Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-06-06
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
SUBJECT FOR SUNDAY, JUNE o.
Jesus Before Pilate,' March 10;
120-GOIden Tex, John 1916
Notes and Comments.

LtelyH found so often about forty times) In
his Gospel; just the word for a faithful ser
rant who delights TO do quickly and thor
Sughly whatever there is to be done; but this
lime Il is written concerning the servants Of
Satan that they also are quick to do his bid
ling. The disciples Of Christ could not watch
,ne hour with Him in His agony, but here
are disciples of the devil eagerly watching
md working all night; is there not some
thing like it to-day when Christians complain
Il the service is a little over the appointed
hour or hour and half, but two or four
hours is none too much to spend at an enter
tainment Oh evening party, and Satan thinks
L not too much to keep his places
Tor the destruction of soul and body
open till midnight, or even all night.
What a night it had been for our dear
Lord; the agony in the garden, the betrayal
by professed friend. the arrest and
the being bound and led away to Annas and
thence to Caiaphas, the examination and
cruel treatment before Caiaphas, the three
fold denial trecorded in each of the four
Gospels of that disciple who had said that
though he should die with Him he would not
deny Him, was it not enough already to
break the Saviour's heart? But it is only the
beginning of His sufferings. ''The chief priests
held a consultation with the elders and
scribes and the whole council" 1t would
seem from this that the examination and CON
demnation of last lesson was not before a
full council, but now that all had assembled,
they seem to concur in what had been done;
or If any such as Joseph or Nicodemus pro
tested, it is not recorded; perhaps because
they saw it was useless. "And bound Jesus
and carried Him away, and delivered Hint t6
PLATE" Luke xxxiii., l, says: "The whole
multitude of them arose and led Him unto
Plate" The Jews could not carry out the
sentence of death which they had pronounced
upon Jesus; that must be done by the
Roman Governor, therefore He is taken be
fore Plate.
Q. "And PLATE asked Him: Art Thou tn,
King of the Jewsr 1t is possible that as
PLATE, the representative of the great world
power Of that time, to which the Jews were
then in subsection, looked upon Jesus and
asked this question, he may have thought
Him some poor, harmless, weak minded per
soA; just IS now when some true believer il
Jesus still speaks Of Him as King Of the Jews,
soon 10 return and sit on David's throne, as
sertiAg that he also expects to reign with
Him Qnko l., 80; Rev. ", 8, 1O, he is consid
cred by many religious ns well as by many
worldly wise people a very weak minded
person. o Believer, be steadfast; believe
God, no matter what people think or say OF
you.
35 "Jesus answered nothing" In the Re
vised Version this statement is omitted from
verse 5, and in verse It reads: Jesus nc
more answered anything" He had confessed
privately to PLATE John xviii, $3.50 and
now publicly that He was a King, but He
has now nothing more to say, and to the va
rious accusations of the chief priests Ht
answers nothing. AS we fix our eyes upon
Him for there is none other worth looking
at thus grandly silent in the presence of Jew
and Gentle authority, let us not forget that
He is not only King of tho Jews, but He il
also King of nations, King of Kings and
Lord of Lords. Rev. xv., 8, margin; XIX
16.
6-s. 'sNow at that feast he released unx
them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired
Matt. xvii, Is, says that this was his custom
PLATE had already said to Jesus that he haC
power to cruelty and power to release. These
verses of our lesson tell us of certain
prisoner named Barabbas, who was then in
prison for insurrection and murder, whom
Matt. xvii, 16, speaks Of as a notable
prisoner. Consider these two, Plate, the
Roman Governor, and Jesus, of Nazareth, the
latter apparently in the power of the former,
who for the time being seems to have the
power Of life or death; but forget not the
words of Jesus after His resurrection: "Al
power is given unto Me in heaven and in
earth, and again, Fear not; l am the First
and the Last and the Living One; and was
dead and behold am alive forevermore. and
I have the keys of death and of Hades. :"
(Matt xiii, IS; Rev. l., II, IS, r. W Seeing
Jesus and believing His words will deliver us
from all fear of the greatest earthly powers
and from the fear of even death itself.
9. "Pilate answered them, saying: Will ye
that release unto you the King of the
JewsT' Matt. xvii, II, says that PLATE
asked them whether he should release Barab-
bas, or Jesus who is called Christ? By con-
sulting harmony of the Gospels it appears
that Plate interceded for Jesus and offered
to set Him free no less than seven times on
this eventful morning, this being the sixth
time; thus putting the responsibility of His
was determined to let Him go (Acts Ill, 13).
10. HE knew that the chief priests had
delivered Him for envy" So Joseph was
hated and envied by his brethren, and Moses
was envied by Israel. (Gen. xxxvii., 8, II;
Ps. cvi., 16.) "Wrath is cruel, and anger is
outrageous; but who is able to stand before
envyf" prov. xvii, A.
II. "But the chief priests moved the peo-
pie, that he should rather release Barabbas
unto Them In the account in Johns gospel
We And Plate saying three different times
that he found no fault in Him; when Judas
threw down the money he said he had be-
rrayed Innocent blood; and now the wife Of
the Roman Governor testifies that He is q
just man; there seems to be none against Him
but His own nation, and they SO hate Him
that they prefer a murderer to the Holy
Lamb Of God. Surely their choice indicates
their hearts; as Jesus told them, they are fair
without but foul within, outwardly religious
but in their hearts murderers; Barabbas
would feel at home with them.
10. "What will ye then that shall do unto
Him who ye call the King of tho JewsY
This is Pilates seventh interccssion on behalf
of Jesus. Plate asked the Jews to tell him
what to do; he had before him an innocent
man, for he had proved it and testified it, ant
! the only right thing to do was to release Hin
| and protect Him from this furious mob
There was something still better for PLATE tt
| do, and that was to receive Him as hi
Saviour, and become His faithful follower
that is the one thing for you to do, dea
reader, if you have not already done SO.
13. And they cried out again, Crucif.
Him" According to Jewish law, if Jesu
was guilty of blasphemy, as they said, Fl
| 16); but in Ps. xxi, 16 it was written, 'the,
pierced my hands and my feet" and in thi
cry that He should be crucified, they wer
| unconsciously calling for a fulfillment o
| Scripture; and as it was written that not
bone of the passover lamb was to be broke
| (Ex. xiii, 49,, this also foretold that He shohl
not be stoned to death. All Scripture mus
| be fulfilled.
H. 'Then Plate said unto them, Why
what evil hath He done?' lisa. liii., 0, says
HE hath done no violence, neither was an
deceit in His mouth" They could find n
evil in Him, for there was none He wa
holy, harmless, undefiled and separate frol
sinners. 'They cried out the more exceed
ingly, Cruelty Him" They had long az
determined that He must die; they could nc
tolerate His holiness, their sinful lives coul
not bear the light, they would not repent an