Mat.xxvii. 21. and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. John xviii. 40. Mark xv. 12. Jerusalem. Then cried they all again, saying, Not this Acts iii. 14. Now Barabbas was a robman, but Barabbas ber. And Pilate answered and said again unto them, Mat. xxvii.22. with Jesus which is called Christ? Mark xv. 12. unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? Mark xv. 13. Mat. xxvii.22. and they all say unto him, Luke xxiii.21. Crucify him! crucify him! Mark xv. 14. Then Pilate said unto them, Lukexxiii. 22. 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. Mark xv. 14. And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him. Luke xxiii.23. And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the Chief Priests prevailed. MATT. xxvii. part of ver. 22, 23. 22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then 3 And the governor said, Why? what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. 16 It is very probable that the chief priests and elders who "persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus," (Matt. xxvii. 20.) had placed their own creatures and dependents as near as they might legally approach (John xviii. 28.) the door of the judgment-hall, that they might obtain the release of Barabbas, and secure the destruction of Jesus; for immediately after, they clamorously demanded the crucifixion of Christ; so anxious were the chief priests for the immediate condemnation of our Lord, and so fearful lest his innocence should protect him from their malice. Jerusalem. SECTION XIV. The Jews imprecate the Punishment of Christ's Death upon themselves. MATT. XXVii. 24, 25. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, Mat. xxvii.24. 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 Mat. xxvii.25. blood be on us, and on our children ". SECTION XV. Pilate releases Barabbas, and delivers Christ to be crucified. MATT. XXVii. 26-30. 24, 25. MARK XV. 15—19. LUKE Xxiii. Mark xv. 15. And so Pilate, willing to content the people, Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they re, Lukexxiii.24quired. And he released unto them him that for sedi- Lukexxiii.25. tion and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired.: Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged John xix. 1. him; and when he had scourged him, he delivered Jesus to their will, Mark xv. 15. Mat. xxvii.26. 17 The guilt of condemning our Lord must almost entirely rest upon the unhappy nation whom he had designed to save, (John xix. 11.) Pilate made five successive efforts to deliver Jesus from their inveterate hatred, and was induced, at last, unwillingly to yield him up, from the apprehension of his own personal safety. He was afraid, that, if he did not comply with the violent and clamorous importunities of the Jewish rulers, there would be a commotion among the people, who were seditiously inclined, and were assembled at this time in great numbers, from all parts of Judæa, for the celebration of the Passover. In all probability Pilate was not provided with sufficient force to ensure perfect tranquillity on these great festivals: their very solemnity would be considered as the best guarantee for the observance of propriety and good conduct. 18 ON MARK XV. 25. AND JOHN xix. 14-16. This is one of those passages in which the Evangelists are suppposed to be inconsistent. St. Mark says, chap. xv. 25. "It was the third hour, and they crucified him:" St. John tells us, "It was about the sixth hour; and Pilate Mat. xxvii.27. s John xix. 1. • Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus, Jerusalem. Mark xv. 16. and led him away delivered him to be crucified," John xix. 14-16. Various modes have been adopted to reconcile these apparent differences. One, and that the most usual, and at all times the most objectionable, is the supposition of a false reading. It is urged, that in ancient times, all numbers were written in manuscripts, not at length, but with numeral letters, it was easy for I', three, to be taken forç, six. Of this opinion are Griesbach, in his elaborate edition of the New Testament, Semler, Rosenmüller, Doddridge, Whitby, Bengel, Cocceius, Beza, Erasmus, and by far the greater part of the most eminent critics. Besides the Codex Beza, and the Codex Stephani (of the eighth century,) there are four other manuscripts, which read rpírn, the third, in John xix. 14. as well as the Alexandrian Chronicle, which professes to cite accurate manuscripts—even the autography of St. John himself. Such also is the opinion of Severus Antiochenus, Ammonius, and some others, cited by Theophylact on the passage; to whom must be added Nonnus, a Greek poet of Panopolis, in Egypt, who flourished in the fifth century, and wrote a poetical paraphrase on the Gospel of St. John, and who also found rpirn in the manuscript used by him (a). Others have supposed, that the Evangelists have adopted different methods of calculation. Notwithstanding the authorities above adduced, they observe that none of the ancient translators read "the third hour" in John: they there fore solve the difficulty (imperfectly it must be confessed) by considering the day as divided into four parts, answering to the four watches of the night. These coincided with the hours of three, six, nine, or twelve; or, in our way of reckoning, nine, twelve, three, and six, which also suited the solemn times of sacrifice and prayer in the temple. In cases, they argue, in which the Jews did not think it of consequence to ascertain the time with great accuracy, they did not regard the intermediate hours, but only those more noted divisions which happened to come nearest the time of the event spoken of. Adopting this method of reconciliation, Dr. Campbell remarks, that Mark says, "it was the third hour," from which we have reason to conclude that the third hour was past. John says, "It was about the sixth hour," from which he thinks it pro bable that the sixth hour was not yet come. On this supposition, though the Evangelists may, by a fastidious reader, be accused of want of precision in re gard to dates, they will not, by any judicious and candid critic, be charged with falsehood or misrepresentation. Who would accuse two modern historians of contradicting each other, because, in relating an event which had happened between ten and eleven in the forenoon, one had said it was past nine o'clock; the other that it was drawing towards noon (b)? There is, however, in fact, no real difference between the Evangelists: and this is fully shewn by the admirable reasoning both of Dr. Townson and Pilkington. If we review the whole of the transaction which took place at the crucifixion, and endeavour to assign their respective periods to each, it will be found that St. John calculated his time by the Roman or Asiatic method, from mid-night to mid-day, and from mid-day to mid-night. If we allow the sixth hour, mentioned by St. John, to mean the sixth hour in the morning, it will (a) Vide Horne's Introduct. (b) Campbell, on John xix. 14. Jerusalem. * Or, the governor's house. into the common-hall, Mat.xxvii. 27. called Prætorium; and they call together the Mark xv. 16. whole band suit the place in which it stands admirably well, which the third hour would not. The night was divided into twelve hours, or four equal watches. Of the latter division we have several traces in the Gospel. St. Mark thus enumerates them: ὀψὲ ἢ μεσονυκτίου, ἢ ἀλεκτροφωνίας, ἢ πρωΐ, Mark xiii. 25; the cock crowing was from twelve to three, and the last from three to six. The six o'clock of St. John was the end of the rowi. Let us examine the division of time from the beginning of the ȧλɛктpopwvía, (cock-crowing,) to the end of the (pwt,) last watch. The apprehension in the garden appears to have been made about ten o'clock on Thursday night, and Jesus was then led away to Annas. About eleven he was sent to Caiaphas. About midnight Peter denied him the first time, at the first cock-crowing. Soon after midnight he was condemned by the High Priest, &c. after that he was abused by the officers and servants, and Peter denied him a second time. About three in the morning, i. e. at the second cock-crowing, Peter denied him the third time. About four, 64 as soon as it was day," the Sanhedrim met; and in a little time they again condemned him. About five," when it was early," they led him away to Pilate; and, about the sixth (Roman) hour," i. e. between six and nine o'clock in the morning, (for when mention is made of a Roman watch hour, viz. the third, sixth, ninth, or twelfth, it often includes the whole space of time contained in that watch,) Pilate gave the final sentence against Jesus: and, in consequence thereof, they led Jesus away, and crucified him "at the third (Jewish) hour," i. e. about nine o'clock in the morning, or between that time and the commencement of the next watch. The events that happened between his being first taken before Pilate, and his final condemnation by the Roman governor would occupy about two hours and a half; many things favoured, and many demanded expedition. event. If Caiaphas did not send to Herod and Pilate when our Lord was first brought prisoner to his house, he would probably dispatch messengers to them as soon as he was condemned in the council. To the former, to request he would watch over his Galilean subjects, lest they should make a disturbance in favour of Jesus; and to Pilate, (who gave the soldiers to assist in the apprehension of Christ,) to acquaint him with their intention of bringing the prisoner before him. As this was the time of the passover, when a great concourse of a mutinous nation was assembled at Jerusalem and its adjoining villages, it was the duty of Pilate and Herod to exert the utmost vigilance, even without the occurrence of any unusual The rulers of Judæa might, perhaps, at this time have been alarmed at the intelligence of the acclamations of the people, some days before. It cannot therefore excite surprise, that on such an occasion as this, Pilate, and quickly after him Herod, was early up, and ready to receive the Jewish rulers as soon as they appeared. The first time they continued but a little while with Pilate; for when he was told that Jesus belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he forthwith sent our Saviour to him. Herod and Pilate came but seldom to Jerusalem, and on these occasions they were, in all probability, accommodated in the Herodian palace, which was very extensive, and consisted of two spacious and distinct buildings. Josephus in consequence calls it not a palace, but palaces. This superb edifice, as well as the tower Antonia, which was a palace and tower together, stood near the temple, and communicated with it. Little time therefore being lost in removing from place to place, (the High Priest being also lodged near the temple,) the first examination before Pilate, and the interview with Herod, might come within such compass, as that our Lord might be remanded to Pilate by five in the morning, at which time it was broad day-light. There was a great 'eagerness for a speedy determination on one side, and a necessity for it on the other. The Jewish rulers, jealous of delay, and of a variable multitude, pressed on while circumstances favoured. Pilate well knew the seditious spirit of the nation, restless under a foreign yoke, and rendered confident by their great increase of numbers in consequence of the passover. He twice interrogated Jesus in the Pretorium, with the sound of their outcry, as it were, in his ears; and found it requisite to determine speedily whether he would appease them by compliance, or repel them by force, which on the present occasion would not have been expedient. This brings us, then, either to the sixth hour in the morning, or to the sixth hour of mid-day. But the latter construction corresponds neither with the other Evangelists, nor upon the whole with St. John himself, John xviii. 28. the detail of whose narrative conveys no idea of so much time. We come to the same conclusion by a calculation of the time mentioned by the other Evangelists. The hour of crucifixion is given by St. Mark, chap. xv. 25. whose testimony is confirmed by those of St. Matthew and St. Luke. It was the third hour, or nine in the morning. Let us consider, first, from this giver. hour, by a retrograde calculation, what time the procession from the Prætorium to Mount Calvary, and the act of crucifying our Lord, probably occupied; secondly, before this procession began, what time he was detained in the Prætorium after Pilate had delivered him to be crucified; and, thirdly, how long the sentence of death was delayed after Pilate sat down on the tribunal. 1. Although Mount Calvary was near to the city, the procession must have been slow. Christ was weakened by his agony in the garden, and by the pain and loss of blood he sustained from the cruel scourging, and from the insulting mockery of the soldiers. It was usual for the people to ill treat the criminals who went to crucifixion. He himself carried his cross to the gate of the city, and although it was there laid on Simon the Cyrenian, he had still farther to go, and an eminence to ascend. To this procession, and the necessary preparations for the crucifixion, we cannot allot less than an hour, and this brings us to eight in the morning. 2. Before he was led forth, the two robbers were to be condemned; for in cases where no appeal lay to the emperor, or Roman senate, the examination for atrocious offences was little more than nominal; and the speedy sentence of the judge was followed by the immediate punishment of the criminal. Probably, while our Saviour's trial was pending, these malefactors were brought from the prison to the hall, where the soldiers kept guard, that they might be in readiness. In this place, perhaps, the penitent thief might have witnessed the deportment of Jesus, while he was scourged and insulted by the Roman soldiers; and might have conceived that sense of his meekness, holiness, and majesty, which prepared him for the grace of a perfect confession of faith, Jerusalem. |