28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked * him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! 30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. 31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. u Deut. 91: 6... v Deut. 19: 10; Josh. 2:19; Acts 5: 28....w Isa. 53: 5; Luke 18:33.... Ps. 69: 19, 20... y Isa. 49: 7; 50:6; 53: 3, 7....2 Numb. 15: 35; 1 Kings 21: 10, 13; Acts 7:58; Heb. 13: 12. he had tried by a wicked concession to avoid. Pilate, wearied out with misfortunes, died in suicide and banishment, leaving behind him an execrated name. The house of Annas was destroyed a generation later by an infuriated mob, and his son was dragged through the streets, and scourged and beaten to his place of murder." ness. Jesus which is called the Messiah is an ap- 24, 25. He could prevail nothing; that 26-31. Of this mockery of Jesus by the soldiers Matthew gives the fullest account. Crucifixion was always preceded by scourging. 0-00-00-50 SCOURGES. The scourge consisted of several chains or thongs of leather with pieces of metal or bone affixed to them which cut at every stroke a bloody furrow in the quivering flesh. Our illustrations are taken, one from an original found at Herculaneum, the other from a bas-relief. Scourging itself often produced death. The common hall, which Mark in the original more specifically describes as the court-yard (avis), was probably the central court around which the Jewish house was usually constructed. See Matt. 26: 69, note. The place I believe to have been, not the palace of Herod as Alford supposes, but the tower of Antonia. See John 18: 28, note. The whole band, or cohort, which was gathered to join in the mockery, was the tenth part of a legion, embracing from three to six hundred men; but here probably only that portion of the band or cohort which was then actually on service. The scarlet robe (7λauvc), was a short and light mantle originating with the inhabitants of Thessaly or Macedonia, whence it was imported into other parts of Greece, and became a regular equestrian costume of the period. The accompanying illustration, from a Greek vase, will give the reader a better idea of its character than any description. In Mark and John it is described as a "purple robe," but Matthew then, and was indeed alone gives in the original its | grandeur. "He was King technical name. Both scar let and purple were worn as marks of pre-eminence and wealth (Luke 16: 19; Rev. 17:4). Alford suggests that this scarlet robe may have been the one in which Herod arrayed Christ. This is possible, but hardly probable. The word in Luke rendered gorgeous (Launoós), indicates rather a white robe (Luke 23:11, note). It is not known with certainty what was the plant employed in making the crown of thorns. Matthew calls it the acanthus (zav9u), but neither this nor the traditional plant known as spina christi fully answers the conditions of the narrative. Some flexile shrub or plant must be understood, possibly some variety of the cactus or prickly pear. Thorn bushes of various kinds are plentiful in Palestine. Our illustration presents a not uncommon species. CROWN OF THORNS. Meyer supposes that the object of the thorn crown was not to occasion pain but "to mock;" but the common conception of the thorns, pressed into a lacerated and bleeding brow, agrees better with the narrative, though not necessitated by it. The reed may have been the stalk of any plant, or a true reed, or some instrument made from it. The accompanying illustration represents the Papyrus antiquorum or paper reed of the ancients. It grows still in great quantities near the plain of Gennesaret. Other varieties of reeds are found along the Jordan, and elsewhere in Palestine. Arrows, fishing-rods, pens, canes for measuring and other purposes, were made from the reed. A long cane, with a sponge affixed to the end of it for cleansing the ceiling of a room, was a common article of Roman furniture. This may have been the reed here used by the soldiers. This hour of Christ's coronation in mockery has been well described as the hour of Christ's THE REED. 31. His own raiment. (ἱμάτιον). The cloak described in Matt. 24: 18, note. Ch. 27: 32-56. THE CRUCIFIXION.-CHRIST'S MEETING OF DEATH: WITH PERFECT COMPOSURE AND WITH A SOUL ALERT (ver. 34).-THE INSENSIBILITY OF THE HUMAN HEART: ILLUSTRATED IN GAMBLING AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS (35).-CHRIST IS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS. IT IS NO INTOLERABLE HARDSHIP TO BE SO NUMBERED IF GOD AND OUR OWN CONSCIENCE APPROVE US. WE ARE THEN NUMBERED WITH CHRIST (38). THE TRUE AND THE FALSE TEST OF RELIGION. THE TRUE TEST, THE POWER IT GIVES TO CONFER BLESSING UPON OTHERS; THE FALSE TEST, ITS SUPPOSED POWER TO CONFER BLESSING ON OURSELVES (42).-GOD PERMITS HIS BELOVED TO SUFFER (43), BUT MAKES THEM, WITH CHRIST, MORE THAN CONQUERORS IN SUFFERING. THE TESTIMONY OF NATURE TO THE DIVINITY OF THE SON OF GOD (45).-SPIRITUAL LONELINESS DOES NOT ALWAYS PROVE THAT GOD HAS WITHDRAWN FROM US. THE TESTIMONY OF CHRIST'S AGONY TO HIS LOVE FOR US, TO THE REAL BURDEN OF SIN TO A SINLESS SOUL (46). THE WORLD'S MISINTERPRETATION OF CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS. IT CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND HIS CRY (47-49).-BOLDNESS OF ACCESS GIVEN TO GOD IN CHRIST (51).-HE 18 OUR RESURRECTION (52, 53). -THE DANGER OF PASSION, PRIDE, AND PREJUDICE, ILLUSTRATED BY THE CHIEF-PRIESTS. THE BEAUTY PATIENCE, LONG-SUFFERING, AND LOVE, ILLUSTRATED BY CHRIST. CHRIST, AS OUR EXAMPLE TEACHES US HOW TO DIE; BY HIS DEATH HE TEACHES US THE DIVINE LOVE, AND THE CURSE OF SIN; IN HIS DEATH HE BEARS OUR SINS THAT WE MAY NO MORE BEAR THEM (2 Cor. 5: 21; 1 Pet. 2: 24). OF PRELIMINARY NOTE. The crucifixion is recorded by the four Evangelists. Comp. Mark 15:21-41; Luke 23: 26-49; John 19: 17-30. Matthew and Mark are almost exactly parallel; the differences are only verbal. Luke and John both narrate incidents not recorded by the others. The most casual reader of the N. T. can hardly fail to notice the severe simplicity of the Evangelical narratives. They could not be more 32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. absolutely colorless if they were official reports by Pilate or his subordinates. There is not a single epithet employed to express or excite, either indignation against the crucifiers, or reverence or compassion for the crucified. There is no attempt to deduce any doctrinal conclusion. Simply the facts are stated. Their singular impartiality is of itself a remarkable testimony to their divine inspiration; for the story of the cross has acquired its power in part from the marvelous self-restraint of the historians. They have placed before the world the scene as they saw it; each new generation sees through a clear and colorless atmosphere the Crucified One, undraped with the rhetoric of feeling; His death is eloquent because the story is told without eloquence; and the latest ages can say, Not only our ears have heard, but our eyes have seen the glory of the suffering Lord. Following their example I shall endeavor in these notes simply to give such information as will better enable the student to comprehend the facts. He who believes that the cross of Christ is the enthronement of God, because the supreme display of Divine love for the salvation of sinners, among whom he includes himself, cannot look upon the Crucified One with compassion; nor upon the crucifiers with hate. The admonition of Christ, "Weep not for me," forbids pity; the prayer of Christ, "Father forgive them," forbids wrath. The spirit with which the redeemed in heaven approach the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 5: 12), is that in which we are to approach Him on earth. Grouping the four narratives, the incidents which they narrate appear to be substantially as follows: An association of women was organized in Jerusalem to alleviate the sufferings of condemned criminals. They followed Jesus to the cross, perhaps are the women referred to in Luke 23:27, and offered him, before his crucifixion, an anodyne composed of vinegar and gall, called by Mark 15: 23, "wine and myrrh." He declined it because he would not meet death with a stupefied soul. Its object was to deaden his sensibilities (ver, 34; Mark 15: 23). The cross was extended on the ground and Jesus was nailed to it. At this time he uttered the prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). The clothing of criminals was a perquisite of the Roman soldiers. They sat down at the foot of the cross to divide Christ's garments. His tunic was a seamless robe of fine texture. One of the company produced dice, the Roman medium for gambling, and they commenced to cast lots for the possession of this 33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,‘ robe (vers. 35, 36). At a little distance stood a group of Galilean women, among whom was Mary. Jesus, in the midst of his own anguish, did not forget hers, and commended her to the keeping of the beloved disciple (John 19: 26, 27). It was customary to bear before the prisoner, condemned to death, an inscription which designated the crime for which he was condemned. This inscription, written by Pilate in the three languages of the time, that of the court, Latin, that of the Gentile population, Greek, and that of the Jews, Hebrew or Aramaic, was fastened to the cross, above the head of the Divine Sufferer (ver. 37). With him were crucified two brigands (ver. 38, note). Of these one joined in the taunts of the multitude; the other reproached his companion, confessed his sin, and appealed, not in vain, to the Saviour of sinners, for salvation (Luke 23: 39-43). The priests, the soldiers, and those that passed by, taunted the Lord with his seeming impotency and approaching death; but he made no response (vers. 40-44; Luke 23: 36, 37). At length a preternatural darkness, such as often precedes an earthquake, began to gather over the scene. With a cry of agony, full of mystery to us, as it was to those who stood at the cross, he appealed to his God, who seemed to have forsaken him; then cried with a loud voice, clear and full to the last, "It is finished!" and gave up the ghost (vers. 45-50). It was three o'clock (the ninth hour), which was the hour of evening sacrifice. The long-presaged earthquake came. The veil of the Temple was rent, the graves were opened; subsequently many bodies of the saints which slept arose. The sublimity of Christ's death, not less than the portents which accompanied it, wrung from the Roman centurion the confession "Truly this was the Son of God" (ver. 54; Mark 15:39). To hasten the death of the crucified the soldiers broke the the legs of the two thieves; but seeing that Jesus was already dead, pierced his side, out of which came blood and water (John 19 31-42). The incidents of the weeping women, Christ's prayer for the forgiveness of his enemies, and the penitent thief, are peculiar to Luke; see notes there. The reply of Pilate to the remonstrances of the priests against his inscription, the women at the cross, and the piercing of Christ's side, are peculiar to John; see notes there. For the incidents peculiar to Matthew or common to the four Evangelists, see notes below. 32. And as they came out. That is, from the city; the place of execution was without the city walls (Heb. 13: 12). This was customary among the Jews (Numb. 15: 35; 1 Kings 21: 13; Acts 7: 58), |