authority. The proper name Jesus was of relatively little note; Paul and his converts claimed to be followers of Christ and were therefore called Christians.

Although Jesus claimed to be the Messiah and although this claim is put forward very prominently in the New Testament, yet we find that, according to the evangels, he never made this claim publicly until after his arrest, and when questioned about it in public, either refused to reply or gave an evasive answer. Neither in his sermon on the mount, with which he opened his ministry, nor in his charge to his disciples when he instructed them to preach his gospel, nor in his final address to the multitude at the temple, did he make the least reference to his claim of the messiahship; and these are the most significant doctrinal addresses attributed to him.

After the return of the apostles from their preaching expedition, how long after is not explained, when Jesus was in the vicinity of Cæsarea Philippi, he addressed to his disciples the question, "Whom say ye that I am?' And Simon Peter answered and said, 'Thou art Christ' And Jesus answered, 'Blessed art thou Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.' Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus, the Christ." Thus, according to the first evangel, when his apostles discovered his messiahship, he requested them to keep it secret; but, according to the second and third gospels, he never claimed it in conversation with them.

Early in the public career of Jesus, some Jewish zealots wanted to "take him by force to make him a king;" but he escaped from them and hid in the mountains. We may presume that they had heard that he claimed to be the

Messiah, and they wanted him to raise the standard of insurrection against Rome without delay. Not long after this incident "Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, 'How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ tell us plainly.' Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and ye believed me not; the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.' He gave them no other satisfaction. He would neither admit nor deny that he was the Jewish Messiah. He did not use the opportunity to explain that he was a religious teacher, not a military leader. He is represented as assuming that they had heard him and had seen his miracles; though the gospel makes no mention of any miracles previously wrought by him in Jerusalem or of any of his speeches heard by these same men. His refusal to give an explicit reply to the question whether he was the Messiah is not comprehensible on the theory that his purpose was to found a new religion.

While Jesus was so reticent about his claim to the messiahship, the Jews suspected it and made it a subject of discussion. One of them said, "Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? Howbeit we know this man, whence he is; but when Christ cometh no man knoweth whence he is.' [Another said] 'When Christ cometh will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?' Others said, 'This is Christ.' But some said, 'Shall Christ come out of Galilee?' So there was a division among the people because of him." And while the Jews were so anxious to know whether Jesus claimed to be their Messiah, he never once came out publicly and said, "I am the Messiah;" or, "I am not the Messiah whom you expect."

994

We are told that, several times, soon after Jesus began his ministry, some Jews sought to kill him, but no clear explanation is given of the motives of their hostility. We must presume that they wished to protect themselves against the sufferings that would result from a rebellion. Expressions of the fear of such evils are found in a number of passages in the gospels. When Jesus, after his arrest, was taken into the presence of Pilate, a rabble followed, and one of them said, "We found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar, saying that he himself is Christ a king. When Jesus made his final entrance into Jerusalem, he made no protest against the treasonable outcries: "Blessed is the king of Israel." "Blessed be the kingdom of our father David." If the Romans had heard such speeches, they would have dispatched the speakers on the spot.

915

SEC. 530. Jewish Council.-In all the provinces, the yoke of Rome was oppressive. The taxes were heavy and the method of collection offensive. Of the subject nations in the empire, none was so discontented and so frequently brought into hostile relations with their rulers as the Jewish people. The Jews had no large city like Alexandria, Antioch, or Syracuse, the commercial interests of which were a security for peace. Judea was a mountainous country with an adjacent desert, well suited for defense and for refuge after defeat. The Jews were made hostile to Rome by their religion; and their belief in a messiah who was to restore their national independence and sacred monarchy filled many of their young men with a readiness to follow any leader who claimed to be the heir of David. If only a small proportion of the population scattered throughout Judea should engage in a revolt, they could drag in their rela

tives, friends, and neighbors in such a manner that all Jews in the country must fight either for or against Rome. It was, therefore, necessary that the prudent men should do their utmost to prevent a rebellion from getting a start.

With such motives for vigilance, the priests, Pharisees, and scribes watched Jesus suspiciously to find something in his words or actions that might serve as evidence of a treasonable purpose. They sent agents to inquire whether the Jews ought to pay tribute to Cæsar. If he said "no," he would expose his plan; if he said "yes," he would offend some of the zealots among his followers. In the gospel of John we are told that more than a year before the crucifixion, the chief priests and the Pharisees held a council in Jerusalem and said: “What do we? For this man [Jesus] doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him; and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.' And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, 'Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.' Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. Jesus, therefore, walked no more openly among the Jews but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. And the Jews' Passover was nigh at hand."1

The story of this council is evidently fictitious. If the evangelist had a precise record of the words spoken at a council of priests and Pharisees before the crucifixion, he should have shown that he knew in what year that interesting event occurred. He conveys the idea that

the Pharisees in Jerusalem were much agitated by the influence of the miracles of Jesus, whereas the New Testament leads us to believe that he never performed a miracle in Jerusalem; that in the Galilean cities where he performed most of his miracles he made few converts; that at the end of his career he had only one hundred and twenty converts in Jerusalem; and these all Jews.

Besides, the evangelist furnishes no basis for his assumption that the Romans would destroy their "nation" if the Jews allowed Jesus to go on working miracles and making converts. He does not show that the Romans then or at any time in that generation took the least interest in the reported miracles, the conversions, or the religious ideas attributed to Jesus. When he was on trial, Pilate made no inquiry about these points.

A very significant result in the report of this council is that immediately after it Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews; that is, during the last year of his life he remained in concealment. This statement in the gospel of John is not contradicted elsewhere. The Passover here mentioned occurred one year before the crucifixion.

SEC. 531. The Trial.—The four evangelists agree that Jesus was executed under a sentence of death, pronounced, in accordance with the forms of Roman law, by Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Judea. They also agree that the first question addressed to Jesus by Pilate in reference to the alleged crime was, "Art thou the King of the Jews?" According to Matthew the reply was, "Thou sayest." According to Mark and Luke, "Thou sayest it." According to John he said: "Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world."