The Messiah.— In the spring of the year 29 (possibly 30), after Jesus had been before the public for three years, the task of implant ing the spiritual kingdom in the hearts of the select 12 was so far completed that it would be permanent, and at the same time the conflict with the authorities could not wisely be longer postponed. Accordingly jesus went up to Jeru salem to the Passover with the throngs which assembled at that time from every part of the country. While he gave repeated proofs that in spirit he was walking in the shadow of the cross which he foresaw at the end of the road, yet this journey, unlike those which had pre ceded it, was intentionally made, by the send ing of 70 messengers before him to proclaim his coming, a significant progress through the country. Reaching the neighborhood of Jeru salem, he stopped for the Sabbath at the neigh boring village of Bethany, to which he returned each night till the end, and then on the fol lowing day he made a somewhat formal entry into the capital city. It needed only that he should mount a riding ass that those who ac should 'be reminded of an an cient prophecy, and they, with another throng which came out from Jerusalem to meet him, acclaimed him as the promised and coming king, carpeting the road before him with green branches from the trees at the roadside and with their own clothes thrown before him in the zeal of their loyalty. Thus they led him to the Temple, where the procession dispersed. While informal and at first thought only a failure in its lack of definite result, this 'tri umphal entry' had deep significance as a public claim to his right to rule the nation as God's appointed representative, and he stopped short of assuming this office only because he desired and demanded first the acceptance of him by the nation. During the days that followed he repeated this claim in various wayc; again he drove out of the Temple the crowds so out of harmony with its proper use, and in prolonged controversy with the representatives of all the parties of the time he bore himself as their Master and proved himself suck All this goaded his enemies at last to action, and through the treachery of Judas Iscariot, one of the inner circle of 12 disciples, almost at once an unlooked-for opportunity presented itself to them.
The Last Supper.— On Thursday evening of Passover week, after special precautions to keep secret the place of their assembling, Jesus sat down at a last supper with his apostles to what he knew would be his last interview with them before his death. While the traitor has gone out to secure his arrest, he pours out his soul to the others in words too tender and profound for their comprehension; he warns them that they will speedily desert him to go alone to his fate; he tells them something of the unique significance of his death in language which contains in germ the later doctrines of the Church, on this point- presenting them bread and wine, he-instituted the second•of the two rites of the universal church and finally commends them and all future believers in him to God in a prayer of 'incomparable elevation and pathos. He then went out to a resort familiar to him and his friends, an olive grove named Gethsemane in a valley close to the walls of the city. There the horror of the coming
hours, not craven fear of death, but distress at the very thought of the tremendous experi ence which he must undergo in soul, drew from him a thrice repeated prayer of such intensity that the very blood was forced through the pores of the skin, but on the prayer fol lowed serenity of resignation and purpose which continued unruffled to the end. Then he awak ened his disciples who to his disappointment had repeatedly been overcome by sleep and so had left him to his spiritual distress without even the sympathy of his friends, and went to meet the force of Roman soldiers and Temple guards which in needless precaution the officials guided by the traitor brought to seize him. He quietly submitted to arrest, and his followers struck but a single blow in his defense and then scattered in the darkness, two of them, however, John and Peter, followed at a distance, the latter only to deny later all discipleship and even acquaintance.
Trial for Blasphemy.—While some details of the four accounts of the trials of Jesus are obscure, if not inconsistent, yet their general course may easily be made out. At the house of the high priest Caiaphas, or of the still more influential Annas, his father-in-law, and an ex high priest, there was before daylight an infor mal session of all the Sanhedrin who could be gathered. Unable to find even perjured testi mony which was sufficiently consistent to war rant his condemnation, the high priest as presi dent of the great court of the nation put Jesus under oath and asked him if he claimed to be the Christ. Firmly and positively Jesus an swered that he was, whereupon his enemies without even pretense of investigation declared this claim to be blasphemy for which according to Jewish law he must die. But this verdict would he legal only if rendered in the daytime, and so. having been left during the interval to he the object of mockery by the guards, as soon as the day broke, he was formally arraigned and condemned. As, however, the right to inflict the death penalty had been reserved to himself by the Roman procurator, in order to accom plish their purpose they must secure his con demnation of Jesus in addition to their own, and accordingly the Sanhedrin conduct him to Pi late and demand his execution. But Pilate•re fused to order his execution without investiga tion, and when they charged him with instigat ing sedition against the Roman government, the judge instantly recognized their malicious in sincerity and the innocence of the prisoner. In his consequent desire to release him Pilate in turn pronounced him innocent; sent him to Antipas, who only made sport of him and re turned him; vainly tried to stir up the populace to demand his release according to the custom that a prisoner should he released at Passover time; ordered him scourged in hope that that cruelty would satisfy his enemies; displayed him bloody from the torturing lash and crowned by the soldiers with thorns in cruel jest, fancy ing that this sight would surely evoke pity; but finally, terrified at the mutterings of the crowd and fearing lest should he persevere charges might be made to the emperor against himself, Pilate ordered the crucifixion of Jesus.