The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 380

he were not a malefaotor, 1 we ahould not me.lign dispoaiUon and diatlnot purpose of have delivered him up to thee. Thie WI\B the Jews were revee.lod. They would not eomewhRt e.udaoioua. It was ae much f\S to he.ve brought Jesus At e.11 before the Ilomnu ""Y, "We he.,•e judged, you have only to governor, nor admitted his ole.im to decide re;!"ister our decieione. We are not bound e.uy ce.se involving religious ideas and to go through our e'ridonce before you." If practices, if they bl\d not fully deoidc,l thl\t ii hsd been BO, the deprivRt.ion of the jm Jesus mnst die. Dut John sees a deeper gladii. the power of oapitRl execution would reoson still. he.,·e mattered little to them. rilate, in Ver. 32.-In order that the word of J'eaua soorn e.nd irony, replies, "If that he so, why might be fulfilled, whioh he ape.ke, signifying have ye brought him to me? If you ere by what manner of death he waa about to unwilling to comply with the terms of Roman die. Thus the very politioo.l order of the jurisprudence, then it must be some OIi.Be world, the whole process by which Judron which ~•on ce.n di6pose of aceording to yonr bece.me a Roman province, wns po.rt of the own rules." Take ye him younelvee, and wond_rous plan by which Jew crnd Gentile aooording to your Law judge him. Pilate 11hould together offer up the nwful se.crifice sn w their animus, e.nd that they were and all the world be guilty of the death of thirsting for the blood of JCBlls, and wished its Lord. The manner of the denth he.d at once to flout them and make them confess been foretold by our Lord. In eh. iii. 14 he their impotence aDll admit his suzerainty. SJ?~ke of being lifted up (~0194va,), in eh. For them tojudge(1tpC.,E&11)was not equivalent Vlll. 28 he che.rged the jews with the to put to death (inrol<'TE<V41), and Pile.te intention of so lifting him up to die (8,-a 11 clearly sug,gested that much. The J'ew1 i,,j,C:,'!"7,-<), imply_ing n method of capite.l [therefore 'J said t.o him, It ii not lawful pun1shwent which was contrary to their ( """ (~.,,,.,) t.o ua to put any man to death. ordine.ry habits: and in eh. xii. 32 he This was perfectly true, notwithste.ndi.ng declared the.t this lifting up of the Son of the tumultuaryand violent RCUI and t.hreats, me.n would create part of his sacred e.nd and incipient stonings of Jesus, to which Divine attre.otion to the human re.ea. In the Gospel refers (eh. viii. 3, 59; viL 25). the synoptisui he is said to hn ve repeatedly Other interpretations of this Cltcla.mation spoken of his O"'Tavp&s (Luke xiv. 27: Me.rk have been supplied. viz. "to execute crimi- viii. 34: Me.tt. L 38: xvL 24): but in Mntt. 1' als of st:ite " (Krebs), "to do so on feast- :u:. 19 he he.d clee.rly predicted his c.mci- uays" (Semler): but the power he.d been fi..x.ion by the Gentiles ( cf. Luke ix. 22, 23). formally taken from even the supreme court, The manner or kind of death we.s full or forty ye-are before the destruction of Jeru- 1ignifice.nce: it provided opportunity for salem.• The inst.a.nee of the masse.cre of the royal demission of his own life : it gave Jiiwes the Jll8t, occurring between the conditions for much of the sublime self- departure of one Roman governor e.nd the manifeste.tion of the closing hours: it has orrivel of another, is mentioned by Jose- proved. notwithstanding e.11 the she.me and phns (' Ant.,' XL 9. I) 111! a distinct infringe- curse of the proceeding, eminently symbolio ment e.nd violation of law. The stoning of of the compassion with which he embre.ced Stci:,hen in a wild tumult, and the proceed- the hwne.n race in all its defilement e.nd all iugs of Herod Agrippe., are rather confume.- the variety of its need. We a.re not BUr- 1.ions the.n viole.tiODB of the rule. Thus the prised to find tbnt the eve.ngelist saw, in the complice.ted relations of Jewish e.nd Roman 1 Ti.schendorf (8th edit.) and Weymouth authority, a divinely ordered arrangement, read here «a.K/w ,rauo11, with l-tc.•, B, L; but e.nd a clearly foreseen and predicted con- T.R., Lachmann, and R.T., 1t1UC01ro,&s; A, summation. Luke xxiii 2 shows that the c•, D, 7, uncials e.nd curei'l'es, and Atha.- charge brought e.gninst JeBUB was me.de to n&Bius read 1<1UCovnos; K, tc1UCb11 wo,710-d.s. receive e. colouring likely to prejudice the • B e.nd O omit ou11, with Tregelles, Roman governor 11gainst him: "We found Westcott and Hort, and R. T.; but Tischen- this Man perverting our nation, e.nd for- dorf (8th edit.) preserves it on the authority bidding to give tribute to ClllSar, saying oft-:, L, X, Vulge.le, Se.hidic, etc. the.t he himself is Christ a King." The • See the long note of Lightfoot, • Horm uproar and the fe.lse and malicious charge Hebre.ice,' in loco, where he discusses the would be more likely than e.ny other to r=n of this withdre.wment of power of move Pile.te e.gainijt him; e.nd thus the life e.nd death: whether it WIii! due to the synoptic narrative, being presupposed, gives IU'bitre.ry e.ot of Rome, or was the volunte.ry e.n exple.nation of the first question which concession of the authorities, who abstained John, as well e.s the synoptists, represents from capital punishment (' Avodah Ze.re.h,' Pile.ta e.s first of all pressing upon the fol. 8. 2. See Wiinsche, quotation from Divine Sufferer. Without Luke's ste.tec • Sanhedrin,' fol. 41 a, • Bere.choth,' fol 58 a. ment, Pilate's question is abrupt and in- Soo Wilson,• On the New Test.e.ment'). explice.ble; but it must be e.dmittod thai iia. xvm. 1-40.J THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 3!)3