Meanwhile, the Pharisees and Sadducees, their heads full of the prophecies of greatness and deliverance, to which their minds gave a temporal, not a spiritual meaning, grew more and more enraged at every token that the lowly Nazarene was indeed the Saviour, the Hope of the whole world. Each token of perfection, each saying too pure for them, each undoubted miracle, only made them more furious, and for once they made common cause together. The Passover came. Herod Antipas came to Jerusalem to observe the feast, Pilate to keep the peace among the Jews; and Jerusalem saw her King coming, meek, and riding on an ass, and amid the Hosannas of the children, weeping at the vengeance that He foresaw for the favoured city where He had been despised and rejected, and where He was Himself about to become the true Passover, which should purchase everlasting Redemption.
The traitor sold Him to the Sanhedrim, or council, in which the last words of the prophecy through the Priesthood had declared that one man must die for the people; and a band of Roman soldiers was obtained from Pilate. Meanwhile, our blessed Lord instituted the new Passover, the Communion by which all the faithful should be enabled to partake of the great Sacrifice; then He went out to the garden, among the grey olives which still stand beside the brook Kedron, and there, after His night of Agony, He was betrayed by a kiss, and dragged before the High Priest, under an accusation of blasphemy; but as the Sanhedrim had not power of life and death, and such a charge would have mattered little to a Roman, a political offence was invented to bring before Pilate. The procurator perceived the innocence of the Holy One, but feared to befriend Him because of the raging multitude; and after vainly trying to shift the responsibility on Herod Antipas, he washed his hands, to show that it was no affair of his own, and gave the Victim up to the murderers. They chose the most shameful death of Roman slaves, that they might show their hatred and contempt, unwitting that each act and each word had been foretold and foreshown in their own Law and Prophets. For six hours He hung on His Cross, while the sun was dark, and awe crept on the most ignorant hearts. Then came the cry, "It is finished;" and the work was done; the sinless Sacrifice had died; the price of Adam's sin was paid; the veil of the Temple was rent in twain, to show that the way to the true Mercy-Seat was opened. The rich man buried Him-the women watched; and when the Sabbath was over, the Tomb was broken through, and the First-fruits of them that slept arose, wondrously visited His followers for forty days, gave them His last charges, and then ascended into Heaven, carrying manhood to the bosom of the Father. Satan was for ever conquered.
LESSON XXI. THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH.
"Ten men shall take hold, out of all language of all nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."-Zech. viii. 23.
By the coming of Him who had been so long promised, in His human Body, and the completion of His sacrifice, all the objects of the old ceremonial Law were fulfilled; the shadows passed away and substance took their place, so that the comers thereunto might be made perfect. Instead of being admitted to the covenant by circumcision, which was only a type of putting away the uncleanness of the flesh, the believers were washed from sin in the now fully revealed Name of the Holy Trinity, in the Fountain of Christ's Blood, open for all sin and uncleanness, and the penitent had a right to be constantly purified in the living cleansing streams of grace and pardon. The one great Passover had been offered, to redeem the chosen from the slavery of Satan, and the highway was opened for the ransomed to pass over with songs of joy, keeping the Resurrection Day instead of the Sabbath. Means had been given of their constantly partaking of that Passover, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; and thus tasting of the Eternal Sacrifice, in right of which they prayed to the Father, to whom they were united as members of His Son. The one great Day of Atonement was over, and the true High Priest had entered for ever into the Holy Place, opening a way where all might follow to the Mercy Seat, there offering His own Sacrifice, and presenting their prayers. And even in Heaven, He still was the Shepherd of the little flock, to whom it was His good pleasure to give the Kingdom; feeding them, appointing under shepherds, and guarding them gently from His Throne above. The sealed Book of type and prophecy was open and clear at His touch; and the Old Testament found full explanation and fulfilment in the New; and now it, remained to make known the good tidings, and gather in all nations, Jew and Gentile alike, to the Lord's Flock, the Church or House of the Lord, as it was called.
One hundred and twenty believers in their risen Lord awaited together the coming of the promised Comforter, who should abide with them for ever, to guide them into all truth, and to enable them to proclaim the accomplishment of all the promises. The eleven Apostles, who, as their name[1] implied, had been sent forth by their Lord, added to their number Matthias, in the place of the traitor Judas, laying hands on him in order to carry on the Gift that the Saviour had breathed upon them. Besides these, there were the seventy whom our Lord had sent out in pairs, and whose order was afterwards called the elders, presbyters, or priests.
They were all gathered in the upper room to keep the Feast of Weeks, in memory of the giving the Law, when He came upon them Who could enable that Law to be kept, bringing the Divine Presence, which is the pervading Life of the whole Body. His coming was marked by such open signs, as to draw the attention of all the pilgrim Jews, who had come from their distant homes to keep the feast. St. Peter expounded to them that the time of fulfilment was come, and that Jesus, crucified and risen, was their Salvation. 3,000 at once accepted the New Covenant, and were baptized; and thus, on the day of Pentecost, A.D. 33, the Church of Christ sprang into full life. Many of the converts sold their goods, and brought the price to the Apostles, all living on one common stock, and giving bounteous alms; but the new converts of Greek education, found their poor less well provided than the native Jews, and to supply them, seven deacons, or ministers, were set apart as the serving order of the ministry. Foremost of these was Stephen, who, about two years after the Ascension, bore the first witness through death to the doctrine which he taught,