The Washington herald., 1914-10-31
With the Washington Churches
illed. Then an the disciples LETT BIN,

IAeAnneu. Aneh Al INC oAsSAbio7 ie%e @@AAAs
90 And they that had taken Jesus led
Him away to the house Of caiaphas the
high priest, where the scribes and the
4 elders were gathered together.
i (5s) But Peter followed Him afar on,
4 unto the court OF the high priest, and en-
tered in. and sat with the oficers to see
the end.
5O Now the chief priests and the
whole council sought false witness
against Jesus. that they might put Him
to death.
CsO And they found It not, though
many false witnesses came. But after
ward came two
6D And said, This man said, am
able to destroy the temple OF God, and
| to build II in three days.
i CS0 And the high priest stood up, and
said unto Him, Answerest Thou nothingf
what II It which these witness against
/ thee?
CS0 But Jesus held His peace. And
the high priest said unto Him, adJure
Thee by the living God. that Thou tell us
whether Thou be the Christ, the Son OF
| God.
go Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast
said; nevertheless I say unto you. Hence
forth ye shall see the Son of man sitting
at the right hand Of power, and coming
on the clouds Of heaven.
/ C60 Then the high priest rent his gar.
ments, saying, He hath spoken bias
phemy; what further need have We of
witnesses7 behold, now ye have heard
the blasphemy.
(e0 What think YET They answered
and said, He is worthy OF death.
cd Then did they spit in His face and
buffet Him; and some smote Him with
the palms Of their hands.
(60 Saying, Prophesy unto US, Thou
Christ; who L. he that struck Thee?
The Narrative.
| The lesson OF the week before last. In
which We followed the Lord into Gethse-
names garden, admits US TO the atmos-
phere Of the present one. In that we saw
| the final dedication OF the Saviour TO the
redeeming purpose OF God. completed.
He now stands ready for all the will OF
God. In this lesson We have the account
OF the carrying out OF that will by its
enemies. In the forefront stands Judas.
| one Of the twelve. We have considered
the story of his baseness, and his unholy
compact with the rulers. Here he is seen
carrying into effect his purpose. and be-
traying his Master with q kiss. So, by
| that betrayal ard that kiss, Jesus was
| delivered by the discriminate counsel and
| foreknowledge OF God into the hands Of
| lawless r1en.
story OF Peters laundering zeal, as he
drew his sword in defense OF his Lord.
! The words Of Jesus to him are remark
! able as they bear upon the whole OF the
events which followed. In the first place
| the sword was forbidden. That which
Judas did OF wickedness was In the will
Of God for human redemption. the deliv-
! cry Of Jesus to death. That which Peter
did in devotion, was contrary to the will
Of
4 his Master being delivered to death.
Therefore the sword must not be used.
| Only by death and the life won out Of IL.
can the Divine purpose be fulfilled.
These words show. moreover. that our
Lords going TO death was purely volun-
| tRry. Close at hand was the possibility
| Of deliverance by a force unutterably
! superior 10 anything that hell or earth
| could marshal against Him. For the
| asking He might have obtained twelve
legions Of angels The possibility was
refused in the interest Of human redemp-
ton.
Equally arresting are the words which
declare His acceptation OF the necessity
as 1t had been revealed in the sacred
writings If He were thus to escape from
all that confronted Him. how could they
be fulfilled? Surely nothing that ever
passed His lips was stronger in its cor
roboration of the authority OF these writ
ings.
It was now, when His disciples realized
not merely that His enemies were reso-
I lutely set upon His destruction, but that
He Himself refused all deliverance, that
they left Him and fed
Then follows the account of the ir-
regular and illegal trial at night. The
council before which He was arraigned
sought false witnesses in order that they
might put Him to death. Thus they pro-
ceeded, not to investigate in order to the
discovery Of the truth, but having al
ready decided upon sentence, they set
about the devilish business of discovering
some pretext for the carrying out Of their
purpose. At last two witnesses were
found who declared that Jesus had said,
II am able to destroy the temple of God,
and to build II In three days" The false
ness Of their testimony is seen when We
turn to what He actually did say. This
is recorded by John di:9), Destroy this
temple, and in three days will raise It
up" Not a word was here about His de-
struction Of the temple. He spoke of
the fact that they would destroy the
temple. His claim was not that He would
destroy. but that He would raise up. OF
course We understand that He referred
to the temple OF His body, but allowing
the other Interpretation, the evidence
borne was still false. To the lying accu-
sation He made no answer.
II was then that tho high priest did
what he had no right to do, administered
the legal form of oath. as he said, "I
adjure Thee, by the living God. that Thou
tell US whether Thou be the Christ, the !
Son OF God" In order that there might |
be no Misrepresentation. Jesus replied on !,
oath, making this supreme claim to Mes
siahship in the words, Thou hast said"
He added however the declaration, |
"Henceforth ye shall see the Son OF man.
sitting at the right hand OF power, and
coming on the clouds of heaven" This |
stirred the anger Of the high priest, and
gave him what he needed. the opportu- |
nifty to make the definite charge Of bias
phemy. Upon this charge he made his |
appeal to the council, and the vote was
taken which declared He is worthy OF
death"
This verdict was immediately followed
by indecent indignities which they heaped
upon Him.
The Teaching.
The whole scene Is indeed a dark and
terrible one, and the impression 1t inev
itably leaves upon the mind is that Of its
appalling revelation of fallen human ma
ture. These men surrounding the Lord
Of glory are men in the image, and after
the likeness OF God. and yet how almost
impossible 1t is to believe It. Their atti-
tudes and actions declare that II indeed, /
in the mystery of their being, they are
the offspring Of God, then have they ap-
pallingly fallen from their high estate.
All this is true Of all that are seen in