VII. CHAP. itself up to the highest moral courage, but with a settled dignity, a calm and natural superiority, now, as it were, endured the last struggle of human nature. The whole scene of his approaching trial, his inevitable death, is present to his mind, and for an instant he prays to the Almighty Father to release him from the task, which, however of such importance to the welfare of mankind, is to be accomplished by such fearful means. The next instant, however, the momentary weakness is subdued, and though the agony is so severe that the sweat falls like large drops of blood to the ground, resigns himself at once to the will of God. Nothing can heighten the terrors of the coming scene so much, as its effect, in anticipation, on the mind of Jesus himself. Betrayal of The devotions of Jesus and the slumbers of his followers, as midnight approached, were rudely interrupted. Jesus had rejoined his, now awakened, disciples for the last time; he had commanded them to rise, and be prepared for the terrible event. Still, no doubt, incredulous of the sad predictions of their Master - still supposing that his unbounded power would secure him from any attempt of his enemies, they beheld the garden filled with armed men, and gleaming with lamps and torches. Judas advances and makes the signal which had been agreed on, saluting his Master with the customary mark of respect, a kiss on the cheek, for which he receives the calm but severe rebuke of *Matt. xxvi. 47-56.; Mark, xiv. 43-50.; Luke, xxii. 47-53.; John, xviii. 2-11. VII. Jesus for thus treacherously abusing this mark of CHAP. familiarity and attachment: "Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?" The tranquil dignity of Jesus overawed the soldiers who first approached; they were most likely ignorant of the service on which they were employed; and when Jesus announces himself as the object of their search, they shrink back in astonishment, and fall to the earth. Jesus however, covenanting only for the safe dismissal of his followers, readily surrenders himself to the guard. The fiery indignation of Peter, who had drawn his sword, and endeavoured, at least by his example, to incite the few adherents of Jesus to resistance, is repressed by the command of his Master: his peaceful religion disclaims all alliance with the acts or the weapons of the violent. The man whose ear had been struck off, was instantaneously healed; and Jesus, with no Jesus led more than a brief and calm remonstrance against the city. this ignominious treatment, against this arrestation, not in the face of day, in the public Temple, but at night, and with arms in their hands, as though he had been a robber, allows himself to be led back, without resistance, into the city. His panicstricken followers disperse on all sides, and Jesus is left, forsaken and alone, amid his mortal enemies. The caprice, the jealousy, or the prudence, of the Roman government, we have before observed, had in no point so frequently violated the feelings of it appears, was known to some of the household of the chief magis *It is a curious observation of Semler, that St. John alone gives the name of the servant of the High Priest, Malchus; and John, trate. prisoner to СНАР. Priest. the subject nation, as in the deposition of the High Priest, and the appointment of a successor to the The High office, in whom they might hope to place more implicit confidence. The stubbornness of the people, revolted by this wanton insult, persisted in honouring with the title those whom they could not maintain in the post of authority; all who had borne the office retained, in common language, the appellation of High Priest, if indeed the appellation was not still more loosely applied. Probably the most influential man in Jerusalem at this time was Annas, or Ananus, four of whose sons in turn either had been, or were subsequently, elevated to that high dignity, now filled by his son-inlaw, Caiaphas. House of Annas. * The house of Annas was the first place to which Jesus was led, either that the guard might receive further instructions, or perhaps as the place of the greatest security, while the Sanhedrin was hastily summoned to meet at that untimely hour, towards midnight or soon after, in the house of Caiaphas. Before the houses of the more wealthy in the East, or rather within the outer porch, there is usually a large square open court, in which public business is transacted, particularly by those who fill official stations. Into such a court, before the palace of Caiaphas, Jesus was led by the soldiers, and Peter following unnoticed amid the throng, lingered before the porch until John, who happened to be familiarly known to some of the High Priest's servants, obtained permission for his entrance. † † Ibid. 15—19. * John, xviii. 12-14. V. The first process seems to have been a private CHAP. examination*, perhaps while the rest of the Sanhedrin were assembling, before the High Priest. He First interdemanded of Jesus the nature of his doctrines, and rogatory. the character of his disciples. Jesus appealed to the publicity of his teaching, and referred him to his hearers for an account of the tenets which he had advanced. He had no secret doctrines, either of tumult or sedition; he had ever spoken "in public, in the synagogue, or in the Temple." And now the fearful scene of personal insult and violence began. An officer of the High Priest, enraged at the calm composure with which Jesus answered the interrogatory, struck him on the mouth (beating on the mouth, sometimes with the hand, more often with a thong of leather or a slipper, is still a common act of violence in the East).† He bore the insult with the same equable placidity :-" If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?" The more formal Second arraignment began ‡: and, however hurried and public intumultuous the meeting, the Sanhedrin, either de- terroga-. sirous that their proceedings should be conducted with regularity, or, more likely, strictly fettered by the established rules of their court, perhaps by no means unanimous in their sentiments, were, after all, in the utmost embarrassment how to obtain a legal capital conviction. Witnesses were summoned, but the immutable principles of the *Matt. xxvi. 57.; Mark, xiv. 55-64.; Luke, xxii. 54. † John, xviii. 20-24. Matt. xxvi. 59-66.; Mark, xiv. 55-64.; Luke, xxii. 66-71.; John, xviii. 19-24. more tory. VII. CHAP. Law, and the invariable practice of the tribunal, required, on every case of life and death, the agreement of two witnesses on some specific charge. Many were at hand, suborned by the enemies of Jesus, and hesitating at no falsehood; but their testimony was so confused, or bore so little on any capital charge, that the court was still further perplexed. At length two witnesses deposed to the misapprehended speech of Jesus, at his first visit to Jerusalem, relating to the destruction of the Temple. But even their depositions were so contradictory, that it was scarcely possible to venture on a conviction upon such loose and incoherent statements. Jesus, in the meantime, preserved a tranquil and total silence. He neither interrupted nor questioned the witnesses, he did not condescend to place himself upon his defence. Nothing, therefore, remained✶ but to question the prisoner, and, if possible, to betray him into criminating himself. The High Priest, rising to give greater energy to his address, and adjuring him in the most solemn manner, in the name of God, to answer the truth, demands whether he is indeed the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus at once answers in the affirmative, and adds a distinct allusion to the prediction of * Some have supposed that there were two examinations in different places before the Sanhedrin, one more private in the house of Caiaphas, another more public, in the Gazith, the chamber in the temple where the Sanhedrin usually sat. But the account of St. John, the most particular of the whole, says expressly (xviii. 28.), that he was carried directly from the house of Caiaphas to the Prætorium of Pilate. |
