Part 5

Afterward Jesus got up from the table and went down stairs into the street, and the disciples followed him. It was dark; but Jesus talked to them as they went along. He said, I am going to die to-night, and you will all leave me.

But Peter said, I will not leave you; I will go to prison with you; I will die with you; but I will never leave you.

Jesus said to him, Yes, you will, Peter; you will say that you do not know me; you will say that you are not my friend. This night, Peter, you will say so, before the cock crows. (For cocks crow in the morning when it is light.)

Jesus talked sweetly to his disciples. He said, Do not be sorry because I am going away. I shall go back to my Father, and I shall soon come back to you. When I am in heaven, I shall get ready a place in heaven for you. I command you to love one another, and I will send the Holy Spirit to comfort you.

At last Jesus came to a garden. He had often been to that garden with his disciples, and wicked Judas knew the place.

Where was Judas now?

He was with the wicked, proud men.

You will soon hear how he came to the garden, and how he brought the _servants_ of the wicked men with him. For these wicked men meant to send their servants to catch Jesus.

“This is my flesh,” the sorrowing Saviour said, And, as he spoke, he gave the broken bread: “This is my blood,” and then he bade all drink, And of their dying Master ever think.

“This night I die: this night my body’s bruised; This night by wicked men my name’s abused; And even you, my dearest friends, shall fly, And leave your Master all alone to die.”

His friends in sorrow heard; then promised With him they fondly loved their blood to shed; And Peter loudest said, “With thee I’ll die,” And little thought he should his Lord deny.

CHILD.

Sometimes I think I never will offend, By doing wrong, my best, my heav’nly Friend; How soon my heart forgets! To God I’ll pray For grace to keep me in his holy way.

LESSON XXXV.

THE GARDEN.

MATTHEW, xxvi. 30-57. JOHN, xviii. 1-12.

WHEN Jesus was come to the garden, he told all his disciples to stop in one place till he came back, except three that he took with him.

Who were they?

Peter, James, and John. He took them further on in the garden, and then said to them, I feel very sad indeed. I am going to pray. Do you stay here. Do not go to sleep, but pray while I am praying.

Then Jesus went a little way off by himself, and fell upon the ground, and began to pray to his Father to help him. He ended his prayer by saying, O Father, do thou what thou wilt, not what I will.

He prayed very earnestly, and he felt so unhappy that the blood came out of his skin, and fell on the ground. Then he got up and went back to Peter, and James, and John, but he found them asleep. He waked them, and told them to pray.

Then he went back and prayed again to his Father, to help him in his great sorrow; then he came back to his disciples, but they had fallen asleep again.

Then Jesus prayed again, and his Father sent an angel from heaven to comfort him. I do not know what the angel said, but I know the angel loved him, and could speak sweet words to him, and tell him how his Father loved him. The angel did not stay long; he soon went back to God.

Then Jesus came again to his disciples, and found them still asleep. But Jesus waked them and told them to get up; for Judas is near.

While Jesus was saying this, a great many people were seen walking in the garden. These were the servants of the proud men in Jerusalem. They had swords, and sticks, and lanterns in their hands. And Judas went before them to show them where Jesus was. But Judas came up slily to Jesus, and gave him a kiss, pretending to love him.

Jesus knew what Judas was doing, and he said, Friend, why do you come here? and why do you kiss me?

Jesus did not run away, but he went up to the wicked men, and said, Whom are you looking for?

They said, For Jesus.

He said, I am he.

When he said that, God made all the wicked people fall upon their backs upon the ground. Then Jesus could have run away; but he chose to stay, that he might die for sinners.

The wicked people soon got up; God let them get up; but Jesus said to them, If you want to have me, you must let my disciples go away.

It was kind of Jesus to think of them, and they were frightened and glad to get away; they did not wish to stay to die with Jesus.

But Peter took a sword and cut off one of the wicked men’s ears. Peter wished to fight; but Jesus said, Put up your sword. If I were to pray now to my Father, he would send thousands of angels to help me. Then Jesus touched the man’s ear, and made it well.

Why did not Jesus pray to God to send the angels?

Because he chose to die to save us. Had the angels come, and taken Jesus back to heaven, then we should all have gone to hell.

Peter and all the rest of the disciples ran away, and left Jesus quite alone with the wicked men. They took ropes, and tied his hands and feet, and they led him away into Jerusalem; and he went along meekly as a lamb.

LESSON XXXVI.

PETER’S DENIAL.

MATTHEW, xxvi. 57 to end.

THE wicked proud men, who hated Jesus, had sat up all night. They had sent their servants with some soldiers to fetch Jesus. They were in a fine house seated on seats round the room, talking together, and longing for Jesus to be brought.

They said one to another, We will have him killed when he comes—we will take him to the judge.

At last Jesus came in with the wicked servants. The proud men were glad to see him. They made him stand up in the midst of the large room. Then they spoke roughly. Are you the Son of God? they said.

And Jesus said, Yes, I am; and one day you will see me coming in the clouds with the angels.

Then the wicked men were angry.

Do you hear what he says? they cried out. He calls himself the Son of God! He must be taken to the judge to be killed.

Jesus stood meekly all this while, and hardly spoke a word.

What was become of his disciples? They had run away.

Had Peter run away? Peter said he would die with Jesus. But he ran away too.

At last Peter thought, I will go and look for Jesus; I should like to see what the wicked men are doing to him.

So Peter came to Jerusalem, and into the fine house. He came into the hall first: the wicked servants were sitting round a fire in the hall; a door was open, and through the door Peter could see Jesus. There he was, standing before the wicked men. Peter hoped that nobody would know that he was one of Jesus’ disciples, lest he should be killed. But as Peter was sitting by the fire, warming himself, a maid said to him, You are one of the disciples of Jesus.

Then Peter was frightened, and said, No, I am not; I do not know the man you speak of.

Then Peter got up, and went outside the door; but another maid said to him, I am sure you are one of the disciples of Jesus.

Peter said, I am not. So Peter went back again to the fire, and began talking with the servants.

But some of them remembered having seen Peter in the garden, and they came to Peter and said, We are certain that you are one of the disciples. I saw you in the garden, said one.

Then Peter began to swear, and to say that he was not.

While Peter was speaking so wickedly he heard a cock crow. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said, and he looked at Jesus, and Jesus turned round his face and looked at Peter. It was such a look! Jesus did not speak, but his look seemed to say, Is this Peter, my friend, who said he would die with me? Is this his love for me? Does he say he does not know me?

Peter felt very sorry; he felt as if his heart would break, and he went out of the house, and began to cry very much indeed. For Peter did really love Jesus; only Satan had tempted him to be so wicked as to say he did not know him.

If Peter had prayed in the garden instead of going to sleep, he would have behaved better. But Christ had often prayed for Peter, that Satan might not get his soul at last.

When Peter sat within the hall, To see what should his Lord befall, He said he never knew the man, And e’en to curse and swear began. His sorrowing Master turn’d his head, And by his look he sweetly said, “Does Peter say he knows me not? Has Peter then my love forgot?”

Soon Peter wept most bitterly That he had dared his Lord deny. His Lord is mine: I love him too, Oh! may I prove to him more true! But if I sin, oh! grant that I May weep like Peter, bitterly; And may it pierce me like a sword, To think I’ve griev’d my dearest Lord.

LESSON XXXVII.

PONTIUS PILATE.

JOHN, xviii. 22 to end. MATTHEW, xxvi. 67, 68. JOHN, xix. 1-16.

ALL night long, Jesus stood in the great room; he heard all Peter said, and that must have grieved him. The wicked people were like lions and tigers, and Jesus like a lamb. They looked at him as if they hated him.

Once when he spoke, a servant slapped his face; but he bore this meekly.

The judge was not up yet, for it was night; so the wicked people were forced to wait till the morning.

That night the servants came round Jesus and beat him, and pushed him, and laughed at him, and even spat in his face.

When the morning came, the wicked people said, Now we will bring him to the judge.

So they went out of their fine house and took Jesus with them.

The judge sat upon a high seat in the hall. His name was Pontius Pilate. The judge did not know Jesus. The judge said, What has he done?

The wicked people said, He calls himself a king.

Then Pilate said to Jesus, Are you a king? And Jesus said, Yes, I am. But Pilate thought that he looked very good, and he did not want to punish him.

Then the wicked men made a great noise, and said, You must crucify him.

Pilate said, No, I will beat him, and that will be enough. So Pilate gave Jesus to some soldiers, who took him into a house and beat him with knotted ropes, (this way of beating is called scourging,) and all the blood ran down his back. Then the cruel soldiers laughed at him because he said he was a king. They took off his own clothes, and put some fine clothes on him such as kings wear, purple and red.

Then they said, We must put a crown on his head. So they took prickly thorns, sharp like pins, and twisted them together, and made a crown, and put it on his head.

They said He must have a scepter, (for kings hold something called a scepter in their hands), so they put a reed in his hand for a scepter; then they took it from him, and beat him on the head: and they knelt down to him laughing, and said, O king! O king!

Pilate saw the soldiers tormenting him, and he brought Jesus into the street, where the wicked people were, and he showed Jesus to them, and said, Look at your king.

Pilate hoped they would be sorry to see him so ill-used; blood upon his forehead from the thorns, and his back scourged, and dressed in fine clothes to mock him: but the wicked people were cruel like tigers.

Said they, Crucify him! Crucify him! All the people cried out, Crucify him! though Jesus had always been so kind to them.

Will you crucify your king? said Pilate.

He shall not be our king, the people said. There was a very great noise in the street, from the people all speaking at once.

Then Pilate thought he would please the wicked people, and he said, Take him and crucify him. Then the people were glad. But first the soldiers took the fine clothes off Jesus, and put his own clothes on him again.

How wicked it was of Pilate to let him be crucified! Pilate thought Jesus was good, yet he let him be killed to please the people.

What! is there none to take _his_ part Who silent, trembling, bleeding, stands? Not one to cheer his broken heart, Or snatch him from those cruel hands?

A thousand voices lifted high Now fill with horrid shouts the air— “Away with him and crucify!” Nor does _one_ friend for him appear.

Behold how men his love reward! His tender flesh the scourge has torn, His gentle hands are bound with cord, His head is crown’d with prickly thorn.

But why did God the Father let His only son be treated thus?— He sent his Son to pay our debt, And suffer all this pain for us.

’Twas I deserved, O dearest Lord, My flesh should be with scourging torn, My little hands be bound with cord, _My_ head be crown’d with prickly thorn.

And now what can I do for him Who suffer’d all this pain for me? Whene’er I feel or hear of sin, I’ll think, O dearest Lord, of thee.

Nor shall my hand in anger strike, When thy dear hands for me were bound; Nor shall my head with passion shake, When thine with prickly thorns was crown’d.

And when I hear one smiling tell, Of sinful things that men have done, I will not smile, but sorrow feel, Because sin bruis’d God’s only Son.

LESSON XXXVIII.

DEATH OF JUDAS.

MATTHEW, xxvii. 3-5.

WHERE was Judas all this while? The wicked people had given him the money, thirty pieces of silver: but Judas could not be happy.

Ah! thought he, I have killed my good Master! what a wicked thing I have done!

Judas felt that he could not like the money: he could not bear to keep it, because he had done such a wicked thing to get it. So Judas went to look for the wicked men. They had been sitting up all night talking against Jesus: but now they were in God’s house—the Temple.

Judas brought the thirty pieces of silver in his hands, and threw them down on the floor near the wicked men. Judas said, I have done a very wicked thing.

But the men did not care for _that_: all they wanted was to get Jesus killed.

They picked up the pieces of silver from the floor, and went and bought a field with the money.

And where did Judas go?

He went out to the field to kill himself. He did not go and ask Jesus to forgive him, but went and hanged himself. I suppose he tied a rope around his neck, and fastened the rope to a tree. Afterward he fell down from the tree, and his body burst, and his blood was poured out on the ground. O what a horrible sight it must have been! But it was more horrible to think where Judas’ soul was gone. It was gone to hell—to Satan.

It was very wicked of Judas to hang himself, instead of praying to God to forgive him.

Judas is in the wicked place now; and Jesus will judge him at the last day, and say, Depart, you cursed!

LESSON XXXIX.

THE CROSS—PART I.

LUKE, xxiii. 26-34.

THE wicked people were very glad when Pilate said Jesus was to be crucified. They made a cross of two great pieces of wood like boards, and made Jesus carry it. They took him out of Jerusalem into the country. The wicked people came with him.

Jesus was so weak that he could hardly walk, and the cross was so heavy that he could not carry it. He would have dropped down on the way, if a man had not helped him to carry the cross.

There were a few people who were sorry for the Lord Jesus.

Some women, who loved him very much, came crying after him. Jesus heard them crying, and he turned round and spoke very kindly to them.

He said, Do not cry for me; cry for yourselves, and for your children. Why did Jesus tell them to cry for themselves? Ah! Jesus knew how God would one day punish the people in Jerusalem for their wickedness.

At last Jesus came to the top of a hill. Then the soldiers made Jesus lie upon his cross, and they put nails in his hands, and nails in his feet. So they nailed him to the cross. Then the soldiers made a hole in the ground, and stuck the cross in it.

They had taken off Jesus’ clothes; and when he was on the cross four soldiers tore the clothes in four pieces, and each took a piece: but when they looked at his coat they said, We will not tear it, because there is no seam in it; then one of the soldiers took it for his own. So the wicked people took everything away from Jesus.

Was Jesus very angry with them?

No, he was meek as a lamb. He prayed to his Father while he was upon the cross; he could not lift up his hands, but he could speak to God. He prayed for these wicked people, and said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

“Father, forgive,” the sufferer cries, “Because they know not what they do.” To Heaven he lifts his dying eyes: Was such a prayer e’er heard below?

Tell me for whom the Saviour prays? For those who bear him deadly hate, Who spat upon his lovely face, And pierced his blessed hands and feet,

And does the Saviour pray for these? Ah! then I see that I should pray For all who hurt me, vex, or tease, By spiteful things they do or say.

Alas! I feel my heart’s inclin’d To do to them as they to me, And by my words and deeds unkind To let all such my anger see.

Yet _I_ have sinn’d against my God, And disobey’d ten thousand times: Am I prepar’d to feel his rod Avenging my ten thousand crimes?

And thus he says he’ll deal with me If I’m unwilling to forgive; For only those _like_ Christ shall see The glorious place where angels live.

LESSON XL.

THE CROSS—PART II.

LUKE, xxiii. 35-43.

PONTIUS PILATE wrote these words on the top of Jesus’ cross: This is the King of the Jews.

Who were the Jews?

The people who lived in Jerusalem were called Jews.

All the wicked people laughed when they read these words; they shook their heads, and pouted their lips at Jesus, and said, If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Could Jesus have come down?

He could do everything; but he chose to stay to die for sinners.

The wicked people said, If God loved him, he would not leave him to die on the cross.

But his Father let him die to save us.

There was a cross on each side of Jesus, and a thief nailed upon each cross. One of these thieves laughed at Jesus; he said, Why do you not save us, if you are the son of God?

The other thief was sorry for his sins, and he loved Jesus.

The thief who was sorry said to the other thief, We have been naughty, we deserve to be crucified; but Jesus is quite good. Then he spoke to Jesus, and said, Remember me when you come to be king.

And Jesus said, You shall be with me in heaven to-day. So Christ heard the poor thief’s prayer; for Jesus died that he might save all who believed that he was the Son of God.

If you go to heaven you will see that poor thief.

Upon the hill where Jesus died A thief was plac’d on either side, Each nail’d upon a tree. The one revil’d Christ’s name in death, The other cried, with dying breath, “O Lord! remember me.”

The Saviour heard the poor thief’s prayer, And promis’d he would take him where Our God and angels dwell. Alas! his life was spent in sin: What joy a heaven at last to win And to escape from hell!

And oh! for him what glad surprise When heavenly glories met his eyes, And Christ array’d in light! He just had seen the dying pains, That had releas’d his soul from chains And everlasting night.

Ah! sure of all the hosts that sing The praises of their heav’nly King, His voice will loudest sound: For when just trembling on the brink And just about in hell to sink, Pardon and grace he found.

LESSON XLI.

THE CROSS—PART III.

JOHN, xix. 25-30. MATTHEW, xxvii. 45-54.

JESUS’ mother, Mary, stood near the cross. She came to see her son die. She was very sorry; she felt her heart full of pain at the sight.

She loved her dear, good son, who had been kind to her ever since he was a baby, and had never done one thing wrong, and she knew he was the Son of God. Jesus was sorry to see his mother’s grief.

John had come to the cross, and he was standing near Mary. Jesus wished John to take care of his mother, now that he was going to leave her. So he said to his mother, Behold thy son. And he said to John, Behold thy mother. John knew what Jesus meant, and he took Mary to be his mother, and made her live with him. Jesus loved his mother, and thought of her when he was dying.

Jesus was full of pain, and it was very hot. He said, I thirst! and the soldiers took a sponge, and dipped it in vinegar, and put it on a reed and gave it to Jesus.

Jesus just tasted the vinegar, and said, It is finished! and then he died. His spirit went to his Father, but his body hung upon the cross.

It was three o’clock in the afternoon when Jesus died. He had been nailed to the cross all the day. Before Jesus died, God had made it very dark, to show he was angry with the wicked people. And God made the earth shake, and the people were frightened; and when Jesus was dead, some of them said, This must have been the Son of God.

Mary beholds one dying there, Whom in her arms she once did bear, And to her bosom press. On her he casts his pitying eye, For who should now _his_ place supply, And cheer her loneliness?

The loving John shall be her son, And cherish her till life is done, Within his humble home: And oft together they shall speak Of him who, once despis’d and weak, At last in clouds shall come.

Oh! gentle Lord, how great the love Which made thy tender pity move, E’en in the hour of death! O let me show my parents dear The same kind love and thoughtful care, Until their latest breath.

LESSON XLII.

THE SOLDIERS.

JOHN, xix. 32-37.

AT last the soldiers came to see if Jesus and the two thieves were dead, that they might bury them before night. The soldiers looked at one thief, and they saw that he was not dead; so they broke his legs, and that killed him. Then they looked at the other thief, and they saw he was not dead; so they broke his legs. Then they looked at Jesus, and they saw he was dead, so they did not break his legs: but one of the soldiers took a long stick with a sharp point at the end, called a spear, and put it in his side; and out of his side blood and water came flowing upon the ground. John was standing near, and he saw the blood poured out. Do you remember how Jesus, at supper the night before, had poured wine in a cup, and said, This is my blood, which is shed for sinners?

Now his blood was poured out.

The spear made a hole in Jesus’ side. There was a hole in his side, and a hole in each hand, and a hole in each foot; and his forehead was pricked with thorns, and his eyes had shed many tears, and blood had come from his skin. All this he suffered for us, that God might forgive us our sins.

LESSON XLIII.

THE GRAVE.

JOHN, xix. 38 to end. LUKE, xxiii. 55, 56. MATTHEW, xxvii. 60.

THERE was one rich man who loved Jesus; his name was Joseph (not Mary’s husband, this was another Joseph); he had a garden, and in the garden he had made a grave: perhaps he meant to be buried there himself when he came to die.

But now Joseph thought, I should like to put the Lord Jesus in my grave. It was a very nice grave, and no one had ever been put there yet.

So Joseph went to Pontius Pilate, and said, I want the dead body of Jesus: may I take it down from the cross, and keep it myself?

And Pilate said, Yes, you may have it.

Then Joseph was glad. He bought some nice white clean linen. What do you think that was for? To wrap Jesus in. And he bought some spices (sweet-smelling things that grow out of the ground), and he brought some men with him, and they took the nails out of Jesus’ hands and feet, and, took his body down from the cross. Then Joseph wrapped a cloth round his head, and another cloth round his waist, and he put sweet spices on him; and then some men carried him along to Joseph’s garden.