Part 16

"JESUS knew that his hour was come."--_John 13:1._

THE chief priests grew more fierce and bitter when they saw how all men listened to the Lord Jesus. They could do nothing to Him by day, because the people would have risen up to defend Him; so they tried how to find Him alone and at night, to take Him secretly.

Now, one of the twelve apostles, named Judas Iscariot, was too fond of money, and used to take for himself what was trusted to him to take care of. So he went on from bad to worse, till at last he did the dreadful thing of promising the chief priests that he would show them to some lonely place, where they could take his Lord and Master prisoner; and then they were to pay him for this wickedness with thirty pieces of silver.

Judas settled all this, and then he went back to our Lord and the other eleven apostles just as usual, thinking they did not know; but our Lord did know very well. But He bade the apostles get ready the supper that was eaten the night before the Passover, in a large upper room that was lent to them for it, and there He sat down to eat with them.

QUESTIONS.

1. What feast was being kept at Jerusalem? 2. Why were the priests and Pharisees angry? 3. What did they want to do? 4. Why did they not take Him in the Temple? 5. Where did they want to take him? 6. Who said He would show them the way? 7. What did they promise to Judas Iscariot? 8. Who was he? 9. Then how came he to be so wicked? 10. Where did our Lord go to eat His Last Supper? 11. Who were eating with Him?

SECOND READING.

"This do in remembrance of me."--_Luke 22:19._

WHEN our Lord and His apostles were eating the Supper together, He was very sorrowful, and said, "One of you shall betray me." The apostles were grieved, and each said, "Lord, is it I?" And He said, "He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me."

And then, as the custom was, He dipped His piece of bread in the dish in the middle of the table, and gave it to Judas. Then the wicked man presently got up and went away.

And as they were still in the upper room, our Lord took bread and broke it, and gave a piece to each of His apostles, and said, "Take, eat: this is My Body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me." And He took a Cup of wine, and said, "This Cup is the new testament in My Blood: This do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."

And that was the beginning of what we call the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, "For as often as ye do eat of this Bread, and drink this Cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come."

QUESTIONS.

1. Who were eating together? 2. When was it? 3. Why was our Lord sorrowful? 4. What did He say one of them would do? 5. What did they all ask? 6. Who did He say it would be? 7. What did He dip then? 8. To whom did He give it? 9. Who went away? 10. What holy Sacrament did He appoint? 11. What did He take? 12. What did He say of the bread? 13. What did He then take? 14. What did He say of the wine? 15. What is the outward sign of the Lord's Supper? 16. What is the inward grace? 17. What does it show forth?

THIRD READING.

"Not as I will, but as Thou wilt."--_Matt. 26:39._

SUPPER being over, and night coming on, our Lord went out with His disciples to a garden, full of olive trees, called Gethsemane, where He often used to pray. He told them again on the way that they would soon all be afraid, and leave Him; but Peter could not think so, and said boldly that if everybody fell from Him, he never would. But JESUS answered, "Verily, I say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."

Then He went on to the garden, taking only Peter, James, and John into it with Him, and telling them to watch while He went apart to pray. They were heavy and sorrowful, and could not keep awake; but while He was praying, He was in the greatest trouble and grief that ever anyone felt.

He knelt and prayed in an agony, till His sweat was as great drops of blood falling down to the ground. For He was feeling the sorrow for all the sin of all the world--the sorrow that belongs to you and me.

The disciples heard Him say, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." He came to them more than once, and called them, as if He longed for them to comfort Him; but still they fell asleep again, though He said, "What, could ye not watch with me one hour? The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

QUESTIONS.

1. Where did our Lord go then? 2. What was the garden full of? 3. What did He say the apostles would all do? 4. Who thought He never could leave Him? 5. What did our Lord tell Peter? 6. Whom did He take into the garden? 7. What were they to do? 8. What great grief did He suffer? 9. Why did He suffer such agony? 10. What did he pray? 11. What could not the disciples do? 12. What did He say at last? 13. What was their flesh? 14. Was He angry? 15. But was He not much grieved that they did not comfort Him?

Forty-eighth Sunday.

_THE TRIAL AND CONDEMNATION._

FIRST READING.

"Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?"--_Luke 22:48._

JUST as our Lord had wakened His three apostles for the last time, there came a tread of soldiers, and lanterns gleamed through the olive trees. For Judas Iscariot, the traitor, knew that his Master was apt to go to the olive garden to pray at night, and he was leading them, and he said to them, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is He: hold Him fast." And he came up first to JESUS, and said, "Hail, master;" and kissed Him. All our Lord said was, "Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?"

Peter tried to defend Him, and drew a sword and cut off the ear of one of the servants; but our Lord bade him put the sword back into the sheath; and then, in His great love, our blessed Lord touched the ear, and cured it in an instant, and begged that all the disciples might be allowed to go their way. Indeed, they were so much afraid that they all forsook Him and fled away, except John and Peter, who both followed to see what would be done with Him.

The soldiers dragged our blessed Lord to the house of the high priest, Caiaphas, where his enemies tried to make out some charge to bring against Him; but as He was good and holy, and had no sin at all, they could accuse Him of nothing. And when they asked Him questions, He answered them not a word, for He knew that it was only to accuse Him.

While He stood at the upper end of the hall, John, who knew one of the servants, had come in to the lower end, and had brought in Peter with him. The chill of the morning had come on, and the servants lighted a fire on the pavement, where Peter stood and warmed himself. One of the maids there looked at him, and asked if he did not belong to Jesus of Nazareth. Peter was afraid, and said, "I know not what thou sayest."

But then another maid said, "This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.." Peter grew more afraid, and went on declaring he did not know such a person; but presently another servant said, "Did not I see thee in the garden with Him?" Again Peter's fear of being punished for wounding the man in the garden led him further astray, for he began to curse and swear, and say, "I know not the man." Just then the cock crew, and the Lord turned round and looked upon Peter.

That look went to his heart. He went out and wept bitterly; and whenever he thought of his sin, he wept.

QUESTIONS.

1. Where was our Lord? 2. What time was it? 3. Whom had He taken with Him? 4. Who came up in the night? 5. Who was leading them? 6. How did Judas show which was our Lord? 7. What was he wicked enough to say? 8. How did our Lord answer? 9. How did Peter try to save Him? 10. What blow did He strike? 11. What command did our Lord give Peter? 12. What did he do for the wounded man? 13. What care did He take for His disciples? 14. Who only followed Him? 15. Where was our Lord taken? 16. What did the chief priests try to find? 17. Why could they find nothing to accuse Him of? 18. What had He said Peter would do? 19. What had Peter then said? 20. Yet what did he do? 21. What made Him deny? 22. What did he answer? 23. What brought his better mind back? 24. What sound? 25. What look? 26. What did he do when he thought of his sin?

SECOND READING.

"He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter."--_Isaiah 53:7._

AS soon as it was light, all the chief men of the Jews met in the council chamber in the Temple, and had our Lord brought before them. But no one could prove that He had broken the law; and whenever a story was brought against Him, it turned out not to be true.

At last the high priest stood up and commanded Him to say whether He were the Christ or not. He answered, "Thou hast said: nevertheless, I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."

At this answer, Caiaphas and all the other enemies made a great outcry, as if they were very much shocked, at His speaking of Himself as the great Judge of all--namely, as God.

They all cried, "He is guilty of death;" and they began to beat Him and strike Him; and they blindfolded Him, and struck Him on the face, and bade Him say whose blow it was. And all the time He stood gentle and patient, and said not one word of complaint or anger.

Since the reign of the great wicked Herod, the Romans had not allowed the Jews to put anybody to death without their leave; so the chief priests were obliged to take JESUS before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. But it was not possible to find anything that a Roman would think He deserved to be put to death for.

When the chief priests said that "by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God," Pilate only feared to do anything against Him; for he saw that there was no fault in JESUS, but that the chief priests were spiteful, and hated Him.

Then the chief priests said that He called Himself King of the Jews. This made Pilate more anxious, for to set up to be an earthly king would have been rebelling against the Romans; but still he wanted to let JESUS go, because he saw that He was innocent; yet he did not like to offend the priests, who might have accused him to the Emperor of Rome. Pilate saw what was just; but he was afraid, and cared for himself more than for his duty.

QUESTIONS.

1. Where did the chief priests meet? 2. Who was brought there before them? 3. What did they intend to do? 4. But could they find any fault in Him? 5. So what did the chief priest ask Him? 6. What did He say? 7. What did they all cry out? 8. How did they begin to treat Him? 9. How did He bear it all? 10. How can we try to be like Him? 11. What were not the Jews allowed to do? 12. Who had the power over them? 13. Before whom did the chief priests take our Lord? 14. Who was Pilate? 15. What did Pilate think of the charges against Him? 16. But why did not Pilate set Him free? 17. Why was he afraid of His being called King of the Jews?

THIRD READING.

"Ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you."--_Acts 3:14._

PILATE thought he had found a way of saving the Lord Jesus without offending the Romans. It was the custom that at the feast of the Passover he should set some prisoner free, whomsoever the Jews asked for. And he thought, as the people loved our Lord, that they would ask for Him.

But there was a robber and murderer in prison named Barabbas, and the enemies of our Lord went about among the people, stirring them up to ask for him to be set free; so that the poor, foolish people all broke out with a great shout to ask that this murderer Barabbas might be set free.

Pilate asked them what he was to do with JESUS, and then there was a great roar from all the people, "Crucify Him! crucify Him!"

Now, crucifying was a very horrible and painful punishment, that had never been allowed among the Jews, but was chiefly used by the Romans themselves for slaves and for robbers; so that their savage cry was for JESUS to have the punishment that belonged to Barabbas.

Pilate's soldiers were very cruel, and they laughed at a poor man being called a king; so when they had beaten the blessed JESUS till He was bleeding all over, they took one of their old red soldiers' cloaks and threw it over Him; and they platted a crown of sharp thorns, and forced it upon His head; and they put a reed in his right hand, instead of a sceptre; and they bowed their knees, mocking Him by pretending to do Him honor.

He never spoke one word of anger all this time; and when Pilate saw His meek, brave, patient face, pale and faint with pain, and streaming with blood, he thought the people would pity Him; so he led Him out once more to the top of the steps of the judgment hall, and said, "Behold the man!" But the people were too mad to have any pity or feeling, and they only cried louder and louder still, "Crucify Him! crucify Him!"

Pilate was not brave enough to go against them all, even to save an innocent man; so all he did was to take water and wash his hands before them all, to show that he was clear of wishing it, and he said, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person." But the chief priests made the dreadful answer, "His blood be on us, and on our children!" meaning that they would take the guilt and punishment.

QUESTIONS.

1. What plan had Pilate for saving our Lord? 2. Whom did he always set free at the feast? 3. Whom did he wish to set free? 4. But whom did the chief priests make them ask for? 5. Who was Barabbas? 6. What did they all cry out? 7. What kind of punishment was crucifying? 8. To whom would it naturally have belonged? 9. But who was going to bear the worst of punishments? 10. How did the soldiers treat our Lord? 11. Why did they mock Him? 12. What did they put on His head? 13. What did they dress Him in? 14. What did they put in His hand? 15. What did Pilate hope to do? 16. What did he say? 17. What was the cry in answer?

Forty-ninth Sunday.

_THE CRUCIFIXION._

FIRST READING.

"They pierced my hands and my feet."--_Ps. 22:16._

WHEN the judgment was over, Pilate gave up our Lord to the four soldiers who were to crucify Him. His cross, a heavy beam of wood, with another fastened across it, was laid on His shoulders, that He might carry it to the place where He was to suffer--a place named Calvary, outside the walls of Jerusalem.

He was so weak and worn out after the long sad night, the being taken from one judge to another, and the beating and tormenting, that He could hardly walk under it; and the soldiers met a man coming out of the country whom they forced to carry it after Jesus.

When they came to Calvary, the soldiers made the blessed JESUS lie down on the beam of wood, and they stretched His arms out on the cross-beam, and drove a large nail through each of the palms of His hands into the wood, and another nail through His feet; and then they lifted up the cross, with Him upon it, and planted it in the ground, that He might hang there till He should die.

And all He said while they were thus nailing Him were the words, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!" That was the great pain He bore to save us!

QUESTIONS.

1. Where was our Lord to be crucified? 2. Who led Him there? 3. Where was it? 4. What had He to carry? 5. But who had to be called to help Him? 6. Why was He so worn out? 7. What had they done to Him? 8. What was the cross? 9. How was He fastened to it? 10. What was done to it then? 11. What prayer did He make? 12. For whom was He praying? 13. For whom was He dying?

SECOND READING.

"Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews."--_John 19:19._

OVER the head of the blessed Lord on the cross was a tablet, with the words, "JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS;" and on each side of Him was another cross, with a robber upon it.

There He hung patiently, while the chief priests and Pharisees passed by, mocking and laughing at His pain, and crying out, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him."

Even the robbers at first joined in the cry; but by-and-by one of them began to feel that He who was so patient and so great in all that agony must truly be the Son of God; and he rebuked his fellow, and said, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom!" And the Lord answered, "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise!"

His holy mother had come to stand by the foot of His cross, and with her, her sister and some other women, and His beloved apostle John. The Lord looked down at her, and said, "Woman, behold thy son!" and He looked at St. John, and said, "Behold thy mother!" And John took the blessed Virgin home with him, and was always like a son to her afterward.

At noon-day, a dreadful darkness came over all the earth, and it lasted for three whole hours, as if the very sun mourned for Him who made it. Just at three o'clock, the blessed Lord said, "I thirst;" and as one of the soldiers was touching His lips with a sponge full of vinegar, He gave a great sad cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me!"

Then presently he added, "It is finished! Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit!" And He cried with a loud cry; and so He, who was God and man in one, died for us men, and for our salvation.

QUESTIONS.

1. What was set up over our Lord's head? 2. Who were crucified on each side? 3. How did the robbers behave at first? 4. How did one change? 5. What did he say? 6. How did our Lord answer? 7. Who were standing by His cross? 8. What did He say to His mother? 9. What did He say to John? 10. What did John do for her? 11. What came over the earth? 12. How long did the darkness last? 13. What did our Lord cry out? 14. How did a soldier try to quench His thirst? 15. What was His sad cry?

THIRD READING.

"And rested the sabbath day."--_Luke 23:56._

THERE were some good people even among the chief of the Jews; and two of these, named Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, went to Pontius Pilate, and asked him to let them bury the body of Jesus. People generally were much longer in dying on the cross, so Pilate sent to see if He was dead.

To make sure, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and out came blood and water together. The robbers were still alive, so the soldiers broke their legs, that they might die sooner; and so the repenting one soon went to our Lord in Paradise.

Then Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took the holy body down from the cross, quite dead. Now, close by, Joseph had a garden, and in it was a cave which he meant to be buried in, but where no one had yet been laid. They carried our Lord's body there; and the good women who followed Him, Mary Magdalene and the rest, wrapped it up in linen cloths and sweet spices.

They wanted to do more for it; but it was getting late on Good Friday evening, and the Sabbath or seventh day was counted from sunset, and then they could do no manner of work. So they had to wait till the Sabbath should be over; and Joseph rolled a great rock to close up the door, and they went away in their grief.

And then came a guard of soldiers, whom the chief priests had sent to watch the stone, for fear, as they told Pilate, that the disciples should steal the body away in the night. So they put seals, to make sure that no one should move the stone; and the soldiers were set to watch.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who asked for our Lord's body? 2. What did Pilate want to know? 3. How did they make sure that our Lord was dead? 4. What was done to the robbers? 5. Where did Nicodemus and Joseph take the body? 6. To whom did the cave belong? 7. Who were there too? 8. How did they wrap the body? 9. What did they put with it? 10. Why did they not do any more? 11. What day was it? 12. What was the next day? 13. What is the Fourth Commandment? 14. When did the Sabbath begin?

Fiftieth Sunday.

_THE RESURRECTION._

FIRST READING.

"Now is Christ risen from the dead."--_1 Cor. 16:20._

THE holy women waited all the Sabbath day in sorrow; and our Lord Jesus lay in His grave. But, on the night after, He rose up from His grave, and came forth again, for He is alive for evermore. There was a great earthquake, and an angel came from heaven, and rolled away the stone from the door of the cave, and sat upon it; and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and were as dead men.

Very early in the morning, Mary Magdalene and the other women came with the sweet spices they had prepared. They wondered who would roll away the stone for them; but when they came nearer, they saw that it was taken away; and when they went in, they saw that the body of the Lord was gone.

They feared at first that some one had taken it away; but behold, two men stood by them in shining garments, who said, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

And as the women went in great wonder to tell the disciples, they saw JESUS Himself, the same whom they had seen and touched quite dead the day before yesterday, standing before them, speaking kindly to them. So they held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him. For never was there such wonderful joy and gladness in all the world.

QUESTIONS.

1. What happened all the Sabbath? 2. What happened the night after? 3. Who rose again? 4. Who came down from heaven? 5. What happened to the soldiers? 6. Who were the first at the grave in the morning? 7. What did they bring? 8. What did they wonder about? 9. What did they find? 10. Who stood by them? 11. What did the angels say? 12. Who was living? 13. Whom did they go to tell? 14. Who met them? 15. How did they show their joy? 16. Why were they so very glad? 17. What day was it?

SECOND READING.

"The Lord is risen."--_Luke 24:34._

IT was the first day of the week that our Lord rose from the dead, and we call that day the Lord's day, and have kept it holy ever since, instead of the seventh. But on that first day it seemed too wonderful. The apostles had never understood when their Lord spoke of dying and rising again; and though the women said they had seen Him, they were afraid to trust their word, and thought it a mistake.

Later in the day, two of the disciples were walking to Emmaus, a little village near Jerusalem, when a stranger came and joined them. He asked why they were sad, and what they were talking of. They told Him it was of Jesus of Nazareth, who had been a great prophet, and they had hoped would have redeemed Israel; but now He had been put to death the day before yesterday, yet that some of the women said that they had seen a vision of angels which said that He was alive.