the whole band. And they stripped him, and clothed him with a purple robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it about his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they mocked him, and began to salute him, saying, Hail King of the Jews! And they did spit upon him, and took the reed and smote him on the head, and bowing the knee, worshipped him: And they smote him with their hands.

'Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold I bring him forth unto you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! When the chief Priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him! Crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him; for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

'When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; and he went again into the judgment-hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not, that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest 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 from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: But the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Cæsar's friend: Whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Cæsar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus' forth, and sat down in the judgment-seat, in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: And he saith unto

the Jews, Behold your king! But they cried out, Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief Priests answered, We have no king but Cæsar. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, 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! Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified.'

THE PREPARATORY PRAYER.

O MY Saviour! who art inexpressibly great and glorious, and hast been appointed by God to be the judge of quick and dead; who, in the days of thy humility and suffering, didst permit thy sacred person to be led from one unrighteous judge to another, and every where by thy discourse, thy silence, and the sanctity of thy behaviour, didst shew thyself the immaculate Lamb of God; Bless the consideration of the sufferings which thou didst patiently endure before the civil tribunal, that our souls may thereby be abundantly edified, and by the concurrence of thy grace, may be so awakened, that by our sincere endeavours to be partakers of the fruits of thy sufferings we may enjoy the benefit of them both in life and death. And as the account of thy unspeakable sufferings is singular and surprising beyond all other events recorded in history; Be pleased, O Lord, to crown the consideration of them with a singular blessing, for the sake of thy holy name. Amen.

CONSIDERATION I.

CHRIST DELIVERED UP TO PILATE THE CIVIL JUDGE.

AND the whole multitude of them arose, and bound Jesus, and led him from Caiaphas unto the

hall of judgment, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor: And it was early in the morning,' (Matt. xxvii. 1, 2. Mark xv. 1. Luke xxiii. 1. John xviii. 28.)

In these words we have an account of the delivering up the Lord Jesus to Pilate, the civil judge.

Hitherto the Saviour of mankind had stood before the ecclesiastical court of the Jews. The great council had examined him about midnight, at the house of Caiaphas the High Priest; had suborned false witnesses against him; and lastly, on his owning himself, when interrogated by them, to be the Messiah and the Son of God, had condemned him to die as a blasphemer. On this, that iniquitous court was adjourned; and the chief Priests and Elders separated, leaving the condemned Jesus in the merciless hands of the officers and servants, who spent the remainder of the night in committing all manner of insults and outrages against his sacred person. But as soon as the day began to dawn, the members of the great council met again in the High Priest's, palace, to consult what further measures were to be taken, and the most convenient method of putting the sentence they had passed on Jesus in execution. It was hereupon resolved to deliver him up very early in the morning to Pilate the civil governor, that he might be crucified after the Roman manner. For this end, they ordered the Lord of Glory to be again brought before the council, and asked him whether he persisted in his former declaration, and professed himself to be the Son of God. This true and infallible Witness having again confirmed what he had before asserted, they also on their part confirmed the sentence ef death passed on him; and now they gave orders for delivering up Jesus to the governor, who was invested with the executive power. This is the important transaction which is so circumstantially related in the above accounts of the four Evange lists, connected and harmonised.

VOL. I.

In this narrative is mentioned,

First, The person whom the Jews delivered up to Pilate. This was Jesus, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world, the universal Saviour of all nations; who hitherto had gone about doing good, all over Judea, relieving and healing both Jews and Gentiles, that were tormented by the devil, and afflicted with various diseases and infirmities. That Jesus was delivered up as a malefactor to the Gentiles, of whom it is said, 'His fame went out through all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those who were possessed with devils, and those who were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them,' (Matth. iv. 24.) That benevolent Jesus, of whom it is farther said, by another Evangelist, (Mark vi. 55, 56.) They ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. And whithersoever he entered into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch, if it were but the border of his garment: And as many as touched him were made whole.' That meek Jesus, who, before, had been delivered up by the traitor Judas, into the hands of the Jewish Ecclesiastical Judges who sat in Moses's seat, is now by those iniquitous judges delivered up to the civil power.

Secondly, The persons who led our blessed Saviour away are here specified. And the whole multitude of them arose,' (Luke xxiii. 1.) When the black design of apprehending the blessed Jesus at the Mount of Olives had been concerted, only some few of the members of the great council went as deputies to assist in that transaction: but when Christ was to be delivered up to Pilate, not one of them was willing to stay behind; for they all unanimously determined to accompany him to the judg

ment-hall. As for the persons of whom this multitude consisted, St. Mark informs us, that they were the Chief Priests, with the Elders and Scribes,' (chap. xv. 1.); so that this iniquitous procedure was authorised and carried on by the chiefs, and most considerable persons, of the whole Jewish nation.

Of the Jewish clergy, there were present the High Priest; and, according to St. Matthew's account, (chap. xxvii. 1.) all the Chief Priests; not only Caiaphas the High Priest for that year, but likewise other persons of distinguished rank, who had filled that dignity, or were chiefs of the four and twenty orders of Priests.

As for the laity, the Elders of the people were present; who superintended the political and civil affairs of the Jewish people, in subordination to the Roman governor.

Besides these, some of the Scribes assisted; who were persons that acted both as laymen and ecclesiastics, and were consulted in religious as well as civil matters. For the Jewish religion, as well as the Jewish polity, was grounded on the law of Moses. Hence they who studied the law, and had attained to a competent knowledge of it, were consulted in all cases of conscience, and likewise in civil disputes; so that the Scribes were, indeed, the great luminaries of the Jewish church and state. The Chief Priests, by their presence, imparted the greatest authority and importance to this mixed multitude. They took along with them the Elders of the people, that from their experience in judicial proceedings, they might the better execute the resolution they had taken of accusing the innocent Jesus before Pilate, as a person guilty of sedition, and other crimes against the state. The Scribes were also necessary for carrying on this iniquitous prosecution, that by their skill in the Mosaical law, they might silence the prisoner Jesus of Nazareth, if he should offer to