Herod is reffarded as the real judge of Christ ; throughout, there is the evident intention to exculpate Pilate, who washed his hands, while Herod refused. It is Herod who gives the order for the crucifixion, and his permission is required for the disposal of the body of Jesus. When Jesus was handed over to the people, it is stated that ' theij clothed Hi
King of l--:ra.-l • - (1,; th.
othcd Him with purple and ii/ing, Jndfie riijhtmvshj. O
' II ;•
om the blood of kvish authorities tell nothing of 'r us to be guilty
The fragment
over the land, the narrative runs: 'And the Lnrd cried out, saying^ My power. My power, thou hast forsaken Me. And when Be had said this. He was taken up.' After the death of Christ the Jews bef,'aTi to feel i-oinpuiiction for what they had done; they 'begirn '■• >-nn--n' r,„'i >■■ -,<■■, w-~ f^^r our sins ; the jtulgment and th,' , ,i./ -i ./■,■■■ ..r', >,: .., n..,),. . . . All the people murmur,:! ,■ , ;,„,, If by Bis
death those most ,/, behold, how
righteous Be is.' 't'v i.m n , i: h. .i h !. -, having received soldiers from Pilau, l.j [,'u.ii.l lut- luml, .(... llu-ee dnj/s,' them- selves took part in the watch. Tlie Kesurrection is described with many miraculous details ; there is a voice from heaven ; two men, encircled bv a great light, descend and enter the tomb, from whicli the stone nilN awav of iHelf. Then tli;
watchers 'see thi;;- ■' f'"";- f..,;ih_ ii.- t,,-., ■-,,,,
porting the one,, I, ■ •; „ -. . / ,i. ;. . ' ,
the two reached ,r
overtopped the h,
sailing, BcLst th,'u . , .i ,--/,,, ,,„,,/
all that had haiij.^ :.!!,/.
the Son of God. ' II / . . : , , , |
to command the '' 1 1 ; 1 1 u ,!
what they had so. n
of the greatest sin ' ■ ' ' '■
people of the Jcir< .,
deals with the visit , 'i j •
sepulchre, and witli ' _( ■
and were grieved ; ,i,i'i ,,,•>' - , ■ / ,;, , - , ,/ /,>,■ that ]rl,,'',-h jvascome to pais. ,!, j,,,!, ■< '>■ /'. - ;.,.... /;../ /", sim,,,, l',t.r. and Andrew mt/ '"','i" '. '""'. '■,,, ■,•'-■ ,,,,,! ir,',,t i,, th,- v,i'- 0)id there was'wilh ,,s L, , i , it,.- ., ,,i .i/,,;,,„„, ,i:i,,„„ th',- hard . . :
The writer's peculiar point of view is clear from the quotations which liave been given. (1) The most noticeable feature of the Gospel is its pro- nounced apologetic interest, shown in its friendli- ness to Pilate and its antipathy to the Jews. Pilate is freed from all blame in the death of Christ, Herod being the responsible judge ; Joseph, who cared for the body of Jesus, is 'the friend of Pilate.' Pilate, too, is represented a-s acknowlcclj,'i7i;; the Divine dignity of Jesus. On the olhcr litiml, the Jews acknowledge their sin in jiutting .Icsus to deiitli, and confess Him to have been a just man. Tli. writer's fierce hatred of the Jews is betr.aye.l ii the utterance ascribed to the Jewisli .authoriti. that they would rather be guilty of the great. -i las a similar statement. 'Tlic\ , ^ , , „^ . the judgment- seat, and said,
Judge for us.' The correspoiuhng pass.age in St. .Inhn's Gospel (19") reads: 'When Pilate, fheretovo. hear.l tli.s., ,v„r,ls. he
brought Je-sus out and sat it;,,,,, ti,- ,,,,!., ,„..,.t *•(... ; , f.,^,„
it; /3Ki«ei«.-). It is, however, 1, ■ ,1 ii. |.. \, ,., ,., ,,-„ in
the transitive sense, .so th.at 11 - mM i ii. .i,t
Jesus out and set Him on th. iL-i,.. 1 , -."in
.St. John, understood in this -, ,-, , , t i.il . . , i,-,,,,,
sin than fall into the hands of men. (2) The Docetic sympathies of the writer, which are some- what guarded, are revealed in the statement that Jesus kept silence on the cross, ' as in no wise feeling pain ' ; in the cry of dereliction, which points to a distinction between the impassible Divine Power residing in Jesus and His passible human nature ; in the representation of Christ's death as a being taken up. That tlie Docetism was not of an extreme type is shown by the fact that the dead Christ is referred to as ' the Lord.' Gnostic influences are discernible in tlie .sjieaking of the cross, and in the supernatural height of Jesus and the angels.
The Gospel is of the Synoptic type. It has close linguistic and material relations with the Synop- tics, although there are many deviations in order and detail. There is a considerable probability that the author knew and made use of all our canonical Gospels, which he treated with great freedom, embellishing the narrative in the interest of his own point of view, and making additions of a legendary and highly miraculous character. That he had an independent tradition at his com- mand is possible, and even probable (? ancient Acts '•f Pilate) ; but whether tliat be so or not, his (iiiisjjel acids nothing to our knowledge of the life of Christ. ' It ajjpears to be a fair example of what may be called the second generation of non- canonical narratives, which are based upon the earlier and authentic records, and do not yet depart very ^ridely from them, though they may have special tendencies in various doctrinal direc- tions ' (Kenyon, Gospels in the Earlij Ckitrch, 34).