Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/699

JESUS (509 very ominous allusions to Caesar, and Pilate, after publicly washing his hands, in token that he was innocent of this death, pronounced the fatal order for His crucifixion. Jesus was then clad in His own garments and led forth with two robbers to be crucified. As He was unable to bear the weight of His cross, Simon of Gyrene was impressed for that service. On His way Jesus gently consoled the weopinc* daughters of Jerusalem, and, when they reached the fatal spot of Golgotha, He refnsed the stupefying potion which was offered to Him, and prayed for His murderers even as they drove the nails through His hands. Pilate managed to insult the Jews by putting over the cross the title " The King of the Jews," in three languages, which thus in the presence of the vast passover multitude testified to the truth. On the cross Jesus hung for three hours in agony. The soldiers parted His garments, and cast Jots for His seamless robs. The mob, the priests, even the crucified malefactors, joined in taunting Him. But He answered not. After His prayer for His murderers He only spoke to promise paradise to the penitent robber ; to assign His mother to the care of the beloved disciple ; to 1 quote in the lowest depth of His agony the first words of the 22d Psalm ; to give vent to the sole expression of physical anguish which He uttered, "I thirst"; to com mend His spirit into His Father s hands ; and lastly, in the one victorious word TereXeorat, " it is finished," to end His work on earth. The bearing of Jesus on the cross, together with the circumstances which accompanied the crucifixion the darkness, earthquake, and rending of the temple veil produced a deep impression even on the mind of the heathen centurion. They so powerfully affected the multitude that they returned to Jerusalem wailing and beating on their breasts, at once with a feeling of guilt and a presentiment of future retribution. (8) At evening the soldiers despatched the two crucified robbers by breaking their legs, in order that their bodies might be removed before the passover. But they found Jesus already dead, and the certainty of His death was assured by one of the soldiers driving his spear into the region of the heart, whence came out blood and water. As very little time was left before the sunset marked the beginning of the Sabbath, and rendered labour impossible, the body of Jesus was hastily buried by Nicodemus and by Joseph of Arimathsea, who had obtained the requisite permission. They wrapped it in fine linen and spices, and laid it in the rockhewn garden-grave of Joseph, rolling a great stone to the aperture, which was further guarded by soldiers sent by the Jews to prevent its removal for purposes of fraud. This was on Friday evening. Very early on the morning of Sunday, while it was yet dark, the two Marys were met at the sepulchre by a vision of angels which announced His resurrection. Of that resurrection, in spite of their original doubts and mis givings, the whole body of the disciples became unalterably convinced, and on their unalterable conviction, and the subsequent witness of history to the blessed truth of their doctrines, has rested in great measure the belief of the Christian church. Uniting the contemporary testimony of St Paul, who must have been in personal communication with many of the five hundred witnesses to whose evidence he appeals, with those of the Gospels, we find ten re corded appearances : (1) to Mary Magdalene (John xx. 17); (2) to other women (Matt, xxviii. 9, 10); (3) to Peter (Luke xxiv. 3i; 1 Cor. xv. 5); (4) to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus (Luke xxiv. 13-32) ; (5) to the ten apostles. All these appearances occurred on the first Easter day. On the following Sunday Jesus appeared (0) to the eleven apostles, Thomas having been absent on the previous occasion. He further appeared (7) to seven apostles by the Sea of Galilee (John xxi. 1-24) ; (8) to more than five hundred at once on a mountain in Galilee; (9) to James (1 Cor. xv. 3, 8) ; and (10) at the ascension. These appearances continued for forty days. On the last occasion Jesus led His disciples towards Bethany, gave them His last command, blessed them, and as He blessed them passed away, and "a cloud received Him out of their sight/ VI. Such, in briefest outline, are the main recorded events of the life of Jesus Christ on earth. It only remains to say a few words concerning His person and His work, regarded here in their historical rather than in their theological aspect. As regards His person, Christians who accept the New Testament as the record of inspired teaching, and who believe it to be evidenced, not only by inward and super natural revelation, but also by the subsequent history of the church and the world, believe that Jesus Christ was (in the words of what is probably a very ancient Christian hymn quoted by St Paul) the only begotten Son of God, "manifest in the flesh, justified by the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory " -, 1 and as a part of this belief they hold that, just as Adam the first man was not born but created, so the second Adam, who came to redeem our nature, was not born by ordinary generation but was "incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary." But even those who do not accept this faith see in Jesus a unique and sinless personality, one with whom no other human being can even distantly be compared, either in His character, His teaching, or the results which He accom plished by His brief ministry. He taught but for three years, and not continuously even during them. He accepted the most ordinary customs of the teachers of His day. He wore no broad phylacteries like the Pharisees ; He was not emaciated with asceticism like the Essenes ; He preached the kingdom of God, not, as John had done, between the gloomy precipices of the wilderness, but from the homely platform of the synagogue, to give the Midrash when the Torah had been read. 2 He appeared before the people, not in the hairy mantle of a prophet, but " in the ordinary dress of a Jewish man, at the four ends of which the customary tassels w r ere not wanting." 3 He came "eating and drinking" ; He had no human learning; His rank was but that of a village carpenter ; He checked all political excitement ; He directed that respect should be paid to all the recognized rulers, whether heathen or Jewish, and even to the religious teachers of the nation ; He was obedient to the Mosaic law ; His followers were " unlearned and ignorant men " chosen from the humblest of the people. Yet He has, as a simple matter of fact, altered the whole current of the stream of history ; He closed all the history of the past, and inaugurated all the history of the future, and all the most brilliant and civilized nations of the world worship Him as God. Kant testifies to His ideal perfection. 4 Hegel saw in Him the union of the human and the divine. Even the most advanced of sceptics do Him homage. Spinoza spoke of Him as the truest symbol of heavenly wisdom. The beauty and grandeur of His life overawed even the flippant soul of Voltaire. 5 "Between Him and whoever else in the world," said Napoleon I. at St Helena, " there is no possible term of comparison." 6 "If the life and death of Socrates are 1 1 Tim. iii. 16. 2 See Hansrath, Xcutcsl. Zrit/jcsch., . 8 adfai. 3 Matt. ix. 20 ; Mark vi. 56 ; Luke viii. 44. 4 When Borowski rashly placed too near to each other the names of Christ and of Kant, Kant nobly said, "The one name is holy; the other is that of a poor bungler doing his best to interpret Him," "An den Kirchenroth Borowski," Works^ xi. 131. 5 See I)ict. Philos., art. "Religion." (: Mrcitholon, Recit tie la C aptlvite de t Emp. Napoleon,