10 Then saith Pilate unto [late sought to release him: but

him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not, that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?

11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

12 And from thenceforth Pi

Because to reply would have been of no service, and he had already said enough to Pilate to show him who he was (18: 36, 37); and because he knew that Pilate's conscience was already sufficiently enlightened to teach him how he ought to act.

the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Cesar's friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Cesar.

13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment-seat, in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

foremost in this matter, and his associates, would be unspeakably more guilty, as having transcended their power, and, in a wholly unauthorized way, condemned an innocent man. The high priest had, against the force of appropriate evidence, and from a malignant disposition, rejected him, and plotted his death.

ance to the Roman emperor. Their declaration was intended to convey the hint that, if he should release Jesus, they would report him to Cesar as an unfaithful governor, and procure his dismissal from office, and his disgrace. This appeal to his love of of fice, and of power. prevailed, alas! over his sense of right.

11. Except it were given thee from above; unless divine providence had allowed me to come into thy power. 12. Cesar's friend. Tiberius Cesar Therefore he that delivered me unto was the Roman emperor, to whom thee hath the greater sin. That is, the Jews were subject, and by whose Since I have come into thy power, appointment Pilate was governor of not in consequence of my own guilt, Judea. The Jews declared to Pilate but by a very special arrangement that, if he should release Jesus, who and permission of divine providence, claimed to be a king, he would give -a permission by which hatred and convincing evidence that he had reenvy have prevailed against inno-nounced his attachment and allegicence, therefore he that delivered me, &c. The Saviour acknowledged that he was then in the power of Pilate, and that it pertained to him, according to the law of the land, to decide whether the determination of the Jews should, or should not, be carried into effect. But, though he, as being the Roman governor, was required by the laws to exercise power either in sanctioning or reversing the decision of the Jews, yet they had not the slightest ground for condemning him, and giving him up to Pilate's power. They had not acted legally; they had been actuated solely by hatred; and hence, though Pilate himself, as Jesus kindly warns him, would contract great guilt, should he consent to the death of a man against whom he knew there was no valid accusation, yet the high priest, who had been

This was a

13. The Pavement. place in front of the palace, somewhat elevated, and paved with small pieces of marble, precious stones, glass, &c. On this pavement, which was a temporary ornament, the tribunal was erected. The Roman generals and governors provided themselves with such pavements to adorn the floor of their tents when in the field, and of parts of their palaces; and they carried with them, when they went abroad on military expedi

14 And it was the preparation | him.

Pilate saith unto them, of the passover, and about the Shall I crucify your King? The sixth hour and he saith unto chief priests answered, We have the Jews, Behold your King!

15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify

tions, or to the government of provinces, pieces of marble, &c. fitted so as to form a paved surface.

14. It was the preparation of the passover. The word translated preparation was used, among the Jews, to denote the day, or a part of the day, before a festival or sacred day, as furnishing opportunity to prepare for it. The day here spoken of was the day immediately preceding the festival of unleavened bread. That festival was to commence at the beginning of the fifteenth day, the next day after the eating of the paschal lamb. The day of the week here spoken of was Friday, and the whole of Friday was the preparation day for the festival. See on 13: 1. It must be borne in mind that the Jewish day of twenty-four hours commenced at sunset; so that the festival of unleavened bread, called also the passover, began that year at the time which we should call the evening of Friday. || About the sixth hour. The sixth hour corresponded to our twelve o'clock. But, according to Mark, 15: 25, it was the third hour, or nine o'clock, when Jesus was crucified; and, according to Matt. 27: 45, Jesus was on the cross at twelve o'clock, and the three hours of darkness then commenced. For a reconciliation of this difference in the statements, see the note on Matt. 27: 45. In addition to the remarks in that note, another method of reconciliation is proposed. The Jews were in the habit of dividing the day, as well as the night, into four parts, of three hours each. The second of these divisions began at the third hour, and ended at the sixth, that is, at nine o'clock and at twelve. Now John, in his notice of the time, might have included not merely Pilate's giving up Jesus to the Jews, but also

no king but Cesar.

16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be cruci

the crucifixion which followed; and he might have intended to say that those things, viewed in connection, occurred about, or towards, twelve o'clock. towards the latter part of that division which commenced at nine. Mark, on the other hand, might have meant to signify that, at the commencement of this division, the arrangements immediately connected with the crucifixion were in progress, so that the crucifixion was completed during that division. The crucifixion occurred between those two points of time. The language of John does not mark the time precisely, and it would be correct, if the time was considerably nearer to twelve than to nine. Mark's mention of nine o'clock would seem, if we consider how much time must have been occupied in the transactions with Pilate, then with Herod (Luke 23: 7), and then again with Pilate, to include the preparations for crucifixion as well as the particular event of the crucifixion. If the crucifixion, then, after all the preliminary arrangements, actually occurred at about eleven o'clock, the statements of the two evangelists are sufficiently harmonious. They both agree in the particular division of time, but one groups together all the circumstances as completed towards the end of that division; the other contemplates the commencement of those circumstances at the beginning of that division. It may be proper also to remark, in illustration of John's manner of speaking, that, if a public execution should take place at eleven o'clock, just before, or just after, a person afterwards giving an account of it, and not intending to mention the time precisely, might very naturally say, "It occurred at about noon."

25. Cleophas. In the original, this name is spelled Clopas, and it is different from the name Cleopas in Luke 24 18. Clopas is believed to have 27. Behold thy mother; become a been the same person as is elsewhere son to this afflicted woman. How called Alpheus. See Matt. 10: 3. strong the affection of Jesus for his Mark 3: 18. Both Clopas and Al- mother! How lovely this example pheus correspond to one and the same of filial respect and care! Who can Hebrew name. Clopas was husband fail to feel the force of it? It has of Mary, the sister of our Lord's been handed down by tradition from mother; James and Joses were chil-early times, that John continued to

main suspended all night. It must be taken down and buried before night. 28. That the scripture might be ful- See Deut. 21: 22, 23. It was also confilled. This clause relates to the cir-sidered highly improper that the dead cumstance just before mentioned, namely, that all things respecting Jesus were now accomplished. It intimates that Jesus knew he had now accomplished what the Scriptures had foretold, and that it only remained for him to die.

35 And he that saw it, bare | Arimathea (being a disciple of record, and his record is true: Jesus, but secretly for fear of and he knoweth that he saith the Jews) besought Pilate that true, that ye might believe. he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore and took the body of Jesus.