Acts, ii. 23. Him ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. 36; iii. 14, 15. for us 1 Thess. v. 9, 10. To obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. Eph. v. 2. Heb. ix. 28. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, foretold by Isa. liii. 5. He was wounded for our transgressions: he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes are we healed. (Hos. xiii. 4). Isa. xxxii. 1,2. Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And A MAN shall be as an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest: as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. under Pontius Pilate, John, xix, 6. 10. 13. 16. 19. 22. suffered, John, xii. 27. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I to this hour. Mat. xxvi. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me! Mat. xv. Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt. (Mat.) He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my. Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came back and found them asleep again. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. (Luke.) And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood, falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, and while he yet spake (to his disciples), behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? (Ps. xli. 9.) Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out as against a thief, with swords and staves? (Mark.) And they (the apostles) all forsook him and fled. (Luke.) Then took they him and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off. Ver. 57, 58, 59, 60. Peter denies his master thrice. 61. And the LORD turned and looked upon Peter. And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him; and when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face; and (Mark) some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say to him, Prophesy (Luke), who is it that smote thee? (Mark.) And the servants did smite him with the palms of their hands (Luke). And many other things did they blasphemously speak against him. Mark, xv. 1. The elders, and scribes, and the whole council bound Jesus, and carried him away, and led him to Pilate (Luke, xxiii.), who, when he heard he was a Galilean, as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself was at Jerusalem at that time. And Herod, with his men of war, set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate. And Pilate, when he had called the chief priests, and the rulers, and the people, said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, and behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man, touching those things whereof ye accuse him. No, nor yet Herod : for I sent you to him; and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him, and release him. And they cried out all at once, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas (who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison). Pilate, therefore, willing to release Jesus, (Mark), for he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy (Luke), spake again to them. But they cried the more, saying, Crucify him! crucify him! And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. And they were instant, with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed (Mark). So Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them (a traitor and a murderer), and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away into the hall called Pretorium (formerly Herod's palace), and they called together the whole band, and they clothed him with purple, and plaited a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, and a reed in his hand, (á mock hollow sceptre), and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, and began to salute him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed and smote him on the head, and, bowing their knees, worshipped him! And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, they gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall; and when he had tasted thereof he would not drink. And there they crucified him and the malefactors (thieves), one on the right hand, and the other on the left. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF Nazareth, the KING OF THE JEWS; and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be. These things, therefore, they did. And it was the third hour* that they crucified him. And they that passed by re *The Jewish day began at six o'clock in the morning of our computation, and ended at six in the evening. This was therefore 9. A. M. viled him, railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come down from the cross! Likewise the chief priests, mocking, said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others: himself he cannot save! Let Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe ! And one of the malefactors, which were hanged with him, railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus, therefore, saw his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And when the sixth hour was come (mid-day), there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour (3 P. M.). And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi! lama sabachthani ? which is, being interpreted, My GOD, my GOD, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias! And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone: let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished! and when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom!! [This short harmonization, though very imperfect sketch, of the unparalleled sufferings of our blessed |