When Pilate asked what evil He had done, did they tell him of any? No, they only said, " Crucify Him.” Did Pilate consent to this wicked deed? We read in a former lesson that after the death of John the Baptist, Herod had a great desire to see and converse with Jesus, and therefore he was glad when Jesus was brought before him but our Saviour knew that Herod only wished to see Him from curiosity, and not from any desire to hear the truth; and He would not gratify him, either by replying to him, or doing any miracle before him; and Herod as he could not obtain what he wanted, cruelly mocked his prisoner, but he could find in Him nothing worthy of death; so clear was His innocence, that even His enemies were unable to prove any fault against Him, He was indeed a lamb without spot, and He suffered the punishment of sin for us: even Pilate was so convinced of His guiltlessness that he hoped the Jews would consent to His being released, for we read that it was the custom for one prisoner to be set free at the time of the passover, and the people were allowed to choose who it should be: but they preferred a murderer to the innocent Jesus. Barabbas was released, and Christ was delivered up to be crucified. Thus often the wicked in this world prosper, while they who love God are allowed to suffer. If this should be our case let us call to mind all that our Saviour endured for our sakes, let the path of trial be what it may, Christ has gone before us, and is still ready to support, to cheer, and to comfort us. LESSON THIRTY-SECOND. MATT. XXVII. 3—11. THEN Ju-das which had be-tray-ed him, when he saw that he was contemn-ed, re-pent-ed him-self, and brought a-gain the thir-ty piec-es of sil-ver in the tem-ple, and depart-ed, and went and hang-ed him-self. And the chief priests took the sil-ver piec-es and said, "It is not law-ful for to put them in-to the trea-su-ry, be-cause it is the price of blood." And they took coun-sel, and bought with them the pot-ter's field, to bu-ry strangers in. Where-fore that field was call-ed, "The field of blood un-to this day." Then was ful-fill-ed that which was spo-ken by Je-re-my the pro-phet, say-ing, "And they took the thir-ty piec-es of sil-ver, the price of him that was va-lu-ed, whom they of the chil-dren of Is-rael did va-lue, and gave them for the pot-ter's field, as the Lord ap-pointed me." QUESTIONS. Who was Judas? He was one of the twelve apostles. What very wicked action did he commit? He betrayed Christ to His enemies. What did he do when he saw that Jesus was condemned? He brought again the thirty pieces of silver in the temple. How did he obtain these pieces of silver? They were given Judas by the chief priests, for delivering up Jesus to them? Was Judas sorry for what he had done? Yes, he repented. Was his the right sort of repentance? Why not? Because instead of praying God to forgive him, he went and hanged himself. Why would not the chief priests put the money into the treasury? Because it was the price of blood. What did they do with it? They bought the potter's field, to bury strangers in? What was it afterwards called? The field of blood. What prophecy was fulfilled by this act? The prophecy of Jeremy the prophet. |