CHRIST BEFORE PILATE.--ON THE CROSS.
THE chief court of the Jews met in a room near the church, and was made
up of three-score and ten men. The high priest and chief priests were
there, and the scribes, and head men of the church, and it was for them
to say what should be done to those who broke the laws of Mo-ses; some
of whom had to pay fines, or to be shut up in jail. But if a man was to
be put to death they had to ask the chief whom the Ce-sar of Rome had
set to rule in that part of the land if he would let the deed be done.
It was night when the Jews took Je-sus, and as soon as it was day they
brought him in-to court to have him tried. The high priest said to him,
Art thou the Christ? tell us.
Je-sus said, If I tell you, ye will not think I speak the truth.
Then they all said, Art thou the son of God?
And he said, I am.
Then the high priest rent his clothes, and said, By his own words we can
judge him. What do you say shall be done to him? And they all cried out,
Let him be put to death!
Then they spit in his face, and struck Je-sus with the palms of their
hands. And they bound him and led him blind-fold to Pi-late's house, and
told Pi-late some of the things he had said and done.
Pi-late said to Je-sus, Art thou a king? Je-sus said, I am. But my realm
is not of this world, else would my men have fought to set me free.
[Illustration: "BE-HOLD THE MAN."]
Pi-late said, I find no fault with this man. And the Jews were more
fierce, and cried that his words had made a great stir in all the land
from Gal-i-lee to that place. Pi-late said, if he came from Gal-i-lee
they must take him to He-rod, who ruled that part of the land. And
He-rod was in Je-ru-sa-lem at that time.
When He-rod saw Je-sus he was glad, for he had heard much of him, and
was in hopes to see some great things done by him. But when He-rod spoke
to Je-sus, Je-sus said not one word. And the chief priests and scribes
stood by, and cried out that he claimed to be king of the Jews, and the
son of God, and had taught men that they need not keep the laws of
Mo-ses or of Rome. These were crimes for which he ought to be put to
death.
So He-rod and his men of war made sport of Je-sus, and put on him a robe
such as kings wear; for he had said he was a king. And then He-rod sent
him back to Pi-late.
Pi-late said, I find no fault in this man; nor does He-rod, for I sent
you to him; he had done naught for which he should be put to death.
Now it was the rule when this great feast was held, that one of those
who were shut up in jail should be set free. And at this time there was
a Jew there, whose name was Ba-rab-bas; and he had killed some one.
Pi-late said, Which one shall I set free--Ba-rab-bas, or Je-sus, who is
called Christ?
[Illustration: PI-LATE WASH-ING HIS HANDS.]
While Pi-late spoke, his wife sent word to him to do no harm to that
just man, for she had had a strange dream a-bout him. But the chief
priests urged the mob to ask that Ba-rab-bas be set free.
Pi-late said, What then shall I do with Je-sus, who is called Christ?
They cried out, Hang him! Hang him!
When Pi-late saw that he could not get them to ask for Je-sus, he took
some wa-ter and washed his hands in full view of the mob, and said, I am
not to blame for the death of this just man; see ye to it.
Then the Jews said, Let his blood be on us and on our chil-dren.
But Pi-late was to blame for Je-sus' death; for he gave him up to the
Jews that he might please them, and keep the place that he had.
Now it was the law of the land that a man should be scourged ere he was
hung. So Je-sus was stripped to the waist, and his hands were bound to a
low post in front of him so as to make him stoop, and while he stood in
this way he was struck with rods, or a whip of cords, till the blood
burst through the skin.
Then Pi-late's men of war led him to a room, and took off his own robe,
and put on him one of a red and blue tint. Then they made a crown of
thorns and put it on his head; and they put a reed in his right hand.
Then they bowed down to him, as if he were a king, and mocked at him and
said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spat on him, and took the reed
and struck him on the head, and smote him with their hands.
[Illustration: BE-HOLD THE MAN.]
When Ju-das saw that Je-sus was to be put to death, he was in great
grief to think he had brought such a fate on one who had done no wrong.
And he took back to the chief priests the sum they had paid him, and he
said to them, I have done a great sin to give up to you one who had done
no wrong. They said to him, What is that to us? See thou to that. Then
Ju-das threw down the sil-ver, and went out and hung him-self.
Then the men of war took off the gay robe from Je-sus, and put his own
clothes on him and led him out to put him to death.
They met a man named Si-mon, and made him bear the cross. And a great
crowd of men and wo-men went with them who wept and mourned for Je-sus.
Je-sus told them not to weep for him, but for them-selves and their
chil-dren, be-cause of the woes that were to come on the Jews.
They brought him to a place called Cal-va-ry, not far from the gates of
Je-ru-sa-lem. And they nailed his feet and hands to the cross, which was
then set up in the ground. And all the while Je-sus prayed, Fa-ther
for-give them, for they know not what they do. He meant that they did
not know how great was their sin; nor that they had in truth put to
death the son of God. With him they hung two thieves, one on his right
hand, and one on his left.
[Illustration: CHRIST CAR-RY-ING HIS CROSS.]
Then they sat down to watch Je-sus, who hung for hours on the cross in
great pain, ere his death came to him. And they took his robes and gave
each one a share; but for his coat they cast lots. And at the top of
the cross Pi-late had put up these words:
JE-SUS OF NAZ-A-RETH, KING OF THE JEWS.
And the Jews as they went by shook their heads at him, and said, If thou
be the son of God come down from the cross, and the chief priests and
the scribes mocked him and said, His trust was in God; let God save him
now if he will have him.
[Illustration: CHRIST ON CAL-VA-RY.]
One of the thieves spoke to Je-sus and said, If thou art the Christ save
thy-self and us.
But the oth-er said, Dost thou not fear God when thou art so soon to
die? It is right that we should die for our sins, but this man has done
no wrong. And he said to Je-sus, Think of me when thou art on thy
throne. Je-sus said to him, This day shalt thou be with me where God
is.
[Illustration: THE CRU-CI-FIX-ION.]
Now there stood near the cross of Je-sus his mo-ther, and John--the one
of the twelve most dear to him. And he bade John take care of his
mo-ther, and told her to look on John as her son. And John took her to
his own home to take care of her and give her all that she had need of.
From the sixth to the ninth hour--that is, from twelve to three
o'clock--the sky was dark in all the land. And Je-sus thought that God
had turned his face from him. And he cried out with a loud voice O God!
O God! why hast thou left me?
One of the men near thought he was in pain, and he took a sponge and
dipped it in the gall, and put it up on a reed to his mouth, so that
Je-sus might drink. Je-sus wet his lips with the drink that was to ease
his pain, then spoke once more, bowed his head and died.
Then the veil which hung in the church, in front of the ark, was torn in
two; the earth shook; the rocks were split; the graves gave up their
dead, and those who, while they lived, had served the Lord, rose and
came out of their graves and went in-to Je-ru-sa-lem and were seen
there.
When those who had kept watch of Je-sus as he hung on the cross, saw
these things that were done, they were in great fear, and said, There is
no doubt that this man was the son of God.
[Illustration: LAY-ING IN THE TOMB.]
As night came on the Jews went to Pi-late and begged him to kill Je-sus
and the two thieves so that they could be put in their graves. For it
would not do for them to hang on the cross on the day of rest. The men
on guard broke the legs of the thieves to kill them, and thrust a spear
in-to Je-sus' side to make sure that he was dead.
[Illustration: DEATH OF SAP-PHI-RA.]
Now there was near Cal-va-ry a gar-den, in which was a tomb in which no
one had been laid. It was cut in a rock, and was owned by a rich
man--Jo-seph of Ar-i-ma-the-a. He came to Pi-late and begged that he
might lay Je-sus in this grave, and Pi-late told him to do so. And
Jo-seph took Je-sus down from the cross, and wrapped him in the fine
lin-en he had brought, and laid him in the tomb, and put a great stone
at the door, and left him there.
The chief priests went to Pi-late and said, It has come to our minds
that Je-sus said that he would rise on the third day, so we pray thee to
have men watch the tomb lest some of his friends come and steal him, and
then go and say that he rose from the dead.
Pi-late said, Ye have your own watch-men. Go and make it as sure as you
can.
So they went and put a seal of wax on the great tomb, and set men to
watch by the tomb.
But that night God sent down an an-gel, and he came and rolled back the
stone from the door, and sat on it. His face shone like fire, and his
robes were white as snow. And the watch-men shook for fear of him, and
had no more strength than dead men.