in which thy life is so evidently concerned? Dost thou not know, that I have power and authority to crucify thee, and have power to release thee if I please, notwithstanding all the clamorous demands of thine enemies? * Jesus calmly replied, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above" -that is, from my heavenly Father, who has delivered up this hour unto the power of darkness, and their agent's wicked men; and who, it was foreknown by him, whose omnipresent grasp includes the knowledge of past, present, and to come, would, by being allowed to pursue the natural inclination of their uncontrouled, malignant wills, accomplish the infliction of all the

*

“(Dost thou not know, that I have power to crucify thee? &c.) Even they who maintain that the Jews had a power of executing capital sentences in Christ's time, acknowledge that power to have been under the control of the Roman governor; and that it was in fact so often controlled, that at last the Jewish sanhedrim removed from the chamber in which alone they could regularly pass them, that they might not have the mortification of seeing continually how little their decisions availed, when the most notorious criminal, if he had but money, could buy a pardon from their common masters. So that the dispute, after all the noise it has made in the learned world, seems at last to terminate in this nicety, whether the consent of the Roman governor were expressly asked, before the Jews proceeded to an execution, or were taken for granted, if the contrary did not appear? Or, in other words, whether the efficacy of a sentence passed by the Jews were owing to the express consent, or the connivance of the Romans? The conduct of the Jews in this case, seems to prove the former of these to have been the true state of the affair; and vindicates not only the substance of what Dr. Lardner has maintained, but the particular manner in which he expresses it."

barbarous sufferings their cruelty could devise against his beloved Son, though his foreknowledge had no influence on their apostate wills. Christ's errand on our earth was to glorify his Father, by overcoming evil by good; and in every instance of the melancholy recital now under contemplation, we find him gloriously achieving the purpose of his mission. Though He was, perhaps, more timidly averse than was ever human being to the endurance of corporeal torments-though struggling with unparalleled agonies of mind, from deprivation of his Father's consolation,-He never for a moment slunk or shrunk from sufferings or duty; nay, even (though from far different motives than those which influence a savage mind to dare an increase of torture) with unheard-of magnanimity, continued to avow the truth of those assertions which first caused his persecution, and which were certain to occasion to the uttermost, a continuation and savage augmentation of the cruel torments his barbarous foes were now inflicting on him.

At the commencement of this tragic scene, the noble Sufferer declared, it was an hour resigned by the Father unto the power of darkness; an hour wherein his almighty Son would openly display their impotence, by an opposition to all their machinations, delineating full perfection; He therefore calmly replied uuto the Roman governor's interrogatory--Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above; therefore, "He that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And thou thyself

canst not but know, that on the principles of natural equity, an innocent person ought not to be given up to popular fury.

"And from this time, Pilate was so far satisfied of the injustice of the prosecution, and of the innocence of Jesus, that he endeavoured the more earnestly to release him. But the Jews still insisted on his passing sentence on him to be crucified and apprehensive of the governor's design, that they might effectually put a stop to his intention of discharging him, they eagerly cried out, saying, If thou let this man go off with his life, thou art not Cæsar's friend, though thou bearest his commission, and representest his person; for every one that maketh himself a king of Judea, speaks against Cæsar our emperor, and in effect arraigns the legality of his government here.

"When Pilate, therefore, heard that speech, he was very much alarmed, as he well knew how suspicious a prince Tiberius was, and how many spies he kept on all his officers, that nothing might be done or permitted by them in any of the provinces, which could at all interfere with his authority; * * and that he might not then be charged with any want of zeal for Cæsar's interest, he brought Jesus out of the palace again, and once more sat down on the tribunal which was then erected without the palace, in a place called in Greek, Lithostratan, or the Pavement, on ac

"(As he well knew how suspicious a prince Tiberius was, &c.) Every body who knows the character of Tiberius, especially as illustrated by Suetonius, in his excellent history, will see how naturally Pilate might be apprehensive on this head."

count of a beautiful piece of Mosaic work with which the floor was adorned; but in Hebrew it was called Gabbatha,* or the High Place, because it stood on an eminence, so that the judge, being seated there on his tribunal, might be heard and seen by a considerable number of people.

"And it was then the preparation of the Passover, or the sixth day of the week, and consequently the day which fell before the paschal sabbath, which was observed with some peculiar solemnity, (see John xix. 31,) and the morning was so far advanced, that it was drawing on apace towards the sixth hour, and was now about the third hour, or nine in the morning, which obliged them to dispatch, that they might have execution done as usual before noon. And Pilate finding, after all, that he must yield to the people, and consent to the death of Jesus, lest his former struggle should be misrepresented at Rome, was resolved to manage this incident so as to procure from the Jews a public acknowledgment of Cæsar's authority; and therefore, pointing to Jesus, as He now appeared in this mock pomp of royalty, he says to the Jews, who were present in vast numbers, Behold your King, if you think fit to own him,

* 66

(In Hebrew, Gabbatha.) There are various etymologies of this word: I think the most probable is, that which derives it from, elevavit, and so it intimates its being raised on high. It was, perhaps, a kind of stage or scaffold, in the midst of a spacious area belonging to the palace, in which the governor might place himself on public, and especially on judicial occasions. It plainly appears from the connexion of the words, that it was not in his house, but somewhere without, probably in some open place."

as it is said many of you have done. But they again cried out with indignation and disdain, Away with him! away with him! we are so far from owning him, that we desire thee to crucify him. Pilate says to them, What, shall I crucify your king? How strange, and how extravagant a demand is this! And the chief priests answered in the name of all the people, We have no king but the emperor Tiberius Cæsar, whose royal authority we all of us acknowledge, and will always maintain.

"And Pilate seeing that it signified nothing any longer to oppose the popular torrent, but that they rather grew more tumultuous by the delay, was determined, however, to do all he could to make his own conscience easy in complying with this their unjust request; and therefore, he took water, and washed his hands in the presence of the multitude, saying, I call heaven and earth to witness, that I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; look you to the consequences of shedding it, and remember, you are answerable for them, whatever they may prove. And all the people answered, saying, We will venture those consequences; may his blood, if innocent, be on us and on our children! and may the curse of shedding it lie on us, throughout all generations!*

* 66 (May his blood be on us, and on our children.) As this terrible imprecation was dreadfully answered in the ruin so quickly brought on the Jewish nation, and the calamities which have since pursued that wretched people in almost all ages and countries, so it was peculiarly illustrated in the severity with which Titus, merciful as he naturally was, treated the Jews whom he took