3. Under whom He suffered. He suffered under Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate was the Roman Governor of Judœa, under Tiberius the Roman Emperor, Judoa being now reduced to a Roman province. Pilate's name is mentioned in the Creed: (1) To fix the date of Christ's sufferings, as profane history tells us he was Governor from A.D. 26 to 36. (2) "To show that the 490 years prophesied by Daniel ix., 24, were completed, and that the Sceptre was departed from Judah according to Gen. xlix., 10." (3) "To account for the particular manner of Christ's death, which was not a Jewish but a Roman punishment." Notice Pilate's great injustice. He ordered Christ to be scourged and afterwards crucified, although "He found no fault in him."-St. John xviii., 38. (b) "He knew it was for envy they had delivered him."-St. Matt. xxvii., 18. II.-His Crucifixion-" was crucified." 1. The Place of Crucifixion. On Mount Calvary, at a place called Golgotha, "the place of a skull."-St. Matt. xxvii., 33. It was near to the city (St. John xix., 20), but outside the gate (Heb. xii., 13), it being unlawful to execute criminals within the walls. 2. Mode of Crucifixion: Slaves, not free men, and the lowest criminals were subjected to this sort of death. It was exceedingly disgraceful as well as painful. To this form of death Pilate condemned Christ in response Christ was made to carry His Cross until He could carry 3. The Purpose of His Crucifixion or Death. "He tasted death for every man (Heb. ii., 9), to deliver us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us (Gal. iii., 13); "bearing our sins in his own body on the tree" (1 Peter ii., 24), and thus "reconciling us to God by his death."-Rom. v., 10. 4. Time of Commemoration of Christ's Crucifixion. "Good Friday"-and therefore it is that all Fridays in the year are placed by the Church among the "Days of Fasting or Abstinence." III-His Death-"dead." "This is added in opposition to the opinions of those who, taught that Christ's death was not real, but only apparent."-Maclear, page 32. The following are proofs of the reality of Christ's death:1. After hanging on the Cross from nine o'clock in the morning till three in the afternoon, and speaking seven times, Christ "gave up the ghost" (St. Luke xxiii., 46), that is died. 2. The soldiers deputed by Pilate to hasten the death of the criminals, in accordance with the wish of the Jews (St. John xix., 31), and the law of Moses (Deut. xxi., 22, 23), brake the legs of the malefactors to terminate their agonies; "but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs." St. John xix., 33. 3. "One of the soldiers, perhaps from rage and disappointment, pierced His side, and thus bore further witness to the fact of His death; the blood and water which gushed forth proving that the cavity of the heart had been penetrated, so that life must from that moment have been extinguished, even supposing this had not taken place before" (St. John xix., 30-36).—Grundy, page 25. IV. His Burial-" and buried." 1. By whom Christ was Buried. By Joseph of Arimathæa, a rich man, and a counsellor or member of the Sanhedrim, and a secret disciple of Jesus, who boldly went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus.-St. Mark xv., 43. He was assisted by Nicodemus, a Jewish Rabbi or member of the Sanhedrim, who at the first came to Jesus by night.-St. John xix., 39. 2. Place of Burial. In Joseph's own tomb, which he had hewn out in the It was in a garden near Golgotha, the place of crucifixicr. 3. Mode of Burial. Joseph and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes, with spices-a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight-as the manner of the Jews is to bury (St. John xix., 39, 40), and a great stone was rolled to the door of the sepulchre. 4. Witnesses of the Burial. "And Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother of Joses beheld where he was laid."-St. Mark xv., 47; St. Luke xxiv., 55. CHAPTER VI. THE FIFTH ARTICLE. HE DESCENDED INTO HELL; THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD." I.-His Descent into Hell. 1. Meaning of the term Hell. (1) General Meaning. It is derived from the Saxon helan, to hide, cover, or conceal; and means, therefore, a hidden or covered place. It is etymologically akin to the word hole. In this They lie in the hell (hole, or grave) like sheep, &c.— (2) Scriptural Meanings. The term is used in Scripture : (a) For the grave—e.g. : "Thou wilt not leave my soul in bell," &c.—Psalm xvi., 10. (b) For the place of departed spirits, equivalent to the Greek Hades, which means literally the unseen or hidden place. (c) For the place of torment-e.g.: "In hell he lift up his eyes."-St. Luke xvi., 23. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God."-Ps. ix., 17. (3) Meaning in the Creed. It means here the place of departed spirits, not the place of torment, the hidden or unseen place where the souls of righteous and wicked men are kept till the day of judgment. с This place was for Christ and all good souls a place of rest, being the Paradise referred to by Christ when speaking to the thief on the Cross. "To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise."-St. Luke xxiii., 43. It is called Abraham's bosom in the parable. "The beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom."-St. Luke xvi., 22. 2 The Purpose of the Descent. (1) To preach to the spirits in prison.-1 Peter iii., 19. II.-His Resurrection. 1. Its Prediction. It was foretold (1) By David. "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."- Ps. xvi., 10. (2) By our Lord Himself. "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."-St. Matt. xii., 40. "And the third day he shall rise again."-St. Matt. xx., 19. "I will destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. But he spake of the temple of his body."-St. John ii., 19, 21. 2. Its Time. According to the Jewish mode of reckoning, which included the day of His death and the day of His rising, Jesus Christ was three days in the grave. He rose on the morning of the third day, which was the First Day of the Week-the Lord's Day (Rev. i., 10)— very early in the morning. No person saw Christ rise. He was raised by the power of His Father and of His own -- By the wish of the Jews a large stone was rolled to the door of the sepulchre; the door was sealed, and a watch of soldiers set. This stone was miraculously rolled away, and Christ went forth. The watch of soldiers reported, after being bribed, that Christ's body had been stolen while they slept (St. Matt. xxviii., 11-15); a very improbable story, as, if they had been asleep they could not have known of the theft, and if awake they would have prevented it. 3. Its Witnesses. Christ shewed Himself after His resurrection to (1) Mary Magdalene.-St. John xx., 11-18. (2) The holy women.-St. Matt. xxviii., 9. (3) The two disciples going to Emmaus.-St. Luke xxiv., 13-33. (4) St. Peter.-St. Luke xxiv., 34. (5) The ten apostles.-St. Luke xxiv., 33-46. (6) The eleven apostles, when Thomas was present.-St. John xx., 24-31. (7) The disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.-St. John xxi., 1-14. (10) All the apostles.-1 Cor. xv., 7; St. Luke xxiv., 50. The twelve apostles were specially appointed to be wit- 4. Its Purpose. (1) To prove His Divinity. "Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead."-Rom. i., 4. (2) To seal and confirm to us our justification. "He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."-Rom. iv., 25; 1 Cor. xv., 56, 57; Heb. xiii., 20. (3) To be the pledge of our Resurrection at the last day. "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.' Rom. viii., 11; 1 Cor. xv., 20-24; 1 Thess. iv., 14. 5. The Day of its Commemoration. Easter Day. THE CHAPTER VII. ARTICLE. HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, AND SITTETH ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.' I. His Ascension. 1. Its Prediction. It was foretold by (1) The Psalmist. "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive," &c. (Ps. lxviii., 18), and was so applied by St. Paul.-Ephes. iv., 7-10. |
