Part 24

It is to be observed, that the Scripture makes mention of three Judases; the first is Judas Maccabeus; the second Judas the son of Joseph, the reputed father of our Lord; and third, Judas Iscariot, the son of a Tanner, living in repute at Joppa, or Japho, a beautiful sea-port on the west of Canaan, about thirty-four miles North west of Jerusalem, from which it was seen, as it stood on a hill amidst a delightful plain. Here Peter restored Dorcas to life, and received the messages of Cornelius. In the time of the Antichristian war of the Croisades, or Crusades, Lewis of France, and Godfrey of Boulogne, and others, repaired and adorned it; but in these unhappy times, what was one year a beautiful city, was oft in the next a heap of ruins. At present, and for ages past, it hath but a bad harbour, and is remarkable for nothing but ruinous remains of antiquity. This Judas who betrayed our Lord, was his mother’s first child, who dreamed that the child in her womb would prove both a thief and a murderer, and bring her and her generation to shame and disgrace: which so terrified her, that she was like to go distracted; but her husband strove to pacify her, bidding her leave it to God the wise disposer of all things, who may take it away in its infancy or endue it with more grace than ever to be guilty of such dishonourable actions.--This somewhat quieted her, and she was soon after delivered of a lovely male child; but under his left breast was the following curious marks viz. a cross, a gallows, two daggers, and several pieces of money: this likewise terrified his mother, who concealed it from her husband, determining, as soon as she was able, to go to a magician and know the signification of these surprising marks. The child being circumcised, and she purified, according to the old Jewish custom, she dressed herself in disguise, put a veil on her face, and taking with her a kinswoman, went to the magician’s, and being introduced to him, she related her dream, her fears and the marks upon her son, desiring the interpretation of the dream, and the signification of the marks.

The magician replied, I am no interpreter of dreams, neither do I justly know the signification of marks; and the whole of your story appears as strange to me, as it can be amazing to you; but if you can tell me when the child was born, I will calculate its nativity, and see what it pretends. He then called for pen, ink, and paper, and sitting down, calculated his nativity; and when he had finished it, he shook his head, and his countenance waxed pale; which being perceived by Judas’s mother, she said unto him, do not deceive me, but tell me true, hide nothing from me, whether it be good or evil.--Then, said the magician, to your sorrow, I have seen the rules of the planet that reigned predominant at your son’s birth, that he would prove a thief and a murderer, and what is worse, he will, for lucre, betray the Lord of Life; for which act he will afterwards despair of mercy, lay violent hands on himself and come to a shameful end.--These words pierced the mother’s heart, who wringing her hands, wished she had never been born, rather than to have been the mother of such an unhappy child; and asked the magician what she could do to prevent the bringing of shame or disgrace on her family? He told her he knew no way of prevention, but by laying violent hands on it, which might be now easily done in its infancy and in a manner so as not to be discovered. To this she replied, that she would not for ten thousand worlds commit such an act of violence on her son; for if her husband had the least suspicion of it, he was so fond of Judas, that he would never be reconciled to her any more; yet for the sake of her family, she would by some means or other prevent it without destroying it; and then told the magician, that if she had a small boat made like a shell, with a cover to go down close that no water might get in, and a little vent to let in air at the top, and room in it to lie soft and easy, she might without danger send him down the river Jordan, and so commit him wholly to the protection of providence, which might conduct him to some distant shore, into the hands of some tender persons, and thereby preserve his life; and if he afterwards commits those base actions the shame will fall on his own head, as no one will know from whom he is descended. The magician highly commended her for her invention, and said he would procure such a boat for her; and she promising him a good reward for his assistance, returned home. After she was gone, the magician sent for one Rot, a very cunning Artist, a Joiner by trade, who undertook to make the boat, drawing out with his pencil, the form of it, carried it home with him, wrought upon it in private, and having soon finished it, brought it to the magician’s house, who paid him largely for it, and sent a servant to the house of Simon, who told Judas’s mother, that the matter which his master and she spoke of was now finished. She understanding him, went next morning to the magician’s house, viewed the boat, and liked it well, saying it was very convenient for the end intended, but seemed perplexed how she should do it privately, and keep it from discovery, as death was the consequence thereof. Her kinswoman begged her to leave that to her, and all should be safe enough; for we will feign the child sick for a day or two, in the meantime we will make some inquiry in the city for the dead body of some poor male child which we will buy of its parents, and have it privately brought to our house to be buried; in the meantime we will dispatch your son to sea, and make him believe the other child to be his, and that he died during his absence; so having it buried, the matter can never be brought to light.

The mother liked the contrivance, and going home with a promise Of a great reward, and her friendship for life, she swore her servants to secrecy, and then said she, we must act in this manner. When your master comes home at night, I shall put on very dejected looks, and When he asks the cause, I shall tell him that Judas is not well, and that I am apprehensive of his death, which you must all testify and confirm. She accordingly put this scheme into practice at night, when her husband did all he could to comfort her, telling her that they were young, they might, be parents of many children: and going up stairs to see the child, the maid then pinched its neck till it was black in the face, and thinking it in convulsions, gave it over to death. As soon as he was gone out in the morning, the mother and kinswoman took the child and went to the magician’s house, in order to put the child to sea. They put on him many warm and rich garments, with an upper coat of oil, that no water might penetrate it; and the magician, on a piece of parchment, wrote the following words:

MY NAME IS JUDAS.

which his mother sewed round his neck and put him into the boat, and shut down the cover. At parting with the child the mother was almost distracted, wringing her hands and weeping bitterly, but being comforted by the magician and her kinswoman she was at last pacified, and desired to go home, as she could not bear to see the child put into the water, so she and her kinswoman departed home. The magician then took the boat and carried it down to his own garden, at the foot of which ran the river Jordan, and putting it in where a strong stream ran, it was soon carried out of sight.

The mother when she got home fainted away, but was revived by being informed by her maid servant, that during her absence they had almost brought the matter to a close, having found a neighbour’s male child, who had died the day before, and was just of the same age as Judas, for whose body they had given the parents a small sum of money, and paid the expense of burying a coffin full of bones, by way of a blind: and the only thing that remained was to deceive her husband, and get this child buried under the sanction of Judas’s body.

The father coming home at night, and finding his wife in tears, soon guessed the dismal cause; and inquiring of the servants, they with dissembled grief informed him, that the child died in the morning soon after his departure. The man was much affected with the loss of his child, and thinking to prevent his wife’s grief by the sight of the body he had it removed to a kinsman’s house, and in a day or two interred it from thence, supposing it to be his son Judas.

By this time Providence had conducted Judas, alive and well, unto the coast of Iscariot, a kingdom in Palestine, where Pheophilus the king often used to recreate himself, in beholding the ships pass and repass at sea. It happened that the very day that Judas was cast on the coast, the king and his nobles came on that diversion, and as they were standing on the top of the rock, looking into the sea, the king espied a little boat floating upon the water, and thinking it to be a chest of some wrecked ship, he ordered a servant to put out a boat and fetch it; which being done, and brought to the king, he ordered it to be broken open; when to their great surprise, they found a lovely babe, who look’d up, and smiled in the king’s face. Then said the king to the child, _welcome as my own child_; and expressed much joy in being providentially sent to preserve the babe’s life, and taking it up in his arms, said if thou wert a child begat by me, I could not esteem or value thee more. Then he espied about its neck the aforementioned parchment, viz:

MY NAME IS JUDAS.

Well, said the king, as thy name is Judas, I will now double name thee, and then called him _Judas Iscariot_, because he found him near the coast of that name. He was then brought to court, treated as the king’s own child, and at a proper age educated well, and at last became a man of learning and genius and behaved himself so wisely, that the king made him his principal steward.

Judas being arrived at this rank, still coveted greater, and remembering the queen one day said, that if the prince, her son died, Judas should be her heir, he therefore set about contriving to kill him, accordingly he professed great love and friendship for him; and one day being walking together, Judas took occasion to quarrel with the prince, and maliciously slew him, thinking all would go well with him if he was dead.

Behold the serpent, which the king Long nourished in his breast, Grown warm, strikes forth his baneful sting, And robb’d him of his rest.

Though none accused him of the murder, yet his conscience so stung him, that he soon quitted the kingdom, leaving all his pomp and finery behind him, and changing his name, took upon him the mean employ of a servant, wandering about from place to place, until at length he arrived at Joppa, the place of his nativity; here he soon got a place in a nobleman’s family, where he behaved so well as to gain the esteem of his lord and lady, and all that knew him. One day it happened that as his lady was walking abroad big with child, she longed for some fruit, which she saw in Judas’s father’s garden, bidding him go and buy her some. He took the money, but was resolved to steal the fruit; and going to the garden, broke down the fences, which as he was doing his father came out, and seized him for the robbery; and Judas to extricate himself from the hand of justice murdered his father upon the spot, and immediately escaped to Theba, a city about seventy-six leagues distance. Here he continued four years, in which time the noise of the murder being blown over, he returned back again, and got another place in a nobleman’s family, where he lived sometime, till his own mother accidentally seeing him fell in love with and married him.

About five years after they had been married, one morning in bed Judas’s shirt bosom lay open, when she saw under his left breast the marks he was born with; upon which she waked him in an agony, and told him the whole story of his birth, and the part she had acted therein. Judas heard this with wonder and astonishment, and on his part confessed to her the many crimes he had been guilty of; after which she desired him to depart from her, and seek mercy of God in another country; protesting she would never be carnally known to him any more.

Judas full of grief and remorse of conscience, left Joppa, and wandered about like a pilgrim, till he heard of a mighty prophet, called _Jesus of Nazareth_, in the land of Judea, who wrought many miracles, and wonderful works; to him he went, and liking his doctrine and seeing his miracles, he begged of our Lord to be admitted one of his followers: Our Saviour chose him to be one of his disciples, and gave him the charge of what money or provision he carried about with him. There is no evidence that his religious instructions, or his preaching the word, or miracles, were inferior to those of his brethren: but covetousness still reigned in his heart. Notwithstanding all this Judas could not forget his covetousness, for when Mary Magdalene brought a box of costly ointment, to anoint our dear Lord’s feet, at the house of Simon the Leper, Judas was highly offended thereat, because the value thereof was not put into his bag. But our Lord knowing his covetous and wicked heart, sharply rebuked him; at which he was so enraged, that he in revenge premeditated, and put into execution, the worst action of all his life, and going to the chief priests and elders, he said unto them, what will you give me, and I will betray him they call Jesus into your hands? And they agreed with him for thirty pieces of silver; or £3, 8s. 5d. English money.

The love of money is a rock Which causes care and trouble, And he that hasteth to be rich, He makes his sorrows double.

Money’s a most alluring bait, Conducive unto evil, For this base Judas sold his God, Himself unto the devil.

When our Lord was instituting his last supper, he said unto his disciples, I have chosen you twelve, but one of you is a devil. And again, Verily I say unto you, one of you this night shall betray me, and he it is unto whomsoever I shall give a sop: then giving a sop unto Judas, he said unto him what thou dost do quickly. With the sop the devil entered into Judas, and he went out from amongst them.--Judas then went to the chief priests, and received the thirty pieces of silver; so taking with him an armed band of men, to apprehend his master, He led them to the Garden, of Gethsemane where Jesus was wont to retire for his devotion; he went telling them, that whomsoever he should kiss, the same was he, hold him fast. There our Lord beheld his adversaries coming with burning torches and lanterns, and weapons to apprehend him; then spake he to his disciples, and said, “_Rise let us go; behold he is at hand that will betray me._” And while he was speaking, came Judas the traitor, saying, Hail, Master, and kissed him. For it is written, that it was the manner and custom of our Lord Jesus towards his disciples, that when at any time he had sent them out, at their return again, he would receive them with a loving kiss. Then they laid hands on the Lord, and bound him as a thief and a murderer, and led him away to the high Priest and Elders, who asked him many questions; to which our Lord gave them no answer, but stood like a lamb dumb before his shearers. And here let us behold our Lord Jesus, how patiently and meekly he receives that false and treacherous kiss from that unfaithful disciple, whose feet he had vouchsafed to wash with his own hands, and whom out of his unspeakable charity he refused not to feed with the precious food of his blessed body. Consider likewise how meekly he suffered himself to be taken, bound, struck, and furiously dragged away, as if he had been a thief, or the most wicked person in the world, void of power to help himself. Contemplate also the great sorrow and inward affliction he had of his disciples, who fled and left him in the hands of those ravenous wolves. And on the other side, consider the grief of their hearts, since the cause of their leaving him was not the perversity of their will, but the frailty of their weak nature: for which they heartily mourn and sigh, like poor orphans that know not what they do, or whither to go; and their sorrow was so much the greater, as they knew in what villanous manner their Lord and master would be treated and abused. Nevertheless, the whole assembly, though they found nothing worthy of death in him, one by one passed the following sentences on him.

JERUSALEM’S

BLACK TRIBUNAL;

OR THE

BLOODY SENTENCE OF THE JEWS,

AGAINST

OUR BLESSED LORD AND SAVIOUR,

JESUS CHRIST.

CAIPHAS.

Better one man should die, than all perish.

JEHOSOPHAT.

Let him be bound, and kept fast in chains.

RAPHAR.

Let us put him to death.

FAREAS.

Let us banish him, or he will destroy our country.

DIARRHIAS.

He is worthy of death, because he seduceth the people.

RABINTH.

Guilty or not, let the seducer die.

LESSA.

Let us banish him for ever.

CHIERIES.

If he be innocent he shall die, because he stirreth up the people.

PTOLEMEUS.

Guilty or not guilty, let us sentence him to death or punishment.

TERAS.

Either banish him, or send him unto Cæsar.

LEMECH.

Punish him with death.

POTIPHARES.

Let him be banished for seducing the people.

The mob also cried out to Pontius Pilate, if you let this man go, you are not Cæsar’s friend; therefore, crucify him! crucify him!

THE

SENTENCE OF DEATH

PASSED ON

JESUS CHRIST

BY

PONTIUS PILATE.

I PONTIUS PILATE, Judge in Jerusalem under the most potent Tiberius, happy and prosperous be his reign, having heard and known the accusation of JESUS OF NAZARETH, whom the Jews brought bound, to pronounce his sentence; seeing he, by presumptuous expressions, called himself the SON of GOD and the KING of the JEWS, and said he would destroy the TEMPLE of Solomon. Let him be condemned to the cross with the two Thieves.

Thus was the Lord of Life condemn’d, On Calv’ry’s mount to die, As Moses’ Serpent so was he There lifted up on high.

’Twas not for sins that were his own, He there shed forth his blood, But that such sinners vile as we, Might be brought near to God.

Let us obey the gospel call, Now while it is to-day, Lest ere to-morrow Death should cry, To judgment come away.

MISERABLE AND AWFUL END OF THE TRAITOR JUDAS.

Now Judas, the Traitor, had no sooner seen his master condemned by the Jewish council, than his conscience upbraided him; he brought back the thirty pieces of silver, and confessed he had betrayed his innocent master. But the Jewish rulers replied, that that was none of their business, he might blame himself. And he threw back the thirty pieces of silver and went out and hanged himself; but the rope breaking, or the tree giving way, he fell and his body burst asunder, and his bowels gushed out. Then the Jews, as they thought the price of blood was not fit for the Treasury, they, as agents for Judas, gave it for the Potters-field to bury strangers in.

Tho’ Judas ’mongst the Apostles was And with them took his part, His awful end proved him to be A traitor in his heart.

On the Evening after our Lord’s resurrection he appeared unto ten of the apostles, Judas being dead, and Thomas absent: he renewed their mission, and breathed on them, as a token of his sending the Holy Ghost. After giving them repeated proofs of his resurrection, he just before his ascension gave them a formal commission, saying, “_Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen._” After they had witnessed their master’s departure to the heavenly mansions, Peter proposed, that one who had been a constant witness of his marvellous sufferings and conduct, should be chosen to fill the room of Judas. The disciples chose Barsabas and Matthias for the candidates. As the office was extraordinary, and perhaps the votes equal, the final determination, which of the two should be the apostle, was left to the decision of God by the lot. After prayer, the lots were cast, and it fell upon Matthias: he was therefore numbered with the eleven apostles.

On the day of Pentecost, a feast appointed to commemorate the giving of the law, the Holy Ghost, in the shape of cloven tongues of fire, descended on each of them; rendered them bold and infallible in preaching the gospel; qualified them with power, to speak in every language, to discern men’s tempers, and to confer the miraculous influence of speaking with tongues on others, by the laying on of hands.

Learn hence a lot’s a sacred thing, Let’s not it vanity use, Since God thereby has oft thought fit, To choose and to refuse.

Let’s be content with what’s our lot, Since God to us it gave, Let’s pray that Christ may be the gift, Greater can’t sinners have.

Correspondent to the twelve patriarchs, or twelve tribes of Israel, our Saviour, in the second or third year of his public ministry, first appointed, and then sent forth twelve of his followers, whom he named Apostles. These he sent out by two’s,

SIMON PETER, and ANDREW his brother;

JAMES the son of ZEBEDEE, and JOHN his brother;

PHILIP, and BARTHOLOMEW;

THOMAS, and MATTHEW;

JAMES the son of ALPHEUS, and JUDE his brother;

SIMON the Canaanite, and JUDAS ISCARIOT;

MATTHIAS, succeeded Judas after the resurrection of our Lord.

ASCENSION

OF

OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.

Touching the wonderful ascension of our Lord Jesus, it behoves thee, pious reader, to awaken thy heart, and render thyself with more than ordinarly attention to all that is here said or done, relating to this subject, if thou desire to feed thy soul with heavenly comfort, and reap the spiritual unction, which plentifully flows from the devout contemplation of so divine a subject.