THUS far the efforts of the ruling powers had been of no avail. The authority of the Lord with the people remained unshaken, His career was unchecked, and they themselves had been humiliated in the very midst of the Temple-courts460. A formal council was therefore held (Mtt. xxii. 15), and it was resolved to organize some plan for ensnaring Him in His speech (Mtt. xxii. 15; Mk. xii. 13), and beguiling Him into statements which might afford a pretext for delivering Him up to the Roman procurator (Lk. xx. 20). United, therefore, in one formidable conspiracy, the Pharisees461, Sadducees461, and Herodians461, suborned (Lk. xx. 20) men, to all appearance right-minded and thoroughly in earnest, to propose various cases of conscience to Him as the Lord and Judge in the land462.
i. First, then, approached the Herodians with certain of the Pharisees (Mtt. xxii. 16) enquiring whether it was lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not? How keenly this question was debated in Palestine, and what disturbances it had caused, especially in Galilee, the province of Herod, has been already noticed463. To answer it now, and to avoid on the one hand giving offence to the excited crowds in the Temple-courts, and on the other supplying matter for accusation before the Roman governor in the Tower of Antonia, so close at hand, appeared impossible. No patriotic Jew would admit that tribute was due to Cæsar. No one claiming to be the Messiah could allow it for a moment, unless he would forfeit all his popularity with the people. And yet if the Redeemer denied this, a charge of treason, which the Romans were always quick to hear, was clearly made out. But the Holy One, thrown off His guard neither by the affected courtesy nor adulation of their address (Mtt. xxii. 18; Lk. xx. 23), saw through their hypocrisy and the snare they had laid. With infinite wisdom He called for the tribute-money. They brought Him a denarius464. Whose image and superscription is this? He enquired. They answered, Cæsar’s. Render, therefore, He replied, to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. The snare they had laid so cunningly was broken. A single word had rent the whole “web of craft and hypocrisy.” The enquirers themselves acknowledged the wisdom of His answer. There was nothing they could take hold of (Lk. xx. 26). They were silent, and went their way (Lk. xx. 26).
ii. The Herodians thus repulsed, the Sadducees approached. With their wonted465 philosophic pride they usually kept aloof from all popular religious movements. Now, however, they advanced to the encounter with a religious difficulty respecting the position in another world of a woman who had had seven husbands in this466. But their coarse question was met with Divine wisdom. Had they known the Scriptures, or the power of God, they could never have asked it (Mtt. xxii. 29). Such corporeal and earthly relationships ceased with this life, and in the next man would be exalted to a higher order of beings by the almighty power of Him, who even in the Law467, which they professed to receive, had declared Himself the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of the living, and not of the dead (Ex. iii. 6).
iii. Struck with the singular wisdom, with which He had put the Sadducees to silence (Mtt. xxii. 34), a scribe belonging to the Pharisaic sect (Mk. xii. 28) now drew near, requesting information as to the relative greatness of the commandments of the Law (Mtt. xxii. 36). The point was probably one much debated in the Rabbinical schools, though it is not clear in what way it was calculated to ensnare the Saviour. But the sublime, though simple response it received, comprising the whole of religion, under the precepts of Love to God and Love to Man, struck even the questioner with admiration (Mk. xii. 32); he frankly owned that such love was better than all burnt-offerings and sacrifice468, and obtained the gracious declaration from the Redeemer that he was not far from the kingdom of God (Mk. xii. 34).
After such successive proofs of Divine wisdom the Pharisees did not venture469 to put any more questions to the Redeemer, and He Himself, taking advantage of the opportunity, now assumed the character of a questioner, and interrogated them (Mtt. xxii. 41) respecting the descent of the Messiah. Speaking under the influence of the Spirit, David in the Psalms (Ps. cx. 1) had called Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto My Lord, Sit Thou on my right hand, till I have made Thy foes a footstool for Thy feet. If the Messiah was to be David’s son, how could He be at the same time his Lord, thus mysteriously uniting a Divine and a human nature?
To this profound question those addressed did not even venture to make a reply, and were in their turn constrained to listen, while in words of awful and righteous judgment He denounced the hypocrisy (Mtt. xxiii. 1–12) and tyranny (Mtt. xxiii. 13–18) of the Pharisees, their bigoted attachment to the most minute observances, and their blindness to the spirit of true religion (Mtt. xxiii. 18–36), which had led them to pour out the blood of Jehovah’s prophets, even as they now thirsted for His own. For them and for their city the hour of desolation was at hand. The times of mercy, when He would have gathered the children of Jerusalem as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wing470 (Mtt. xxiii. 37–39), had passed away, never to return.
After this stern denunciation of the ruling powers, who veiling their malice and wickedness under the pretence of righteousness had so pertinaciously sought to entrap Him, the Redeemer sat down opposite the Treasury, in the Court of the Women471, and looking up beheld the multitude casting in their voluntary472 gifts and contributions. Amongst the rest His eye rested on a certain poor widow, one of the helpless class which He had just described as devoured by the extortion of the Scribes and Pharisees (Mk. xii. 40; Lk. xx. 47). All her possessions consisted of two mites473, which together made a farthing, both of which she now cast into the Treasury, and knew not that One had called to Him His disciples (Mk. xii. 43), and declared that she had cast in more than all the rest, and that her gift should be known and remembered till the end of time.
It was apparently while the Redeemer was still in the Court of the Women that two of the Apostles, Andrew and Philip, approached Him with what they deemed a strange announcement. Amongst the thousands that crowded the Holy City were certain Greeks, not Grecian Jews474, but Gentiles, proselytes of the gate, who were in the habit of coming up to the Feast. In common with many others they had heard of the famed Teacher of Nazareth, of His mighty works, and His wondrous words, and they wished with their own eyes to behold Him (Jn. xii. 21). Shrinking, however, from approaching Him directly, they had applied to the Apostle Philip, possibly on account of his Græcised name475, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip, apparently perplexed, consulted his brother Apostle Andrew, and together the two went and told their Lord.
No sooner did the Saviour hear their announcement, and perhaps behold these enquirers from the West, than He instantly broke forth into words of mysterious joy: The Hour, He declared, as if in a transport of holy rapture, The Hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there will also My servant be; if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour (Jn. xii. 24–26).
But with the thought of the seed-corn cast into the ground and dying, and the spectacle of these pledges476 of the vast multitude He should draw unto Him if He was lifted up, came the thought of all that He must first undergo. There fell upon Him the shadow of the dreadful hour so close at hand, and He exclaimed, Now is My soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour; and then, as though a cloud had rolled away, the perfectly willing spirit spoke again, For this cause came I unto this hour477: Father, glorify Thy Name (Jn. xii. 27, 28).
But these words, expressive of such deep, such infinite resignation, were not to pass unheeded; they called forth the last of the Three478 Heavenly Voices, which, during His life on earth, attested the Divinity of His mission. The Voice, which had been heard on the banks of Jordan and on the Mount of Transfiguration, was now heard in the courts of the Temple itself, saying in response to the Redeemer’s significant utterance, Father, glorify Thy Name; I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
Various479 were the interpretations of this mysterious Voice by the surrounding crowd. Some thought that it thundered, others that an angel had spoken to Him (Jn. xii. 29). But the Redeemer set all doubts at rest, saying, This Voice came not because of Me, but for your sakes; and then He exclaimed in the same strain of triumph, which the announcement of two Apostles respecting the enquiring Greeks had called forth, Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the Prince of this world be cast out; and I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me, signifying, adds the Evangelist, by what death He should die480.
This striking incident was the appropriate close of this great day in the Temple. The public work of the Holy One was now over. He had given His last counsels and His final warnings to the ruling powers; He now departed and hid Himself from them (Jn. xii. 36). In spite of the mighty works He had wrought (Jn. xii. 37), the Jewish nation did not believe on Him. Many, indeed, of the rulers could not resist the evidence of His life and works, but they dared not openly avow their faith for fear of the Pharisees and the terrible ban of excommunication (Jn. xii. 42).
As thus, however, He quitted the Temple, which as a Teacher He was never to enter again, a striking incident took place. His disciples began to invite His attention to the magnificence and solidity of the structure, the enormous size of the stones (Mk. xiii. 1), the glistering of its marble blocks, and the gorgeous gifts with which it was endowed481 (Mtt. xxiv. 1; Lk. xxi. 5). But their words of admiration could not mislead Him. The imposing building might seem to them to be founded for eternity. But He told them that a day was coming, when not one of these enormous masses of stone should be left standing upon the other.
With this mysterious announcement of a dreadful doom awaiting their national sanctuary ringing in their ears, the Apostles accompanied their Lord along the well-known road towards Bethany. But when they reached the Mount of Olives, He sat down (Mtt. xxiv. 3; Mk. xiii. 3), as if to take one last look at the glorious city and its still more glorious Temple. And as He sat there directly opposite to it in the evening twilight482, four of the Apostles, Peter, James, John, and Andrew (Mk. xiii. 3), disquieted by the announcement of the coming destruction of their City, approached with an earnest enquiry when all these things should come to pass, and what should be the sign of His coming, and of the end of the world (Mtt. xxiv. 3; Lk. xxi. 7).
In reply to their enquiries the Holy One, with the utmost conceivable solemnity, proceeded to set forth the judgments destined to befall Jerusalem, and from these to lead up their thoughts to the contemplation of His own second coming to judge the world (Mtt. xxiv. 5–42), to describe the events that should precede it, and to enforce the necessity on their part of watchfulness and preparation by the striking parables of the Ten Virgins (Mtt. xxv. 1–13) and the Talents (Mtt. xxv. 14–30), closing His solemn revelations with a distinct declaration of the circumstances of the Awful Day, when the Son of Man should come in His glory to judge both the quick and dead (Mtt. xxv. 31–46).
AT the close of these solemn prophecies the Redeemer reminded the Apostles that after two days the Passover would be celebrated, and the Son of Man would be betrayed to be crucified (Mtt. xxvi. 1, 2). Having thus indicated the precise time, when the Hour so often spoken of before should come, He retired in all probability to Bethany483, and there, hidden in holy seclusion (Jn. xii. 36), spent the last day preceding His sufferings.
Meanwhile the rulers of the nation were holding a formal and deliberate consultation as to the best means for putting Him to death. Humbled as they had been that day in the Temple in the eyes of the people, and disappointed in all their projects of ensnaring Him in a capital charge, they saw that their influence was lost unless they were willing to take extreme measures484. The chief priests, therefore, the scribes, and the elders (Comp. Mtt. xxvi. 3; Mk. xiv. 1) assembled not in their usual place of conclave, the hall Gazith485 on the Temple Mount, but in the court of the palace of Caiaphas, the high-priest (Mtt. xxvi. 3). He, as we have seen, had already advised that the Holy One should be put to death486, and doubtless many of those present would have gladly resolved on seizing Him by force. But by degrees they became alive to the difficulties of the case.
The recent events on the day of the Triumphal Entry convinced them of the great influence which the Redeemer wielded over many of the nation, and especially the bold and hardy mountaineers of Galilee. The only place where He appeared in public after the nights had been spent at Bethany was the Temple. But to seize Him there in the present excited state of popular feeling would certainly lead to a tumult (Mtt. xxvi. 5; Mk. xiv. 2; Lk. xxii. 2), and this to the interposition of the procurator in the fortress of Antonia. Forcible and hasty measures were therefore to be avoided, and it was formally resolved to take Him by craft, and therefore secretly, and for this purpose to await a favourable opportunity487.
While, however, they were thus debating, a mode of apprehending Him suddenly presented itself which they had never anticipated488. Judas Iscariot, whose chagrin at the discovery of His real character489 and the rebuke of His Master on the evening of the Anointing at Bethany has been already described, approached with an enquiry as to the sum they were willing to give him in the event of his betraying the Holy One into their hands (Mtt. xxvi. 14). Thereupon with a joyous alacrity (Mk. xiv. 11; Lk. xxii. 5) they covenanted to give him thirty pieces of silver490, and he on his part began to watch for a seasonable occasion of delivering Him into their hands, without rousing the feelings of the multitude (Lk. xxii. 6).
Thus, then, the day of seclusion at Bethany, the Thursday of the Holy Week, passed away. Meanwhile the hour for the celebration of the Passover drew near. The Saviour had already reminded His disciples of its approach, and connected it with His own death. Accordingly the Apostles now enquired of Him where He intended to celebrate it, and in reply He bade two of their number, Peter and John, go into the city (Lk. xxii. 8), and informed them that on entering it they would meet a man bearing a pitcher of water, whom they were to follow to whatever house he should enter. On reaching it they were to address to the owner491 of this house the significant words, The Master saith, My time is at hand; where is the guest-chamber where I may eat the Passover with My disciples? and he would shew them a large upper-room furnished and prepared; there they were to make ready492 (Mtt. xxvi. 18; Mk. xiv. 14; Lk. xxii. 11).
Thus directed, the two Apostles went their way, and found everything as their Lord had described with such striking minuteness. The large upper-room is represented as already furnished and prepared (Mk. xiv. 15; Lk. xxii. 12). Hence we may perhaps infer that the searching for and putting away of every particle of leaven (1 Cor. v. 7), so important a preliminary to the Passover, had already been carried out, and that the preparation made by the Apostles included the provision of the unleavened cakes, of the bitter herbs, and the cups of wine; of everything, in short, that could be prepared on the day before the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb493.
This done, they probably returned to their Lord, who later in the evening, when the hour was come (Lk. xxii. 14), left the little village of Bethany, crossed the Mount of Olives, and entering the city repaired with the Twelve to the upper-room. There they sat down, or reclined, according to the usual custom, and the Redeemer, taking the place of Celebrant or Proclaimer of the Feast, said, With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say unto you, I will no more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. With these words He took a Cup, the first Cup we may believe, usually devoted to the “announcement” of the Feast, and gave thanks, and said, Take ye this, and divide it amongst you; for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the Vine, till the Kingdom of God shall come (Lk. xxii. 17, 18).
But even now, even in this solemn hour, the old contention touching priority again broke out among the Apostles (Lk. xxii. 24). Thereupon the Holy One spake a few gentle but solemn words to repress so unseemly a dispute (Lk. xxii. 25–30); and to teach them in the most striking manner possible a lesson of humility, took upon Him the form of a servant, and girding Himself with a towel washed His disciples’ feet (Jn. xiii. 1–6). Simon Peter, with his wonted impetuosity, would have checked the loving designs of His Master, and when the Redeemer told him that, unless He washed his feet he had no part with Him (Jn. xiii. 9), with that quick revulsion so natural to him, he begged that He would wash not only his feet, but his hands and his head. He that hath bathed, replied his Master, needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit; and ye are clean, but not all (Jn. xiii. 10, 11).
With this sad intimation of treachery in their midst the Feast was resumed494, and probably the second Cup of Wine was drunk. But soon the consciousness of the Traitor’s presence so wrought upon the Saviour, that His inmost soul was deeply moved and troubled, and He testified and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you will betray Me (Jn. xiii. 21). This announcement excited great surprise and deep sorrow among the Apostles, and many were the earnest questionings, Lord, is it I? At length He gave a special and private indication to the disciple that reclined upon His bosom. He was the Traitor to whom He should give the sop495, when He had dipped it (Jn. xiii. 26). At this point Judas Iscariot, though he had already made his compact with the chief priests, dared to enquire, Lord, is it I? (Mtt. xxvi. 25). Thou hast said, replied the Redeemer, and gave him the sop, adding shortly afterwards, That thou doest do quickly (Jn. xiii. 27). The real import of these words remained unknown to the rest of the Apostles, and they imagined that they related only to the provision of something needed for the feast, or the bestowal of some charity on the poor. As soon, then, as he had received the sop, Judas arose and went forth to execute his awful purpose, and it was night (Jn. xiii. 30).
On his departure the Saviour was no more troubled in spirit, but brake forth into the same triumphant language which fell from His lips when He heard of the request of the Greeks in the Temple Courts: Now, said He, is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will straightway glorify Him (Jn. xiii. 31, 32).
Again the Meal proceeded, and soon taking one of the unleavened cakes that had been placed before Him, and giving thanks, probably in the usual words, He brake it, and gave it to His Apostles, saying,
Take, eat: this is My Body, which is given for you: do this in remembrance of Me496.
Afterwards He took a Cup of wine, in all probability the third Cup, and known as the “Cup of blessing,” and having offered thanks, gave it unto them saying,
Drink ye all of this; for this Cup is My Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins: this do ye, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of Me497.
The Holy Eucharist thus instituted, He conversed with the Apostles concerning the events that were soon to happen to Himself and them, how they would desert Him in His most critical and trying hour, how their faith would fail, how they would be dispersed each unto his own. These announcements of coming failure sounded unbearable to the Apostle Peter. Lord, said he, I am ready to go with Thee unto prison and to death—I am ready to lay down my life for Thee (Mtt. xxvi. 33; Jn. xiii. 37). Verily, verily, I say unto thee, replied the Master, in solemn words, This night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice (Mtt. xxvi. 34; Mk. xiv. 30; Jn. xiii. 38). But this sad announcement, so far from solemnising the Apostle’s feelings, provoked him to fresh protestations of fidelity (Mk. xiv. 31). With still greater vehemence he declared, If I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee; and in these well-meant but short-sighted declarations the rest of the Apostles joined also (Mtt. xxvi. 35; Mk. xiv. 31).
And now, whereas at the usual Paschal Feast it had been customary to continue long in religious conversation respecting the great events of the Exodus, and the national deliverance from Egypt, so on this occasion did the Saviour continue long in earnest conversation with His chosen ones. But He spake to them of other and still more exalted themes; of His own departure to the Father and the coming of the Comforter (Jn. xiv. 1–31); of Himself as the true Vine and His disciples as the branches (Jn. xv. 1–6); of the hatred of the world and its sin against Him (Jn. xv. 18–25); of the trials which the Apostles must expect, and the assured aid of the Comforter (Jn. xvi. 1–16); of offering up prayer in His name (Jn. xvi. 23–27). And at the close of these solemn and affecting discourses, lifting up His eyes to heaven in rapt and solemn devotion, He committed the Apostles to the guardian care of the Eternal Father, and dedicated to Him His own completed work, contemplating it once more in its issues not only on these then present, but on all that should believe on His Name (Jn. xvii.).
The night was now far advanced. A hymn, probably the Hallel, was sung, and the Apostles went forth with their Lord through the quiet streets of the city towards the Mount of Olives (Mtt. xxvi. 30; Mk. xiv. 26).