"Take this, and eat it; this means my body which is given for you."

Then he took a cup of the wine, and blessed it, and gave this also to his disciples, saying:

"Drink from this, all of you; this means my blood, the blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many, to take away their sins. I tell you, from this time I will never again drink the juice of the grape, until that day when I drink it new with you, in the kingdom of my Father."

In the old times, an agreement or promise was called "a covenant," and when it was made a lamb or a goat was killed for an offering, and laid upon the altar to be burned. The blood of the offering was poured out on the altar; and this was called "the blood of the covenant." Jesus meant to tell his disciples that soon his blood would be poured forth as the sign of God's promise to take away sin from those who believed in him.

You have seen at some services in the church a table covered with a white cloth. When the cloth has been taken away, you have seen plates of bread and cups of wine. The minister gives the bread to the people, and repeats the words of Jesus, "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you." And afterward as the wine is taken, he says, "Drink ye all of this; for this is my blood shed for you." This service is called "The Lord's Supper," and it is held to keep in our minds the thought of the last meal that Jesus ate with his disciples.

"My dear children," said Jesus after the supper, "I am to be with you only a little longer; then you will look for me, and as I told the Jews I tell you now, where I am going you cannot come. I give you a new commandment, to love one another. As I have loved you, you are to love each other. By this every one will know that you are my disciples, by your loving each other."

"Lord," said Simon Peter, "where are you going?"

"I am going," answered Jesus, "where you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow me after a time."

"Why cannot I follow you now, Master?" asked Peter. "I am ready to lay down my life and die for you!"

"Will you lay down your life for me?" said Jesus. "I tell you truly, Peter, before the cock crows twice tomorrow morning you will three times declare that you have never known me."

But Peter again said most earnestly, "If I must die with you, I will never deny you."

And all the disciples who were present said with Peter that they would never forsake their Lord, even unto death.

The Vine and the Branches

"Do not be troubled in your hearts," he said to them; "trust in God, and trust in me, and in my words. In my Father's dwelling-place there are many homes. I am going to prepare a place for you; and when I have prepared it, I will come back and take you to be with me there, so that you may be where I am. And you know the way to the place where I am going."

"Master," said Thomas, "we do not know where you are going; and how then are we to know the way?"

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life," answered Jesus. "No one ever comes to the Father in any way except through me. If you knew me, you would know my Father also. You know him now, and have seen him; for you have seen me."

"Master," said Philip, "let us see the Father; that is all that we want."

"Have I been with you all this time, Philip," answered Jesus, "and yet you do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. What do you mean by saying, 'Let us see the Father'? Do you not believe that the Father and I are one, that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak are my Father's words; and the works that I do are my Father's works. I tell you truly, that whoever believes in me shall do the very works that I do; and he shall do even greater works than these. I am going to the Father, and whatever you ask the Father in my name that I will do, that the Father may be honored in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.

"If you love me," Jesus went on, "you will do whatever I have told you to do; and I will ask the Father to give you another Helper to be with you always. That Helper is the Spirit of Truth. The people of this world cannot have the Spirit, because they do not see him nor know him. But you know him, because he is always with you, and is within you. I will not leave you alone in your sorrow; I am coming to you. A little while longer, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me, for I am living, and you will be living, too. He who has my commands and keeps them in his heart is the one who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father; and I will love him and I will make myself known to him."

Then said one of the disciples named Judas—not Judas Iscariot the traitor (he had gone out), but another Judas, the brother of James—"How is it, Lord, that you are to make yourself known to us and not to the world?"

"If any one loves me," answered Jesus, "he will obey my word; and my Father will love him; and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my words; and the word to which you are listening is not my own word, but the word of the Father who sent me. I have told you all this while I am still with you, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send to you to take my place, he will teach you all that you need to know and he will bring to your mind all that I have said to you. Peace be with you! My own peace I give you. I do not give my peace to you as the world gives its 'peace.' Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.

"You heard me say that I was going away and soon afterward coming back to you. If you loved me fully, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I am. I have told you all this—that I am going away—before it happens, so that when it does happen, as it will very soon, you may still believe in me, and believe that I am coming again."

Then Jesus gave to his disciples another parable, "The Vine and the Branches." He said:

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower, the Master of the vineyard. You, my disciples, and all who believe in me, are the branches of the vine. If the vine-grower finds on his vine any branches that bear no fruit, he cuts them off, for they are of no use. If he finds branches that bear fruit, he trims them and cleans them, so that they may bear better fruit. You are already clean through the word that I have spoken to you. Keep united to me, the vine, and I will keep united to you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself when separate from the vine, no more can you bear fruit unless you stay united to me.

"Remember, I am the vine, and you are the branches. He who keeps himself in union with me, and keeps me in union with himself bears rich fruit. But apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not stay united to me, he is thrown away, just as a branch would be, and he withers up; then the worthless, withered branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and are burned.

"If you stay united to me, and my teaching stays in your hearts, you may ask whatever you wish, and it shall be yours. As you bear rich fruit and prove yourselves my disciples, my Father is honored. As my Father has loved me, so I have loved you; stay in my love. If you keep my commands in your hearts, you will stay in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands in my heart and dwell in his love."

The Last Words of Jesus to His Disciples

"This is my last command to you. Love one another as I have loved you. No one can give greater proof of love than by laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not any more call you 'servants'; for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you 'friends,' for all things that I have learned from my Father I have told you. It was not you who chose me, but I have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit that shall last, so that the Father may give you whatever you ask in my name.

"This is what I command you, to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, since I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember what I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they have tried to do me harm, they will try to do you harm too. If they hold to my word, they will hold to yours also. It is written in the Holy Book, 'They hated me without any cause,' and that word has come true in me; for they have indeed hated me when there was no cause for it. But when that Helper comes, he whom I will send to you—the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father—he will speak for me; yes, and you shall speak for me, for you have been with me from the very first.

"I have said these things to you now, so that in the times to come, knowing these things you will not be discouraged nor fail. They will put you out of their churches; yes, there is coming a time when if anyone kills you he will think that he is pleasing God. They will do these things because they have not really known my Father, nor known me. But I am telling you of these things now, that when the time comes, and you find the rulers and the people your enemies, you will remember I told you, and will be ready for these things.

"I am telling you the truth; it is best for you that I go away; for if I do not leave you, that Helper, the Spirit of God, will not come to you; but if I go away, I will send him to you. When he the Spirit of Truth comes, he will lead you into all truth; and he will make known to you what is to come. In a little while you will not see me any longer; then after another little while you will see me again."

These words seemed to the disciples hard to understand. They said to each other:

"What does he mean by telling us, 'In a little while you will not see me; then after another little while you will see me'; and 'I am going to the Father'? What does he mean by 'a little while'?"

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him; and he said to them, "Are you trying to find out what I meant in saying 'a little while and ye shall not see me, and then a little while and ye shall see me'? I tell you truly, that in a very little while you will be weeping and sorrowing, while the world around you will be glad. Then in a little while again, your sorrow shall be turned into joy, for you shall see me again, and your joy shall never be taken away from you."

Jesus meant them to understand that in a few hours he would be taken from them and placed upon the cross to die; that he would be buried, and all these things should give them pain and sorrow. But in a few days he would rise again from the grave, and then they would be glad and happy, with a happiness that should never pass away, even though he should again, after that, leave them and go to the Father.

After saying these things, Jesus lifted up his hands to God and prayed. In his prayer he gave thanks to God that he had been able to finish the work that had been given him to do. He prayed also for his disciples, that they might all be one in heart, and love each other, and that they might be kept faithful to the end. He prayed, too, not only for those his disciples, but for all who through their words should come to believe in him as the Saviour of the world; that they all might be of one heart, loving each other; one with Jesus, and one with his Father.

When Jesus had finished his prayer, they all sang a hymn together, and went out of the supper room into the silent streets of the city. They walked toward the Mount of Olives, as if expecting to return to Bethany, the place from which they had come in the afternoon.

With the disciples, as they went out of the house, was a young man whose name was John Mark. He may have been the son of the man at whose house Jesus and his disciples had eaten the supper. If that be so, then his mother's name was Mary, just like the name of Jesus' mother, though she was not the same woman. Long afterward, this John Mark wrote one of the four gospels, telling of the life of Jesus, "The Gospel of Mark."

In the Garden of Gethsemane

"Sit here, while I go and pray inside the garden."

He took with him three of his disciples, Simon Peter, James, and John his brother, and with these three went into the garden. The disciples began to notice that their Master was now showing the signs of deep sorrow, as if full of grief. He said to the three disciples:

"My heart is sad; sad even to death; stay here and watch."

Then he went forward a little way, and fell with his face upon the earth, and prayed to the Father:

"Oh, my Father! My Father!" he cried. "Thou canst do anything! Take this cup away from me, I pray! Yet, I do not ask to have my own will, but only what is thy will."

"The cup" of which Jesus spoke was the terrible suffering that was very soon to come upon him. In those last moments, as he saw his trial and death drawing near like a black cloud, his spirit shrank. So earnest was his prayer, that the sweat stood upon his face in drops of blood. Just then came an angel from heaven, standing by his side to cheer and help him.

He rose up, and walked to the place where he had left the three disciples. They had fallen asleep, being overcome with the trouble which they felt in knowing that soon they were to lose their Master. Jesus spoke to Peter,

"Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch with me for a single hour? Watch and pray, all of you, that you may be kept from being tempted. I know that your spirit is willing, but your bodies are weak."

Again he went away, and prayed in the same words:

"My Father! My Father! Thou canst do anything! Take this cup away from me! Yet, I would not have my own will, but thy will."

Coming back, he found them again asleep, for their eyes were heavy and they could not keep them open. When awaked, they did not know what to say to him, for they were ashamed of being found asleep a second time. Jesus left them, and prayed for the third time. In this prayer he said:

"Oh, my Father, if this cup cannot be taken away; if I must drink it, then thy will be done!"

He went once more to the three disciples, and found them asleep, just as before. He now said to them:

"You may as well sleep on now, and take your rest; for it is too late for you to help me. My time has come! The Son of Man has been given into the hands of wicked men. Come, get up, here is the traitor close at hand!"

And at that very instant, while he was speaking these words, the traitor, Judas Iscariot, burst into the garden, with a crowd of men, armed with swords and clubs. These men had been sent by the chief priests and the rulers to seize Jesus. Spies had been watching near the house while Jesus was talking after the supper, and others watching at the gate when Jesus passed out of it. Word had been sent to the chief priests that Jesus was in the garden, and while he was praying to his Father, these men, led by Judas Iscariot, were hurrying to that place to make Jesus their prisoner.

The men who had come to seize Jesus were not sure that in the night time, even though the full moon was shining, they would know him among his disciples. They said to Judas:

"How can we tell in the dark, under the trees, who is the one for us to take hold of as prisoner?"

"You watch me," said Judas, "and when I go up and kiss a man, seize him, for that one whom I shall kiss will be the man you are looking for."

So Judas went into the garden, where by this time all the other disciples were gathered around Jesus. He came rushing up, saying "Master! Master!" and kissed him, just though he were glad to see him.

"Judas," said Jesus, "do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"

Then he went forward to the band of men who were standing with their lanterns and torches, their swords and spears.

"For whom are you looking?" he said to these men.

"For Jesus of Nazareth," they answered him.

"I am he," said Jesus. At the instant when he said this, they went backward, as if frightened, and fell upon their faces on the ground. Again, after a moment, he asked them:

"For whom are you looking?"

And again they answered, "Jesus of Nazareth."

"I have already told you," said Jesus, "that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go away."

For even in that hour Jesus was thinking not of his own safety, but of his disciples. The delay of a few moments gave to the disciples some courage. They began asking:

"Master, shall we strike with the sword?"

Simon Peter, not waiting for an answer from Jesus, drew a sword which he had brought with him, and with it struck one of the high priest's servants; a man named Malchus, and cut off his right ear; for by this time the band had risen to their feet and were drawing near. Jesus said:

"Let me at least do this;" and he touched his ear; and at once his ear was made well again.

"Put up your sword," said Jesus to Peter. "Those who take the sword shall die by the sword. Do you not know, that with a word I could call upon my Father, and even now he would send me twelve armies of angels to keep me safely? The cup which my Father has given me, must I not drink it?"

Then he turned to the band of men who had come to take him.

"Do you come out to arrest me as if I were a robber, with swords and clubs? Day after day I was with you in the Temple, and you did not lay your hands upon me. But now your time has come, and the dark Power has its way."

Then the disciples, finding that they could do nothing to protect Jesus, ran away and left him alone. The men of the band put chains upon Jesus, and led him away.

But John followed the company, and Peter also, anxious to see what would be done with their Lord. The young man John Mark was also following him, when one of the band tried to seize hold of him by his clothes. He left the linen cloth wrapped around him in the hands of the man, and slipped away with only his undergarments upon his body.

Jesus Before Annas

The Temple policemen brought Jesus, all tied with ropes and chains, to the house on Mount Zion, inside the wall of the city, where lived one of the chief priests named Annas. Annas had once been the high priest, that is, the great priest at the head of all the priests; but the Roman rulers of the land had taken his office away from him, and made Caiaphas, whose wife was the daughter of Annas, high priest in his place. Many of the people believed that the Romans had no right to take his office away from Annas, and still looked upon him as the true and rightful high priest. Annas was a man of great power, feared by many; and therefore the men who had seized Jesus brought him first to the house of Annas. In the house were met a number of the chief rulers and members of the great council of the Jews. Jesus was brought in before them all. Annas asked Jesus to tell him what he had taught, and who were his disciples. Jesus answered him:

"My teachings have never been in secret; I have always been open and public in my words. I spoke everywhere in the churches and in the Temple, where the people go to worship. Why do you ask me what I have said? Ask the people who heard me; they know what I said."

As Jesus spoke these words, one of the police officers standing by struck Jesus a hard blow with his hand, saying:

"Is that the way that you answer the high priest?"

Jesus answered him calmly, "If I have said anything that is not true, prove it; but if I have spoken the truth, why do you strike me?"

When Jesus was taken into the house of Annas, John followed the crowd inside, for John knew the high priest, and he was not afraid to go into his house. But Peter stood outside in the street. Then John spoke to the woman who had charge of the door, and asked her to let in the man standing outside, and she opened the door for Peter. The rooms of the house stood around an open court, and Peter stood in the court among the servants and policemen. It was cold, and they had made a charcoal fire in a brazier—that is an iron pan standing upon either three or four legs. Around this fire the people gathered; and Peter stood in the court among them, holding his hands over the fire to warm them. The woman who kept the door looked sharply at Peter, and said:

"Are you not one of this man's disciples?"

Peter was alone among the enemies of Jesus, for John had gone into the room where Jesus was standing before Annas and the other rulers. Peter felt a sudden fear come over him, and to this woman's question, he answered:

"No, I am not!"

Poor Peter! Already he had begun to deny his Lord!

Annas knew that he had no right to act as judge upon Jesus. All that he could do was to examine Jesus, listen to what he might say, and try to find in his words some ground for his enemies to bring charges against him. So after a little, Annas sent Jesus, all bound as he was, to Caiaphas, who was the high priest by law.

Jesus Before Caiaphas

You remember that after Jesus raised Lazarus to life, and many people were believing in Jesus, it was this Caiaphas who said, "No matter whether Jesus is innocent or guilty, whether he is good or bad, the easiest way for us to avoid trouble is to kill him; and that we must do." That showed the spirit of Caiaphas the high priest.

The houses of Annas and Caiaphas were not far apart, and may have been in the same group of buildings on Mount Zion. The officers and policemen took Jesus into the large hall in the high priest's house where all the members of the Jewish council that could be brought together so suddenly were gathered. It was a little after midnight when Jesus was made prisoner in the garden, and it must have been between four and five o'clock on Friday morning when Jesus stood before Caiaphas and the council.

Peter had come with the crowd, and was in the court of the high priest's house. John was not there, but had gone to the house in Jerusalem, where Mary the mother of Jesus was staying, to bring to her the terrible news that her Son was in the hands of his enemies, and to try to give her comfort. So again Peter was left alone in the midst of a throng opposed to Jesus.

By the law of the Jews, no one could be put to death unless two persons could be found to tell of a wicked act that they had seen him do, or wicked words that they had heard him speak; and also, the accounts of these two witnesses must agree. The rulers looked for witnesses to come and speak against Jesus of what they had seen and heard. They did not care whether these witnesses speaking against Jesus spoke the truth or spoke lies; all they wanted was to have them agree in their words. There were many who spoke falsely against Jesus, but what they said did not agree. After a time two men stood up, and said:

"We ourselves heard this man say in the Temple, 'I will destroy this Temple made by the hands of men, and in three days I will build another made without hands.'"

But even those witnesses did not agree in their account of what Jesus had said. You remember, that three years before, in the Temple, Jesus had said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." But he was speaking not of the Temple of the Jews, but of himself as the temple of the Lord, and of his own death and rising from the tomb. You see how these men changed the words of Jesus in the telling of them.

Now, the Jews had agreed that for any man to speak of destroying the house of God was very wicked; and that whoever should speak of such a thing must be put to death. So in the words of these two men, even though they did not agree, and were false, Caiaphas and the council saw a chance to carry out their purpose of putting Jesus to death.

The high priest Caiaphas stood up, and said to Jesus in a very loud and fierce manner:

"What have you to say of the things spoken by these witnesses? Have you no answer to give?"

But Jesus stood silent and would not speak a word. He knew that speaking would not help him, for their minds were made up to kill him, whatever he might say. After a moment of waiting Caiaphas spoke again.

"Are you the Christ," he asked, "the Son of that Blessed One?"

Then Jesus spoke out, once for all:

"I am," he answered, "and what is more, you will all see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of Almighty God, and coming in the clouds of heaven!"

At this the high priest became furious. In his anger he tore his clothes, and flung up his arms and cried:

"What awful, awful words!" shouted the high priest. "Why this man makes himself equal to Almighty God! We need no more witnesses; he has spoken his own doom. What shall be done to a man who calls himself God?"

Then with one voice all the council said, "He deserves to die," and the sentence of death upon Jesus was given.

Then they began to spit in his face and to strike him. They threw a covering over his face, and after striking him, would say, "Are you a prophet? then tell who it was that struck you!"

All this time Peter was in the court of the building, and through the open door he could see Jesus standing in the inner room. One of the young women servants looked closely at Peter, and finally said:

"You were one of those with Jesus, the Nazarene!"

"I don't know what you are talking about," said Peter in answer; and he went away from the group into the hall outside. Just then the cock crew, and Peter heard it.

Again the woman who had noticed him began to tell those standing near, "That fellow is one of them!" But he denied it again. After a little another man said to Peter:

"You surely are one of this fellow's men! Why, your very accent shows that you come from Galilee! You speak your words like a Galilean!"

Then Peter began to curse and to swear; and he said, "I don't know the man you are talking about, and have never seen him!"

As Peter was speaking, the cock crew for the second time. And at that moment the Lord Jesus in the inner room turned and looked on Peter, standing outside the open door. Then all at once flashed upon Peter's mind what his Lord had said on the evening before, "Before the cock crows twice tomorrow morning you will three times deny that you have ever known me." And Peter went away, and as he thought upon it all, he was full of sorrow and wept bitter tears.

But Simon Peter was not the only man in trouble that morning. There was one whose trouble was far deeper. That man was Judas Iscariot, who had sold his Lord for money. When he found that the chief priests and the council had given sentence of death upon Jesus, Judas saw how wicked he had been, and that through his guilty act, Jesus was to be slain. He brought back to the Temple the thirty pieces of silver that had been given him, and threw them down upon the floor, saying:

"I have done wrong in betraying an innocent man! Take back your money!"

"What difference is that to us?" answered the priests. "That is your affair, not ours."

Judas went away, and in his sorrow became wild and hung himself. The next day he was found hanging dead. The chief priests did not know what to do with the money that he had brought back. They said:

"It would never do to put that money among the gifts of the people to the Temple, for it is the price of blood."

They finally decided to take the money; and with it bought a piece of ground as a burial-place for strangers in the city. They bought it of a man who made pots and jars of earthenware; and it was named "The Potter's Field." But by all the people it was called ever after "The Field of Blood."

Jesus Before the Roman Governor

The Jews had condemned Jesus to die, because, as they claimed, he had said that he was the Son of God; and that claim according to their laws was a high crime, deserving of death. Jesus was the Son of God, and as God's Son they should have honored him and obeyed his teachings. But they knew very well that Pilate would not care for their law, and would not order Jesus put to death merely because Jesus had said that he was the Son of God. So they undertook to find something against Jesus which was contrary to the laws of the Romans; and the charge which they resolved to make was that Jesus had spoken against the Roman rule, and had declared that he himself was the King of the Jews. He was, indeed, a king, but not such a king as would be against the Romans or their government.

The Jews came to the castle, and standing outside, called for Pilate to come from the room where he was sleeping, and give judgment upon a law-breaker whom they had brought to him. They hoped that Pilate would do as they wished, without looking closely into the matter. He came down, and sat upon his throne as a judge, and said:

"What is the charge which you bring against this man?"

"If he were not a wicked man, one who has broken the laws, we would not have brought him to you," they answered.

"Well," said Pilate, "if he has broken the laws of the land, take him to your own court and punish him."

"We found this man," said the Jewish rulers, "everywhere leading the people away from their rulers. He forbids them to pay the tax to the Roman emperor, Cæsar, telling the people that he is Christ, the King of the Jews. He ought to be put to death for stirring the people up against the government, and we ask you to give sentence against him."

Pilate began at once to be very suspicious of these Jewish rulers. He knew that they themselves hated the Roman power, and that they would never wish to have anybody punished for opposing it. He looked at Jesus, standing bound and helpless among them, and he thought that this man could not be a dangerous enemy. Pilate said to them:

"Bring this man to me. I wish to speak with him."

Jesus was led up to the foot of the steps to Pilate's judgment throne; and Pilate asked him,

"Are you the King of the Jews?"

Jesus answered the governor, "Do you ask this of your own accord, or did others tell you that I am a king?"

"Do you take me for a Jew?" asked Pilate. "Your own people and the priests have brought you before me, saying that you have claimed to be a king. Now tell me, what have you done?"

"My rule as a king does not belong to this world," said Jesus. "If my kingdom were of this world, my men would fight to keep me from being given up to the Jews; but my kingdom is not here on the earth."

"Then you are a king!" said Pilate.

"You speak the truth, I am a king," said Jesus. "I was born for this: I came into the world for this, that I should speak in behalf of the truth. Every one who is on the side of truth listens to my words."

"Truth! What is truth?" said Pilate. Then he went out of the hall and spoke to the Jewish rulers:

"I do not find anything wrong in this man."

This decision of Pilate made the Jews very angry, for they had hoped that he would approve their sentence without asking many questions; and now they found that he was willing to set Jesus free. Pilate thought that Jesus was a harmless man, perhaps not quite right in his mind in believing that he was a king.

But the rulers would not cease their charges against Jesus. They said to Pilate, "This man stirs up the people everywhere, and makes trouble. He began in Galilee; and now he has come here."

"What," said Pilate, "does this man come from Galilee? Then he belongs to the rule of King Herod; and Herod is now here in Jerusalem. Take him to Herod, and let Herod decide his case."

This Pilate said merely because he wished to avoid deciding it himself. He knew that Jesus had broken no law, and should be set free; but he did not wish to displease the Jewish rulers, and he thought to rid himself of the matter by sending Jesus to be tried before Herod, the ruler of Galilee.

Jesus Before Herod

Like thousands of other people, high and low, King Herod had come to Jerusalem to take part in the Feast of the Passover; for Herod was a Jew, and kept the Jewish feasts; while Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, was a Roman, and worshipped the idols of Rome. Herod was highly pleased to have Jesus sent to him for trial, partly because Pilate and Herod, rulers of lands next to each other, had not been friendly, and this act, the sending of Jesus for trial, showed that Pilate wished to have Herod as his friend. Also, while Jesus was living in Capernaum and teaching all through Galilee, Herod had heard much about him. You remember that some time before this, when they told King Herod of the many wonderful works of Jesus, how he made the sick well, gave sight to the blind, and even raised the dead, Herod said, "This must be John the Baptist whom I killed, come to life again."

Although Herod did not live in Jerusalem, but in Galilee, he owned a fine house in that city, called a palace; and in this palace he stayed while in Jerusalem. Into the great hall of this palace Jesus was brought by the soldiers of Pilate; and the high priest Caiaphas came with them, also many of the Jewish priests and rulers, to speak against Jesus. Herod was very glad to see Jesus, the prophet and wonder-worker of whom he had heard so much. He wished to see Jesus work a miracle, and commanded him to do it, for he supposed that Jesus, being in his power, for life or death, would be very desirous of pleasing him.

But as you know, Jesus never worked his miracles merely for people to look at them. He would make the sick people well or give hearing to the deaf, because he pitied them in their trouble; but when Herod spoke to him, calling upon him to do some wonderful work, Jesus stood still, and would do nothing. Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus would not answer them, and remained silent. The king did not know what to do with such a prisoner, who would not speak a word, even to save his life.

All this time, while Jesus was silent, the priests and the rulers stood around him, charging Jesus with wickedness of all sorts, disobedience to the laws of the land, and trying to make himself a king in Herod's own country. But Jesus answered nothing to all their charges against him.

Herod thought to make sport of Jesus. As they said falsely that Jesus claimed to be "King of the Jews," Herod sent for a splendid mantle, such as kings wore, and had it placed on Jesus. Then they bowed low before him, and called him "king," mocking him as one who pretended to royal power. But in the midst of the crowd of mockers stood Jesus, calm and still, paying no attention and looking as though his thoughts were elsewhere.

Herod knew very well that Jesus had done nothing worthy of death; that he was a good man, and harmless. He would not do what the priests and rulers urged him, over and over again, to do, to command that Jesus should be put to death. So, after holding Jesus up to contempt for some time, he sent him back to Pilate, all dressed as Jesus was in the royal robe.