Isa. liii. 7.

S. Matt.

χίν. 2. S. Mark vi. 16.

Him of the death of the Baptist, and hinted that if He kindled his displeasure He might share his fate; but it was all in vain. Not a word, not a syllable, could he extract from Him! And why this silence? He had replied to Caiaphas, and to Pilate; why not to Herod? It must have been because He knew all his shameful history, and if He had spoken then it could only be to brand him as a murderer and adulterer, and to ask by what right one who had so outraged morality, and transgressed the laws of God, dared to sit in the seat of judgment for the administration of justice. But "there is a time to speak, and a time to keep silence,” and so He held His peace; for it was part of His predestined sufferings that He should be oppressed and persecuted by His enemies, and yet not open His mouth.

The proud prince of Galilee found himself treated with disdain by a Prisoner in chains. Had Herodias been with him, no doubt she would have urged His immediate execution, but he had suffered too many pangs of remorse through the Baptist's death to wish himself to risk a repetition.

The chief priests and scribes were in despair. Driven from one tribunal to another, they could get no judge to speak the fatal word. They must have

almost wished that they had taken the matter into their own hands, and stoned Him for blasphemy. Anything would have been better than this prolonged suspense. "They stood and vehemently accused Him;" but no vehemence, no remonstrance, could move Herod to deal with the case seriously. He was quite ready to make Jesus suffer for His contemptuous behaviour, but the charge of aspiring to the throne of the Cæsars was too ridiculous to be entertained for a single moment. They might, if they chose, treat Him with the ridicule He seemed to deserve. Let them give Him in mockery the Royalty He claimed, and see how He would bear His royal honours. And so the King of kings submitted to be made a laughing-stock of the soldiers, and to be set at nought by a profligate prince, who should have covered his face with shame in His Presence. They dressed Him "in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him again to Pilate," and with this the fifth act in the trial ends.

8

"And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together; for before they were at enmity9 between themselves." It is an echo of the alliance between Pharisees and Herodians; another illustration of the acknowledged principle that there is something so hateful to the carnal mind in truth

and innocence that men are ready to forget all their differences and oppositions in creeds, and in politics, in habits of life and thought, provided only they can compass its overthrow.

Everything that Christ said was out of harmony with His generation. Hypocrisy and falsehood had impregnated society everywhere, and when He came to bear witness to the truth, there were none to welcome His coming; but all wicked men and sinners of every kind became confederate against Him.

"The servant is not above his lord;" and though none of His followers will ever be called to bear the same isolation from the world, every one who loves truth and righteousness above all else, may have to suffer loss of friendship and sympathy, for He Who foresaw the end from the beginning, declared: "If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." Every faithful disciple, however, can feel assured of that which was His support: "And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me."

NOTES.

1 It will be remembered that since sunrise, when the Sanhedrim met, time must have elapsed for the trial, and for taking the Prisoner to the Prætorium.

2 The expression, eat "the Passover," implies, as was maintained above, that it was not limited to "the Paschal lamb," for the latter would not be eaten till after 6 P.M., when the day on which their uncleanness had been contracted would close.

3 Pilate being only a Procurator, would have no Quæstor to examine prisoners, but must conduct the inquiry in person. It marks the accuracy of the Gospel narrative.

4 οὐδὲν αἴτιον (S. Luke), οὐδεμίαν αἰτίαν (S. John), clearly refer to a judicial charge or indictment, which is hardly implied in "no fault at all." A.V.

5 It was to take him, as it was said, from the "forum apprehensionis ad forum originis vel domicilii."

6 It was Herod Antipas, the same who had John beheaded.

7 Cf. i. xxviii.

8 If, as has been supposed, λaμmpòs means white, it may have been chosen in mockery to indicate that he was candidatus, seeking the kingly office. Cf. Polybius, x. 15. Plumptre on S. Luke xxiii. 11 traces in this a vindictive retaliation for His denunciation of those Herodian courtiers who were "gorgeously apparelled." S. Mark xi. 8; S. Luke vii. 25.

9 Possibly it arose through the slaughter of certain of his Galilean subjects mentioned in S. Luke xiii. 1. At all events this may have been one cause of the quarrel.

LXXIII.

The Final Trial and the Condemnation.

S. MARK XV. 6-15.

6. Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. 7. And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. 8. And

the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them. 9. But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 10. For he knew that the chief priests had delivered Him for envy. II. But the chief priests

moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. 12. And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto Him Whom ye call the King of the Jews? 13. And they cried out again, Crucify Him. 14. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath He done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify Him. 15. And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

To the bitter disappointment of Pilate, who hoped that he had escaped from the responsibility of giving judgment, the Prisoner was again brought before him. The Tetrarch of Galilee saw, as clearly as he had done, that the charge of menacing the Roman authority by treasonable claims was wholly without foundation; but unlike himself, having nothing to fear from the Jews, he gave his decision