49 me? I was daily with you in the temple, teaching, and ye took 50 me not but the Scriptures must be fulfilled. And they all for51 sook him and fled. And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the 52 young men laid hold on him. And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

53

And they led Jesus away, to the high-priest and with him were assembled all the chief-priests, and the elders, and the 54 scribes. And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high-priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed 55 himself at the fire. And the chief-priests, and all the council,

sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found 56 none for many bare false witness against him, but their witness 57 agreed not together. And there arose certain, and bare false 58 witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this

temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will 59 build another made without hands. But neither so did their wit60 ness agree together. And the high-priest stood up in the midst,

and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it 61 which these witness against thee? But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high-priest asked him, and said 62 unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And

Jesus said, I am and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the 63 right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high-priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any 64 further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. 65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.

66

And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of

51, 52. This is such an incident as is very likely to have happened, but most unlikely to have been invented. Mark is the only evangelist who relates this affair, and Olshausen conjectures that he was himself the young man. The circumstances respecting his dress lead us to believe

the maids of the high-priest: and when she saw Peter warming 67 himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither 68* understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. And a maid saw him again, and began to 69 say to them that stood by, This is one of them. And he denied 70 it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I 71 know not this man of whom ye speak. And the second time the 72 cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.

CHAPTER XV.

The Trial, Death on the Cross, and Burial of Christ.

AND straightway in the morning the chief-priests held a con

Now at that 6

sultation with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he 2 answering, said unto him, Thou sayest it. And the chief-priests 3 accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. And 4 Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee. But Jesus yet 5 answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled. feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound 7 with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. And the multitude 8 crying aloud, began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them. But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release 9 unto you the King of the Jews? (For he knew that the chief- 10 priests had delivered him for envy.)

70. What were the peculiarities of the dialect of Galilee which betrayed the apostle, is now matter of conjecture.

CHAPTER XV.

See the illustration of this chap

But the chief-priests moved 11

ter in Mat. xxvii. Compare, also, Luke xxiii. and John xviii. and xix.

7. Who had committed murder, i. e. the fellow-insurgents of Barabbas.

14

the people that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. 12 And Pilate answered, and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? 13 And they cried out again, Crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the 15 more exceedingly, Crucify him. And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered 16 Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. - And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Pretorium; and they 17 call together the whole band; and they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, 19 and began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and 20 bowing their knees, worshipped him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.

18

21

And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, 22 to bear his cross. And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, 23 which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink, wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. 24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, 25 casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it 26 was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscrip

tion of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE 27 JEWS. And with him they crucify two thieves, the one on his 28 right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressAnd they that passed by, railed on him, wagging their

29 ors.

21. Alexander and Rufus. These names are mentioned familiarly, as if already known to the readers of Mark, and are conjectured by some to be the same, alluded to in Acts xix. 33, and Rom. xvi. 13.

23. He received it not. Or, as Matthew more particularly states, after tasting of the liquor, and learning what it was, he would not drink it, preferring to die, neither under an

unnatural excitement, nor in a state of blunted sensibility.

25. See John xix. 14, and note. 26. The superscription. Eusebius mentions that one of the early martyrs, when led about in the amphitheatre, had a tablet before him, on which was written in Latin, "This is Attalus the Christian." Such was the Roman custom.

heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come down from the 30 cross. Likewise also the chief-priests mocking, said among 31 themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, 32 that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him, reviled him. And when the sixth hour was, come, there 33 was darkness over the whole land, until the ninth hour. And at 34 the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, 35 when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one 36 ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.

37

And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the vail of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the 38 bottom. And when the centurion which stood over against him, 39 saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. - There were also women look- 40

ing on afar off, among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less, and of Joses, and Salome; who 41 also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him; and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.

And now, when the even was come, (because it was the prep- 42 aration, that is, the day before the Sabbath,) Joseph of Arima- 43 thea, an honorable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: 44

33. Sixth hour-darkness. The darkness prevailed at noon, the brightest part of the day, rendering the miracle the more striking to the spectators.

served," said one of the most extensive travellers, "that women in all countries are civil, tender, obliging, and humane.. If hungry, dry, cold, wet, or sick, the women have ever been friendly to me, and uniformly

so."

41. Bradford justly remarks, that "the susceptibility of females to religious truth and its teachers has 42. Because it was the preparation, always been great." "I have ob- &c. This explanation was thrown

45 had been any while dead.

and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he And when he knew it of the centu46 rion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone 47 unto the door of the sepulchre. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.

CHAPTER XVI.

The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus.

AND when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they 2 might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre, at the rising 3 of the sun and they said among themselves, Who shall roll us 4 away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? (And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away,) for it was 5 very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; 6 and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter, that he goeth before you into Galilee there shall ye see him, as he said unto

in for the benefit of readers, who were not acquainted with the Jewish polity.

47. We have here a beautiful exemplification of fortitude and love, faithful to the last. Affection for their Master carries these heroines of faith through the most awful scenes, and brings them to witness the final tribute of respect, paid to his mangled remains, and the closing of the tomb on the ruin of their hopes. But in the dark sepulchre itself, "light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright

in heart."

CHAPTER XVI.
This chapter is chiefly explained

in Mat. xxviii., with which it is parallel. See also Luke xxiv. and John

XX.

4. For it was very great. This clause, as indicated by the preceding parenthesis, properly belongs to and qualifies the question in verse 3. They are anxious to know how to remove the stone, for it was a very large one, and female hands could not be supposed sufficient to roll it away.

7. And Peter. We may rationally believe that these words, as well as the pathetic scene in John xxi. 15-19, were intended to convey to the noble-hearted, but frail disciple, the cheering intelligence of the forgiveness, and continued remem