without it. Our Master said, "He that taketh not his cross +and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me." + + +III. + +The one thing which makes Simon an imperfect type of the cross-bearer +is that we are uncertain whether or not he bore the burden voluntarily. +The Roman soldiers forced it on him; but was it force-work and nothing +else? + +Some have supposed that he was an adherent of Christ; but it is +extremely improbable that, just at the moment when the soldiers needed +someone for their purpose, one of the very few followers of Jesus +should have appeared. The tone of the narrative seems rather to +indicate that he was one who happened to be there by mere chance and +had nothing to do with the proceedings till, against his will, he was +made an actor in the drama. + +He is said by the Evangelist to have been a Cyrenian, that is, an +inhabitant of Cyrene, a city in North Africa. Strangers from this +place are mentioned among those who were present soon after at the +Feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the Church in +tongues of fire. And the probability is that Simon had, in a similar +way, come from his distant home to the Passover.[4] + +He had come on pilgrimage. Perhaps he was a devout soul, waiting for +the consolation of Israel. In far Cyrene he may have been praying for +the coming of the Messiah and, before setting out on this journey, +pleading for a season of unusual blessing. God had heard and was going +to answer his prayers, but in a way totally different from his +expectations. + +For apparently this _rencontre_ issued in his salvation and in the +salvation of his house. The Evangelist calls him familiarly "the +father of Alexander and Rufus." Evidently the two sons were well known +to those for whom St. Mark was writing; that is, they were members of +the Christian circle. And there can be little doubt that the +connection of his family with the Church was the result of this +incident in the father's life. St. Mark wrote his Gospel for the +Christians of Rome; and in the Epistle to the Romans one Rufus is +mentioned as resident there along with his mother. This may be one of +the sons of Simon. And in Acts xiii. 1 one Simeon--the same name as +Simon--is mentioned along with a Lucius of Cyrene as a conspicuous +Christian at Antioch: he is called Niger, or Black, a name not +surprising for one who had been tanned by the hot sun of Africa. There +are Alexanders mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament; but the name +was common, and there is not much probability that any of them is to be +identified with Simon's son. Still putting the details aside, we have +sufficiently clear indications that in consequence of this incident +Simon became a Christian. + +Is it not a significant fact, proving that nothing happens by chance? +Had Simon entered the city one hour sooner, or one hour later, his +after history might have been entirely different. On the smallest +circumstances the greatest results may hinge. A chance meeting may +determine the weal or woe of a life. Doubtless to Simon this encounter +seemed at the moment the most unfortunate incident that could have +befallen him--an interruption, an annoyance and a humiliation; yet it +turned out to be the gateway of life. Thus do blessings sometimes come +in disguise, and out of an apparition, at the sight of which we cry out +for fear, may suddenly issue the form of the Son of Man. But it was +not Simon's own salvation only that was involved in this singular +experience, but that of his family as well. How much may follow when +Christ is revealed to any human soul! The salvation of those yet +unborn may be involved in it--of children and children's children. + +But think how blessed to Simon would appear in after days the +cross-bearing which was at the time so bitter! No doubt it became the +romance of his life. And to this day who can help envying him for +being allowed to give his strength to the fainting Saviour and to +remove the burden from that bleeding and smarting back? So for all men +there is a day coming when any service they have done to Christ will be +the memory of which they will be most proud. It will not be the +recollection of the prizes we have won, the pleasures we have enjoyed, +the discomforts we have escaped, that will come back to us with delight +as we review life from its close; but, if we have denied ourselves and +borne the cross for Christ's sake, the memory of that will be a pillow +soft and satisfying for a dying head. In that day we shall wish that +the minutes given to Christ's service had been years, and the pence +pounds; and every cup of cold water and every word of sympathy and +every act of self denial will be so pleasant to remember that we shall +wish they had been multiplied a thousandfold. + + + +[1] Interesting details in Ross's _Cradle of Christianity_. + +[2] A soldier was able to reach up to the lips of Christ on the cross +with a sponge on a reed. + +[3] See Horace, S. ii. 7, 47; E. i. 16, 48. + +[4] Many Jews, indeed, who had once been inhabitants of Cyrene lived in +Jerusalem--old people, probably, who had come to lay their bones in +holy ground; for we learn from an incidental notice in the Acts that +they had a synagogue of their own in the city; and Simon may have been +one of these. But the other is the more likely case. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM + +There are many legends clustering round this portion of our Lord's +history. + +It is narrated, for example, that, when the divine Sufferer, burdened +with the cross, was creeping along feebly and slowly, He leaned against +the door of a house which stood in the way, when the occupier, striking +a blow, commanded Him to hurry on; to which the Lord, turning to His +assailant, replied, "Thou shall go on and never stop till I come +again;" and to this day, unable to find either rest or death, the +miserable man still posts over the earth, and shall continue doing so +until the Lord's return. This is the legend of the Wandering Jew, +which assumed many forms in the lore of other days and still plays a +somewhat prominent part in literature. It is, I suppose, a fantastic +representation, in the person of an individual, of the tragic fate of +the Jewish race, which, since the day when it laid violent hands on the +Son of God, has had no rest for the sole of its foot. + +To another story of the _Via Dolorosa_ as distinguished a place has +been given in art as to the legend of the Wandering Jew in literature. +Veronica, a lady in Jerusalem, seeing Christ, as He passed by, sinking +beneath His burden, came out of her house and with a towel washed away +the blood and perspiration from His face. And lo! when she examined +the napkin with which the charitable act had been performed, it bore a +perfect likeness of the Man of Sorrows. Some of the greatest painters +have reproduced this scene, and it may be understood as teaching the +lesson that even the commonest things in life, when employed in acts of +mercy, are stamped with the image and superscription of Christ. + +In Roman Catholic churches there may generally be seen round the walls +a series of about a dozen pictures, taken from this part of our Lord's +life. They are denominated the Stations of the Cross, because the +worshippers, going round, stop to look and meditate on the different +scenes. In Catholic countries the same idea is sometimes carried out +on a more imposing scale. On a knoll or hill in the neighbourhood of a +town three lofty crosses stand; the road to them through the town is +called _Via Calvarii_, and at intervals along the way the scenes of our +Lord's sad journey are represented by large frescoes or bas-reliefs. + +But we really know for certain of only two incidents of the _Via +Dolorosa_--that in which our Lord was relieved of His cross by Simon +the Cyrenian and that, which we are now to consider, of the sympathetic +daughters of Jerusalem. + + +I. + +The reader of the history of our Lord in its last stages is sated with +horrors. In some of the scenes through which we have recently +accompanied Him we have seemed to be among demons rather than men. The +mind longs for something to relieve the monstrous spectacles of fanatic +hate and cold-blooded cruelty. Hence this scene is most welcome, in +which a blink of sunshine falls on the path of woe, and we are assured +that we need not lose faith in the human heart. + +It was, indeed, a surprising demonstration. It would hardly have been +credited, had it not there been made manifest, that Jesus had so strong +a hold upon any section of the population of Jerusalem. In the capital +He had always found the soil very unreceptive. Jerusalem was the +headquarters of rabbinic learning and priestly arrogance--the home of +the Pharisee and the Sadducee, who guided public opinion; and there, +from first to last, He had made few adherents. It was in the +provinces, especially in Galilee, that He had been the idol of the +populace. It was by the Galilean pilgrims to the Passover that He was +convoyed into the capital with shouts of Hosanna; but the inhabitants +of the city stood coldly aloof, and before Pilate's judgment-seat they +cried out, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" + +Yet now it turns out that He has touched the heart of one section at +least even of this community: "There followed Him a great company of +people and of women, which[1] also bewailed and lamented Him." Some +have considered this so extraordinary that they have held these women +to be Galileans; but Jesus addressed them as "daughters of Jerusalem." +The Galilean men who had surrounded Him in His hour of triumph put in +no appearance now in His hour of despair; but the women of Jerusalem +broke away from the example of the men and paid the tribute of tears to +His youth, character and sufferings. It is said that there was a +Jewish law forbidding the showing of any sympathy to a condemned man; +but, if so, this demonstration was all the more creditable to those who +took part in it. The upwelling of their emotion was too sincere to be +dammed back by barriers of law and custom. + +It is said there is no instance in the Gospels of a woman being an +enemy of Jesus. No woman deserted or betrayed, persecuted or opposed +Him. But women followed Him, they ministered to Him of their +substance, they washed His feet with tears, they anointed His head with +spikenard; and now, when their husbands and brothers were hounding Him +to death, they accompanied Him with weeping and wailing to the scene of +martyrdom.[2] + +It is a great testimony to the character of Christ on the one hand and +to that of woman on the other. Woman's instinct told her, however +dimly she at first apprehended the truth, that this was the Deliverer +for her. Because, while Christ is the Saviour of all, He has been +specially the Saviour of woman. At His advent, her degradation being +far deeper than that of men, she needed Him more; and, wherever His +gospel has travelled since then, it has been the signal for her +emancipation and redemption. His presence evokes all the tender and +beautiful qualities which are latent in her nature; and under His +influence her character experiences a transfiguration.[3] + +It has, indeed, been contended that there was no great depth in the +emotion of the daughters of Jerusalem; and we need not deny the fact. +Their emotion was no outburst of faith and repentance, carrying with it +revolutionary effects, as tears may sometimes be. It was an overflow +of natural feeling, such as might have been caused by any pathetic +instance of misfortune. It was not unlike the tears which may be still +made to flow from the eyes of the tender-hearted by a moving account of +the sufferings of Christ; and we know that such emotions are sometimes +far from lasting. Our nature consists of several strata, of which +emotion is the most superficial; and it is not enough that religion +should operate in this uppermost region; it must be thrust down, +through emotion, into the deeper regions, such as the conscience and +the will, and catch hold and kindle there, before it can achieve the +mastery of the entire being. + +But this response of womanhood to Christ was a beginning; and therein +lay its significance. It was to Him a foretaste of the splendid +devotion which He was yet to receive from the womanhood of the world. +It was as welcome to Him in that hour of desertion and reproach as is +the sight of a tuft of grass to the thirsty traveller in the desert. +The sounds of sympathy flowed over His soul as gratefully as the gift +of Mary's love enveloped His senses when the house was filled with the +odour of the ointment. + +Thus in the _Via Dolorosa_ Jesus experienced two alleviations of His +suffering: the strength of a man relieved His body of the burden of the +cross, and the pain of His soul was cooled by the sympathy of women. +Is it not a parable--a parable of what men and women can do for Him +still? Christ needs the strength of men--the strong arm, the vigorous +hand, the shoulders that can bear the burden of His cause; He seeks +from men the mind whose originality can plan what needs to be done, the +resolute will that pushes the work on in spite of opposition, the +liberal hand that gives ungrudgingly what is required for the progress +and success of the Christian enterprise. From women he seeks sympathy +and tears. They can give the sensibility which keeps the heart of the +world from hardening; the secret knowledge which finds out the objects +of Christian compassion and wins their confidence; the enthusiasm which +burns like a fire at the heart of religious work. The influence of +women is subtle and remote; but it is on this account all the more +powerful; for they sit at the very fountains, where the river of human +life is springing, and where a touch may determine its entire +subsequent course. + + +II. + +It has been allowed to condemned men in all ages to speak to the crowds +assembled to witness their death. The dying speech used in this +country to be a regular feature of executions. Even in ages of +persecution the martyrs were usually allowed, as they ascended the +ladder, to address the multitude; and these testimonies, some of which +were of singular power and beauty, were treasured by the religious +section of the community. It is nothing surprising, therefore, that +Jesus should have addressed those who followed Him or should have been +permitted to do so. No doubt He was at the last point of exhaustion, +but, when He was relieved of the weight of the cross, He was able to +rally strength sufficient for this effort. Pausing in the road and +turning to the women, whose weeping and wailing were filling His ears, +He addressed Himself to them. + +His words are, in the first place, a revelation of Himself. They show +what was demonstrated again and again during the crucifixion--how +completely He could forget His own sufferings in care and anxiety for +others. His sufferings had already been extreme; His soul had been +filled with injustice and insult; at this very moment His body was +quivering with pain and His mind darkened with the approach of still +more atrocious agonies. Yet, when He heard behind Him the sobs of the +daughters of Jerusalem, there rushed over His soul a wave of compassion +in which for the moment His own troubles were submerged. + +We see in His words, too, the depth and fervour of His patriotism. +When He saw the tears of the women, the spectacle raised in His mind an +image of the doom impending over the city whose daughters they were. +Jerusalem, as has been already said, had always been extremely +unresponsive to Him; she had played to Him an unmotherly part. None +the less, however, did He feel for her the love of a loyal son. He had +shown this a few days before, when, in the midst of His triumph, He +paused on the brow of Olivet, where the city came into view, and burst +into a flood of tears, accompanied with such a lyric cry of affection +as has never been addressed to any other city on earth. Subsequently, +sitting with His disciples over against the temple, He showed how well +He foreknew the terrible fate which hung over the capital of His +country, and how poignantly He felt it. The city's doom was nigh at +hand: less than half a century distant: and it was to be unparalleled +in its horror. The secular historian of it, himself a Jew, says in his +narrative: "There has never been a race on earth, and there never will +be one, whose sufferings can be matched with those of Jerusalem in the +days of the siege." It was the foresight of this which made Jesus now +say, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves +and for your children." + +His words, still further, reveal His consideration for women and +children. The tears of the women displayed an appreciation and +sympathy for Him such as the men were incapable of; but well did He +deserve them, for His words show that He had a comprehension of women +and a sympathy with them such as had never before existed in the world. +With the force of the imagination and the heart He realised how, in the +approaching siege, the heaviest end of the misery would fall on the +female portion of the population, and how the mothers would be wounded +through their children. In that country, where children were regarded +as the crown and glory of womanhood, the currents of nature would be so +completely reversed by the madness of hunger and pain that barrenness +would be esteemed fortunate; and in a country where length of days had +been considered the supreme blessing of life they would long and cry +for sudden and early death. + +So it actually turned out. An outstanding feature of the siege of +Jerusalem, according to the secular historian, was the suffering of the +women and children. Besides using every other device of warfare, the +Romans deliberately resorted to starvation, and the inhabitants endured +the uttermost extremities of hunger. So frenzied did the men become at +last that every extra mouth requiring to be filled became an object of +delirious suspicion, and the last morsels were snatched from the lips +of the women and children. One is tempted to quote some of the stories +of Josephus about this, but they are so awful that it would be scarcely +decent to repeat them. + +This was what the quick sympathy of Jesus enabled Him to divine; and +His compassion gushed forth towards those who were to be the chief +sufferers. Women and children--how irreverently they have been thought +of, how callously and brutally treated, since history began! Yet they +are always the majority of the human race. Praise be to Him who lifted +them, and is still lifting them, out of the dust of degradation and +ill-usage, and who put in on their behalf the plea of justice and mercy! + +Finally, there was in the words addressed to the daughters of Jerusalem +an exhortation to repentance. When Jesus said, "Weep for yourselves +and for your children," He was referring not merely to the approaching +calamities of the city, but to its guilt. This was indicated most +clearly in the closing words of His address to them--"For if they do +these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" + +He could speak of Himself as a green tree. He was young and He was +innocent; to this the tears of the women testified; there was no reason +why He should die; yet God permitted all these things to happen to Him. +The Jewish nation ought also to have been a green tree. God had +planted and tended it; it had enjoyed every advantage; but, when He +came seeking fruit on it, He found none. It was withered; the sap of +virtue and godliness had gone out of it; it was dry and ready for the +burning; and, when the enemy came to apply the firebrand, why should +God interpose? Thus did Jesus attempt once more to awaken repentance. +He wished to thrust the impressions of the daughters of Jerusalem down +from the region of feeling into a deeper place. They had given Him +tears of emotion; He desired, besides these, tears of contrition; for +in religion nothing is accomplished till impression touches the +conscience. + +Whether any of them responded in earnest we cannot tell. Not many, it +is to be feared. Nor can we tell whether by repentance the destruction +of the Jewish state might still have been averted. At all events, the +fire of invasion soon fell on the dry tree, and it was burnt up. And +since then those who would not weep for their sins before the stroke of +punishment fell have had to weep without ceasing. Visitors to +Jerusalem at the present day are conducted to a spot called the Place +of Wailing, where every Friday representatives of the race weep for the +destruction of their city and temple.[4] This has gone on for +centuries; and it is only a symbol of the cup of astonishment, filled +to the brim, which has during many centuries been held to the lips of +Israel. Sin must be wept for some time--if not before punishment has +fallen, then after; if not in time, then in eternity. This is a lesson +for all. And has not that final word of Jesus a meaning for us even +more solemn than it had for those to whom it was first addressed--"If +these things be done in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" +If woe and anguish fell, as they did, even on the Son of God, when He +was bearing the sins of the world, what will be the portion of those +who have to bear their own? + + + +[1] The participle refers to the women alone. + +[2] "How slow we have been to ask our _sister_ members to help +us!--although we read of deaconesses in the early Church, and although +we do not read of a single woman who was unkind and unfaithful to the +Saviour while here upon earth. Men were diabolic in their cruelty to +Him, but never did a woman betray Him, mock Him, desert Him, nor spit +in His face. Many of them cheered Him on His way to the Cross, washing +His feet with tears before men pierced them with nails, anointing His +head with precious perfume in anticipation of the thorns with which men +crowned Him. They wept with Him on the way to Calvary, and were true +to Him to the very end. And are they not devoted and true to Him +still? Why, then, have we been so long in calling for their +services?"--E. HERBERT EVANS, D.D. + +[3] Brace, _Gesta Christi_. + +[4] Striking description in Baring-Gould, _The Passion of Jesus_, p. 75. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CALVARY + +Anyone writing on the life of our Lord must many a time pause in secret +and exclaim to himself, "It is high as heaven, what canst thou do? +deeper than hell, what canst thou know?" But we have now arrived at +the point where this sense of inadequacy falls most oppressively on the +heart. To-day we are to see Christ crucified. But who is worthy to +look at this sight? Who is able to speak of it? "Such knowledge is +too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain unto it." In the +presence of such a subject one feels one's mind to be like some tiny +creature at the bottom of the sea--as incapable of comprehending it all +as is the crustacean of scooping up the Atlantic in its shell. + +This spot to which we have come is the centre of all things. Here two +eternities meet. The streams of ancient history converge here, and +here the river of modern history takes its rise. The eyes of +patriarchs and prophets strained forward to Calvary, and now the eyes +of all generations and of all races look back to it. This is the end +of all roads. The seeker after truth, who has explored the realms of +knowledge, comes to Calvary and finds at last that he has reached the +centre. The weary heart of man, that has wandered the world over in +search of perfect sympathy and love, at last arrives here and finds +rest. Think how many souls every Lord's Day, assembled in church and +chapel and meeting-house, are thinking of Golgotha! how many eyes are +turned thither every day from beds of sickness and chambers of death! +"Lord, to whom can we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." + +Though, therefore, the theme is too high for us, yet we will venture +forward. It is too high for human thought; yet nowhere else is the +mind so exalted and ennobled. At Calvary poets have sung their +sweetest strains, and artists seen their sublimest visions, and +thinkers excogitated their noblest ideas. The crustacean lies at the +bottom of the ocean, and the world of waters rolls above it; it cannot +in its tiny shell comprehend these leagues upon leagues of solid +translucent vastness; and yet the ocean fills its shell and causes its +little body to throb with perfect happiness. And so, though we cannot +take in all the meaning of the scene before which we stand, yet we can +fill mind and heart with it to the brim, and, as it sends through our +being the pulsations of a life divine, rejoice that it has a breadth +and length, a height and depth, which pass understanding. + + +I. + +The long journey through the streets to the place of execution was at +length ended, and thereby the weary journeyings of the Sufferer came to +a close. The soldiers set about their preparations for the last act. +But meanwhile a little incident occurred which the behaviour of Jesus +filled with significance. + +The wealthy ladies of Jerusalem had the practice of providing for those +condemned to the awful punishment of crucifixion a soporific draught, +composed of wine mixed with some narcotic like gall or myrrh,[1] to +dull the senses and deaden the pain. It was a benevolent custom; and +the cup was offered to all criminals, irrespective of their crimes. It +was administered immediately before the frightful work of nailing the +culprit to the tree commenced. This draught was handed to Jesus on His +arrival at Golgotha. Exhausted with fatigue and burning with thirst, +He grasped the cup eagerly and lifted it without suspicion to His lips. +But, as soon as He tasted it and felt the fumes of the stupefying +ingredient, He laid it down and would not drink. + +It was a simple act, yet full of heroism. He was in that extremity of +thirst when a person will drink almost anything; and He was face to +face with outrageous torture. In subsequent times many of His own +faithful martyrs, on their way to execution, gladly availed themselves +of this merciful provision. But He would not allow His intellect to be +clouded. His obedience was not yet complete; His plan was not fully +wrought out; He would keep His taste for death pure. I have heard of a +woman dying of a frightful malady, who, when she was pressed by those +witnessing her agony to take an intoxicating draught, refused, saying, +"No, I want to die sober." She had caught, I think, the spirit of +Christ. + +This is a very strange place in which to alight on the problem of the +use and abuse of those products of nature or art which induce +intoxication or stupefaction. Roots or juices with such properties +have been known to nearly all races, the savage as well as the +civilised; and they have played a great part in the life of mankind. +Their history is one of the most curious. They are associated with the +mysteries of false religions and with the phenomena of heathen prophecy +and witchcraft; acting on the mind through the senses, they open up in +it a region of mystery, horror and gloomy magnificence of which the +normal man is unconscious. They have always been a favourite resource +of the medical art, and in modern times, in such forms as opium and +other better-known intoxicants, they have created some of the gravest +moral problems. + +On the wide question of the use of such substances as stimulants we +need not at present enter; it is to their use for the opposite purpose +of lowering consciousness that this incident draws attention. That in +some cases this use is both merciful and permissible will not be +denied. The discovery in our own day, by one of our own countrymen, of +the use of chloroform is justly regarded as among the greatest benefits +ever conferred on the human race. When the unconsciousness thus +produced enables the surgeon to perform an operation which might not be +possible at all without it, or when in the crisis of a fever the sleep +induced by a narcotic gives the exhausted system power to continue the +combat and saves the life, we can only be thankful that the science of +to-day has such resources in its treasury. + +On the other hand, however, there are grave offsets to these +advantages. Millions of men and women resort to such substances in +order to dull the nerves and cloud the brain during pain and sorrow +which God intended them to face and bear with sober courage, as Jesus +endured His on the cross. On the medical profession rests the +responsibility of so using the power placed in their hands as not to +destroy the dignity of the most solemn passages of life.[2] It will +for ever remain true that pain and trial are the discipline of the +soul; but to reel through these crises in the drowsy forgetfulness of +intoxication is to miss the best chances of moral and spiritual +development. Men and women are made perfect through suffering; but +that suffering may do its work it must be felt. There is no greater +misfortune than to bear too easily the strokes of God. A bereavement, +for example, is sent to sanctify a home; but it may fail of its mission +because the household is too busy, or because too many are coming and +going, or because tongues, mistakenly kind and garrulous, chatter God's +messenger out of doors. It is natural that physicians and kind friends +should try to make sufferers forget their grief. But they may be too +successful. Though the practice of the ladies of Jerusalem was a +benevolent one, the gift mixed by their charitable hands appeared to +our Lord a cup of temptation, and He resolutely put it aside. + + +II + +All was now ready for the last act, and the soldiers started their +ghastly work. + +It is not my intention to harrow up the feelings of my readers with +minute descriptions of the horrors of crucifixion.[3] Nothing would be +easier, for it was an unspeakably awful form of death. Cicero, who was +well acquainted with it, says: "It was the most cruel and shameful of +all punishments." "Let it never," he adds, "come near the body of a +Roman citizen; nay, not even near his thoughts or eyes or ears." It +was the punishment reserved for slaves and for revolutionaries, whose +end was intended to be marked by special infamy. + +The cross was most probably of the form in which it is usually +represented--an upright post crossed by a bar near the top. There were +other two forms--that of the letter T and that of the letter X--but, as +the accusation of Jesus is said to have been put up over His head, +there must have been a projection above the bar on which His arms were +outstretched. The arms were probably bound to the cross-beam, as +without this the hands would have been torn through by the weight. And +for a similar reason there was a piece of wood projecting from the +middle of the upright beam, on which the body sat. The feet were +either nailed separately or crossed the one over the other, with a nail +through both. It is doubtful whether the body was affixed before or +after the cross was elevated and planted in the ground. The head hung +free, so that the dying man could both see and speak to those about the +cross. + +In modern executions the greatest pains are taken to make death as +nearly as possible instantaneous, and any bungling which prolongs the +agony excites indignation and horror in the public mind. But the most +revolting feature of death by crucifixion was that the torture was +deliberately prolonged. The victim usually lingered a whole day, +sometimes two or three days, still retaining consciousness; while the +burning of the wounds in the hands and feet, the uneasiness of the +unnatural position, the oppression of overcharged veins and, above all, +the intolerable thirst were constantly increasing. Jesus did not +suffer so long; but He lingered for four or five hours. + +I will not, however, proceed further in describing the sickening +details. How far all these horrors may have been essential elements in +His sufferings it would be difficult to say. Apart from the prophecies +going before which had to be fulfilled, was it a matter of indifference +what death He died? Would it have served equally well if He had been +hanged or beheaded or stoned? We cannot tell. Only, when we know the +secret of what His soul suffered, we can discern the fitness of the +choice of the most shameful and painful of all forms of death for His +body.[4] + +The true sufferings of Christ were not physical, but internal. Looking +on that Face, we see the shadow of a deeper woe than smarting wounds +and raging thirst and a racking frame--the woe of slighted love, of a +heart longing for fellowship but overwhelmed with hatred; the woe of +insult and wrong, and of unspeakable sorrow for the fate of those who +would not be saved. Nor is even this the deepest shadow. There was +then in the heart of the Redeemer a woe to which no human words are +adequate. He was dying for the sin of the world. He had taken on +Himself the guilt of mankind, and was now engaged in the final struggle +to put it away and annihilate it. On the cross was hanging not only +the body of flesh and blood of the Man Christ Jesus, but at the same +time His mystical body--that body of which He is the head and His +people are the members. Through this body also the nails were driven, +and on it death took its revenge. His people died with Him unto sin, +that they might live for evermore. + +This is the mystery, but it is also the glory of the scene. Till He +hung on it, the cross was the symbol of slavery and vulgar wickedness; +but He converted it into the symbol of heroism, self-sacrifice and +salvation. It was only a wretched framework of coarse and +blood-clotted beams, which it was a shame to touch; but since then the +world has gloried in it; it has been carved in every form of beauty and +every substance of price; it has been emblazoned on the flags of +nations and engraved on the sceptres and diadems of kings.[5] The +cross was planted on Golgotha a dry, dead tree; but lo! it has +blossomed like Aaron's rod; it has struck its roots deep down to the +heart of the world, and sent its branches upwards, till to-day it fills +the earth, and the nations rest beneath its shadow and eat of its +pleasant fruits.[6] + + +III. + +At length the ghastly preparations were completed; and in the greedy +eyes of Jewish hatred the Saviour, whom they had hunted to death with +the ferocity of bloodhounds, was exposed to full view. But the first +triumphant glance of priests, Pharisees and populace met with a violent +check; for above the Victim's head they saw something which cut them to +the heart. + +The practice of affixing to the apparatus of execution a description of +the crime prevails in some countries to this day. In the Life of +Gilmour of Mongolia there is a description of an execution which he +witnessed in China; and in the cart which conveyed the condemned man to +the scene of death a board was exhibited describing his misdeeds. The +custom was a Roman one; and, besides, there was generally an official +who walked in front of the procession of death and proclaimed the +crimes of the condemned. No mention, however, of such a functionary +appears in the Gospels; nor does the inscription appear to have been +visible to all till it was affixed to the cross. It was fastened to +the top of the upright beam; and Pilate made use of this opportunity to +pay out the Jews for the annoyance they had caused him. He had parted +from them in anger, for they had humiliated him; but he sent after them +that which should be a drop of bitterness in their cup of triumph. +When they were still at his judgment-seat, his last blow in his +encounter with them had been to pretend to be convinced that Jesus +really was their king. This insult he now prolonged by wording the +inscription thus: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." It was as +much as to say, This is what becomes of a Jewish king; this is what the +Romans do with him; the king of this nation is a slave, a crucified +criminal; and, if such be the king, what must the nation be whose king +he is? + +So enraged were the Jews that they sent a deputation to the governor to +entreat him to alter the words. No doubt he was delighted to see them; +for their coming proved how thoroughly his sarcasm had gone home. He +only laughed at their petition and, assuming the grand air of authority +which became no man so well as a Roman, dismissed them with the words, +"What I have written I have written." + +This looked like strength of will and character; but it was in reality +only a covering for weakness. He had his will about the inscription--a +trifle; but they had their will about the crucifixion. He was strong +enough to browbeat them, but he was not strong enough to deny himself. + +Yet, though the inscription of Pilate was in his own mind little more +than a revengeful jest, there was in it a Divine purpose. "What I have +written I have written," he said; but, had he known, he might almost +have said, "What I have written God has written." Sometimes and at +some places the atmosphere is so charged and electric with the Divine +that inspiration alights and burns on everything; and never was this +more true than at the cross. Pilate had already unconsciously been +almost a prophet when, pointing to Jesus, he said, "Behold the Man"--a +word which still preaches to the centuries. And now, after being a +speaking prophet, he becomes, as has been quaintly remarked, a writing +one too; for his pen was guided by a supernatural hand to indite the +words, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." + +It added greatly to the significance of the inscription that it was +written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. What Pilate intended thereby +was to heighten the insult; he wished all the strangers present at the +Passover to be able to read the inscription; for all of them who could +read at all would know one of these three languages. But Providence +intended something else. These are the three great languages of the +ancient world--the representative languages. Hebrew is the tongue of +religion, Greek that of culture, Latin the language of law and +government; and Christ was declared King in them all. On His head are +many crowns. He is King in the religious sphere--the King of +salvation, holiness and love; He is King in the realm of culture--the +treasures of art, of song, of literature, of philosophy belong to Him, +and shall yet be all poured at His feet; He is King in the political +sphere--King of kings and Lord of lords, entitled to rule in the social +relationships, in trade and commerce, in all the activities of men. We +see not yet, indeed, all things put under Him; but every day we see +them more and more in the process of being put under Him. The name of +Jesus is travelling everywhere over the earth; thousands are learning +to pronounce it; millions are ready to die for it. And thus is the +unconscious prophecy of Pilate still being fulfilled. + + + +[1] One Evangelist says gall, another myrrh, and on this difference +harmonists and their antagonists have spent their time; but surely it +is not worth while. + +[2] The distinction between the legitimate and the illegitimate use is +not very easy to draw; but there is an obvious difference between +destroying pain for an ulterior purpose and destroying it merely to +save the feeling of the sufferer. + +[3] On the details of crucifixion there is an extremely interesting and +learned excursus in Zöckler's _Das Kreus Christi_ (Beilage III.). +Cicero's Verrine Orations contain a good deal that is valuable to a +student of the Passion, especially in regard to scourging and +crucifixion. Crucifixion was an extremely common form of punishment in +the ancient world; but "the cross of the God-Man has put an end to the +punishment of the crow." + +[4] Zöckler maintains that crucifixion, while the most shameful, was +not absolutely the most painful form of death. + +[5] The appreciation of the significance of the Cross has gone on in +two lines--the Artistic and the Doctrinal--both of which arc followed +out with varied learning in Zöckler's _Kreus Christi_. + +The English reader may with great satisfaction trace the artistic +development in Mrs. Jameson's _History of our Lord as exemplified in +Works of Art_, where the following scheme is given of the varieties of +treatment:-- + +"_Symbolical_, when the abstract personifications of the sun and moon, +earth and ocean, are present. + +"_Sacrificially symbolical_, when the Eucharistic cup is seen below the +Cross, or the pelican feeding her young is placed above it. + +"_Simply doctrinal_, when the Virgin and St. John stand on each side, +as solemn witnesses; or our Lord is drinking the cup, sometimes +literally so represented, given Him of the Father, while the lance +opens the sacramental font. + +"_Historically ideal_, as when the thieves are joined to the scene, and +sorrowing angels throng the air. + +"_Historically devotional_, as when the real features of the scene are +preserved, and saints and devotees are introduced. + +"_Legendary_, as when we see the Virgin fainting. + +"_Allegorical and fantastic_, as when the tree is made the principal +object, with its branches terminating in patriarchs and prophets, +virtues and graces. + +"_Realistic_, as when the mere event is rendered as through the eyes of +an unenlightened looker-on. + +"These and many other modes of conception account for the great +diversity in the treatment of this subject; a further variety being +given by the combination of two or more of these modes of treatment +together; for instance, the pelican may be seen above the Cross giving +her life's blood for her offspring; angels in attitudes of despair, +bewailing the Second Person of the Trinity; or, in an ideal sacramental +sense, catching the blood from His wounds--the Jews below looking on, +as they really did, with contemptuous gestures and hardened hearts; the +centurion acknowledging that this was really the Son of God, while the +group of the fainting Virgin, supported by the Marys and St. John, adds +legend to symbolism, ideality, and history." + +In the study of the doctrinal development nothing is so important as +the exegesis of the New Testament statements about the Cross; and this +has been done in a masterly way by Dr. Dale in his work on the +Atonement. What may be called the Philosophy of the Cross (to borrow a +happy phrase of McCheyne Edgar's) came late. It is usually reckoned to +have commenced with Anselm; and since the Reformation every great +theologian has added his contribution. Yet the work is by no means +completed. Indeed, at the present day there is no greater desideratum +in theology than a philosophy of the Cross which would thoroughly +satisfy the religious mind. Shallow theories abound; but the Church of +Christ will never be able to rest in any theory which does not do +justice, on the one hand, to the tremendously strong statements of +Scripture on the subject and, on the other, to her own consciousness of +unique and infinite obligation to the dying Saviour. Perhaps the most +satisfactory expression of the Christian consciousness on the subject +is to be found in the hymns of the Church, from the Te Deum down +through Scotua Erigena and Fulbert of Chartres to Gerhardt and Toplady. +See Schaff's _Christ in Song_. + +A third line of development might be traced--the Practical--in +martyrology, the history of missions, asceticism, and the like; and the +spokesman of this branch of the truth is à Kempis, who, as Zöckler +says, teaches his disciples to know poverty and humility as the roots +of the tree of the Cross, labour and penitence as its bark, +righteousness and mercy as its two principal branches, truth and +doctrine as its precious leaves, chastity and obedience as its +blossoms, temperance and discipline as its fragrance, and salvation and +eternal life as its glorious fruit. + +[6] When the Northern nations became Christian they transferred to the +Cross the nobler ideas embodied in the mystic tree Igdrasil; and one of +the commonest ideas of the mystical writers of the Middle Ages is the +identification of the Cross as both the true tree of life and the true +tree of knowledge. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE GROUPS ROUND THE CROSS + +In the last chapter we saw the Son of Man nailed to the cursed tree. +There He hung for hours, exposed, helpless, but conscious, looking out +on the sea of faces assembled to behold His end. On the occasion of an +execution a crowd gathers outside our jails merely to see the black +flag run up which signals that the deed is done; and in the old days of +public executions such an event always attracted an enormous crowd. No +doubt it was the same in Jerusalem. When Jesus was put to death, it +was Passover time, and the city was filled with multitudes of +strangers, to whom any excitement was welcome. Besides, the case of +Jesus had stirred both the capital and the entire country.[1] + +The sight which the crowd had come to see was, we now know, the +greatest ever witnessed in the universe. Angels and archangels were +absorbed in it; millions of men and women are looking back to it to-day +and every day. But what impressions did it make on those who saw it at +the time? To ascertain this, let us look at three characteristic +groups near the cross, whose feelings were shared in varying degrees by +many around them. + + +I. + +Look, first, at the group nearest the cross--that of the Roman soldiers. + +In the Roman army it seems to have been a rule that, when executions +were carried out by soldiers, the effects of the criminals fell as +perquisites to those who did the work. Though many more soldiers were +probably present on this occasion, the actual details of fixing the +beam, handling the hammer and nails, hoisting the apparatus, and so +forth, in the case of Jesus, fell to a quaternion of them. To these +four, therefore, belonged all that was on Him; and they could at once +proceed to divide the spoil, because in crucifixion the victim was +stripped before being affixed to the cross--a trait of revolting +shame.[2] A large, loose upper garment, a head-dress perhaps, a girdle +and a pair of sandals, and, last of all, an under garment, such as +Galilean peasants were wont to wear, which was all of a piece and had +perhaps been knitted for Him by the loving fingers of His mother--these +articles became the booty of the soldiers. They formed the entire +property which Jesus had to leave, and the four soldiers were His +heirs. Yet this was He who bequeathed the vastest legacy that ever has +been left by any human being--a legacy ample enough to enrich the whole +world. Only it was a spiritual legacy--of wisdom, of influence, of +example. + +The soldiers, their ghastly task over, sat down at the foot of the +cross to divide their booty. They obtained from it not only profit but +amusement; for, after dividing the articles as well as they could, they +had to cast lots about the last, which they could not divide. One of +them fetched some dice out of his pocket--gambling was a favourite +pastime of Roman soldiers--and they settled the difficulty by a game. +Look at them--chaffering, chattering, laughing; and, above their heads, +not a yard away, that Figure. What a picture! The Son of God atoning +for the sins of the world, whilst angels and glorified spirits crowd +the walls of the celestial city to look down at the spectacle; and, +within a yard of His sacred Person, the soldiers, in absolute apathy, +gambling for these poor shreds of clothing! So much, and no more, did +they perceive of the stupendous drama they were within touch of. For +it is not only necessary to have a great sight to make an impression; +quite as necessary is the seeing eye. There are those to whom this +earth is sacred because Jesus Christ has trodden it; the sky is sacred +because it has bent above Him; history is sacred because His name is +inscribed on it; the daily tasks of life are all sacred because they +can be done in His name. But are there not multitudes, even in +Christian lands, who live as if Christ had never lived, and to whom the +question has never occurred, What difference does it make to us that +Jesus died in this world of which we are inhabitants? + + +II. + +Look now at a second group, much more numerous than the first, +consisting of the members of the Sanhedrim. + +After condemning Jesus in their own court, they had accompanied Him +through stage after stage of His civil trial, until at last they +secured His condemnation at the tribunal of Pilate. When at last He +was handed over to the executioners, it might have been expected that +they would have been tired of the lengthy proceedings and glad to +escape from the scene. But their passions had been thoroughly aroused, +and their thirst for revenge was so deep that they could not allow the +soldiers to do their own work, but, forgetful of dignity, accompanied +the crowd to the place of execution and stayed to glut their eyes with +the spectacle of their Victim's sufferings. Even after He was lifted +up on the tree, they could not keep their tongues off Him or give Him +the dying man's privilege of peace; but, losing all sense of propriety, +they made insulting gestures and poured on Him insulting cries. +Naturally the crowd followed their example, till not only the soldiers +took it up, but even the thieves who were crucified with Him joined in. +So that the crowd under His eyes became a sea of scorn, whose angry +waves dashed up about His cross. + +The line taken was to recall all the great names which He had claimed, +or which had been applied to Him, and to contrast them with the +position in which He now was. "The Son of God," "The Chosen of God," +"The King of Israel," "The Christ," "The King of the Jews," "Thou that +destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days"--with these +epithets they pelted Him in every tone of mockery. They challenged Him +to come down from the cross and they would believe Him. This was their +most persistent cry--He had saved others, but Himself He could not +save. They had always maintained that it was by the power of devils He +wrought His miracles; but these evil powers are dangerous to palter +with; they may lend their virtue for a time, but at last they appear to +demand their price; at the most critical moment they leave him who has +trusted them in the lurch. This was what had happened to Jesus; now at +last the wizard's wand was broken and He could charm no more. + +As they thus poured out the gall which had long been accumulating in +their hearts, they did not notice that, in the multitude of their +words, they were using the very terms attributed in the twenty-second +Psalm to the enemies of the holy Sufferer: "He trusted in God; let Him +deliver Him now, if He will have Him; for He said, I am the Son of +God." Cold-blooded historians have doubted whether they could have +made such a slip without noticing it; but, strange to say, there is an +exact modern parallel. When one of the Swiss reformers was pleading +before the papal court, the president interrupted him with the very +words of Caiaphas to the Sanhedrim: "He hath spoken blasphemy: what +further need have we of witnesses? What think ye?" and they all +answered, "He is worthy of death"; without noticing, till he reminded +them, that they were quoting Scripture.[3] + +Jesus might have answered the cries of His enemies; because to one +hanging on the cross it was possible not only to hear and see, but also +to speak. However, He answered never a word--"when He was reviled, He +reviled not again," "as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He +opened not His mouth." This was not, however, because He did not feel. +More painful than the nails which pierced His body were these missiles +of malice shot at His mind. The human heart laid bare its basest and +blackest depths under His very eyes; and all its foul scum was poured +over Him. + +Was it a temptation to Him, one wonders, when so often from every side +the invitation was given Him to come down from the cross? This was +substantially the same temptation as was addressed to Him at the +opening of His career, when Satan urged Him to cast Himself from the +pinnacle of the temple. It had haunted Him in various forms all His +life through. And now it assails Him once more at the crisis of His +fate. They thought His patience was impotence and His silence a +confession of defeat. Why should He not let His glory blaze forth and +confound them? How easily He could have done it! Yet no; He could +not. They were quite right when they said, "He saved others, Himself +He cannot save." Had He saved Himself, He would not have been the +Saviour. Yet the power that kept Him on the cross was a far mightier +one than would have been necessary to leave it. It was not by the +nails through His hands and feet that He was held, nor by the ropes +with which His arms were bound, nor by the soldiers watching Him; no, +but by invisible bands--by the cords of redeeming love and by the +constraint of a Divine design. + +Of this, however, His enemies had no inkling. They were judging Him by +the most heathenish standard. They had no idea of power but a material +one, or of glory but a selfish one. The Saviour of their fancy was a +political deliverer, not One who could save from sin. And to this day +Christ hears the cry from more sides than one, "Come down from the +cross, and we will believe Thee." It comes from the spiritually +shallow, who have no sense of their own unworthiness or of the majesty +and the rights of a holy God. They do not understand a theology of sin +and punishment, of atonement and redemption; and all the deep +significance of His death has to be taken out of Christianity before +they will believe it. It comes, too, from the morally cowardly and the +worldly-minded, who desire a religion without the cross. If +Christianity were only a creed to believe, or a worship in whose +celebration the aesthetic faculty might take delight, or a private path +by which a man might pilgrim to heaven unnoticed, they would be +delighted to believe it; but, because it means confessing Christ and +bearing His reproach, mingling with His despised people and supporting +His cause, they will have none of it. None can honour the cross of +Christ who have not felt the humiliation of guilt and entered into the +secret of humility. + + +III. + +Let our attention now be directed to a third group. And again it is a +comparatively small one. + +As the eyes of Jesus wandered to and fro over the sea of faces upturned +to His own--faces charged with every form and degree of hatred and +contempt--was there no point on which they could linger with +satisfaction? Yes, among the thorns there was one lily. On the +outskirts of the crowd there stood a group of His acquaintances and of +the women who followed Him from Galilee and ministered unto Him. Let +us enumerate their honoured names, as far as they have been +preserved--"Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses +[Transcriber's note: Joseph?], and the mother of Zebedee's children." + +Their position, "afar off," probably indicates that they were in a +state of fear. It was not safe to be too closely identified with One +against whom the authorities cherished such implacable feelings; and +they may have been quite right not to make themselves too conspicuous. +Apart from the danger to which they might be exposed, they had a whole +tempest of trouble in their hearts. As yet they knew not the +Scriptures that He must rise again from the dead; and this collapse of +the cause in which they had embarked their all for time and for +eternity was a bewildering calamity. They had trusted that it had been +He who should have redeemed Israel, and that He would live and reign +over the redeemed race forever. And there He was, perishing before +their eyes in defeat and shame. Their faith was at the very last ebb. +Or say, rather, it survived only in the form of love. Bewildered as +were their ideas, He had as firm a hold as ever on their hearts. They +loved Him; they suffered with Him; they could have died for Him. + +May we not believe that the eyes of Jesus, as long as they were able to +see, turned often away from the brutal soldiers beneath His feet, and +from the sea of distorted faces, to this distant group? In some +respects, indeed, their aspect might be more trying to Him than even +the hateful faces of His enemies; for sympathy will sometimes break +down a strong heart that is proof against opposition. Yet this +neighbourly sympathy and womanly love must, on the whole, have been a +profound comfort and support. He was sustained all through His +sufferings by the thought of the multitudes without number who would +benefit from what He was enduring; but here before His eyes was an +earnest of His reward; and in them He saw of the travail of His soul +and was satisfied. + + +In these three groups, then, we see three predominant states of +mind--in the soldiers apathy, in the Sanhedrim antipathy, in the +Galileans sympathy. + +Has it ever occurred to you to ask in which group you would have been +had you been there? This is a searching question. Of course it is +easy now to say which were right and which were wrong. It is always +easy to admire the heroes and the causes of bygone days; but it is +possible to do so and yet be apathetic or antipathetic to those of our +own. Even the Roman soldiers at the foot of the cross admired Romulus +and Cincinnatus and Brutus, though they had no feeling for One at their +side greater than these. The Jews who were mocking Christ admired +Moses and Samuel and Isaiah. Christ is still bearing His cross through +the streets of the world, and is hanging exposed to contempt and +ill-treatment; and it is possible to admire the Christ of the Bible and +yet be persecuting and opposing the Christ of our own century. The +Christ of to-day signifies the truth, the cause, the principles of +Christ, and the men and women in whom these are embodied. We are +either helping or hindering those movements on which Christ has set His +heart; often, without being aware of it, men choose their sides and +plan and speak and act either for or against Christ. This is the +Passion of our own day, the Golgotha of our own city. + +But it comes nearer than this. The living Christ Himself is still in +the world: He comes to every door; His Spirit strives with every soul. +And He still meets with these three kinds of treatment--apathy, +antipathy, sympathy. As a magnet, passing over a heap of objects, +causes those to move and spring out of the heap which are akin to +itself, so redeeming love, as revealed in Christ, passing over the +surface of mankind century after century, has the power so to move +human hearts to the very depths that, kindling with admiration and +desire, they spring up and attach themselves to Him. This response may +be called faith, or love, or spirituality, or what you please; but it +is the very test and touchstone of eternity, for it is separating men +and women from the mass and making them one for ever with the life and +the love of God. + + + +[1] Keim strangely surmises that there was no great crowd; but this is +impossible. + +[2] As, however, the Jews would have objected to this, Edersheim +argues--but not convincingly--that there must have been at least a +slight covering. + +[3] Süskind, _Passionsschule_, _in loc_. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE FIRST WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +In the last chapter we saw the impressions made by the crucifixion on +the different groups round the cross. On the soldiers, who did the +deed, it made no impression at all; they were absolutely blind to the +wonder and glory of the scene in which they were taking part. On the +members of the Sanhedrim, and the others who thought with them, it had +an extraordinary effect: the perfect revelation of goodness and +spiritual beauty threw them into convulsions of angry opposition. Even +the group of the friends of Jesus, standing afar off, saw only a very +little way into the meaning of what was taking place before their eyes: +the victory of their Master over sin, death and the world appeared to +them a tragic defeat. So true is it, as I said, that, when something +grand is to be seen, there is required not only the object but the +seeing eye. The image in a mirror depends not only on the object +reflected but on the quality and the configuration of the glass. + +We wish, however, to see the scene enacted on Calvary in its true +shape; and where shall we look? There was one mind there in which it +was mirrored with perfect fidelity. If we could see the image of the +crucifixion in the mind of Jesus Himself, this would reveal its true +meaning. + +But in what way can we ascertain how it appeared to Him, as from His +painful station He looked forth upon the scene? The answer is to be +found in the sentences which he uttered, as He hung, before His senses +were stifled by the mists of death. These are like windows through +which we can see what was passing in His mind. They are mere +fragments, of course; yet they are charged with eternal significance. +Words are always photographs, more or less true, of the mind which +utters them; these were the truest words ever uttered, and He who +uttered them stamped on them the image of Himself. + +They are seven in number, and it will be to our advantage to linger on +them; they are too precious to be taken summarily. The sayings of the +dying are always impressive. We never forget the deathbed utterances +of a parent or a bosom friend; the last words of famous men are +treasured for ever. In Scripture Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and other +patriarchal men are represented as having risen on their deathbeds far +above themselves and spoken in the tones of a higher world; and in all +nations a prophetic importance has been attached to the words of the +dying. Now, these are the dying words of Christ; and, as all His words +are like gold to silver in comparison with those of other men, so +these, in comparison with the rest of His words, are as diamonds to +gold. + +In the First Word three things are noticeable--the Invocation, the +Petition, and the Argument. + + +I. + +It was not unusual for crucified persons to speak on the cross; but +their words usually consisted of wild expressions of pain or bootless +entreaties for release, curses against God or imprecations on those who +had inflicted their sufferings. When Jesus had recovered from the +swooning shock occasioned by the driving of the nails into His hands +and feet, His first utterance was a prayer, and His first word "Father." + +Was it not an unintentional condemnation of those who had affixed Him +there? It was in the name of religion they had acted and in the name +of God; but which of them was thus impregnated through and through with +religion? which of them could pretend to a communion with God so close +and habitual? Evidently it was because prayer was the natural language +of Jesus that at this moment it leapt to His lips. It is a suspicious +case when in any trial, especially an ecclesiastical one, the condemned +is obviously a better man than the judges. + +The word "Father," further, proved that the faith of Jesus was unshaken +by all through which He had passed and by that which He was now +enduring. When righteousness is trampled underfoot and wrong is +triumphant, faith is tempted to ask if there is really a God, loving +and wise, seated on the throne of the universe, or whether, on the +contrary, all is the play of chance. When prosperity is turned +suddenly into adversity and the structure of the plans and hopes of a +life is tumbled in confusion to the ground, even the child of God is +apt to kick against the Divine will. Great saints have been driven, by +the pressure of pain and disappointment, to challenge God's +righteousness in words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. But, +when the fortunes of Jesus were at the blackest, when He was baited by +a raging pack of wolf-like enemies, and when He was sinking into +unplumbed abysses of pain and desertion, He still said "Father." + +It was the apotheosis of faith, and to all time it will serve as an +example; because it was gloriously vindicated. If ever the hand of the +Creator seemed to be withdrawn from the rudder of the universe, and the +course of human affairs to be driving down headlong into the gulf of +confusion, it was when He who was the embodiment of moral beauty and +worth had to die a shameful death as a malefactor. Could good by any +possibility rise out of such an abyss of wrong? The salvation of the +world came out of it; all that is noblest in history came out of it. +This is the supreme lesson to God's children never to despair. All may +be dark; everything may seem going to rack and ruin; evil may seem to +be enthroned on the seat of God; yet God liveth; He sits above the +tumult of the present; and He will bring forth the dawn from the womb +of the darkness. + + +II. + +The prayer which followed this invocation was still more remarkable: it +was a prayer for the pardon of His enemies. + +In the foregoing pages we have seen to what kind of treatment He was +subjected from the arrest onwards--how the minions of authority struck +and insulted Him, how the high priests twisted the forms of law to +ensnare Him, how Herod disdained Him, how Pilate played fast and loose +with His interests, how the mob howled at Him. Our hearts have burned +with indignation as one depth of baseness has opened beneath another; +and we have been unable to refrain from using hard language. The +comment of Jesus on it all was, "Father, forgive them." + +Long ago, indeed, He had taught men, "Love your enemies, bless them +that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which +despitefully use you and persecute you." But this morality of the +Sermon on the Mount had been considered, as the world still inclines to +consider it, a beautiful dream. There have been many teachers who have +said such beautiful things; but what a difference there is between +preaching and practice! When you have been delighted with the +sentiments of an author, it is frequently well that you know no more +about him; because, if you chance to become acquainted with the facts +of his own life, you experience a painful disillusionment. Have not +students even of our own English literature in very recent times +learned to be afraid to read the biographies of literary men, lest the +beautiful structure of sentiments which they have gathered from their +writings should be shattered by the truth about themselves? But Jesus +practised what He taught. He is the one teacher of mankind in whom the +sentiment and the act completely coincide. His doctrine was the very +highest: too high it often seems for this world. But how much more +practical it appears when we see it in action. He proved that it can +be realised on earth when on the cross He prayed, "Father, forgive +them." + +Few of us, perhaps, know what it is to forgive. We have never been +deeply wronged; very likely many of us have not a single enemy in the +world. But those who have are aware how difficult it is; perhaps +nothing else is more difficult. Revenge is one of the sweetest +satisfactions to the natural heart. The law of the ancient world was, +at least in practice, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine +enemy." Even saints, in the Old Testament, curse those who have +persecuted and wronged them in terms of uncompromising severity. Had +Jesus followed these and, as soon as He was able to speak, uttered to +His Father a complaint in which the conduct of His enemies was branded +in the terms it deserved, who would have ventured to find fault with +Him? Even in that there might have been a revelation of God; because +in the Divine nature there is a fire of wrath against sin. But how +poor would such a revelation have been in comparison with the one which +He now made. All His life He was revealing God; but now His time was +short; and it was the very highest in God He had to make known. + +In this word Christ revealed Himself; but at the same time He revealed +the Father. All His life long the Father was in Him, but on the cross +the divine life and character flamed in His human nature like the fire +in the burning bush. It uttered itself in the word; "Father, forgive +them"; and what did it tell? It told that God is love. + + +III. + +The expiring Saviour backed up His prayer for the forgiveness of His +enemies with the argument--"For they know not what they do." + +This allows us to see further still into the divine depths of His love. +The injured are generally alive only to their own side of the case; and +they see only those circumstances which tend to place the conduct of +the opposite party in the worst light. But at the moment when the pain +inflicted by His enemies was at the worst Jesus was seeking excuses for +their conduct. + +The question has been raised how far the excuse which He made on their +behalf applied. Could it be said of them all that they knew not what +they were doing? Did not Judas know? did not the high priests know? +did not Herod know? Apparently it was primarily to the soldiers who +did the actual work of crucifixion that Jesus referred; because it was +in the very midst of their work that the words were uttered, as may be +seen in the narrative of St. Luke. The soldiers, the rude uninstructed +instruments of the government, were the least guilty among the +assailants of Jesus. Next to them, perhaps, came Pilate; and there +were different stages and degrees down, through Herod and the +Sanhedrim, to the unspeakable baseness of Judas. But St. Peter, in the +beginning of Acts, expressly extends the plea of ignorance so far as to +cover even the Sanhedrists--"And now, brethren, I wot that through +ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers"--and who will believe +that the heart of the Saviour was less comprehensive than that of the +disciple? + +Let us not be putting limits to the divine mercy. It is true of every +sinner, in some measure, that he knows not what he does. And to a true +penitent, as he approaches the throne of mercy, it is a great +consolation to be assured that this plea will be allowed. Penitent St. +Paul was comforted with it: "God had mercy on me, because I did it +ignorantly in unbelief." God knows all our weakness and blindness; men +will not make allowance for it or even understand it; but He will +understand it all, if we come to hide our guilty head in His bosom. + +Of course this blessed truth may be perverted by an impenitent heart to +its own undoing. There is no falser notion than that expressed in the +French proverb, _Tout comprendre est tout pardonner_ (To understand +everything is to pardon everything), for it means that man is the mere +creature of circumstances and has no real responsibility for his +actions. How far our Lord was from this way of thinking is shown by +the fact that He said, "Forgive them." He knew that they needed +forgiveness; which implies that they were guilty. Indeed, it was His +vivid apprehension of the danger to which their guilt exposed them that +made Him forget His own sufferings and fling Himself between them and +their fate. + + +It has been asked, Was this prayer answered? were the crucifiers of +Jesus forgiven? To this it may be replied that a prayer for +forgiveness cannot be answered without the co-operation of those prayed +for. Unless they repent and seek pardon for themselves, how can God +forgive them? The prayer of Jesus, therefore, meant that time should +be granted them for repentance, and that they should be plied with +providences and with preaching, to awaken their consciences. To punish +so appalling a crime as the crucifixion of His Son, God might have +caused the earth to open on the spot and swallow the sinners up. But +no judgment of the kind took place. As Jesus had predicted, Jerusalem +perished in indescribable throes of agony; but not till forty years +after His death; and in this interval the pouring out of the Spirit at +Pentecost took place, and the apostles began their preaching of the +kingdom at Jerusalem, urgently calling the nation to repentance. Nor +was their work in vain; for thousands believed. Even before the scene +of the crucifixion terminated, one of the two thieves crucified along +with Jesus, who had taken part in reviling Him, was converted; and the +centurion who superintended the execution confessed Him as the Son of +God. After all was over, multitudes who had beheld the sight went away +smiting their breasts.[2] We have no reason to doubt, therefore, that +even in this direct sense the prayer received an abundant answer. + +But this was a prayer of a kind which may also be answered indirectly. +Besides the effect which prayer has in procuring specific petitions, it +acts reflexly on the spirit of the person who offers it, calming, +sweetening, invigorating. Although some erroneously regard this as the +only real answer that prayer can receive, denying that God can be moved +by our petitions, yet we, who believe that more things are wrought by +prayer, ought not to overlook this. By praying that His enemies might +be forgiven, Jesus was enabled to drive back the spirits of anger and +revenge which tried to force their way into His bosom, and preserved +undisturbed the serenity of His soul. To ask God to forgive them was +the triumphant ending of His own effort to forgive; and it is +impossible to forgive without a delicious sense of deliverance and +peace being shed abroad in the forgiving heart. + +May we not add that part of the answer to this prayer has been its +repetition age after age by the persecuted and wronged? St. Stephen +led the way, in the article of death praying meekly after the fashion +of his Master, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Hundreds have +followed. And day by day this prayer is diminishing the sum of +bitterness and increasing the amount of love in the world. + + + +[1] "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." + +[2] Luke xxiii. 48. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE SECOND WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + + +I. + +It is not said by whose arrangement it was that Jesus was hung between +the two thieves. It may have been done by order of Pilate, who wished +in this way to add point to the witticism which he had put into the +inscription above the cross; or the arrangement may have been due to +the Jewish officials, who followed their Victim to Golgotha and may +have persuaded the soldiers to give Him this place, as an additional +insult; or the soldiers may have done it of their own accord, simply +because He was obviously the most notable of their prisoners. + +The likelihood is that there was malice in it. Yet there was a divine +purpose behind the wrath of man. Again and again one has to remark +how, in these last scenes, every shred of action and every random word +aimed at Jesus for the purpose of injuring and dishonouring Him so +turned, instead, to honour, that in our eyes, now looking back, it +shines on Him like a star. As a fire catches the lump of dirty coal or +clot of filth that is flung into it, and converts it into a mass of +light, so at this time there was that about Christ which transmuted the +very insults hurled at Him into honours and charged even the incidents +of His crucifixion which were most trivial in themselves with +unspeakable meaning. The crown of thorns, the purple robe, Pilate's +Ecce Homo, the inscription on the cross, the savage cries of the +passers-by and other similar incidents, full at the time of malice, are +now memories treasured by all who love the Saviour. + +So His position between the thieves was ordained by God as well as by +men. It was His right position. They had called Him long before "a +friend of publicans and sinners;" and now, by crucifying Him between +the thieves, they put the same idea into action. As, however, that +nickname has become a title of everlasting honour, so has this +insulting deed. Jesus came to the world to identify Himself with +sinners; their cause was His, and He wrapped up His fate with theirs; +He had lived among them, and it was meet that He should die among them. +To this day He is in the midst of them; and the strange behaviour of +the two between whom He hung that day was a prefigurement of what has +been happening every day since: some sinners have believed on Him and +been saved, while others have believed not: to the one His gospel is a +savour of life unto life, to the other it is a savour of death unto +death. So it is to be till the end; and on the great day when the +whole history of this world shall be wound up He will still be in the +midst; and the penitent will be on the one hand and the impenitent on +the other. + +But it was not in one way only that the divine wisdom overruled for +high ends of its own the humiliating circumstance that Jesus was thus +reckoned with the transgressors. It gave Him an opportunity of +illustrating, at the very last moment, both the magnanimity of His own +character and the nature of His mission; and at the moment when He +needed it most it supplied Him with a cup of what had always been to +Him the supreme joy of living--the bliss of doing good. As the parable +of the Prodigal Son is an epitome of the whole teaching of Christ, so +is the salvation of the thief on the cross the life of Christ in +miniature. + + +II. + +Both thieves appear to have joined in taunting Jesus, in imitation of +the Sanhedrists. This has, indeed, been doubted or denied by those, of +whom there have been many, who have experienced difficulty in +understanding how so complete a revolution as the conversion of the +penitent thief could take place in so short a time. Two of the +Evangelists say that those crucified with Him reviled Him; but it is +just possible grammatically to explain this as referring only to one of +them; because sometimes an action is attributed to a class, though only +one person of the class has done it.[2] The natural interpretation, +however, is that both did it. It is likely enough, indeed, that the +one who did not repent began it, and that the other joined in, less of +his own accord than in imitation of his reckless associate. Very +probably this was not the first time that he had been dragged into sin +by the same attraction. His companion may have been his evil genius, +who had ruined his life and brought him at last to this shameful end. + +It was an awful extreme of wickedness to be engaged, so near their own +end, in hurling opprobrious words at a fellow-sufferer. Of course, the +very excess of pain made crucified persons reckless; and to be engaged +doing anything, especially anything violent, helped to make them forget +their agony. It mattered not who or what was the object of attack; +they were reduced to the condition of tortured animals; and the trapped +brute bites at anything which approaches it. This was the state of the +impenitent thief. But the other drew back from his companion with +horror. The very excess of sin overleaped itself; and for the first +time he saw how vile a wretch he was. This was brought home to him by +the contrast of the patience and peace of Jesus. His brutal companion +had hitherto been his ideal; but now he perceives how base is his +ferocious courage in comparison with the strength of Christ's serene +endurance. + +The desire to explain away the suddenness of the conversion has led to +all sorts of conjectures as to the possibility of previous meetings +between the thief and Christ. It is quite legitimate to dwell on what +he had seen of the behaviour of Jesus from the moment when they were +brought into contact in the crucifixion. He had heard Him pray for the +forgiveness of His enemies; he had witnessed His demeanour on the way +to Calvary and heard His words to the daughters of Jerusalem; the very +cries of His enemies round the cross, when they cast in His teeth the +titles which He had claimed or which had been attributed to Him, +informed him what were the pretensions of Jesus; perhaps he may have +witnessed and heard the trial before Pilate. But, when we attempt to +go further back, we have nothing solid to found upon. Had he ever +heard Jesus preach? Had he witnessed any of His miracles? How much +did he know of the nature of His Kingdom, of which he spoke? Guesses +may be made in answer to such questions, but they cannot be +authenticated. I should be inclined with more confidence to look +further back still. He may have come out of a pious home; he may have +been a prodigal led astray by companions, and especially by the strong +companion with whom he was now associated. As there was a weeping +mother at the foot of the cross of Jesus, there may have been a +heart-broken parent at the foot of that other cross also, whose prayers +were yet going to be answered in a way surpassing her wildest hopes. + +The question of the possibility of sudden conversion is generally +argued with too much excitement on both sides to allow the facts to be +recognised. Among us there may, in one sense, be said to be no such +thing. Suppose anyone reading this page, who may know that he has not +yet with his whole heart and soul turned to God, were to do so before +turning the next leaf, would this be a sudden conversion? Why, the +preparation for it has been going on for years. What has been the +intention of all the religious instruction which you have received from +your childhood, of the prayers offered on your behalf of the appeals +which have moved you, of the strivings of God's Spirit, but to lead up +to this result? Though your conversion were to take place this very +hour, it would only be the last moment of a process which has gone on +for years. Yet in a sense it would be sudden. And why should it not? +What reason is there why your return to God should be further +postponed? There are two experiences in religion which require to be +carefully distinguished: there is the making of religious impressions +on us by others from the outside--through instruction, example, appeal +and the like; and there is the rise of religion within ourselves, when +we turn round upon our impressions and make them our own. The former +experience is long and slow, but the latter may be very sudden; and a +very little thing may bring it about. + +Another way in which it is possible to minimise the greatness of this +conversion is by questioning the guilt of the man.[3] When he is +called a thief, the name suggests a very common and degraded sinner; +but it is pointed out that "robber" would be the correct name, and that +probably he and his companion may have been revolutionaries, whose +opposition to the Roman rule had driven them outside the pale of +society, where, to win a subsistence, they had to resort to the trade +of highwaymen; but in that country, tyrannised over by a despotic +foreign power, those who attempted to raise the standard of revolt were +sometimes far from ignoble characters, though the necessities of their +position betrayed them into acts of violence. There is truth in this; +and the penitent thief may not have been a sinner above all men. But +his own words to his companion, "We receive the due reward of our +deeds," point the other way. His memory was stained with acts for +which he acknowledged that death was the lawful penalty. In short, +there is no reason to doubt either that he was a great sinner or that +he was suddenly changed. And therefore his example will always be an +encouragement to the worst of sinners when they repent. It is common +for penitents to be afraid to come to God, because their sins have been +too great to be forgiven; but those who are encouraging them can point +to cases like Manasseh, and Mary Magdalene, and the thief on the cross, +and assure them that the mercy which sufficed for these is sufficient +for all: "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all +sin." + +The fear of those who endeavour to minimise the wonderfulness of this +conversion is lest, if it be allowed that a man of the worst character +could undergo so complete a change in so short a time on the very verge +of the other world, men may be induced to put off their own salvation +in the hope of availing themselves of a death-bed repentance. This is +a just fear; and the grace of God has undoubtedly been sometimes thus +abused. But it is an utter abuse. Those who allow themselves to be +deceived with this reasoning believe that they can at any moment +command penitence and faith, and that all the other feelings of +religion will come to them whenever they choose to summon them. But +does experience lead us to believe this? Are not the occasions, on the +contrary, very rare when religion really moves irreligious men + + "We cannot kindle when we will + The fire that in the soul resides: + The spirit breatheth and is still-- + In mystery the soul abides." + +Nor is it by any means a uniform experience that the approach of death +awakens religious anxiety. The other thief is a solemn warning. +Though face to face with death and in such close proximity to Jesus, he +was only hardened and rendered more reckless than ever. And this is +far more likely to be the fate of anyone who deliberately quenches the +Spirit because he is trusting to a death-bed repentance. + +Yet we will not allow the possible abuse of the truth to rob us of the +glorious testimony contained in this incident to the grace of God. We +set no limits to the invitation of the Saviour, "Him that cometh unto +Me I will in no wise cast out." However late a sinner may be in +coming, and however little time he may have in which to come, let him +only come and he will not be cast out. There is no more critical test +of theologies and theologians than the question what message they have +to a dying person whose sins are unforgiven. If the salvation which a +preacher has to offer is only a course of moral improvement, what can +he have to say in such a place? We may be sure that our gospel is not +the gospel of Him who comforted the penitent thief, unless we are able +to offer even to a dying sinner a salvation immediate, joyful and +complete. + +How complete the revolution was in the penitent thief is shown by his +own words. St. Paul in one place sums up Christianity in two +things--repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And +both of these we see in this penitent's words. His repentance towards +God is brought out by what he said to his companion. "Dost thou not +fear God?" he asked. He had himself forgotten God, no doubt, and put +Him far away in the sinful past. But now God was near, and in the +light of God he saw his own sinfulness. He confessed it, doing so not +only in his secret mind but audibly. Thus he separated himself from +it, as he did also from the companion who had led him astray, when he +would not come with him on the path of penitence. Not less distinctly +do His words to the Saviour manifest his faith in the Lord Jesus +Christ. They are simple and humble: all he dared to expect was that, +when Christ came into His kingdom, He would remember him. But they +recognised the glory of Christ and expressed trust in Him. At the +moment when the religious teachers of the nations thought that they had +for ever destroyed Christ's claims, and even His own disciples had +forsaken Him, this poor dying sinner believed in Him. "How clear," +exclaims Calvin, "was the vision of the eyes which could thus see in +death life, in ruin majesty, in shame glory, in defeat victory, in +slavery royalty. I question if ever since the world began there has +been so bright an example of faith." Luther is no less laudatory. +"This," says he, "was for Christ a comfort like that supplied to Him by +the angel in the garden. God could not allow His Son to be destitute +of subjects, and now His Church survived in this one man. Where the +faith of St. Peter broke off, the faith of the penitent thief +commenced." And another[4] asks, "Did ever the new birth take place in +so strange a cradle?" + + +III. + +It is worth noting that it was not by words that Jesus converted this +man. He did not address the penitent thief at all till the thief spoke +to Him. The work of conviction was done before He uttered a word. Yet +it was His work; and how did He do it? As St. Peter exhorted godly +wives to convert their heathen husbands, when he wrote to them, +"Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that, if +any obey not the Word, they also may, without the Word, be won by the +conversation (_i.e._, behaviour) of the wives, while they behold your +chaste conversation coupled with fear." It was by the impression of +His patience, His innocence, His peace, and His magnanimity, that Jesus +converted the man; and herein He has left us an example that we should +follow in His steps. + +But His words, when He did speak, added immensely to the impression. +They were few, but every one of them expressed the Saviour. + +The robber was thinking of some date far off when Christ might +intervene in his behalf, but Christ says, "To-day." This was a +prophecy that he would die that day, and not be allowed to linger for +days, as crucified persons often were; and this was fulfilled. But it +was, besides, a promise that as soon as death launched him out of time +into eternity, Christ would be waiting there to receive him. "To-day +thou shalt be with Me." All heaven is in these two last words. What +do we really know of heaven, what do we wish to know, except that it is +to be "with Christ"? Yet a little more was added--"in Paradise." Some +have thought that in this phrase Christ was stooping to the conceptions +of the penitent thief by using a popular expression for some happy +place in the other world.[5] At least the word, which means a garden +or park and was applied to the abode of our first parents in Eden, +could not but call up in the consciousness of the dying man a scene of +beauty, innocence and peace, where, washed clean from the defilement of +his past errors, he would begin to exist again as a new creature. Even +Christians have believed that the utmost that can be expected in the +next world by a soul with a history like the robber's is, at least to +begin with, to be consigned to the fires of purgatory. But far +different is the grace of Christ: great and perfect is His work, and +therefore ours is a full salvation. + +This second word from the cross affords a rare glimpse into the divine +glory of the Saviour; and it is all the more impressive that it is +indirect. The thief, in the most solemn circumstances, spoke to Him as +to a King and prayed to Him as to a God.[6] And how did He respond? +Did He say, "Pray not to Me; I am a man like yourself, and I know as +little of the unknown country into which we are both about to enter as +you do"? This is what He ought to have answered, if He was no more +than some make Him out to be. But He accepted the homage of His +petitioner; He spoke of the world unseen as of a place native and +familiar. He gave him to understand that He possessed as much +influence there as he attributed to Him. This great sinner laid on +Christ the weight of his soul, the weight of his sins, the weight of +his eternity; and Christ accepted the burden. + + + +[1] "To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." + +[2] So Augustin and many. + +[3] Schleiermacher makes much of this; and, indeed, does everything in +his power to minimise the moral miracle. The whole sermon is a +specimen of his worst manner, when he rides away on some side issue and +fails to expound the great central lessons of a subject. + +[4] Tholuck. + +[5] "In Biblical Hebrew the word is used for a choice garden but in the +LXX. and the Apocalypse it is already used in our sense of +Paradise."--EDERSHEIM. + +[6] The word "Lord" in the robber's speech is, however, unauthentic. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE THIRD WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +In the life of our Lord from first to last there is a strange blending +of the majestic and the lowly. When a beam of His divine dignity is +allowed to shine out and dazzle us, it is never long before there +ensues some incident which reminds us that He is bone of our bone and +flesh of our flesh; and, contrariwise, when He does anything which +impressively brings home to us His humanity, there always follows +something to remind us that He was greater than the sons of men. Thus +at His birth He was laid in a manger; yet out on the pastures of +Bethlehem angels sang His praise. Long afterwards He was asleep in the +end of the boat, and so overcome with fatigue that He needed to be +awakened to realise His danger; but immediately He rebuked the winds +and the waves, and there was a great calm. When He saw the grief of +Martha and Mary, "Jesus wept"; but only a few minutes afterwards He +cried, "Lazarus, come forth," and He was obeyed. So it was to the very +last. In studying the Second Word from the cross we saw Him opening +the gates of Paradise to the penitent thief; to-day the Third Word will +show Him to us as the Son of a woman, concerned in His dying hour for +her bodily sustenance. + + +I. + +The eye of Jesus, roving over the multitude whose component parts have +been already described, lighted on His mother standing at the foot of +the cross. In the words of the great mediaeval hymn, which is known to +all by its opening words, _Stabat mater_, and from the fact that it has +been set to music by such masters as Palestrina, Haydn and Rossini, + + "Beside the cross in tears + The woeful mother stood, + Bent 'neath the weight of years, + And viewed His flowing blood; + Her mind with grief was torn, + Her strength was ebbing fast, + And through her heart forlorn + The sword of anguish passed." + +When she carried her Infant into the temple in the pride of young +motherhood, the venerable Simeon foretold that a sword would pierce +through her own soul also. Often perhaps had she wondered, in happy +days, what this mysterious prediction might mean. But now she knew, +for the sword was smiting her, stab after stab. + +It is always hard for a mother to see her son die. She naturally +expects him to lay her head in the grave. Especially is this the case +with the first-born, the son of her strength. Jesus was only +thirty-three, and Mary must have reached the age when a mother most of +all leans for support on a strong and loving son. + +Far worse, however, was the death He was dying--the death of a +criminal. Many mothers have had to suffer from the kind of death their +children have died, when it has been in great agony or in otherwise +distressing circumstances. But what mother's sufferings were ever +equal to Mary's? There He hung before her eyes; but she was helpless. +His wounds bled, but she dared not stanch them; His mouth was parched, +but she could not moisten it. These outstretched arms used to clasp +her neck; she used to fondle these pierced hands and feet. Ah! the +nails pierced her as well as Him; the thorns round His brow were a +circle of flame about her heart; the taunts flung at Him wounded her +likewise. + +But there was worse still--the sword cut deeper. Had not the angel +told her before His birth, "He shall be great, and shall be called the +Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of +His father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; +and of His kingdom there shall be no end"? This greatness, this +throne, this crown, this kingdom--where were they? Once she had +believed that she really was what the angel had called her--the most +blessed of women--when she saw Him lying in her lap in His beautiful +infancy, when the Shepherds and the Magi came to adore Him, and when +Simeon and Anna recognised Him as the Messiah. After that ensued the +long period of His obscurity in Nazareth. He was only the village +carpenter; but she did not weary, for He was with her in their home; +and she was confident that the greatness, the throne, the crown, the +kingdom would all come in good time. At last His hour struck; and, +casting down His tools and bidding her farewell, He went forth out of +the little valley into the great world. It is all coming now, she +said. Soon the news arrived of the words of grace and power He was +speaking, of the multitudes following Him, of the nation being roused, +and of the blind, the lame, the diseased, the bereaved who blessed Him +for giving joy back to their lives, and blessed her who had borne Him. +It is all coming to pass, she said. But then followed other news--of +reaction, of opposition, of persecution. Her heart sank within her. +She could not stay where she was. She left Nazareth and went away +trembling to see what had happened. And now she stands at the foot of +His cross. He is dying; and the greatness, the glory, and the kingdom +have never come. + +What could it mean? Had the angel been a deceiver, and God's word a +lie, and all the wonders of His childhood a dream? We know the +explanation now: Jesus was about to climb a far loftier throne than +Mary had ever imagined, and the cross was the only road to it. Before +many weeks were over Mary was to understand this too; but meantime it +must have been dark as Egypt to her, and her heart must have been +sorrowful even unto death. The sword had pierced very deep. + + +II. + +There were other women with Mary beneath the cross--two of them Marys, +like herself.[2] As an ancient father[3] has said, the weaker sex on +this occasion proved itself the stronger. When the apostles had +forsaken their Master and fled, these women were true to the last. +Perhaps, indeed, their sex protected them. Women can venture into some +places where men dare not go; and this is a talent which many women +have used for rendering services to the Saviour which men could not +have performed. + +But there was one there who had not this protection, and who in +venturing so near must have taken his life in his hand. St. John, I +suppose, is included with the rest of the apostles in the sad statement +that they all forsook their Master and fled. But, if so, his panic can +only have lasted a moment. He was present at the very commencement of +the trial; and here he still is with his Master at the last--the only +one of all the Twelve. Perhaps, indeed, the acquaintance with the +high-priest, which availed him to get into the palace where the trial +took place, may still have operated in his favour. But it was most of +all his greater devotion that brought him to his Master's side. He who +had leaned on His breast could not stay away, whatever might be the +danger. And he had his reward; for he was permitted to render a last +service to Jesus amidst His agony, and he received from Him a token of +confidence which by a heart like his must have been felt to be an +unspeakable privilege and honour. + + +III. + +It is most of all, however, with the impression made by the situation +on Jesus Himself that we wish to acquaint ourselves. + +He looked on His mother; and it was with an unpreoccupied eye, that was +able to disengage its attention from every other object by which it was +solicited. He was suffering at the time an extremity of pain which +might have made Him insensible to everything beyond Himself. Or, if He +had composure enough to think, a dying man has many things to reflect +upon within his own mind. Christ, we know, had a whole world of +interests to attend to; for now He was engaged in a final wrestle with +the problem to which His whole life had been devoted. The prayer on +behalf of His enemies does not surprise us so much, for it may be said +to have been part of His office to intercede for sinners; nor His +address to the penitent thief, for this also was quite in harmony with +His work as the Saviour. But we do wonder that in such an hour He had +leisure to attend to a domestic detail of ordinary life. Men who have +been engaged in philanthropic and reformatory schemes have not +infrequently been unmindful of the claims of their own families; and +they have excused themselves, or excuse has been made for them, on the +ground that the public interest predominated over the rights of their +relatives. Now and then Jesus Himself spoke as if He took this view: +He would not allow His plans to be interfered with even by His mother. +But now He showed that, though He could not but refuse her unjust +interference, He had never for a moment forgotten her just claims or +her true interests. In spite of His greatness and in spite of His +work, He still remained Mary's Son and bore to her an undying affection. + +The words He spoke were, indeed, few; but they completely covered the +case. Every word He uttered in that position was with great pain; +therefore He could not say much. Besides, their very fewness imparted +to them a kind of judicial dignity; as has been said, this was Christ's +last will and testament. To His mother He said, "Woman, behold thy +son," [4] indicating St. John with His eyes; and to the disciple He +merely said, "Behold thy mother." It was simple, yet comprehensive; a +plain, almost legal direction, and yet overflowing with love to both +Mary and John. + +It is supposed that Joseph, the husband of the Virgin, had died before +our Lord's public career began, and that in Nazareth the weight of the +household had fallen on the shoulders of Jesus. No doubt, during His +years of preaching, He would tenderly care for His mother. But now He +too was leaving her, and the widow would be without support. It was +for this He had to provide. + +He had no money to leave her; His earthly all, when He was crucified, +consisted of the clothes He wore; and these fell to the soldiers. But +it is one of the privileges of those who, though they may be poor +themselves, make many rich with the gifts of truth, that they thereby +win friends who are proud and eager to serve them or theirs. In +committing His mother to St. John Jesus knew that the charge would be +accepted not as a burden but a gift. + +Why she did not go to the home of one of her other sons it is +impossible to say. They were not yet believers, though soon afterwards +they became so; but there may have been other reasons also, to us +unknown. + +At all events, it is easy to see how kind and considerate was the +selection of St. John for this office. There are indications in the +Gospels that St. John was wealthier, or at least more comfortable in +his circumstances, than the rest of the Apostles; and this may have +weighed with Jesus: He would not send His mother where she would feel +herself to be a burden. It is highly probable also that St. John was +unmarried. But there were deeper reasons. There was no arm on which +His mother could lean so confidently as that of him who had leaned on +her Son's breast. St. Peter, with his hot temper and rough fisherman's +ways, would not have been nearly so eligible a choice. John and Mary +were kindred spirits. They were especially one in their intense +affection for Jesus. They would never tire of speaking to one another +about Him. He honoured both of them in each other's eyes by giving +them to one another in this way. If He gave Mary a great gift in +giving her St. John for a son, He gave him no less a gift by giving him +such a mother; for Mary could not but be an ornament to any home. +Besides, did He not make St. John in a quite peculiar sense His own +brother by substituting him in His own stead as the son of Mary? + +The Evangelist says that from that hour John took her to his own home. +Many have understood this to mean that he at once gently withdrew her +from the spot, that she should not be agitated by seeing the +death-throes of her Son, though he himself returned to Calvary. It is +said by tradition that they lived together twelve years in Jerusalem, +and that he refused to leave the city, even for the purpose of +preaching the gospel, as long as Mary survived. Only after her death +did he depart on those missionary travels which landed him in Ephesus +and its neighbourhood, with which his later history is connected. + + +IV. + +It is not difficult to read the lesson of this touching scene. From +the pulpit of His cross Jesus preaches to all ages a sermon on the +fifth commandment. + +The heart of the mother of Jesus was pierced with a sword on account of +His sufferings. It was a sharp weapon; but Mary had one thing on which +to steady up her soul; it kept her calm even in the wildest moment of +her grief--she knew He was innocent. He had always been pure, noble +and good; she could be proud of Him even when they were crucifying Him. +Many a mother's heart is pierced with anguish on account of a son's +illness, or misfortunes, or early death; but she can bear it if she is +not pierced with the poisoned sword. What is that? It is when she has +to be ashamed of her child--when he is brought to ruin by his own +misdeeds. This is a sorrow far worse than death. + +How beautiful it is to see a mother wearing as her chief ornament the +good name and the honourable success of a son! You who still have a +mother or a father, let this be to you both a spur to exertion and a +talisman against temptation. To some is accorded the rarer privilege +of being able to support their parents in old age. And surely there is +no sweeter memory in the world than the recollection of having been +allowed to do this. "If any widow have children or nephews, let them +learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents; for +that is good and acceptable before God. . . . But if any provide not +for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied +the faith, and is worse than an infidel." [5] + +But this sermon, delivered from the pulpit of the cross, has a wider +range. It informs us that our Saviour has a concern for our temporal +as well as for our eternal interests. Even on the cross, where He was +expiating the sin of the world, He was thinking of the comfort of His +widowed mother. Let the needy and the deserted take courage from this, +and cast all their care upon Him, for He careth for them. It is often +an astonishment to see how widows especially are helped through. When +they are left, with perhaps a number of little children, it seems +incomprehensible how they can get on. Yet not infrequently their +families turn out better than those where the father has been spared. +One reason is, perhaps, that their children feel from the first that +they must take a share of the responsibility, and this makes men and +women of them. But the chief reason undoubtedly is that God fulfils +His own promise to be a Father to the fatherless and a Husband to the +widow, and that they have not been forgotten by Him who in the hour of +His absorbing agony remembered Mary. + + + +[1] "Woman, behold thy son . . . Behold thy mother." + +[2] It is not certain whether John xix. 25 describes three women or +four. Is the second Salome, John's mother? + +[3] Chrysostom. + +[4] "Woman" may mean sadly (proleptically), "Thou hast no son now." + +[5] 1 Tim. v. 6, 8. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE FOURTH WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +The Seven Words from the Cross may be divided into two groups. In the +first three--namely, the prayer for His crucifiers, the word to the +penitent thief, and the directions about His mother--our Lord was +dealing with the interests of others; in the last four, to which we now +pass, He was absorbed in His own concerns. This division is natural. +Many a dying man, after arranging his affairs and saying his farewells, +turns his face to the wall, to encounter death and be alone with God. +It was highly characteristic of Jesus, however, before turning to His +own things, first to mind the things of others. + +Between these two groups of sayings there seems to have elapsed a long +interval. From the sixth hour to the ninth Jesus was silent. And +during this interval there was darkness over all the land. Of what +precise nature this atmospheric effect may have been it is impossible +at this distance to say. But the Evangelists, three of whom mention +it, evidently consider it to have indicated in some sense the sympathy +of nature with her Lord. It was as if the sun refused to look on such +a deed of shame. It may be supposed that by this weird phenomenon the +noises round the cross were in some degree hushed. At length the +silence was broken by Christ Himself, who, in a loud voice, gave +utterance to the Fourth Word from the cross. This was a word of +astonishment and agony, yet also of victory. + + +I. + +Of what nature had been the meditations of our Lord during the three +hours of silence? Had He been in an ecstasy of communion with His +heavenly Father? Not infrequently has this been vouchsafed to dying +saints. And it has sometimes enabled them completely to overcome +physical suffering. Martyrs have occasionally been so exalted at the +last as to be able even to sing in the flames. It is with awe and +astonishment we learn that the very opposite of this was the state of +mind of Jesus. The word with which He burst out of the trance of +silence may be taken as the index of what was going on in His mind +during the preceding hours; and it is a cry out of the lowest depths of +despair. Indeed, it is the most appalling sound that ever pierced the +atmosphere of this earth. Familiar as it is to us, it cannot be heard +by a sensitive ear even at this day without causing a cold shudder of +terror. In the entire Bible there is no other sentence so difficult to +explain. The first thought of a preacher, on coming to it, is to find +some excuse for passing it by; and, after doing his utmost to expound +it, he must still confess that it is quite beyond him. Yet there is a +great reward in grappling with such difficult passages; for never does +the truth impress us so profoundly as when we are made to feel that all +the length which we are able to go is only into the shallows of the +shore, while beyond our reach lies the great ocean. + +Even in Christ's own mind the uppermost thought, when He uttered this +cry, was one of astonishment. In Gethsemane, we are told, "He was sore +amazed." And this is obviously the tone of this utterance also. We +almost detect an accentuation of the "Thou" like that in the word with +which the murdered Caesar fell. All His life Jesus had been accustomed +to find Himself forsaken. The members of His own household early +rejected Him. So did His fellow-townsmen in Nazareth. Ultimately the +nation at large followed the same course. The multitudes that at one +time followed Him wherever He went and hung upon His lips eventually +took offence and went away. At last, in the crisis of His fate, one of +His nearest followers betrayed Him and the rest forsook Him and fled. +But in these disappointments, though He felt them keenly, He had always +had one resource: He was always able, when rejected of men, to turn +away from them and cast Himself with confidence on the breast of God. +Disappointed of human love, He drank the more deeply of the love +divine. He always knew that what He was doing or suffering was in +accord with the will of God; His feelings kept constant time with the +Divine heart; God's thoughts were His thoughts; He could clearly +discern the divine intention leading through all the contradictions of +His career to a sublime result. Therefore He could calmly say, even at +the Last Supper, with reference to the impending desertion of the +Twelve, "Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be +scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone; and yet I am +not alone, because the Father is with Me." Now, however, the hour had +come; and was this expectation fulfilled? They were scattered, as He +had predicted, and He was left alone; but was He not alone? was the +Father still with Him? His own words supply the answer: "My God, My +God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" + + +II. + +Although the state of mind of our Lord on this occasion was so +different from what we know to have been His habitual mood, yet it does +not stand absolutely isolated in His history. We know of at least two +experiences somewhat resembling it, and these may in some degree help +us to its explanation. The first overtook Him on the occasion of the +visit of certain Greeks at the beginning of the last week of His life. +They had desired to see Him; but, when they were introduced by Andrew +and Philip, Jesus, instead of being exhilarated, as might have been +expected, was overcome with a spasm of pain, and groaned, "Now is My +soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour." +The sight of these visitors from the outside world made Him feel how +grand and how congenial to Himself would have been a worldwide mission +to the heathen, such as He might have undertaken had His life been +prolonged; but this was impossible, because in the flower of His age He +was to die. The other occasion was the Agony of Gethsemane. A careful +and reverent study will reveal that this incident was the effort by +which the will of Christ rose into unity with the will of His Father. +It belongs to the very essence of human nature that it must grow from +stage to stage; and the perfection of our Lord, just because it was +human, had to realise itself on every step of a ladder of development. +He was always both perfect on the stage which He had reached, and at +the same time rising to a higher stage of perfection. Sometimes the +step might be more easy, at other times more difficult; the step which +He had to take in Gethsemane was supremely difficult; hence the effort +and the pain which it cost. It seemed, however, in Gethsemane as if He +had finally conquered, and it might have been expected that the mood of +weakness and darkness could not come back. Yet it was to be permitted +to return once more; and on the cross the attack was far more violent +and prolonged than on either of the preceding occasions. Keeping in +mind the light which these two previous accesses of the same mood may +cast on this one, let us draw near reverently and see how far we may be +able to penetrate into the mystery. + +There can be little doubt that there was a physical element in it. He +had now been a considerable time on the cross; and every minute the +agony was increasing. The wounds in His hands and feet, exposed to the +atmosphere and the sun, grew barked and hardened; the blood, impeded in +its circulation, swelled in heart and brain, till these organs were +like to burst; and the slightest attempt to move the body from the one +intolerable posture caused pains to shoot along the quivering nerves. +Bodily suffering clouds the brain and distorts the images formed on the +mirror of the mind. Even the face of God, reflected there, may be +turned to a shape of terror by the fumes of physical trouble. + +The horror of mortal suffering may have been greater to Jesus than to +other men, because of the fineness and sensitiveness of His physical +organization. His body had never been coarsened with sin, and +therefore death was utterly alien to it. The stream of physical life, +which is one of the precious gifts of God, had poured through His frame +in abundant and sunny tides. But now it was being withdrawn, and the +counterflow had set in. The unity of a perfect nature was being +violently torn asunder; and He felt Himself drifting away from the +living world, which to Him had been so full of God's presence and +goodness, into the pale, cold regions of inanity.[2] He did not belong +to death; yet He was falling into death's grasp. No angel came to +rescue Him; God interposed with no miracle to arrest the issue; He was +abandoned to His fate. + +There was more, however, it is easy to see, in the agony which prompted +this cry than the merely physical. If in Gethsemane we have the effort +of the will of Jesus, as it raised itself into unity with the will of +the Father, we here see the effort of His mind as, amidst the confusion +and contradictions of the cross, it finally rose into unity with the +mind of God. This intellectual character of His pain is indicated by +the word "Why." It is always painful when the creature has to say Why +to the Creator. We believe that He is Sovereign of the world and Guide +of our destiny, and that He urges forward the course of things in the +reins of infinite wisdom and love. But, while this is the habitual and +healthy sense of the human mind, especially when it is truly religious, +there are crises, both in the great and in the little world, when faith +fails. The world is out of joint; everything appears to have gone +wrong; the reins seem to have slipped out of the hands of God and the +chariot to be plunging forward uncontrolled; the course of things seems +no more to be presided over by reason, but by a blind, if not a cruel +fate. It is then that the poor human mind cries out Why. The entire +book of Job is such a cry. Jeremiah cried Why to God in terms of +startling boldness. In mortal pain, in bewildering disappointments, in +bereavements which empty the heart and empty the world, millions have +thus cried Why in every age. It seems an irreligious word. When +Jeremiah says, "O Lord, Thou hast deceived me and I was deceived," or +when Job demands, "Why did I not from the womb? why did I not give up +the ghost when I came out of the belly?" it sounds like the voice of a +blasphemer. But indeed it is into the most earnest and delicate souls +that this despair is likeliest to slip. The ignorant, the frivolous +and the time-serving are safe from it; for they are well enough +satisfied with things as they are. Callous minds learn to be content +without explanations. But the more deeply pious a mind is, the more +jealous must it be for justice and the glory of God; the appearance of +unwisdom in the government of the world shocks it; to be able to trace +the footsteps of God's care is a necessity of its existence. Hence its +pain when these evidences disappear. Now, all the contradictions and +confusions of the world were focussed on Golgotha. Injustice was +triumphant; innocence was scorned and crushed; everything was exactly +the reverse of what it ought to have been. And all the millions of +Whys which have risen from agonized souls, jealous for the honour of +God but perplexed by His providence, were concentrated in the Why of +Christ. + +How near to us He is! Never perhaps in His whole life did He so +completely identify Himself with His poor brethren of mankind. For +here He comes down to stand by our side not only when we have to +encounter pain and misfortune, bereavement and death, but when we are +enduring that pain which is beyond all pains, that horror in whose +presence the brain reels, and faith and love, the eyes of life, are put +out--the horror of a universe without God, a universe which is one +hideous, tumbling, crashing mass of confusion, with no reason to guide +and no love to sustain it. + +Can we advance a step farther into the mystery? The deepest question +of all is whether the desertion of Jesus was subjective or +objective--that is, whether He had only, on account of bodily weakness +and a temporary obscuration of the inward vision, a sense of being +abandoned, or whether, in any real sense, God had actually forsaken +Him. Of course we are certain that God was infinitely well pleased +with Him--never more so, surely, than when He was sacrificing Himself +to the uttermost on behalf of others. But was there, at the same time, +any outflashing against Him of the reverse side of the Divine +nature--the lightning of the Divine wrath? Calvary was an awful +revelation of the human heart, whose enmity was directed straight +against the perfect revelation of the love of God in Christ. There the +sin of man reached its climax and did its worst. What was done there +against Christ, and against God in Him, was a kind of embodiment and +quintessence of the sin of the whole world. And undoubtedly it was +this which was pressing on Jesus; this was "the travail of His soul." +He was looking close at sin's utmost hideousness; He was sickened with +its contact; He was crushed with its brutality--crushed to death. Yet +this human nature was His own; He was identified with it--bone of its +bone, flesh of its flesh; and, as in a reprobate family an exquisitely +delicate and refined sister may feel the whole weight of the debt and +shame of the household to lie on herself, so He felt the unworthiness +and hopelessness of the race as if they were His own; and, like the +scapegoat on whose head the sins of the community were laid in the old +dispensation, He went out into the land of forsakenness. + +Thus far we may proceed, feeling that we have solid ground beneath our +feet. But many have ventured farther. Even Luther and Calvin allowed +themselves to say that in the hours which preceded this cry our Lord +endured the torments of the damned. And Rambach, whose _Meditations on +the Sufferings of Christ_ have fed the piety of Germany for a hundred +years, says: "God was now dealing with Him not as a loving and merciful +father with his child, but as an offended and righteous judge with an +evildoer. The heavenly Father now regards His Son as the greatest +sinner to be found beneath the sun, and discharges on Him the whole +weight of His wrath." But, if we were to make use of such language, we +should be venturing beyond our depth. Much to be preferred is the +modest comment of the holy and learned Bengel on our text: "In this +fourth word from the cross our Saviour not only says that He has been +delivered up into the hands of men, but that He has suffered at the +hands of God something unutterable." Certainly there is here something +unutterable. We have ventured into the mystery as far as we are able; +but we know that we are yet only in the shallows near the shore; the +unplumbed ocean lies beyond. + + +III. + +It may appear an affectation to speak of this as in any sense a cry of +victory. Yet, if what has just been said be true, this, which was the +extreme moment of suffering, was also the supreme moment of +achievement. As the flower, by being crushed, yields up its fragrant +essence, so He, by taking into His heart the sin of the world, brought +salvation to the world. + +In point of fact, all history since has shown that it was in this very +hour that Christ conquered the heart of mankind. Long before He had +said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." +And the correctness of this anticipation is matter of history. Christ +on the cross has ever since then been the most fascinating object in +the eyes of mankind. The mind and heart of humanity have been +irresistibly attracted to Him, never weary of studying Him. And the +utterance of this cry is the culminating moment to which the inquiring +mind specially turns. Theology has its centre in the cross. +Sometimes, indeed, it has been shy of it, and has divagated from it in +wide circles; but, as soon as it becomes profound and humble again, it +always returns. + +Yes, when it becomes humble! Penitent souls are drawn to the cross, +and the deeper their penitence the more are they at home. They stand +beside the dying Saviour and say, This is what we ought to have +suffered; our life was forfeited by our guilt; thus our blood deserved +to flow; we might justly have been banished forever into the desert of +forsakenness. But, as they thus make confession, their forfeited life +is given back to them for Christ's sake, the peace of God is shed +abroad in their hearts, and the new life of love and service begins. +The supreme Christian rite brings us to this very spot and to this very +moment: "This is My blood of the New Testament, shed for many for the +remission of sins." + +It was not, however, merely in this profound sense that this fourth +word of the dying Saviour was a cry of victory. It was so, also, +because it liberated Him from His depression. It has been said that +when, at His encounter with the Greeks, He groaned, "Father, save Me +from this hour," He immediately checked Himself with "Father, glorify +Thy name"; likewise that in Gethsemane, when He prayed, "If it be +possible, let this cup pass from Me," He hastened to add, +"Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done"; but that on this +occasion the cry of despair was followed by no word of resignation. +This, however, is a mistake. The cry itself, though an utterance of +despair, yet involved the strongest faith. See how He lays hold of the +Eternal with both hands: "My God, My God!" It is a prayer: a thousand +times He had turned to this resource In days of trial; and He does so +in this supreme trouble. To do so cures despair. No one is forsaken +who can pray, "My God." As one in deep water, feeling no bottom, makes +a despairing plunge forward and lands on solid ground, so Jesus, in the +very act of uttering His despair, overcame it. Feeling forsaken of +God, He rushed into the arms of God; and these arms closed round Him in +loving protection. Accordingly, as the darkness, which had brooded +over all the land, disappeared at the ninth hour, so His mind emerged +from eclipse; and, as we shall see, His last words were uttered in His +usual mood of serenity. + + + +[1] "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" + +[2] Some of the Fathers thought of the separation of the divine from +the human nature as taking place now. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE FIFTH WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +The fourth word from the cross we looked upon both as the climax of the +struggle which had gone on in the mind of the divine Sufferer during +the three hours of silence and darkness which preceded its utterance +and as the liberation of His mind from that struggle. This view seems +to be confirmed by the terms in which St. John introduces the Fifth +Word--"After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now +accomplished,[2] that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I +thirst." + +The phrase, "that the Scripture might be fulfilled," is usually +connected with the words, "I thirst," as if the meaning were that He +had said this fifth word in fulfilment of some prediction that He would +do so; and the Old Testament is ransacked, without much result, for the +prophetic words which may be supposed to be alluded to. It is better, +however, to connect the phrase with what goes before--"Jesus, knowing +that all things were now accomplished." It was only when His work, +appointed by God and prescribed in Scripture, was completed, that He +became sufficiently conscious of His bodily condition to say, "I +thirst." Intense mental preoccupation has a tendency to cause the +oblivion of bodily wants. Even the excitement of reading a fascinating +book may keep at a distance for hours the sense of requiring sleep or +food; and it is only when the reader comes out of the trance of +absorption that he realises how spent he is. During the temptation in +the wilderness Jesus was too absorbed to be aware of His bodily +necessities; but, when the spiritual strain was removed, He "was +afterward an hungered." + +In the present instance, when He came out of His spiritual trance, it +was thirst He became conscious of. I remember once talking with a +German student who had served in the Franco-Prussian War. He was +wounded in an engagement near Paris, and lay on the field unable to +stir. He did not know exactly what was the nature of his wound, and he +thought that he might be dying. The pain was intense; the wounded and +dying were groaning round about him; the battle was still raging; and +shots were falling and tearing up the ground in all directions. But +after a time one agony, he told me, began to swallow up all the rest, +and soon made him forget his wound, his danger and his neighbours. It +was the agony of thirst. He would have given the world for a draught +of water. This was the supreme distress of crucifixion. The agonies +of the horrible punishment were of the most excruciating and +complicated order; but, after a time, they all gathered into one +central current, in which they were lost and swallowed up--that of +devouring thirst; and it was this that drew from our Lord the fifth +word.[3] + + +I. + +This was the only cry of physical pain uttered by our Lord on the +cross. As was remarked in a previous chapter, it was not uncommon for +the victims of crucifixion, when the ghastly operation of nailing them +to the tree began, to writhe and resist, and to indulge either in +abject entreaties to be saved from the inevitable or in wild defiance +of their fate. But at this stage Jesus uttered never a word of +complaint. Afterwards also, in spite of the ever-increasing pain, He +preserved absolute self-control. He was absorbed either in caring for +others or in prayer to God. + +It is a sublime example of patience. It rebukes our softness and +intolerance of pain. How easily we are made to cry out; how peevish +and ill-tempered we become under slight annoyances! A headache, a +toothache, a cold, or some other slight affair, is supposed to be a +sufficient justification for losing all self-control and making a whole +household uncomfortable. Suffering does not always sanctify. It sours +some tempers and makes them selfish and exacting. This is the +besetting sin of invalids--to become absorbed in their own miseries and +to make all about them the slaves of their caprices. But many triumph +nobly over their temptation; and in this they are following the example +of the suffering Saviour. There are sick-rooms which it is a privilege +to visit. You may know that the place is a scene of excruciating pain; +but on the pillow there lies a sweet, patient face; the voice is +cheerful and thankful; and, instead of being self-absorbed, the mind is +full of unselfish thoughts for others. I recall the description given +by a friend of one such invalid's chamber, which used to be filled with +the most beautiful cheerfulness and activity. At a certain time of +year you might see in it quite an exhibition of stockings, pinafores, +dresses and other pretty things, prepared for the children of a +mission-school in India. By thinking of the needs of those children +far away the invalid not only kept her own sufferings at bay, but +created for herself delightful connections with God's work and God's +people. Yet she was one who might easily have asserted the right to do +nothing, and have taxed the patience and the services of those by whom +she was surrounded. + +But there is another lesson besides patience in this word of Christ. +He only uttered one word of physical pain; but He did utter one. His +self-control was not proud or sullen. There is a silence in suffering +that is mere doggedness, when we screw our courage to the +sticking-place and resolve that nobody shall hear any complaint from +us. We succeed in being silent, but it is with a bad grace: there is +no love or patience in our hearts, but only selfish determination. +This is especially a temptation when anyone has injured us and we do +not wish to let him see how much we have suffered, lest he should be +gratified. Jesus was surrounded by those who had wantonly wronged Him; +not only had they inflicted pain, but they had laughed and mocked at +His sufferings. He might have resolved not on any account to show His +feelings or at least to ask any kindness. It is sometimes more +difficult to ask a favour than to grant one; it requires more of the +spirit of forgiveness.[4] But not only did Jesus ask a favour: He +expected to receive it. Shamefully as He had been treated by those to +whom He had to appeal, He believed that there might still be some +remains of goodness at the bottom of their hearts. All His life He had +been wont to discover more good in the worst than others believed to +exist, and to the last He remained true to His own faith. The maxim of +the world is to take all men for rogues till the reverse has been +proved. Especially when people have enemies, they believe the own very +worst of them and paint their characters without a single streak of any +colour but black. To those from whom we differ in opinion we attribute +the basest motives and refuse to hear any good of them. But this is +not the way of Christ: He believed there were some drops of the milk of +human kindness even in the hard-hearted Roman soldiers; and He was not +disappointed.[5] + + +II. + +It is impossible to hear this pathetic cry, so expressive of +helplessness and dependence, without recalling other words of our Lord +to which it stands in marked contrast. Can this be He who, standing in +Jerusalem not long before, surrounded with a great multitude, lifted up +His voice and cried, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and +drink"? Can it be He who, standing at the well of Jacob with the +Samaritan woman and pointing to the springing fountain at their feet, +said, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but +whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never +thirst; but the water that I shall give shall be in him a well of water +springing up into everlasting life"? Can He who in words like these +offered to quench the thirst of the world be the same who now whispers +in mortal exhaustion, "I thirst"? + +It is the same; and this is a contrast which runs through His whole +life, the contrast between inward wealth and outward poverty. He was +able to enrich the whole world, yet He had to be supported by the +contributions of the women who followed Him; He could say, "I am the +bread of life," yet He sometimes hungered for a meal; He could promise +thrones and many mansions to those who believed on Him, yet He said +Himself, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, yet +the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." + +In a materialistic age, when in so many circles money is the measure of +the man, and when people are so excessively concerned about what they +shall eat and what they shall drink and wherewithal they shall be +clothed, it is worth while to bear this contrast in mind. Seldom have +the noblest specimens of humanity been those who have been able to +wallow in luxury; and the men who have enriched the world with the +treasures of the mind have not infrequently been hardly able to procure +daily bread. Our older boys may have seen on some of their +school-books the name of Heyne. His is an immortal name in classical +scholarship; but when he was a student, and even when he was enriching +the literature of his country with splendid editions of the ancient +writers, he was literally starving, and had sometimes to subsist on +skins of apples and other offal picked up from the streets. Our own +Samuel Johnson, to whose wisdom the whole globe is now a debtor, when +engaged on some of his greatest works, had not shoes in which to go +out, and did not know where his dinner was to come from. It would be +easy from history to multiply instances of those who, though poor, yet +have made many rich. + +The inference is not, that one must be poor externally if one desires +to be inwardly rich. The materially poor are not all spiritually rich +by any means; multitudes of them, alas, are as poverty-stricken in mind +and character as in physical condition. Perhaps one might even go so +far as to say that as a rule the inwardly rich enjoy at least a +competent portion of the good things of this life; for intelligence and +character have even a market value, Money, too, can be made subservient +to the highest aims of the soul. But what it is essential to remember +is, that the inward is the true wealth, and that we must seek and +obtain it, even, if necessary, at the sacrifice of the outward. If +life is not to be impoverished and materialised, some in every age must +make the choice between the inward and the outward wealth; and no one +is worthy to be the servant of scholarship, art or religion who is not +prepared for the choice should it fall to him. It is by the possession +of intelligence, generosity and spiritual power that we enter into the +higher ranks of manhood; and the most Christlike trait of all is to +have the will and the ability to overflow in influences and activities +which sweeten and elevate the lives of others. + + +III. + +It would appear that some of those round the cross were opposed to +granting the request of Jesus. Misunderstanding the fourth word,[6] +they supposed He was calling for Elijah; and they proposed not to help +Him even with a drink of water, in order to see whether or not Elijah +would come to the rescue. But in one man the impulse of humanity was +too strong, and he gave Jesus what He desired. We almost love the man +for it, and we envy his office. + +But the Saviour is still saying, "I thirst." How and where? Listen! +"I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink." "Lord, when saw we Thee athirst +and gave Thee drink?" "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of +these My brethren, ye did it unto Me." Wherever the brothers and +sisters of Jesus are suffering, sitting in lonely rooms and wishing +that somebody would come and visit them, or lying on beds of pain and +needing somebody to come and ease the pillow or to reach the cup to the +dry lips, there Christ is saying, "I thirst." + +Perhaps He is saying it in vain. There are multitudes of professing +Christians who never from end to end of the year visit any poor person. +They never thread the obscure streets or ascend the grimy stairs in +search of God's hidden ones. They have never acquired the art of +cheering a dark home with a flower, or a hymn, or a diet, or the touch +of a sympathetic hand and the smile of a healthy face. It would +completely alter the Christianity of many if they could begin to do +these lowly services; it would put reality into it, and it would bring +into the heart a joy and exhilaration hitherto unknown. For Christ +sees to it that none who thus serve Him lose their reward. An American +friend told me that once, when travelling on the continent of Europe, +he fell in with a fellow-countryman on board a Rhine steamer. They +talked about America and soon confided to each other from which parts +of the country they came, with other fragments of personal detail. +They continued to travel for some days together, and my informant was +so overwhelmed with kindness by his companion that at last he ventured +to ask the reason. "Well," rejoined the other, "when the War was going +on, I was serving in your native state; and one day our march lay +through the town in which you have told me you were born. The march +had been very prolonged; it was a day of intense heat; I was utterly +fatigued and felt on the point of dying for thirst, when a kind woman +came out of one of the houses and gave me a glass of cold water. And I +have been trying to repay through you, her fellow-townsman, the +kindness she showed to me." Does it not remind us of the great word of +the Son of God, "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little +ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say +unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward"? + +But is this not enough? Does anyone wish to get still nearer to Christ +and hold the cup not only to Him in the person of His members but to +His own very lips? Well, this is possible too. Jesus still says, "I +thirst." He thirsts for love. He thirsts for prayer. He thirsts for +service. He thirsts for holiness. Whenever the heart of a human being +turns to Him with a genuine impulse of penitence, affection or +consecration, the Saviour sees of the travail of His soul and is +satisfied. + + + +[1] "I thirst." + +[2] _tetelestai_--the very word of Jesus Himself--"It is finished--" +which may possibly have been fourth. + +[3] He had by this time been on the cross for four hours or more. The +arrest took place about midnight; the ecclesiastical trial terminated +about sunrise; the proceedings before Pilate occupied perhaps from six +to nine, or rather more; the crucifixion took place towards noon; from +noon till three o'clock darkness prevailed; and between this and sunset +the death and burial took place. See Matt. xxvii. 1; Mark xv. 25, 33, +34, 42. St. John's statement of time, xix. 14, is a difficulty. He +appears to reckon from a different starting-point. See Andrews' _Life +of Our Lord_ (new edition), pp. 545 ff. In the same passage St. John +says, "It was the preparation of the passover"; does this mean the day +before the feast commenced, or the day before the Sabbath of Passover +Week? There are held to be other indications that St. John represents +the crucifixion as having taken place the day before the Passover +began, whereas the Synoptists place it the day after (especially John +xviii. 28, where the question is whether "the passover" means the +Paschal Lamb or the Chagigah, a portion of the feast belonging to the +second day). On this question there is an extensive literature. See +Andrews, 452-81, and Keim, vol. vi., pp. 195-219. + +[4] "To be in too great a hurry to discharge an obligation is itself a +kind of ingratitude."--LA ROCHEFOUCAULD. + +[5] Hoffmann says that Jesus refused the intoxicating draught, before +the crucifixion began, that His senses might be kept clear; and that +now He accepted the refreshing draught for the same purpose. + +[6] "Eli, Eli," etc. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE SIXTH WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +Like the Fifth, the Sixth Word from the Cross is, in the Greek, +literally a single word; and it has been often affirmed to be the +greatest single word ever uttered. It may be said to comprehend in +itself the salvation of the world; and thousands of human souls, in the +agony of conviction or in the crisis of death, have laid hold of it as +the drowning sailor grasps the life-buoy. + +Sometimes it has been interpreted as merely the last sign of ebbing +life: as if the meaning were, It is all over; this long agony of pain +and weakness is done at last. But the dying words of Jesus were not +spoken in this tone. The Fifth Word, we are expressly told, was +uttered with a loud voice; so was the Seventh; and, although this is +not expressly stated about the Sixth, the likelihood is that, in this +respect, it resembled the other two. It was not a cry of defeat, but +of victory. + +Both the suffering of our Lord and His work were finishing together; +and it is natural to suppose that He was referring to both. Suffering +and work are the two sides of every life, the one predominating in some +cases and the other in others. In the experience of Jesus both were +prominent: He had both a great work to accomplish and He suffered +greatly in the process of achieving it. But now both have been brought +to a successful close; and this is what the Sixth Word expresses. It +is, therefore, first, the Worker's Cry of Achievement; and, secondly, +the Sufferer's Cry of Relief. + + +I. + +Christ, when on earth, had a great work on hand, which was now finished. + +This dying word carries us back to the first word from His lips which +has been preserved to us: "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's +business?" Even at twelve years of age He already knew that there was +a business entrusted to Him by His Father in heaven, about which His +thoughts had to be occupied. We cannot perhaps say that then already +He comprehended it in its whole extent. It was to grow upon Him with +the development of His manhood. In lonely meditations in the fields +and pastures of Nazareth it seized and inspired His mind. As He +cultivated the life of prayer, it became more and more His settled +purpose. The more He became acquainted with human nature, and with the +character and the needs of His own age, the more clearly did it rise +before Him. As He heard and read the Scriptures of the Old Testament, +He saw it hinted and foreshadowed in type and symbol, in rite and +institution, in law and prophets. There He found the programme of His +life sketched out beforehand; and perhaps one of His uppermost +thoughts, when He said, "It is finished," was that all which had been +foretold about Him in the ancient Scriptures had been fulfilled. + +After His public life commenced, the sense of being charged with a task +which He had to fulfil was one of the master-thoughts of His life. It +was written on His very face and bodily gait. He never had the easy, +indeterminate air of one who does not know what He means to do in the +world. "I have a baptism," He would say, "to be baptized with, and how +am I straitened till it be accomplished." In a rapt moment, at the +well of Sychar, after His interview with the Samaritan woman, when His +disciples proffered Him food, He put it away from Him, saying, "I have +meat to eat that ye know not of," and He added, "My meat is to do the +will of Him that sent Me and to finish His work." On His last journey +to Jerusalem, as He went on in front of His disciples, they were amazed +and, as they followed, they were afraid. His purpose possessed Him; He +was wholly in it, body, soul and spirit. He bestowed on it every scrap +of power He possessed, and every moment of His time. Looking back now +from the close of life, He has not to regret that any talent has been +either abused or left unused. All have been husbanded for the one +purpose and all lavished on the work. + +What was this work of Christ? In what terms shall we express it? At +all events it was a greater work than any other son of man has ever +attempted. Men have attempted much, and some of them have given +themselves to their chosen enterprises with extraordinary devotion and +tenacity. The conqueror has devoted himself to his scheme of subduing +the world; the patriot to the liberation of his country; the +philosopher to the enlargement of the realm of knowledge; the inventor +has rummaged with tireless industry among the secrets of nature; and +the discoverer has risked his life in opening up untrodden continents +and died with his face to his task. But none ever undertook a task +worthy to be compared with that which engrossed the mind of Jesus. + +It was a work for God with men, and it was a work for men with God. + +The thought that it was a work for God, with which God had charged Him, +was often in Christ's mouth, and this consciousness was one of the +chief sources of His inspiration. "I must work the work of Him that +sent Me while it is day," He would say; or, "Therefore doth my Father +love Me, because I do always those things which please Him." And, at +the close of His life-work, He said, in words closely related to those +of our text, "I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the +work which Thou gavest Me to do." This was His task, to glorify God on +the earth--to make known the Father to the children of men. + +But just as obviously was it a work for men with God. This was stamped +on all His words and on the entire tenor of His life. He was bringing +men back to God, and He had to remove the obstacles which stood in the +way. He had to roll away the stone from the sepulchre in which +humanity was entombed and call the dead to come forth. He had to press +His weight against the huge iron gates of human guilt and doom and +force them open. He had done so; and, as He said, "It is finished," He +was at the same time saying to all mankind, "Behold, I have set before +you an open door, and no man can shut it." + +The more difficult and prolonged any task is, the greater is the +satisfaction of finishing it. Everyone knows what it is, after +accomplishing anything on which a great deal of labour has been +bestowed or the accomplishment of which has been delayed, to be able to +say, "There; it is finished at last." In the more signal efforts of +human genius and energy there is a satisfaction of final achievement +which warms even spectators with sympathy at the distance of hundreds +of years. What must it be to the poet, after equipping himself by the +labours of a lifetime with the stores of knowledge and the skill in the +use of language requisite for the composition of a "Divine Comedy" or a +"Paradise Lost," and after wearing himself lean for many years at his +task, to be able at last, when the final line has been penned, to write +Finis at the bottom of his performance? What must it have been to +Columbus, after he had worn his life out in seeking the patronage +necessary for his undertaking and endured the perils of voyaging in +stormy seas and among mutinous mariners, to see at last the sunlight on +the peak of Darien which informed him that his dream was true and his +lifework accomplished? When we read how William Wilberforce, the +champion of Slave Emancipation, heard on his deathbed, a few hours +before he breathed his last, that the British Legislature had agreed to +the expenditure necessary to secure the object to which he had +sacrificed his life, what heart can refuse its tribute of sympathetic +joy, as it thinks of him expiring with the shouts of emancipated +millions in his ears? These are feeble suggestions of the triumph with +which Christ saw, fallen behind Him, His accomplished task, as He +cried, "It is finished." + + +II. + +If Jesus had during life a vast work on hand which He was able on the +cross to say He had finished, He was in quite as exceptional a degree a +sufferer; yet on the cross He was able to say that His suffering also +was finished. + +Suffering is the reverse side of work. It is the shadow that +accompanies achievement, as his shadow follows a man. It is due to the +resistance offered to the worker by the medium in which he toils. + +The life of Jesus was one of great suffering, because He had to do His +work in an extremely resistant medium. His purpose was so beneficent, +and His passion for the good of the world so obvious, that it might +have been expected that He would meet with nothing but encouragement +and furtherance. He was so religious that all the religious forces +might have been expected to second His efforts; He was so patriotic +that it would have been natural if His native country had welcomed Him +with open arms; He was so philanthropic that He ought to have been the +idol of the multitude. But at every step He met with opposition. +Everything that was influential in His age and country turned against +Him. Obstruction became more and more persistent and cruel, till at +length on Calvary it reached its climax, when all the powers of earth +and hell were combined with the one purpose of crushing Him and +thrusting Him out of existence. And they succeeded. + +But the mystery of suffering is very insufficiently explained when it +is defined as the reaction of the work on the worker. While a man's +work is what he does with the force of his will, suffering is what is +done to him against his will. It may be done by the will of opponents +and enemies. But this is never the whole explanation. Above this +will, which may be thoroughly evil, there is a will which is good and +means us good by our suffering. + +Suffering is the will of God. It is His chief instrument for +fashioning His creatures according to His own plan. While by our work +we ought to be seeking to make a bit of the world such as He would have +it to be, by our suffering He is seeking to make us such as He would +have us to be. He blocks up our pathway by it on this side and on +that, in order that we may be kept in the path which He has appointed. +He prunes our desires and ambitions; He humbles us and makes us meek +and acquiescent. By our work we help to make a well-ordered world, but +by our suffering He makes a sanctified man; and in His eyes this is by +far the greater triumph. + +Perhaps this is the most difficult half of life to manage. While it is +by no means easy to accomplish the work of life, it is harder still to +bear suffering and to benefit by it. Have you ever seen a man to whom +nature had given great talents and grace great virtues, so that the +possibilities of his life seemed unbounded, while he had imagination +enough to expatiate over them: a man who might have been a missionary, +opening up dark countries to civilisation and the gospel; or a +statesman, swaying a parliament with his eloquence and shaping the +destinies of millions by his wisdom; or a thinker, wrestling with the +problems of the age, sowing the seeds of light, and raising for himself +an imperishable monument: but who was laid hold of by some remorseless +disease or suddenly crushed by some accident; so that all at once his +schemes were upset and his life narrowed to petty anxieties about his +health and shifts to avoid the evil day, which could not, however, be +long postponed? And did it not seem to you, as you watched him, to be +far harder for him to accept this destiny with a good grace and with +cheerful submission than it would have been to accomplish the career of +enterprise and achievement which once seemed to lie before him? To do +nothing is often more difficult than to do the greatest things, and to +submit requires more faith than to achieve. + +The life of Christ was hemmed and crushed in on every hand. Evil men +were the proximate cause of this; but He acknowledged behind them the +will of God. He had to accept a career of shame instead of glory, of +brief and limited activity instead of far-travelling beneficence, of +premature and violent death instead of world-wide and everlasting +empire. But He never murmured; however bitter any sacrifice might be +on other grounds, He made it sweet to Himself by reflecting that it was +the will of His Father. When the worst came to the worst, and He was +forced to cry, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me," He was +swift to add, "Nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done." And thus +on step after step of the ladder His thoughts were brought into perfect +accord with His Father's, and His will with His Father's will. + +At last on the cross the cup out of which He had drunk so often was put +into His hands for the last time. The draught was large, black and +bitter as never before. But He did not flinch. He drank it up. As He +did so, the last segment of the circle of His own perfection completed +itself; and, while, flinging the cup away after having exhausted the +last drop, He cried, "It is finished," the echo came back from heaven +from those who saw with wonder and adoration the perfect round of His +completed character, "It is finished." + + +Though these two sides of the life of Christ are separable in thought, +it is evident that they constitute together but one life.[2] The work +He did involved the suffering which He bore and lent to it meaning and +dignity. On the other hand, the suffering perfected the Worker and +thus conferred greatness on His work. In His crowning task of atoning +for the sin of the world it was as a sufferer that He accomplished the +will of God. And now both are finished; and henceforward the world has +a new possession: it has had other perfect things; but never before and +never since has it had a perfect life. + + + +[1] "It is finished." + +[2] Sometimes they are expressed by saying that life is both a Mission +and a Discipline. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE SEVENTH WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +While all the words of dying persons are full of interest, there is +special importance attached to the last of them. This is the Last Word +of Jesus; and both for this reason and for others it claims particular +attention. + +A noted Englishman is recorded to have said, when on his deathbed, to a +nephew, "Come near and see how a Christian can die." Whether or not +that was a wise saying, certainly to learn how to die is one of the +most indispensable acquirements of mortals; and nowhere can it be +learnt so well as by studying the death of Christ. This Last Word +especially teaches us how to die. It will, however, teach us far more, +if we have the wit to learn: it contains not only the art of dying but +also the art of living. + + +I. + +The final word of the dying Saviour was a prayer. Not all the words +from the cross were prayers. One was addressed to the penitent thief, +another to His mother and His favourite disciple, and a third to the +soldiers who were crucifying Him; but prayer was distinctly the +language of His dying hours. It was not by chance that His very last +word was a prayer; for the currents within Him were all flowing +Godwards. + +While prayer is appropriate for all times and seasons, there are +occasions when it is singularly appropriate. At the close of the day, +when we are about to enter into the state of sleep, which is an image +of death, the most natural of all states of mind is surely prayer. In +moments of mortal peril, as on shipboard when a multitude are suddenly +confronted with death, an irresistible impulse presses men to their +knees. At the communion table, when the bread and the wine are +circulating in silence, every thoughtful person is inevitably occupied +with prayer. But on a death-bed it is more in its place than anywhere +else. Then we are perforce parting with all that is earthly--with +relatives and friends, with business and property, with the comforts of +home and the face of the earth. How natural to lay hold of what alone +we can keep hold of; and this is what prayer does; for it lays hold of +God. + +It is so natural to pray then that prayer might be supposed to be an +invariable element of the last scenes. But it is not always. A +death-bed without God is an awful sight; yet it does occur. The +currents of the mind may be flowing so powerfully earthward that even +then they cannot be diverted. There are even death-beds where the +thought of God is a terror which the dying man keeps away; and +sometimes his friends assist him to keep it away, suffering none to be +seen and nothing to be said that could call God to mind. Natural as +prayer is, it is only so to those who have learned to pray before. It +had long been to Jesus the language of life. He had prayed without +ceasing--on the mountain-top and in the busy haunts of men, by Himself +and in company with others--and it was only the bias of the life +asserting itself in death when, as He breathed His last, He turned to +God. + +If, then, we would desire our last words to be words of prayer, we +should commence to pray at once. If the face of God is to shine on our +death-bed, we must now acquaint ourselves with Him and be at peace. +If, as we look upon the dying Christ or on the dying saints, we say, +"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like +his," then we must begin now to live the life of the righteous and to +practise its gracious habits. + + +II. + +The last word of the dying Saviour was a quotation from Scripture. + +This was not the first time our Lord quoted Scripture on the cross: His +great cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" was likewise +borrowed from the Old Testament, and it is possible that there is +Scriptural allusion in others of the Seven Words. + +If prayer is natural to the lips of the dying, so is Scripture. For +different seasons and for different uses there is special suitability +in different languages and literatures. Latin is the language of law +and scholarship, French of conversation and diplomacy, German of +philosophy, English of commerce. But in the most sacred moments and +transactions of life there is no language like that of the Bible. +Especially is this the case in everything connected with death. On a +tombstone, for example, how irrelevant, as a rule, seem all other +quotations, but how perfect is the fitness of a verse from Scripture. +And on a death-bed there are no words which so well become the dying +lips. + +This is strikingly illustrated by the following extract, guaranteed as +authentic, from a private diary:--"I remember, when I was a student, +visiting a dying man. He had been in the university with me, but a few +years ahead; and, at the close of a brilliant career in college, he was +appointed to a professorship of philosophy in a colonial university. +But, after a very few years, he fell into bad health; and he came home +to Scotland to die. It was a summer Sunday afternoon when I called to +see him, and it happened that I was able to offer him a drive. His +great frame was with difficulty got into the open carriage; but then he +lay back comfortably and was able to enjoy the fresh air. Two other +friends were with him that day--college companions, who had come out +from the city to visit him. On the way back they dropped into the +rear, and I was alone beside him, when he began to talk with +appreciation of their friendship and kindness. 'But,' he said, 'do you +know what they have been doing all day?' I could not guess. 'Well,' +he said, 'they have been reading to me _Sartor Resartus_; and oh! I am +awfully tired of it.' Then, turning on me his large eyes, he began to +repeat, 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that +Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief;' +and then he added with great earnestness, 'There is nothing else of any +use to me now.' I had not opened the subject at all: perhaps I was +afraid to introduce it to one whom I felt to be so much my superior; +but I need not say how overjoyed I was to obtain such a glimpse into +the very depths of a great, true mind." _Sartor Resartus_ is one of +the best of books; there are few to be so heartily recommended. Yet +there are moments in life--and those immediately before death are among +them--when even such a book may be felt to be irrelevant, and, indeed, +no book is appropriate except the one which contains the words of +eternal life. + +It is worth noting from which portion of the Old Testament Jesus +fetched the word on which He stayed up His soul in this supreme moment. +The quotation is from the thirty-first Psalm. The other great word +uttered on the cross to which I have already alluded was also taken +from one of the Psalms--the twenty-second. This is undoubtedly the +most precious of all the books of the Old Testament. It is a book +penned as with the life-blood of its authors; it is the record of +humanity's profoundest sorrows and sublimest ecstasies; it is the most +perfect expression which has ever been given to experience; it has been +the _vade-mecum_ of all the saints; and to know and love it is one of +the best signs of spirituality. + +Jesus knew where to go in the Bible for the language that suited Him; +for He had been a diligent student of it all His days. He heard it in +the home of His childhood; He listened to it in the synagogue; probably +He got the use of the synagogue rolls and hung over it in secret. He +knew it through and through. Therefore, when He became a preacher, His +language was saturated with it, and in controversy, by the apt use of +it, He could put to shame those who were its professional students. +But in His private life likewise He employed it in every exigency. He +fought with it the enemy in the wilderness and overcame him; and now, +in the supreme need of a dying hour, it stood Him in good stead. It is +to those who, like Jesus, have hidden God's Word in their hearts that +it is a present help in every time of need; and, if we wish to stay +ourselves upon it in dying, we ought to make it the man of our counsel +in living. + +It is worth observing in what manner Jesus made this quotation from the +Psalter: He added something at the beginning and He omitted something +at the close. At the beginning He added, "Father." This is not in the +psalm. It could not have been. In the Old Testament the individual +had not begun yet to address God by this name, though God was called +the Father of the nation as a whole. The new consciousness of God +which Christ introduced into the world is embodied in this word, and, +by prefixing it to the citation, He gave the verse a new colouring. We +may, then, do this with the Old Testament: we may put New-Testament +meaning into it. Indeed, in connection with this very verse we have a +still more remarkable illustration of the same treatment. Stephen, the +first martyr of Christianity, was in many respects very like his +Master, and in his martyrdom closely imitated Him. Thus on the field +of death he repeated Christ's prayer for His enemies--"Lord, lay not +this sin to their charge." Also, he imitated this final word, but he +put it in a new form, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;" that is, he +addressed to Christ the dying prayer which Christ Himself addressed to +the Father.[2] The other alteration which Jesus made was the omission +of the words, "for Thou hast redeemed me." It would not have been +fitting for Him to employ them. But we will not omit them; and if, +like Stephen, we address the prayer to Christ, how much richer and more +pathetic are the words to us than they were even to him who first +penned them. + + +III. + +It was about His spirit that the dying Saviour prayed. + +Dying persons are sometimes much taken up with their bodies. Their +pain and trouble may occasion this, and the prescriptions of the +physician may require close attention. Some display a peculiar anxiety +even about what is to happen to the body after the life has left it, +giving the minutest instructions as to their own obsequies. Not +infrequently the minds of the dying are painfully occupied with their +worldly affairs: they have their property to dispose of, and they are +distracted with anxieties about their families. The example of Jesus +shows that it is not wrong to bestow attention on these things even on +a deathbed; for His fifth word, "I thirst," had reference to His own +bodily necessities; and, whilst hanging on the cross, He made provision +for His mother's future comfort. But His supreme concern was His +spirit; to the interests of which He devoted His final prayer. + +What is the spirit? It is the finest, highest, sacredest part of our +being. In modern and ordinary language we call it the soul, when we +speak of man as composed of body and soul; but in the language of +Scripture it is distinguished even from the soul as the most lofty and +exquisite part of the inner man. It is to the rest of our nature what +the flower is to the plant or what the pearl is to the shell. It is +that within us which is specially allied to God and eternity. It is +also, however, that which sin seeks to corrupt and our spiritual +enemies seek to destroy. No doubt these are specially active in the +article of death; it is their last chance; and fain would they seize +the spirit as it parts from the body and, dragging it down, rob it of +its destiny. Jesus knew that He was launching out into eternity; and, +plucking His spirit away from these hostile hands which were eager to +seize it, He placed it in the hands of God. There it was safe. Strong +and secure are the hands of the Eternal. They are soft and loving too. +With what a passion of tenderness must they have received the spirit of +Jesus. "I have covered thee," said God to His servant in an ancient +prophecy, "in the shadow of My hand;" and now Jesus, escaping from all +the enemies, visible and invisible, by whom He was beset, sought the +fulfilment of this prophecy. + +This is the art of dying; but is it not also the art of living? The +spirit of every son of Adam is threatened by dangers at death; but it +is threatened with them also in life. As has been said, it is our +flower and our pearl; but the flower may be crushed and the pearl may +be lost long before death arrives. "The flesh lusteth against the +spirit." So does the world. Temptation assails it, sin denies it. No +better prayer, therefore, could be offered by a living man, morning by +morning, than this of the dying Saviour. Happy is he who can say, in +reference to his spirit, "I know whom I have believed, and I am +persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him +against that day." + + +IV. + +This last word of the expiring Saviour revealed His view of death. + +The word used by Jesus in commending His spirit to God implies that He +was giving it away in the hope of finding it again. He was making a +deposit in a safe place, to which, after the crisis of death was over, +He would come and recover it. Such is the force of the word, as is +easily seen in the quotation just made from St. Paul, where he says +that he knows that God will keep that which he has committed to +Him--using the same word as Jesus--"against that day." [3] Which day? +Obviously some point in the future when he could appear and claim from +God that which he had entrusted to Him. Such a date was also in +Christ's eye when He said, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my +spirit." Death is a disruption of the parts of which human nature is +composed. One part--the spirit--was going away to God; another was in +the hands of men, who were wreaking on it their wicked will; and it was +on its way to the house appointed for all living. But Jesus was +looking forward to a reunion of the separated parts, when they would +again find each other, and the integrity of the personal life be +restored. + +The most momentous question which the dying can ask, or which the +living can ask in the prospect of death, is, "If a man die, shall he +live again?" does he all die? and does he die forever? There is a +terrible doubt in the human heart that it may be so; and there have +never been wanting teachers who have turned this doubt into a dogma. +They hold that mind is only a form or a function of matter, and that, +therefore, in the dissolution of the bodily materials, man dissolves +and mixes with the material universe. Others, while holding fast the +distinction between mind and matter, have taught that, as the body +returns to the dust, the mind returns to the ocean of being, in which +its personality is lost, as the drop is in the sea, and there can be no +reunion. There is, however, something high and sacred within us that +rebels against these doctrines; and the best teachers of the race have +encouraged us to hope for something better. Still, their assurances +have been hesitating and their own faith obscure. It is to Christ we +have to go: He has the words of eternal life. He spoke on this subject +without hesitation or obscurity; and His dying word proves that He +believed for Himself what He taught to others. Not only, however, has +He by His teaching brought life and immortality to light: He is Himself +the guarantee of the doctrine; for He is our immortal life. Because we +are united to Him we know we can never perish; nothing, not even death, +can separate us from His love; "Because I live," He has said, "ye shall +live also." + +It may be that in a very literal sense we have in the study of this +sentence been learning the art of dying: these may be our own dying +words. They have been the dying words of many. When John Huss was +being led to execution, there was stuck on his head a paper cap, +scrawled over with pictures of devils, to whom the wretched priests by +whom he was surrounded consigned his soul; but again and again he +cried, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." These were also +the last words of Polycarp, of Jerome of Prague, of Luther, of +Melanchthon, and of many others. Who could wish his spirit to be +carried away to God in a more glorious vehicle? But, whether or not we +may use this prayer in death, let us diligently make use of it in life. +Close not the book without breathing, "Father, into Thy hands I commend +my spirit." + + + +[1] "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." + +[2] The first business of the interpreter of Scripture is to find out +precisely what every verse or paragraph meant at the time and place +where it was written; and there is endless profit in the exact +determination of this original application. But, whilst the +interpreter's task begins, it does not end with this. The Bible is a +book for every generation; and the deduction of the message which it is +intended to convey to the present day is as truly the task of the +interpreter. There is a species of exegesis, sometimes arrogating to +itself the sole title to be considered scientific, by which the garden +of Scripture is transmuted into an herbarium of withered specimens. + +[3] Christ's word is _paratithemai_, and St. Paul's, 2 Tim. i. 12, _ten +paratheken mou_, according to the best reading. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE SIGNS + +There are indications that to some of those who took part in the +crucifixion of Christ His death presented hardly anything to +distinguish it from an ordinary execution; and there were others who +were anxious to believe that it had no features which were +extraordinary. But God did not leave His Son altogether without +witness. The end of the Saviour's sufferings was accompanied by +certain signs, which showed the interest excited by them in the world +unseen. + + +I. + +The first sign was the rending of the veil of the temple. This was a +heavy curtain covering the entrance to the Holy Place or the entrance +to the Holy of Holies--most probably the latter. Both entrances were +thus protected, and Josephus gives the following description of one of +the curtains, which will probably convey a fair idea of either; five +ells high and sixteen broad, of Babylonian texture, and wonderfully +stitched of blue, white, scarlet and purple--representing the universe +in its four elements--scarlet standing for fire and blue for air by +their colours, and the white linen for earth and the purple for sea on +account of their derivation, the one, from the flax of the earth and +the other from the shellfish of the sea. + +The fact that the rent proceeded from top to bottom was considered to +indicate that it was made by the finger of God; but whether any +physical means may have been employed we cannot tell. Some have +thought of the earthquake, which took place at the same moment, as +being connected with it through the loosening of a beam or some similar +accident.[1] + +At critical moments in history, when the minds of men are charged with +excitement, even slight accidents may assume remarkable +significance.[2] Such incidents occur at turning-points of the life +even of individuals.[3] They derive their significance from the +emotion with which the minds of observers happen at the time to be +filled. No doubt the rending of the temple veil might appear to some a +pure accident, while in the minds of others it crystallised a hundred +surging thoughts. But we must ascribe to it a higher dignity and a +divine intention. + +Like the pillar of cloud and fire in the wilderness, it had a double +face--one of judgment and another of mercy. + +It betokened the desecration of the shrine and the exodus of the Deity +from the temple whose day of opportunity and usefulness was over. And +it is curious to note how at the time not only the Christian but even +the Jewish mind was big with this thought. There is a Jewish legend in +Josephus, which is referred to also by the Roman historian Tacitus, +that at the Passover some years after this the east door of the inner +court of the temple, which was so heavy that twenty men were required +to close it, and was, besides, at the moment strongly locked and +barred, suddenly at midnight flew open; and, the following Pentecost, +the priests whose duty it was to guard the court by night, heard first +a rushing noise as of hurrying feet and then a loud cry, as of many +voices, saying, "Let us depart from hence." + +Nor was it only in Palestine that in that age the air was charged with +the impression that a turning-point in history had been reached, and +that the ancient world was passing away. Plutarch[4] heard a singular +story of one Epitherses from the rhetorician Aemilianus, who had it +from the man's father. On a certain occasion this Epitherses happened +to be a passenger on board a ship which got becalmed among the +Echinades. As it stood near one of the islands, suddenly there came +from the shore a voice, loud and clear, calling Thamus, the pilot, an +Egyptian, by his name. Twice he kept silence; but, when the call came +the third time, he replied; whereupon the voice cried still louder, +"When you come to the Paludes, proclaim that the great Pan is dead." +Pan being the god of nature in that ancient world, all who heard were +terrified, and they debated whether or not they should obey the +command. At last it was agreed that if, when they came to the Paludes, +it was windy, they were not to obey, but, if calm, they would. It +turned out to be calm; and, accordingly, the pilot, standing on the +prow of the vessel, shouted out the words; whereupon the air was +filled, not with an echo, but the loud groaning of a great multitude +mingled with surprise.[5] The pilot was called before the Emperor +Tiberius, who strictly enquired into the truth of the incident. + +Such was the meaning of the rending of the veil on its dark side: it +denoted that the reign of the gods was over and that Jerusalem was no +longer to be the place where men ought to worship. But it had at the +same time a bright side; and this was the side for the sake of which +the incident was treasured by the friends of Jesus. It meant, as St. +Paul says, that the wall between Jew and Gentile had been broken down. +It meant, as is set forth in the noble argument of the Epistle to the +Hebrews, that the system of ceremonies and intermediaries by which +under the Old Testament the worshipper might approach God and yet was +kept at a distance from Him had been swept away. The heart of God is +now fully revealed, and it is a heart of love; and, at the same time, +the heart of man, liberated by the sacrifice of Christ from the +conscience of sin, as it could never be by the offering of bulls and +goats, can joyfully venture into the divine presence and go out and in +with the freedom of a child. "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to +enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, +which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil--that is to say, His +flesh--and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near +with a true heart in full assurance of faith." [6] + + +II. + +The second sign was the resurrection of certain of the dead--"The +graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and +came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy +city and appeared unto many." + +Whether or not the rending of the veil in the temple was connected with +the earthquake, there is no doubt that this second sign was. The +graves in Palestine were caves in the rocks, the mouths of which were +closed with great stones. Some of these stones were shaken from their +places by the earthquake; and the bodies themselves, which lay on +shelves or stood upright in niches, may have been disturbed. But in +some of them a greater disturbance occurred: besides the external +shaking there took place within them a motion of the life-giving breath +of God. + +In the minds of many devout scholars this miracle has excited suspicion +on several accounts. They say it is contrary to the teaching of +Scripture elsewhere, according to which Christ was the firstfruits of +them that slept. If these dead bodies were reanimated at the moment of +this earthquake, they, and not He, were the firstfruits. To this it is +answered that St. Matthew is careful to note that they came out of +their graves "after His resurrection"; so that St. Matthew still agrees +with St. Paul in making Christ the first to rise. But, then, it is +asked, in what condition were they between their reanimation and their +resurrection? The Evangelist appears to state that they rose from +death to life at the moment of the earthquake, but did not emerge from +the tomb till the third day afterwards, when Christ had risen. Is this +credible? or is it an apocryphal marvel, which has been interpolated in +the text of St. Matthew? The other Evangelists, while, along with St. +Matthew, narrating the rending of the veil, do not touch on this +incident at all. The whole representation, it is argued, lacks the +sobriety which is characteristic of the authentic miracles of the +Gospels and broadly separates them from the ecclesiastical miracles, +about which there is generally an air of triviality and grotesqueness. + +On the other hand, there is no indication in the oldest and best +manuscripts of St. Matthew that this is an interpolation; and many of +the acutest minds have felt this trait to be thoroughly congruous and +suitable to its place. If, they contend, He who had just died on +Calvary was what He gave Himself out and we believe Him to be, His +death must have excited the profoundest commotion in the kingdoms of +the dead. The world of living men and women was insensible to the +character of the event which was taking place before its eyes; but the +world unseen was agitated as it never had been before and never was to +be again. It was not unnatural, but the reverse, that some of the +dead, in their excitement and eagerness, should even press back over +the boundaries of the other world, in order to be in the world where +Christ was. The question where they were or what they were doing +between their reanimation and resurrection is a triviality not worth +considering. At all events, they rose after their Lord; and was it not +appropriate that when, after the forty days, He ascended to heaven, +there to be received by rejoicing angels and archangels, He should not +only appear in the flesh, but be accompanied by specimens of what His +resurrection power was ultimately to do for all believers? If it be +asked who the favoured saints were to whom this blessed priority was +vouchsafed, we cannot tell. The dust, however, was not far away of +many whom the Lord might delight to honour--patriarchs, like Abraham; +kings, like David; prophets, like Isaiah. + +But the true significance of this sign is not dependent on such +speculations. Even if it should ever be discovered, as it is not in +the least likely to be, that this story was interpolated in St. +Matthew, and we should be driven to the conclusion that it was invented +by the excited fancy of the primitive Christians, even then we should +have to ask what caused them to invent it. And the only possible +answer would be, that it was the force of the conviction burning within +them that by His death and resurrection Christ had opened the gates of +death to all the saints. This was the glorious faith which was +begotten by the experiences of those never-to-be-forgotten days, +whether the sight of these resurrected saints played any part or not in +maturing it; and it is now the faith of the Church and the faith of +mankind. + +This may well be called the rending of another veil. If in the ancient +world there was a veil on the face of God, there was a veil likewise on +the face of eternity.[7] The home of the soul was hidden from the +children of men. They vaguely surmised it, indeed; they could never +believe that they were wholly dust. But, apart from Christ, the +speculations even of the wisest as to the other world are hardly more +correct or certain than might be the speculations of infants in the +womb as to the condition of this world.[8] Christ, on the contrary, +always spoke of the world invisible with the freedom and confidence of +one to whom it was native and well known; and His resurrection and +ascension afford the most authentic glimpses into the realm of +immortality which the world has ever received. + +In this sign, indeed, it is with the death and not with the +resurrection that this authentication is connected. But the +resurrection of Christ is allied in the most intimate manner with His +death. It was the public recognition of His righteousness. Since, +however, He died not for Himself alone, but as a public person, His +mystical body has the same right to resurrection, and in due time it +will be made manifest that, He having discharged every claim on their +behalf, death has now no right to detain them. + + +III. + +The first sign was in the physical world; the second was in the +underworld of the dead; but the third was in the common world of living +men. This was the acknowledgment of Christ by the centurion who +superintended His crucifixion. + +Whether, like the preceding signs, this third one is to be connected +with the earthquake is a question. Probably the answer ought to be in +the affirmative. The sensation produced by an earthquake is like +nothing else in nature; and its first effect on an unsophisticated mind +is to create the sense that God is near. Probably, therefore, the +earthquake was felt by the centurion to be the divine Amen to the +thoughts which had been rising in his mind, and it gave them a speedy +and complete delivery in his confession. + +This confession was, however, the result of his observation of Jesus +throughout His whole trial and the subsequent proceedings; and it is an +eloquent tribute to our Lord's behaviour. The centurion may have been +at the side of Jesus from the arrest to the end. Through those +unparalleled hours he had observed the rage and injustice of His +enemies; and he had marked how patient, unretaliating, gentle and +magnanimous He had been. He had heard Him praying for His crucifiers, +comforting the thief on the cross, providing for His mother, communing +with God. More and more his interest was excited and his heart +stirred, till at last he was standing opposite the cross,[9] drinking +in every syllable and devouring every movement; and, when the final +prayer was uttered and the earthquake answered it, his rising +conviction brimmed over and he could not withhold his testimony. + +St. Luke makes him say only, "This was a righteous man," while the +others report, "This was the Son of God." But St. Luke's may include +theirs; because, if the centurion meant to state that the claims of +Jesus were just, what were His claims? At Pilate's judgment-seat he +had heard it stated that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, and +perhaps he had heard Him make this claim Himself in reply to Pilate's +question. This name, along with others like it, had been hurled at +Jesus, in his hearing, by those standing round the cross. + +But what did he mean when he made this acknowledgment? It has been +held that all which he, a heathen, could imply was that Jesus was a son +of God in the sense in which the Greeks and Romans believed Hercules, +Castor and other heroes to be sons of their deities. This may be near +the truth; but his soul was moved, his mind was opened; and, once in +the way, he could easily proceed further in the knowledge of Christ. +Tradition says that his name was Longinus, and that he became bishop of +Cappadocia and ultimately died a martyr. + +Have we not here the rending of a third veil? There is a veil on the +face of God which requires to be removed; and there is a veil on the +face of eternity which requires to be removed; but the most fatal veil +is that which is on the heart of the individual and prevents him from +seeing the glory of Christ. It was on the faces of nearly all the +multitude that day assembled round the cross. It was on the faces of +the poor soldiers gambling within a few feet of the dying Saviour; in +their case it was a veil of insensibility. It was on the faces of the +ecclesiastics and the mob of Jerusalem; and in their case it was a +thick veil of prejudice. The greatest sight ever witnessed on earth +was there beside them; but they were stoneblind to it. + +The glory of Christ is still the greatest sight which anyone can see +between the cradle and the grave. And it is now as near everyone of us +as it was to the crowd on Calvary. Some see it; for the veil upon +their faces is rent; and they are transfixed and transformed by the +sight. But others are blinded. How near one may be to Jesus, how much +mixed up with His cause, how well informed about His life and doctrine, +and yet never see His glory or know Him as a personal Saviour! It is +said that people may spend a lifetime in the midst of perfect scenery +and yet never awake to its charm; but by comes a painter or poet and +drinks the beauty in, till he is intoxicated with it and puts it into a +glorious picture or a deathless song. So can some remember a time when +Jesus, though in a sense well known, was nothing to them; but at a +certain point a veil seemed to rend and an entire change supervened; +and ever since then the world is full of Him; His name seems written on +the stars and among the flowers; He is their first thought when they +wake and their last before they sleep; He is with them in the house and +by the way; He is their all in all. + +This is the most critical rending of the veil; because, when it takes +place, the others follow. When we have our eyes opened to see the +glory of Christ, we soon know the Father also; and the darkness passes +from the face of eternity, because eternity for us is to be forever +with the Lord. + + + +[1] "May this phenomenon account for the early conversion of so many +priests recorded in Acts vi. 7?"--EDERSHEIM. + +[2] Shakespeare is very fond of describing the portents by which +remarkable events are foreshadowed. Thus, _Julius Caesar_, Act I. +Scene ii.:-- + + "O Cicero, + I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds + Have rived the knotty oaks; and I have seen + Th' ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam, + To be exalted with the threatening clouds; + But never till to-night, never till now + Did I go through a tempest dropping fire. + A common slave--you know him well by sight-- + Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn + Like twenty torches joined; and yet his hand, + Not sensible of fire, remained unscorched. + Besides--I ha' not since put up my sword-- + Against the Capitol I met a lion, + Who glared upon me and went surly by, + Without annoying me. And there were drawn + Upon a heap an hundred ghastly women, + Transformed with their fear, who swore they saw + Men, all in fire, walk up and down the streets. + And yesterday the bird of night did sit + Even at noonday upon the marketplace, + Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies + Do so conjointly meet, let not men say, + 'These are their reasons--they are natural,' + For I believe they are portentous things + Unto the climate that they point upon." + +See also Act II., Scene ii., and Act V., Scene i. of the same play; +_Macbeth_, Act II., Scene ii.; _Hamlet_, Act I., Scene i. Such +impressions are not, however, even in modern times, confined to poetry +alone. Historical instances will suggest themselves to every reader. + +[3] Some of the most interesting I have read occur in a brief memoir of +the founder of the Bagster Publishing Company issued on the centenary +of its opening. + +[4] _De Oraculorum Defectu_, quoted by Heubner in his commentary, _in +loc_. + +[5] _stenagmos ama thaumasmo_. + +[6] Heb. x. 19-22. + +[7] So the ignorance of immortality is expressly called in the +beautiful passage, Isa. xxv. 7. + +[8] Sir Thomas Browne, _Hydrotaphia_, chap. iv.: "A dialogue between +two infants in the womb concerning the state of this world might +handsomely illustrate our ignorance of the next, where, methinks, we +still discourse in Plato's den, and are but embryo philosophers." + +[9] _Parestekos ex enantias autou_. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE DEAD CHRIST + +It was not usual to remove bodies from the cross immediately after +their death. They were allowed to hang, exposed to the weather, till +they rotted and fell to pieces; or they might be torn by birds or +beasts; and at last a fire was perhaps kindled beneath the cross to rid +the place of the remains. Such was the Roman custom; but among the +Jews there was more scrupulosity. In their law there stood this +provision: "If a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be +put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain +all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day +(for he that is hanged is accursed of God); that thy land be not +defiled which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." [1] +Whether or not the Jews always tried to get this provision observed in +executions carried out in their midst by their Roman masters, we cannot +tell; but it was natural that they should do so in reference to +executions carried out in the neighbourhood of the holy city and at +Passover time. In the present instance there was the additional +reason, that the morrow of the execution of Jesus was a high day--it +was the Sabbath of the Passover--a kind of double Sabbath, which would +have been desecrated by any unclean thing, like an unburied corpse, +exposed to view. The Jews were extremely sensitive about such points. +At any time they regarded themselves as unclean if they touched a dead +body, and they had to go through a process of purgation before their +sense of sanctity was restored. But on the occasion of a Passover +Sabbath they would have felt it to be a desecration if any dead thing +had even met their eyes or rested uncovered on the soil of their city. +Therefore their representatives went to the Roman governor and begged +that the three crucified men should be put to death by clubbing and +their bodies buried before the Sabbath commenced. + +The suggestion has often been made that, behind this pretended +scrupulosity, their real aim was to inflict additional pain and +indignity on Jesus. The breaking of the bones of the body, by smashing +them with clubs, was a peculiarly horrible form of punishment sometimes +inflicted by the Romans.[2] It was nearly as cruel and degrading as +crucifixion itself; and it was an independent punishment, not conjoined +with crucifixion. But the Jews in this case attempted to get them +united, that Jesus, besides being crucified, might, so to speak, die +yet another death of the most revolting description. The Evangelist, +however, throws no doubt on the motive which they put forward--namely, +that the Passover Sabbath might be saved from desecration--and, +although their insatiable hatred may have made them suggest clubbing as +the mode by which His death should be hastened, we need not question +that their scruples were genuine. It is an extraordinary instance of +the game of self-deception which the human conscience can play. Here +were people fresh from the greatest crime ever committed--their hands +still reeking, one might say, with the blood of the Innocent--and their +consciences, while utterly untouched with remorse for this crime, are +anxious about the observance of the Sabbath and the ceremonial +defilement of the soil. It is the most extraordinary illustration +which history records of how zeal for what may be called the body of +religion may be utterly destitute of any connection with its spirit. +It is surely a solemn warning to make sure that every outward religious +act is accompanied by the genuine outgoing of the heart to God, and a +warning that, if we love not our brother, whom we have seen, neither +can we be lovers of God, whom we have not seen. + + +Pilate hearkened to the request of the Jews, and orders were given to +the soldiers to act accordingly. Then the ghastly work began. They +broke the legs of the malefactor on the one side of Jesus, and then +those of the other on the opposite side. The penitent thief was not +spared; but what a difference his penitence made! To his companion +this was nothing but an additional indignity; to him it was the +knocking-off of the fetters, that his spirit might the sooner wing its +way to Paradise, where Christ had trysted to meet him. + +Then came the turn of Jesus. But, when the soldiers looked at Him, +they saw that their work was unnecessary: death had been before them; +the drooping head and pallid frame were those of a dead man. Only, to +make assurance doubly sure, one of them thrust his spear into the body, +making a wound so large that Jesus, when He was risen, could invite the +doubting Thomas to thrust his hand into it; and, as the weapon was +drawn forth again, there came out after it blood and water. + +St. John, who was on the spot and saw all this taking place, seems to +have perceived in the scene an unusual importance; for he adds to his +report these words of confirmation, as if he were sealing an official +document, "And he that saw it bare record; and his record is true; and +he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe." Why should he +interrupt the flow of his narrative to add these words of assurance? + +Some have thought that he was moved to do so by a heresy which sprang +up in the early Church to the effect that Christ was not really human: +His body, it was said, was only a phantom body, and therefore His death +was only an apparent death. In opposition to such a notion St. John +directs attention to the realistic details, which prove so conclusively +that this was a real man and that He died a real death. Of course that +ancient heresy has long ceased to trouble; there are none now who deny +that Jesus was a man. Yet it is curious how the tendency ever and anon +reappears to evaporate the facts of His life. At the present hour +there are eminent Christian teachers in Europe who are treating the +resurrection of the Lord in very much the same way as these early +Docetae treated His death--as a kind of figure of speech, not to be +understood too literally. Against such the Church must lift up the +crude facts of the resurrection as St. John did those of the death of +the Saviour.[3] In our generation teachers of every kind are appealing +to Christ and putting Him in the centre of theology; but we must ask +them, What Christ? Is it the Christ of the Scriptures: the Christ who +in the beginning was with God; who was incarnated; who died for the +sins of the world; who was raised from the dead and reigns for +evermore? We must not delude ourselves with words: only the Christ of +the Scriptures could have brought us the salvation of the Scriptures. + + +What excited the wonder of St. John is supposed by others to have been +the fulfilment of two passages of the Old Testament Scripture which he +quotes. It appeared to be a matter of mere chance that the soldiers, +contrary to the intention of the Jews, refrained from breaking the +bones of Jesus; yet a sacred word, of which they knew nothing, written +hundreds of years before, had said, "A bone of Him shall not be +broken." It seemed the most casual circumstance that the soldier +plunged the spear into the side of Jesus, to make sure that He was +dead; yet an ancient oracle, of which he knew nothing, had said, "They +shall look on Him whom they pierced." Thus, by the overruling +providence of God, the soldiers, going with rude unconcern about their +work, were unconsciously fulfilling the Scriptures; and those who both +saw what they had done and knew the Scriptures recognised the Divine +finger pointing out Jesus as the Sent of God. + +The first of these texts is generally supposed[4] to be taken from the +account in Exodus of the institution of the Passover, and originally it +refers to the paschal lamb, which was to be eaten whole, the breaking +of its bones being forbidden. St. John's idea is that Christ was to be +the paschal lamb of the New Dispensation, and that therefore Providence +took care that nothing should be done to destroy His resemblance to the +type, as would have happened if His bones had been broken. The +Passover was the great event of the year in all the generations of +Jewish history. It was intended to carry the minds of God's people +back to the wonderful scenes of divine grace and power in which their +existence as a nation had begun, when God liberated them from their +bondage and led them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The centre of +the solemnity was the slaying and eating of the paschal lamb. This +reminded them of how in Egypt the blood of this lamb, sprinkled on the +lintels and doorposts of their huts, saved them from the visit of the +destroying angel, who was passing through the land; and how, at the +same time, the flesh of the lamb was eaten by the people, with their +loins girt and staves in their hands, and supplied them with strength +for their adventurous journey. Thus through all ages it impressed on +them two things--that the sins of the past required to be expiated, and +that strength had to be obtained from above for the new stage of their +history on which at the annual Passover they might be supposed to be +entering. In the same way, in the New Dispensation, are our minds ever +to revert to the marvellous revelation of the grace and saving power of +God in which Christianity originated; and in the very midst is the Lamb +slain, who is both the expiation of the sins that are past and the +strength requisite for the conflict and the pilgrimage. "If we walk in +the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, +and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." + +The other words of prophecy which appeared to St. John to be fulfilled +on this occasion were, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced." +They are from a passage in Zechariah, which is so remarkable that it +may be quoted in full--"And I will pour out on the house of David and +upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of +supplications, and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and +they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall +be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his +firstborn." Jehovah speaks figuratively of the opposition shown to +Himself and His servants as piercing Him with pain, just as we say of +an insult that it cuts to the heart. But in the death of Jesus the +figure became a fact: against the sacred person of the Son of God the +spear was lifted up, and it was driven home without compunction. +Evidently St. John thinks of this rather as the act of the Jewish +people than of the Roman soldier. But the prophecy speaks not only of +the people piercing God, but of their looking at their own work with +shame and tears. At Pentecost this began to be fulfilled; and in every +age since there have been members of the Jewish race who have +acknowledged their guilt in the transaction. The full acknowledgment, +however, still lingers; but the conversion of God's ancient people, +when it comes, must begin with this. Indeed, every human being to whom +his own true relation to Christ is revealed must make the same +acknowledgment. It was the heart not of a few soldiers or of the +representatives of a single people, but of the human race, that +hardened itself against Him. It was the sin of the world that nailed +Him to the tree and shed His blood. Every sinner may therefore feel +that he had a hand in it; and it is only when we see our own sin as +aiming at the very existence of God in the death of His Son that we +comprehend it in all its enormity. + + +There have been many who have found the reason for St. John's wonder in +the fact that out of the wounded side there flowed blood and water. + +From a corpse, when it is pierced--at least, if it has been some time +dead--it is not usual for anything to flow. But whether St. John +reflected on this or not we cannot tell. What fascinated him was +simply the fact that the piercing of the body of the Saviour made it a +fountain out of which sprang this double outflow. When the rock in the +wilderness was smitten with the rod of Moses, there issued from it a +stream which was life to the perishing multitude; but in the double +stream coming from the side of Jesus St. John saw something better even +than that; because to him the blood symbolized the atonement, and the +water the Spirit of Christ; and in these two all our salvation lies.[5] +So we sing in the most precious of all our hymns,-- + + Let the water and the blood + From Thy living side which flowed + Be of sin the double cure-- + Cleanse me from its guilt and power. + + +Although, however, St. John did not perhaps speculate on the reason why +this double outflow took place from the wounded side, others have +occupied themselves with the question. + +Some[6] have considered the phenomenon altogether abnormal, and +endeavoured to explain it from the peculiarity of our Lord's humanity. +Though He died. He was not, like other men, to see corruption; His +body was to escape in a few hours, transfigured and glorious, from the +grasp of death. This transforming process, which issued in His +resurrection, began as soon as He was dead; and the spear-thrust, +breaking in on it, so to speak, revealed something altogether unique in +the constitution of His body. + +Others, keeping within the limits of ascertained fact, have given a +totally different yet a peculiarly interesting explanation. They have +directed attention to the suddenness of Christ's death. It was usual +for crucified persons to linger for days; but He did not survive more +than six hours. Yet immediately before dying He again and again cried +with a loud voice, as if His bodily force were by no means exhausted. +Suddenly, however, with a loud cry His life terminated. To what could +this be due? It is said that sometimes, under the pressure of intense +mental and physical agony, the heart bursts; there is a shriek, and of +course death is instantaneous. We speak of people dying of a broken +heart--using the phrase only figuratively--but sometimes it can be used +literally: the heart is actually ruptured with grief. Now, it is said +that, when this takes place, the blood contained in the heart is poured +into a sac by which it is surrounded; and there it separates into two +substances--a clotty substance of the colour of blood and a pure, +colourless substance like water. And, if the sac, when in this +condition, were pierced by a spear or any other instrument, there would +flow out a large quantity of both substances, which would by an +unscientific spectator be described as blood and water. + +It was by an English medical man that this theory was first propounded +fifty years ago,[7] and it has been adopted by other medical men, +equally famous for their scientific eminence and Christian character, +such as the late Professor Begbie and Sir James Simpson. The latter +well brings out the point and the pathos of this view of the Saviour's +death in these words:[8] "It has always appeared--to my medical mind at +least--that this view of the mode by which death was produced in the +human body of Christ intensifies all our thoughts and ideas regarding +the immensity of the sacrifice which He made for our sinful race upon +the cross. Nothing can be more striking and startling than the +passiveness with which, for our sakes, God as man submitted His +incarnate body to the horrors and tortures of the crucifixion. But our +wonderment at the stupendous sacrifice increases when we reflect that, +whilst thus enduring for our sins the most cruel and agonising form of +corporeal death, He was ultimately slain, not by the effects of the +anguish of His corporeal frame, but by the effects of the mightier +anguish of His mind; the fleshly walls of His heart--like the veil, as +it were, in the temple of His body--becoming rent and riven, as for us +He poured out His soul unto death--the travail of His soul in that +awful hour thus standing out as unspeakably more bitter and dreadful +than even the travail of His body." + +In this chapter we have been moving somewhat in the region of +speculation and conjecture, and we have not rigidly ascertained what is +logically tenable and what is not. This is a place of mystery, where +dim yet imposing meanings peep out on us in whatever direction we turn. +We have called the scene the Dead Christ. But who does not see that +the dead Christ is so interesting and wonderful because He is also the +living Christ? He lives; He is here; He is with us now. Yet the +converse is also true--that the living Christ is to us so wonderful and +adorable because He was dead. The fact that He is alive inspires us +with strength and hope; but it is by the memory of His death that He is +commended to the trust of our burdened consciences and the love of our +sympathetic hearts. + + + +[1] Deut. xxi. 22, 23. + +[2] "_Crurifragium_, as it was called, consisted in striking the legs +of the sufferer with a heavy mallet"--FARRAR, _Life of Christ_, ii., +423. + +[3] The words that follow in this paragraph are a reminiscence of a +singularly eloquent and powerful passage in a speech of Dr. Maclaren, +of Manchester, delivered last year in Edinburgh. + +[4] Weiss, however, supposes Psalm xxxiv. 20 to be the reference. + +[5] On the symbolism of this phenomenon see the excursus in Westcott's +_Gospel of St. John_, pp. 284-86. + +[6] _E.g._, Lange, characteristically. + +[7] Stroud in his treatise _On the Physical Cause of the Death of +Christ_. + +[8] Given in Hanna's _The Last Day of our Lord's Passion_. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE BURIAL + +There is a hard and shallow philosophy which regards it as a matter of +complete indifference what becomes of the body after the soul has left +it and affects contempt of all funeral ceremonies. But the instincts +of mankind are wiser. In ancient times it was considered one of the +worst of misfortunes to miss decent burial; and, although this +sentiment was mixed with superstition, there was beneath it a healthy +instinct. There is a dignity of the body as well as of the soul, +especially when it is a temple of the Holy Ghost; and there is a +majesty about death which cannot be ignored without loss to the +living.[1] It is with a sense of pain and humiliation, as if a +dishonour were being done to human nature, that we see a funeral at +which everything betokens hurry, shabbiness and slovenliness. On the +contrary, the satisfaction is not morbid with which we see a funeral +conducted with solemnity and chaste pomp. And, when someone falls +whose career has been one of extraordinary achievement and beneficence, +and who has become + + On fortune's crowning slope + The pillar of a nation's hope, + The centre of a world's desire, + +then, as the remains are borne amidst an empire's lamentation to rest +"under the cross of gold that shines over river and city," and the +tolling bells and echoing cannon sound over hushed London, and the +silent masses line the streets, and the learned and the noble stand +uncovered around the open grave, it would be a diseased and churlish +mind which did not feel the spell of the pageant. + +Thus ought the great, the wise and the good to be buried. How then was +He buried whom all now agree to call the Greatest, the Wisest and the +Best? + + +I. + +The three corpses were taken down towards evening, before the Jewish +Sabbath set in, which commenced at sunset. Probably the two robbers +were buried on the spot, crosses and all, or they were hurriedly +carried off to some obscure and accursed ditch, where the remains of +criminals were wont to be unceremoniously thrust underground. + +This would have been the fate of Jesus too, had not an unexpected hand +interposed. It was the humane custom of the Romans to give the corpses +of criminals to their friends, if they chose to ask for them; and a +claimant appeared for the body of Jesus, to whom Pilate was by no means +loath to grant it. + +This is the first time that Joseph of Arimathea appears on the stage of +the gospel history; and of his previous life very little is known. +Even the town from which he derives his appellation is not known with +certainty. The fact that he owned a garden and burying-place in the +environs of Jerusalem does not necessarily indicate that he was a +resident there; for pious Jews had all a desire to be buried in the +precincts of the sacred city; and, indeed, the whole neighbourhood is +still honeycombed with tombs. + +Joseph was a rich man; and this may have availed him in his application +to Pilate. Those who possess wealth or social position or +distinguished talents can serve Christ in ways which are not accessible +to His humbler followers. Only, before such gifts can be acceptable to +Him, those to whom they belong must count them but loss and dung for +His sake. + +Joseph was a councillor. It has been conjectured that the council of +which he was a member was that of Arimathea; but the observation that +he "had not consented to the counsel and deed of them," which obviously +refers to the Sanhedrim, makes it more than probable that it was of +this august body he was a member. No doubt he absented himself +deliberately from the meeting at which Jesus was condemned, knowing +well beforehand that the proceedings would be utterly painful and +revolting to his feelings. For "he was a good man and a just." + +We are, however, told more about him: "he waited for the kingdom of +God." This is a phrase applied elsewhere also in the New Testament to +the devout in Palestine at this period; and it designates in a striking +way the peculiarity of their piety. The age was spiritually dead. +Religion was represented by the high-and-dry formalism of the Pharisees +on the one hand and the cold and worldly scepticism of the Sadducees on +the other. In the synagogues the people asked for bread and were +offered a stone. The scribes, instead of letting the pure river of +Bible truth flow over the land, choked up its course with the sand of +their soulless commentary. Yet there are good people even in the worst +of times. There were truly pious souls sprinkled up and down +Palestine. They were like lights shining here and there, at great +intervals, in the darkness. They could not but feel that they were +strangers and foreigners in their own age and country, and they lived +in the past and the future. The prophets, on whose words they +nourished their souls, foretold a good time coming, when on those who +sat in darkness there would burst a great light. For this better time, +then, they were waiting. They were waiting to hear the voice of +prophecy echoing once more through the land and waking the population +from its spiritual slumber. They were waiting, above all, for the +Messiah, if they might dare to hope that He would come in their days. + +Such were the souls among which both John and Jesus found their +auditors. All such must have welcomed the voices of the Baptist and +his Successor as at least those of prophets who were striving earnestly +to deal with the evils of the time. But whether Jesus was He that +should come or whether they should look for another, some of them stood +in doubt. Among these perhaps was Joseph. He was, it is said, a +disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews. He had faith, +but not faith enough to confess Christ and take the consequences. Even +during the trial of Jesus he satisfied his conscience by being absent +from the meeting of the Sanhedrim, instead of standing up in his place +and avowing his convictions. + +Such he had been up to this point. But now in the face of danger he +identified himself with Jesus. It is interesting to note what it was +that brought him to decision. It was the excess of wickedness in his +fellow-councillors, who at length went to a stage of violence and +injustice which allowed him to hesitate no longer. Complete religious +decision is sometimes brought about in this way. Thus, for example, +one who has been halting between two opinions, or, at all events, has +never had courage enough openly to confess his convictions, may be some +day among his fellow-workmen or shopmen, when religion comes up as a +topic of conversation and is received with ridicule, Christ's people +being sneered at, His doctrines denied, and He Himself blasphemed. But +at last it goes too far the silent, half-convinced disciple can stand +it no longer; he breaks out in indignant protest and stands confessed +as a Christian. In some such way as this must the change of sentiment +have taken place in the mind of Joseph. He had to defy the entire +Sanhedrim; he was putting himself in imminent peril; but he could hold +in no longer; and, casting fear behind his back, he went in "boldly" to +Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. + + +II. + +Boldness in confessing Christ is apt to have two results. + +On the one hand, it cows adversaries. It is not said that Joseph got +himself into trouble by his action on this occasion, or that the +Sanhedrim immediately commenced a persecution against him. They were, +indeed, in a state of extreme excitement, and they were seventy to one. +But sometimes a single bold man can quell much more numerous opposition +than even this. It is certain that the consciences of many of them +were ill at ease, and they were by no means prepared to challenge to +argument on the merits of the case a quiet and resolute man with the +elevation of whose character they were all acquainted. It is one of +the great advantages of those who stand up for Christ that they have +the consciences even of their adversaries on their side. + +The other effect of boldness in confessing Christ is that it brings out +confession from others who have not had in their own breast enough of +fire to make them act, but are heated up to the necessary temperature +by example. It seems clear that in this way the example of Joseph +evoked the loyalty of Nicodemus. + +Nicodemus was of the same rank as Joseph, being a member of the +Sanhedrim; and he was a secret disciple. This is not the first time +that he appears on the stage of the Gospel history. At the very +commencement of the career of Jesus he had been attracted to Him and +had gone so far as to seek a private interview; the account of which is +one of the most precious component parts of the Gospel and has made +tens of thousands not only believers in Christ but witnesses for Him. +It had not, however, as much effect on the man to whom it was +originally vouchsafed, though it ought to have had. Nicodemus ought to +have been one of the earliest followers of the Lord; and his position +would have brought weight to the apostolic circle. But he hesitated +and remained a secret disciple. On one occasion, indeed, he spoke out: +once, when something intolerably unjust was said against Jesus in the +Sanhedrim, he interposed the question, "Doth our law judge any man +before it hear him and know what he doeth?" But with the angry answer, +"Art thou also of Galilee?" he was shouted down; and he held his peace. +Doubtless, like Joseph, he absented himself from the meeting of the +Sanhedrim at which Jesus was condemned; but the injustice done was so +flagrant that he was ready to make a public protest against it. He +might not, however, have had the courage of his convictions, had not +Joseph shown him the way. + +Yet this must be praised in Nicodemus, that he was a growing and +improving man. Though he hung back for a time, he came forward at +last; and better late than never. It was a happy hour for him when he +was brought into contact with Joseph. There are many circles of +friends where all are internally convinced and leaning to the right +side, and, if only one would come boldly out, the others would +willingly follow. The hands of Joseph and Nicodemus met and clasped +each other round the body of their Redeemer. There is no love, or +friendship, or fellowship like that of those who are united to one +another through their connection with Him. + + +III. + +Art has described the burial of our Lord with great fulness of detail, +drawing largely on the imagination. It has divided it into several +scenes.[2] + +There is, first, the Descent from the Cross, in which, besides Joseph +and Nicodemus, St. John at least, and sometimes other men, are +represented as extracting the nails and lowering the body; while +beneath the cross the holy women, among whom the Virgin Mary and Mary +Magdalene are prominent, receive the precious burden. Many readers +will recall the most famous of such pictures, that by Rubens in the +Cathedral at Antwerp--an extremely impressive but too sensuous +representation of the scene of busy affection--wherein the corpse is +being let down by means of a great white sheet into the hands of the +women, who receive it tenderly, one foot resting on the shoulder of the +Magdalene. + +Then there is what is called the Pieta, or the mourning of the women +over the dead body. In this scene the holy mother usually holds the +head of her Son in her lap, while the Magdalene clasps His feet and +others clasp His hands. Next ensues the Procession to the Sepulchre; +and, last of all, there is the Entombment, which is represented in a +great variety of forms. + +On these scenes the great painters have lavished all the resources of +art; but the narrative of the Gospels is brief and unpictorial. The +Virgin is not even mentioned; and, although others of the holy women +are said to have been there, it is not suggested that they helped in +the labour of burial, but only that they followed and marked where He +was laid. Joseph and Nicodemus are the prominent actors, though it is +reasonable to suppose that they were assisted by their servants; and +the soldiers may have lent a hand in disentangling the body. + +It was in a new sepulchre, which Joseph had had hewn out of the rock +for himself, in order that after death he might lie in the sacred +shadow of the city of God, that the Lord was laid. No corpse had ever +been placed in it before. This was a great gift to give to an +excommunicated and crucified man; and it was a most appropriate one; +for it was meet that the pure and stainless One, who had come to make +all things new and, though dead, was not to see corruption, should rest +in an undefiled sepulchre. Similarly appropriate and suggestive was +the new linen cloth, which Joseph bought expressly for the purpose of +enwinding the body. Nor was Nicodemus behind in affection and +sacrifice. He brought "a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred +pound weight." This may appear an enormous quantity, but custom was +very lavish in such gifts; at the funeral of Herod the Great, for +example, the spices were carried by five hundred bearers. + +The tomb was in a garden--another touch of appropriateness and beauty. +The spot does not seem to have been far from the place of execution; +but whether it was as near as it is represented to have been in the +traditional site may well be doubted. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre +includes within its precincts both the Lord's tomb and the hole in the +rock in which stood His cross; and the two are only thirty yards +apart.[3] But it is highly questionable whether the identification of +either is possible. Still, this may be said to be the most famous bit +of the entire surface of the globe. Christendom accepted the +tradition, which dates from the time of Constantine, and since then +pilgrims have flocked to the spot from every land. It was for the +possession of this shrine that the Crusades were undertaken, and at the +present day the Churches of Christendom fight for a footing in it. + +We may have no sympathy with the practice of pilgrimages and little +interest in the identification of holy places; but the holy sepulchre +cannot but attract the believing heart. It was a practice of the piety +of former days to meditate among the tombs. The piety of the present +day inclines to more cheerful and, let us hope, not less healthy +exercises. But every man with any depth of nature must linger +sometimes beside the graves of his loved ones; every man of any +seriousness must think sometimes of his own grave. And in such moments +what can be so helpful as to pilgrim in spirit to the tomb of Him who +said, "I am the resurrection and the life"? + +In comparison with the great ones of the earth Jesus had but a humble +funeral; yet in the character of those who did Him the last honours it +could not have been surpassed; and it was rich in love, which can well +take the place of a great deal of ceremony. So at last, stretched out +in the new tomb, wherein man had never lain, enwrapped in an aromatic +bed of spices and breathed round by the fragrance of flowers, with the +white linen round Him and the napkin which hid the wounds of the thorns +about His brow, while the great stone which formed the door stood +between Him and the world, He lay down to rest. It was evening, and +the Sabbath drew on; and the Sabbath of His life had come. His work +was completed; persecution and hatred could not reach Him any more; He +was where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. + + + +[1] The most beautiful thing ever said about the bodies of the dead is +in the Shorter Catechism: "And their bodies, being still united to +Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection." + +[2] On these and similar details see _The Life of our Lord as +exemplified in Works of Art_, by Mrs. Jameson (completed by Lady +Eastlake). + +[3] Many interesting details in Ross's _Cradle of Christianity_. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ, by +James Stalker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIAL AND DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST *** + +***** This file should be named 21814-8.txt or 21814-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/8/1/21814/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/21814-8.zip b/21814-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0bef62f --- /dev/null +++ b/21814-8.zip diff --git a/21814.txt b/21814.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7fe7dea --- /dev/null +++ b/21814.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7605 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ, by James Stalker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ + A Devotional History of our Lord's Passion + +Author: James Stalker + +Release Date: June 12, 2007 [EBook #21814] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIAL AND DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +THE TRIAL AND DEATH + +OF + +JESUS CHRIST + + +A Devotional History of our Lord's Passion. + + + +BY + +JAMES STALKER, D.D. + + + +AUTHOR OF "LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST," "LIFE OF ST. PAUL," "IMAGO CHRISTI," +ETC. + + + +CRUX DOMINI PALMA, CEDRUS, CYPRESSUS, OLIVA. + + + +HODDER & STOUGHTON + +NEW YORK + +GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1894, + +BY + +A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON. + + + + +TO MY WIFE + + + + +PREFACE + +Ever since I wrote, in a contracted form, _The Life of Jesus Christ_, +the desire has slumbered in my mind to describe on a much more extended +scale the closing passages of the Saviour's earthly history; and, +although renewed study has deepened my sense of the impossibility of +doing these scenes full justice, yet the subject has never ceased to +attract me, as being beyond all others impressive and remunerative. + +The limits of our Lord's Passion are somewhat indeterminate. +Krummacher begins with the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Tauler with +the Feet-washing before the Last Supper, and Rambach with Gethsemane; +most end with the Death and Burial; but Grimm, a Roman Catholic, the +latest writer on the subject, means to extend his _Leidensgeschichte_ +to the end of the Forty Days. Taking the word "passion" in the strict +sense, I have commenced at the point where, by falling into the hands +of His enemies, our Lord was deprived of voluntary activity; and I have +finished with the Burial. No doubt the same unique greatness belongs +to the scenes of the previous evening; and I should like to write of +Christ among His Friends as I have here written of Him among His Foes; +but for this purpose a volume at least as large as the present one +would be requisite; and the portion here described has an obvious unity +of its own. + +The bibliography of the Passion is given with considerable fulness in +Zoeckler's _Das Kreuz Christi_; but a good many of the books there +enumerated may be said to have been superseded by the monumental work +of Nebe, _Die Leidensgeschichte unsers Herrn Hesu Christi_ (2 vols., +1881), which, though not a work of genius, is written on so +comprehensive a plan and with such abundance of learning that nothing +could better serve the purpose of anyone who wishes to draw the +skeleton before painting the picture. Of the numerous Lives of Christ +those by Keim and Edersheim are worthy of special notice in this part +of the history, because of the fulness of information from classical +sources in the one and from Talmudical in the other. Steinmeyer +(_Leidensgeschichte_) is valuable on apologetic questions. On the +Seven Words from the Cross there is an extensive special literature. +Schleiermacher and Tholuck are remarkably good; and there are volumes +by Baring-Gould, Scott Holland and others. + +In the sub-title I have called this book a Devotional History, because +the subject is one which has to be studied with the heart as well as +the head. But I have not on this account written in the declamatory +and interrogatory style common in devotional works. I have to confess +that some even of the most famous books on the Passion are to me +intolerably tedious, because they are written, so to speak, in oh's and +ah's. Surely this is not essential to devotion. The scenes of the +Passion ought, indeed, to stir the depths of the heart; but this +purpose is best attained, not by the narrator displaying his own +emotions, but, as is shown in the incomparable model of the Gospels, by +the faithful exhibition of the facts themselves. + +GLASGOW, 1894. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + +I. THE ARREST + +Matt. xxvi. 47-56; Mark xiv. 43-50; Luke xxii. 47-53; John viii. 1-11. + + +II. THE ECCLESIASTICAL TRIAL + +Matt. xxvi. 57-68; Mark xiv. 51-65; Luke xxii. 54-71; John xviii. +12-14, 19-24. + + +III. THE GREAT DENIAL + +Matt. xxvi. 69-75; Mark xiv. 66-72; Luke xxii. 54-62; John xviii. +15-18, 25-7. + + +IV. THE CIVIL TRIAL + +Matt. xxvii. 11; Mark xv. 2; Luke xxiii. 2-4; John xviii. 28-38. + + +V. JESUS AND HEROD + +Luke xxiii. 5-12. + + +VI. BACK TO PILATE + +Matt. xxvii. 15-23; Mark xv. 6-14; Luke xxiii. 13-25; John xviii. 39, +40. + + +VII. THE CROWN OF THORNS + +Matt. xxvii. 26-30; Mark xv. 15-20; Luke xxiii. 25; John xix. 1-5. + + +VIII. THE SHIPWRECK OF PILATE + +Matt. xxvii. 24, 25; Mark xv. 15; Luke xxiii. 25; John xix. 5-16. + + +IX. JUDAS ISCARIOT + +Matt. xxvii. 3-10; Acts i. 18, 19. + + +X. VIA DOLOROSA + +Matt. xxvii. 31-3; Mark xv. 20, 21; Luke xxiii. 26; John xix. 16, 17. + + +XI. THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM + +Luke xxiii. 27-31. + + +XIL. CALVARY + +Matt. xxvii. 33-8; Mark xv. 27, 28; Luke xxiii. 32, 33; John xix. 18-22. + + +XIII. THE GROUPS ROUND THE CROSS + +Matt. xxvii. 39-44, 55, 56; Mark xv. 29-32; Luke xxiii. 35-7, 49; John +xix. 23-5. + + +XIV. THE FIRST WORD FROM THE CROSS + +Luke xxiii. 34. + + +XV. THE SECOND WORD FROM THE CROSS + +Luke xxiii. 39-43. + + +XVI. THE THIRD WORD FROM THE CROSS + +John xix. 25-27. + + +XVII. THE FOURTH WORD FROM THE CROSS + +Matt. xxvii. 46-9; Mark xv. 34-6. + + +XVIII. THE FIFTH WORD FROM THE CROSS + +John xix. 28. + + +XIX. THE SIXTH WORD FROM THE CROSS + +John xix. 30. + + +XX. THE SEVENTH WORD FROM THE CROSS + +Luke xxiii. 46. + + +XXI. THE SIGNS + +Matt. xxvii. 50-4; Mark xv. 38, 39; Luke xxiii. 44, 45, 47. + + +XXII. THE DEAD CHRIST + +John xix. 31-7. + + +XXIII. THE BURIAL + +Matt. xxvii. 57-61; Mark xv. 42-7; Luke xxiii. 50-6; John xix. 38-42. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE ARREST + +Our study of the closing scenes of the life of our Lord begins at the +point where He fell into the hands of the representatives of justice; +and this took place at the gate of Gethsemane and at the midnight hour. + +On the eastern side of Jerusalem, the ground slopes downwards to the +bed of the Brook Kedron; and on the further side of the stream rises +the Mount of Olives. The side of the hill was laid out in gardens or +orchards belonging to the inhabitants of the city; and Gethsemane was +one of these. There is no probability that the enclosure now pointed +out to pilgrims at the foot of the hill is the actual spot, or that the +six aged olive trees which it contains are those to the silent shadows +of which the Saviour used to resort; but the scene cannot have been far +away, and the piety which lingers with awe in the traditional site +cannot be much mistaken. + +The agony in Gethsemane was just over, when "lo," as St. Matthew says, +"Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude." They +had come down from the eastern gate of the city and were approaching +the entrance to the garden. It was full moon, and the black mass was +easily visible, moving along the dusty road. + +The arrest of Christ was not made by two or three common officers of +justice. The "great multitude" has to be taken literally, but not in +the sense of a disorderly crowd. As it was at the instance of the +ecclesiastical authorities that the apprehension took place, their +servants--the Levitical police of the temple--were to the front. But, +as Jesus had at least eleven resolute men with Him, and these might +rouse incalculable numbers of His adherents on the way to the city, it +had been considered judicious to ask from the Roman governor a division +of soldiers,[1] which, at the time of the Passover, was located in the +fortress of Antonia, overlooking the temple, to intervene in any +emergency. And some of the members of the Sanhedrim had even come +themselves, so eager were they to see that the design should not +miscarry. This composite force was armed with swords and staves--the +former weapon belonging perhaps to the Roman soldiers and the latter to +the temple police--and they carried lanterns and torches, probably +because they expected to have to hunt for Jesus and His followers in +the recesses of His retreat. Altogether it was a formidable body: they +were determined to make assurance doubly sure. + + +I. + +The leader of them was Judas. Of the general character of this man, +and the nature of his crime, enough will be said later; but here we +must note that there were special aggravations in his mode of carrying +out his purpose. + +He profaned the Passover. The better day, says the proverb, the better +deed. But, if a deed is evil, it is the worse if it is done on a +sacred day. The Passover was the most sacred season of the entire +year; and this very evening was the most sacred of the Passover week. +It was as if a crime should in Scotland be committed by a member of the +Church on the night of a Communion Sabbath, or in England on Christmas +Day. + +He invaded the sanctuary of his Master's devotions. Gethsemane was a +favourite resort of Jesus; Judas had been there with Him, and he knew +well for what purpose He frequented it. But the respect due to a place +of prayer did not deter him; on the contrary, he took advantage of his +Master's well-known habit. + +But the crowning profanation, for which humanity will never forgive +him, was the sign by which he had agreed to make his Master known to +His enemies. It is probable that he came on in front, as if he did not +belong to the band behind; and, hurrying towards Jesus, as if to +apprise Him of His danger and condole with Him on so sad a misfortune +as His apprehension, he flung himself on His neck, sobbing, "Master, +Master!" and not only did he kiss Him, but he did so repeatedly or +fervently: so the word signifies.[2] As long as there is true, pure +love in the world, this act will be hated and despised by everyone who +has ever given or received this token of affection. It was a sin +against the human heart and all its charities. But none can feel its +horror as it must have been felt by Jesus. That night and the next day +His face was marred in many ways: it was furrowed by the bloody sweat; +it was bruised with blows; they spat upon it; it was rent with thorns: +but nothing went so close to His heart as the profanation of this kiss. +As another said, who had been similarly treated: "It was not an enemy +that reproached me, then I could have borne it; neither was it he that +hated me that did magnify himself against me, then I would have hid +myself from him; but it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide and mine +acquaintance; we took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house +of God in company." [3] Before the kiss was given, Jesus still +received him with the old name of Friend; but, after being stung with +it, He could not keep back the annihilating question, "Judas, betrayest +thou the Son of man with a kiss?" + +The kiss was the sign of discipleship. In the East, students used to +kiss their rabbis; and in all likelihood this custom prevailed between +Christ and His disciples. When we become His disciples, we may be said +to kiss Him; and every time we renew the pledge of our loyalty we may +be said to repeat this act. We do so especially in the Lord's Supper. +In our baptism He may be said to take us up in His arms and kiss us; in +the other sacrament we obtain the opportunity of returning this mark of +affection. + + +II. + +Probably Judas, being ahead of the band he was leading, went somewhat +into the shadows of the garden to reach Jesus; and no doubt it was +expected that Jesus would try to get away. But, instead of doing so, +He shook Himself free from Judas and, coming forward at once into the +moonlight, demanded, "Whom seek ye?" + +At this they were so startled that they reeled back and, stepping one +on another, fell to the ground. + +Similar incidents are related of famous men. The Roman Marius, for +instance, was in prison at Minturnae when Sylla sent orders that he +should be put to death. A Gaulish slave was sent to dispatch him; but, +at the sight of the man who had shaken the world, and who cried out, +"Fellow, darest thou to slay Caius Marius?" the soldier threw down his +weapon and fled.[4] + +There are many indications scattered through the Gospels that, +especially in moments of high emotion, there was something +extraordinarily subduing in the aspect and voice of Christ.[5] On the +occasion, for example, when He cleared the temple, the hardened +profaners of the place, though numerous and powerful, fled in terror +before Him. And the striking notice of Him as He was going up to +Jerusalem for the last time will be remembered: "Jesus went before +them, and they were amazed; and, as they followed, they were afraid." + +On this occasion the emotion of Gethsemane was upon Him--the rapt sense +of victory and of a mind steeled to go through with its purpose--and +perhaps there remained on His face some traces of the Agony, which +scared the onlookers. It is not necessary to suppose that there was +anything preternatural, though part of the terror of His captors may +have been the dread lest He should destroy them by a miracle. +Evidently Judas was afraid of something of this kind when he said, +"Take Him and lead Him away safely." + +The truth is, they were caught, instead of catching Him. It was a +mean, treacherous errand they were on. They were employing a traitor +as their guide. They expected to come upon Christ, perhaps when He was +asleep, in silence and by stealth; or, if He were awake, they thought +that they would have to pursue Him into a lurking-place, where they +would find Him trembling and at bay. They were to surprise Him, but, +when He came forth fearless, rapt and interrogative, He surprised them, +and compelled them to take an altogether unexpected attitude. He +brought all above board and put them to shame. + +How ridiculous now looked their cumbrous preparations--all these +soldiers, the swords and staves, the torches and lanterns, now burning +pale in the clear moonlight. Jesus made them feel it. He made them +feel what manner of spirit they were of, and how utterly they had +mistaken His views and spirit. "Whom seek ye?" He asked them again, to +compel them to see that they were not taking Him, but that He was +giving Himself up. He was completely master of the situation. +Singling out the Sanhedrists, who probably at that moment would rather +have kept in the background, He demanded, pointing to their excessive +preparations, "Be ye come out as against a thief, with swords and +staves? When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no +hands against Me." He, a solitary man, though He knew how many were +against Him, had not been afraid: He taught daily in the temple--in the +most public place, at the most public hour. But they, numerous and +powerful as they were, yet were afraid, and so they had chosen the +midnight hour for their nefarious purpose. "This is your hour," He +said, "and the power of darkness." This midnight hour is your hour, +because ye are sons of night, and the power ye wield against Me is the +power of darkness. + +So spake the Lion of the tribe of Judah! So will He speak on that day +when all His enemies shall be put under His feet. "Kiss the Son, lest +He be angry, and ye perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a +little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him." + + +III. + +We cannot recall to mind too often that it was the victory in the +Garden that accounted for this triumph outside the gate. The +irresistible dignity and strength here displayed were gained by +watching and prayer. + +This, however, is made still more impressively clear by the fate of +those who did not watch and pray. On them everything came as a +blinding and bewildering surprise. They were aroused out of profound +slumber, and came stumbling forward hardly yet awake. When hands were +laid on Jesus, one of the disciples cried, "Shall we smite with the +sword?" And, without waiting for an answer, he struck. But what a +ridiculous blow! How like a man half-awake! Instead of the head, he +only smote the ear. This blow would have been dearly paid for had not +Jesus, with perfect presence of mind, interposed between Peter and the +swords which were being drawn to cut him down. "Suffer ye thus far," +He said, keeping the soldiers back; and, touching the ear, He healed +it, and saved His poor disciple. + +Surely it was even with a smile that Jesus said to Peter, "Put up again +thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish +with the sword." Inside the scabbard, not outside, was the sword's +place; it was out of place in this cause; and those who wield the sword +without just reason, and without receiving the orders of competent +authority, are themselves liable to give life for life. + +But it was with the high-strung eloquence with which He had spoken to +His enemies that Jesus further showed Peter how inconsistent was his +act. It was inconsistent with his Master's dignity; "For," said He, +"if I ask My Father, He would presently give Me more than twelve +legions of angels;" and what against such a force were this +miscellaneous band, numbering at the most the tenth part of a legion of +men? It was inconsistent with Scripture: "How then shall the +Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" It was inconsistent +with His own purpose and His Father's will: "The cup which My Father +hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" + +Poor Peter! On this occasion he was thoroughly like himself. There +was a kind of rightness and nobleness in what he did; but it was in the +wrong place. If he had only been as prompt inside Gethsemane to do +what he was bidden as outside it to do what he was not bidden! How +much better if he could have drawn the spiritual sword and cut on the +ear which was to be betrayed by a maid-servant's taunt! Peter's +conduct on this occasion, as often on other occasions, showed how poor +a guide enthusiasm is when it is not informed with the mind and spirit +of Christ. + + +IV. + +Perhaps it was by the recollection of how deeply he had vowed to stick +by Christ, even if he should have to die with Him, that Peter was +pricked on to do something. The others, however, had said the same +thing. Did they remember it now? It is to be feared, not: the +apparition of mortal danger drove everything out of their minds but the +instinct of self-preservation. Sometimes, in cases of severe illness, +especially of mental disease, the curious effect may be observed--that +a face into which years of culture have slowly wrought the stamp of +refinement and dignity entirely loses this, and reverts to the original +peasant type. So the fright of their Master's arrest, coming so +suddenly on the prayerless and unprepared disciples, undid, for the +time, what their years of intercourse with Him had effected; and they +sank back into Galilean fishermen again. This was really what they +were from the arrest to the resurrection. + +Here again their conduct is in absolute contrast with their Master's. +As a mother-bird, when her brood is assailed, goes forward to meet the +enemy, or as a good shepherd stands forth between his flock and danger, +so Jesus, when His captors drew nigh, threw Himself between them and +His followers. It was partly with this in view that He went so boldly +out and concentrated attention on Himself by the challenge, "Whom seek +ye?" When they replied, "Jesus of Nazareth," He said, "I am He: if +therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way." And the fright into +which they were thrown made them forget His followers in their anxiety +to secure Himself. + +This was as He intended. St. John, in narrating it, makes the curious +remark, that this was done that the saying might be fulfilled which He +spake, "Of them which Thou gavest Me have I lost none." This saying +occurs in His great intercessory prayer, offered at the first Communion +table; but in its original place it evidently means that He had lost +none of them in a spiritual sense, whereas here it seems to have only +the sense of losing any of them by the swords of the soldiers or by the +cross, if they had been arrested with Him. But a deep hint underlies +this surface meaning. St. John suggests that, if any of them had been +taken along with Him, the likelihood is that they would have been +unequal to the crisis: they would have denied Him, and so, in the +sadder sense, would have been lost. + +Jesus, knowing too well that this was the state of the case, made for +them a way of escape, and "they all forsook Him and fled." It was +perhaps as well, for they might have done worse. Yet what an +anticlimax to the asseveration which everyone of them had made that +very evening, "If I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee in any +wise!" I have sometimes thought what an honour it would have been to +Christianity, what a golden leaf in the history of human nature, had +one or two of them--say, the brothers James and John--been strong +enough to go with Him to prison and to death. We should, indeed, have +missed St. John's writings in that case--his Revelation, Gospel and +Epistles. But what a revelation that would have been, what a gospel, +what a living epistle! + +It was not, however, to be. Jesus had to go unaccompanied: "I have +trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with Me." +So they "bound Him and led Him away." + + + +[1] _Speira_=cohors, tenth part of legion. See Ramsay, R.A., 381. + +[2] _katephilesen_. It is used of the woman who was a sinner, when she +kissed the feet of the Saviour. + +[3] Psalm lv. 13-14. + +[4] Other instances in Sueskind, _Passionsschule_, _in loc_. + +[5] See fuller details in _Imago Christi_, last chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE ECCLESIASTICAL TRIAL + +Over the Kedron, up the slope to the city, through the gates, along the +silent streets, the procession passed, with Jesus in the midst; +midnight stragglers, perhaps, hurrying forward from point to point to +ask what was ado, and peering towards the Prisoner's face, before they +diverged again towards their own homes.[1] He was conducted to the +residence of the high priest, where His trial ensued. + +Jesus had to undergo two trials--the one ecclesiastical, the other +civil; the one before Caiaphas the high priest, the other before +Pontius Pilate the governor. + +The reason of this was, that Judaea was at that time under Roman rule, +forming a portion of the Roman province of Syria and administered by a +Roman official, who resided in the splendid new seaport of Caesarea, +fifty miles away from Jerusalem, but had also a palace in Jerusalem, +which he occasionally visited. + +It was not the policy of Rome to strip the countries of which she +became mistress of all power. She flattered them by leaving in their +hands at least the insignia of self-government, and she conceded to +them as much home rule as was compatible with the retention of her +paramount authority. She was specially tolerant in matters of +religion. Thus the ancient ecclesiastical tribunal of the Jews, the +Sanhedrim, was still allowed to try all religious questions and punish +offenders. Only, if the sentence chanced to be a capital one, the case +had to be re-tried by the governor, and the carrying out of the +sentence, if it was confirmed, devolved upon him. + +It was at the instance of the ecclesiastical authorities that Jesus was +arrested, and they condemned Him to death; but they were not at liberty +to carry out their sentence: they had to take Him before Pilate, who +chanced at the time to be in the city, and he tried the case over +again, they of course being the accusers at his bar. + +Not only were there two trials, but in each trial there were three +separate stages or acts. In the first, or ecclesiastical trial, Jesus +had first to appear before Annas, then before Caiaphas and the +Sanhedrim during the night, and again before the same body after +daybreak. And in the second, or civil trial, He appeared first before +Pilate, who refused to confirm the judgment of the Jews; then Pilate +attempted to rid himself of the case by sending the Culprit to Herod of +Galilee, who happened also to be at the time in Jerusalem; but the case +came back to the Roman governor again, and, against his conscience, he +confirmed the capital sentence. + +But let me explain more fully what were the three acts in the +ecclesiastical trial.[2] + +Jesus, we are informed by St. John, was taken first to Annas. This was +an old man of seventy years, who had been high priest twenty years +before. As many as five of his sons succeeded him in this office, +which at that period was not a life appointment, but was generally held +only for a short time; and the reigning high priest at this time, +Caiaphas, was his son-in-law. Annas was a man of very great +consequence, the virtual head of ecclesiastical affairs, though +Caiaphas was the nominal head. He had come originally from Alexandria +in Egypt on the invitation of Herod the Great. He and his family were +an able, ambitious and arrogant race. As their numbers multiplied, +they became a sort of ruling caste, pushing themselves into all +important offices. They were Sadducees, and were perfect types of that +party--cold, haughty, worldly. They were intensely unpopular in the +country; but they were feared as much as they were disliked. Greedy of +gain, they ground the people with heavy ritual imposts. It is said +that the traffic within the courts of the temple, which Jesus condemned +so sternly a few days before, was carried on not only with their +connivance but for their enrichment. If this was the case, the conduct +of Jesus on that occasion may have profoundly incensed the +high-priestly caste against Him. + +Indeed, it was probably the depth of his hatred which made Annas wish +to see Jesus in the hands of justice. The wary Sadducee had in all +likelihood taken a leading part in the transaction with Judas and in +the sending out of the troops for Christ's apprehension. He, +therefore, waited out of bed to see what the upshot was to be; and +those who took Jesus brought Him to Annas first. But whatever +interrogation Annas may have subjected Him to was entirely informal.[3] + +It allowed time, however, to get together the Sanhedrim. Messengers +were dispatched to scour the city for the members at the midnight hour, +because the case was urgent and could not brook delay. None knew what +might happen if the multitude, when it awoke in the morning, found the +popular Teacher in the hands of His unpopular enemies. But, if the +trial were all over before daybreak and Jesus already in the strong +hands of the Romans before the multitude had learnt that anything was +going on, there would be nothing to fear. So the Sanhedrim was +assembled under cloud of night; and the proceedings went forward in the +small hours of the morning in the house of Caiaphas, to which Jesus had +been removed. + +This was not strictly legal, however, because the letter of the law did +not allow this court to meet by night. On this account, although the +proceedings were complete and the sentence agreed upon during the +night, it was considered necessary to hold another sitting at daybreak. +This was the third stage of the trial; but it was merely a brief +rehearsal, for form's sake, of what had been already done.[4] +Therefore, we must return to the proceedings during the night, which +contain the kernel of the matter. + +Imagine, then, a large room forming one side of the court of an +Oriental house, from which it is separated only by a row of pillars, so +that what is going on in the lighted interior is visible to those +outside. The room is semicircular. Round the arc of the semicircle +the half-hundred or more[5] members sit on a divan. Caiaphas, the +president, occupies a kind of throne in the centre of the opposite +wall. In front stands the Accused, facing him, with the jailers on the +one side and the witnesses on the other. + +How ought any trial to commence? Surely with a clear statement of the +crime alleged and with the production of witnesses to support the +charge. But, instead of beginning in this way, "the high priest asked +Jesus of His disciples and of His doctrine." + +The insinuation was that He was multiplying disciples for some secret +design and teaching them a secret doctrine, which might be construed +into a project of revolution. Jesus, still throbbing with the +indignity of being arrested under cloud of night, as if He were anxious +to escape, and by a force so large as to suggest that He was the head +of a revolutionary band, replied, with lofty self-consciousness, "Why +askest thou Me? Ask them that heard Me what I have said unto them; +behold, they know what I said." Why had they arrested Him if they had +yet to learn what He had said and done? They were trying to make Him +out to be an underground schemer; but they, with their arrests in +secrecy and their midnight trials, were themselves the sons of darkness. + +Such simple and courageous speech was alien to that place, which knew +only the whining of suppliants, the smooth flatteries of sycophants, +and the diplomatic phrases of advocates; and a jailer, perhaps seeing +the indignant blush mount into the face of the high priest, clenched +his fist and struck Jesus on the mouth, asking, "Answerest Thou the +high priest so?" Poor hireling! better for him that his hand had +withered ere it struck that blow. Almost the same thing once happened +to St. Paul in the same place, and he could not help hurling back a +stinging epithet of contempt and indignation. Jesus was betrayed into +no such loss of temper. But what shall be said of a tribunal, and an +ecclesiastical tribunal, which could allow an untried Prisoner to be +thus abused in open court by one of its minions? + +The high priest had, however, been stopped on the tack which he had +first tried, and was compelled to do what he ought to have begun +with--to call witnesses. But this, too, turned out a pitiful failure. +They had not had time to get a charge properly made out and witnesses +cited; and there was no time to wait. Evidence had to be extemporized; +and it was swept up apparently from the underlings and hangers on of +the court. It is expressly said by St. Matthew that "they sought false +witness against Jesus to put Him to death." To put Him to death was +what in their hearts they were resolved upon,--they were only trying to +trump up a legal pretext, and they were not scrupulous. The attempt +was, however, far from successful. The witnesses could not be got to +agree together or to tell a consistent story. Many were tried, but the +fiasco grew more and more ridiculous. + +At length two were got to agree about something they had heard from +Him, out of which, it was hoped, a charge could be constructed. They +had heard Him say, "I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, +and within three days I will build another made without hands." It was +a sentence of His early ministry, obviously of high poetic meaning, +which they were reproducing as the vulgarest prose; although, even thus +interpreted, it is difficult to see what they could have made of it; +because, if the first half of it meant that He was to destroy the +temple, the second promised to restore it again. The high priest saw +too well that they were making nothing of it; and, starting up and +springing forward, he demanded of Jesus, "Answerest Thou nothing? What +is it which these witness against Thee?" He affected to believe that +it was something of enormity that had been alleged; but it was really +because he knew that nothing could be founded on it that he gave way to +such unseemly excitement. + +Jesus had looked on in absolute silence while the witnesses against Him +were annihilating one another; nor did He now answer a word in response +to the high priest's interruption. He did not need to speak: silence +spoke better than the loudest words could have done. It brought home +to His judges the ridiculousness and the shamefulness of their +position. Even their hardened consciences began to be uneasy, as that +calm Face looked down on them and their procedure with silent dignity. +It was by the uneasiness which he was feeling that the high priest was +made so loud and shrill. + +In short, he had been beaten along this second line quite as completely +as he had been along the first. But he had still a last card, and now +he played it. Returning to his throne and confronting Jesus with +theatrical solemnity, he said, "I adjure Thee by the living God that +Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God." That is to +say, he put Him on oath to tell what He claimed to be; for among the +Jews the oath was pronounced by the judge, not by the prisoner. + +This was one of the great moments in the life of Christ. Apparently He +recognised the right of the high priest to put Him on oath; or at least +He saw that silence now might be construed into the withdrawal of His +claims. He knew, indeed, that the question was put merely for the +purpose of incriminating Him, and that to answer it meant death to +Himself. But He who had silenced those by whom the title of Messiah +had been thrust upon Him, when they wished to make Him a king, now +claimed the title when it was the signal for condemnation. Decidedly +and solemnly He answered, "Yes, I am"; and, as if the crisis had caused +within Him a great access of self-consciousness, He proceeded, +"Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of +power and coming in the clouds of heaven." [6] For the moment they +were His judges, but one day He would be their Judge; it was only of +His earthly life that they could dispose, but He would have to dispose +of their eternal destiny. + +It has often been said that Christians have claimed for Christ what He +never claimed for Himself; that He never claimed to be any more than a +man, but they have made Him a God. But this great statement, made upon +oath, must impress every honest mind. Every effort has, indeed, been +made to deplete its terms of their importance and to reduce them to the +lowest possible value. It is argued, for example, that, when the high +priest asked if He were "the Son of God," he meant no more than when he +asked if He were "the Christ." But what is to be said of Christ's +description of Himself as "sitting on the right hand of power and +coming in the clouds of heaven"? Can He who is to be the Judge of men, +searching their hearts to the bottom, estimating the value of their +performances, and, in accordance with these estimates, fixing their +eternal station and degree, be a mere man? The greatest and the wisest +of men are well aware that in the history of every brother man, and +even in the heart of a little child, there are secrets and mysteries +which they cannot fathom. No mere man can accurately measure the +character of a fellow-creature; he cannot even estimate his own. + +How this great confession lifts the whole scene! We see no longer +these small men and their sordid proceedings; but the Son of man +bearing witness to Himself in the audience of the universe. How little +we care now what the Jewish judges will say about Him! This great +confession reverberates down the ages, and the heart of the world, as +it hears it from His lips, says, Amen. + +The high priest had achieved his end at last. As a high priest was +expected to do when he heard blasphemy, he rent his clothes, and, +turning to his colleagues, he said, "What need have we of witnesses? +behold, now ye have heard His blasphemy." And they all assented that +Jesus was guilty, and that the sentence must be death. + +Sometimes good-hearted Bible-readers, in perusing these scenes, are +troubled with the thought that the judges of Jesus were conscientious. +Was it not their duty, when anyone came forward with Messianic +pretensions, to judge whether or not his claim was just? and did they +not honestly believe that Jesus was not what He professed to be? No +doubt they did honestly believe so. We must ascend to a much earlier +period to be able to judge their conduct accurately. It was when the +claims of Jesus were first submitted to them that they went astray. +He, being such as He was, could only have been welcomed and appreciated +by expectant, receptive, holy minds. The ecclesiastical authorities of +Judaea in that age were anything but expectant, receptive and holy. +They were totally incapable of understanding Him, and saw no beauty +that they should desire Him. As He often told them Himself, being such +as they were, they could not believe. The fault lay not so much in +what they did as in what they were. Being in the wrong path, they went +forward to the end. It may be said that they walked according to their +light; but the light that was in them was darkness. Their proceedings, +however, on this occasion will not tend to soften the heart of anyone +who looks into them carefully. They had hardly the least show of +justice. There was no regular charge or regular evidence, and no +thought whatever of allowing the Accused to bring counter-evidence; the +same persons were both accusers and judges; the sentence was a foregone +conclusion; and the entire proceedings consisted of a series of devices +to force the Accused into some statement which would supply a +colourable pretext for condemning Him.[7] + +But it was by what ensued after the sentence of condemnation was passed +that these men cut themselves off forever from the sympathy of the +tolerant and generous. A court of law ought to be a place of dignity; +when a great issue is tried and a solemn judgment passed, it ought to +impress the judges themselves; even the condemned, when a death +sentence has been passed, ought to be hedged round with a certain awe +and respect. But that blow inflicted with impunity at the commencement +of the trial by a minion of the court was too clear an index of the +state of mind of all present. There was no solemnity or greatness of +any kind in their thoughts; nothing but resentment and spite at Him who +had thwarted and defied them, lessened them in the public estimation +and stopped their unholy gains. A perfect sea of such feelings had +long been gathering in their hearts; and now, when the opportunity +came, it broke loose upon Him. They struck Him with their sticks; they +spat in His face; they drew something over His head and, smiting Him +again, cried, "Christ, prophesy who smote Thee." [8] One would wish to +believe that it was only by the miserable underlings that such things +were done; but the narrative makes it too clear that the masters led +the way and the servants followed. + +There are terrible things in man. There are some depths in human +nature into which it is scarcely safe to look. It was by the very +perfection of Christ that the uttermost evil of His enemies was brought +out. There is a passage in "Paradise Lost," where a band of angels, +sent out to scour Paradise in search of Satan, who is hidden in the +garden, discover him in the shape of a toad "squat at the ear of Eve." +Ithuriel, one of the band, touches him with his spear, whereat, +surprised, he starts up in his own shape,-- + + "for no falsehood can endure + Touch of celestial temper, but returns + Of force to its own likeness." + +But the touch of perfect goodness has often the opposite effect: it +transforms the angel into the toad, which is evil's own likeness. + +Christ was now getting into close grips with the enemy He had come to +this world to overcome; and, as it clutched Him for the final wrestle, +it exhibited all its ugliness and discharged all its venom.[9] The claw +of the dragon was in His flesh, and its foul breath in His mouth. We +cannot conceive what such insult and dishonour must have been to His +sensitive and regal mind. But He rallied His heart to endure and not +to faint; for He had come to be the death of sin, and its death was to +be the salvation of the world. + + + +[1] Here would come in the curious little notice in St. Mark: "And +there followed Him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about +his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him; and he left the +linen cloth and fled from them naked"; on which I have not commented, +not well knowing, in truth, what to make of it. It may be designed to +show the rudeness of the soldiery, and the peril in which any follower +of Jesus would have been had he been caught. Some have supposed that +the young man was St. Mark, and that this is the painter's signature in +an obscure corner of his picture. (See Holzmann in _Handcommentar zum +Neuen Testament_.) In the first volume of the _Expositor_ there is a +paper on the subject by Dr. Cox, but it does not throw much light on it. + +[2] On the Sanhedrim and the high priests see Schuerer, _The Jewish +People in the Time of Christ_, div. ii., vol. i. + +[3] This, many think, is what is given in St. John. + +[4] Many think that this is what is given in St. Luke. + +[5] The full number was seventy-one, including the president. + +[6] See Psalm cx. 1, and Dan. vii. 13. + +[7] Even Jost, the Jewish historian, calls it a murder; but he does not +believe that there was an actual trial; and in this Edersheim agrees +with him. + +[8] In allusion to His claim to be the Messianic Prophet. The Roman +soldiers, on the other hand, ridiculed His claim to be a King. + +[9] "The central figure is the holiest Person in history, but round Him +stand or strive the most opposed and contrasted moral types. . . . The +men who touch Him in this supreme hour of His history do so only to +have their essential character disclosed."--FAIRBAIRN. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE GREAT DENIAL + +To the ecclesiastical trial of our Lord there is a side-piece, over +which we must linger before proceeding to the civil trial. At the very +hour when in the hall of the high priest's house Christ was uttering +His great confession, one of His disciples was, in the court of the +same building, pouring out denial after denial. + + +I. + +When Jesus was bound in Gethsemane and led away back to Jerusalem, all +His disciples forsook Him and fled. They disappeared, I suppose, among +the bushes and trees of the garden and escaped into the surrounding +country or wherever they thought they would be safe. + +But two of the Twelve--St. Peter and St. John, who tells the +story--soon rallied from the first panic and followed, at a +distance,[1] the band in whose midst their Master was. Keeping in the +shadow of the trees by the roadside, keeping in the shadow of the +houses in the streets, they stole after the moving mass. At last, when +it got near its destination--the palace of the high priest---they +hurried forward; and St. John went in with the crowd; but somehow, +probably through irresolution, St. Peter was left outside in the +street; and the door was shut. + +To understand what follows, it is necessary to describe more in detail +the construction of such a house as the high priest's palace; for it +was very unlike most of our houses. A Western house looks into the +street, but an Oriental into its own interior, having no opening to the +front except a great arched gateway, shut with a heavy door or gate. +When this door is opened, it discloses a broad passage, penetrating the +front building and leading into a square, paved courtyard, open to the +sky, round which the house is built, and into which its rooms, both +upstairs and downstairs, look. A similar arrangement is to be seen in +some large warehouses in our own cities, or you may have seen it in +large hotels on the Continent. It only requires to be added that on +the side of the passage, inside the outer gate, there is a room or +lodge for the porter or portress, who opens and shuts the gate; and in +the gate there is a little wicket by which individuals can be let in or +out. + +When the band conducting Jesus appeared in front of the palace, no +doubt the portress opened the large gate to admit them and then shut it +again. They passed under the archway into the court, which they +crossed, and then entered one of the apartments overlooking the +courtyard. But the police and other underlings employed in the arrest, +their work being now done, stayed outside, and, as it was midnight and +the weather was cold, they lighted a fire there under the open sky and, +gathering round it, began to warm themselves. + +As has been said, John went in through the gate with the crowd, but +Peter was somehow shut out. John, who seems to have occupied a higher +social position than the rest of the Twelve, was known to the high +priest, and, therefore, probably was acquainted with the palace and +knew the servants; and, when he noticed that Peter had been left out, +he went to the portress and got her to let him in by the wicket-gate. + +It was a friendly act; and yet, as the event proved, it was +unintentionally an ill turn: John led Peter into temptation. The best +of friends may do this sometimes to one another; for the situation into +which one man may enter without peril may be dangerous to another. One +man may mingle freely in company which another cannot enter without +terrible risks. There are amusements in which one Christian can take +part, though they would ruin another if he touched them. A mind +matured and disciplined may read books which would kindle the fire of +hell in a mind less experienced. There are always two things that go +to the making of a temptation: there is the particular set of +circumstances to be encountered on the one hand, and there is the +peculiar character or history of the person entering into the situation +on the other. We need to remember this if we are to defend either +ourselves or others against temptation. + + +II. + +John no doubt, as soon as he got Peter inside the door, hurried away +across the court into the hall where Jesus was, to witness the +proceedings. + +Not so Peter. He was not familiar with the place as John was; and he +had the shyness of a plain man at the sight of the inside of a great +house. Besides, he was under fear of being recognized as a follower of +Christ and apprehended. Now also the unlucky blow he had made at +Malchus at the gate of Gethsemane had to be paid for, because it +greatly increased his chance of detection. + +He remained, therefore, just inside the great door, watching from the +shadows of the archway what was going on inside, and, without knowing +it, himself being watched by the portress from her coigne of vantage. +He was ill at ease; for he did not know what to do. He did not dare to +go, like John, into the judgment-hall. Perhaps he half wished he could +get out into the street again. He was in a trap. + +At last he strolled forward to the group round the fire and, sitting +down among them, commenced to warm himself. It was a miscellaneous +group there in the glare of the fire, and no notice was taken of him. +He took his place as if he were one of them. + +It was, however, a dangerous situation in another sense than he +supposed. It was of bodily peril he was in terror; he did not +anticipate danger to his soul; yet this was very near. It is always +dangerous when a follower of Christ is sitting among Christ's enemies +without letting it be known what he is. "Blessed is the man that +walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of +sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." It is more than +probable that when Peter sat down the air was ringing with jest and +laughter about Jesus; but he did not interrupt: he kept silence and +tried to look as like one of the scorners as he could. But not to +confess Christ is the next step to denying Him. + +Temptation, as is its wont, came suddenly and from the most unexpected +quarter. As has been said, when he was skulking beneath the archway, +his movements were noted by the portress. They were suspicious, and +she, with a woman's cleverness, divined his secret. Accordingly, when +she was relieved at her post by another maid, she not only pointed him +out to this companion and communicated to her what she thought about +him, but, in passing to her room, she went up to the fire among the +soldiers and, looking him straight in the face, said, with a malicious +twinkle in her eye, This is one of the Nazarene's followers. + +Peter was taken completely by surprise. It was as if a mask had been +torn from his face. In a moment the instinct of terror seized him; +perhaps, too, the instinct of shame at being thought a disciple of Him +they were mocking. Indeed, there was a further shame: how could he +confess himself the disciple of the Master whom he had heard blasphemed +without protest? He had denied his Master in act before he denied Him +in word; and the preceding act made the word also necessary. "I do not +know what you mean," he said, with a surly frown; and away she tripped +laughing, having done her work quite successfully. + +None pursued the subject. But Peter was uneasy, and took the earliest +opportunity of escaping from the fireside. He went away into the +archway, intending apparently, if he could, to get out of the place +altogether. But here the trap was closed; for the other maid, whose +attention had been directed to him, and who may have been laughing from +a distance at her neighbour's sally, was standing at the door of her +lodge, with two or three men; and, pointing him out to them as he came +forward, she said, "That is one of the Nazarene's followers." + +Poor Peter! felled to the ground a second time by the touch of a +woman's hand. But how often has the saucy tongue and jeering laugh of +a woman made a man ashamed of the highest and holiest! Peter flung at +her an angry oath and, turning on his heel, went back again to the fire. + +He was now completely panic-stricken, and lost all self-control. He +was boiling with conflicting emotions and could not keep quiet. +Assuming an air of defiance and indifference, he plunged into the +conversation, speaking loudly to throw off suspicion, but really +defeating his own object; for he drew attention on himself, and they +scanned him the more narrowly the more excited he became. A relative +of Malchus, whose ear he had cut off, recognised him. His loud country +voice and rough Galilean accent aroused the suspicions of others. To +bait such a pretender was a welcome diversion in the idle night, and +soon they were all in full cry after the quarry. + +Peter was thoroughly lost; like a bull in the arena attacked and +stabbed on every side, he became blind with rage, terror and shame; +and, pouring out denials, he added to them oaths and curses hurled at +his adversaries. + +The latter element was, no doubt, the resurrection of an old +fisherman's habit, long since dead and buried. Peter was just the man +likely to be a profane swearer in his youth--the headlong man of +temper, who likes to say a thing with as much emphasis and exaggeration +as possible. This is a sin whose power is generally broken instantly +at conversion. While there are sins which linger on for years and +require to be crucified by inches, profane swearing often dies an +instantaneous death. But even in this case it is difficult to get quit +of the evil past. In Peter this sin may have seemed to die at his +conversion; for years it had been dead and buried; yet, when the +favourable moment came, lo and behold, there it was again in vigorous +life. Old habits of sin are hard to kill. We seem to have killed and +buried them; but do you not sometimes hear a knocking beneath the +ground? do you not feel the dead thing turning in its coffin, and see +the earth moving above its grave? This is the penalty of the days +given to the flesh. Till his dying day the man who has been a drunkard +or a fornicator, a liar or a swearer, will have to keep watch and ward +over the graveyard in which he has buried the past. + +Yet there was a kind of method in the madness of Peter's profanity. +When he wanted to prove that he was none of Christ's, he could not do +better than take to cursing. They did not credit his assertions that +he had no connection with his Master, but they could not help believing +his sins. Nobody belonging to Jesus, they knew, would speak as Peter +was doing. It is one of the strongest testimonies to Jesus still, that +even those who do not believe in Him expect cleanness of speech and of +conduct from His followers, and are astonished if those who bear His +name do things which when done by others are matters of course. + + +IV. + +While Peter was in the midst of this outbreak of denial and profanity, +suddenly he saw the eyes of his tormentors turned away from him to +another object.[2] It was Jesus, whom His enemies had condemned in the +neighbouring judgment-hall, and whom they were now leading, amidst +blows and reproaches, across the courtyard to the guard-room, where He +was to be kept for two or three hours till a subsequent stage of His +trial came on. As Jesus stepped down out of the hall into the +courtyard, His ear had caught the accents of His disciple, and, stung +with unutterable anguish, He turned quickly round in the direction +whence the sounds proceeded. At the same moment Peter turned, and they +looked one another full in the face. Jesus did not speak; for a single +syllable, even of surprise, would have betrayed His disciple. Nor +could He linger; for the soldiers were hurrying Him on. But for a +single instant their eyes met, and soul looked into soul. Who shall +say what was in that look of Christ?[3] There may be a world in a +look. It may be more eloquent than a whole volume of words. It may +reveal far more than the lips can ever utter. One soul may give itself +away to another in a look. A look may beatify or plunge in the depths +of despair. + +The look of Jesus was a talisman dissolving the spell in which Peter +was held. Sin is always a kind of temporary madness; and it was +manifestly so in this case. Peter was so bewildered with terror, anger +and excitement that he did not know what he was doing. But the look of +Jesus brought him to himself, and immediately he acted like a man. He +made at once for the exit with impetuous speed.[4] And now nothing +stood in his way: he got past the maid and her companions without +trouble. For, indeed, the trap of temptation is only an illusion. To +a resolute man it presents no obstacles. + +But further, the look of Christ was a mirror in which Peter saw +himself. He saw what Christ thought of him. The past came rushing +back. He was the man who, in a great and never-to-be-forgotten moment, +had confessed Christ and earned His hearty recognition. He was the man +who, a few hours ago, had vowed, above all the rest, that he never +would deny his Master. And now he had deserted Him and wounded Him to +the heart in His utmost need. He had placed himself among His enemies +as one of themselves and, with oaths and curses, trodden His sacred +name beneath his feet. He had put off the disciple and reverted to the +rudeness of his godless youth. He was a perjured traitor. All this +was in that look of Christ. + +But there was far more in it. It was a rescuing look. If any friend +had met Peter rushing out from the scene of his sin, he might well have +been terrified for what might happen. Where was he rushing to? Was it +to the precipice over which Judas plunged not many hours afterwards? +Peter was not very far from that. Had it been an angry look he saw on +Christ's face when their eyes met, this might have been his fate. But +there was not a spark of anger in it. There was pain, no doubt, and +there was immeasurable disappointment. But deeper than these--rising +up from below them and submerging them--there was the Saviour's +instinct, that instinct which made Him reach out His hand and grasp +Peter when he was sinking in the sea. With this same instinct He +grasped Him now. + +In that look of an instant Peter saw forgiveness and unutterable love. +If he saw himself in it, he saw still more his Saviour--such a +revelation of the heart of Christ as he had never yet known. He saw +now what kind of Master he had denied; and it broke his heart. It is +this that always breaks the heart. It is not our sin that makes us +weep; it is when we see what kind of Saviour we have sinned against. +He wept bitterly; not to wash out his sin, but because even already he +knew it had been washed out. The former weeping is a pelting shower; +this is the close, prolonged downpour, which penetrates deep and +fertilises the plants of the soul at their very roots. + +Indeed, this was the real beginning of all the good St. Peter was to do +in the world. But we will not speak of this now. Let our last thought +be of Him who, in the crisis and extremity of His own suffering, when +He heard His name not only denied but mingled with oaths and curses, +yielded not one moment to the resentment which such an act of treachery +might have occasioned, but, forgetting His own sorrows and overmastered +with the instincts of the Saviour, threw into a look such a world of +kindness and of love that, in an instant, it lifted the falling +disciple from the gulf and set him on the rock where he ever afterwards +stood, himself a rock in the constancy of his faith and the vigor of +his testimony. + + + +[1] _makrothen _. + +[2] It is to St. Luke we owe the account here given of Peter's +awakening; but he also refers to the crowing of the cock, the only +cause mentioned by the other Evangelists. There is no difficulty in +understanding that such a psychological crisis may have been due to two +lines of suggestion. + +[3] Mrs. Browning's sonnets on this subject must be quoted in full: + + "Two sayings of the Holy Scriptures beat + Like pulses in the Church's brow and breast; + And by them we find rest in our unrest, + And, heart-deep in salt tears, do yet entreat + God's fellowship, as if on heavenly seat. + The first is JESUS WEPT; whereon is prest + Full many a sobbing face, that drops its best + And sweetest waters on the record sweet. + And one is where the Christ, denied and scorned, + LOOKED UPON PETER. Oh to render plain, + By help of having loved a little and mourned, + That look of sovran love and sovran pain, + Which He, who could not sin yet suffered, turned + On him who could reject but not sustain. + + "The Saviour looked on Peter. Ay, no word, + No gesture of reproach; the heavens serene, + Though heavy with armed justice, did not lean + Their thunders that way; the forsaken Lord + _Looked_ only on the traitor. None record + What that look was; none guess; for those who have seen + Wronged lovers loving through a death-pang keen, + Or pale-cheeked martyrs smiling to a sword, + Have missed Jehovah at the judgment call. + And Peter from the height of blasphemy-- + 'I never knew this man'--did quail and fall, + As knowing straight THAT GOD; and turned free, + And went out speechless from the face of all, + And filled the silence, weeping bitterly. + + I think: that look of Christ might seem to say: + 'Thou, Peter! art thou a common stone + Which I at last must break My heart upon, + For all God's charge to His high angels may + Guard My feet better? Did I yesterday + Wash _thy_ feet, My beloved, that they should run + Quick to destroy me 'neath the morning sun? + And do thy kisses, like the rest, betray? + The cock crows coldly. Go, and manifest + A late contrition, but no bootless fear! + For, when thy final need is dreariest, + Thou shall not be denied, as I am here; + My voice to God and angels shall attest, + _Because I KNOW this man, let him be clear_.'" + +[4] This may be the meaning of _epibalon_; but it is much disputed. +Other interpretations are: (1) = _epeballe klaiein_, he began to weep; +(2) with head covered--in mourning. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CIVIL TRIAL + +In the chapter before last we saw the Sanhedrim pass a death sentence +on Jesus. Gladly would they have carried it out in the Jewish +fashion--by stoning. But, as was then explained, it was not in their +power: their Roman masters, while conceding to the native courts the +power of trying and punishing minor offences, reserved to themselves +the prerogative of life and death; and a case in which a capital +sentence had been passed in a Jewish court had to go before the +representative of Rome in the country, who tried it over again, and +might either confirm or reverse the sentence. Accordingly, after +passing sentence on Jesus themselves, the Sanhedrists had to lead Him +away to the tribunal of the governor. + + +I. + +The representative of Imperial Rome in Palestine at this time was +Pontius Pilate. The position which he held may perhaps be best +realised by thinking of one of our own subordinate governors in India; +with the difference, however, that it was a heathen, not a Christian +power, that Pilate represented, and that it was the spirit of ancient +Rome, not that of modern England, which inspired his administration. +Of this spirit--the spirit of worldliness, diplomacy and expediency--he +was a typical exponent; and we shall see how true to it he proved on +this momentous day.[1] + +Pilate had occupied his position for a good many years; yet he neither +liked his subjects nor they him. The Jews were among the most +intractable and difficult of all the states which the officials of Rome +had to manage. Mindful of the glory of their ancient history, and +still cherishing the hope of universal empire, they were impatient of +the yoke of subordination; they were constantly discovering in the +conduct of their rulers insults directed against their dignity or their +religion; they complained of the heavy taxation and pestered their +rulers with petitions. Pilate had not got on at all well with them. +Between him and them there was no sympathy. He hated their fanaticism. +In his quarrels with them, which were frequent, he had freely shed +their blood. They accused him of corruption, cruelty, robbery, and +maladministration of every description. + +The residence of the governor was not in Jerusalem, in which no one +accustomed to the pleasures of Rome--its theatres, baths, games, +literature and society--could desire to live, but in the new coast city +of Caesarea, which in its splendour and luxury was a sort of small +imitation of Rome. Occasionally, however, the governor had to visit +the capital for business reasons; and usually as on this occasion, he +did so at the time of the Passover. + +When there, he took up his residence in what had formerly been the +royal palace while Judaea still had a king. It had been built by Herod +the Great, who had a passion for architecture; and it was situated on +the hill to the south-west of the one on which the temple stood. It +was a splendid building,[2] rivalling the temple itself in appearance, +and so large as to be capable of containing a small army. It consisted +of two colossal wings, springing forward on either side, and a +connecting building between. In front of the latter stretched a broad +pavement; and here, in the open air, on a raised platform, was the +scene of the trial; because the Jewish authorities would not enter the +building, which to them was unclean. Pilate had to yield to their +scruples, though probably cursing them in his heart. But, indeed, it +was quite common for the Romans to hold courts of justice in the open +air. The front of the palace, all round, was supported by massive +pillars, forming broad, shady colonnades; and round the building there +extended a park, with walks, trees and ponds, where fountains cast +their sparkling jets high into the sunshine and flocks of tame doves +plumed their feathers at the water's edge. + +Through the huge gateway, then, of this palatial residence, the Jewish +authorities, with their Prisoner in their midst, came pouring in the +early morning. Pilate came out to receive them and seated himself on +his chair of state, with his secretaries beside him, and behind him, no +doubt, numbers of bronzed Roman soldiers with their stolid looks and +upright spears. The Accused would have to ascend the platform, too; +and over against Him stood His accusers, with Caiaphas at their head. + +What a spectacle was that! The heads of the Jewish nation leading +their own Messiah in chains to deliver Him up to a Gentile governor, +with the petition that He should be put to death! Shades of the heroes +and the prophets, who loved this nation and boasted of it and foretold +its glorious fate, the hour of destiny has come, and this is the result! + +It was an act of national suicide. But was it not more? Was it not +the frustration of the purpose and the promise of God? So it certainly +appeared to be. Yet He is not mocked. Even through human sin His +purpose holds on its way. The Jews brought the Son of God to Pilate's +judgment-seat, that both Jew and Gentile might unite in condemning Him; +for it was part of the work of the Redeemer to expose human sin, and +here was to be exhibited the _ne plus ultra_ of wickedness, as the hand +of humanity was lifted up against its Maker. And yet that death was to +be the life of humanity; and Jesus, standing between Jew and Gentile, +was to unite them in the fellowship of a common salvation. "Oh the +depth both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are +His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" + + +II. + +Pilate at once demanded what was the accusation which they brought +against the Prisoner. + +The reply was a characteristic one, "If He were not a malefactor, we +would not have delivered Him up unto thee." This was as broad a hint +as they could give that they desired the governor to waive his right to +re-try the case, accepting their trial of it as sufficient, and content +himself with the other half of his prerogative--the passing and the +execution of the sentence. Sometimes provincial governors did so, +either through indolence or out of compliment to the native +authorities; and especially in a religious cause, which a foreigner +could not be expected to understand, such a compliment might seem a +boon which it was not unreasonable to ask. + +But Pilate was not in a yielding mood, and retorted, "Take ye Him and +judge Him according to your law." This was as much as to say: If I am +not to hear the case, then I will neither pass the sentence nor inflict +the punishment; if you insist on this being a case for yourselves as +ecclesiastics, then keep it to yourselves; but, if you do, you must be +content with such a punishment as the law permits you to inflict. + +To them this was gall and wormwood, because it was for the life of +Christ they were thirsting, and they well knew that imprisonment or +beating with rods was as far as they could go. The cold, keen Roman, +as proud as themselves, was making them feel the pressure of Rome's +foot on their neck, and he enjoyed a malicious pleasure in extorting +from them the complaint, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to +death." + +Forced against their will and their expectation to formulate a charge, +they began to pour forth many vehement accusations; out of which at +length three emerged with some distinctness--first, that He was +perverting the nation; second, that He forbade to pay the imperial +tribute; and third, that He set Himself up as a king. + +It will be observed that they never mentioned the charge on which they +had condemned Him themselves. It was for none of these three things +that they had condemned Him, but for blasphemy. They knew too well, +however, that if they advanced such a charge in this place, the +likelihood was that it would be sneered out of court. It will be +remembered how a Roman governor, mentioned in the life of St. Paul, +dealt with such a charge: "Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a +matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I +should bear with you; but, if it be a question of words and names, and +of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. +And he drave them from the judgment-seat." [3] And, although of course +Pilate could not have dared to exhibit the same cynical disdain for +what he would have called Jewish superstition, yet they knew that it +was in his heart. + +But their inability to bring forward the real charge put them in a +false position, the dangers of which they did not escape. They had to +extemporise crimes, and they were not scrupulous about it. + +Their first charge--that Jesus was perverting the nation[4]--was vague. +But what are we to say of the second--that He forbade to pay the +imperial tribute? When we remember His reply that very week to the +question whether or not it was lawful to pay tribute--"Render unto +Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are +God's"--it looks very like a deliberate falsehood.[5] There was more +colour in their third statement--that He said He was Christ a King--for +He had at their tribunal solemnly avowed Himself to be the Christ. +Yet, in this case, also, they were well aware that to the ear of a +Roman the claim that He was a king would convey a different meaning +from that conveyed to their ears by the claim to be the Christ. +Indeed, at bottom their objection to Him was just that He did not +sufficiently claim to be a king in the Roman sense. They were eagerly +looking for a king, of splendour and military renown, to break the +Roman yoke and make Jerusalem the capital of a worldwide empire; and it +was because the spirit and aims of Jesus were alien to such ambitions +that they despised and hated Him. + +Pilate understood perfectly well with whom he was dealing. He could +only be amused with their zeal for the payment of the Roman tribute. +One of the Evangelists says, "He knew that for envy they had delivered +Him." How far he was already acquainted with the career of Jesus we +cannot tell. He had been governor all the time of the movement +inaugurated by the Baptist and continued by Christ, and he can hardly +have remained in entire ignorance of it. The dream of his wife, which +we shall come to soon, seems to prove that Jesus had already been a +theme of conversation in the palace; and perhaps the tedium of a visit +to Jerusalem may have been relieved for the governor and his wife by +the story of the young Enthusiast who was bearding the fanatic priests. +Pilate displays, all through, a real interest in Jesus and a genuine +respect. This was no doubt chiefly due to what he himself saw of His +bearing at his tribunal; but it may also have been partly due to what +he had already heard about Him. At all events there is no indication +that he took the charges against Jesus seriously. The two first he +seems never to have noticed; but the third--that He was setting Himself +up as a king, who might be a rival to the emperor--was not such as he +could altogether pass by. + + +III. + +Pilate, having heard the accusations, took Jesus inside the palace to +investigate them. This he did, no doubt, for the purpose of getting +rid of the importunity of His accusers, which was extreme. And Jesus +made no scruple, as they had done, about entering the palace. Shall we +say that the Jews had rejected Him, and He was turning to the +Gentiles--that the wall of partition had now fallen, and that He was +trampling over its ruins? + +In the silence, then, of this interior hall He and Pilate stood face to +face--He in the prisoner's lonely place, Pilate in the place of power. +Yet how strangely, as we now look back at the scene, are the places +reversed! It is Pilate who is going to be tried--Pilate and Rome, +which he represented. All that morning Pilate was being judged and +exposed; and ever since he has stood in the pillory of history with the +centuries gazing at him.[6] In the old pictures of the Child Christ by +the great masters a halo proceeds from the Babe that lights up the +surrounding figures, sometimes with dazzling effect. And it is true +that on all who approached Christ, when He was in the world, there fell +a light in which both the good and the evil in them were revealed. It +was a search-light, that penetrated into every corner and exposed every +wrinkle. Men were judged as they came near Him. Is it not so still? +We never show so entirely what is in us as by the way in which we are +affected by Christ. We are judging ourselves and passing sentence on +ourselves for eternity by the way in which we deal with Him. + +Pilate asked Him, "Art Thou the King of the Jews?" referring to the +third charge brought against Him. The reply of Jesus was cautious; it +was another question: "Sayest thou this of thyself, or did others tell +it thee of Me?" He desired to learn in what sense the question was +asked--whether from the standpoint of a Roman or from that of the Jews; +because of course His answer would be different according as He was +asked whether He was a king as a Roman would understand the word or +according as it was understood by the Jews. + +But this answer nettled Pilate, perhaps because it assumed that he +might have more interest in the case than he cared to confess; and he +said angrily, "Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have +delivered Thee unto me." If he intended this to sting, the blow did +not fail of its mark. Ah, tingling shame and poignant pain! His own +nation--His own beloved nation, to which He had devoted His life--had +given Him up to the Gentile. He felt a shame for it before the +foreigner such as a slave on the block may feel before her purchaser +for the father and the family that have sold her into disgrace. + +Jesus at once proceeded, however, to answer Pilate's question on both +sides, both on the Roman political and then on the Jewish religious +side. + +First, He answered negatively, "My kingdom is not of this world!" He +was no rival of the Roman emperor. If He had been, the first thing He +must have done would have been to assemble soldiers about Him for the +purpose of freeing the country from the Roman occupation, and the very +first duty of these soldiers would have been to defend the person of +their king; but it could be proved that at His arrest there had been no +fighting on His behalf, and that He had ordered the one follower who +had drawn a sword to sheathe it again. It was not a kingdom of force +and arms and worldly glory He had in view. + +Yet, even in making this denial, Jesus had used the words, "My +kingdom." And Pilate broke in, "Art Thou a king then?" "Yes," replied +Jesus; "to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the +world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." This was His +kingdom--the realm of Truth. It differs widely from that of Caesar. +Caesar's empire is over the bodies of men; this is over their hearts. +The strength of Caesar's empire is in soldiers, arms, citadels and +navies; the strength of this kingdom is in principles, sentiments, +ideas. The benefit secured by Caesar to the citizens is external +security for their persons and properties; the blessings of Christ's +kingdom are peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost. The empire +of Caesar, vast as it was, yet was circumscribed; the kingdom of Christ +is without limits, and is destined to be established in every land. +Caesar's empire, like every other earthly kingdom, had its day and +passed out of existence; but the kingdom of Truth shall last for +evermore. + +It has been remarked that there was something Western rather than +Oriental in this sublime saying of Christ. What a noble-minded Jew +longed for above all things was righteousness; but what a noble-minded +Gentile aspired after was truth. There were some spirits, in that age, +even among the heathen, in whom the mention of a kingdom of truth or +wisdom would have struck a responsive chord. Jesus was feeling to see +whether there was in this man's soul any such longing. + +He approached still nearer him when He added the searching remark, +"Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice;" for it was a hint +that, if he loved the truth, he must believe in Him. Jesus preached to +His judge. Just as the prisoner Paul made Felix the judge tremble, and +Agrippa the judge cry out, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a +Christian," so Jesus, with the instinct of the preacher and the +Saviour, was feeling for Pilate's conscience. He who fishes for the +souls of men must use many angles; and on this occasion Jesus selected +a rare one. + +There will always be some who, though common appeals do not touch them, +yet respond to this delicate appeal. Is truth a magic word to you? do +you thirst for wisdom? There are those to whom the prizes which the +majority strive for are as dross. The race for wealth, the pride of +life, the distinctions of society--you laugh at them and pity them. +But a golden page of a favourite poet, a thought newly minted in the +glowing heat of a true thinker's mind, a pregnant word that sets your +fancy ranging through eternity, a luminous doctrine that rises on the +intellectual horizon like a star,--these are your wealth. You feel +keenly the darkness of the world, and are perplexed by a hundred +problems. Child and lover of wisdom, do you know the King of Truth? +This is He who can satisfy your craving for light and lead you out of +the maze of speculation and error. + +But is it true, as He says here, that everyone who is of the truth +heareth His voice? Is not the world at present full of men and women +who are in search of truth, yet pass Christ by? It is a very strong +word He uses; it is, "every one who has been born of the truth." Have +you actually clambered on Truth's knees, and clung to her neck, and fed +at her breast? There are many who seek truth earnestly with the +intellect, but do not desire it to rule their conduct or purify their +heart. But only those who seek truth with their whole being are her +true children; and to these the voice of Christ, when it is discerned, +is like the sunrise to the statue of Memnon or as the call of spring to +the responsive earth. + +Alas! Pilate was no such man. He was incapable of spiritual +aspiration; he was of the earth earthy; he sought for nothing which the +eye cannot see or the hand handle. To him a kingdom of truth and a +king of truth were objects of fairyland or castles in the air. "What +is truth?" he asked; but, as he asked, he turned on his heel, and did +not wait for an answer. He asked only as a libertine might ask, What +is virtue? or a tyrant, What is freedom? + +But he was clearly convinced that Jesus was innocent. He judged Him to +be an amiable enthusiast, from whom Rome had nothing to fear. So he +went out and pronounced His acquittal: "I find in Him no fault at all." + + + +[1] On Pilate there is an essay of extraordinary subtlety and power in +Candlish's _Scripture Characters_. + +[2] An eloquent account in Keim (vi., p. 80, English tr.), who gives +the authorities: "in part a tyrant's stronghold, and in part a fairy +pleasure-house." + +[3] Acts xviii. 14-16. + +[4] _ethnos_, not _laos_: they were speaking to a heathen. + +[5] Keim calls it "a very flagrant lie." + +[6] "Socrates, quum omnium sapientissime sanctissimeque vixisset, ita +in judicio capitis pro se dixit, ut non supplex aut reus, sed magister +aut dominus videretur judicum."--CICERO. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +JESUS AND HEROD + +Pilate had tried Jesus and found Him innocent; and so he frankly told +the members of the Sanhedrim, thereby reversing their sentence. What +ought to have followed? Of course Jesus ought to have been released +and, if necessary, protected from the feeling of the Jews. + +Why was this not what happened? An incident in the life of Pilate, +narrated by a secular historian, may best explain. Some years before +the trial of Jesus, Pilate, newly settled in the position of governor +of Judaea, resolved to remove the headquarters of the Roman army from +Caesarea to Jerusalem; and the soldiers entered the Holy City with +their standards, each of which bore the image of the emperor. To the +Jewish mind these images were idolatrous, and their presence in +Jerusalem was looked upon as a gross insult and desecration. The +foremost men of the city poured down to Caesarea, where Pilate was +staying, and besought him to remove them. He refused, and for five +days the discussion went on. At length he was so irritated that he +ordered them to be surrounded by soldiers, and threatened to have them +put to death unless they became silent and dispersed. They, however, +in no way dismayed, threw themselves on the ground and laid bare their +necks, crying that they would rather die than have their city defiled. +And the upshot was that Pilate had to yield, and the army was withdrawn +from Jerusalem.[1] + +Such was the governor, and such were the people with whom he had to +deal. He was no match for them, when their hearts were set on anything +and their religious prejudices roused. In the present case they did +with him exactly as they had done on that early occasion. He declared +Jesus innocent, and thereupon the trial ought to have been at an end. +But they raised an angry clamour--"they were the more fierce," says St. +Luke--and began to pour out new accusations against the Prisoner. + +Pilate had not nerve enough to resist. He weakly turned to Jesus +Himself, asking, "Hearest Thou not what these witness against Thee?" +But Jesus "answered to him never a word." He would not, by a single +syllable, give sanction to any prolongation of the proceedings: +"insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly." Flustered and +irresolute himself, he could not comprehend this majestic composure. +The stake of Jesus in the proceedings was nothing less than His life; +yet He was the only calm person in the whole assemblage. + +Suddenly, however, amidst the confusion a way of escape from his +embarrassing situation seemed to open to Pilate. They were crying, "He +stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from +Galilee to this place." The mention of Galilee was intended to excite +prejudice against Jesus, because Galilee was noted as a hotbed of +insurrection. But it set agoing a different train of thought in the +mind of Pilate, who asked anxiously if He was a Galilean. It had +flashed upon him that Herod, the ruler of Galilee, was in the city at +the time, having come for the Passover celebration; and, as it was not +an unusual procedure in Roman law to transfer a prisoner from the +territory where he had been arrested to his place of origin or of +domicile, it seemed to him a happy inspiration to send Jesus to be +tried by the ruler of the province to which He belonged, and so get rid +altogether of the case.[2] He acted at once on this idea; and, under +the escort of Pilate's soldiers, Jesus and His accusers were sent away +to the ancient palace of the Maccabees, in which Herod used to reside +on his visits to the Holy City. + +Thus was Jesus, on this day of shame, tossed, like a ball, from hand to +hand--from Annas to Caiaphas, from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to +Herod, with more to follow; and these weary marches[3] in chains and in +the custody of the officers of justice, with His persecutors about Him, +are not to be forgotten in the catalogue of His sufferings. + + +I. + +There are several Herods mentioned in the New Testament, and it must be +made clear which of them this was. + +The first of them was he who slew the babes of Bethlehem, when the +infant Saviour was carried away to Egypt. He was called Herod the +Great, and reigned over the whole country, though only by permission of +the Romans. At his death his dominions were divided among his sons by +the foreigner, who thus more effectually brought the country under +control; for the smaller the size of subject states the more absolute +is the power of the suzerain. Judaea was given to Archelaus; but it +was soon taken from him, to be administered by the Romans themselves +through their procurators, of whom Pilate was one. Galilee and Peraea +were given to another son, Antipas; and a region more to the north to a +third, Philip. Our present Herod is Antipas. + +He was a man of some ability and at the outset of his career gave +promise of ruling well. Like his father, he had a passion for +architecture, and among his achievements in this line was the building +of the city of Tiberias, well known in connection with modern missions. +But he took a step which proved fatal when he entered into an intrigue +with Herodias, the wife of his own brother Philip. She left her +husband to come to him, and he sent away his own wife, the daughter of +Aretas, the king of Arabia Petraea. Herodias was a much stronger +character than he; and she remained at his side through life as his +evil genius. Better aspirations were not, however, wholly extinguished +in him even by this fall. When the Baptist began to fire the country, +he took an interest in his preaching, and invited him to the palace, +where he heard him gladly, till John said, "It is not lawful for thee +to have her." For this the great preacher was cast into prison; but +even then Herod frequently sent for him. Manifestly he was under +religious impression. He admired the character and the teaching of +John. It is said "he did many things." Only he could not and would +not do the one thing needful: Herodias still retained her place. +Naturally she feared and hated the man of God, who was seeking to +remove her; and she plotted against him with implacable malignity. She +was only too successful, making use of her own daughter--not Antipas', +but her first husband's--for her purpose. On the king's birthday +Salome danced before Herod and so intoxicated him with her skill and +beauty, that, heated and overcome, he promised--the promise showing the +man--to give her whatever she might ask, even to the half of his +kingdom; and when the young witch, well drilled by her mother in the +craft of hell, asked the head of the man of God, she was not refused. + +This awful crime filled his subjects with horror, and when, soon +afterwards, King Aretas, the father of his discarded wife, invaded the +country, to revenge his daughter's wrong, and inflicted on him an +ignominious defeat, this reverse was popularly regarded as a divine +punishment for what he had done. His own mind was haunted by the +spectres of remorse, as we learn from the fact that, when he heard of +the preaching of Jesus, his first thought was that this was John the +Baptist risen from the dead. Indeed, from this point he seems to have +rapidly deteriorated. Feeling the aversion of the minds of his +subjects, he turned more and more to foreign customs. His court became +distinguished for Roman imitations and affectations. The purveyors of +pleasure, who in that age hawked their wares from one petty court to +another--singers, dancers, jugglers and the like--were welcome at +Tiberias. The fibre of his character was more and more relaxed, till +it became a mere mass of pulp, ready to receive every impression but +able to retain none. His annual visits to Jerusalem even, at Passover +time, were inspired less by devotion than by the hope of amusement. In +so large a concourse there would at any rate be acquaintances to see +and news to hear; and who could tell what excitement might turn up? + + +II. + +His reception of Jesus was thoroughly characteristic. Had he had the +conscience even of a bad man, he might have been abashed to see the +Baptist's Friend. Once he had been moved with terror at the mere +rumour of Jesus; but that was all past; these emotions had been wiped +out by newer ones and forgotten. He was "exceeding glad" to see Him. +First, it was an excitement; and this was something for such a man. +Then, it was a compliment from the Roman; indeed, we are told that +Pilate and he had aforetime been at enmity, but by this attention were +made friends again. His delight, however, arose chiefly from the hope +that he might see Jesus working a miracle. For two or three years his +own dominions had been ringing with the fame of the Miracle-worker, but +Herod had never seen Him. Now was his chance; and no doubt entered his +mind that Jesus would gratify his curiosity, or could count it anything +but an honour to get the opportunity of displaying His skill. + +Such was Herod's estimate of Christ. He put Him on the level of a new +dancer or singer; he looked on His miracles as a species of conjuring +or magic; and he expected from Him the same entertainment as he might +have obtained from any wandering professor of magical arts. + +At once he addressed Him in the friendliest manner and questioned Him +in many words. Apparently he quite forgot the purpose for which Pilate +had sent Him. He did not even wait for any replies, but went rambling +on. He had thought much about religion, and he wished Jesus to know +it. He had theories to ventilate, puzzles to propound, remarks to +make. A man who has no religion may yet have a great deal to say about +religion; and there are people who like far better to hear themselves +talking than to listen to any speaker, however wise. No mouth is more +voluble than that of a characterless man of feeling. + + +III. + +Herod at last exhausted himself, and then he waited for Christ to +speak. But Jesus uttered not a word. The silence lasted till the +pause grew awkward and painful, and till Herod grew red and angry; but +Jesus would not break it with a single syllable. + +For one thing, the entire proceedings were irrelevant. Jesus had been +sent to Herod to be tried; but this had never been touched upon. Had +Jesus, indeed, desired to deliver Himself at all hazards, this was a +rare opportunity; because, if He had yielded to Herod's wishes and +wrought a miracle for his gratification, no doubt He would have been +acquitted and sent back loaded with gifts. But we cannot believe that +such an expedient was even a temptation to Him. Never had He wrought a +miracle for His own behoof, and it is inconceivable that He should have +stooped to offer any justification of the estimate of Himself which +this man had formed. Jesus was Herod's subject; but it was impossible +for Him to look upon him with respect. How could He help feeling +disdain for one who thought of Himself so basely and treated this great +crisis so frivolously? To one who knew Herod's history, how loathsome +must it have been to hear religious talk from his lips! There was no +manliness or earnestness in the man. Religion was a mere diversion to +him. + +To such Christ will always be silent. Herod is the representative of +those for whom there is no seriousness in life, but who live only for +pleasure. There are many such. Not only has religion, in any high and +serious sense, no attraction for them, but they dislike everything like +deep thought or earnest work in any sphere. As soon as they are +released from the claims of business, they rush off to be excited and +amused; and the one thing they dread is solitude, in which they might +have to face themselves. In certain classes of society, where work is +not necessary to obtain a livelihood, this spirit is the predominant +one: life is all a scene of gaiety; one amusement follows another; and +the utmost care is taken to avoid any intervals where reflection might +come in. + +Religion itself may be dragged into this circle of dissipation. It is +possible to go to church with substantially the same object with which +one goes to a place of amusement--in the hope of being excited, of +having the feelings stirred and the aesthetic sense gratified or, at +the least, consuming an hour which might otherwise lie heavy on the +hands. With shame be it said, there are churches enough and preachers +enough ready to meet this state of mind half-way. With the fireworks +of rhetoric or the witchery of music or the pomp of ritual the +performance is seasoned up to the due pitch; and the audience depart +with precisely the same kind of feeling with which they might leave a +concert or a theatre. Very likely it is accounted a great success; but +Christ has not spoken: He is resolutely mute to those who follow +religion in this spirit. + +Sometimes the same spirit takes another direction; it becomes +speculative and sceptical and, like Herod, "questions in many words." +When I have heard some people propounding religious difficulties, the +answer which has risen to my lips has been, Why should you be able to +believe in Christ? what have you ever done to render yourselves worthy +of such a privilege? you are thinking of faith as a compliment to be +paid to Christ; in reality the power to believe in Him and His words is +a great privilege and honour, that requires to be purchased with +thought, humility and self-denial. + +We do not owe an answer to the religious objections of everyone. +Religion is, indeed, a subject on which everyone takes the liberty of +speaking; the most unholy and evil-living talk and write of it nothing +doubting; but in reality it is a subject on which very few are entitled +to be heard. We may know beforehand, from their lives, what the +opinions of many must be about it; and we know what their opinions are +worth. + +It may be thought that Jesus ought to have spoken to Herod--that He +missed an opportunity. Ought He not to have appealed to his conscience +and attempted to rouse him to a sense of his sin? To this I answer +that His silence was itself this appeal. Had there been a spark of +conscience left in Herod, those Eyes looking him through and through, +and that divine dignity measuring and weighing him, would have caused +his sins to rise up out of the grave and overwhelm him. Jesus was +silent, that the voice of the dead Baptist might be heard. + +If we understood it, the silence of Christ is the most eloquent of all +appeals. Can you remember when you used to hear Him--when the words of +the Book and the preacher used to move you in church, when the singing +awoke aspiration, when the Sabbath was holy ground, when the Spirit of +God strove with you? And is that all passed of passing away? Does +Christ speak no more? If a man is lying ill, and perceives day by day +everything about him becoming silent--his wife avoiding speech, +visitors sinking their voices to a whisper, footsteps falling and doors +shutting noiselessly--he knows that his illness is becoming critical. +When the traveller, battling with the snow-storm, sinks down at last to +rest, he feels cold and painful and miserable; but, if there steals +over him a soft, sweet sense of slumber and silence, then is the moment +to rouse himself and fight off his peace, if he is ever to stir again. +There is such a spiritual insensibility. It means that the Spirit is +ceasing to strive, and Christ to call. If it is creeping over you, it +is time to be anxious; for it is for your life. + + +IV. + +How far Herod understood the silence of Jesus we cannot tell. It is +too likely that he did not wish to understand. At all events he acted +as if he did not; he treated it as if it were stupidity. He thought +that the reason why Jesus would not work a miracle was because He could +not: a pretender's powers generally forsake him when he falls into the +hands of the police. Jesus, he thought, was discredited; His Messianic +claims were exploded; even His followers must now be disillusioned. + +So he thought and so he said; and the satellites round his throne +chimed in; for there is no place where a great man's word is echoed +with more parrot-like precision than in a petty court. And no doubt +they considered it a great stroke of wit, well worthy of applause, when +Herod, before sending Him back to Pilate, cast over His shoulders a +gorgeous robe--probably in imitation of the white robe worn at Rome by +candidates for office. The suggestion was that Jesus was a candidate +for the throne of the country, but one so ridiculous that it would be a +mistake to treat Him with anything but contempt. Thus amidst peals of +laughter was Jesus driven from the presence. + + + +[1] Josephus, "Ant.," XVIII., 3, 1. + +[2] It may be questioned whether it was for trial he sent Jesus to +Herod or only for advice, as Festus caused St. Paul's case to be heard +by Agrippa. + +[3] Called "die Gaenge des Dulders," in German devotional literature. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +BACK TO PILATE + +The sending of Jesus to Herod had not, as Pilate had hoped, finished +the case, and so the Prisoner was brought back to the imperial palace. + +Herod had affected to treat Jesus with disdain; but in reality, as we +are now aware, he had himself been tried and exposed. And Jesus +returned to do the same thing for Pilate--to make manifest what manner +of spirit he was of; though Pilate had no conception that this was +going to happen: he was only annoyed that a case of which he thought he +had got rid was thrown on his hands again. He had reluctantly to +resume it, and he carried it through to the end; but, before this point +was reached, his character was revealed, down to its very foundations, +in the light of Christ. + +Herod's spirit was that of frivolous worldliness--the worldliness which +tries to turn the whole of life into a pastime or a joke; Pilate's was +that of strenuous worldliness--the worldliness which makes self its aim +and subordinates everything to success. Of the two this is perhaps the +more common; and, therefore, it will be both interesting and +instructive to watch its self-revelation under the search-light of +Christ's proximity. + + +I. + +Pilate might perhaps have been justified in suspending the release of +Jesus till after he received Him back from Herod; because, although he +had himself found no fault in Him, his ignorance of Jewish laws and +customs might have made him hesitate about his own judgment and wish, +before absolutely settling the case, to obtain the opinion of an +expert. When, however, he learned that the opinion of Herod coincided +with his own, there was no further excuse for delay. + +Accordingly he plainly informed the Jews[1] that he had examined the +Prisoner and found no fault in Him; he had also sent Him to Herod with +a like result. "Therefore," he continued. Therefore--what? +"Therefore," you expect to hear, "I dismiss Him from the bar acquitted, +and I will protect Him, if need be, from all violence." This would +have been the only conclusion in accordance with logic and justice. +Pilate's conclusion was the extraordinary one: "Therefore I will +chastise Him and release Him." He would inflict the severe punishment +of scourging as a sop to their rage, and then release Him as a tribute +to justice. + +Was a more unjust proposal ever made? Yet it was thoroughly +characteristic of the man who made it as well as of the system which he +represented. The spirit of imperial Rome was the spirit of compromise, +manoeuvre and expediency; as the spirit of government has too often +been elsewhere, not only in the State but also in the Church. Pilate +had settled scores of cases on the same principle--or no principle; +scores of officials were conducting their administration throughout the +vast Roman empire in the same way at that very time. Only to Pilate +fell the sinister distinction of putting the base system in operation +in the case where its true character was exposed in the light of +history. + +But ought we not to believe that in all other cases, however obscure +the victims, the spirit manifested by Pilate has been equally +displeasing to God? In our Lord's picture of the Last Judgment one +striking trait is that all are astonished at the reasons assigned for +their destiny. Those on the right hand are credited with feeding +Christ when He was hungry, giving Him drink when He was thirsty, and so +forth; and they ask in surprise, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry and fed +Thee, or thirsty and gave Thee drink? In like manner those on the left +are accused of seeing Christ hungry but neglecting to feed Him, of +seeing Him thirsty and refusing to give Him drink, and so forth; and +they ask, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry or thirsty and ministered not +to Thee? You perhaps think they say so to conceal the sins of which +they are conscious? Not at all. They are really astonished: they +think their identity has been mistaken and that they are about to be +punished for sins they have never committed. They are only aware of +having neglected a few children or old women not worth thinking about. +But Christ says, Each of these stood for Me, and, when you neglected or +injured them, you were doing it unto Me. Thus may all life at the last +prove far more high and solemn than we now imagine. Take care how you +touch your brother man; you may be touching the apple of God's eye: +take care how you do an injustice even to a child; you may find out at +the last that it is Christ you have been assailing. + + +II. + +Pilate had cut himself loose from principle when he declared Jesus to +be innocent and yet ordered Him to be chastised. He thought, however, +that he could guide his course safely enough to the point at which he +aimed. We are to see how completely he failed and at last suffered +total shipwreck. Hands were stretched out towards him, as he advanced, +some to save him, some to do the reverse; but the impulse of his own +false beginning carried him on to the fatal issue. + +The first hand stretched out to him was a loving and helpful one: it +was the hand of his wife. She sent to tell him of a dream she had had +about his Prisoner and to warn him to have nothing to do with "that +just man." + +Difficulties have been made as to how she could know about Christ; but +there is no real difficulty. Probably, while Jesus was away at +Herod's, Pilate had entered the palace and told his wife about the +singular trial and about the impression which Jesus had made upon his +mind. When he left her, she had fallen asleep and dreamed about it; +for, though our version makes her say, "This night I have dreamed about +Him," the literal translation is "this day"; and of course there might +be many causes why a lady should fall asleep in the daytime. Her dream +had been such as to fill her with a vague sense of alarm, and her +message to her husband was the result. + +This incident has taken a strong hold of the Christian imagination and +given rise to all kinds of guesses. Tradition has handed down the name +of Pilate's wife as Claudia Procula; and it is said that she was a +proselyte of the Jewish religion; as high-toned heathen ladies in that +age not infrequently became when circumstances brought the Old +Testament into their hands. The Greek Church has gone so far as to +canonise her, supposing that she became a Christian. Poets and artists +have tried to reproduce her dream. Many will remember the picture of +it in the Dore Gallery in London. The dreaming woman is represented +standing in a balcony and looking up an ascending valley, which is +crowded with figures. It is the vale of years or centuries, and the +figures are the generations of the Church of Christ yet to be. +Immediately in front of her is the Saviour Himself, bearing His cross; +behind and around Him are His twelve apostles and the crowds of their +converts; behind these the Church of the early centuries, with the +great fathers, Polycarp and Tertullian, Athanasius and Gregory, +Chrysostom and Augustine; further back the Church of the Middle Ages, +with the majestic forms and warlike accoutrements of the Crusaders +rising from its midst; behind these the Church of modern times, with +its heroes; then multitudes upon multitudes that no man can number +pressing forward in broadening ranks, till far aloft, in the white and +shining heavens, lo, tier on tier and circle upon circle, with the +angels of God hovering above them and on their flanks; and in the +midst, transfigured to the brightness of a star, the cross, which in +its rough reality He is bearing wearily below. + +Of course these are but fancies. In the woman's anxiety that no evil +should befall the Innocent we may, with greater certainty, trace the +vestiges of the ancient Roman justice as it may have dwelt in the noble +matrons, like Volumnia and Cornelia, whose names adorn the pristine +annals of her race; while the wife's solicitude to save her husband +from a deed of sin associates her with the still nobler women of all +ages who have walked like guardian angels by the side of men immersed +in the world and liable to be coarsened by its contact, to warn them of +the higher laws and the unseen powers. We can hardly doubt that the +hand of God was in this dream, or that it was outstretched to save +Pilate from the doom to which he was hastening. + + +III. + +Another hand, however, was now stretched out to him; and he grasped it +eagerly, thinking it was going to save him; when it suddenly pushed him +down towards the abyss. It was the hand of the mob of Jerusalem. + +Up to this point the actors assembled on the stage of Christ's trial +were comparatively few. It had been the express desire of the Jewish +authorities to hurry the case through before the populace of the city +and the crowds of Passover strangers got wind of it. The proceedings +had accordingly gone forward all night; and it was still early morning. +As Jesus was led through the streets to Herod and back, accompanied by +so many of the principal citizens, no doubt a considerable number must +have gathered. But now circumstances brought a great multitude on the +scene. + +It was the custom of the Roman governor, on the Passover morning, to +release a prisoner to the people. As there were generally plenty of +political prisoners on hand, rebels against the detested Roman yoke, +but, for that very reason, favourites and heroes of the Jewish +populace, this was a privilege not to be forgotten; and, while the +trial of Jesus was proceeding in the open air, the mob of the city came +pouring through the palace gates and up the avenue, shouting for their +annual gift. + +For once their demand was welcome to Pilate, for he thought he saw in +it a way of escape from his own difficulty. He would offer them Jesus, +who had a few days before been the hero of a popular demonstration, and +as an aspirant to the Messiahship would, he imagined, be the very +person they should want. + +It was an utterly unjust thing to do; because, first, it was treating +Jesus as if He were already a condemned man, whereas Pilate had himself +a few minutes before declared Him innocent; and, secondly, it was +staking the life of an innocent man on a guess, which might be +mistaken, as to the fancy of the mob. No doubt, however, Pilate +considered it kind, as he felt sure of the disposition of the populace; +and, at all events, the chance of extricating himself was too good to +lose. + +The minds of the mob it turned out, however, were pre-occupied with a +favourite of their own. Singularly enough his name also appears to +have been Jesus: "Jesus Barabbas" is the name he bears in some of the +best manuscripts of the gospel of St. Matthew.[2] He was "a notable +prisoner," who had been guilty of insurrection in the city, in which +blood had been spilt, and was now lying in jail with the associates +whose ringleader he had been. A bandit, half robber half +insurrectionary leader, is a figure which easily lays hold of the +popular imagination. They hesitated, however, when Pilate proposed +Jesus; and Pilate seems to have sent for the other prisoner, that they +might see the two side by side; for they could not, he thought, +hesitate for a moment, if they had the opportunity of observing the +contrast. + +But this brief interval was utilised by the Sanhedrists to persuade the +multitude. It must be remembered that this was not the Galilean crowd +by which Jesus had been brought in triumph into the city a few days +before, but the mob of Jerusalem, with whom the ecclesiastical +authorities had influence.[3] The priests and scribes, then, mingled +among them and used every artifice they could think of. Probably their +most effective argument was to whisper that Jesus was obviously the +choice of Pilate, and therefore should not be theirs. + +If Pilate actually placed the two Jesuses side by side on his platform, +what a sight it was! The political desperado, stained with murder, +there; the Healer and Teacher, who had gone about continually doing +good, the Son of man, the Son of God, here. Now which will you +have--Jesus or Barabbas? And the cry came ringing from ten thousand +throats, "Barabbas!" + +To Jesus what must that have meant! These were the inhabitants of +Jerusalem, whom He had longed to gather as a hen gathereth her chickens +under her wings; they were the hearers of His words, the subjects of +His miracles, the objects of His love; and they prefer to Him a +murderer and a robber. + +This scene has often been alleged as the self-condemnation of +democracy. _Vox populi vox Dei_, its flatterers have said; but look +yonder: when the multitude has to choose between Jesus and Barabbas, it +chooses Barabbas. If this be so, the scene is equally decisive against +aristocracy. Did the priests, scribes and nobles behave better than +the mob? It was by their advice that the mob chose. + +It is poor sport, on either side, to pelt opponents with such +reproaches. It is better far to learn holy fear from such a scene in +reference to ourselves, to our own party and to our country. What are +we to admire? Whom are we to follow? In what are we to seek +salvation? Certainly there are great questions awaiting the democracy. +Whom will it choose--the revolutionist or the regenerator? And to what +will it trust--cleverness or character? What spirit will it adopt as +its own--that of violence or that of love? Which means will it +employ--those which work from without inwards, or those which work from +within outwards? What end will it seek--the kingdom of meat and drink, +or the kingdom which is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy +Ghost? But such questions are not for the democracy alone. All +classes, all parties, every generation and every country have, from +time to time, to face them. And so has the individual. Perhaps all +the great choices of life ultimately resolve themselves into this +one--Jesus or Barabbas? + + +IV. + +To Pilate the choice of Barabbas must have been not only a surprise, +but a staggering blow. "What then," he asked, "shall I do with Jesus?" +Probably he expected the answer, Give us Him too; and there can be +little doubt that he would willingly have complied with such a request. +But, instead of this, there came, quick as echo, the reply, "Crucify +Him!" and it was more a command than a request. + +He was now made sensible that what he had considered a loophole of +escape was a noose into which he had thrust his head. He might, +indeed, have intimated that he had only given them the prerogative to +save one of the two lives, not to take either of them away. But +virtually he had put both prisoners at their disposal. In this way, at +all events, the mob interpreted the situation; and he did not venture +to contradict them. + +He was, however, deeply moved, and he did a very unusual thing: calling +for a basin of water, he washed his hands before them all and said, "I +am innocent from the blood of this just Person; see ye to it." This +was an impressive act; yet its impressiveness was too theatrical. He +washed his hands when he ought to have exerted them. And blood does +not come off so easily. He could not abnegate his responsibility and +cast it upon others. Public men frequently think they can do so: they +say that they bow to the force of public opinion, but wash their hands +of the deed. But if their position, like Pilate's, demands that they +should decide for themselves and take the consequences, the guilt of +sinful action clings to them and cannot be transferred. This whole +scene, indeed, is a mirror for magistrates, to show them down what dark +paths they may be pushed if they resign themselves to be the mere tools +of the popular will. Pilate ought to have opposed the popular will at +whatever risk and refused to do the deed of which he disapproved. But +such a course would have involved loss to himself; and this was the +real reason for his conduct. + +The populace felt their triumph, and in reply to his solemn +dissociation of himself from Christ's death sent back the insulting +cry, "His blood be on us and on our children." Pilate was afraid of +the guilt, but they were not. Well might the heavens have blackened +above them at that word, and the earth shuddered beneath their feet! +Profaner cry was never uttered. But they were mad with rage and +reckless of everything but victory in the contest in which they were +engaged. Still, their words were not forgotten in the quarter to which +they were directed; and it was not long before the curse which they had +invoked descended on their city and their race. Meanwhile they gained +their end: the will of Pilate was breaking down before their +well-directed persistency. + + + +[1] "On the return of Jesus from Herod, the Sanhedrists do not seem to +have been present. Pilate had to call them together, presumably from +the temple."--EDERSHEIM. + +[2] See Keim's note. Westcott and Hort reject it. Some have further +seen an impressive coincidence in the name Barabbas, interpreting it +"son of the father." Jesus was by no means a rare name. + +[3] Hence the contrast, common in popular preaching, between the +multitude crying "Hosanna" and the same multitude crying "Crucify" is +incorrect. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE CROWN OF THORNS. + +Pilate had failed in his attempt to save Jesus from the hands of His +prosecutors, whose rage against their Victim was only intensified by +the struggle in which they had engaged; and there was no course now +open to him but to hand Jesus over to the executioners for, at least, +the preliminary tortures of crucifixion. + +It is not in accordance with modern Christian sentiment to dwell very +much on the physical sufferings of Christ. Once the feeling on this +subject was very different: in old writers, like the mystic Tauler, for +example, every detail is enlarged upon and even exaggerated, till the +page seems to reek with blood and the mind of the reader grows sick +with horror. We rather incline to throw a veil over the ghastly +details, or we uncover them only so far as may be necessary in order to +understand the condition of His mind, in which we seek His real +sufferings. + +The sacred body of our Lord was exposed to many shocks and cruelties +before the final and complicated horrors of the crucifixion. First, +there was His agony in the garden. Then--not to speak of the chains +laid on Him when He was arrested--there was the blow on the face from +the servant of the high priest. After His condemnation by the +ecclesiastical authorities in the middle of the night they "did spit in +His face and buffeted Him;" and others smote Him with the palms of +their hands, saying, "Prophesy unto us, Thou Christ. Who is he that +smote Thee?" The present is, therefore, the fourth access of physical +suffering which He had to endure. + +First, they scourged Him. This was done by the Roman soldiers by order +of their master Pilate, though the governor, in all likelihood, retired +from the scene while it was being inflicted. It took place, it would +appear, on the platform where the trial had been held, and in the eyes +of all. The victim was stripped and stretched against a pillar, or +bent over a low post, his hands being tied, so that he had no means of +defending himself. The instrument of torture was a sort of knout or +cat-o'-nine-tails, with bits of iron or bone attached to the ends of +the thongs. Not only did the blows cut the skin and draw blood, but +not infrequently the victim died in the midst of the operation. Some +have supposed that Pilate, out of consideration for Jesus, may have +moderated either the number or the severity of the strokes; but, on the +other hand, his plan of releasing Him depended on his being able to +show the Jews that He had suffered severely. The inability of Jesus to +bear His own cross to the place of execution was no doubt chiefly due +to the exhaustion produced by this infliction; and this is a better +indication of the degree of severity than mere conjecture. + +After the scourging the soldiers took Him away with them to their own +quarters in the palace and called together the whole band to enjoy the +spectacle. Evidently they thought that He was already condemned to be +crucified; and anyone condemned to crucifixion seems, after being +scourged, to have been handed over to the soldiery to be handled as +they pleased, just as a hunted creature, when it is caught, is flung to +the dogs. And, indeed, this comparison is only too appropriate; +because, as Luther has remarked, in those days men were treated as only +brutes are treated now. To us it is incomprehensible how the whole +band should have been called together merely to gloat over the +sufferings of a fellow-creature and to turn His pain and shame into +brutal mockery. This, however, was their purpose; and they enjoyed it +as schoolboys enjoy the terror of a tortured animal. It must be +remembered that these were men who on the field of battle were inured +to bloodshed and at Rome found their chief delight in watching the +sports of the arena, where gladiators butchered one another to make a +Roman holiday. + +Their horseplay took the form of a mock coronation. They had caught +the drift of the trial sufficiently to know that the charge against +Jesus was that He pretended to be a king; and lofty pretensions on the +part of one who appears to be mean and poor easily lend themselves to +ridicule. Besides, in their minds there was perhaps an amused scorn at +the thought of a Jew aiming at a sovereignty above that of Caesar. +Foreign soldiers stationed in Palestine cannot have liked the Jews, who +hated them so cordially; and this may have given an edge to their scorn +of a Jewish pretender. + +They treated Him as if they believed Him to be a king. A king must +wear the purple. And so they got hold of an old, cast-off officer's +cloak of this colour and threw it over His shoulders. Then a king must +have a crown. So one of them ran out to the park in which the palace +stood and pulled a few twigs from a tree or bush. These happened to be +thorny; but this did not matter, it was all the better; they were +plaited into the rude semblance of a crown and crushed down on His +head. To complete the outfit, a king must have a sceptre. And this +they found without difficulty: a reed, probably used as a +walking-stick, being thrust into His right hand. Thus was the mock +king dressed up. And then, as on occasions of state they had seen +subjects bow the knee to the emperor, saying, "_Ave, Caesar!_" so they +advanced one after another to Jesus and, bending low, said, "Hail, King +of the Jews!" But, after passing with mock solemnity, each turned and, +with a burst of laughter, struck Him a blow, using for this purpose the +reed which He had dropped. And, though I hardly dare to repeat it, +they covered His face with spittle! + +What a spectacle! It might have been expected that those who were +themselves poor and lowly, and therefore subject to the oppression of +the powerful, would have felt sympathy and compassion for one of their +own station when crushed by the foot of tyranny. But there is no +cruelty like the cruelty of underlings. There is an instinct in all to +wish to see others cast down beneath themselves; and, especially, if +one who has aimed high is brought low, there is a sense of personal +exultation at his downfall. Such are the base passions which lie at +the bottom of men's hearts; and the dregs of the dregs of human nature +were revealed on this occasion. + +What must it have been to Jesus to look on it--to have it thrust on His +sight and into contact with His very person, so that He could not get +away? What must it have been to Him, with His delicate bodily organism +and sensitive mind, to be in the hands of those rude and ruthless men? +It was, however, necessary, in order that He might fully accomplish the +work which He had come to the world to perform. He had come to redeem +humanity--to go down to the very lowest depths to seek and to save the +lost; and, therefore, He had to make close acquaintance with human +nature in its worst specimens and its extremest degradation. He was to +be the Saviour of sinners as bad and degraded as even these soldiers; +and, therefore, He had to come in contact with them and see what they +were. + + +Thus have I passed as lightly as was possible over the details; nor +would my readers wish me to dwell on them further. But it will be +profitable to linger on this spot a little longer, in order to learn +the lessons of the scene. + +First, notice in the conduct of the tormentors of Jesus the abuse of +one of the gifts of God. In the conduct of the Roman soldiers from +first to last the most striking feature is that at every point they +turned their work into horseplay and merriment. Now, laughter is a +gift of God. It is a kind of spice which the Creator has given to be +taken along with the somewhat unpalatable food of ordinary life. It is +a kind of sunshine to enliven the landscape, which is otherwise too +dull and sombre. The power of seeing the amusing side of things +immensely lightens the load of life; and he who possesses the gift of +evoking hearty and innocent mirth may be a true benefactor of his +species.[1] + +But, while laughter is a gift of God, there is no other gift of His +which is more frequently abused and converted from a blessing into a +curse. When laughter is directed against sacred things and holy +persons; when it is used to belittle and degrade what is great and +reverend; when it is employed as a weapon with which to torture +weakness and cover innocence with ridicule--then, instead of being the +foam on the cup at the banquet of life, it becomes a deadly poison. +Laughter guided these soldiers in their inhuman acts; it concealed from +them the true nature of what they were doing; and it wounded Christ +more deeply than even the scourge of Pilate. + +A second thing to be noticed is that it was against the kingly office +of the Redeemer that the opposition of men was directed on this +occasion. It was different on a former occasion, when He was abused at +the close of the ecclesiastical trial. Then it was His prophetic +office that was turned into ridicule: "when they had blindfolded Him, +they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, Prophesy who is it +that smote thee." Here, on the other hand, the ridicule was directed +against Him entirely on the ground of His claiming to be a king. The +soldiers considered it an absurdity and a joke that one apparently so +mean, friendless and powerless should make any such pretensions. + +Many a time since then has the same derision been awakened by this +claim of Christ. He is the King of nations. But earthly kings and +statesmen have ridiculed the idea that His will and His law should +control them in their schemes and ambitions. Even where His authority +is nominally acknowledged, both aristocracies and democracies are slow +to recognise that their legislation and customs should be regulated by +His words. He is King of the Church. Andrew Melville told King James: +"There are two kings and two kingdoms in Scotland; there is King James, +the head of this commonwealth, and there is Christ Jesus, the King of +the Church, whose subject James VI. is, and of whose kingdom he is not +a king, nor a lord, nor a head, but a member." The entire history of +the Scottish Church has been one long struggle to maintain this truth; +but the struggle has frequently been carried on in the face of +opposition almost as scornful as that which assailed Jesus in Pilate's +palace. Most vital of all is the acknowledgment of Christ's kingship +in the realm of the individual life; but it is here that His will is +most resisted. In words we acknowledge allegiance to Him; but in which +of us has the victory over the flesh been so complete that His full +claim has been conceded, to have the arrangement of our business and +our leisure and to dictate what is to be done with our time, our means +and our services? + +A third lesson is to recognise that in what Jesus bore on this occasion +He was suffering for us. + +Of all the features of the scene the one that has most impressed the +imagination of Christendom is the crown of thorns. It was something +unusual, and brought out the ingenuity and wantonness of cruelty. +Besides, as the wound of a thorn has been felt by everyone, it brings +the pain of the Sufferer nearer to us than any other incident. But it +is chiefly by its symbolism that it has laid hold of the Christian +mind. When Adam and Eve were driven from the garden into the bleak and +toilsome world, their doom was that the ground should bring forth to +them thorns and thistles. Thorns were the sign of the curse; that is, +of their banishment from God's presence and of all the sad and painful +consequences following therefrom. And does not the thorn, staring from +the naked bough of winter in threatening ugliness, lurking beneath the +leaves or flowers of summer to wound the approaching hand, tearing the +clothes or the flesh of the traveller who tries to make his way through +the thicket, burning in the flesh where it has sunk, fitly stand for +that side of life which we associate with sin--the side of care, fret, +pain, disappointment, disease and death? In a word, it symbolises the +curse. But it was the mission of Christ to bear the curse; and, as He +lifted it on His own head, He took it off the world. He bore our sins +and carried our sorrows. + +Why is it that, when we think of the crown of thorns now, it is not +only with horror and pity, but with an exultation which cannot be +repressed? Because, cruel as was the soldiers' jest, there was a +divine fitness in their act; and wisdom was, even through their sin, +fulfilling her own intention. There are some persons with faces so +handsome that the meanest dress, which would excite laughter or disgust +if worn by others, looks well on them, and the merest shreds of +ornament, stuck on them anyhow, are more attractive than the most +elaborate toilets of persons less favoured by nature. And so about +Christ there was something which converted into ornaments even the +things flung at Him as insults. When they called Him the Friend of +publicans and sinners, though they did it in derision, they were giving +Him a title for which a hundred generations have loved Him; and so, +when they put on His head the crown of thorns, they were unconsciously +bestowing the noblest wreath that man could weave Him. Down through +the ages Jesus passes, still wearing the crown of thorns; and His +followers and lovers desire for Him no other diadem. + +Fourthly, this scene teaches the lesson of patience in suffering. + +I remember a saint whom it was my privilege to visit in the beginning +of my life as a minister. Though poor and uneducated, she was a person +of very unusual natural powers; her ideas were singularly original, and +she had a charming pleasantness of wit. Though not very old, she knew +that she was doomed to die; and the disease from which she was +suffering was one of the most painful incident to humanity. Often, I +remember, she would tell me, that, when the torture was at the worst, +she lay thinking of the sufferings of the Saviour, and said to herself +that the shooting pains were not so bad as the spikes of the thorns. + +Christ's sufferings are a rebuke to our softness and self-pleasing. It +is not, indeed, wrong to enjoy the comforts and the pleasures of life. +God sends these; and, if we receive them with gratitude, they may lift +us nearer to Himself. But we are too terrified to be parted from them +and too afraid of pain and poverty. Especially ought the sufferings of +Christ to brace us up to endure whatever of pain or reproach we may +have to encounter for His sake. Many would like to be Christians, but +are kept back from decision by dread of the laughter of profane +companions or by the prospect of some worldly loss. But we cannot look +at the suffering Saviour without being ashamed of such cowardly fears. +If the crown of thorns now becomes Christ so well as to be the pride +and the song of men and angels, be assured that any twig from that +crown which we may have to wear will one day turn out to be our most +dazzling ornament. + + + +[1] A ministerial friend told me that he once, in the hearing of Dr. +Andrew Bonar, made reference to some things in the life of St. Paul +which seemed to him to betray on the part of the apostle a sense of +humour. He was not very sure how Dr. Bonar might take such a remark, +and at the close he asked if he agreed with him. "Not only," was the +reply, "do I agree with you, but I go further: I think there are +distinct traces of humour in the sayings and the conduct of our Lord;" +and he proceeded to quote examples. Everyone is aware how Dr. Bonar +himself knew how to combine with the profoundest reverence and +saintliness a strain of delightful mirth; and the absence of this is +the great defect of his otherwise charming autobiography. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE SHIPWRECK OF PILATE + +We have lingered long at the judgment-seat of Pilate. Far too long. +Pilate has detained us. He knew perfectly well, the first glance he +bestowed on the case, what it was his duty to do. But, instead of +acting at once on his conviction, he put off. Of such delay good +seldom comes. Pilate gave temptation time to assail him. He resisted +it, indeed; he fought hard and long against it; but he ought never to +have given it the chance. And he miserably succumbed in the end. + + +I. + +When Pilate delivered Jesus over to be scourged, it looked as if he had +surrendered Him to the cross; and so in all probability the Jews +thought, because scourging was the usual preliminary to crucifixion. +He, however, had not yet abandoned the hope of saving Jesus: he was +still secretly adhering to the proposal he had made, to chastise Him +and then let Him go. Perhaps, if he retired into the palace while the +scourging was taking place, his wife may have urged him to make a +further effort on behalf of that Just Man. + +At all events he came out on the platform, round which the Jews were +still standing, and informed them that the case was not finished; and, +as Jesus, whose scourging was now over, came forward, he turned round +and, pointing to Him, exclaimed with deep emotion, "Behold the Man." + +It was an involuntary expression of commiseration,[1] an appeal to the +Jews to recognize the unreasonableness of proceeding further: Jesus was +so obviously not such an one as they had tried to make Him out to be; +at all events He had suffered enough. + +But the Christian mind has in all ages felt in these words a sense +deeper than Pilate intended. As Caiaphas was uttering a greater truth +than he knew when he said it was expedient that one should die for the +whole people, so in uttering this exclamation the governor was an +unconscious prophet. Preachers in every subsequent age have adopted +his words and, pointing to Jesus, cried, "Behold the Man!" Painters +have chosen this moment, when Jesus came forth, bleeding from the cruel +stripes and wearing the purple robe and crown of thorns, as the one in +which to portray the Man of Sorrows; and many a priceless canvas bears +the title _Ecce Homo_. + +From Pilate's lips there fell two words which the world will never +forget--the question, "What is truth?" and this exclamation, "Behold +the Man!" And the one may be taken as the answer to the other. When +the question, "What is truth?" is put with deep earnestness, what does +it mean but this?--Who will make God known to us? who will clear up the +mystery of existence? who will reveal to man his own destiny? And to +these questions is there any answer but this; "Behold the Man"? He has +shown to the sons of men what they ought to be; His is the perfect +life, after which every human life ought to be fashioned; He has opened +the gates of immortality and revealed the secrets of the other world. +And, what is far more important, He has not only shown us what our life +here and hereafter ought to be, but how the ideal may be realised. He +is not only the image of perfection but the Saviour from sin. +Therefore ought the world to turn to Him and "behold the Man." + + +II. + +Pilate hoped that the sight of the sufferings of Jesus would move the +hard hearts of His persecutors, as it had moved his own. But the only +response to his appeal was, "Crucify Him, crucify Him." It is to be +noted, however, that these cruel words now came from "the chief priests +and officers." Apparently the common people were moved: they might +have yielded, if their superiors had allowed them. But nothing could +move those hard hearts; indeed, the sight of blood only inflamed them +the more; and they felt certain that by sheer persistence they could +break down Pilate's opposition. + +He was at his wits' end and replied to them angrily, "Take ye Him and +crucify Him; for I find no fault in Him"; meaning probably, that he was +willing to yield the Prisoner up to their will, if they would take the +responsibility of executing Him; if, indeed, he had in his mind any +clear meaning and was not merely uttering an exclamation of annoyance. + +They perceived that the critical moment had arrived, and at last they +let out the true reason for which they desired His death: "We have a +law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of +God." + +This was the ground on which they had condemned Him themselves, though +up to this point they had kept it concealed. They had not mentioned +it, because they thought that Pilate would jeer at it. It had on him, +however, a very different effect. All the morning he had been feeling +uneasy; and the more he saw of Jesus the more he disliked the part he +was playing. But now at length the mention of His claim to be the Son +of God caused his fears to take a definite and alarming shape. It +revived in his mind the stories, with which his own pagan religion was +rife, of gods or sons of the gods who had sometimes appeared on earth +in disguise. It was dangerous to have to do with them; for any injury +inflicted on them, even unconsciously, might be terribly avenged. He +had discerned in Jesus something mysterious and inexplicable: what if +He were the son of Jehovah, the native deity of Palestine, as Castor +and Pollux were sons of Jupiter? and might not Jehovah, if He were +injured, blast the man who wronged Him with a curse? Such was the +terror that flashed through his mind; and, taking Jesus once more +inside the palace, he asked Him, with a mixture of awe and curiosity, +"Whence art Thou?" + +Jesus gave him no answer, but again retired into the majestic silence +which at three points already had marked His trial. In the whole +conduct of the Saviour in His sufferings there is nothing more sublime +than these pauses; but it is not easy at every point to gauge the state +of mind to which they were due. Why was Jesus silent at this point? +Some have said, because it was impossible to answer the question. He +could not have said either Yes or No; for, if He had said that God was +His Father, Pilate would have understood the statement in a grossly +pagan sense; and yet, to avoid this, He could not say that He was not +the Son of God. So it was best to say nothing. + +The true explanation, however, is simpler. Jesus would say nothing +about whether He was the Son of God or not, because He did not wish to +be released on this ground. Not as a son of God, but as an innocent +man, which Pilate had again and again acknowledged Him to be, was He +entitled to be set free; and His silence called upon Pilate to act on +this acknowledgment. + +The judge was more than ever astonished; and he was irritated a little +at being thus treated. "Speakest Thou not unto me?" he asked, +flushing; "knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee and have +power to release Thee?" Poor man! it was to be seen before many +minutes had passed how much power he had. And what was this power of +which he boasted? He spoke as if he had arbitrary discretion to do +whatever he pleased. No just judge would make such a claim: justice +takes from him the power to follow his own inclination if it be unjust. +It was of this Jesus reminded him when He now answered with quiet +dignity, "Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, unless it were +given thee from above." [2] He reminds him that the power he wields is +delegated by Heaven, and therefore not to be used according to his own +caprice, but according to the dictates of justice. Yet He added, +"Therefore he that delivered Me unto thee hath the greater sin." He +acknowledged that Pilate was in a position in which he was compelled to +try the case: he had not taken it up at his own hand, as the Jewish +authorities had done. + +Thus Jesus recognised all the difficulties of His judge's position and +was willing to make for him every allowance. This was He whom Pilate +had, a few minutes before, given over to torture. Was there ever such +sublime and unselfish clemency? Could there have been a more complete +triumph over resentment and irritation? If the silence of Christ was +sublime, no less sublime, when He did speak, were His words. + + +III. + +Pilate felt the greatness and the magnanimity of his Prisoner, and came +forth determined at all hazards to set Him free. The Jews saw it in +his face. And at length they brought out their last weapon, which they +had been keeping in reserve and Pilate had been fearing all the time: +they threatened to complain against him to the emperor; for this was +the meaning of what they now cried: "If thou let this man go, thou art +not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against +Caesar." + +There was nothing which a Roman provincial governor so much dreaded as +a complaint lodged against him at Rome. And in Pilate's case such an +accusation, for more reasons than one, would have been specially +perilous. The imperial throne was occupied at the time by one who was +a most suspicious master. Tiberius seemed to delight in humiliating +and disgracing his subordinates. Besides, at this very period he was +peculiarly dangerous. A diseased body, the punishment of vices long +indulged, had made his mind gloomy and savage; in fact, he was little +better than a madman--morose, suspicious and malicious. Nor was any +charge so likely to inflame him as the one which they proposed to lay +against Pilate. It was well known at Rome that the hope of a Messiah +was spread throughout the East; and any provincial governor supposed to +be favouring or even conniving at the claims of such a pretender would +certainly be recalled, probably exiled, and possibly executed. _Amicus +Caesaris_, "Caesar's friend," was one of the most coveted titles of a +man in Pilate's position; and to be accused of acting as no friend of +Caesar's could act was the most serious of all dangers. + +But there was something else which lent point to the threat of the +Jewish authorities: Pilate well knew that his administration could not +bear the light of an investigation such as would inevitably follow a +complaint from his subjects. It is a curious thing that in a secular +writer of that age we find an account of another occasion on which this +same threat was held over Pilate; and the writer who mentions it adds: +"He was afraid that if a Jewish embassy were sent to Rome, they might +discuss the many maladministrations of his government, his extortions, +his unjust decrees, his inhuman punishments." [3] Such had been the +character of Pilate's past life; and now, when he was going to do a +humane and righteous act, it stayed his hand. There is nothing which +so frustrates good resolutions and paralyzes noble efforts as the dead +weight of past sins. Those who are acquainted with secret and +discreditable chapters of a man's history are able, wielding this +knowledge over his head, to say, Thou shalt not do this good act which +thou wishest to do, or, Thou shalt do this evil and shameful thing +which we bid thee. There are companies in which men cannot utter the +fine, high-sounding things they would say elsewhere, because there are +present those who know how their lives have contradicted them. What is +it that mocks the generous thought rising in our minds, that silences +the noble word on our lips, that paralyzes the forming energy of our +actions? Is it not the internal whisper, Remember how you have failed +before? This is the curse of past sin: it will not let us do the good +we would. + +But, if a man has thus committed himself by an evil past, what is he to +do? What ought Pilate to have done? There is only one course. It is +to summon together the resources of his manhood, defy consequences, and +do the right forthwith, come what may. One step taken in loyalty to +conscience, one word of confession spoken, and in a moment the power of +the tyranny is broken, and the spellbound man is free to issue forth +from the inglorious prison of the past. + +Alas, Pilate was not equal to any such effort. For the sake of +righteousness, for the sake of this impressive and innocent but obscure +and friendless Galilean, to face a complaint at Rome and run the risk +of exile and poverty--the man of the world's philosophy could not rise +to any such height. He belonged to the world, whose fashion and +favour, pleasures and comforts were the breath of his nostrils; and, +when he heard the menace of his subjects, he surrendered at discretion. + +Thus Jewish passion and persistency triumphed. Pilate resisted, but he +was forced to yield inch by inch. He wished to do right; he felt the +spell of Jesus; and it irritated him to have to go against his +conscience, but his subjects compelled him to obey their wicked will. +Yet the true reason of his failure was in himself--in the shallowness +and worldliness of his own character, which this occasion laid bare to +the very foundations.[4] + + +IV. + +There was little more to do. The mind of Pilate was very savage and +his heart very sore. He had been beaten and humiliated; and he would +gladly inflict some humiliation on his opponents, if he could find a +way. He ascended the judgment-seat, "in a place that is called the +Pavement, but in the Hebrew Gabbatha"--an act similar in significance, +I suppose, with our judges' habit, before pronouncing a death sentence, +of putting on the black cap. Pointing to Jesus, he exclaimed, "Behold +your King!" It was as much as to say that he believed this really to +be their Messiah--this poor, bleeding, mishandled Man. He was trying +to cut them with a taunt. And he succeeded: smarting with pain they +shouted, "Away with Him! away with Him! crucify Him!" "What," he +proceeded, "shall I crucify your King?" And, borne away with fury, +they responded, "We have no king but Caesar." What a word to come from +the representatives of a nation to which pertained "the adoption and +the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service +of God and the promises!" It was the renouncement of their birthright, +the abandonment of their destiny. Pilate well knew what it had cost +their proud hearts thus to forswear the hopes of their fathers and +acknowledge the right of their conqueror; but to compel them to swallow +this bitter draught was some compensation for the cup of humiliation +they had compelled him to drink. And he took them at their word. + + + +[1] Perhaps also of admiration. Pilate had never before seen so +impressive a specimen of humanity; and the contrast between the +sweetness and majesty of His appearance and the indignities which He +had suffered drew from him this involuntary exclamation. One recalls +Shakespeare's words about Brutus: + + "His life was gentle, and the elements + So mixed in him, that nature might stand up + And say to all the world, This was a Man!" + +[2] We are much tempted on account of the "therefore" to explain "from +above" as referring to the Jewish tribunal. + +[3] Philo. + +[4] It is a striking illustration of the irony of history that Pilate +was overtaken by the very fate to escape which he abandoned Jesus. +Soon after the Crucifixion his subjects lodged a complaint against him +at Rome. He was recalled from his province and never returned. +Ultimately, it is said, he terminated his existence with his own hand, +"wearied out with miseries." Many legends in subsequent centuries +clustered about his name. Several spots were supposed to be haunted by +his restless and despairing spirit, notably a spring in Switzerland on +the top of Mount Pilatus, which was thought to have derived its name +from him; but this is more than doubtful. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +JUDAS ISCARIOT + +To the civil trial of our Lord there is a sad appendix, as we have +already had one to the ecclesiastical trial. Christ's great confession +in the palace of the high priest was accompanied by the great denial of +Peter outside; and the proceedings in the court of Pontius Pilate were +accompanied by the final act of the treachery of Judas. Only in the +latter case we are not able with the same accuracy to fix the +circumstances of time and place. + + +I. + +Judas is one of the darkest riddles of human history. In the Vision of +Hell the poet Dante, after traversing the circles of the universe of +woe, in which each separate kind of wickedness receives its peculiar +punishment, arrives at last, in the company of his guide, at the +nethermost circle of all, in the very bottom of the pit, where the +worst of all sinners and the basest of all sins are undergoing +retribution. It is a lake not of fire but of ice, beneath whose +transparent surface are visible, fixed in painful postures, the figures +of those who have betrayed their benefactors; because this, in Dante's +estimation, is the worst of sins. In the midst of them stands out, +vast and hideous, "the emperor who sways the realm of woe"--Satan +himself; for this was the crime which lost him Paradise. And the next +most conspicuous figure is Judas Iscariot. He is in the mouth of +Satan, being champed and torn by his teeth as in a ponderous engine. + +Such was the mediaeval view of this man and his crime. But in modern +times opinion has swung round to the opposite extreme. Ours is an age +of toleration, and one of its favourite occupations is the +rehabilitation of evil reputations. Men and women who have stood for +centuries in the pillory of history are being taken down; their cases +are retried; and they are set up on pedestals of admiration. Sometimes +this is done with justice, but is other cases it has been carried to +absurdity. Nobody, it would appear, has ever been very bad; the +criminals and scoundrels have been men whose motives have been +misunderstood. Among those on whose behalf the attempt has thus been +made to reverse the verdict of history is Judas Iscariot. Eighteen +centuries had agreed to regard him as the meanest of mankind, but in +our century he has been transmuted into a kind of hero. The theory is +of German origin; but it was presented to the English public by De +Quincey, who adorned it with all the persuasiveness of his meretricious +genius. + +It is held that the motive of Judas was totally different from the one +hitherto supposed: it was not filthy lucre. The smallness of the price +for which he sold his Master--it was less than four pounds of our +money, though the value of this sum was much greater then--proves that +there must have been another motive. The traditional conception is +inconsistent with Christ's choice of him to be a disciple; and it is +irreconcilable with the tragic greatness of his repentance. His view +of Christ's enterprise was no doubt of a material cast: he expected +Christ to be a king, and hoped to hold a high place in His court: but +these ideas were common to all the disciples, who to the very end were +waiting to see their Master throw off the cloak of His humble condition +and take to Himself His great power and reign; only they left the time +and the means in their Master's hands, not venturing to criticise His +proceedings. Judas was not so patient. He was a man of energy and +practicality, and he allowed himself to believe that he had discerned a +defect in the character of his Master. Jesus was too spiritual and +unworldly for the enterprise on which he had embarked--too much +occupied with healing, preaching and speculating. These would be well +enough when once the kingdom was established; but He was losing His +opportunities. His delay had turned against Him the authoritative +classes. One vast force, indeed, was still on His side--the enthusiasm +of the populace--but even of it He was not taking advantage. When, on +Palm Sunday, He was borne into the capital by a crowd throbbing with +Messianic expectation, He seemed to have in His hand what Judas +supposed to be the object of His life; but He did nothing, and the +crowd dispersed, disappointed and disheartened. What Jesus required +was to be precipitated into a situation where He would be compelled to +act. He lacked energy and decision; but, if He were delivered into the +hands of the authorities, who were known to be seeking His life, He +could hesitate no longer. When they laid hands on Him, He would of +course liberate Himself from them, and His miraculous power would +exhibit itself in forms so irresistible as to awaken universal +enthusiasm. Thus would His kingdom be set up in magnificence; and the +man whom the king would delight to honour would surely be the humble +follower by whose shrewdness and audacity the crisis had been brought +about. + + +II. + +Even if this were the true history of Judas, his conduct would not, +perhaps, be as innocent as it looks. In the course of His life our +Lord had frequently to deal with persons who attempted, from what +appeared to themselves to be good motives, to interfere with His +plans--to precipitate Him into action before His time or to restrain +Him when His time had come--and He always resented such interference +with indignation. Even His own mother was not spared when she played +this part. To do God's will exactly, neither more nor less, neither +anticipating it nor lagging behind it, was the inner-most principle of +the life of Jesus; and He treated any interference with it as a +suggestion of the Evil One. + +Still the theory will not hold water. The Scriptures know nothing of +it, and it is inconsistent with the tone of moral repulsion in which +they speak of Judas. Besides, they assign a totally different motive. +They affirm that Judas was a thief and stole out of the bag from which +Jesus gave to the poor and supplied His own wants--a sacrilege which +most thieves would have scorned. It is in entire accordance with this +that the word with which he approached the Sanhedrim was, "How much +will ye give me?" That he was willing to accept so little proves how +strong his passion was. + +It is altogether impossible that a character of this kind can have been +combined with the generous although mistaken enthusiasm which the +theory attributes to him.[1] But, on the other hand, the passion of +avarice may easily have been nourished by brooding with disappointment +on Messianic visions; and the theory of De Quincey may supply important +hints for unravelling the mystery of his career. + +There can be no doubt that at one time the life of Judas seemed full of +promise. Jesus, who was so strict about permitting any to follow Him, +would not have chosen him into the apostolic circle unless he had +exhibited enthusiasm for His person and His cause. He well knew, +indeed, that in his motives there was a selfish alloy; but this was the +case with all His followers; and fellowship with Himself was the fire +in which the alloy was to be purged out. + +In the other apostles this process actually took place: they were +refined by fellowship with Him. Their worldliness, indeed, remained to +the end of His earthly career, but it was growing less and less; and +other ties, stronger than their hopes of earthly glory, were slowly but +surely binding them indissolubly to His cause. In Judas, on the +contrary, the reverse process took place: what was good in him grew +less and less, and at last the sole bond which held him to Christ was +what he could make out of the connection. + +When the suspicion first dawned on him that the hope of a Messianic +kingdom was not to be fulfilled, the inner man of Judas underwent a +critical change. This happened a year before the end, on the occasion +when Christ resisted the attempt of His followers to take Him by force +and make Him a king, and when many of His disciples went back and +walked no more with Him. At that time Jesus warned Judas against the +evil spirit which he was allowing to take possession of his mind by the +strong saying, "Have I not chosen you twelve? and one of you is a +devil." But the disciple did not heed the warning. Perhaps it was at +this stage that he commenced to steal from the bag which he carried. +He felt that he must have some tangible reward for following Christ, +and he justified his peculation by saying to himself that what he was +taking was infinitely less than he had been led to expect. He regarded +himself as an ill-used man. + +Under the practice of this secret sin his character could not but +rapidly deteriorate. Jesus dropped a word of warning now and then; but +it had the reverse of the desired effect. Judas knew that Jesus knew; +and he grew to hate Him. This was by far the worst aspect of the case. +The other disciples were becoming more and more attached to their +Master, because they felt increasingly how much they owed Him; but +Judas did not feel that he owed Him anything: on the contrary, his +feeling was that he had been betrayed. Why should he not betray in +turn? There may even have been an element of scorn in selling Christ +for so little. + +More than one of the Evangelists seem to connect the treachery of Judas +directly with the scene at Bethany in which Mary anointed Jesus with +costly ointment. Apparently this beautiful act brought all the evil in +his heart to such a head that an outbreak could no longer be deferred. +His spite found vent in the angry contention that the money ought to +have been given to the poor. It was a large sum, off which he could +have taken an unusually large slice of booty. But probably there was +more in the occasion to incense Judas. To him this feasting and +anointing, at the moment when the crisis of Christ's fortunes had +obviously come, appeared sheer folly; as a practical man he despised +it. It was manifest that the game was up; a leader loitering and +dreaming in this fashion at the crisis of his fate was doomed. It was +time to get out of the ship, for it was clearly sinking; but he would +do so in such a way as to gratify his resentment, his scorn and his +love of money all at once. + +Thus the master-passion of Judas was nourished from potent springs. +But, indeed, avarice in itself is one of the most powerful of motives. +In the teaching of the pulpit it may seldom be noticed, but both in +Scripture and in history it occupies a prominent place. It is +questionable if anything else makes so many ill deeds to be done. +Avarice breaks all the commandments. Often has it put the weapon into +the hand of the murderer; in most countries of the world it has in +every age made the ordinary business of the market-place a warfare of +falsehood; the bodies of men and the hearts of women have been sold for +gold. Why is it that gigantic wrongs flourish from age to age, and +practices utterly indefensible are continued with the overwhelming +sanction of society? It is because there is money in them. Avarice is +a passion of demonic strength; but it may help us to keep it out of our +hearts to remember that it was the sin of Judas. + + +III. + +The repentance of Judas is alleged as the sign of a superior spirit. +Certainly it is an indication of the goodness which he once possessed, +because it is only by the light of a spark of goodness that the +darkness of sin can be perceived; and the more the conscience has been +enlightened the severer is the reaction when it is outraged. Those who +have in any degree shared the company of Christ can never afterwards be +as if they had not enjoyed this privilege; and religion, if it does not +save, will be the cruellest element in the soul's perdition. + +It is not certain at what point the reaction in the mind of Judas set +in.[2] There were many incidents of the trial well calculated to +awaken in him a revulsion of feeling. At length, however, the +retributive powers of conscience were thoroughly aroused--those powers +which in all literature have formed the theme of the deepest tragedy; +which in the Bible are typified by Cain, escaping as a fugitive and a +vagabond from the cry of his brother's blood; which in Greek literature +are shadowed forth by the terrible figures of the Eumenides, with +gorgon faces and blood-dropping eyes, following silently but +remorselessly those upon whose track they have been set; and which in +Shakespeare are represented in the soul-curdling scenes of Macbeth and +Richard III. He was seized with an uncontrollable desire to undo what +he had done. The money, on which his heart had been set, was now like +a spectre to his excited fancy. Every coin seemed to be an eye through +which eternal justice was gazing at his crime or to have a tongue +crying out for vengeance. As the murderer is irresistibly drawn back +to the spot where his victim lies, he returned to the place where his +deed of treachery had been transacted and, confronting those by whom he +had been employed, handed back the money with the passionate +confession, "I have betrayed innocent blood." But he had come to +miserable comforters. With cynical disdain they asked, "What is that +to us? See thou to that." They had been cordial enough to him when he +had come before, but now, after the instrument has served their turn, +they fling it contemptuously aside. The miserable man had to turn away +from the scorn of the partners of his guilt; but he could keep the +money no longer--it was burning in his hands--and, before escaping from +the precincts, he flung it down. This is said to have happened in that +part of the temple which could be entered only by the priests;[3] and +he must either have made a rush across the forbidden threshold or +availed himself of an open door to fling it in. Not only did he desire +to be rid of it, but a passionate impulse urged him to leave with the +priests their own share of the guilt. + +Then he rushed away from the temple. But where was he going? Oh that +it had been in him to flee to Christ--that, breaking through all +obstacles and rules, he had rushed to Him wherever He was to be found +and cast himself at His feet! What if the soldiers had cut him down? +Then he would have been the martyr of penitence, and that very day he +would have been with Christ in Paradise. Judas repented of his sin; he +confessed it; he cast from him the reward of iniquity; but his +penitence lacked the element which is most essential of all--he did not +turn to God. True repentance is not the mere horror and excitement of +a terrified conscience: it is the call of God; it is letting go the +evil because the good has prevailed; it includes faith as well as fear. + + +IV. + +The manner of his end is also used as an argument in favour of the more +honourable view of Judas. The act of suicide is one which has not +infrequently been invested with a glamour of romance, and to go out of +life the Roman way, as it is called, has been considered, even by +Christians, an evidence of unusual strength of mind. The very reverse +is, however, the true character of suicide: except in those melancholy +cases where the reason is impaired, it must be pronounced the most +contemptible act of which a human being is capable. It is an escape +from the burdens and responsibilities of existence; but these burdens +and responsibilities are left to be borne by others, and along with +them is left an intolerable heritage of shame. From a religious point +of view it appears in a still worse light. Not only does the suicide, +as even heathen writers have argued, desert the post of duty where +Providence has placed him, but he virtually denies the character and +even the existence of God. He denies His character, for, if he +believed in His mercy and love, he would flee to instead of from Him; +and he denies His existence, for no one who believed that he was to +meet God on the other side of the veil would dare in this disorderly +way to rush into His presence. + +The mode of Judas' suicide was characteristically base. Hanging does +not appear to have been at all usual among the Jews. In the entire Old +Testament there is said to occur only a single case; and, strange to +say, it is that of the man who, in the principal act of his life also, +was the prototype of Judas. Ahithophel, the counsellor and friend of +David, betrayed his master, as Judas betrayed Christ; and he came to +the same ignominious end. + +It would seem, further, that the hanging of Judas was accompanied with +circumstances of unusual horror. This we gather from the account in +the beginning of Acts.[4] The terms employed are obscure; but they +probably signify that the suicidal act was attended by a clumsy +accident, in consequence of which the body, being suspended over a +precipice and suddenly dropped by the snapping of the rope, was mangled +in a shocking manner, which made a profound impression on all who heard +of it.[5] + +And this sense of his end being accursed was further accentuated in the +minds of the early Christians by the circumstance that the money for +which he had sold Christ was eventually used for the purchase of a +graveyard for burying strangers in. The priests, though they picked up +the coins from the floor over which Judas had strewn them, did not, +scrupulous men, consider them good enough to be put in the sacred +treasury; so they applied them to this purpose. The public wit, +hearing of it, dubbed the place the Field of Blood; and thus the +cemetery became a kind of monument to the traitor, of which he took +possession as the first of the outcasts for whom it was designed. + + +The world has agreed to regard Judas as the chief of sinners; but, in +so judging, it has exceeded its prerogative. Man is not competent to +judge his brother. The master-passion of Judas was a base one; Dante +may be right in considering treachery the worst of crimes; and the +supreme excellence of Christ affixes an unparalleled stigma to the +injury inflicted on Him. But the motives of action are too hidden, and +the history of every deed is too complicated, to justify us in saying +who is the worst of men. It is not at all likely that those whom human +opinion would rank highest in merit or saintliness will be assigned the +same positions in the rewards of the last day; and it is just as +unlikely that human estimates are right when they venture to assign the +degrees of final condemnation. Two things it is our duty to do in +regard to Judas: first, not so to palliate his sin as to blunt the +healthy, natural abhorrence of it; and, secondly, not to think of him +as a sinner apart and alone, with a nature so different from our own +that to us he can be no example. But for the rest, there is only one +verdict which is at once righteous, dignified and safe; and it is +contained in the declaration of St. Peter, that he "went to his own +place." + + + +[1] Hanna, in _The Last Day of Our Lord's Passion_, attempts to combine +both motives, but without being able really to unite them; they remain +as distinct as oil and water. + +[2] If, as St. Matthew seems to indicate, Judas disappeared from the +scene long before the end of the trial, this is strongly against the +theory of De Quincey, according to which he must have stayed to the +last moment, hoping to see Jesus assert Himself. + +[3] _En to nao_. + +[4] St. Matthew knows best the beginning, St. Luke the end of the story. + +[5] De Quincey's interpretation of the words as a description of mental +anguish must be felt by every reader of the brilliant essay to be +forced and unnatural. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +VIA DOLOROSA + +We have finished the first part of our theme--the Trial of Jesus--and +turn now to the second and more solemn part of it--His Death. The +trial had been little better than a mockery of justice: on the part of +the ecclesiastical authority it was a foregone conclusion, and on the +part of the civil authority it was the surrender of a life acknowledged +to be innocent to the ends of selfishness and policy. But at last it +was over, and nothing remained but to carry the unjust sentence into +execution. So the tribunal of Pilate was closed for the day; the +precincts of the palace were deserted by the multitude; and the +procession of death was formed. + + +I. + +Persons condemned to death in modern times are allowed a few weeks, or +at least days, to prepare for eternity; but Jesus was crucified the +same day on which He was condemned. There was a merciful law of Rome +in existence at the time, ordaining that ten days should intervene +between the passing of a capital sentence and its execution; but either +this was not intended for use in the provinces or Jesus was judged to +be outside the scope of its mercy, because He had made Himself a king. +At all events He was hurried straight from the judgment-seat to the +place of execution, without opportunity for preparation or farewells. + +Of course the sentence was carried out by the soldiers of Pilate. St. +John, indeed, speaks as if Pilate had simply surrendered Him into the +hands of the Jews, and they had seen to the execution. But this only +means that the moral responsibility was theirs. They did everything in +their power to identify themselves with the deed. So intent were they +on the death of Jesus, that they could not leave the work to the proper +parties, but followed the executioners and superintended their +operations. The actual work, however, was performed by the hands of +Roman soldiers with a centurion at their head. + +In this country executions are now carried out in private, inside the +walls of the prison in which the criminal has been confined. Not many +years ago, however, they took place in public; and not many generations +ago the procession of death made a tour of the public streets, that the +condemned man might come under the observation and maledictions of as +many of the public as possible. This also was the manner of Christ's +death. Both among the Jews and the Romans executions took place +outside the gate of the city. The traditional scene of Christ's death, +over which the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is built, is inside the +present walls, but those who believe in its authenticity maintain that +it was outside the wall of that date. This, however, is extremely +doubtful; and, indeed, it is quite uncertain outside which gate of the +city the execution took place. The name Calvary or Golgotha probably +indicates that the spot was a skull-like knoll; but there is no reason +to think that it was a hill of the size supposed by designating it +Mount Calvary. Indeed, there is no hill near any gate corresponding to +the image in the popular imagination. In modern Jerusalem there is a +street pointed out as the veritable _Via Dolorosa_ along which the +procession passed; but this also is more than doubtful. Like ancient +Rome, ancient Jerusalem is buried beneath the rubbish of centuries.[1] +From the scene of the trial to the supposed site of the execution is +nearly a mile. And it is quite possible that Jesus may have had to +travel as far or farther, while an ever-increasing multitude of +spectators gathered round the advancing procession. + +One special indignity connected with the punishment of crucifixion was +that the condemned man had to carry on his back through the streets the +cross upon which he was about to suffer. In pictures the cross of +Jesus is generally represented as a lofty structure, such as a number +of men would have been needed to carry; but the reality was something +totally different: it was not much above the height of a man,[2] and +there was just enough of wood to support the body. But the weight was +considerable, and to carry it on the back which had been torn with +scourging must have been excessively painful. + +Another source of intense pain was the crown of thorns, if, indeed, He +still wore it. We are told that before the procession set out towards +Golgotha the robes of mockery were taken off and His own garments put +on; but it is not said that the crown of thorns was removed. + +Most cruel of all, however, was the shame. There was a kind of savage +irony in making the man carry the implement on which he was to suffer; +and, in point of fact, throughout classical literature this mode of +punishment is a constant theme of savage banter and derision.[3] + +There is evidence that the imagination of Jesus had occupied itself +specially beforehand with this portion of His sufferings. Long before +the end He had predicted the kind of death He should die; but even +before these predictions had commenced He had described the sacrifices +which would have to be made by those who became His disciples as +cross-bearing--as if this were the last extreme of suffering and +indignity. Did He so call it simply because His knowledge of the world +informed Him of this as one of the greatest indignities of human life? +or was it the foreknowledge that He Himself was to be one day in this +position which coloured His language? We can hardly doubt that the +latter was the case. And now the hour on which His imagination had +dwelt was come, and in weakness and helplessness He had to bear the +cross in the sight of thousands who regarded Him with scorn. To a +noble spirit there is no trial more severe than shame--to be the object +of cruel mirth and insolent triumph. Jesus had the lofty and refined +self-consciousness of one who never once had needed to cringe or stoop. +He loved and honoured men too much not to wish to be loved and honoured +by them; He had enjoyed days of unbounded popularity, but now His soul +was filled with reproach to the uttermost; and He could have +appropriated the words of the Psalm, "I am a worm and no man; a +reproach of men and despised of the people." + +The reproach of Christ is all turned into glory now; and it is very +difficult to realise how abject the reality was. Nothing perhaps +brings this out so well as the fact that two robbers were sent away to +be executed with Him. This has been regarded as a special insult +offered to the Jews by Pilate, who wished to show how contemptuously he +could treat One whom he affected to believe their king. But more +likely it is an indication of how little more Christ was to the Roman +officials than any one of the prisoners whom they put through their +hands day by day. Pilate, no doubt, had been interested and puzzled +more than usual; but, after all, Jesus was only one of many; His +execution could be made part of the same job with that of the other +prisoners on hand. And so the three, bearing their crosses, issued +from the gates of the palace together and took the Dolorous Way. + + +II. + +Though He bore His own cross out of the palace of Pilate, He was not +able to carry it far. Either He sank beneath it on the road or He was +proceeding with such slow and faltering steps that the soldiers, +impatient of the delay, recognised that the burden must be removed from +His shoulders. The severity of the scourging was in itself sufficient +to account for this breakdown; but, besides, we are to consider the +sleepless night through which He had passed, with its anxiety and +abuse; and before it there had been the agony of Gethsemane. No wonder +His exhaustion had reached a point at which it was absolutely +impossible for Him to proceed farther with such a burden. + +One or two of the soldiers might have relieved Him; but, in the spirit +of horseplay and mischief which had characterised their part of the +proceedings from the moment when Christ fell into their hands, they lay +hold of a casual passer-by and requisitioned his services for the +purpose. He was coming in from the region beyond the gate as they were +going out, and they acted under the sanction of military law or custom. + +To the man it must have been an extreme annoyance and indignity. +Doubtless he was bent on business of his own, which had to be deferred. +His family or his friends might be waiting for him, but he was turned +the opposite way. To touch the instrument of death was as revolting to +him as it would be to us to handle the hangman's rope; perhaps more so, +because it was Passover time, and this would make him ceremonially +unclean. It was a jest of the soldiers, and he was their +laughing-stock. As he walked by the side of the robbers, it looked as +if he were on the way to execution himself. + +This is a lively image of the cross-bearing to which the followers of +Christ are called. We are wont to speak of trouble of any kind as a +cross; and doubtless any kind of trouble may be borne bravely in the +name of Christ. But, properly speaking, the cross of Christ is what is +borne in the act of confessing Him or for the sake of His work. When +anyone makes a stand for principle, because he is a Christian, and +takes the consequences in the shape of scorn or loss, this is the cross +of Christ. The pain you may feel in speaking to another in Christ's +name, the sacrifice of comfort or time you may make in engaging in +Christian work, the self-denial you exercise in giving of your means +that the cause of Christ may spread at home or abroad, the reproach you +may have to bear by identifying yourself with militant causes or with +despised persons, because you believe they are on Christ's side--in +such conduct lies the cross of Christ. It involves trouble, discomfort +and sacrifice. One may fret under it, as Simon did; one may sink under +it, as Jesus did Himself; it is ugly, painful, shameful often; but no +disciple is without it. Our Master said, "He that taketh not his cross +and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me." + + +III. + +The one thing which makes Simon an imperfect type of the cross-bearer +is that we are uncertain whether or not he bore the burden voluntarily. +The Roman soldiers forced it on him; but was it force-work and nothing +else? + +Some have supposed that he was an adherent of Christ; but it is +extremely improbable that, just at the moment when the soldiers needed +someone for their purpose, one of the very few followers of Jesus +should have appeared. The tone of the narrative seems rather to +indicate that he was one who happened to be there by mere chance and +had nothing to do with the proceedings till, against his will, he was +made an actor in the drama. + +He is said by the Evangelist to have been a Cyrenian, that is, an +inhabitant of Cyrene, a city in North Africa. Strangers from this +place are mentioned among those who were present soon after at the +Feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the Church in +tongues of fire. And the probability is that Simon had, in a similar +way, come from his distant home to the Passover.[4] + +He had come on pilgrimage. Perhaps he was a devout soul, waiting for +the consolation of Israel. In far Cyrene he may have been praying for +the coming of the Messiah and, before setting out on this journey, +pleading for a season of unusual blessing. God had heard and was going +to answer his prayers, but in a way totally different from his +expectations. + +For apparently this _rencontre_ issued in his salvation and in the +salvation of his house. The Evangelist calls him familiarly "the +father of Alexander and Rufus." Evidently the two sons were well known +to those for whom St. Mark was writing; that is, they were members of +the Christian circle. And there can be little doubt that the +connection of his family with the Church was the result of this +incident in the father's life. St. Mark wrote his Gospel for the +Christians of Rome; and in the Epistle to the Romans one Rufus is +mentioned as resident there along with his mother. This may be one of +the sons of Simon. And in Acts xiii. 1 one Simeon--the same name as +Simon--is mentioned along with a Lucius of Cyrene as a conspicuous +Christian at Antioch: he is called Niger, or Black, a name not +surprising for one who had been tanned by the hot sun of Africa. There +are Alexanders mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament; but the name +was common, and there is not much probability that any of them is to be +identified with Simon's son. Still putting the details aside, we have +sufficiently clear indications that in consequence of this incident +Simon became a Christian. + +Is it not a significant fact, proving that nothing happens by chance? +Had Simon entered the city one hour sooner, or one hour later, his +after history might have been entirely different. On the smallest +circumstances the greatest results may hinge. A chance meeting may +determine the weal or woe of a life. Doubtless to Simon this encounter +seemed at the moment the most unfortunate incident that could have +befallen him--an interruption, an annoyance and a humiliation; yet it +turned out to be the gateway of life. Thus do blessings sometimes come +in disguise, and out of an apparition, at the sight of which we cry out +for fear, may suddenly issue the form of the Son of Man. But it was +not Simon's own salvation only that was involved in this singular +experience, but that of his family as well. How much may follow when +Christ is revealed to any human soul! The salvation of those yet +unborn may be involved in it--of children and children's children. + +But think how blessed to Simon would appear in after days the +cross-bearing which was at the time so bitter! No doubt it became the +romance of his life. And to this day who can help envying him for +being allowed to give his strength to the fainting Saviour and to +remove the burden from that bleeding and smarting back? So for all men +there is a day coming when any service they have done to Christ will be +the memory of which they will be most proud. It will not be the +recollection of the prizes we have won, the pleasures we have enjoyed, +the discomforts we have escaped, that will come back to us with delight +as we review life from its close; but, if we have denied ourselves and +borne the cross for Christ's sake, the memory of that will be a pillow +soft and satisfying for a dying head. In that day we shall wish that +the minutes given to Christ's service had been years, and the pence +pounds; and every cup of cold water and every word of sympathy and +every act of self denial will be so pleasant to remember that we shall +wish they had been multiplied a thousandfold. + + + +[1] Interesting details in Ross's _Cradle of Christianity_. + +[2] A soldier was able to reach up to the lips of Christ on the cross +with a sponge on a reed. + +[3] See Horace, S. ii. 7, 47; E. i. 16, 48. + +[4] Many Jews, indeed, who had once been inhabitants of Cyrene lived in +Jerusalem--old people, probably, who had come to lay their bones in +holy ground; for we learn from an incidental notice in the Acts that +they had a synagogue of their own in the city; and Simon may have been +one of these. But the other is the more likely case. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM + +There are many legends clustering round this portion of our Lord's +history. + +It is narrated, for example, that, when the divine Sufferer, burdened +with the cross, was creeping along feebly and slowly, He leaned against +the door of a house which stood in the way, when the occupier, striking +a blow, commanded Him to hurry on; to which the Lord, turning to His +assailant, replied, "Thou shall go on and never stop till I come +again;" and to this day, unable to find either rest or death, the +miserable man still posts over the earth, and shall continue doing so +until the Lord's return. This is the legend of the Wandering Jew, +which assumed many forms in the lore of other days and still plays a +somewhat prominent part in literature. It is, I suppose, a fantastic +representation, in the person of an individual, of the tragic fate of +the Jewish race, which, since the day when it laid violent hands on the +Son of God, has had no rest for the sole of its foot. + +To another story of the _Via Dolorosa_ as distinguished a place has +been given in art as to the legend of the Wandering Jew in literature. +Veronica, a lady in Jerusalem, seeing Christ, as He passed by, sinking +beneath His burden, came out of her house and with a towel washed away +the blood and perspiration from His face. And lo! when she examined +the napkin with which the charitable act had been performed, it bore a +perfect likeness of the Man of Sorrows. Some of the greatest painters +have reproduced this scene, and it may be understood as teaching the +lesson that even the commonest things in life, when employed in acts of +mercy, are stamped with the image and superscription of Christ. + +In Roman Catholic churches there may generally be seen round the walls +a series of about a dozen pictures, taken from this part of our Lord's +life. They are denominated the Stations of the Cross, because the +worshippers, going round, stop to look and meditate on the different +scenes. In Catholic countries the same idea is sometimes carried out +on a more imposing scale. On a knoll or hill in the neighbourhood of a +town three lofty crosses stand; the road to them through the town is +called _Via Calvarii_, and at intervals along the way the scenes of our +Lord's sad journey are represented by large frescoes or bas-reliefs. + +But we really know for certain of only two incidents of the _Via +Dolorosa_--that in which our Lord was relieved of His cross by Simon +the Cyrenian and that, which we are now to consider, of the sympathetic +daughters of Jerusalem. + + +I. + +The reader of the history of our Lord in its last stages is sated with +horrors. In some of the scenes through which we have recently +accompanied Him we have seemed to be among demons rather than men. The +mind longs for something to relieve the monstrous spectacles of fanatic +hate and cold-blooded cruelty. Hence this scene is most welcome, in +which a blink of sunshine falls on the path of woe, and we are assured +that we need not lose faith in the human heart. + +It was, indeed, a surprising demonstration. It would hardly have been +credited, had it not there been made manifest, that Jesus had so strong +a hold upon any section of the population of Jerusalem. In the capital +He had always found the soil very unreceptive. Jerusalem was the +headquarters of rabbinic learning and priestly arrogance--the home of +the Pharisee and the Sadducee, who guided public opinion; and there, +from first to last, He had made few adherents. It was in the +provinces, especially in Galilee, that He had been the idol of the +populace. It was by the Galilean pilgrims to the Passover that He was +convoyed into the capital with shouts of Hosanna; but the inhabitants +of the city stood coldly aloof, and before Pilate's judgment-seat they +cried out, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" + +Yet now it turns out that He has touched the heart of one section at +least even of this community: "There followed Him a great company of +people and of women, which[1] also bewailed and lamented Him." Some +have considered this so extraordinary that they have held these women +to be Galileans; but Jesus addressed them as "daughters of Jerusalem." +The Galilean men who had surrounded Him in His hour of triumph put in +no appearance now in His hour of despair; but the women of Jerusalem +broke away from the example of the men and paid the tribute of tears to +His youth, character and sufferings. It is said that there was a +Jewish law forbidding the showing of any sympathy to a condemned man; +but, if so, this demonstration was all the more creditable to those who +took part in it. The upwelling of their emotion was too sincere to be +dammed back by barriers of law and custom. + +It is said there is no instance in the Gospels of a woman being an +enemy of Jesus. No woman deserted or betrayed, persecuted or opposed +Him. But women followed Him, they ministered to Him of their +substance, they washed His feet with tears, they anointed His head with +spikenard; and now, when their husbands and brothers were hounding Him +to death, they accompanied Him with weeping and wailing to the scene of +martyrdom.[2] + +It is a great testimony to the character of Christ on the one hand and +to that of woman on the other. Woman's instinct told her, however +dimly she at first apprehended the truth, that this was the Deliverer +for her. Because, while Christ is the Saviour of all, He has been +specially the Saviour of woman. At His advent, her degradation being +far deeper than that of men, she needed Him more; and, wherever His +gospel has travelled since then, it has been the signal for her +emancipation and redemption. His presence evokes all the tender and +beautiful qualities which are latent in her nature; and under His +influence her character experiences a transfiguration.[3] + +It has, indeed, been contended that there was no great depth in the +emotion of the daughters of Jerusalem; and we need not deny the fact. +Their emotion was no outburst of faith and repentance, carrying with it +revolutionary effects, as tears may sometimes be. It was an overflow +of natural feeling, such as might have been caused by any pathetic +instance of misfortune. It was not unlike the tears which may be still +made to flow from the eyes of the tender-hearted by a moving account of +the sufferings of Christ; and we know that such emotions are sometimes +far from lasting. Our nature consists of several strata, of which +emotion is the most superficial; and it is not enough that religion +should operate in this uppermost region; it must be thrust down, +through emotion, into the deeper regions, such as the conscience and +the will, and catch hold and kindle there, before it can achieve the +mastery of the entire being. + +But this response of womanhood to Christ was a beginning; and therein +lay its significance. It was to Him a foretaste of the splendid +devotion which He was yet to receive from the womanhood of the world. +It was as welcome to Him in that hour of desertion and reproach as is +the sight of a tuft of grass to the thirsty traveller in the desert. +The sounds of sympathy flowed over His soul as gratefully as the gift +of Mary's love enveloped His senses when the house was filled with the +odour of the ointment. + +Thus in the _Via Dolorosa_ Jesus experienced two alleviations of His +suffering: the strength of a man relieved His body of the burden of the +cross, and the pain of His soul was cooled by the sympathy of women. +Is it not a parable--a parable of what men and women can do for Him +still? Christ needs the strength of men--the strong arm, the vigorous +hand, the shoulders that can bear the burden of His cause; He seeks +from men the mind whose originality can plan what needs to be done, the +resolute will that pushes the work on in spite of opposition, the +liberal hand that gives ungrudgingly what is required for the progress +and success of the Christian enterprise. From women he seeks sympathy +and tears. They can give the sensibility which keeps the heart of the +world from hardening; the secret knowledge which finds out the objects +of Christian compassion and wins their confidence; the enthusiasm which +burns like a fire at the heart of religious work. The influence of +women is subtle and remote; but it is on this account all the more +powerful; for they sit at the very fountains, where the river of human +life is springing, and where a touch may determine its entire +subsequent course. + + +II. + +It has been allowed to condemned men in all ages to speak to the crowds +assembled to witness their death. The dying speech used in this +country to be a regular feature of executions. Even in ages of +persecution the martyrs were usually allowed, as they ascended the +ladder, to address the multitude; and these testimonies, some of which +were of singular power and beauty, were treasured by the religious +section of the community. It is nothing surprising, therefore, that +Jesus should have addressed those who followed Him or should have been +permitted to do so. No doubt He was at the last point of exhaustion, +but, when He was relieved of the weight of the cross, He was able to +rally strength sufficient for this effort. Pausing in the road and +turning to the women, whose weeping and wailing were filling His ears, +He addressed Himself to them. + +His words are, in the first place, a revelation of Himself. They show +what was demonstrated again and again during the crucifixion--how +completely He could forget His own sufferings in care and anxiety for +others. His sufferings had already been extreme; His soul had been +filled with injustice and insult; at this very moment His body was +quivering with pain and His mind darkened with the approach of still +more atrocious agonies. Yet, when He heard behind Him the sobs of the +daughters of Jerusalem, there rushed over His soul a wave of compassion +in which for the moment His own troubles were submerged. + +We see in His words, too, the depth and fervour of His patriotism. +When He saw the tears of the women, the spectacle raised in His mind an +image of the doom impending over the city whose daughters they were. +Jerusalem, as has been already said, had always been extremely +unresponsive to Him; she had played to Him an unmotherly part. None +the less, however, did He feel for her the love of a loyal son. He had +shown this a few days before, when, in the midst of His triumph, He +paused on the brow of Olivet, where the city came into view, and burst +into a flood of tears, accompanied with such a lyric cry of affection +as has never been addressed to any other city on earth. Subsequently, +sitting with His disciples over against the temple, He showed how well +He foreknew the terrible fate which hung over the capital of His +country, and how poignantly He felt it. The city's doom was nigh at +hand: less than half a century distant: and it was to be unparalleled +in its horror. The secular historian of it, himself a Jew, says in his +narrative: "There has never been a race on earth, and there never will +be one, whose sufferings can be matched with those of Jerusalem in the +days of the siege." It was the foresight of this which made Jesus now +say, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves +and for your children." + +His words, still further, reveal His consideration for women and +children. The tears of the women displayed an appreciation and +sympathy for Him such as the men were incapable of; but well did He +deserve them, for His words show that He had a comprehension of women +and a sympathy with them such as had never before existed in the world. +With the force of the imagination and the heart He realised how, in the +approaching siege, the heaviest end of the misery would fall on the +female portion of the population, and how the mothers would be wounded +through their children. In that country, where children were regarded +as the crown and glory of womanhood, the currents of nature would be so +completely reversed by the madness of hunger and pain that barrenness +would be esteemed fortunate; and in a country where length of days had +been considered the supreme blessing of life they would long and cry +for sudden and early death. + +So it actually turned out. An outstanding feature of the siege of +Jerusalem, according to the secular historian, was the suffering of the +women and children. Besides using every other device of warfare, the +Romans deliberately resorted to starvation, and the inhabitants endured +the uttermost extremities of hunger. So frenzied did the men become at +last that every extra mouth requiring to be filled became an object of +delirious suspicion, and the last morsels were snatched from the lips +of the women and children. One is tempted to quote some of the stories +of Josephus about this, but they are so awful that it would be scarcely +decent to repeat them. + +This was what the quick sympathy of Jesus enabled Him to divine; and +His compassion gushed forth towards those who were to be the chief +sufferers. Women and children--how irreverently they have been thought +of, how callously and brutally treated, since history began! Yet they +are always the majority of the human race. Praise be to Him who lifted +them, and is still lifting them, out of the dust of degradation and +ill-usage, and who put in on their behalf the plea of justice and mercy! + +Finally, there was in the words addressed to the daughters of Jerusalem +an exhortation to repentance. When Jesus said, "Weep for yourselves +and for your children," He was referring not merely to the approaching +calamities of the city, but to its guilt. This was indicated most +clearly in the closing words of His address to them--"For if they do +these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" + +He could speak of Himself as a green tree. He was young and He was +innocent; to this the tears of the women testified; there was no reason +why He should die; yet God permitted all these things to happen to Him. +The Jewish nation ought also to have been a green tree. God had +planted and tended it; it had enjoyed every advantage; but, when He +came seeking fruit on it, He found none. It was withered; the sap of +virtue and godliness had gone out of it; it was dry and ready for the +burning; and, when the enemy came to apply the firebrand, why should +God interpose? Thus did Jesus attempt once more to awaken repentance. +He wished to thrust the impressions of the daughters of Jerusalem down +from the region of feeling into a deeper place. They had given Him +tears of emotion; He desired, besides these, tears of contrition; for +in religion nothing is accomplished till impression touches the +conscience. + +Whether any of them responded in earnest we cannot tell. Not many, it +is to be feared. Nor can we tell whether by repentance the destruction +of the Jewish state might still have been averted. At all events, the +fire of invasion soon fell on the dry tree, and it was burnt up. And +since then those who would not weep for their sins before the stroke of +punishment fell have had to weep without ceasing. Visitors to +Jerusalem at the present day are conducted to a spot called the Place +of Wailing, where every Friday representatives of the race weep for the +destruction of their city and temple.[4] This has gone on for +centuries; and it is only a symbol of the cup of astonishment, filled +to the brim, which has during many centuries been held to the lips of +Israel. Sin must be wept for some time--if not before punishment has +fallen, then after; if not in time, then in eternity. This is a lesson +for all. And has not that final word of Jesus a meaning for us even +more solemn than it had for those to whom it was first addressed--"If +these things be done in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" +If woe and anguish fell, as they did, even on the Son of God, when He +was bearing the sins of the world, what will be the portion of those +who have to bear their own? + + + +[1] The participle refers to the women alone. + +[2] "How slow we have been to ask our _sister_ members to help +us!--although we read of deaconesses in the early Church, and although +we do not read of a single woman who was unkind and unfaithful to the +Saviour while here upon earth. Men were diabolic in their cruelty to +Him, but never did a woman betray Him, mock Him, desert Him, nor spit +in His face. Many of them cheered Him on His way to the Cross, washing +His feet with tears before men pierced them with nails, anointing His +head with precious perfume in anticipation of the thorns with which men +crowned Him. They wept with Him on the way to Calvary, and were true +to Him to the very end. And are they not devoted and true to Him +still? Why, then, have we been so long in calling for their +services?"--E. HERBERT EVANS, D.D. + +[3] Brace, _Gesta Christi_. + +[4] Striking description in Baring-Gould, _The Passion of Jesus_, p. 75. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CALVARY + +Anyone writing on the life of our Lord must many a time pause in secret +and exclaim to himself, "It is high as heaven, what canst thou do? +deeper than hell, what canst thou know?" But we have now arrived at +the point where this sense of inadequacy falls most oppressively on the +heart. To-day we are to see Christ crucified. But who is worthy to +look at this sight? Who is able to speak of it? "Such knowledge is +too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain unto it." In the +presence of such a subject one feels one's mind to be like some tiny +creature at the bottom of the sea--as incapable of comprehending it all +as is the crustacean of scooping up the Atlantic in its shell. + +This spot to which we have come is the centre of all things. Here two +eternities meet. The streams of ancient history converge here, and +here the river of modern history takes its rise. The eyes of +patriarchs and prophets strained forward to Calvary, and now the eyes +of all generations and of all races look back to it. This is the end +of all roads. The seeker after truth, who has explored the realms of +knowledge, comes to Calvary and finds at last that he has reached the +centre. The weary heart of man, that has wandered the world over in +search of perfect sympathy and love, at last arrives here and finds +rest. Think how many souls every Lord's Day, assembled in church and +chapel and meeting-house, are thinking of Golgotha! how many eyes are +turned thither every day from beds of sickness and chambers of death! +"Lord, to whom can we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." + +Though, therefore, the theme is too high for us, yet we will venture +forward. It is too high for human thought; yet nowhere else is the +mind so exalted and ennobled. At Calvary poets have sung their +sweetest strains, and artists seen their sublimest visions, and +thinkers excogitated their noblest ideas. The crustacean lies at the +bottom of the ocean, and the world of waters rolls above it; it cannot +in its tiny shell comprehend these leagues upon leagues of solid +translucent vastness; and yet the ocean fills its shell and causes its +little body to throb with perfect happiness. And so, though we cannot +take in all the meaning of the scene before which we stand, yet we can +fill mind and heart with it to the brim, and, as it sends through our +being the pulsations of a life divine, rejoice that it has a breadth +and length, a height and depth, which pass understanding. + + +I. + +The long journey through the streets to the place of execution was at +length ended, and thereby the weary journeyings of the Sufferer came to +a close. The soldiers set about their preparations for the last act. +But meanwhile a little incident occurred which the behaviour of Jesus +filled with significance. + +The wealthy ladies of Jerusalem had the practice of providing for those +condemned to the awful punishment of crucifixion a soporific draught, +composed of wine mixed with some narcotic like gall or myrrh,[1] to +dull the senses and deaden the pain. It was a benevolent custom; and +the cup was offered to all criminals, irrespective of their crimes. It +was administered immediately before the frightful work of nailing the +culprit to the tree commenced. This draught was handed to Jesus on His +arrival at Golgotha. Exhausted with fatigue and burning with thirst, +He grasped the cup eagerly and lifted it without suspicion to His lips. +But, as soon as He tasted it and felt the fumes of the stupefying +ingredient, He laid it down and would not drink. + +It was a simple act, yet full of heroism. He was in that extremity of +thirst when a person will drink almost anything; and He was face to +face with outrageous torture. In subsequent times many of His own +faithful martyrs, on their way to execution, gladly availed themselves +of this merciful provision. But He would not allow His intellect to be +clouded. His obedience was not yet complete; His plan was not fully +wrought out; He would keep His taste for death pure. I have heard of a +woman dying of a frightful malady, who, when she was pressed by those +witnessing her agony to take an intoxicating draught, refused, saying, +"No, I want to die sober." She had caught, I think, the spirit of +Christ. + +This is a very strange place in which to alight on the problem of the +use and abuse of those products of nature or art which induce +intoxication or stupefaction. Roots or juices with such properties +have been known to nearly all races, the savage as well as the +civilised; and they have played a great part in the life of mankind. +Their history is one of the most curious. They are associated with the +mysteries of false religions and with the phenomena of heathen prophecy +and witchcraft; acting on the mind through the senses, they open up in +it a region of mystery, horror and gloomy magnificence of which the +normal man is unconscious. They have always been a favourite resource +of the medical art, and in modern times, in such forms as opium and +other better-known intoxicants, they have created some of the gravest +moral problems. + +On the wide question of the use of such substances as stimulants we +need not at present enter; it is to their use for the opposite purpose +of lowering consciousness that this incident draws attention. That in +some cases this use is both merciful and permissible will not be +denied. The discovery in our own day, by one of our own countrymen, of +the use of chloroform is justly regarded as among the greatest benefits +ever conferred on the human race. When the unconsciousness thus +produced enables the surgeon to perform an operation which might not be +possible at all without it, or when in the crisis of a fever the sleep +induced by a narcotic gives the exhausted system power to continue the +combat and saves the life, we can only be thankful that the science of +to-day has such resources in its treasury. + +On the other hand, however, there are grave offsets to these +advantages. Millions of men and women resort to such substances in +order to dull the nerves and cloud the brain during pain and sorrow +which God intended them to face and bear with sober courage, as Jesus +endured His on the cross. On the medical profession rests the +responsibility of so using the power placed in their hands as not to +destroy the dignity of the most solemn passages of life.[2] It will +for ever remain true that pain and trial are the discipline of the +soul; but to reel through these crises in the drowsy forgetfulness of +intoxication is to miss the best chances of moral and spiritual +development. Men and women are made perfect through suffering; but +that suffering may do its work it must be felt. There is no greater +misfortune than to bear too easily the strokes of God. A bereavement, +for example, is sent to sanctify a home; but it may fail of its mission +because the household is too busy, or because too many are coming and +going, or because tongues, mistakenly kind and garrulous, chatter God's +messenger out of doors. It is natural that physicians and kind friends +should try to make sufferers forget their grief. But they may be too +successful. Though the practice of the ladies of Jerusalem was a +benevolent one, the gift mixed by their charitable hands appeared to +our Lord a cup of temptation, and He resolutely put it aside. + + +II + +All was now ready for the last act, and the soldiers started their +ghastly work. + +It is not my intention to harrow up the feelings of my readers with +minute descriptions of the horrors of crucifixion.[3] Nothing would be +easier, for it was an unspeakably awful form of death. Cicero, who was +well acquainted with it, says: "It was the most cruel and shameful of +all punishments." "Let it never," he adds, "come near the body of a +Roman citizen; nay, not even near his thoughts or eyes or ears." It +was the punishment reserved for slaves and for revolutionaries, whose +end was intended to be marked by special infamy. + +The cross was most probably of the form in which it is usually +represented--an upright post crossed by a bar near the top. There were +other two forms--that of the letter T and that of the letter X--but, as +the accusation of Jesus is said to have been put up over His head, +there must have been a projection above the bar on which His arms were +outstretched. The arms were probably bound to the cross-beam, as +without this the hands would have been torn through by the weight. And +for a similar reason there was a piece of wood projecting from the +middle of the upright beam, on which the body sat. The feet were +either nailed separately or crossed the one over the other, with a nail +through both. It is doubtful whether the body was affixed before or +after the cross was elevated and planted in the ground. The head hung +free, so that the dying man could both see and speak to those about the +cross. + +In modern executions the greatest pains are taken to make death as +nearly as possible instantaneous, and any bungling which prolongs the +agony excites indignation and horror in the public mind. But the most +revolting feature of death by crucifixion was that the torture was +deliberately prolonged. The victim usually lingered a whole day, +sometimes two or three days, still retaining consciousness; while the +burning of the wounds in the hands and feet, the uneasiness of the +unnatural position, the oppression of overcharged veins and, above all, +the intolerable thirst were constantly increasing. Jesus did not +suffer so long; but He lingered for four or five hours. + +I will not, however, proceed further in describing the sickening +details. How far all these horrors may have been essential elements in +His sufferings it would be difficult to say. Apart from the prophecies +going before which had to be fulfilled, was it a matter of indifference +what death He died? Would it have served equally well if He had been +hanged or beheaded or stoned? We cannot tell. Only, when we know the +secret of what His soul suffered, we can discern the fitness of the +choice of the most shameful and painful of all forms of death for His +body.[4] + +The true sufferings of Christ were not physical, but internal. Looking +on that Face, we see the shadow of a deeper woe than smarting wounds +and raging thirst and a racking frame--the woe of slighted love, of a +heart longing for fellowship but overwhelmed with hatred; the woe of +insult and wrong, and of unspeakable sorrow for the fate of those who +would not be saved. Nor is even this the deepest shadow. There was +then in the heart of the Redeemer a woe to which no human words are +adequate. He was dying for the sin of the world. He had taken on +Himself the guilt of mankind, and was now engaged in the final struggle +to put it away and annihilate it. On the cross was hanging not only +the body of flesh and blood of the Man Christ Jesus, but at the same +time His mystical body--that body of which He is the head and His +people are the members. Through this body also the nails were driven, +and on it death took its revenge. His people died with Him unto sin, +that they might live for evermore. + +This is the mystery, but it is also the glory of the scene. Till He +hung on it, the cross was the symbol of slavery and vulgar wickedness; +but He converted it into the symbol of heroism, self-sacrifice and +salvation. It was only a wretched framework of coarse and +blood-clotted beams, which it was a shame to touch; but since then the +world has gloried in it; it has been carved in every form of beauty and +every substance of price; it has been emblazoned on the flags of +nations and engraved on the sceptres and diadems of kings.[5] The +cross was planted on Golgotha a dry, dead tree; but lo! it has +blossomed like Aaron's rod; it has struck its roots deep down to the +heart of the world, and sent its branches upwards, till to-day it fills +the earth, and the nations rest beneath its shadow and eat of its +pleasant fruits.[6] + + +III. + +At length the ghastly preparations were completed; and in the greedy +eyes of Jewish hatred the Saviour, whom they had hunted to death with +the ferocity of bloodhounds, was exposed to full view. But the first +triumphant glance of priests, Pharisees and populace met with a violent +check; for above the Victim's head they saw something which cut them to +the heart. + +The practice of affixing to the apparatus of execution a description of +the crime prevails in some countries to this day. In the Life of +Gilmour of Mongolia there is a description of an execution which he +witnessed in China; and in the cart which conveyed the condemned man to +the scene of death a board was exhibited describing his misdeeds. The +custom was a Roman one; and, besides, there was generally an official +who walked in front of the procession of death and proclaimed the +crimes of the condemned. No mention, however, of such a functionary +appears in the Gospels; nor does the inscription appear to have been +visible to all till it was affixed to the cross. It was fastened to +the top of the upright beam; and Pilate made use of this opportunity to +pay out the Jews for the annoyance they had caused him. He had parted +from them in anger, for they had humiliated him; but he sent after them +that which should be a drop of bitterness in their cup of triumph. +When they were still at his judgment-seat, his last blow in his +encounter with them had been to pretend to be convinced that Jesus +really was their king. This insult he now prolonged by wording the +inscription thus: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." It was as +much as to say, This is what becomes of a Jewish king; this is what the +Romans do with him; the king of this nation is a slave, a crucified +criminal; and, if such be the king, what must the nation be whose king +he is? + +So enraged were the Jews that they sent a deputation to the governor to +entreat him to alter the words. No doubt he was delighted to see them; +for their coming proved how thoroughly his sarcasm had gone home. He +only laughed at their petition and, assuming the grand air of authority +which became no man so well as a Roman, dismissed them with the words, +"What I have written I have written." + +This looked like strength of will and character; but it was in reality +only a covering for weakness. He had his will about the inscription--a +trifle; but they had their will about the crucifixion. He was strong +enough to browbeat them, but he was not strong enough to deny himself. + +Yet, though the inscription of Pilate was in his own mind little more +than a revengeful jest, there was in it a Divine purpose. "What I have +written I have written," he said; but, had he known, he might almost +have said, "What I have written God has written." Sometimes and at +some places the atmosphere is so charged and electric with the Divine +that inspiration alights and burns on everything; and never was this +more true than at the cross. Pilate had already unconsciously been +almost a prophet when, pointing to Jesus, he said, "Behold the Man"--a +word which still preaches to the centuries. And now, after being a +speaking prophet, he becomes, as has been quaintly remarked, a writing +one too; for his pen was guided by a supernatural hand to indite the +words, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." + +It added greatly to the significance of the inscription that it was +written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. What Pilate intended thereby +was to heighten the insult; he wished all the strangers present at the +Passover to be able to read the inscription; for all of them who could +read at all would know one of these three languages. But Providence +intended something else. These are the three great languages of the +ancient world--the representative languages. Hebrew is the tongue of +religion, Greek that of culture, Latin the language of law and +government; and Christ was declared King in them all. On His head are +many crowns. He is King in the religious sphere--the King of +salvation, holiness and love; He is King in the realm of culture--the +treasures of art, of song, of literature, of philosophy belong to Him, +and shall yet be all poured at His feet; He is King in the political +sphere--King of kings and Lord of lords, entitled to rule in the social +relationships, in trade and commerce, in all the activities of men. We +see not yet, indeed, all things put under Him; but every day we see +them more and more in the process of being put under Him. The name of +Jesus is travelling everywhere over the earth; thousands are learning +to pronounce it; millions are ready to die for it. And thus is the +unconscious prophecy of Pilate still being fulfilled. + + + +[1] One Evangelist says gall, another myrrh, and on this difference +harmonists and their antagonists have spent their time; but surely it +is not worth while. + +[2] The distinction between the legitimate and the illegitimate use is +not very easy to draw; but there is an obvious difference between +destroying pain for an ulterior purpose and destroying it merely to +save the feeling of the sufferer. + +[3] On the details of crucifixion there is an extremely interesting and +learned excursus in Zoeckler's _Das Kreus Christi_ (Beilage III.). +Cicero's Verrine Orations contain a good deal that is valuable to a +student of the Passion, especially in regard to scourging and +crucifixion. Crucifixion was an extremely common form of punishment in +the ancient world; but "the cross of the God-Man has put an end to the +punishment of the crow." + +[4] Zoeckler maintains that crucifixion, while the most shameful, was +not absolutely the most painful form of death. + +[5] The appreciation of the significance of the Cross has gone on in +two lines--the Artistic and the Doctrinal--both of which arc followed +out with varied learning in Zoeckler's _Kreus Christi_. + +The English reader may with great satisfaction trace the artistic +development in Mrs. Jameson's _History of our Lord as exemplified in +Works of Art_, where the following scheme is given of the varieties of +treatment:-- + +"_Symbolical_, when the abstract personifications of the sun and moon, +earth and ocean, are present. + +"_Sacrificially symbolical_, when the Eucharistic cup is seen below the +Cross, or the pelican feeding her young is placed above it. + +"_Simply doctrinal_, when the Virgin and St. John stand on each side, +as solemn witnesses; or our Lord is drinking the cup, sometimes +literally so represented, given Him of the Father, while the lance +opens the sacramental font. + +"_Historically ideal_, as when the thieves are joined to the scene, and +sorrowing angels throng the air. + +"_Historically devotional_, as when the real features of the scene are +preserved, and saints and devotees are introduced. + +"_Legendary_, as when we see the Virgin fainting. + +"_Allegorical and fantastic_, as when the tree is made the principal +object, with its branches terminating in patriarchs and prophets, +virtues and graces. + +"_Realistic_, as when the mere event is rendered as through the eyes of +an unenlightened looker-on. + +"These and many other modes of conception account for the great +diversity in the treatment of this subject; a further variety being +given by the combination of two or more of these modes of treatment +together; for instance, the pelican may be seen above the Cross giving +her life's blood for her offspring; angels in attitudes of despair, +bewailing the Second Person of the Trinity; or, in an ideal sacramental +sense, catching the blood from His wounds--the Jews below looking on, +as they really did, with contemptuous gestures and hardened hearts; the +centurion acknowledging that this was really the Son of God, while the +group of the fainting Virgin, supported by the Marys and St. John, adds +legend to symbolism, ideality, and history." + +In the study of the doctrinal development nothing is so important as +the exegesis of the New Testament statements about the Cross; and this +has been done in a masterly way by Dr. Dale in his work on the +Atonement. What may be called the Philosophy of the Cross (to borrow a +happy phrase of McCheyne Edgar's) came late. It is usually reckoned to +have commenced with Anselm; and since the Reformation every great +theologian has added his contribution. Yet the work is by no means +completed. Indeed, at the present day there is no greater desideratum +in theology than a philosophy of the Cross which would thoroughly +satisfy the religious mind. Shallow theories abound; but the Church of +Christ will never be able to rest in any theory which does not do +justice, on the one hand, to the tremendously strong statements of +Scripture on the subject and, on the other, to her own consciousness of +unique and infinite obligation to the dying Saviour. Perhaps the most +satisfactory expression of the Christian consciousness on the subject +is to be found in the hymns of the Church, from the Te Deum down +through Scotua Erigena and Fulbert of Chartres to Gerhardt and Toplady. +See Schaff's _Christ in Song_. + +A third line of development might be traced--the Practical--in +martyrology, the history of missions, asceticism, and the like; and the +spokesman of this branch of the truth is a Kempis, who, as Zoeckler +says, teaches his disciples to know poverty and humility as the roots +of the tree of the Cross, labour and penitence as its bark, +righteousness and mercy as its two principal branches, truth and +doctrine as its precious leaves, chastity and obedience as its +blossoms, temperance and discipline as its fragrance, and salvation and +eternal life as its glorious fruit. + +[6] When the Northern nations became Christian they transferred to the +Cross the nobler ideas embodied in the mystic tree Igdrasil; and one of +the commonest ideas of the mystical writers of the Middle Ages is the +identification of the Cross as both the true tree of life and the true +tree of knowledge. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE GROUPS ROUND THE CROSS + +In the last chapter we saw the Son of Man nailed to the cursed tree. +There He hung for hours, exposed, helpless, but conscious, looking out +on the sea of faces assembled to behold His end. On the occasion of an +execution a crowd gathers outside our jails merely to see the black +flag run up which signals that the deed is done; and in the old days of +public executions such an event always attracted an enormous crowd. No +doubt it was the same in Jerusalem. When Jesus was put to death, it +was Passover time, and the city was filled with multitudes of +strangers, to whom any excitement was welcome. Besides, the case of +Jesus had stirred both the capital and the entire country.[1] + +The sight which the crowd had come to see was, we now know, the +greatest ever witnessed in the universe. Angels and archangels were +absorbed in it; millions of men and women are looking back to it to-day +and every day. But what impressions did it make on those who saw it at +the time? To ascertain this, let us look at three characteristic +groups near the cross, whose feelings were shared in varying degrees by +many around them. + + +I. + +Look, first, at the group nearest the cross--that of the Roman soldiers. + +In the Roman army it seems to have been a rule that, when executions +were carried out by soldiers, the effects of the criminals fell as +perquisites to those who did the work. Though many more soldiers were +probably present on this occasion, the actual details of fixing the +beam, handling the hammer and nails, hoisting the apparatus, and so +forth, in the case of Jesus, fell to a quaternion of them. To these +four, therefore, belonged all that was on Him; and they could at once +proceed to divide the spoil, because in crucifixion the victim was +stripped before being affixed to the cross--a trait of revolting +shame.[2] A large, loose upper garment, a head-dress perhaps, a girdle +and a pair of sandals, and, last of all, an under garment, such as +Galilean peasants were wont to wear, which was all of a piece and had +perhaps been knitted for Him by the loving fingers of His mother--these +articles became the booty of the soldiers. They formed the entire +property which Jesus had to leave, and the four soldiers were His +heirs. Yet this was He who bequeathed the vastest legacy that ever has +been left by any human being--a legacy ample enough to enrich the whole +world. Only it was a spiritual legacy--of wisdom, of influence, of +example. + +The soldiers, their ghastly task over, sat down at the foot of the +cross to divide their booty. They obtained from it not only profit but +amusement; for, after dividing the articles as well as they could, they +had to cast lots about the last, which they could not divide. One of +them fetched some dice out of his pocket--gambling was a favourite +pastime of Roman soldiers--and they settled the difficulty by a game. +Look at them--chaffering, chattering, laughing; and, above their heads, +not a yard away, that Figure. What a picture! The Son of God atoning +for the sins of the world, whilst angels and glorified spirits crowd +the walls of the celestial city to look down at the spectacle; and, +within a yard of His sacred Person, the soldiers, in absolute apathy, +gambling for these poor shreds of clothing! So much, and no more, did +they perceive of the stupendous drama they were within touch of. For +it is not only necessary to have a great sight to make an impression; +quite as necessary is the seeing eye. There are those to whom this +earth is sacred because Jesus Christ has trodden it; the sky is sacred +because it has bent above Him; history is sacred because His name is +inscribed on it; the daily tasks of life are all sacred because they +can be done in His name. But are there not multitudes, even in +Christian lands, who live as if Christ had never lived, and to whom the +question has never occurred, What difference does it make to us that +Jesus died in this world of which we are inhabitants? + + +II. + +Look now at a second group, much more numerous than the first, +consisting of the members of the Sanhedrim. + +After condemning Jesus in their own court, they had accompanied Him +through stage after stage of His civil trial, until at last they +secured His condemnation at the tribunal of Pilate. When at last He +was handed over to the executioners, it might have been expected that +they would have been tired of the lengthy proceedings and glad to +escape from the scene. But their passions had been thoroughly aroused, +and their thirst for revenge was so deep that they could not allow the +soldiers to do their own work, but, forgetful of dignity, accompanied +the crowd to the place of execution and stayed to glut their eyes with +the spectacle of their Victim's sufferings. Even after He was lifted +up on the tree, they could not keep their tongues off Him or give Him +the dying man's privilege of peace; but, losing all sense of propriety, +they made insulting gestures and poured on Him insulting cries. +Naturally the crowd followed their example, till not only the soldiers +took it up, but even the thieves who were crucified with Him joined in. +So that the crowd under His eyes became a sea of scorn, whose angry +waves dashed up about His cross. + +The line taken was to recall all the great names which He had claimed, +or which had been applied to Him, and to contrast them with the +position in which He now was. "The Son of God," "The Chosen of God," +"The King of Israel," "The Christ," "The King of the Jews," "Thou that +destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days"--with these +epithets they pelted Him in every tone of mockery. They challenged Him +to come down from the cross and they would believe Him. This was their +most persistent cry--He had saved others, but Himself He could not +save. They had always maintained that it was by the power of devils He +wrought His miracles; but these evil powers are dangerous to palter +with; they may lend their virtue for a time, but at last they appear to +demand their price; at the most critical moment they leave him who has +trusted them in the lurch. This was what had happened to Jesus; now at +last the wizard's wand was broken and He could charm no more. + +As they thus poured out the gall which had long been accumulating in +their hearts, they did not notice that, in the multitude of their +words, they were using the very terms attributed in the twenty-second +Psalm to the enemies of the holy Sufferer: "He trusted in God; let Him +deliver Him now, if He will have Him; for He said, I am the Son of +God." Cold-blooded historians have doubted whether they could have +made such a slip without noticing it; but, strange to say, there is an +exact modern parallel. When one of the Swiss reformers was pleading +before the papal court, the president interrupted him with the very +words of Caiaphas to the Sanhedrim: "He hath spoken blasphemy: what +further need have we of witnesses? What think ye?" and they all +answered, "He is worthy of death"; without noticing, till he reminded +them, that they were quoting Scripture.[3] + +Jesus might have answered the cries of His enemies; because to one +hanging on the cross it was possible not only to hear and see, but also +to speak. However, He answered never a word--"when He was reviled, He +reviled not again," "as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He +opened not His mouth." This was not, however, because He did not feel. +More painful than the nails which pierced His body were these missiles +of malice shot at His mind. The human heart laid bare its basest and +blackest depths under His very eyes; and all its foul scum was poured +over Him. + +Was it a temptation to Him, one wonders, when so often from every side +the invitation was given Him to come down from the cross? This was +substantially the same temptation as was addressed to Him at the +opening of His career, when Satan urged Him to cast Himself from the +pinnacle of the temple. It had haunted Him in various forms all His +life through. And now it assails Him once more at the crisis of His +fate. They thought His patience was impotence and His silence a +confession of defeat. Why should He not let His glory blaze forth and +confound them? How easily He could have done it! Yet no; He could +not. They were quite right when they said, "He saved others, Himself +He cannot save." Had He saved Himself, He would not have been the +Saviour. Yet the power that kept Him on the cross was a far mightier +one than would have been necessary to leave it. It was not by the +nails through His hands and feet that He was held, nor by the ropes +with which His arms were bound, nor by the soldiers watching Him; no, +but by invisible bands--by the cords of redeeming love and by the +constraint of a Divine design. + +Of this, however, His enemies had no inkling. They were judging Him by +the most heathenish standard. They had no idea of power but a material +one, or of glory but a selfish one. The Saviour of their fancy was a +political deliverer, not One who could save from sin. And to this day +Christ hears the cry from more sides than one, "Come down from the +cross, and we will believe Thee." It comes from the spiritually +shallow, who have no sense of their own unworthiness or of the majesty +and the rights of a holy God. They do not understand a theology of sin +and punishment, of atonement and redemption; and all the deep +significance of His death has to be taken out of Christianity before +they will believe it. It comes, too, from the morally cowardly and the +worldly-minded, who desire a religion without the cross. If +Christianity were only a creed to believe, or a worship in whose +celebration the aesthetic faculty might take delight, or a private path +by which a man might pilgrim to heaven unnoticed, they would be +delighted to believe it; but, because it means confessing Christ and +bearing His reproach, mingling with His despised people and supporting +His cause, they will have none of it. None can honour the cross of +Christ who have not felt the humiliation of guilt and entered into the +secret of humility. + + +III. + +Let our attention now be directed to a third group. And again it is a +comparatively small one. + +As the eyes of Jesus wandered to and fro over the sea of faces upturned +to His own--faces charged with every form and degree of hatred and +contempt--was there no point on which they could linger with +satisfaction? Yes, among the thorns there was one lily. On the +outskirts of the crowd there stood a group of His acquaintances and of +the women who followed Him from Galilee and ministered unto Him. Let +us enumerate their honoured names, as far as they have been +preserved--"Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses +[Transcriber's note: Joseph?], and the mother of Zebedee's children." + +Their position, "afar off," probably indicates that they were in a +state of fear. It was not safe to be too closely identified with One +against whom the authorities cherished such implacable feelings; and +they may have been quite right not to make themselves too conspicuous. +Apart from the danger to which they might be exposed, they had a whole +tempest of trouble in their hearts. As yet they knew not the +Scriptures that He must rise again from the dead; and this collapse of +the cause in which they had embarked their all for time and for +eternity was a bewildering calamity. They had trusted that it had been +He who should have redeemed Israel, and that He would live and reign +over the redeemed race forever. And there He was, perishing before +their eyes in defeat and shame. Their faith was at the very last ebb. +Or say, rather, it survived only in the form of love. Bewildered as +were their ideas, He had as firm a hold as ever on their hearts. They +loved Him; they suffered with Him; they could have died for Him. + +May we not believe that the eyes of Jesus, as long as they were able to +see, turned often away from the brutal soldiers beneath His feet, and +from the sea of distorted faces, to this distant group? In some +respects, indeed, their aspect might be more trying to Him than even +the hateful faces of His enemies; for sympathy will sometimes break +down a strong heart that is proof against opposition. Yet this +neighbourly sympathy and womanly love must, on the whole, have been a +profound comfort and support. He was sustained all through His +sufferings by the thought of the multitudes without number who would +benefit from what He was enduring; but here before His eyes was an +earnest of His reward; and in them He saw of the travail of His soul +and was satisfied. + + +In these three groups, then, we see three predominant states of +mind--in the soldiers apathy, in the Sanhedrim antipathy, in the +Galileans sympathy. + +Has it ever occurred to you to ask in which group you would have been +had you been there? This is a searching question. Of course it is +easy now to say which were right and which were wrong. It is always +easy to admire the heroes and the causes of bygone days; but it is +possible to do so and yet be apathetic or antipathetic to those of our +own. Even the Roman soldiers at the foot of the cross admired Romulus +and Cincinnatus and Brutus, though they had no feeling for One at their +side greater than these. The Jews who were mocking Christ admired +Moses and Samuel and Isaiah. Christ is still bearing His cross through +the streets of the world, and is hanging exposed to contempt and +ill-treatment; and it is possible to admire the Christ of the Bible and +yet be persecuting and opposing the Christ of our own century. The +Christ of to-day signifies the truth, the cause, the principles of +Christ, and the men and women in whom these are embodied. We are +either helping or hindering those movements on which Christ has set His +heart; often, without being aware of it, men choose their sides and +plan and speak and act either for or against Christ. This is the +Passion of our own day, the Golgotha of our own city. + +But it comes nearer than this. The living Christ Himself is still in +the world: He comes to every door; His Spirit strives with every soul. +And He still meets with these three kinds of treatment--apathy, +antipathy, sympathy. As a magnet, passing over a heap of objects, +causes those to move and spring out of the heap which are akin to +itself, so redeeming love, as revealed in Christ, passing over the +surface of mankind century after century, has the power so to move +human hearts to the very depths that, kindling with admiration and +desire, they spring up and attach themselves to Him. This response may +be called faith, or love, or spirituality, or what you please; but it +is the very test and touchstone of eternity, for it is separating men +and women from the mass and making them one for ever with the life and +the love of God. + + + +[1] Keim strangely surmises that there was no great crowd; but this is +impossible. + +[2] As, however, the Jews would have objected to this, Edersheim +argues--but not convincingly--that there must have been at least a +slight covering. + +[3] Sueskind, _Passionsschule_, _in loc_. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE FIRST WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +In the last chapter we saw the impressions made by the crucifixion on +the different groups round the cross. On the soldiers, who did the +deed, it made no impression at all; they were absolutely blind to the +wonder and glory of the scene in which they were taking part. On the +members of the Sanhedrim, and the others who thought with them, it had +an extraordinary effect: the perfect revelation of goodness and +spiritual beauty threw them into convulsions of angry opposition. Even +the group of the friends of Jesus, standing afar off, saw only a very +little way into the meaning of what was taking place before their eyes: +the victory of their Master over sin, death and the world appeared to +them a tragic defeat. So true is it, as I said, that, when something +grand is to be seen, there is required not only the object but the +seeing eye. The image in a mirror depends not only on the object +reflected but on the quality and the configuration of the glass. + +We wish, however, to see the scene enacted on Calvary in its true +shape; and where shall we look? There was one mind there in which it +was mirrored with perfect fidelity. If we could see the image of the +crucifixion in the mind of Jesus Himself, this would reveal its true +meaning. + +But in what way can we ascertain how it appeared to Him, as from His +painful station He looked forth upon the scene? The answer is to be +found in the sentences which he uttered, as He hung, before His senses +were stifled by the mists of death. These are like windows through +which we can see what was passing in His mind. They are mere +fragments, of course; yet they are charged with eternal significance. +Words are always photographs, more or less true, of the mind which +utters them; these were the truest words ever uttered, and He who +uttered them stamped on them the image of Himself. + +They are seven in number, and it will be to our advantage to linger on +them; they are too precious to be taken summarily. The sayings of the +dying are always impressive. We never forget the deathbed utterances +of a parent or a bosom friend; the last words of famous men are +treasured for ever. In Scripture Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and other +patriarchal men are represented as having risen on their deathbeds far +above themselves and spoken in the tones of a higher world; and in all +nations a prophetic importance has been attached to the words of the +dying. Now, these are the dying words of Christ; and, as all His words +are like gold to silver in comparison with those of other men, so +these, in comparison with the rest of His words, are as diamonds to +gold. + +In the First Word three things are noticeable--the Invocation, the +Petition, and the Argument. + + +I. + +It was not unusual for crucified persons to speak on the cross; but +their words usually consisted of wild expressions of pain or bootless +entreaties for release, curses against God or imprecations on those who +had inflicted their sufferings. When Jesus had recovered from the +swooning shock occasioned by the driving of the nails into His hands +and feet, His first utterance was a prayer, and His first word "Father." + +Was it not an unintentional condemnation of those who had affixed Him +there? It was in the name of religion they had acted and in the name +of God; but which of them was thus impregnated through and through with +religion? which of them could pretend to a communion with God so close +and habitual? Evidently it was because prayer was the natural language +of Jesus that at this moment it leapt to His lips. It is a suspicious +case when in any trial, especially an ecclesiastical one, the condemned +is obviously a better man than the judges. + +The word "Father," further, proved that the faith of Jesus was unshaken +by all through which He had passed and by that which He was now +enduring. When righteousness is trampled underfoot and wrong is +triumphant, faith is tempted to ask if there is really a God, loving +and wise, seated on the throne of the universe, or whether, on the +contrary, all is the play of chance. When prosperity is turned +suddenly into adversity and the structure of the plans and hopes of a +life is tumbled in confusion to the ground, even the child of God is +apt to kick against the Divine will. Great saints have been driven, by +the pressure of pain and disappointment, to challenge God's +righteousness in words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. But, +when the fortunes of Jesus were at the blackest, when He was baited by +a raging pack of wolf-like enemies, and when He was sinking into +unplumbed abysses of pain and desertion, He still said "Father." + +It was the apotheosis of faith, and to all time it will serve as an +example; because it was gloriously vindicated. If ever the hand of the +Creator seemed to be withdrawn from the rudder of the universe, and the +course of human affairs to be driving down headlong into the gulf of +confusion, it was when He who was the embodiment of moral beauty and +worth had to die a shameful death as a malefactor. Could good by any +possibility rise out of such an abyss of wrong? The salvation of the +world came out of it; all that is noblest in history came out of it. +This is the supreme lesson to God's children never to despair. All may +be dark; everything may seem going to rack and ruin; evil may seem to +be enthroned on the seat of God; yet God liveth; He sits above the +tumult of the present; and He will bring forth the dawn from the womb +of the darkness. + + +II. + +The prayer which followed this invocation was still more remarkable: it +was a prayer for the pardon of His enemies. + +In the foregoing pages we have seen to what kind of treatment He was +subjected from the arrest onwards--how the minions of authority struck +and insulted Him, how the high priests twisted the forms of law to +ensnare Him, how Herod disdained Him, how Pilate played fast and loose +with His interests, how the mob howled at Him. Our hearts have burned +with indignation as one depth of baseness has opened beneath another; +and we have been unable to refrain from using hard language. The +comment of Jesus on it all was, "Father, forgive them." + +Long ago, indeed, He had taught men, "Love your enemies, bless them +that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which +despitefully use you and persecute you." But this morality of the +Sermon on the Mount had been considered, as the world still inclines to +consider it, a beautiful dream. There have been many teachers who have +said such beautiful things; but what a difference there is between +preaching and practice! When you have been delighted with the +sentiments of an author, it is frequently well that you know no more +about him; because, if you chance to become acquainted with the facts +of his own life, you experience a painful disillusionment. Have not +students even of our own English literature in very recent times +learned to be afraid to read the biographies of literary men, lest the +beautiful structure of sentiments which they have gathered from their +writings should be shattered by the truth about themselves? But Jesus +practised what He taught. He is the one teacher of mankind in whom the +sentiment and the act completely coincide. His doctrine was the very +highest: too high it often seems for this world. But how much more +practical it appears when we see it in action. He proved that it can +be realised on earth when on the cross He prayed, "Father, forgive +them." + +Few of us, perhaps, know what it is to forgive. We have never been +deeply wronged; very likely many of us have not a single enemy in the +world. But those who have are aware how difficult it is; perhaps +nothing else is more difficult. Revenge is one of the sweetest +satisfactions to the natural heart. The law of the ancient world was, +at least in practice, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine +enemy." Even saints, in the Old Testament, curse those who have +persecuted and wronged them in terms of uncompromising severity. Had +Jesus followed these and, as soon as He was able to speak, uttered to +His Father a complaint in which the conduct of His enemies was branded +in the terms it deserved, who would have ventured to find fault with +Him? Even in that there might have been a revelation of God; because +in the Divine nature there is a fire of wrath against sin. But how +poor would such a revelation have been in comparison with the one which +He now made. All His life He was revealing God; but now His time was +short; and it was the very highest in God He had to make known. + +In this word Christ revealed Himself; but at the same time He revealed +the Father. All His life long the Father was in Him, but on the cross +the divine life and character flamed in His human nature like the fire +in the burning bush. It uttered itself in the word; "Father, forgive +them"; and what did it tell? It told that God is love. + + +III. + +The expiring Saviour backed up His prayer for the forgiveness of His +enemies with the argument--"For they know not what they do." + +This allows us to see further still into the divine depths of His love. +The injured are generally alive only to their own side of the case; and +they see only those circumstances which tend to place the conduct of +the opposite party in the worst light. But at the moment when the pain +inflicted by His enemies was at the worst Jesus was seeking excuses for +their conduct. + +The question has been raised how far the excuse which He made on their +behalf applied. Could it be said of them all that they knew not what +they were doing? Did not Judas know? did not the high priests know? +did not Herod know? Apparently it was primarily to the soldiers who +did the actual work of crucifixion that Jesus referred; because it was +in the very midst of their work that the words were uttered, as may be +seen in the narrative of St. Luke. The soldiers, the rude uninstructed +instruments of the government, were the least guilty among the +assailants of Jesus. Next to them, perhaps, came Pilate; and there +were different stages and degrees down, through Herod and the +Sanhedrim, to the unspeakable baseness of Judas. But St. Peter, in the +beginning of Acts, expressly extends the plea of ignorance so far as to +cover even the Sanhedrists--"And now, brethren, I wot that through +ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers"--and who will believe +that the heart of the Saviour was less comprehensive than that of the +disciple? + +Let us not be putting limits to the divine mercy. It is true of every +sinner, in some measure, that he knows not what he does. And to a true +penitent, as he approaches the throne of mercy, it is a great +consolation to be assured that this plea will be allowed. Penitent St. +Paul was comforted with it: "God had mercy on me, because I did it +ignorantly in unbelief." God knows all our weakness and blindness; men +will not make allowance for it or even understand it; but He will +understand it all, if we come to hide our guilty head in His bosom. + +Of course this blessed truth may be perverted by an impenitent heart to +its own undoing. There is no falser notion than that expressed in the +French proverb, _Tout comprendre est tout pardonner_ (To understand +everything is to pardon everything), for it means that man is the mere +creature of circumstances and has no real responsibility for his +actions. How far our Lord was from this way of thinking is shown by +the fact that He said, "Forgive them." He knew that they needed +forgiveness; which implies that they were guilty. Indeed, it was His +vivid apprehension of the danger to which their guilt exposed them that +made Him forget His own sufferings and fling Himself between them and +their fate. + + +It has been asked, Was this prayer answered? were the crucifiers of +Jesus forgiven? To this it may be replied that a prayer for +forgiveness cannot be answered without the co-operation of those prayed +for. Unless they repent and seek pardon for themselves, how can God +forgive them? The prayer of Jesus, therefore, meant that time should +be granted them for repentance, and that they should be plied with +providences and with preaching, to awaken their consciences. To punish +so appalling a crime as the crucifixion of His Son, God might have +caused the earth to open on the spot and swallow the sinners up. But +no judgment of the kind took place. As Jesus had predicted, Jerusalem +perished in indescribable throes of agony; but not till forty years +after His death; and in this interval the pouring out of the Spirit at +Pentecost took place, and the apostles began their preaching of the +kingdom at Jerusalem, urgently calling the nation to repentance. Nor +was their work in vain; for thousands believed. Even before the scene +of the crucifixion terminated, one of the two thieves crucified along +with Jesus, who had taken part in reviling Him, was converted; and the +centurion who superintended the execution confessed Him as the Son of +God. After all was over, multitudes who had beheld the sight went away +smiting their breasts.[2] We have no reason to doubt, therefore, that +even in this direct sense the prayer received an abundant answer. + +But this was a prayer of a kind which may also be answered indirectly. +Besides the effect which prayer has in procuring specific petitions, it +acts reflexly on the spirit of the person who offers it, calming, +sweetening, invigorating. Although some erroneously regard this as the +only real answer that prayer can receive, denying that God can be moved +by our petitions, yet we, who believe that more things are wrought by +prayer, ought not to overlook this. By praying that His enemies might +be forgiven, Jesus was enabled to drive back the spirits of anger and +revenge which tried to force their way into His bosom, and preserved +undisturbed the serenity of His soul. To ask God to forgive them was +the triumphant ending of His own effort to forgive; and it is +impossible to forgive without a delicious sense of deliverance and +peace being shed abroad in the forgiving heart. + +May we not add that part of the answer to this prayer has been its +repetition age after age by the persecuted and wronged? St. Stephen +led the way, in the article of death praying meekly after the fashion +of his Master, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Hundreds have +followed. And day by day this prayer is diminishing the sum of +bitterness and increasing the amount of love in the world. + + + +[1] "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." + +[2] Luke xxiii. 48. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE SECOND WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + + +I. + +It is not said by whose arrangement it was that Jesus was hung between +the two thieves. It may have been done by order of Pilate, who wished +in this way to add point to the witticism which he had put into the +inscription above the cross; or the arrangement may have been due to +the Jewish officials, who followed their Victim to Golgotha and may +have persuaded the soldiers to give Him this place, as an additional +insult; or the soldiers may have done it of their own accord, simply +because He was obviously the most notable of their prisoners. + +The likelihood is that there was malice in it. Yet there was a divine +purpose behind the wrath of man. Again and again one has to remark +how, in these last scenes, every shred of action and every random word +aimed at Jesus for the purpose of injuring and dishonouring Him so +turned, instead, to honour, that in our eyes, now looking back, it +shines on Him like a star. As a fire catches the lump of dirty coal or +clot of filth that is flung into it, and converts it into a mass of +light, so at this time there was that about Christ which transmuted the +very insults hurled at Him into honours and charged even the incidents +of His crucifixion which were most trivial in themselves with +unspeakable meaning. The crown of thorns, the purple robe, Pilate's +Ecce Homo, the inscription on the cross, the savage cries of the +passers-by and other similar incidents, full at the time of malice, are +now memories treasured by all who love the Saviour. + +So His position between the thieves was ordained by God as well as by +men. It was His right position. They had called Him long before "a +friend of publicans and sinners;" and now, by crucifying Him between +the thieves, they put the same idea into action. As, however, that +nickname has become a title of everlasting honour, so has this +insulting deed. Jesus came to the world to identify Himself with +sinners; their cause was His, and He wrapped up His fate with theirs; +He had lived among them, and it was meet that He should die among them. +To this day He is in the midst of them; and the strange behaviour of +the two between whom He hung that day was a prefigurement of what has +been happening every day since: some sinners have believed on Him and +been saved, while others have believed not: to the one His gospel is a +savour of life unto life, to the other it is a savour of death unto +death. So it is to be till the end; and on the great day when the +whole history of this world shall be wound up He will still be in the +midst; and the penitent will be on the one hand and the impenitent on +the other. + +But it was not in one way only that the divine wisdom overruled for +high ends of its own the humiliating circumstance that Jesus was thus +reckoned with the transgressors. It gave Him an opportunity of +illustrating, at the very last moment, both the magnanimity of His own +character and the nature of His mission; and at the moment when He +needed it most it supplied Him with a cup of what had always been to +Him the supreme joy of living--the bliss of doing good. As the parable +of the Prodigal Son is an epitome of the whole teaching of Christ, so +is the salvation of the thief on the cross the life of Christ in +miniature. + + +II. + +Both thieves appear to have joined in taunting Jesus, in imitation of +the Sanhedrists. This has, indeed, been doubted or denied by those, of +whom there have been many, who have experienced difficulty in +understanding how so complete a revolution as the conversion of the +penitent thief could take place in so short a time. Two of the +Evangelists say that those crucified with Him reviled Him; but it is +just possible grammatically to explain this as referring only to one of +them; because sometimes an action is attributed to a class, though only +one person of the class has done it.[2] The natural interpretation, +however, is that both did it. It is likely enough, indeed, that the +one who did not repent began it, and that the other joined in, less of +his own accord than in imitation of his reckless associate. Very +probably this was not the first time that he had been dragged into sin +by the same attraction. His companion may have been his evil genius, +who had ruined his life and brought him at last to this shameful end. + +It was an awful extreme of wickedness to be engaged, so near their own +end, in hurling opprobrious words at a fellow-sufferer. Of course, the +very excess of pain made crucified persons reckless; and to be engaged +doing anything, especially anything violent, helped to make them forget +their agony. It mattered not who or what was the object of attack; +they were reduced to the condition of tortured animals; and the trapped +brute bites at anything which approaches it. This was the state of the +impenitent thief. But the other drew back from his companion with +horror. The very excess of sin overleaped itself; and for the first +time he saw how vile a wretch he was. This was brought home to him by +the contrast of the patience and peace of Jesus. His brutal companion +had hitherto been his ideal; but now he perceives how base is his +ferocious courage in comparison with the strength of Christ's serene +endurance. + +The desire to explain away the suddenness of the conversion has led to +all sorts of conjectures as to the possibility of previous meetings +between the thief and Christ. It is quite legitimate to dwell on what +he had seen of the behaviour of Jesus from the moment when they were +brought into contact in the crucifixion. He had heard Him pray for the +forgiveness of His enemies; he had witnessed His demeanour on the way +to Calvary and heard His words to the daughters of Jerusalem; the very +cries of His enemies round the cross, when they cast in His teeth the +titles which He had claimed or which had been attributed to Him, +informed him what were the pretensions of Jesus; perhaps he may have +witnessed and heard the trial before Pilate. But, when we attempt to +go further back, we have nothing solid to found upon. Had he ever +heard Jesus preach? Had he witnessed any of His miracles? How much +did he know of the nature of His Kingdom, of which he spoke? Guesses +may be made in answer to such questions, but they cannot be +authenticated. I should be inclined with more confidence to look +further back still. He may have come out of a pious home; he may have +been a prodigal led astray by companions, and especially by the strong +companion with whom he was now associated. As there was a weeping +mother at the foot of the cross of Jesus, there may have been a +heart-broken parent at the foot of that other cross also, whose prayers +were yet going to be answered in a way surpassing her wildest hopes. + +The question of the possibility of sudden conversion is generally +argued with too much excitement on both sides to allow the facts to be +recognised. Among us there may, in one sense, be said to be no such +thing. Suppose anyone reading this page, who may know that he has not +yet with his whole heart and soul turned to God, were to do so before +turning the next leaf, would this be a sudden conversion? Why, the +preparation for it has been going on for years. What has been the +intention of all the religious instruction which you have received from +your childhood, of the prayers offered on your behalf of the appeals +which have moved you, of the strivings of God's Spirit, but to lead up +to this result? Though your conversion were to take place this very +hour, it would only be the last moment of a process which has gone on +for years. Yet in a sense it would be sudden. And why should it not? +What reason is there why your return to God should be further +postponed? There are two experiences in religion which require to be +carefully distinguished: there is the making of religious impressions +on us by others from the outside--through instruction, example, appeal +and the like; and there is the rise of religion within ourselves, when +we turn round upon our impressions and make them our own. The former +experience is long and slow, but the latter may be very sudden; and a +very little thing may bring it about. + +Another way in which it is possible to minimise the greatness of this +conversion is by questioning the guilt of the man.[3] When he is +called a thief, the name suggests a very common and degraded sinner; +but it is pointed out that "robber" would be the correct name, and that +probably he and his companion may have been revolutionaries, whose +opposition to the Roman rule had driven them outside the pale of +society, where, to win a subsistence, they had to resort to the trade +of highwaymen; but in that country, tyrannised over by a despotic +foreign power, those who attempted to raise the standard of revolt were +sometimes far from ignoble characters, though the necessities of their +position betrayed them into acts of violence. There is truth in this; +and the penitent thief may not have been a sinner above all men. But +his own words to his companion, "We receive the due reward of our +deeds," point the other way. His memory was stained with acts for +which he acknowledged that death was the lawful penalty. In short, +there is no reason to doubt either that he was a great sinner or that +he was suddenly changed. And therefore his example will always be an +encouragement to the worst of sinners when they repent. It is common +for penitents to be afraid to come to God, because their sins have been +too great to be forgiven; but those who are encouraging them can point +to cases like Manasseh, and Mary Magdalene, and the thief on the cross, +and assure them that the mercy which sufficed for these is sufficient +for all: "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all +sin." + +The fear of those who endeavour to minimise the wonderfulness of this +conversion is lest, if it be allowed that a man of the worst character +could undergo so complete a change in so short a time on the very verge +of the other world, men may be induced to put off their own salvation +in the hope of availing themselves of a death-bed repentance. This is +a just fear; and the grace of God has undoubtedly been sometimes thus +abused. But it is an utter abuse. Those who allow themselves to be +deceived with this reasoning believe that they can at any moment +command penitence and faith, and that all the other feelings of +religion will come to them whenever they choose to summon them. But +does experience lead us to believe this? Are not the occasions, on the +contrary, very rare when religion really moves irreligious men + + "We cannot kindle when we will + The fire that in the soul resides: + The spirit breatheth and is still-- + In mystery the soul abides." + +Nor is it by any means a uniform experience that the approach of death +awakens religious anxiety. The other thief is a solemn warning. +Though face to face with death and in such close proximity to Jesus, he +was only hardened and rendered more reckless than ever. And this is +far more likely to be the fate of anyone who deliberately quenches the +Spirit because he is trusting to a death-bed repentance. + +Yet we will not allow the possible abuse of the truth to rob us of the +glorious testimony contained in this incident to the grace of God. We +set no limits to the invitation of the Saviour, "Him that cometh unto +Me I will in no wise cast out." However late a sinner may be in +coming, and however little time he may have in which to come, let him +only come and he will not be cast out. There is no more critical test +of theologies and theologians than the question what message they have +to a dying person whose sins are unforgiven. If the salvation which a +preacher has to offer is only a course of moral improvement, what can +he have to say in such a place? We may be sure that our gospel is not +the gospel of Him who comforted the penitent thief, unless we are able +to offer even to a dying sinner a salvation immediate, joyful and +complete. + +How complete the revolution was in the penitent thief is shown by his +own words. St. Paul in one place sums up Christianity in two +things--repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And +both of these we see in this penitent's words. His repentance towards +God is brought out by what he said to his companion. "Dost thou not +fear God?" he asked. He had himself forgotten God, no doubt, and put +Him far away in the sinful past. But now God was near, and in the +light of God he saw his own sinfulness. He confessed it, doing so not +only in his secret mind but audibly. Thus he separated himself from +it, as he did also from the companion who had led him astray, when he +would not come with him on the path of penitence. Not less distinctly +do His words to the Saviour manifest his faith in the Lord Jesus +Christ. They are simple and humble: all he dared to expect was that, +when Christ came into His kingdom, He would remember him. But they +recognised the glory of Christ and expressed trust in Him. At the +moment when the religious teachers of the nations thought that they had +for ever destroyed Christ's claims, and even His own disciples had +forsaken Him, this poor dying sinner believed in Him. "How clear," +exclaims Calvin, "was the vision of the eyes which could thus see in +death life, in ruin majesty, in shame glory, in defeat victory, in +slavery royalty. I question if ever since the world began there has +been so bright an example of faith." Luther is no less laudatory. +"This," says he, "was for Christ a comfort like that supplied to Him by +the angel in the garden. God could not allow His Son to be destitute +of subjects, and now His Church survived in this one man. Where the +faith of St. Peter broke off, the faith of the penitent thief +commenced." And another[4] asks, "Did ever the new birth take place in +so strange a cradle?" + + +III. + +It is worth noting that it was not by words that Jesus converted this +man. He did not address the penitent thief at all till the thief spoke +to Him. The work of conviction was done before He uttered a word. Yet +it was His work; and how did He do it? As St. Peter exhorted godly +wives to convert their heathen husbands, when he wrote to them, +"Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that, if +any obey not the Word, they also may, without the Word, be won by the +conversation (_i.e._, behaviour) of the wives, while they behold your +chaste conversation coupled with fear." It was by the impression of +His patience, His innocence, His peace, and His magnanimity, that Jesus +converted the man; and herein He has left us an example that we should +follow in His steps. + +But His words, when He did speak, added immensely to the impression. +They were few, but every one of them expressed the Saviour. + +The robber was thinking of some date far off when Christ might +intervene in his behalf, but Christ says, "To-day." This was a +prophecy that he would die that day, and not be allowed to linger for +days, as crucified persons often were; and this was fulfilled. But it +was, besides, a promise that as soon as death launched him out of time +into eternity, Christ would be waiting there to receive him. "To-day +thou shalt be with Me." All heaven is in these two last words. What +do we really know of heaven, what do we wish to know, except that it is +to be "with Christ"? Yet a little more was added--"in Paradise." Some +have thought that in this phrase Christ was stooping to the conceptions +of the penitent thief by using a popular expression for some happy +place in the other world.[5] At least the word, which means a garden +or park and was applied to the abode of our first parents in Eden, +could not but call up in the consciousness of the dying man a scene of +beauty, innocence and peace, where, washed clean from the defilement of +his past errors, he would begin to exist again as a new creature. Even +Christians have believed that the utmost that can be expected in the +next world by a soul with a history like the robber's is, at least to +begin with, to be consigned to the fires of purgatory. But far +different is the grace of Christ: great and perfect is His work, and +therefore ours is a full salvation. + +This second word from the cross affords a rare glimpse into the divine +glory of the Saviour; and it is all the more impressive that it is +indirect. The thief, in the most solemn circumstances, spoke to Him as +to a King and prayed to Him as to a God.[6] And how did He respond? +Did He say, "Pray not to Me; I am a man like yourself, and I know as +little of the unknown country into which we are both about to enter as +you do"? This is what He ought to have answered, if He was no more +than some make Him out to be. But He accepted the homage of His +petitioner; He spoke of the world unseen as of a place native and +familiar. He gave him to understand that He possessed as much +influence there as he attributed to Him. This great sinner laid on +Christ the weight of his soul, the weight of his sins, the weight of +his eternity; and Christ accepted the burden. + + + +[1] "To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." + +[2] So Augustin and many. + +[3] Schleiermacher makes much of this; and, indeed, does everything in +his power to minimise the moral miracle. The whole sermon is a +specimen of his worst manner, when he rides away on some side issue and +fails to expound the great central lessons of a subject. + +[4] Tholuck. + +[5] "In Biblical Hebrew the word is used for a choice garden but in the +LXX. and the Apocalypse it is already used in our sense of +Paradise."--EDERSHEIM. + +[6] The word "Lord" in the robber's speech is, however, unauthentic. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE THIRD WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +In the life of our Lord from first to last there is a strange blending +of the majestic and the lowly. When a beam of His divine dignity is +allowed to shine out and dazzle us, it is never long before there +ensues some incident which reminds us that He is bone of our bone and +flesh of our flesh; and, contrariwise, when He does anything which +impressively brings home to us His humanity, there always follows +something to remind us that He was greater than the sons of men. Thus +at His birth He was laid in a manger; yet out on the pastures of +Bethlehem angels sang His praise. Long afterwards He was asleep in the +end of the boat, and so overcome with fatigue that He needed to be +awakened to realise His danger; but immediately He rebuked the winds +and the waves, and there was a great calm. When He saw the grief of +Martha and Mary, "Jesus wept"; but only a few minutes afterwards He +cried, "Lazarus, come forth," and He was obeyed. So it was to the very +last. In studying the Second Word from the cross we saw Him opening +the gates of Paradise to the penitent thief; to-day the Third Word will +show Him to us as the Son of a woman, concerned in His dying hour for +her bodily sustenance. + + +I. + +The eye of Jesus, roving over the multitude whose component parts have +been already described, lighted on His mother standing at the foot of +the cross. In the words of the great mediaeval hymn, which is known to +all by its opening words, _Stabat mater_, and from the fact that it has +been set to music by such masters as Palestrina, Haydn and Rossini, + + "Beside the cross in tears + The woeful mother stood, + Bent 'neath the weight of years, + And viewed His flowing blood; + Her mind with grief was torn, + Her strength was ebbing fast, + And through her heart forlorn + The sword of anguish passed." + +When she carried her Infant into the temple in the pride of young +motherhood, the venerable Simeon foretold that a sword would pierce +through her own soul also. Often perhaps had she wondered, in happy +days, what this mysterious prediction might mean. But now she knew, +for the sword was smiting her, stab after stab. + +It is always hard for a mother to see her son die. She naturally +expects him to lay her head in the grave. Especially is this the case +with the first-born, the son of her strength. Jesus was only +thirty-three, and Mary must have reached the age when a mother most of +all leans for support on a strong and loving son. + +Far worse, however, was the death He was dying--the death of a +criminal. Many mothers have had to suffer from the kind of death their +children have died, when it has been in great agony or in otherwise +distressing circumstances. But what mother's sufferings were ever +equal to Mary's? There He hung before her eyes; but she was helpless. +His wounds bled, but she dared not stanch them; His mouth was parched, +but she could not moisten it. These outstretched arms used to clasp +her neck; she used to fondle these pierced hands and feet. Ah! the +nails pierced her as well as Him; the thorns round His brow were a +circle of flame about her heart; the taunts flung at Him wounded her +likewise. + +But there was worse still--the sword cut deeper. Had not the angel +told her before His birth, "He shall be great, and shall be called the +Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of +His father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; +and of His kingdom there shall be no end"? This greatness, this +throne, this crown, this kingdom--where were they? Once she had +believed that she really was what the angel had called her--the most +blessed of women--when she saw Him lying in her lap in His beautiful +infancy, when the Shepherds and the Magi came to adore Him, and when +Simeon and Anna recognised Him as the Messiah. After that ensued the +long period of His obscurity in Nazareth. He was only the village +carpenter; but she did not weary, for He was with her in their home; +and she was confident that the greatness, the throne, the crown, the +kingdom would all come in good time. At last His hour struck; and, +casting down His tools and bidding her farewell, He went forth out of +the little valley into the great world. It is all coming now, she +said. Soon the news arrived of the words of grace and power He was +speaking, of the multitudes following Him, of the nation being roused, +and of the blind, the lame, the diseased, the bereaved who blessed Him +for giving joy back to their lives, and blessed her who had borne Him. +It is all coming to pass, she said. But then followed other news--of +reaction, of opposition, of persecution. Her heart sank within her. +She could not stay where she was. She left Nazareth and went away +trembling to see what had happened. And now she stands at the foot of +His cross. He is dying; and the greatness, the glory, and the kingdom +have never come. + +What could it mean? Had the angel been a deceiver, and God's word a +lie, and all the wonders of His childhood a dream? We know the +explanation now: Jesus was about to climb a far loftier throne than +Mary had ever imagined, and the cross was the only road to it. Before +many weeks were over Mary was to understand this too; but meantime it +must have been dark as Egypt to her, and her heart must have been +sorrowful even unto death. The sword had pierced very deep. + + +II. + +There were other women with Mary beneath the cross--two of them Marys, +like herself.[2] As an ancient father[3] has said, the weaker sex on +this occasion proved itself the stronger. When the apostles had +forsaken their Master and fled, these women were true to the last. +Perhaps, indeed, their sex protected them. Women can venture into some +places where men dare not go; and this is a talent which many women +have used for rendering services to the Saviour which men could not +have performed. + +But there was one there who had not this protection, and who in +venturing so near must have taken his life in his hand. St. John, I +suppose, is included with the rest of the apostles in the sad statement +that they all forsook their Master and fled. But, if so, his panic can +only have lasted a moment. He was present at the very commencement of +the trial; and here he still is with his Master at the last--the only +one of all the Twelve. Perhaps, indeed, the acquaintance with the +high-priest, which availed him to get into the palace where the trial +took place, may still have operated in his favour. But it was most of +all his greater devotion that brought him to his Master's side. He who +had leaned on His breast could not stay away, whatever might be the +danger. And he had his reward; for he was permitted to render a last +service to Jesus amidst His agony, and he received from Him a token of +confidence which by a heart like his must have been felt to be an +unspeakable privilege and honour. + + +III. + +It is most of all, however, with the impression made by the situation +on Jesus Himself that we wish to acquaint ourselves. + +He looked on His mother; and it was with an unpreoccupied eye, that was +able to disengage its attention from every other object by which it was +solicited. He was suffering at the time an extremity of pain which +might have made Him insensible to everything beyond Himself. Or, if He +had composure enough to think, a dying man has many things to reflect +upon within his own mind. Christ, we know, had a whole world of +interests to attend to; for now He was engaged in a final wrestle with +the problem to which His whole life had been devoted. The prayer on +behalf of His enemies does not surprise us so much, for it may be said +to have been part of His office to intercede for sinners; nor His +address to the penitent thief, for this also was quite in harmony with +His work as the Saviour. But we do wonder that in such an hour He had +leisure to attend to a domestic detail of ordinary life. Men who have +been engaged in philanthropic and reformatory schemes have not +infrequently been unmindful of the claims of their own families; and +they have excused themselves, or excuse has been made for them, on the +ground that the public interest predominated over the rights of their +relatives. Now and then Jesus Himself spoke as if He took this view: +He would not allow His plans to be interfered with even by His mother. +But now He showed that, though He could not but refuse her unjust +interference, He had never for a moment forgotten her just claims or +her true interests. In spite of His greatness and in spite of His +work, He still remained Mary's Son and bore to her an undying affection. + +The words He spoke were, indeed, few; but they completely covered the +case. Every word He uttered in that position was with great pain; +therefore He could not say much. Besides, their very fewness imparted +to them a kind of judicial dignity; as has been said, this was Christ's +last will and testament. To His mother He said, "Woman, behold thy +son," [4] indicating St. John with His eyes; and to the disciple He +merely said, "Behold thy mother." It was simple, yet comprehensive; a +plain, almost legal direction, and yet overflowing with love to both +Mary and John. + +It is supposed that Joseph, the husband of the Virgin, had died before +our Lord's public career began, and that in Nazareth the weight of the +household had fallen on the shoulders of Jesus. No doubt, during His +years of preaching, He would tenderly care for His mother. But now He +too was leaving her, and the widow would be without support. It was +for this He had to provide. + +He had no money to leave her; His earthly all, when He was crucified, +consisted of the clothes He wore; and these fell to the soldiers. But +it is one of the privileges of those who, though they may be poor +themselves, make many rich with the gifts of truth, that they thereby +win friends who are proud and eager to serve them or theirs. In +committing His mother to St. John Jesus knew that the charge would be +accepted not as a burden but a gift. + +Why she did not go to the home of one of her other sons it is +impossible to say. They were not yet believers, though soon afterwards +they became so; but there may have been other reasons also, to us +unknown. + +At all events, it is easy to see how kind and considerate was the +selection of St. John for this office. There are indications in the +Gospels that St. John was wealthier, or at least more comfortable in +his circumstances, than the rest of the Apostles; and this may have +weighed with Jesus: He would not send His mother where she would feel +herself to be a burden. It is highly probable also that St. John was +unmarried. But there were deeper reasons. There was no arm on which +His mother could lean so confidently as that of him who had leaned on +her Son's breast. St. Peter, with his hot temper and rough fisherman's +ways, would not have been nearly so eligible a choice. John and Mary +were kindred spirits. They were especially one in their intense +affection for Jesus. They would never tire of speaking to one another +about Him. He honoured both of them in each other's eyes by giving +them to one another in this way. If He gave Mary a great gift in +giving her St. John for a son, He gave him no less a gift by giving him +such a mother; for Mary could not but be an ornament to any home. +Besides, did He not make St. John in a quite peculiar sense His own +brother by substituting him in His own stead as the son of Mary? + +The Evangelist says that from that hour John took her to his own home. +Many have understood this to mean that he at once gently withdrew her +from the spot, that she should not be agitated by seeing the +death-throes of her Son, though he himself returned to Calvary. It is +said by tradition that they lived together twelve years in Jerusalem, +and that he refused to leave the city, even for the purpose of +preaching the gospel, as long as Mary survived. Only after her death +did he depart on those missionary travels which landed him in Ephesus +and its neighbourhood, with which his later history is connected. + + +IV. + +It is not difficult to read the lesson of this touching scene. From +the pulpit of His cross Jesus preaches to all ages a sermon on the +fifth commandment. + +The heart of the mother of Jesus was pierced with a sword on account of +His sufferings. It was a sharp weapon; but Mary had one thing on which +to steady up her soul; it kept her calm even in the wildest moment of +her grief--she knew He was innocent. He had always been pure, noble +and good; she could be proud of Him even when they were crucifying Him. +Many a mother's heart is pierced with anguish on account of a son's +illness, or misfortunes, or early death; but she can bear it if she is +not pierced with the poisoned sword. What is that? It is when she has +to be ashamed of her child--when he is brought to ruin by his own +misdeeds. This is a sorrow far worse than death. + +How beautiful it is to see a mother wearing as her chief ornament the +good name and the honourable success of a son! You who still have a +mother or a father, let this be to you both a spur to exertion and a +talisman against temptation. To some is accorded the rarer privilege +of being able to support their parents in old age. And surely there is +no sweeter memory in the world than the recollection of having been +allowed to do this. "If any widow have children or nephews, let them +learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents; for +that is good and acceptable before God. . . . But if any provide not +for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied +the faith, and is worse than an infidel." [5] + +But this sermon, delivered from the pulpit of the cross, has a wider +range. It informs us that our Saviour has a concern for our temporal +as well as for our eternal interests. Even on the cross, where He was +expiating the sin of the world, He was thinking of the comfort of His +widowed mother. Let the needy and the deserted take courage from this, +and cast all their care upon Him, for He careth for them. It is often +an astonishment to see how widows especially are helped through. When +they are left, with perhaps a number of little children, it seems +incomprehensible how they can get on. Yet not infrequently their +families turn out better than those where the father has been spared. +One reason is, perhaps, that their children feel from the first that +they must take a share of the responsibility, and this makes men and +women of them. But the chief reason undoubtedly is that God fulfils +His own promise to be a Father to the fatherless and a Husband to the +widow, and that they have not been forgotten by Him who in the hour of +His absorbing agony remembered Mary. + + + +[1] "Woman, behold thy son . . . Behold thy mother." + +[2] It is not certain whether John xix. 25 describes three women or +four. Is the second Salome, John's mother? + +[3] Chrysostom. + +[4] "Woman" may mean sadly (proleptically), "Thou hast no son now." + +[5] 1 Tim. v. 6, 8. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE FOURTH WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +The Seven Words from the Cross may be divided into two groups. In the +first three--namely, the prayer for His crucifiers, the word to the +penitent thief, and the directions about His mother--our Lord was +dealing with the interests of others; in the last four, to which we now +pass, He was absorbed in His own concerns. This division is natural. +Many a dying man, after arranging his affairs and saying his farewells, +turns his face to the wall, to encounter death and be alone with God. +It was highly characteristic of Jesus, however, before turning to His +own things, first to mind the things of others. + +Between these two groups of sayings there seems to have elapsed a long +interval. From the sixth hour to the ninth Jesus was silent. And +during this interval there was darkness over all the land. Of what +precise nature this atmospheric effect may have been it is impossible +at this distance to say. But the Evangelists, three of whom mention +it, evidently consider it to have indicated in some sense the sympathy +of nature with her Lord. It was as if the sun refused to look on such +a deed of shame. It may be supposed that by this weird phenomenon the +noises round the cross were in some degree hushed. At length the +silence was broken by Christ Himself, who, in a loud voice, gave +utterance to the Fourth Word from the cross. This was a word of +astonishment and agony, yet also of victory. + + +I. + +Of what nature had been the meditations of our Lord during the three +hours of silence? Had He been in an ecstasy of communion with His +heavenly Father? Not infrequently has this been vouchsafed to dying +saints. And it has sometimes enabled them completely to overcome +physical suffering. Martyrs have occasionally been so exalted at the +last as to be able even to sing in the flames. It is with awe and +astonishment we learn that the very opposite of this was the state of +mind of Jesus. The word with which He burst out of the trance of +silence may be taken as the index of what was going on in His mind +during the preceding hours; and it is a cry out of the lowest depths of +despair. Indeed, it is the most appalling sound that ever pierced the +atmosphere of this earth. Familiar as it is to us, it cannot be heard +by a sensitive ear even at this day without causing a cold shudder of +terror. In the entire Bible there is no other sentence so difficult to +explain. The first thought of a preacher, on coming to it, is to find +some excuse for passing it by; and, after doing his utmost to expound +it, he must still confess that it is quite beyond him. Yet there is a +great reward in grappling with such difficult passages; for never does +the truth impress us so profoundly as when we are made to feel that all +the length which we are able to go is only into the shallows of the +shore, while beyond our reach lies the great ocean. + +Even in Christ's own mind the uppermost thought, when He uttered this +cry, was one of astonishment. In Gethsemane, we are told, "He was sore +amazed." And this is obviously the tone of this utterance also. We +almost detect an accentuation of the "Thou" like that in the word with +which the murdered Caesar fell. All His life Jesus had been accustomed +to find Himself forsaken. The members of His own household early +rejected Him. So did His fellow-townsmen in Nazareth. Ultimately the +nation at large followed the same course. The multitudes that at one +time followed Him wherever He went and hung upon His lips eventually +took offence and went away. At last, in the crisis of His fate, one of +His nearest followers betrayed Him and the rest forsook Him and fled. +But in these disappointments, though He felt them keenly, He had always +had one resource: He was always able, when rejected of men, to turn +away from them and cast Himself with confidence on the breast of God. +Disappointed of human love, He drank the more deeply of the love +divine. He always knew that what He was doing or suffering was in +accord with the will of God; His feelings kept constant time with the +Divine heart; God's thoughts were His thoughts; He could clearly +discern the divine intention leading through all the contradictions of +His career to a sublime result. Therefore He could calmly say, even at +the Last Supper, with reference to the impending desertion of the +Twelve, "Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be +scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone; and yet I am +not alone, because the Father is with Me." Now, however, the hour had +come; and was this expectation fulfilled? They were scattered, as He +had predicted, and He was left alone; but was He not alone? was the +Father still with Him? His own words supply the answer: "My God, My +God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" + + +II. + +Although the state of mind of our Lord on this occasion was so +different from what we know to have been His habitual mood, yet it does +not stand absolutely isolated in His history. We know of at least two +experiences somewhat resembling it, and these may in some degree help +us to its explanation. The first overtook Him on the occasion of the +visit of certain Greeks at the beginning of the last week of His life. +They had desired to see Him; but, when they were introduced by Andrew +and Philip, Jesus, instead of being exhilarated, as might have been +expected, was overcome with a spasm of pain, and groaned, "Now is My +soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour." +The sight of these visitors from the outside world made Him feel how +grand and how congenial to Himself would have been a worldwide mission +to the heathen, such as He might have undertaken had His life been +prolonged; but this was impossible, because in the flower of His age He +was to die. The other occasion was the Agony of Gethsemane. A careful +and reverent study will reveal that this incident was the effort by +which the will of Christ rose into unity with the will of His Father. +It belongs to the very essence of human nature that it must grow from +stage to stage; and the perfection of our Lord, just because it was +human, had to realise itself on every step of a ladder of development. +He was always both perfect on the stage which He had reached, and at +the same time rising to a higher stage of perfection. Sometimes the +step might be more easy, at other times more difficult; the step which +He had to take in Gethsemane was supremely difficult; hence the effort +and the pain which it cost. It seemed, however, in Gethsemane as if He +had finally conquered, and it might have been expected that the mood of +weakness and darkness could not come back. Yet it was to be permitted +to return once more; and on the cross the attack was far more violent +and prolonged than on either of the preceding occasions. Keeping in +mind the light which these two previous accesses of the same mood may +cast on this one, let us draw near reverently and see how far we may be +able to penetrate into the mystery. + +There can be little doubt that there was a physical element in it. He +had now been a considerable time on the cross; and every minute the +agony was increasing. The wounds in His hands and feet, exposed to the +atmosphere and the sun, grew barked and hardened; the blood, impeded in +its circulation, swelled in heart and brain, till these organs were +like to burst; and the slightest attempt to move the body from the one +intolerable posture caused pains to shoot along the quivering nerves. +Bodily suffering clouds the brain and distorts the images formed on the +mirror of the mind. Even the face of God, reflected there, may be +turned to a shape of terror by the fumes of physical trouble. + +The horror of mortal suffering may have been greater to Jesus than to +other men, because of the fineness and sensitiveness of His physical +organization. His body had never been coarsened with sin, and +therefore death was utterly alien to it. The stream of physical life, +which is one of the precious gifts of God, had poured through His frame +in abundant and sunny tides. But now it was being withdrawn, and the +counterflow had set in. The unity of a perfect nature was being +violently torn asunder; and He felt Himself drifting away from the +living world, which to Him had been so full of God's presence and +goodness, into the pale, cold regions of inanity.[2] He did not belong +to death; yet He was falling into death's grasp. No angel came to +rescue Him; God interposed with no miracle to arrest the issue; He was +abandoned to His fate. + +There was more, however, it is easy to see, in the agony which prompted +this cry than the merely physical. If in Gethsemane we have the effort +of the will of Jesus, as it raised itself into unity with the will of +the Father, we here see the effort of His mind as, amidst the confusion +and contradictions of the cross, it finally rose into unity with the +mind of God. This intellectual character of His pain is indicated by +the word "Why." It is always painful when the creature has to say Why +to the Creator. We believe that He is Sovereign of the world and Guide +of our destiny, and that He urges forward the course of things in the +reins of infinite wisdom and love. But, while this is the habitual and +healthy sense of the human mind, especially when it is truly religious, +there are crises, both in the great and in the little world, when faith +fails. The world is out of joint; everything appears to have gone +wrong; the reins seem to have slipped out of the hands of God and the +chariot to be plunging forward uncontrolled; the course of things seems +no more to be presided over by reason, but by a blind, if not a cruel +fate. It is then that the poor human mind cries out Why. The entire +book of Job is such a cry. Jeremiah cried Why to God in terms of +startling boldness. In mortal pain, in bewildering disappointments, in +bereavements which empty the heart and empty the world, millions have +thus cried Why in every age. It seems an irreligious word. When +Jeremiah says, "O Lord, Thou hast deceived me and I was deceived," or +when Job demands, "Why did I not from the womb? why did I not give up +the ghost when I came out of the belly?" it sounds like the voice of a +blasphemer. But indeed it is into the most earnest and delicate souls +that this despair is likeliest to slip. The ignorant, the frivolous +and the time-serving are safe from it; for they are well enough +satisfied with things as they are. Callous minds learn to be content +without explanations. But the more deeply pious a mind is, the more +jealous must it be for justice and the glory of God; the appearance of +unwisdom in the government of the world shocks it; to be able to trace +the footsteps of God's care is a necessity of its existence. Hence its +pain when these evidences disappear. Now, all the contradictions and +confusions of the world were focussed on Golgotha. Injustice was +triumphant; innocence was scorned and crushed; everything was exactly +the reverse of what it ought to have been. And all the millions of +Whys which have risen from agonized souls, jealous for the honour of +God but perplexed by His providence, were concentrated in the Why of +Christ. + +How near to us He is! Never perhaps in His whole life did He so +completely identify Himself with His poor brethren of mankind. For +here He comes down to stand by our side not only when we have to +encounter pain and misfortune, bereavement and death, but when we are +enduring that pain which is beyond all pains, that horror in whose +presence the brain reels, and faith and love, the eyes of life, are put +out--the horror of a universe without God, a universe which is one +hideous, tumbling, crashing mass of confusion, with no reason to guide +and no love to sustain it. + +Can we advance a step farther into the mystery? The deepest question +of all is whether the desertion of Jesus was subjective or +objective--that is, whether He had only, on account of bodily weakness +and a temporary obscuration of the inward vision, a sense of being +abandoned, or whether, in any real sense, God had actually forsaken +Him. Of course we are certain that God was infinitely well pleased +with Him--never more so, surely, than when He was sacrificing Himself +to the uttermost on behalf of others. But was there, at the same time, +any outflashing against Him of the reverse side of the Divine +nature--the lightning of the Divine wrath? Calvary was an awful +revelation of the human heart, whose enmity was directed straight +against the perfect revelation of the love of God in Christ. There the +sin of man reached its climax and did its worst. What was done there +against Christ, and against God in Him, was a kind of embodiment and +quintessence of the sin of the whole world. And undoubtedly it was +this which was pressing on Jesus; this was "the travail of His soul." +He was looking close at sin's utmost hideousness; He was sickened with +its contact; He was crushed with its brutality--crushed to death. Yet +this human nature was His own; He was identified with it--bone of its +bone, flesh of its flesh; and, as in a reprobate family an exquisitely +delicate and refined sister may feel the whole weight of the debt and +shame of the household to lie on herself, so He felt the unworthiness +and hopelessness of the race as if they were His own; and, like the +scapegoat on whose head the sins of the community were laid in the old +dispensation, He went out into the land of forsakenness. + +Thus far we may proceed, feeling that we have solid ground beneath our +feet. But many have ventured farther. Even Luther and Calvin allowed +themselves to say that in the hours which preceded this cry our Lord +endured the torments of the damned. And Rambach, whose _Meditations on +the Sufferings of Christ_ have fed the piety of Germany for a hundred +years, says: "God was now dealing with Him not as a loving and merciful +father with his child, but as an offended and righteous judge with an +evildoer. The heavenly Father now regards His Son as the greatest +sinner to be found beneath the sun, and discharges on Him the whole +weight of His wrath." But, if we were to make use of such language, we +should be venturing beyond our depth. Much to be preferred is the +modest comment of the holy and learned Bengel on our text: "In this +fourth word from the cross our Saviour not only says that He has been +delivered up into the hands of men, but that He has suffered at the +hands of God something unutterable." Certainly there is here something +unutterable. We have ventured into the mystery as far as we are able; +but we know that we are yet only in the shallows near the shore; the +unplumbed ocean lies beyond. + + +III. + +It may appear an affectation to speak of this as in any sense a cry of +victory. Yet, if what has just been said be true, this, which was the +extreme moment of suffering, was also the supreme moment of +achievement. As the flower, by being crushed, yields up its fragrant +essence, so He, by taking into His heart the sin of the world, brought +salvation to the world. + +In point of fact, all history since has shown that it was in this very +hour that Christ conquered the heart of mankind. Long before He had +said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." +And the correctness of this anticipation is matter of history. Christ +on the cross has ever since then been the most fascinating object in +the eyes of mankind. The mind and heart of humanity have been +irresistibly attracted to Him, never weary of studying Him. And the +utterance of this cry is the culminating moment to which the inquiring +mind specially turns. Theology has its centre in the cross. +Sometimes, indeed, it has been shy of it, and has divagated from it in +wide circles; but, as soon as it becomes profound and humble again, it +always returns. + +Yes, when it becomes humble! Penitent souls are drawn to the cross, +and the deeper their penitence the more are they at home. They stand +beside the dying Saviour and say, This is what we ought to have +suffered; our life was forfeited by our guilt; thus our blood deserved +to flow; we might justly have been banished forever into the desert of +forsakenness. But, as they thus make confession, their forfeited life +is given back to them for Christ's sake, the peace of God is shed +abroad in their hearts, and the new life of love and service begins. +The supreme Christian rite brings us to this very spot and to this very +moment: "This is My blood of the New Testament, shed for many for the +remission of sins." + +It was not, however, merely in this profound sense that this fourth +word of the dying Saviour was a cry of victory. It was so, also, +because it liberated Him from His depression. It has been said that +when, at His encounter with the Greeks, He groaned, "Father, save Me +from this hour," He immediately checked Himself with "Father, glorify +Thy name"; likewise that in Gethsemane, when He prayed, "If it be +possible, let this cup pass from Me," He hastened to add, +"Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done"; but that on this +occasion the cry of despair was followed by no word of resignation. +This, however, is a mistake. The cry itself, though an utterance of +despair, yet involved the strongest faith. See how He lays hold of the +Eternal with both hands: "My God, My God!" It is a prayer: a thousand +times He had turned to this resource In days of trial; and He does so +in this supreme trouble. To do so cures despair. No one is forsaken +who can pray, "My God." As one in deep water, feeling no bottom, makes +a despairing plunge forward and lands on solid ground, so Jesus, in the +very act of uttering His despair, overcame it. Feeling forsaken of +God, He rushed into the arms of God; and these arms closed round Him in +loving protection. Accordingly, as the darkness, which had brooded +over all the land, disappeared at the ninth hour, so His mind emerged +from eclipse; and, as we shall see, His last words were uttered in His +usual mood of serenity. + + + +[1] "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" + +[2] Some of the Fathers thought of the separation of the divine from +the human nature as taking place now. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE FIFTH WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +The fourth word from the cross we looked upon both as the climax of the +struggle which had gone on in the mind of the divine Sufferer during +the three hours of silence and darkness which preceded its utterance +and as the liberation of His mind from that struggle. This view seems +to be confirmed by the terms in which St. John introduces the Fifth +Word--"After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now +accomplished,[2] that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I +thirst." + +The phrase, "that the Scripture might be fulfilled," is usually +connected with the words, "I thirst," as if the meaning were that He +had said this fifth word in fulfilment of some prediction that He would +do so; and the Old Testament is ransacked, without much result, for the +prophetic words which may be supposed to be alluded to. It is better, +however, to connect the phrase with what goes before--"Jesus, knowing +that all things were now accomplished." It was only when His work, +appointed by God and prescribed in Scripture, was completed, that He +became sufficiently conscious of His bodily condition to say, "I +thirst." Intense mental preoccupation has a tendency to cause the +oblivion of bodily wants. Even the excitement of reading a fascinating +book may keep at a distance for hours the sense of requiring sleep or +food; and it is only when the reader comes out of the trance of +absorption that he realises how spent he is. During the temptation in +the wilderness Jesus was too absorbed to be aware of His bodily +necessities; but, when the spiritual strain was removed, He "was +afterward an hungered." + +In the present instance, when He came out of His spiritual trance, it +was thirst He became conscious of. I remember once talking with a +German student who had served in the Franco-Prussian War. He was +wounded in an engagement near Paris, and lay on the field unable to +stir. He did not know exactly what was the nature of his wound, and he +thought that he might be dying. The pain was intense; the wounded and +dying were groaning round about him; the battle was still raging; and +shots were falling and tearing up the ground in all directions. But +after a time one agony, he told me, began to swallow up all the rest, +and soon made him forget his wound, his danger and his neighbours. It +was the agony of thirst. He would have given the world for a draught +of water. This was the supreme distress of crucifixion. The agonies +of the horrible punishment were of the most excruciating and +complicated order; but, after a time, they all gathered into one +central current, in which they were lost and swallowed up--that of +devouring thirst; and it was this that drew from our Lord the fifth +word.[3] + + +I. + +This was the only cry of physical pain uttered by our Lord on the +cross. As was remarked in a previous chapter, it was not uncommon for +the victims of crucifixion, when the ghastly operation of nailing them +to the tree began, to writhe and resist, and to indulge either in +abject entreaties to be saved from the inevitable or in wild defiance +of their fate. But at this stage Jesus uttered never a word of +complaint. Afterwards also, in spite of the ever-increasing pain, He +preserved absolute self-control. He was absorbed either in caring for +others or in prayer to God. + +It is a sublime example of patience. It rebukes our softness and +intolerance of pain. How easily we are made to cry out; how peevish +and ill-tempered we become under slight annoyances! A headache, a +toothache, a cold, or some other slight affair, is supposed to be a +sufficient justification for losing all self-control and making a whole +household uncomfortable. Suffering does not always sanctify. It sours +some tempers and makes them selfish and exacting. This is the +besetting sin of invalids--to become absorbed in their own miseries and +to make all about them the slaves of their caprices. But many triumph +nobly over their temptation; and in this they are following the example +of the suffering Saviour. There are sick-rooms which it is a privilege +to visit. You may know that the place is a scene of excruciating pain; +but on the pillow there lies a sweet, patient face; the voice is +cheerful and thankful; and, instead of being self-absorbed, the mind is +full of unselfish thoughts for others. I recall the description given +by a friend of one such invalid's chamber, which used to be filled with +the most beautiful cheerfulness and activity. At a certain time of +year you might see in it quite an exhibition of stockings, pinafores, +dresses and other pretty things, prepared for the children of a +mission-school in India. By thinking of the needs of those children +far away the invalid not only kept her own sufferings at bay, but +created for herself delightful connections with God's work and God's +people. Yet she was one who might easily have asserted the right to do +nothing, and have taxed the patience and the services of those by whom +she was surrounded. + +But there is another lesson besides patience in this word of Christ. +He only uttered one word of physical pain; but He did utter one. His +self-control was not proud or sullen. There is a silence in suffering +that is mere doggedness, when we screw our courage to the +sticking-place and resolve that nobody shall hear any complaint from +us. We succeed in being silent, but it is with a bad grace: there is +no love or patience in our hearts, but only selfish determination. +This is especially a temptation when anyone has injured us and we do +not wish to let him see how much we have suffered, lest he should be +gratified. Jesus was surrounded by those who had wantonly wronged Him; +not only had they inflicted pain, but they had laughed and mocked at +His sufferings. He might have resolved not on any account to show His +feelings or at least to ask any kindness. It is sometimes more +difficult to ask a favour than to grant one; it requires more of the +spirit of forgiveness.[4] But not only did Jesus ask a favour: He +expected to receive it. Shamefully as He had been treated by those to +whom He had to appeal, He believed that there might still be some +remains of goodness at the bottom of their hearts. All His life He had +been wont to discover more good in the worst than others believed to +exist, and to the last He remained true to His own faith. The maxim of +the world is to take all men for rogues till the reverse has been +proved. Especially when people have enemies, they believe the own very +worst of them and paint their characters without a single streak of any +colour but black. To those from whom we differ in opinion we attribute +the basest motives and refuse to hear any good of them. But this is +not the way of Christ: He believed there were some drops of the milk of +human kindness even in the hard-hearted Roman soldiers; and He was not +disappointed.[5] + + +II. + +It is impossible to hear this pathetic cry, so expressive of +helplessness and dependence, without recalling other words of our Lord +to which it stands in marked contrast. Can this be He who, standing in +Jerusalem not long before, surrounded with a great multitude, lifted up +His voice and cried, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and +drink"? Can it be He who, standing at the well of Jacob with the +Samaritan woman and pointing to the springing fountain at their feet, +said, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but +whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never +thirst; but the water that I shall give shall be in him a well of water +springing up into everlasting life"? Can He who in words like these +offered to quench the thirst of the world be the same who now whispers +in mortal exhaustion, "I thirst"? + +It is the same; and this is a contrast which runs through His whole +life, the contrast between inward wealth and outward poverty. He was +able to enrich the whole world, yet He had to be supported by the +contributions of the women who followed Him; He could say, "I am the +bread of life," yet He sometimes hungered for a meal; He could promise +thrones and many mansions to those who believed on Him, yet He said +Himself, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, yet +the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." + +In a materialistic age, when in so many circles money is the measure of +the man, and when people are so excessively concerned about what they +shall eat and what they shall drink and wherewithal they shall be +clothed, it is worth while to bear this contrast in mind. Seldom have +the noblest specimens of humanity been those who have been able to +wallow in luxury; and the men who have enriched the world with the +treasures of the mind have not infrequently been hardly able to procure +daily bread. Our older boys may have seen on some of their +school-books the name of Heyne. His is an immortal name in classical +scholarship; but when he was a student, and even when he was enriching +the literature of his country with splendid editions of the ancient +writers, he was literally starving, and had sometimes to subsist on +skins of apples and other offal picked up from the streets. Our own +Samuel Johnson, to whose wisdom the whole globe is now a debtor, when +engaged on some of his greatest works, had not shoes in which to go +out, and did not know where his dinner was to come from. It would be +easy from history to multiply instances of those who, though poor, yet +have made many rich. + +The inference is not, that one must be poor externally if one desires +to be inwardly rich. The materially poor are not all spiritually rich +by any means; multitudes of them, alas, are as poverty-stricken in mind +and character as in physical condition. Perhaps one might even go so +far as to say that as a rule the inwardly rich enjoy at least a +competent portion of the good things of this life; for intelligence and +character have even a market value, Money, too, can be made subservient +to the highest aims of the soul. But what it is essential to remember +is, that the inward is the true wealth, and that we must seek and +obtain it, even, if necessary, at the sacrifice of the outward. If +life is not to be impoverished and materialised, some in every age must +make the choice between the inward and the outward wealth; and no one +is worthy to be the servant of scholarship, art or religion who is not +prepared for the choice should it fall to him. It is by the possession +of intelligence, generosity and spiritual power that we enter into the +higher ranks of manhood; and the most Christlike trait of all is to +have the will and the ability to overflow in influences and activities +which sweeten and elevate the lives of others. + + +III. + +It would appear that some of those round the cross were opposed to +granting the request of Jesus. Misunderstanding the fourth word,[6] +they supposed He was calling for Elijah; and they proposed not to help +Him even with a drink of water, in order to see whether or not Elijah +would come to the rescue. But in one man the impulse of humanity was +too strong, and he gave Jesus what He desired. We almost love the man +for it, and we envy his office. + +But the Saviour is still saying, "I thirst." How and where? Listen! +"I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink." "Lord, when saw we Thee athirst +and gave Thee drink?" "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of +these My brethren, ye did it unto Me." Wherever the brothers and +sisters of Jesus are suffering, sitting in lonely rooms and wishing +that somebody would come and visit them, or lying on beds of pain and +needing somebody to come and ease the pillow or to reach the cup to the +dry lips, there Christ is saying, "I thirst." + +Perhaps He is saying it in vain. There are multitudes of professing +Christians who never from end to end of the year visit any poor person. +They never thread the obscure streets or ascend the grimy stairs in +search of God's hidden ones. They have never acquired the art of +cheering a dark home with a flower, or a hymn, or a diet, or the touch +of a sympathetic hand and the smile of a healthy face. It would +completely alter the Christianity of many if they could begin to do +these lowly services; it would put reality into it, and it would bring +into the heart a joy and exhilaration hitherto unknown. For Christ +sees to it that none who thus serve Him lose their reward. An American +friend told me that once, when travelling on the continent of Europe, +he fell in with a fellow-countryman on board a Rhine steamer. They +talked about America and soon confided to each other from which parts +of the country they came, with other fragments of personal detail. +They continued to travel for some days together, and my informant was +so overwhelmed with kindness by his companion that at last he ventured +to ask the reason. "Well," rejoined the other, "when the War was going +on, I was serving in your native state; and one day our march lay +through the town in which you have told me you were born. The march +had been very prolonged; it was a day of intense heat; I was utterly +fatigued and felt on the point of dying for thirst, when a kind woman +came out of one of the houses and gave me a glass of cold water. And I +have been trying to repay through you, her fellow-townsman, the +kindness she showed to me." Does it not remind us of the great word of +the Son of God, "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little +ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say +unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward"? + +But is this not enough? Does anyone wish to get still nearer to Christ +and hold the cup not only to Him in the person of His members but to +His own very lips? Well, this is possible too. Jesus still says, "I +thirst." He thirsts for love. He thirsts for prayer. He thirsts for +service. He thirsts for holiness. Whenever the heart of a human being +turns to Him with a genuine impulse of penitence, affection or +consecration, the Saviour sees of the travail of His soul and is +satisfied. + + + +[1] "I thirst." + +[2] _tetelestai_--the very word of Jesus Himself--"It is finished--" +which may possibly have been fourth. + +[3] He had by this time been on the cross for four hours or more. The +arrest took place about midnight; the ecclesiastical trial terminated +about sunrise; the proceedings before Pilate occupied perhaps from six +to nine, or rather more; the crucifixion took place towards noon; from +noon till three o'clock darkness prevailed; and between this and sunset +the death and burial took place. See Matt. xxvii. 1; Mark xv. 25, 33, +34, 42. St. John's statement of time, xix. 14, is a difficulty. He +appears to reckon from a different starting-point. See Andrews' _Life +of Our Lord_ (new edition), pp. 545 ff. In the same passage St. John +says, "It was the preparation of the passover"; does this mean the day +before the feast commenced, or the day before the Sabbath of Passover +Week? There are held to be other indications that St. John represents +the crucifixion as having taken place the day before the Passover +began, whereas the Synoptists place it the day after (especially John +xviii. 28, where the question is whether "the passover" means the +Paschal Lamb or the Chagigah, a portion of the feast belonging to the +second day). On this question there is an extensive literature. See +Andrews, 452-81, and Keim, vol. vi., pp. 195-219. + +[4] "To be in too great a hurry to discharge an obligation is itself a +kind of ingratitude."--LA ROCHEFOUCAULD. + +[5] Hoffmann says that Jesus refused the intoxicating draught, before +the crucifixion began, that His senses might be kept clear; and that +now He accepted the refreshing draught for the same purpose. + +[6] "Eli, Eli," etc. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE SIXTH WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +Like the Fifth, the Sixth Word from the Cross is, in the Greek, +literally a single word; and it has been often affirmed to be the +greatest single word ever uttered. It may be said to comprehend in +itself the salvation of the world; and thousands of human souls, in the +agony of conviction or in the crisis of death, have laid hold of it as +the drowning sailor grasps the life-buoy. + +Sometimes it has been interpreted as merely the last sign of ebbing +life: as if the meaning were, It is all over; this long agony of pain +and weakness is done at last. But the dying words of Jesus were not +spoken in this tone. The Fifth Word, we are expressly told, was +uttered with a loud voice; so was the Seventh; and, although this is +not expressly stated about the Sixth, the likelihood is that, in this +respect, it resembled the other two. It was not a cry of defeat, but +of victory. + +Both the suffering of our Lord and His work were finishing together; +and it is natural to suppose that He was referring to both. Suffering +and work are the two sides of every life, the one predominating in some +cases and the other in others. In the experience of Jesus both were +prominent: He had both a great work to accomplish and He suffered +greatly in the process of achieving it. But now both have been brought +to a successful close; and this is what the Sixth Word expresses. It +is, therefore, first, the Worker's Cry of Achievement; and, secondly, +the Sufferer's Cry of Relief. + + +I. + +Christ, when on earth, had a great work on hand, which was now finished. + +This dying word carries us back to the first word from His lips which +has been preserved to us: "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's +business?" Even at twelve years of age He already knew that there was +a business entrusted to Him by His Father in heaven, about which His +thoughts had to be occupied. We cannot perhaps say that then already +He comprehended it in its whole extent. It was to grow upon Him with +the development of His manhood. In lonely meditations in the fields +and pastures of Nazareth it seized and inspired His mind. As He +cultivated the life of prayer, it became more and more His settled +purpose. The more He became acquainted with human nature, and with the +character and the needs of His own age, the more clearly did it rise +before Him. As He heard and read the Scriptures of the Old Testament, +He saw it hinted and foreshadowed in type and symbol, in rite and +institution, in law and prophets. There He found the programme of His +life sketched out beforehand; and perhaps one of His uppermost +thoughts, when He said, "It is finished," was that all which had been +foretold about Him in the ancient Scriptures had been fulfilled. + +After His public life commenced, the sense of being charged with a task +which He had to fulfil was one of the master-thoughts of His life. It +was written on His very face and bodily gait. He never had the easy, +indeterminate air of one who does not know what He means to do in the +world. "I have a baptism," He would say, "to be baptized with, and how +am I straitened till it be accomplished." In a rapt moment, at the +well of Sychar, after His interview with the Samaritan woman, when His +disciples proffered Him food, He put it away from Him, saying, "I have +meat to eat that ye know not of," and He added, "My meat is to do the +will of Him that sent Me and to finish His work." On His last journey +to Jerusalem, as He went on in front of His disciples, they were amazed +and, as they followed, they were afraid. His purpose possessed Him; He +was wholly in it, body, soul and spirit. He bestowed on it every scrap +of power He possessed, and every moment of His time. Looking back now +from the close of life, He has not to regret that any talent has been +either abused or left unused. All have been husbanded for the one +purpose and all lavished on the work. + +What was this work of Christ? In what terms shall we express it? At +all events it was a greater work than any other son of man has ever +attempted. Men have attempted much, and some of them have given +themselves to their chosen enterprises with extraordinary devotion and +tenacity. The conqueror has devoted himself to his scheme of subduing +the world; the patriot to the liberation of his country; the +philosopher to the enlargement of the realm of knowledge; the inventor +has rummaged with tireless industry among the secrets of nature; and +the discoverer has risked his life in opening up untrodden continents +and died with his face to his task. But none ever undertook a task +worthy to be compared with that which engrossed the mind of Jesus. + +It was a work for God with men, and it was a work for men with God. + +The thought that it was a work for God, with which God had charged Him, +was often in Christ's mouth, and this consciousness was one of the +chief sources of His inspiration. "I must work the work of Him that +sent Me while it is day," He would say; or, "Therefore doth my Father +love Me, because I do always those things which please Him." And, at +the close of His life-work, He said, in words closely related to those +of our text, "I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the +work which Thou gavest Me to do." This was His task, to glorify God on +the earth--to make known the Father to the children of men. + +But just as obviously was it a work for men with God. This was stamped +on all His words and on the entire tenor of His life. He was bringing +men back to God, and He had to remove the obstacles which stood in the +way. He had to roll away the stone from the sepulchre in which +humanity was entombed and call the dead to come forth. He had to press +His weight against the huge iron gates of human guilt and doom and +force them open. He had done so; and, as He said, "It is finished," He +was at the same time saying to all mankind, "Behold, I have set before +you an open door, and no man can shut it." + +The more difficult and prolonged any task is, the greater is the +satisfaction of finishing it. Everyone knows what it is, after +accomplishing anything on which a great deal of labour has been +bestowed or the accomplishment of which has been delayed, to be able to +say, "There; it is finished at last." In the more signal efforts of +human genius and energy there is a satisfaction of final achievement +which warms even spectators with sympathy at the distance of hundreds +of years. What must it be to the poet, after equipping himself by the +labours of a lifetime with the stores of knowledge and the skill in the +use of language requisite for the composition of a "Divine Comedy" or a +"Paradise Lost," and after wearing himself lean for many years at his +task, to be able at last, when the final line has been penned, to write +Finis at the bottom of his performance? What must it have been to +Columbus, after he had worn his life out in seeking the patronage +necessary for his undertaking and endured the perils of voyaging in +stormy seas and among mutinous mariners, to see at last the sunlight on +the peak of Darien which informed him that his dream was true and his +lifework accomplished? When we read how William Wilberforce, the +champion of Slave Emancipation, heard on his deathbed, a few hours +before he breathed his last, that the British Legislature had agreed to +the expenditure necessary to secure the object to which he had +sacrificed his life, what heart can refuse its tribute of sympathetic +joy, as it thinks of him expiring with the shouts of emancipated +millions in his ears? These are feeble suggestions of the triumph with +which Christ saw, fallen behind Him, His accomplished task, as He +cried, "It is finished." + + +II. + +If Jesus had during life a vast work on hand which He was able on the +cross to say He had finished, He was in quite as exceptional a degree a +sufferer; yet on the cross He was able to say that His suffering also +was finished. + +Suffering is the reverse side of work. It is the shadow that +accompanies achievement, as his shadow follows a man. It is due to the +resistance offered to the worker by the medium in which he toils. + +The life of Jesus was one of great suffering, because He had to do His +work in an extremely resistant medium. His purpose was so beneficent, +and His passion for the good of the world so obvious, that it might +have been expected that He would meet with nothing but encouragement +and furtherance. He was so religious that all the religious forces +might have been expected to second His efforts; He was so patriotic +that it would have been natural if His native country had welcomed Him +with open arms; He was so philanthropic that He ought to have been the +idol of the multitude. But at every step He met with opposition. +Everything that was influential in His age and country turned against +Him. Obstruction became more and more persistent and cruel, till at +length on Calvary it reached its climax, when all the powers of earth +and hell were combined with the one purpose of crushing Him and +thrusting Him out of existence. And they succeeded. + +But the mystery of suffering is very insufficiently explained when it +is defined as the reaction of the work on the worker. While a man's +work is what he does with the force of his will, suffering is what is +done to him against his will. It may be done by the will of opponents +and enemies. But this is never the whole explanation. Above this +will, which may be thoroughly evil, there is a will which is good and +means us good by our suffering. + +Suffering is the will of God. It is His chief instrument for +fashioning His creatures according to His own plan. While by our work +we ought to be seeking to make a bit of the world such as He would have +it to be, by our suffering He is seeking to make us such as He would +have us to be. He blocks up our pathway by it on this side and on +that, in order that we may be kept in the path which He has appointed. +He prunes our desires and ambitions; He humbles us and makes us meek +and acquiescent. By our work we help to make a well-ordered world, but +by our suffering He makes a sanctified man; and in His eyes this is by +far the greater triumph. + +Perhaps this is the most difficult half of life to manage. While it is +by no means easy to accomplish the work of life, it is harder still to +bear suffering and to benefit by it. Have you ever seen a man to whom +nature had given great talents and grace great virtues, so that the +possibilities of his life seemed unbounded, while he had imagination +enough to expatiate over them: a man who might have been a missionary, +opening up dark countries to civilisation and the gospel; or a +statesman, swaying a parliament with his eloquence and shaping the +destinies of millions by his wisdom; or a thinker, wrestling with the +problems of the age, sowing the seeds of light, and raising for himself +an imperishable monument: but who was laid hold of by some remorseless +disease or suddenly crushed by some accident; so that all at once his +schemes were upset and his life narrowed to petty anxieties about his +health and shifts to avoid the evil day, which could not, however, be +long postponed? And did it not seem to you, as you watched him, to be +far harder for him to accept this destiny with a good grace and with +cheerful submission than it would have been to accomplish the career of +enterprise and achievement which once seemed to lie before him? To do +nothing is often more difficult than to do the greatest things, and to +submit requires more faith than to achieve. + +The life of Christ was hemmed and crushed in on every hand. Evil men +were the proximate cause of this; but He acknowledged behind them the +will of God. He had to accept a career of shame instead of glory, of +brief and limited activity instead of far-travelling beneficence, of +premature and violent death instead of world-wide and everlasting +empire. But He never murmured; however bitter any sacrifice might be +on other grounds, He made it sweet to Himself by reflecting that it was +the will of His Father. When the worst came to the worst, and He was +forced to cry, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me," He was +swift to add, "Nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done." And thus +on step after step of the ladder His thoughts were brought into perfect +accord with His Father's, and His will with His Father's will. + +At last on the cross the cup out of which He had drunk so often was put +into His hands for the last time. The draught was large, black and +bitter as never before. But He did not flinch. He drank it up. As He +did so, the last segment of the circle of His own perfection completed +itself; and, while, flinging the cup away after having exhausted the +last drop, He cried, "It is finished," the echo came back from heaven +from those who saw with wonder and adoration the perfect round of His +completed character, "It is finished." + + +Though these two sides of the life of Christ are separable in thought, +it is evident that they constitute together but one life.[2] The work +He did involved the suffering which He bore and lent to it meaning and +dignity. On the other hand, the suffering perfected the Worker and +thus conferred greatness on His work. In His crowning task of atoning +for the sin of the world it was as a sufferer that He accomplished the +will of God. And now both are finished; and henceforward the world has +a new possession: it has had other perfect things; but never before and +never since has it had a perfect life. + + + +[1] "It is finished." + +[2] Sometimes they are expressed by saying that life is both a Mission +and a Discipline. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE SEVENTH WORD FROM THE CROSS[1] + +While all the words of dying persons are full of interest, there is +special importance attached to the last of them. This is the Last Word +of Jesus; and both for this reason and for others it claims particular +attention. + +A noted Englishman is recorded to have said, when on his deathbed, to a +nephew, "Come near and see how a Christian can die." Whether or not +that was a wise saying, certainly to learn how to die is one of the +most indispensable acquirements of mortals; and nowhere can it be +learnt so well as by studying the death of Christ. This Last Word +especially teaches us how to die. It will, however, teach us far more, +if we have the wit to learn: it contains not only the art of dying but +also the art of living. + + +I. + +The final word of the dying Saviour was a prayer. Not all the words +from the cross were prayers. One was addressed to the penitent thief, +another to His mother and His favourite disciple, and a third to the +soldiers who were crucifying Him; but prayer was distinctly the +language of His dying hours. It was not by chance that His very last +word was a prayer; for the currents within Him were all flowing +Godwards. + +While prayer is appropriate for all times and seasons, there are +occasions when it is singularly appropriate. At the close of the day, +when we are about to enter into the state of sleep, which is an image +of death, the most natural of all states of mind is surely prayer. In +moments of mortal peril, as on shipboard when a multitude are suddenly +confronted with death, an irresistible impulse presses men to their +knees. At the communion table, when the bread and the wine are +circulating in silence, every thoughtful person is inevitably occupied +with prayer. But on a death-bed it is more in its place than anywhere +else. Then we are perforce parting with all that is earthly--with +relatives and friends, with business and property, with the comforts of +home and the face of the earth. How natural to lay hold of what alone +we can keep hold of; and this is what prayer does; for it lays hold of +God. + +It is so natural to pray then that prayer might be supposed to be an +invariable element of the last scenes. But it is not always. A +death-bed without God is an awful sight; yet it does occur. The +currents of the mind may be flowing so powerfully earthward that even +then they cannot be diverted. There are even death-beds where the +thought of God is a terror which the dying man keeps away; and +sometimes his friends assist him to keep it away, suffering none to be +seen and nothing to be said that could call God to mind. Natural as +prayer is, it is only so to those who have learned to pray before. It +had long been to Jesus the language of life. He had prayed without +ceasing--on the mountain-top and in the busy haunts of men, by Himself +and in company with others--and it was only the bias of the life +asserting itself in death when, as He breathed His last, He turned to +God. + +If, then, we would desire our last words to be words of prayer, we +should commence to pray at once. If the face of God is to shine on our +death-bed, we must now acquaint ourselves with Him and be at peace. +If, as we look upon the dying Christ or on the dying saints, we say, +"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like +his," then we must begin now to live the life of the righteous and to +practise its gracious habits. + + +II. + +The last word of the dying Saviour was a quotation from Scripture. + +This was not the first time our Lord quoted Scripture on the cross: His +great cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" was likewise +borrowed from the Old Testament, and it is possible that there is +Scriptural allusion in others of the Seven Words. + +If prayer is natural to the lips of the dying, so is Scripture. For +different seasons and for different uses there is special suitability +in different languages and literatures. Latin is the language of law +and scholarship, French of conversation and diplomacy, German of +philosophy, English of commerce. But in the most sacred moments and +transactions of life there is no language like that of the Bible. +Especially is this the case in everything connected with death. On a +tombstone, for example, how irrelevant, as a rule, seem all other +quotations, but how perfect is the fitness of a verse from Scripture. +And on a death-bed there are no words which so well become the dying +lips. + +This is strikingly illustrated by the following extract, guaranteed as +authentic, from a private diary:--"I remember, when I was a student, +visiting a dying man. He had been in the university with me, but a few +years ahead; and, at the close of a brilliant career in college, he was +appointed to a professorship of philosophy in a colonial university. +But, after a very few years, he fell into bad health; and he came home +to Scotland to die. It was a summer Sunday afternoon when I called to +see him, and it happened that I was able to offer him a drive. His +great frame was with difficulty got into the open carriage; but then he +lay back comfortably and was able to enjoy the fresh air. Two other +friends were with him that day--college companions, who had come out +from the city to visit him. On the way back they dropped into the +rear, and I was alone beside him, when he began to talk with +appreciation of their friendship and kindness. 'But,' he said, 'do you +know what they have been doing all day?' I could not guess. 'Well,' +he said, 'they have been reading to me _Sartor Resartus_; and oh! I am +awfully tired of it.' Then, turning on me his large eyes, he began to +repeat, 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that +Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief;' +and then he added with great earnestness, 'There is nothing else of any +use to me now.' I had not opened the subject at all: perhaps I was +afraid to introduce it to one whom I felt to be so much my superior; +but I need not say how overjoyed I was to obtain such a glimpse into +the very depths of a great, true mind." _Sartor Resartus_ is one of +the best of books; there are few to be so heartily recommended. Yet +there are moments in life--and those immediately before death are among +them--when even such a book may be felt to be irrelevant, and, indeed, +no book is appropriate except the one which contains the words of +eternal life. + +It is worth noting from which portion of the Old Testament Jesus +fetched the word on which He stayed up His soul in this supreme moment. +The quotation is from the thirty-first Psalm. The other great word +uttered on the cross to which I have already alluded was also taken +from one of the Psalms--the twenty-second. This is undoubtedly the +most precious of all the books of the Old Testament. It is a book +penned as with the life-blood of its authors; it is the record of +humanity's profoundest sorrows and sublimest ecstasies; it is the most +perfect expression which has ever been given to experience; it has been +the _vade-mecum_ of all the saints; and to know and love it is one of +the best signs of spirituality. + +Jesus knew where to go in the Bible for the language that suited Him; +for He had been a diligent student of it all His days. He heard it in +the home of His childhood; He listened to it in the synagogue; probably +He got the use of the synagogue rolls and hung over it in secret. He +knew it through and through. Therefore, when He became a preacher, His +language was saturated with it, and in controversy, by the apt use of +it, He could put to shame those who were its professional students. +But in His private life likewise He employed it in every exigency. He +fought with it the enemy in the wilderness and overcame him; and now, +in the supreme need of a dying hour, it stood Him in good stead. It is +to those who, like Jesus, have hidden God's Word in their hearts that +it is a present help in every time of need; and, if we wish to stay +ourselves upon it in dying, we ought to make it the man of our counsel +in living. + +It is worth observing in what manner Jesus made this quotation from the +Psalter: He added something at the beginning and He omitted something +at the close. At the beginning He added, "Father." This is not in the +psalm. It could not have been. In the Old Testament the individual +had not begun yet to address God by this name, though God was called +the Father of the nation as a whole. The new consciousness of God +which Christ introduced into the world is embodied in this word, and, +by prefixing it to the citation, He gave the verse a new colouring. We +may, then, do this with the Old Testament: we may put New-Testament +meaning into it. Indeed, in connection with this very verse we have a +still more remarkable illustration of the same treatment. Stephen, the +first martyr of Christianity, was in many respects very like his +Master, and in his martyrdom closely imitated Him. Thus on the field +of death he repeated Christ's prayer for His enemies--"Lord, lay not +this sin to their charge." Also, he imitated this final word, but he +put it in a new form, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;" that is, he +addressed to Christ the dying prayer which Christ Himself addressed to +the Father.[2] The other alteration which Jesus made was the omission +of the words, "for Thou hast redeemed me." It would not have been +fitting for Him to employ them. But we will not omit them; and if, +like Stephen, we address the prayer to Christ, how much richer and more +pathetic are the words to us than they were even to him who first +penned them. + + +III. + +It was about His spirit that the dying Saviour prayed. + +Dying persons are sometimes much taken up with their bodies. Their +pain and trouble may occasion this, and the prescriptions of the +physician may require close attention. Some display a peculiar anxiety +even about what is to happen to the body after the life has left it, +giving the minutest instructions as to their own obsequies. Not +infrequently the minds of the dying are painfully occupied with their +worldly affairs: they have their property to dispose of, and they are +distracted with anxieties about their families. The example of Jesus +shows that it is not wrong to bestow attention on these things even on +a deathbed; for His fifth word, "I thirst," had reference to His own +bodily necessities; and, whilst hanging on the cross, He made provision +for His mother's future comfort. But His supreme concern was His +spirit; to the interests of which He devoted His final prayer. + +What is the spirit? It is the finest, highest, sacredest part of our +being. In modern and ordinary language we call it the soul, when we +speak of man as composed of body and soul; but in the language of +Scripture it is distinguished even from the soul as the most lofty and +exquisite part of the inner man. It is to the rest of our nature what +the flower is to the plant or what the pearl is to the shell. It is +that within us which is specially allied to God and eternity. It is +also, however, that which sin seeks to corrupt and our spiritual +enemies seek to destroy. No doubt these are specially active in the +article of death; it is their last chance; and fain would they seize +the spirit as it parts from the body and, dragging it down, rob it of +its destiny. Jesus knew that He was launching out into eternity; and, +plucking His spirit away from these hostile hands which were eager to +seize it, He placed it in the hands of God. There it was safe. Strong +and secure are the hands of the Eternal. They are soft and loving too. +With what a passion of tenderness must they have received the spirit of +Jesus. "I have covered thee," said God to His servant in an ancient +prophecy, "in the shadow of My hand;" and now Jesus, escaping from all +the enemies, visible and invisible, by whom He was beset, sought the +fulfilment of this prophecy. + +This is the art of dying; but is it not also the art of living? The +spirit of every son of Adam is threatened by dangers at death; but it +is threatened with them also in life. As has been said, it is our +flower and our pearl; but the flower may be crushed and the pearl may +be lost long before death arrives. "The flesh lusteth against the +spirit." So does the world. Temptation assails it, sin denies it. No +better prayer, therefore, could be offered by a living man, morning by +morning, than this of the dying Saviour. Happy is he who can say, in +reference to his spirit, "I know whom I have believed, and I am +persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him +against that day." + + +IV. + +This last word of the expiring Saviour revealed His view of death. + +The word used by Jesus in commending His spirit to God implies that He +was giving it away in the hope of finding it again. He was making a +deposit in a safe place, to which, after the crisis of death was over, +He would come and recover it. Such is the force of the word, as is +easily seen in the quotation just made from St. Paul, where he says +that he knows that God will keep that which he has committed to +Him--using the same word as Jesus--"against that day." [3] Which day? +Obviously some point in the future when he could appear and claim from +God that which he had entrusted to Him. Such a date was also in +Christ's eye when He said, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my +spirit." Death is a disruption of the parts of which human nature is +composed. One part--the spirit--was going away to God; another was in +the hands of men, who were wreaking on it their wicked will; and it was +on its way to the house appointed for all living. But Jesus was +looking forward to a reunion of the separated parts, when they would +again find each other, and the integrity of the personal life be +restored. + +The most momentous question which the dying can ask, or which the +living can ask in the prospect of death, is, "If a man die, shall he +live again?" does he all die? and does he die forever? There is a +terrible doubt in the human heart that it may be so; and there have +never been wanting teachers who have turned this doubt into a dogma. +They hold that mind is only a form or a function of matter, and that, +therefore, in the dissolution of the bodily materials, man dissolves +and mixes with the material universe. Others, while holding fast the +distinction between mind and matter, have taught that, as the body +returns to the dust, the mind returns to the ocean of being, in which +its personality is lost, as the drop is in the sea, and there can be no +reunion. There is, however, something high and sacred within us that +rebels against these doctrines; and the best teachers of the race have +encouraged us to hope for something better. Still, their assurances +have been hesitating and their own faith obscure. It is to Christ we +have to go: He has the words of eternal life. He spoke on this subject +without hesitation or obscurity; and His dying word proves that He +believed for Himself what He taught to others. Not only, however, has +He by His teaching brought life and immortality to light: He is Himself +the guarantee of the doctrine; for He is our immortal life. Because we +are united to Him we know we can never perish; nothing, not even death, +can separate us from His love; "Because I live," He has said, "ye shall +live also." + +It may be that in a very literal sense we have in the study of this +sentence been learning the art of dying: these may be our own dying +words. They have been the dying words of many. When John Huss was +being led to execution, there was stuck on his head a paper cap, +scrawled over with pictures of devils, to whom the wretched priests by +whom he was surrounded consigned his soul; but again and again he +cried, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." These were also +the last words of Polycarp, of Jerome of Prague, of Luther, of +Melanchthon, and of many others. Who could wish his spirit to be +carried away to God in a more glorious vehicle? But, whether or not we +may use this prayer in death, let us diligently make use of it in life. +Close not the book without breathing, "Father, into Thy hands I commend +my spirit." + + + +[1] "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." + +[2] The first business of the interpreter of Scripture is to find out +precisely what every verse or paragraph meant at the time and place +where it was written; and there is endless profit in the exact +determination of this original application. But, whilst the +interpreter's task begins, it does not end with this. The Bible is a +book for every generation; and the deduction of the message which it is +intended to convey to the present day is as truly the task of the +interpreter. There is a species of exegesis, sometimes arrogating to +itself the sole title to be considered scientific, by which the garden +of Scripture is transmuted into an herbarium of withered specimens. + +[3] Christ's word is _paratithemai_, and St. Paul's, 2 Tim. i. 12, _ten +paratheken mou_, according to the best reading. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE SIGNS + +There are indications that to some of those who took part in the +crucifixion of Christ His death presented hardly anything to +distinguish it from an ordinary execution; and there were others who +were anxious to believe that it had no features which were +extraordinary. But God did not leave His Son altogether without +witness. The end of the Saviour's sufferings was accompanied by +certain signs, which showed the interest excited by them in the world +unseen. + + +I. + +The first sign was the rending of the veil of the temple. This was a +heavy curtain covering the entrance to the Holy Place or the entrance +to the Holy of Holies--most probably the latter. Both entrances were +thus protected, and Josephus gives the following description of one of +the curtains, which will probably convey a fair idea of either; five +ells high and sixteen broad, of Babylonian texture, and wonderfully +stitched of blue, white, scarlet and purple--representing the universe +in its four elements--scarlet standing for fire and blue for air by +their colours, and the white linen for earth and the purple for sea on +account of their derivation, the one, from the flax of the earth and +the other from the shellfish of the sea. + +The fact that the rent proceeded from top to bottom was considered to +indicate that it was made by the finger of God; but whether any +physical means may have been employed we cannot tell. Some have +thought of the earthquake, which took place at the same moment, as +being connected with it through the loosening of a beam or some similar +accident.[1] + +At critical moments in history, when the minds of men are charged with +excitement, even slight accidents may assume remarkable +significance.[2] Such incidents occur at turning-points of the life +even of individuals.[3] They derive their significance from the +emotion with which the minds of observers happen at the time to be +filled. No doubt the rending of the temple veil might appear to some a +pure accident, while in the minds of others it crystallised a hundred +surging thoughts. But we must ascribe to it a higher dignity and a +divine intention. + +Like the pillar of cloud and fire in the wilderness, it had a double +face--one of judgment and another of mercy. + +It betokened the desecration of the shrine and the exodus of the Deity +from the temple whose day of opportunity and usefulness was over. And +it is curious to note how at the time not only the Christian but even +the Jewish mind was big with this thought. There is a Jewish legend in +Josephus, which is referred to also by the Roman historian Tacitus, +that at the Passover some years after this the east door of the inner +court of the temple, which was so heavy that twenty men were required +to close it, and was, besides, at the moment strongly locked and +barred, suddenly at midnight flew open; and, the following Pentecost, +the priests whose duty it was to guard the court by night, heard first +a rushing noise as of hurrying feet and then a loud cry, as of many +voices, saying, "Let us depart from hence." + +Nor was it only in Palestine that in that age the air was charged with +the impression that a turning-point in history had been reached, and +that the ancient world was passing away. Plutarch[4] heard a singular +story of one Epitherses from the rhetorician Aemilianus, who had it +from the man's father. On a certain occasion this Epitherses happened +to be a passenger on board a ship which got becalmed among the +Echinades. As it stood near one of the islands, suddenly there came +from the shore a voice, loud and clear, calling Thamus, the pilot, an +Egyptian, by his name. Twice he kept silence; but, when the call came +the third time, he replied; whereupon the voice cried still louder, +"When you come to the Paludes, proclaim that the great Pan is dead." +Pan being the god of nature in that ancient world, all who heard were +terrified, and they debated whether or not they should obey the +command. At last it was agreed that if, when they came to the Paludes, +it was windy, they were not to obey, but, if calm, they would. It +turned out to be calm; and, accordingly, the pilot, standing on the +prow of the vessel, shouted out the words; whereupon the air was +filled, not with an echo, but the loud groaning of a great multitude +mingled with surprise.[5] The pilot was called before the Emperor +Tiberius, who strictly enquired into the truth of the incident. + +Such was the meaning of the rending of the veil on its dark side: it +denoted that the reign of the gods was over and that Jerusalem was no +longer to be the place where men ought to worship. But it had at the +same time a bright side; and this was the side for the sake of which +the incident was treasured by the friends of Jesus. It meant, as St. +Paul says, that the wall between Jew and Gentile had been broken down. +It meant, as is set forth in the noble argument of the Epistle to the +Hebrews, that the system of ceremonies and intermediaries by which +under the Old Testament the worshipper might approach God and yet was +kept at a distance from Him had been swept away. The heart of God is +now fully revealed, and it is a heart of love; and, at the same time, +the heart of man, liberated by the sacrifice of Christ from the +conscience of sin, as it could never be by the offering of bulls and +goats, can joyfully venture into the divine presence and go out and in +with the freedom of a child. "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to +enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, +which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil--that is to say, His +flesh--and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near +with a true heart in full assurance of faith." [6] + + +II. + +The second sign was the resurrection of certain of the dead--"The +graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and +came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy +city and appeared unto many." + +Whether or not the rending of the veil in the temple was connected with +the earthquake, there is no doubt that this second sign was. The +graves in Palestine were caves in the rocks, the mouths of which were +closed with great stones. Some of these stones were shaken from their +places by the earthquake; and the bodies themselves, which lay on +shelves or stood upright in niches, may have been disturbed. But in +some of them a greater disturbance occurred: besides the external +shaking there took place within them a motion of the life-giving breath +of God. + +In the minds of many devout scholars this miracle has excited suspicion +on several accounts. They say it is contrary to the teaching of +Scripture elsewhere, according to which Christ was the firstfruits of +them that slept. If these dead bodies were reanimated at the moment of +this earthquake, they, and not He, were the firstfruits. To this it is +answered that St. Matthew is careful to note that they came out of +their graves "after His resurrection"; so that St. Matthew still agrees +with St. Paul in making Christ the first to rise. But, then, it is +asked, in what condition were they between their reanimation and their +resurrection? The Evangelist appears to state that they rose from +death to life at the moment of the earthquake, but did not emerge from +the tomb till the third day afterwards, when Christ had risen. Is this +credible? or is it an apocryphal marvel, which has been interpolated in +the text of St. Matthew? The other Evangelists, while, along with St. +Matthew, narrating the rending of the veil, do not touch on this +incident at all. The whole representation, it is argued, lacks the +sobriety which is characteristic of the authentic miracles of the +Gospels and broadly separates them from the ecclesiastical miracles, +about which there is generally an air of triviality and grotesqueness. + +On the other hand, there is no indication in the oldest and best +manuscripts of St. Matthew that this is an interpolation; and many of +the acutest minds have felt this trait to be thoroughly congruous and +suitable to its place. If, they contend, He who had just died on +Calvary was what He gave Himself out and we believe Him to be, His +death must have excited the profoundest commotion in the kingdoms of +the dead. The world of living men and women was insensible to the +character of the event which was taking place before its eyes; but the +world unseen was agitated as it never had been before and never was to +be again. It was not unnatural, but the reverse, that some of the +dead, in their excitement and eagerness, should even press back over +the boundaries of the other world, in order to be in the world where +Christ was. The question where they were or what they were doing +between their reanimation and resurrection is a triviality not worth +considering. At all events, they rose after their Lord; and was it not +appropriate that when, after the forty days, He ascended to heaven, +there to be received by rejoicing angels and archangels, He should not +only appear in the flesh, but be accompanied by specimens of what His +resurrection power was ultimately to do for all believers? If it be +asked who the favoured saints were to whom this blessed priority was +vouchsafed, we cannot tell. The dust, however, was not far away of +many whom the Lord might delight to honour--patriarchs, like Abraham; +kings, like David; prophets, like Isaiah. + +But the true significance of this sign is not dependent on such +speculations. Even if it should ever be discovered, as it is not in +the least likely to be, that this story was interpolated in St. +Matthew, and we should be driven to the conclusion that it was invented +by the excited fancy of the primitive Christians, even then we should +have to ask what caused them to invent it. And the only possible +answer would be, that it was the force of the conviction burning within +them that by His death and resurrection Christ had opened the gates of +death to all the saints. This was the glorious faith which was +begotten by the experiences of those never-to-be-forgotten days, +whether the sight of these resurrected saints played any part or not in +maturing it; and it is now the faith of the Church and the faith of +mankind. + +This may well be called the rending of another veil. If in the ancient +world there was a veil on the face of God, there was a veil likewise on +the face of eternity.[7] The home of the soul was hidden from the +children of men. They vaguely surmised it, indeed; they could never +believe that they were wholly dust. But, apart from Christ, the +speculations even of the wisest as to the other world are hardly more +correct or certain than might be the speculations of infants in the +womb as to the condition of this world.[8] Christ, on the contrary, +always spoke of the world invisible with the freedom and confidence of +one to whom it was native and well known; and His resurrection and +ascension afford the most authentic glimpses into the realm of +immortality which the world has ever received. + +In this sign, indeed, it is with the death and not with the +resurrection that this authentication is connected. But the +resurrection of Christ is allied in the most intimate manner with His +death. It was the public recognition of His righteousness. Since, +however, He died not for Himself alone, but as a public person, His +mystical body has the same right to resurrection, and in due time it +will be made manifest that, He having discharged every claim on their +behalf, death has now no right to detain them. + + +III. + +The first sign was in the physical world; the second was in the +underworld of the dead; but the third was in the common world of living +men. This was the acknowledgment of Christ by the centurion who +superintended His crucifixion. + +Whether, like the preceding signs, this third one is to be connected +with the earthquake is a question. Probably the answer ought to be in +the affirmative. The sensation produced by an earthquake is like +nothing else in nature; and its first effect on an unsophisticated mind +is to create the sense that God is near. Probably, therefore, the +earthquake was felt by the centurion to be the divine Amen to the +thoughts which had been rising in his mind, and it gave them a speedy +and complete delivery in his confession. + +This confession was, however, the result of his observation of Jesus +throughout His whole trial and the subsequent proceedings; and it is an +eloquent tribute to our Lord's behaviour. The centurion may have been +at the side of Jesus from the arrest to the end. Through those +unparalleled hours he had observed the rage and injustice of His +enemies; and he had marked how patient, unretaliating, gentle and +magnanimous He had been. He had heard Him praying for His crucifiers, +comforting the thief on the cross, providing for His mother, communing +with God. More and more his interest was excited and his heart +stirred, till at last he was standing opposite the cross,[9] drinking +in every syllable and devouring every movement; and, when the final +prayer was uttered and the earthquake answered it, his rising +conviction brimmed over and he could not withhold his testimony. + +St. Luke makes him say only, "This was a righteous man," while the +others report, "This was the Son of God." But St. Luke's may include +theirs; because, if the centurion meant to state that the claims of +Jesus were just, what were His claims? At Pilate's judgment-seat he +had heard it stated that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, and +perhaps he had heard Him make this claim Himself in reply to Pilate's +question. This name, along with others like it, had been hurled at +Jesus, in his hearing, by those standing round the cross. + +But what did he mean when he made this acknowledgment? It has been +held that all which he, a heathen, could imply was that Jesus was a son +of God in the sense in which the Greeks and Romans believed Hercules, +Castor and other heroes to be sons of their deities. This may be near +the truth; but his soul was moved, his mind was opened; and, once in +the way, he could easily proceed further in the knowledge of Christ. +Tradition says that his name was Longinus, and that he became bishop of +Cappadocia and ultimately died a martyr. + +Have we not here the rending of a third veil? There is a veil on the +face of God which requires to be removed; and there is a veil on the +face of eternity which requires to be removed; but the most fatal veil +is that which is on the heart of the individual and prevents him from +seeing the glory of Christ. It was on the faces of nearly all the +multitude that day assembled round the cross. It was on the faces of +the poor soldiers gambling within a few feet of the dying Saviour; in +their case it was a veil of insensibility. It was on the faces of the +ecclesiastics and the mob of Jerusalem; and in their case it was a +thick veil of prejudice. The greatest sight ever witnessed on earth +was there beside them; but they were stoneblind to it. + +The glory of Christ is still the greatest sight which anyone can see +between the cradle and the grave. And it is now as near everyone of us +as it was to the crowd on Calvary. Some see it; for the veil upon +their faces is rent; and they are transfixed and transformed by the +sight. But others are blinded. How near one may be to Jesus, how much +mixed up with His cause, how well informed about His life and doctrine, +and yet never see His glory or know Him as a personal Saviour! It is +said that people may spend a lifetime in the midst of perfect scenery +and yet never awake to its charm; but by comes a painter or poet and +drinks the beauty in, till he is intoxicated with it and puts it into a +glorious picture or a deathless song. So can some remember a time when +Jesus, though in a sense well known, was nothing to them; but at a +certain point a veil seemed to rend and an entire change supervened; +and ever since then the world is full of Him; His name seems written on +the stars and among the flowers; He is their first thought when they +wake and their last before they sleep; He is with them in the house and +by the way; He is their all in all. + +This is the most critical rending of the veil; because, when it takes +place, the others follow. When we have our eyes opened to see the +glory of Christ, we soon know the Father also; and the darkness passes +from the face of eternity, because eternity for us is to be forever +with the Lord. + + + +[1] "May this phenomenon account for the early conversion of so many +priests recorded in Acts vi. 7?"--EDERSHEIM. + +[2] Shakespeare is very fond of describing the portents by which +remarkable events are foreshadowed. Thus, _Julius Caesar_, Act I. +Scene ii.:-- + + "O Cicero, + I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds + Have rived the knotty oaks; and I have seen + Th' ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam, + To be exalted with the threatening clouds; + But never till to-night, never till now + Did I go through a tempest dropping fire. + A common slave--you know him well by sight-- + Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn + Like twenty torches joined; and yet his hand, + Not sensible of fire, remained unscorched. + Besides--I ha' not since put up my sword-- + Against the Capitol I met a lion, + Who glared upon me and went surly by, + Without annoying me. And there were drawn + Upon a heap an hundred ghastly women, + Transformed with their fear, who swore they saw + Men, all in fire, walk up and down the streets. + And yesterday the bird of night did sit + Even at noonday upon the marketplace, + Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies + Do so conjointly meet, let not men say, + 'These are their reasons--they are natural,' + For I believe they are portentous things + Unto the climate that they point upon." + +See also Act II., Scene ii., and Act V., Scene i. of the same play; +_Macbeth_, Act II., Scene ii.; _Hamlet_, Act I., Scene i. Such +impressions are not, however, even in modern times, confined to poetry +alone. Historical instances will suggest themselves to every reader. + +[3] Some of the most interesting I have read occur in a brief memoir of +the founder of the Bagster Publishing Company issued on the centenary +of its opening. + +[4] _De Oraculorum Defectu_, quoted by Heubner in his commentary, _in +loc_. + +[5] _stenagmos ama thaumasmo_. + +[6] Heb. x. 19-22. + +[7] So the ignorance of immortality is expressly called in the +beautiful passage, Isa. xxv. 7. + +[8] Sir Thomas Browne, _Hydrotaphia_, chap. iv.: "A dialogue between +two infants in the womb concerning the state of this world might +handsomely illustrate our ignorance of the next, where, methinks, we +still discourse in Plato's den, and are but embryo philosophers." + +[9] _Parestekos ex enantias autou_. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE DEAD CHRIST + +It was not usual to remove bodies from the cross immediately after +their death. They were allowed to hang, exposed to the weather, till +they rotted and fell to pieces; or they might be torn by birds or +beasts; and at last a fire was perhaps kindled beneath the cross to rid +the place of the remains. Such was the Roman custom; but among the +Jews there was more scrupulosity. In their law there stood this +provision: "If a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be +put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain +all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day +(for he that is hanged is accursed of God); that thy land be not +defiled which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." [1] +Whether or not the Jews always tried to get this provision observed in +executions carried out in their midst by their Roman masters, we cannot +tell; but it was natural that they should do so in reference to +executions carried out in the neighbourhood of the holy city and at +Passover time. In the present instance there was the additional +reason, that the morrow of the execution of Jesus was a high day--it +was the Sabbath of the Passover--a kind of double Sabbath, which would +have been desecrated by any unclean thing, like an unburied corpse, +exposed to view. The Jews were extremely sensitive about such points. +At any time they regarded themselves as unclean if they touched a dead +body, and they had to go through a process of purgation before their +sense of sanctity was restored. But on the occasion of a Passover +Sabbath they would have felt it to be a desecration if any dead thing +had even met their eyes or rested uncovered on the soil of their city. +Therefore their representatives went to the Roman governor and begged +that the three crucified men should be put to death by clubbing and +their bodies buried before the Sabbath commenced. + +The suggestion has often been made that, behind this pretended +scrupulosity, their real aim was to inflict additional pain and +indignity on Jesus. The breaking of the bones of the body, by smashing +them with clubs, was a peculiarly horrible form of punishment sometimes +inflicted by the Romans.[2] It was nearly as cruel and degrading as +crucifixion itself; and it was an independent punishment, not conjoined +with crucifixion. But the Jews in this case attempted to get them +united, that Jesus, besides being crucified, might, so to speak, die +yet another death of the most revolting description. The Evangelist, +however, throws no doubt on the motive which they put forward--namely, +that the Passover Sabbath might be saved from desecration--and, +although their insatiable hatred may have made them suggest clubbing as +the mode by which His death should be hastened, we need not question +that their scruples were genuine. It is an extraordinary instance of +the game of self-deception which the human conscience can play. Here +were people fresh from the greatest crime ever committed--their hands +still reeking, one might say, with the blood of the Innocent--and their +consciences, while utterly untouched with remorse for this crime, are +anxious about the observance of the Sabbath and the ceremonial +defilement of the soil. It is the most extraordinary illustration +which history records of how zeal for what may be called the body of +religion may be utterly destitute of any connection with its spirit. +It is surely a solemn warning to make sure that every outward religious +act is accompanied by the genuine outgoing of the heart to God, and a +warning that, if we love not our brother, whom we have seen, neither +can we be lovers of God, whom we have not seen. + + +Pilate hearkened to the request of the Jews, and orders were given to +the soldiers to act accordingly. Then the ghastly work began. They +broke the legs of the malefactor on the one side of Jesus, and then +those of the other on the opposite side. The penitent thief was not +spared; but what a difference his penitence made! To his companion +this was nothing but an additional indignity; to him it was the +knocking-off of the fetters, that his spirit might the sooner wing its +way to Paradise, where Christ had trysted to meet him. + +Then came the turn of Jesus. But, when the soldiers looked at Him, +they saw that their work was unnecessary: death had been before them; +the drooping head and pallid frame were those of a dead man. Only, to +make assurance doubly sure, one of them thrust his spear into the body, +making a wound so large that Jesus, when He was risen, could invite the +doubting Thomas to thrust his hand into it; and, as the weapon was +drawn forth again, there came out after it blood and water. + +St. John, who was on the spot and saw all this taking place, seems to +have perceived in the scene an unusual importance; for he adds to his +report these words of confirmation, as if he were sealing an official +document, "And he that saw it bare record; and his record is true; and +he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe." Why should he +interrupt the flow of his narrative to add these words of assurance? + +Some have thought that he was moved to do so by a heresy which sprang +up in the early Church to the effect that Christ was not really human: +His body, it was said, was only a phantom body, and therefore His death +was only an apparent death. In opposition to such a notion St. John +directs attention to the realistic details, which prove so conclusively +that this was a real man and that He died a real death. Of course that +ancient heresy has long ceased to trouble; there are none now who deny +that Jesus was a man. Yet it is curious how the tendency ever and anon +reappears to evaporate the facts of His life. At the present hour +there are eminent Christian teachers in Europe who are treating the +resurrection of the Lord in very much the same way as these early +Docetae treated His death--as a kind of figure of speech, not to be +understood too literally. Against such the Church must lift up the +crude facts of the resurrection as St. John did those of the death of +the Saviour.[3] In our generation teachers of every kind are appealing +to Christ and putting Him in the centre of theology; but we must ask +them, What Christ? Is it the Christ of the Scriptures: the Christ who +in the beginning was with God; who was incarnated; who died for the +sins of the world; who was raised from the dead and reigns for +evermore? We must not delude ourselves with words: only the Christ of +the Scriptures could have brought us the salvation of the Scriptures. + + +What excited the wonder of St. John is supposed by others to have been +the fulfilment of two passages of the Old Testament Scripture which he +quotes. It appeared to be a matter of mere chance that the soldiers, +contrary to the intention of the Jews, refrained from breaking the +bones of Jesus; yet a sacred word, of which they knew nothing, written +hundreds of years before, had said, "A bone of Him shall not be +broken." It seemed the most casual circumstance that the soldier +plunged the spear into the side of Jesus, to make sure that He was +dead; yet an ancient oracle, of which he knew nothing, had said, "They +shall look on Him whom they pierced." Thus, by the overruling +providence of God, the soldiers, going with rude unconcern about their +work, were unconsciously fulfilling the Scriptures; and those who both +saw what they had done and knew the Scriptures recognised the Divine +finger pointing out Jesus as the Sent of God. + +The first of these texts is generally supposed[4] to be taken from the +account in Exodus of the institution of the Passover, and originally it +refers to the paschal lamb, which was to be eaten whole, the breaking +of its bones being forbidden. St. John's idea is that Christ was to be +the paschal lamb of the New Dispensation, and that therefore Providence +took care that nothing should be done to destroy His resemblance to the +type, as would have happened if His bones had been broken. The +Passover was the great event of the year in all the generations of +Jewish history. It was intended to carry the minds of God's people +back to the wonderful scenes of divine grace and power in which their +existence as a nation had begun, when God liberated them from their +bondage and led them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The centre of +the solemnity was the slaying and eating of the paschal lamb. This +reminded them of how in Egypt the blood of this lamb, sprinkled on the +lintels and doorposts of their huts, saved them from the visit of the +destroying angel, who was passing through the land; and how, at the +same time, the flesh of the lamb was eaten by the people, with their +loins girt and staves in their hands, and supplied them with strength +for their adventurous journey. Thus through all ages it impressed on +them two things--that the sins of the past required to be expiated, and +that strength had to be obtained from above for the new stage of their +history on which at the annual Passover they might be supposed to be +entering. In the same way, in the New Dispensation, are our minds ever +to revert to the marvellous revelation of the grace and saving power of +God in which Christianity originated; and in the very midst is the Lamb +slain, who is both the expiation of the sins that are past and the +strength requisite for the conflict and the pilgrimage. "If we walk in +the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, +and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." + +The other words of prophecy which appeared to St. John to be fulfilled +on this occasion were, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced." +They are from a passage in Zechariah, which is so remarkable that it +may be quoted in full--"And I will pour out on the house of David and +upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of +supplications, and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and +they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall +be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his +firstborn." Jehovah speaks figuratively of the opposition shown to +Himself and His servants as piercing Him with pain, just as we say of +an insult that it cuts to the heart. But in the death of Jesus the +figure became a fact: against the sacred person of the Son of God the +spear was lifted up, and it was driven home without compunction. +Evidently St. John thinks of this rather as the act of the Jewish +people than of the Roman soldier. But the prophecy speaks not only of +the people piercing God, but of their looking at their own work with +shame and tears. At Pentecost this began to be fulfilled; and in every +age since there have been members of the Jewish race who have +acknowledged their guilt in the transaction. The full acknowledgment, +however, still lingers; but the conversion of God's ancient people, +when it comes, must begin with this. Indeed, every human being to whom +his own true relation to Christ is revealed must make the same +acknowledgment. It was the heart not of a few soldiers or of the +representatives of a single people, but of the human race, that +hardened itself against Him. It was the sin of the world that nailed +Him to the tree and shed His blood. Every sinner may therefore feel +that he had a hand in it; and it is only when we see our own sin as +aiming at the very existence of God in the death of His Son that we +comprehend it in all its enormity. + + +There have been many who have found the reason for St. John's wonder in +the fact that out of the wounded side there flowed blood and water. + +From a corpse, when it is pierced--at least, if it has been some time +dead--it is not usual for anything to flow. But whether St. John +reflected on this or not we cannot tell. What fascinated him was +simply the fact that the piercing of the body of the Saviour made it a +fountain out of which sprang this double outflow. When the rock in the +wilderness was smitten with the rod of Moses, there issued from it a +stream which was life to the perishing multitude; but in the double +stream coming from the side of Jesus St. John saw something better even +than that; because to him the blood symbolized the atonement, and the +water the Spirit of Christ; and in these two all our salvation lies.[5] +So we sing in the most precious of all our hymns,-- + + Let the water and the blood + From Thy living side which flowed + Be of sin the double cure-- + Cleanse me from its guilt and power. + + +Although, however, St. John did not perhaps speculate on the reason why +this double outflow took place from the wounded side, others have +occupied themselves with the question. + +Some[6] have considered the phenomenon altogether abnormal, and +endeavoured to explain it from the peculiarity of our Lord's humanity. +Though He died. He was not, like other men, to see corruption; His +body was to escape in a few hours, transfigured and glorious, from the +grasp of death. This transforming process, which issued in His +resurrection, began as soon as He was dead; and the spear-thrust, +breaking in on it, so to speak, revealed something altogether unique in +the constitution of His body. + +Others, keeping within the limits of ascertained fact, have given a +totally different yet a peculiarly interesting explanation. They have +directed attention to the suddenness of Christ's death. It was usual +for crucified persons to linger for days; but He did not survive more +than six hours. Yet immediately before dying He again and again cried +with a loud voice, as if His bodily force were by no means exhausted. +Suddenly, however, with a loud cry His life terminated. To what could +this be due? It is said that sometimes, under the pressure of intense +mental and physical agony, the heart bursts; there is a shriek, and of +course death is instantaneous. We speak of people dying of a broken +heart--using the phrase only figuratively--but sometimes it can be used +literally: the heart is actually ruptured with grief. Now, it is said +that, when this takes place, the blood contained in the heart is poured +into a sac by which it is surrounded; and there it separates into two +substances--a clotty substance of the colour of blood and a pure, +colourless substance like water. And, if the sac, when in this +condition, were pierced by a spear or any other instrument, there would +flow out a large quantity of both substances, which would by an +unscientific spectator be described as blood and water. + +It was by an English medical man that this theory was first propounded +fifty years ago,[7] and it has been adopted by other medical men, +equally famous for their scientific eminence and Christian character, +such as the late Professor Begbie and Sir James Simpson. The latter +well brings out the point and the pathos of this view of the Saviour's +death in these words:[8] "It has always appeared--to my medical mind at +least--that this view of the mode by which death was produced in the +human body of Christ intensifies all our thoughts and ideas regarding +the immensity of the sacrifice which He made for our sinful race upon +the cross. Nothing can be more striking and startling than the +passiveness with which, for our sakes, God as man submitted His +incarnate body to the horrors and tortures of the crucifixion. But our +wonderment at the stupendous sacrifice increases when we reflect that, +whilst thus enduring for our sins the most cruel and agonising form of +corporeal death, He was ultimately slain, not by the effects of the +anguish of His corporeal frame, but by the effects of the mightier +anguish of His mind; the fleshly walls of His heart--like the veil, as +it were, in the temple of His body--becoming rent and riven, as for us +He poured out His soul unto death--the travail of His soul in that +awful hour thus standing out as unspeakably more bitter and dreadful +than even the travail of His body." + +In this chapter we have been moving somewhat in the region of +speculation and conjecture, and we have not rigidly ascertained what is +logically tenable and what is not. This is a place of mystery, where +dim yet imposing meanings peep out on us in whatever direction we turn. +We have called the scene the Dead Christ. But who does not see that +the dead Christ is so interesting and wonderful because He is also the +living Christ? He lives; He is here; He is with us now. Yet the +converse is also true--that the living Christ is to us so wonderful and +adorable because He was dead. The fact that He is alive inspires us +with strength and hope; but it is by the memory of His death that He is +commended to the trust of our burdened consciences and the love of our +sympathetic hearts. + + + +[1] Deut. xxi. 22, 23. + +[2] "_Crurifragium_, as it was called, consisted in striking the legs +of the sufferer with a heavy mallet"--FARRAR, _Life of Christ_, ii., +423. + +[3] The words that follow in this paragraph are a reminiscence of a +singularly eloquent and powerful passage in a speech of Dr. Maclaren, +of Manchester, delivered last year in Edinburgh. + +[4] Weiss, however, supposes Psalm xxxiv. 20 to be the reference. + +[5] On the symbolism of this phenomenon see the excursus in Westcott's +_Gospel of St. John_, pp. 284-86. + +[6] _E.g._, Lange, characteristically. + +[7] Stroud in his treatise _On the Physical Cause of the Death of +Christ_. + +[8] Given in Hanna's _The Last Day of our Lord's Passion_. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE BURIAL + +There is a hard and shallow philosophy which regards it as a matter of +complete indifference what becomes of the body after the soul has left +it and affects contempt of all funeral ceremonies. But the instincts +of mankind are wiser. In ancient times it was considered one of the +worst of misfortunes to miss decent burial; and, although this +sentiment was mixed with superstition, there was beneath it a healthy +instinct. There is a dignity of the body as well as of the soul, +especially when it is a temple of the Holy Ghost; and there is a +majesty about death which cannot be ignored without loss to the +living.[1] It is with a sense of pain and humiliation, as if a +dishonour were being done to human nature, that we see a funeral at +which everything betokens hurry, shabbiness and slovenliness. On the +contrary, the satisfaction is not morbid with which we see a funeral +conducted with solemnity and chaste pomp. And, when someone falls +whose career has been one of extraordinary achievement and beneficence, +and who has become + + On fortune's crowning slope + The pillar of a nation's hope, + The centre of a world's desire, + +then, as the remains are borne amidst an empire's lamentation to rest +"under the cross of gold that shines over river and city," and the +tolling bells and echoing cannon sound over hushed London, and the +silent masses line the streets, and the learned and the noble stand +uncovered around the open grave, it would be a diseased and churlish +mind which did not feel the spell of the pageant. + +Thus ought the great, the wise and the good to be buried. How then was +He buried whom all now agree to call the Greatest, the Wisest and the +Best? + + +I. + +The three corpses were taken down towards evening, before the Jewish +Sabbath set in, which commenced at sunset. Probably the two robbers +were buried on the spot, crosses and all, or they were hurriedly +carried off to some obscure and accursed ditch, where the remains of +criminals were wont to be unceremoniously thrust underground. + +This would have been the fate of Jesus too, had not an unexpected hand +interposed. It was the humane custom of the Romans to give the corpses +of criminals to their friends, if they chose to ask for them; and a +claimant appeared for the body of Jesus, to whom Pilate was by no means +loath to grant it. + +This is the first time that Joseph of Arimathea appears on the stage of +the gospel history; and of his previous life very little is known. +Even the town from which he derives his appellation is not known with +certainty. The fact that he owned a garden and burying-place in the +environs of Jerusalem does not necessarily indicate that he was a +resident there; for pious Jews had all a desire to be buried in the +precincts of the sacred city; and, indeed, the whole neighbourhood is +still honeycombed with tombs. + +Joseph was a rich man; and this may have availed him in his application +to Pilate. Those who possess wealth or social position or +distinguished talents can serve Christ in ways which are not accessible +to His humbler followers. Only, before such gifts can be acceptable to +Him, those to whom they belong must count them but loss and dung for +His sake. + +Joseph was a councillor. It has been conjectured that the council of +which he was a member was that of Arimathea; but the observation that +he "had not consented to the counsel and deed of them," which obviously +refers to the Sanhedrim, makes it more than probable that it was of +this august body he was a member. No doubt he absented himself +deliberately from the meeting at which Jesus was condemned, knowing +well beforehand that the proceedings would be utterly painful and +revolting to his feelings. For "he was a good man and a just." + +We are, however, told more about him: "he waited for the kingdom of +God." This is a phrase applied elsewhere also in the New Testament to +the devout in Palestine at this period; and it designates in a striking +way the peculiarity of their piety. The age was spiritually dead. +Religion was represented by the high-and-dry formalism of the Pharisees +on the one hand and the cold and worldly scepticism of the Sadducees on +the other. In the synagogues the people asked for bread and were +offered a stone. The scribes, instead of letting the pure river of +Bible truth flow over the land, choked up its course with the sand of +their soulless commentary. Yet there are good people even in the worst +of times. There were truly pious souls sprinkled up and down +Palestine. They were like lights shining here and there, at great +intervals, in the darkness. They could not but feel that they were +strangers and foreigners in their own age and country, and they lived +in the past and the future. The prophets, on whose words they +nourished their souls, foretold a good time coming, when on those who +sat in darkness there would burst a great light. For this better time, +then, they were waiting. They were waiting to hear the voice of +prophecy echoing once more through the land and waking the population +from its spiritual slumber. They were waiting, above all, for the +Messiah, if they might dare to hope that He would come in their days. + +Such were the souls among which both John and Jesus found their +auditors. All such must have welcomed the voices of the Baptist and +his Successor as at least those of prophets who were striving earnestly +to deal with the evils of the time. But whether Jesus was He that +should come or whether they should look for another, some of them stood +in doubt. Among these perhaps was Joseph. He was, it is said, a +disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews. He had faith, +but not faith enough to confess Christ and take the consequences. Even +during the trial of Jesus he satisfied his conscience by being absent +from the meeting of the Sanhedrim, instead of standing up in his place +and avowing his convictions. + +Such he had been up to this point. But now in the face of danger he +identified himself with Jesus. It is interesting to note what it was +that brought him to decision. It was the excess of wickedness in his +fellow-councillors, who at length went to a stage of violence and +injustice which allowed him to hesitate no longer. Complete religious +decision is sometimes brought about in this way. Thus, for example, +one who has been halting between two opinions, or, at all events, has +never had courage enough openly to confess his convictions, may be some +day among his fellow-workmen or shopmen, when religion comes up as a +topic of conversation and is received with ridicule, Christ's people +being sneered at, His doctrines denied, and He Himself blasphemed. But +at last it goes too far the silent, half-convinced disciple can stand +it no longer; he breaks out in indignant protest and stands confessed +as a Christian. In some such way as this must the change of sentiment +have taken place in the mind of Joseph. He had to defy the entire +Sanhedrim; he was putting himself in imminent peril; but he could hold +in no longer; and, casting fear behind his back, he went in "boldly" to +Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. + + +II. + +Boldness in confessing Christ is apt to have two results. + +On the one hand, it cows adversaries. It is not said that Joseph got +himself into trouble by his action on this occasion, or that the +Sanhedrim immediately commenced a persecution against him. They were, +indeed, in a state of extreme excitement, and they were seventy to one. +But sometimes a single bold man can quell much more numerous opposition +than even this. It is certain that the consciences of many of them +were ill at ease, and they were by no means prepared to challenge to +argument on the merits of the case a quiet and resolute man with the +elevation of whose character they were all acquainted. It is one of +the great advantages of those who stand up for Christ that they have +the consciences even of their adversaries on their side. + +The other effect of boldness in confessing Christ is that it brings out +confession from others who have not had in their own breast enough of +fire to make them act, but are heated up to the necessary temperature +by example. It seems clear that in this way the example of Joseph +evoked the loyalty of Nicodemus. + +Nicodemus was of the same rank as Joseph, being a member of the +Sanhedrim; and he was a secret disciple. This is not the first time +that he appears on the stage of the Gospel history. At the very +commencement of the career of Jesus he had been attracted to Him and +had gone so far as to seek a private interview; the account of which is +one of the most precious component parts of the Gospel and has made +tens of thousands not only believers in Christ but witnesses for Him. +It had not, however, as much effect on the man to whom it was +originally vouchsafed, though it ought to have had. Nicodemus ought to +have been one of the earliest followers of the Lord; and his position +would have brought weight to the apostolic circle. But he hesitated +and remained a secret disciple. On one occasion, indeed, he spoke out: +once, when something intolerably unjust was said against Jesus in the +Sanhedrim, he interposed the question, "Doth our law judge any man +before it hear him and know what he doeth?" But with the angry answer, +"Art thou also of Galilee?" he was shouted down; and he held his peace. +Doubtless, like Joseph, he absented himself from the meeting of the +Sanhedrim at which Jesus was condemned; but the injustice done was so +flagrant that he was ready to make a public protest against it. He +might not, however, have had the courage of his convictions, had not +Joseph shown him the way. + +Yet this must be praised in Nicodemus, that he was a growing and +improving man. Though he hung back for a time, he came forward at +last; and better late than never. It was a happy hour for him when he +was brought into contact with Joseph. There are many circles of +friends where all are internally convinced and leaning to the right +side, and, if only one would come boldly out, the others would +willingly follow. The hands of Joseph and Nicodemus met and clasped +each other round the body of their Redeemer. There is no love, or +friendship, or fellowship like that of those who are united to one +another through their connection with Him. + + +III. + +Art has described the burial of our Lord with great fulness of detail, +drawing largely on the imagination. It has divided it into several +scenes.[2] + +There is, first, the Descent from the Cross, in which, besides Joseph +and Nicodemus, St. John at least, and sometimes other men, are +represented as extracting the nails and lowering the body; while +beneath the cross the holy women, among whom the Virgin Mary and Mary +Magdalene are prominent, receive the precious burden. Many readers +will recall the most famous of such pictures, that by Rubens in the +Cathedral at Antwerp--an extremely impressive but too sensuous +representation of the scene of busy affection--wherein the corpse is +being let down by means of a great white sheet into the hands of the +women, who receive it tenderly, one foot resting on the shoulder of the +Magdalene. + +Then there is what is called the Pieta, or the mourning of the women +over the dead body. In this scene the holy mother usually holds the +head of her Son in her lap, while the Magdalene clasps His feet and +others clasp His hands. Next ensues the Procession to the Sepulchre; +and, last of all, there is the Entombment, which is represented in a +great variety of forms. + +On these scenes the great painters have lavished all the resources of +art; but the narrative of the Gospels is brief and unpictorial. The +Virgin is not even mentioned; and, although others of the holy women +are said to have been there, it is not suggested that they helped in +the labour of burial, but only that they followed and marked where He +was laid. Joseph and Nicodemus are the prominent actors, though it is +reasonable to suppose that they were assisted by their servants; and +the soldiers may have lent a hand in disentangling the body. + +It was in a new sepulchre, which Joseph had had hewn out of the rock +for himself, in order that after death he might lie in the sacred +shadow of the city of God, that the Lord was laid. No corpse had ever +been placed in it before. This was a great gift to give to an +excommunicated and crucified man; and it was a most appropriate one; +for it was meet that the pure and stainless One, who had come to make +all things new and, though dead, was not to see corruption, should rest +in an undefiled sepulchre. Similarly appropriate and suggestive was +the new linen cloth, which Joseph bought expressly for the purpose of +enwinding the body. Nor was Nicodemus behind in affection and +sacrifice. He brought "a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred +pound weight." This may appear an enormous quantity, but custom was +very lavish in such gifts; at the funeral of Herod the Great, for +example, the spices were carried by five hundred bearers. + +The tomb was in a garden--another touch of appropriateness and beauty. +The spot does not seem to have been far from the place of execution; +but whether it was as near as it is represented to have been in the +traditional site may well be doubted. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre +includes within its precincts both the Lord's tomb and the hole in the +rock in which stood His cross; and the two are only thirty yards +apart.[3] But it is highly questionable whether the identification of +either is possible. Still, this may be said to be the most famous bit +of the entire surface of the globe. Christendom accepted the +tradition, which dates from the time of Constantine, and since then +pilgrims have flocked to the spot from every land. It was for the +possession of this shrine that the Crusades were undertaken, and at the +present day the Churches of Christendom fight for a footing in it. + +We may have no sympathy with the practice of pilgrimages and little +interest in the identification of holy places; but the holy sepulchre +cannot but attract the believing heart. It was a practice of the piety +of former days to meditate among the tombs. The piety of the present +day inclines to more cheerful and, let us hope, not less healthy +exercises. But every man with any depth of nature must linger +sometimes beside the graves of his loved ones; every man of any +seriousness must think sometimes of his own grave. And in such moments +what can be so helpful as to pilgrim in spirit to the tomb of Him who +said, "I am the resurrection and the life"? + +In comparison with the great ones of the earth Jesus had but a humble +funeral; yet in the character of those who did Him the last honours it +could not have been surpassed; and it was rich in love, which can well +take the place of a great deal of ceremony. So at last, stretched out +in the new tomb, wherein man had never lain, enwrapped in an aromatic +bed of spices and breathed round by the fragrance of flowers, with the +white linen round Him and the napkin which hid the wounds of the thorns +about His brow, while the great stone which formed the door stood +between Him and the world, He lay down to rest. It was evening, and +the Sabbath drew on; and the Sabbath of His life had come. His work +was completed; persecution and hatred could not reach Him any more; He +was where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. + + + +[1] The most beautiful thing ever said about the bodies of the dead is +in the Shorter Catechism: "And their bodies, being still united to +Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection." + +[2] On these and similar details see _The Life of our Lord as +exemplified in Works of Art_, by Mrs. Jameson (completed by Lady +Eastlake). + +[3] Many interesting details in Ross's _Cradle of Christianity_. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ, by +James Stalker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIAL AND DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST *** + +***** This file should be named 21814.txt or 21814.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/8/1/21814/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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