tlie subject will be found in tbe appendix to " Hanna's Last Days of our Lord's Passion."
Concerning the deep question as to wbat became of our Lord's soul wken He gave up the ghost, it must suffice to be- lieve that His soul went to paradise, the place of the departed spirits of believers. He said to the penitent thief, " To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." (Luke xxiii. 43.) This is the true meaning of the article, " descended into hell," in the Belief. " Hell " in that clause certainly does not mean the place of punishment, but the separate state or place of depart- ed spirits.
Some theologians hold that, between His death and resurrec- tion " He went and preached to the spirits in prison " (1 Peter iii. 19) ; and proclaimed the accomplishment of His work of atonement. This, to say the least, is doubtful. But Athana- sius, Ambrose, Zwingle, Calvin, Erasmus, Calovius, and Alford hold this view.
Concerning the miraculous signs which accompanied our Lord's death, — the darkness from twelve o'clock to three, the earthquake, the rending of the temple veil, — St. John is silent, and doubtless for some wise reason. But we may well believe that they struck myriads with awe and astonishment, and per- haps smoothed the way for our Lord's burial in Joseph's tomb, without opposition or objection.
81. — [2%6 Jews therefore, hecause it was, etc.] The "Jews" in this verse, as in many other places in St. John's Gospel, can only mean the chief priests and leaders of the nation at Jerusa- lem ; the same men who had pressed on Pilate our Lord's cru- cifixion,— Annas, Caiaphas, and their companions.
The " preparation " means the day preceding the passover sabbath. That sabbath being pre-eminently a " high day," or, to render the Greek literally, a "great" day in the year, the Friday, or day preceding it, was devoted to special preparations. Hence the day went by the name of " the preparation of the sabbath." The expression makes it certain tliat Jesus was cru- cified on a Friday. The Jews saw clearly that, unless they took active measures to prevent it, the body of our Lord would remain all night hanging on the tree of the cross, the law would be broken (Deut. xxi. 28), and a dead body would hang throughout the sabbath in full view of the temple, and close by the city walls. Therefore they made haste to have Him taken down from the cross and buried.
The "breaking of the legs " of crucified criminals, in order to despatch them, seems to have been a common accompaniment of this barbarous mode of execution, when it was necessary to make an end of them, and get them out of the way. In asking Pilate to allow this breaking of the legs, they did nothing but what was usual. But for anything we can see, the thing