In vain, however, did he bring back the money obtained as the price of his treachery; in vain did he testify to the Council: "I have betrayed the innocent blood!" He was dismissed with the scornful reply: "What is that to us? see thou to that." He cast down the pieces of silver in the temple in despair, and went and hanged himself. The chief priests observed: "It is not lawful for to put this money into the treasury, because it is the price of blood," and resolved to purchase with it a potter's field, to bury strangers in. In this particular also the prophecy of Zechariah (11: 12, 13), was accordingly fulfilled.

OBS.-The question may be asked: Since the Redeemer knew what was in man (John 2: 25), and necessarily foreknew the manner in which the career of Judas would close, why did he receive him as one of the disciples, and thus himself furnish Judas with an opportunity to develope the wickedness of his heart and reveal it in this frightful form? Now the fact ought not to be overlooked here, that the intimate relation in which he stood to the Redeemer, and which was employed by him in accomplishing his own ruin, was, at the same time, adapted to be the most efficacious, and was perhaps the only means of saving him, if he had himself consented, from the deadly corruption that already dwelt in him; it should, further, be considered, that, as in the case of all others, so in the case of Judas also, a final decision at an earlier or later period, was absolutely necessary. The last occasion on which he hardened his heart, might have perhaps been later, but would have nevertheless certainly been found, even if Christ had not received him as one of the twelve disciples. The contrast between the fall of Peter and the fall of Judas, as well as between the repentance of the former, and the despair of the latter, is entitled to special consideration.

§ 153. Christ in the Presence of Pilate.

1. John 18: 28, &c.; Matt. 27: 2, &c.; Mark 15 : 1, &c.; Luke 23: 1, &c. -Jesus had been accused of blasphemy before the Sanhedrin. The members, aware that such a charge would receive little attention on the part of the pagan governor, attempted to exhibit to him the and conduct as political crimes. said, "perverting the nation, and Cesar, saying, that he himself is Christ, a king." Pilate accord

Saviour's Messianic character "We find this fellow," they forbidding to give tribute to

ingly asked the Redeemer: "Art thou the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered: "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?" Pilate replied contemptuously: "Am I a Jew? Thine own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done?" Jesus answered: "My kingdom is not of this world." To Pilate's next question: “Art thou a king then?" Jesus replied: "Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice." Pilate turned away, asking with indifference: "What is truth?" and, without waiting for the answer (“I am . . . . the truth," John 14 : 6), he went out to the Jews, and said to them: "I find in him no fault at all.” They became still more excited, and advanced new and more serious charges against Christ, incidentally calling him a Galilean. Pilate instantly availed himself of the opportunity which this circumstance seemed to furnish for extricating himself from his embarrassment, and sent Jesus to Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, who was at that time at Jerusalem for the purpose of keeping the feast. But Christ did no miracle in Herod's presence, and gave no answers to his questions; he was then arrayed by Herod's servants in a white robe, for the purpose of mocking his claim to be considered a candidate for the Jewish crown, and sent back to Pilate. And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together; for before they were at enmity between themselves.

2. Pilate again attempted to appease the Jews, but his efforts were made in vain; availing himself of a custom connected with the festival, he offered to release either Christ or Barabbas, a man who was guilty of sedition and murder: the Jews chose Barabbas, and demanded that Christ should be crucified. The embarrassment of the governor was, at this moment, still more increased by a message which his wife (named Claudia Procula, according to tradition) sent him, saying: "Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream, because of him." But when he saw that he could not calm the tumultuous proceedings of the multitude, he took water, and washed his hands in their presence, saying: "I am innocent

of the blood of this just person: see ye to it." Then answered all the people, and said: "His blood be on us, and on our children!" (§ 119.) Pilate made a last effort: he hoped that the people would have compassion on the innocent sufferer, and therefore caused him to be scourged. The soldiers put on him a scarlet robe, placed a crown of thorns upon his head as well as a reed in his right hand, mocked him, and spit upon him. Pilate presented him in this condition to the people, again declaring his innocence, and saying: "Behold the man!" The people cried more loudly: "Crucify him, crucify him ;" and when the highpriests, in threatening words, referred to the emperor Tiberius, fear stifled all sense of justice in the wretched and worldlyminded Pilate, whom truth had approached so nearly. He sat down in the judgment-seat, and pronounced the sentence of crucifixion.

OBS. — It is not only a matter of interest, but also of great importance in this connection, to consider the later history of Pilate, as far as it is known to us. After having held the office of Procurator ten years, and rendered himself odious by the extortion and the lawless and cruel acts of which he was guilty (Luke 13: 1), he was accused before Vitellius, the governor of Syria. The latter deprived him of his office, A. D. 36, and sent him to Rome, in order to be tried before the emperor. He reached the city after the death of Tiberius, but was afterwards sent into banishment, and, like Judas, committed suicide.

§ 154. The Crucifixion of Christ.

1. Matt. 27: 31, &c.; Mark 15: 20, &c.; Luke 23: 26, &c.; John 19 16, &c.-When the Redeemer was led away, he was compelled to bear the cross himself; but, not far from the city, the soldiers seized a man who was passing by, named Simon of Cyrene, and compelled him to bear the heavy burden. Many women accompanied the people who followed the Lord, bewailing and lamenting him; to them he addressed the impressive words: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. . . . for if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" Two male

factors were crucified at the same time on Golgotha (that is, the place of a skull), a name derived from the form of the spot, which resembles a human skull (§ 156. OBS. 2). A misdirected compassion induced some to offer a stupefying drink to the Redeemer, which he rejected, for it became Him, the conqueror of death, to meet it with a clear and firm mind, and endure its terrors with unimpaired consciousness. When the soldiers had performed their work, the first words of the crucified Jesus were a prayer for his executioners: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Pilate, to the great displeasure of the Jews, placed an inscription on the cross in the following words: "Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews," in Hebrew, Greek and Latin (I. N. R. I.); without being himself aware of it, he first proclaimed to all the world, in its three principal languages, the great salvation which was designed for all. The soldiers divided the Saviour's garments among themselves, and cast lots for his coat, that the scripture might also herein be fulfilled. (Ps. 22: 18.)

2. Matt. 25: 38, &c.; Mark 15: 27, &c.; Luke 23 : 39, &c.; John 1925, &c. Thus the Son of God and the King of the world, suspended between heaven and earth, was slain on the cross as on his altar; full of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (Isai. 53), he was the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. The measure of his sufferings was not yet full: they that passed by, reviled him, and the chief priests and scribes mocked him. Even one of the two malefactors who were crucified with him, railed on him, but was rebuked by the other, who then, addressing Jesus, said: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." The Lord replied, as if the cross were the throne of judgment ($ 200. 2, OBS.); "Verily, I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." He next directed a glance of deep and tender love toward his mother, whose soul was now pierced through with the sword of which Simeon had spoken (§ 127. 2), and, referring to John, said to her: "Woman, behold thy son !" He then addressed John also, and said: "Behold thy mother!" From that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

§ 155. The Death of Christ.

1. Matt. 27:45, &c.; Mark 15: 33, &c.; Luke 23: 44, &c.; John 19: 28, &c. From the sixth hour to the ninth (that is, from the hour of noon to three o'clock, P. M.), there was darkness over all the land. The darkened sun seemed to veil its face when the earth presented that heart-rending spectacle; it would not permit its life-giving light to shine, while the Prince of life was wrestling with death. (As the moon was then at the full, this darkness could not have proceeded from an ordinary eclipse of the sun.) During this period, the Redeemer remained silent

on the cross. But when the moment came, in which his holy soul was to be released from the tortured body, one conflict yet awaited him, the last and most severe of all that he had endured. The terrors of death overwhelmed him; he tasted all the fearful bitterness of death, the wages of the sin of the whole world, without obtaining aid and strength from above. It was then that he mournfully exclaimed, in the words with which the twentysecond Psalm commences: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Those that stood near the cross were filled with terror, and said: "Behold, he calleth Elias" (Mal. 4: 5. § 109. 3). On hearing him say, in his exhausted state: "I thirst," they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it to his mouth. He received the vinegar, which refreshed him, and added: "It is finished!-Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit!" He bowed his head and expired.

2. Matt. 27:52, &c.; Mark 15: 39, &c.; Luke 23: 47, &c. -Thus all was finished which the eternal love of the Father had determined before to be done, for delivering the sinful world from ruin; all was finished that had been prepared during four thousand years, and prefigured in the shadows of the temple service during many centuries. The vail of the temple was rent in the midst, as a sign that free access to the throne of grace was henceforth granted; the bloody sacrifice of the Son of God, which is eternally valid, was now finished, the temple on Moriah lost its significance henceforth, and its services became empty and useless ceremonies. All was finished for which the earnest ex