law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." When Pilate heard this he was more afraid, and he I went back to the Lord Jesus and asked Him who He was; but the Lord did not answer him. He then said, "Speakest Thou not unto me? Knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and have power to release Thee?" The Lord said to him, Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above." Pilate tried more and more to release our Lord; but he could not pacify the Jews. At last he gave Him up to be scourged; and the soldiers stripped His pure Body, and cruelly tore His sacred Flesh with lashes. They also made a crown of long sharp thorns, which they pressed down upon His holy Head, until the precious blood streamed down His Face. These brutal soldiers were not satisfied with this

cruelty; for they put on Him a purple robe, and a reed in His right hand, and bowed before Him in mockery, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And beside all this, they were so wicked as to strike Him on the head, and to spit upon Him.

It

Thus did these wicked men treat the most holy and tender Saviour. When we read this most awful account, we must never forget, that it was for the sins of all of us that our Lord Jesus suffered such cruelty. was because we do not love God; but do, and say, and think wicked things, and give way to proud and naughty tempers, that our Saviour was flogged, spit upon, and nailed to the cross. Oh, let us pray to our Saviour to make us sorry for our sins, and to help us to do every thing which He tells us to do.

45. OUR LORD JESUS CRUCIFIED.

AFTER mocking our Lord, they took off the purple robe and put on His own clothes, and led Him away to crucify Him. They made the Lord Jesus carry His cross; but His sufferings had made Him so weak that He could not carry it far. So they made a man named Simon bear it after Him, unto a place called Golgotha. As they went through the streets of Jerusalem, a great many men and women followed Him; for they pitied Him, and wept. But the Saviour turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me; but weep for yourselves and for your children." Our Lord knew that Jerusalem would soon be burnt down, because of their wicked treatment of Himself. So He

told the women they had much more reason to weep for themselves than for Him.

When they came to Golgotha they stripped the Lord Jesus, and gave Him vinegar and gall to drink; and then laid Him down upon the cross, and nailed His blessed Hands and Feet to it with long iron nails. After this the wicked wretches lifted up the cross, so as to put the bones out of joint. Our blessed Lord hung thus upon the cross in the greatest agony; but He made no complaints. Over His head Pilate wrote these words, "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS."

Whilst our Lord Jesus was hanging on the cross, the soldiers cast lots for His garments, as it had been foretold they would do. His coat was without