Your ShelfYour Projects

Untitled article

1%

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, January 28, 1868

FromReview and Herald, Vol. XXXI, No. 7

Read the full edition

Report of the Battle Creek Bible Class.

By W. C. O.

MARK XV, 15–32.

VERSE 15. And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
Ques. What had Pilate previously done with Jesus?
Ans. He had sent him to Herod in order to avoid passing sentence upon him. He doubtless thought to rid himself of all responsibility in the matter by passing the case over to Herod. Luke xxiii, 7.
Q. What was Herod’s treatment of Christ?
A. He was at first exceedingly glad to see him, Luke xxiii, 8, as he had for a long time been desirous to do so; but after questioning him in many words, and receiving no answer, he set him at naught, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.
Q. What did Pilate do before delivering Christ to be crucified?
A. “He took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person; see ye to it.” Matt. xxvii, 24.
Q. Of what custom was this act of Pilate’s an imitation?
A. That of the ancient Hebrews, in expiation of an uncertain murder. See Deut. xxi, 19.
Q. Was Pilate really innocent?
A. He was not. He had power to save Jesus from death had he chosen to exercise it, and was therefore responsible for not doing so.
Q. What was the answer of the people?
A. “His blood be on us, and on our children.”
Q. How has this been fulfilled?
A. By the scattering of the Jewish nation, and their dispersion among all the nations of the earth. Thus has his blood been upon them, and they have borne the fearful load of guilt.
Q. What was the operation of scourging?
A. Whipping with an instrument composed of several cords or lashes. By the law, the number of stripes was limited to forty. The Jews, in order not to exceed the limit of the law, were accustomed to give thirty-nine, but these were sometimes administered with such cruelty as to result in death.
Q. What would have been the fate of Barabbas had he not been placed in competition with Jesus?
A. He would doubtless have been put to death, as he was a notorious criminal.
VERSE 16. And the soldiers led him away into the hall called Prætorium; and they call together the whole band.
Q. What was the Prætorium?
A. It is called in Matt. xxvii, 27, “The common hall.” It probably derived its name from the officer who had the charge of it, the Prætor.
Q. What band was called together?
A. The band of soldiers. Matt. xxvii, 27.
VERSES 17, 18. And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, and began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews.
Q. What was the object of these ceremonies?
A. Mockery and insult. The purple robe was a royal color, and this, with the crown of thorns, was an emblem of mock royalty.
Q. What other emblem of royalty did they present to him?
A. They put in his right hand a reed, as an imitation of the kingly scepter. Matt. xxvii, 29.
VERSE 19. And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshiped him.
Q. Why did they smite him on the head?
A. To produce pain by forcing the thorns into his temples. It was also a mark of utter contempt and disrespect.
Q. Why did they spit upon him?
A. It was a custom to salute the king on coming before him, with a kiss. Perhaps they essayed to kiss him, and on approaching near him, spit in his face.
Q. What prophecy was fulfilled in this?
A. Isa. l, 6: “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”
VERSE 20. 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.
Q. Why did they remove the robe, and put his own clothes upon him?
A. The clothing of a criminal was divided among the executioners; hence they desired to have him wear his own clothes, that his garments might fall to them.
Q. What scripture was fulfilled in this treatment of Christ?
A. Isa. liii, 3–5. “He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and we hid, as it were, our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.”
Q. Why did they lead him out of the city?
A. The city was regarded as holy, and no executions were permitted there, lest it be defiled. It was also a perfect fulfillment of the type. Heb. xiii, 11, 12: “For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.”
VERSE 21. And they compel one Simon, a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
Q. Did Christ first bear his own cross?
A. He did. John xix, 17.
Q. Why was he compelled to do this?
A. It was the custom to compel all criminals to bear their own cross to the place of execution. This custom is alluded to by classic writers and secular historians.
Q. Why did they place the cross upon Simon?
A. Probably the sufferings of Christ, and his cruel treatment at the hands of his enemies, had so reduced his physical strength that he sank under its weight, and it became necessary to obtain assistance.
VERSE 22. And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.
Q. What kind of a word is Golgotha, that it need to be interpreted?
A. Hebrew. John xix, 17.
Q. Why was it called the place of a skull?
A. It was a place where the executions were performed, and doubtless the skulls of malefactors were visible on the ground. Some have supposed it to be thus named on account of its shape, it being an elevation similar in form to a human skull.
VERSE 23. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
Q. Matthew states that they gave him vinegar mingled with gall; how do you reconcile these two statements?
A. Vinegar was wine in a sour condition, and gall was a term applied to anything bitter and distasteful. Thus the terms vinegar and wine might be used to represent the same thing, while an inferior quality of myrrh would be appropriately entitled gall.
Q. For what purpose was this offered to him?
A. To produce insensibility to pain, or so benumb and stupefy as to render his death less painful.
Q. Did our Saviour taste of it?
A. He did, but refused to drink it. Matt. xxvii, 34.
Q. Why did he refuse it?
A. He chose to retain his consciousness and bear the agony of the cross in all its intensity.
VERSE 24. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
Q. What was the operation of crucifying?
A. The victim was fastened to a cross, made by nailing a cross piece to an upright, thus, †, with its lower end fixed in the ground; or by crossing two pieces of wood in the shape of a letter X. Sometimes the culprit was fastened to the cross by ropes, and left to die with hunger, thirst, and exposure; at other times, as in the case of our Saviour, the body was fastened to the cross by driving nails through the hands and feet. The crucifixion was a very common mode of punishment among the Romans, and was regarded as a very ignominious death. It certainly was one of the most cruel which human ingenuity could devise.
Q. How did they part his garments?
A. Into four portions, giving each of the four soldiers one part; and for his seamless coat they cast lots, rather than to rend it or divide it into parts.
Q. What scripture was fulfilled in this?
A. Ps. xxii, 18: “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.”
VERSE 25. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
Q. The record in John says it was about the sixth hour; how do you reconcile this?
A. It is supposed that an error has occurred in transcribing. The original Greek numerals for 3 and 6 are very much alike, and it would be quite natural to confound them, especially in manuscripts.
Q. To what time in the day, according to our reckoning, would this correspond?
A. Nine o’clock in the forenoon. The light portion of the day was divided anciently into twelve hours. The first commencing at about six o’clock of our reckoning, the third would be about nine, &c.
VERSE 26. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Q. In how many languages was this written?
A. Three: Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. John, xix, 20.
Q. Were the chief priests satisfied with this inscription?
A. They were not, but requested Pilate to write, “He said, I am King of the Jews.” John xix, 21.
Q. Did Pilate comply with their request?
A. He did not, but said, “What I have written, I have written.”
VERSES 27, 28. And with him they crucified two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
Q. Where is this scripture recorded?
A. In Isa. liii, 12: “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
VERSES 29, 30. And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, Save thyself and come down from the cross.
Q. What prophecy was fulfilled in this?
A. Ps. xxii, 6, 7: “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head.”
VERSE 31. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others, himself he cannot save.
Remark. The conduct of the chief priests on this occasion was a disgrace to their sacred office. Even had Christ been all they declared him to be, it was their duty not only to treat him with decency, but to bestow upon him their sympathy and pity. See Heb. v, 1, 2.
Q. Luke states that one of the malefactors rebuked the other; how do you reconcile these two statements?
A. Perhaps both commenced to revile him, and afterward one repented. Or perhaps in the account in Mark, the action of one stands for both, instances of which occur frequently in the Scriptures, as in Matt. xxvi, 8: “his disciples,” meaning Judas. Also in Matt. xxviii, 17: “some doubted,” i. e. one, Thomas, &c. Some have thought, and among them several eminent critics, that the account in Luke has been tampered with by the Romanists in order to establish the doctrines of death-bed repentance, absolution, and the immortality of the soul, but this point is not sufficiently clear to pass as an argument of full weight.

QUESTIONS.

1. Is praying in public (prayer-meetings, social meetings on the Sabbath, and meetings of like character,) commanded or prohibited in the Bible, and do apostolic teachings and example favor it, or tend to the contrary?
The text which seems to forbid public prayer was examined, Matt. vi, 5, 6, and reads as follows: “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
If we had no other evidence by which to decide this question, the above might seem conclusive, but as we examine the word of God, and learn the general import of the Scriptures on this subject, we conclude that the above is intended simply as a rebuke to those who would make a public exhibition of their devotions, and as enjoining the duty of secret prayer upon all believers.
Instances of public prayer are frequent in the Bible, and quite an array of texts was presented, showing that the custom is sanctioned by the example of good men in both dispensations. As our space forbids our giving them in full, we will simply cite them, and the reader can examine them at leisure.
The following texts were quoted as showing divine approval of public prayer: Matt. xviii, 19, 20; Luke xi, 1; 1 Cor. xiv, 14–16, in connection with the tenor of the chapter on the edification of the church; Isa. lvi, 7; 2 Chron. vii, 14–16; Ps. xlii, 4; xcv, 6; Zech. viii, 21, 22.
2. Do the Scriptures teach us to repay interest with principal to one whom we have wronged in deal, by false accusation or otherwise? If so, how much?
It would be difficult, or, in fact, impossible, to establish a general principle by which all cases of restitution should be decided. There are sometimes palliating circumstances which should be taken into account. A man may unintentionally wrong another, and yet it be his duty to make restitution as soon as that wrong is discovered. On the other hand, the wrong may have been brought about by a covetous, overreaching disposition, and the person grievously and intentionally wronged. The same rule would not apply to both cases, without perhaps doing injustice in the former, or failing to do full justice in the latter.
Lev. vi, 5, was quoted, as touching on the question of restitution, showing the duty of adding something to the principal.
After some remarks by different members of the class, it was finally voted as the opinion of the class, that principal and legal interest should be restored, at least, and full restitution in all cases, as in some cases this would fail to cover the real wrong. Counsel should be sought in such emergencies, from judicious and experienced brethren.
Several other questions were considered, but for want of time we are compelled to defer their report until next week.
W. C. O.