departure to Ephraim, and the sojourn there (xi. 54); the final public advance from Ephraim along the borders of Samaria and Galilee, through Jericho, to Bethany, are the subjects of the remainder of Part II., which ends with the account of the supper at Bethany, on the sixth day before the last Passover,the Saturday before Palm Sunday. The main difficulty in the arrangement of Part III. arises from an apparent discrepancy between the first three Evangelists and St. John respecting the day of the month on which our Lord was crucified. According to St. Mark and St. Luke, the day when the disciples came to ask where they should prepare the Passover was the day when the Passover must be killed; and St. Matthew, as well as St. Mark and St. Luke, calls the last supper "the Passover," and implies that it was eaten at the ordinary legal time. Now the day when the paschal lamb must be killed was the 14th of Nisan, "between the evenings" (Exod. xii. 6), i.e. between the first decline of the sun and its setting; and the time when the paschal must be eaten was "that night" (xii. 8), i.e. according to the Jewish mode of reckoning, at the beginning of the 15th of Nisan. Thus the first three Evangelists plainly enough seem to assert that our Lord suffered on the 15th of Nisan. But when we turn to St. John, in xiii. 1-2, we find him speaking as though the last supper took place before the Feast of the Passover; and in xix. 14, the morning after the supper is called "the preparation of the Passover;" and what is stronger still, in xviii. 28 we are told that the Jews would not enter Pilate's judgment-hall, "lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover." Taking these expressions together, the obvious sense of St. John's account is, that the crucifixion took place not on the 15th, but on the 14th, of Nisan. A thoroughly satisfactory solution of the difficulty depends on a more accurate knowledge of the language and customs of the Jews at the period in question than we possess. The current opinion of the Western Church has for many centuries been in favour of the plain meaning of the first three Evangelists; hence this view has been adopted in the present work, and the events of Holy Week have been distributed according to the following scheme: Day of Jewish month (Nisan). Day of April. Day of week, sunset to sunset.] Day of week, midnight to Hour. Events. 3 Second. Monday. Morn ing. Even ing. Tuesday. Morning. Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph, visits the temple, and returns to Bethany. Jesus curses the barren fig tree, cleanses the temple. In the evening he returns to Bethany. As Jesus returns to the city, his disciples see the fig-tree dried up; he speaks to them on faith. Jesus enters the temp e; his authority is questioned; he speaks in parables; the Pharisees and Herodians propound a question; the Sadducees' question; the lawyer's question; our Lord's question; the Pharisees are denounced; the widow's mite; certain Greeks desire to see Jesus; the voice from heaven. Even- Jesus leaves the temple; P.M. 3-6 After 6 P.M. he discourses on the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world. The parables of the ten virgins, the five talents; the description of the last judgment. Judas agrees with the chief priests to betray Jesus. Peter and John are sent to prepare the Passover. The paschal supper is eaten. The Holy Eucharist is instituted. Night. Jesus comforts his disci Midnight. Early in the morn ing. 6 A.M. to ples; promises the Para- The agony in the garden. 9 A.M. Jesus is condemned to be The arrangement of events in Part IV. is as follows: Events after sunset of the Saturday before the day of the Resurrection. 1. Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bring spices, that they may come and anoint Jesus. Events of the first day of the week: the day of the 2. At, or just before, early dawn our Lord rises; the angel descends and rolls away the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and sits upon it. 3. The two Maries and Salome and other women start before daybreak, and find the stone rolled away. 4. Mary Magdalene runs to tell the Apostles. 5. In the mean time the other women enter the sepulchre, see the angels, receive their message, and depart. 6. Peter and John visit the sepulchre, and return. 7. Mary Magdalene, who had followed them, remains; sees first the angels, and then our Lord (first appearance). 8. Jesus appears to the women on their way to the disciples (second appearance). 9. Jesus appears to Peter (third appearance). 10. In the afternoon, Jesus appears to the two disciples going to Emmaus (fourth appearance). 11. In the evening, Jesus appears to the assembled Apostles, Thomas being absent (fifth appearance). The octave of the day of Resurrection. 12. Jesus appears to the assembled Apostles, Thomas being present (sixth appearance). Subsequent appearances in Galilee. 13. Jesus appears to seven of the Apostles at the Lake of Tiberias (seventh appearance). 14. To the eleven Apostles on a mountain (eighth appearance: this appearance ought perhaps to be identified with the next). 15. To five hundred brethren at once (ninth appearance). Subsequent appearances in Jerusalem. 16. To James (tenth appearance). 17. To all the Apostles (eleventh appearance, immediately before the ascension). 18. The ascension. |