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Show urn im: ji.s tittcin iiiiimi TllKiiuntloii la hardly of practical value at thla time, audiatant Irom the great tragedy of Calvary, liut aluro a aomowhat noted rabbi haa thought It liuKrUnt enough to bring before the lAibllc, a furlbir dlacuaiton nny not lie out of lacu nor entirely void of I n ten at. 'Hie Jewltll (Kioj lu at the time of Chrlathad for eara bien aubject to ItuuiBii tyranny. Their country waa liarctlod uut to ttie creaturta of tlie Kmjieror, and thoae Koerllora did nil In tliolr jajwer lo intko the political aervltudu oppreaalve. They levied takw at their own dlacretlou, they In-aillteil In-aillteil Iho nobleat famlltea and went, llnally, ao far aa to apialnt tho Itlghiat ecclealaitlctl functionary In the chuMi, the High l'rleit, an ofllce which, according to the law, wai not aplntlve, but hereditary, Tlietiolltlc. alcondltlou of the poople waa tin ro-forn ro-forn aimli that every true heart I raj rd for deliverance. riiarillgloiii condition waanotlma deplorable, Tlie people had been without with-out the light of dlrtct revelation for about four huudreil yeara, and thu con-aei(ULlico con-aei(ULlico waa that they were brokeu up 111 uunitroua factloua. Thu t'harl-aeva, t'harl-aeva, the Haduibea, tho lwnea, th6 llerodlaua, the Xealita, the Hamarltana and many other aecta are mentioned. A II theao under-atooit under-atooit thu airipturM their own way and w ere full of pnjiidkca and bitter-uaatowarda bitter-uaatowarda each other, Chrlit Jotued none of tbeae aecta. He proclaimed the truth, fiarlta.lv uncompromlalugly. He took the very opiioalte coiirao to the two notvJ lbarlaiita, iulat and Zilock, who traviled tlirough the country ami kindled thu llatuo of rebellion everywhere, every-where, Duo of the evangellata etatea that the Ieople atone time would confer upon Jeaua tho royal dignity and thua go with Illm In opeu rebelllou ngaluat Itime. Aud thla la corroborated by other writeri. Wu aro told that tomo 6f the leu ling men of tho Jcwlah Hauhedrlui actually propoaed to revive the old dj natty ofdlavld hy annoliit-lug annoliit-lug Chrlit and proclaiming Him Klng,aul that our Havior ilivllued to oviu dlicuaj thu matter. Hu hai not rome to ratabilil, igdom of thla world," ltd waa A kingdom of truth and rlghteouancm. Hut the prliata who eaw they rouid not enllit the great prophet for their plan com-meiued com-meiued to tremble before Him. He knew their trcaaouahle tecrct, and tbey thought their own r-afely demanded de-manded Hla death. "It la Utter," they eald, "that one man ihould die, than the whole ieople ahould 1 erlah." The plan to put Jeaua to death waa conceived, from the moment he declined de-clined to take any art In the ronalr-acy ronalr-acy of the prleali. Irl b ee what he!ijd to bring thla plan to maturity and how It waa carried out The popularity of Jeaua became great. Vultltu.li followed Illm and ouMeil Hlapralae. Thla fact uoulJ naturally Increaae the unelmra of the prleeu. ' For thlagrow lug wpular-lly wpular-lly mennt acotri'.pinJInr! decreaieln thilr own, "What ahall we do, fur everybody followa lllmt" waa their auxlouniueatlon. llealdca, Ida ubllo career might It conaidered aua-plcloua aua-plcloua In Home, and they, byaittlngChrltout of tlie way, had an o (ortunlty of throwing a vi II over their own dark lana, apiarlog loyal whlluthey wtrelaylng thetecret ploU, which at laat led to the rtbelllou and to Iho dcttrurtlonof their city. Hut thla eoualdcratlon alone might nt have been eutllclent for tliem to leal Jeiua to diath, lial not another event happened, which draervrclal attention, A ccordlng to Iho law, the lple were to worahlp 0l at urtaln early featlvala lu Jcruaalcm, Hut none ahould go to Ihehouioof tholiord empty-handed. Hach one waa reiutred to bring Lla gllta lafore the lord-Thiao lord-Thiao gllU were to ooLahtof Ibe ro-ducoof ro-ducoof the earth or of tho llockannd lurda, and tacii one waa auppoted lo bring from hlauwn properly that which hadtTeiirctaiiartfortbe Lord. Thlalu volved Home trnuble, wheu tho w oratilp-er oratilp-er had aeveral daya Journey and had to bring with him hla grain nr wine or oil or abcep, dotia or tattle for aacrl-Acta aacrl-Acta and for fiaata. Hut auch was tho rumlreinetibi of tho law, and tlie ro-vMonwaan ro-vMonwaan wlae one, al new a divine aervlce whlcli brlnga noaacrlllce call-not call-not bu of much worth. Now the trloitaof that age had Invented In-vented au Ingenious plan, whereby thoae who came to Jerusalem to worahlp wor-ahlp could save thcmtolvra n great leal of trouble. The rlcetly family, of which Annas was the head, had con-Virted con-Virted the temple ground tntoatabiea, a'u-ep vna, etc. Thoee who came to worahlp did not need to bring animal wltli them. They could bring their money aud buy tho rwUl red victims for the altar right on thu temple ground. And Jewa from abroad who ha 1 foreign currency coulj change this Into the money of tlm country vlthlu the Mcred preclude. Need It be raid that thou dealers In cattle aud tluae money changere used the op-jiortuulty op-jiortuulty of robbing Ihelr cuatomara and that the prints abared the 1 rorlta In pa) meut for the llcenau granted to break the law of UoJ, to rob the o-1 o-1 1e and rofsne the holy place? Huch uaslhoevie,and tlie I'liarlaees lu iir titular hated tlio prleata for their ntro. gauce and avarlcu lu thla reepvit. The Indignation tint w ai felt nniong thu common people fount expriaalon In the act of Chrlat,when he drove tlie oxen out of the temple and acattered the money on the ground. Tliogretdy prleatawere dumfouilded at thla act. Hut cuwardsaa they were, thty dared not only proteat against It. Thou asnds uon thouaanda would liavu atood upfjr Jeaus, had thu priests urnl violence against him on account of thla. They, therefore wlaely mid nothliig. Hut they Immediately held a secret oouucll and It waa coucludid tu kilt Jeaua. Thu plan whlcli they hail long ago talked about waa to be carried out now, Jeeuihat publicly rebuked tbemas gnody, sacrilegious tblevis, Hu was to bo assassinated for thu truth Hu had vindicated. Jesus was now n captlvu. Ho waa hurried oil under thu cover of night to the housu of Anuaa, who had aum-monedn aum-monedn few of tlie other members of the H mhedrlm. Thla crirty o Id sinner hoally an examination to be able to formulato a chargu agaluat he noble lllsomr, but be falM. The examination was then continued con-tinued In thu early morning, wbui CaUphaa prealiletl. Hero thu ootids-alou ootids-alou was elicited from Jesus that He was tho Hon of Uod, whereupon the Haiihcdrlui rmdered a verdict of guilty of blaaibemy, an oUcnio thu nalty of which vi aa death. The question haa been dlscuaaed wliether the HauhJrlu had a right to Inflict cipltal punlahment, and the oplnloiianro divided, l.lghtfoot la of theoplnlou that they had, Woollier the) ha t the rlgh. or not, certain!! la that lliey Ml Inlllct capltaf punishment punish-ment onHlephuu, for Instanco, when the whole tody of Judges rose and Joined thu mob and killed that martyr hy slotting Mm. In the cive of Jesus, however, It waa luciaaary to do. the exicullon through the U oinans, first, luordtrto show their loyalty and throw auy suiplolon olTfroiu their own dillbcra-lions dillbcra-lions nudloltligs, und secondly be-uiueo be-uiueo the great passovt r fo aat w aa near at baud and they would contaminate theuuilvis by actual bloodsbid, 1'ur theeo reaaulis lliey rcsohod to brlug Christ before l'llatu wlthuttt delay. Thla waa the lint lime thu ltouun authorltlts came in con. tact wltli CD riit. Neither I'llatc nor Herod had evtriten Jieua Ufore, although the Utter lit I liomd u gool dvil ubout Illm. lly the It maiisllu w aa uevi r eu a ted of treacht r) , rhu prints nicuH'd Htm. The i imaui found uopiuol wheruby to i tuiu thu accusation, 'thu irluits exerUd ull their powir to have Him condemned. Htrod refuied to liare anything to do with the case. Pilate ill I all ho could toravelllm. And II was first by the serious threat of IhcprleVa that tbey would aciuae the governor of disloyally dis-loyally to the eni ror, tbat he yielded and pronounced the death sentence upon Jeiua. Wltli theao facta More us, there acema to be no room for any doubt na lo who crucified Christ, the Itomana, who were merely the tool-, or the Jemlih rleat, who laid the plan and carried Itoutlo lta bitter end. Only a moat partial Investigation could lead ualoconaldirl'llate on the sole alayer of the great Prophet from Nazarith Clrrum'tattcra created by thu Jewish arlatocrary forced him to commit tho Judicial murder. Vet, no true Clitl.tlou hates the Jew son this account. 1'anatlcs there may bu who look un tho ancient roveuaut ieople with Litter feellnga. Hut true Christians know that Jeaua "gave" His life In fulfilment of Ills great inlulou, and that never died n man for a greater cause than did Jeaua ofNautcth, |
