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not forsake him; the only good thing we know of that wicked woman.

Pilate had sacrificed Christ to his fears of being misrepresented to the emperor. The very fate he dreaded befell him; for riots becoming more and more frequent under his rule, both in Judea and Samaria, his superior, the prefect of Syria, sent him to Rome for trial. He arrived there just after the death of Tiberius, who had been his friend and patron; and Caligula, his successor, banished him also to Gaul, where, it is said, he died by his own hand, unable to bear his disgrace and exile.

After the departure of Pilate, the prefect of Syria visited Jerusalem, and removed Caiaphas from his office as high priest. But a son of Annas was put in his place, and the chief power of the priesthood remained in the family for a long period. Annas himself died in extreme old age, and was considered by his countrymen one of the happiest men of his time and nation.

For a brief space under Herod Agrippa, who was made king of Judea and Samaria, as well as of the provinces east of the Jordan, Jerusalem enjoyed prosperity, whilst the early Christians suffered many persecutions, Herod putting James, the brother of John, to death, to please the Jews. But immediately after this, upon the death of Herod, A.D. 45, a severe famine, lasting two years, befell Judea. Soon afterwards, at the feast of the passover, many thousands of the people perished in a

tumult caused by the intrusion of the Roman soldiers into the Temple. A set of fanatics and assassins began to infest Jerusalem and its neighbourhood, some of whom slew the high priest, a son of Annas, whilst sacrificing. Riots and massacres became more and more common. False Messiahs sprang up. Rival high priests headed different parties, each bent upon plunder. At last the Jews broke out into open insurrection against the Roman power; but they were also divided among themselves, and separated into many factions, at deadly enmity with one another. The Roman army besieged Jerusalem, A.D. 70, when it was crowded with strangers and pilgrims come up to keep the passover. Thousands perished in battle, thousands more by famine and murder within the walls, and when the city was taken, the old and sickly were massacred, children under seventeen years of age were sold into slavery, and the rest were sent in multitudes to make up gladiatorial shows in the amphitheatres of Rome and the provinces. The whole of the city was so thoroughly levelled and dug up, that no one visiting it would believe it had ever been inhabited.' It is said that not one of the Christians perished in the siege, as they fled from the doomed city before it was surrounded by the Roman army.

But a far swifter and more direct destruction befell the man, who knew, and knew distinctly, what he was doing when he betrayed his Lord into the hands of His

enemies. Judas was not ignorant of the purposes of the Sanhedrim; he was no stranger to Jesus.

He had even been one of His familiar friends, in whom He trusted. He had been an eye-witness, like the other apostles, of the wondrous life of Jesus from the beginning. He had himself preached the gospel, and done works of mercy in the name of his Master. Yet he clearly understood that the bribe for which he bargained to betray Him was but the price of His blood. For he had been with Christ when He was hiding from His enemies, who sought to kill Him by any means, by private assassination, or by sudden tumult. To sell Jesus to the chief priests, he knew, was to betray innocent blood.

We are led to suppose that Judas accompanied the band which carried Jesus from Gethsemane to the palace of the high priest, a dark-spirited, anxious, skulking villain, already hearing a low whisper of that storm of remorse which was soon to drive him to despair. The wages of his sin were promptly paid to him; yet still he seems to have lingered about the spot where his Master was, watching how things went on. It was night, and he was friendless. his old comrades would now turn from him in terror. He was not a stupid man; he could feel keenly. There was but one spark of comfort-his purse was no longer empty, and the little field he coveted could now be his. As soon as the day dawned he would go and see about it.

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Possibly there was a faint, lingering hope that Jesus might deliver Himself. Once before He had passed invisibly through the midst of His foes, when they took up stones to kill Him. Perhaps he had heard Jesus say to Peter, Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?' But the faint hope died away as the cruel hours sped on; and when Jesus suffered them to lead Him away, bound, before Pilate, Judas knew He would not save Himself. He ought to have known it before. A fierce passion of remorse seized upon him. Wildly he fled to the Temple, where the priests, his tempters, were already preparing to celebrate their solemn day of peace-offering for the nation. He forced his way into the inner portions of the sacred place, probably into the hall of the Sanhedrim, where the priests assembled early every morning to cast lots for the services of the day. He flung down the thirty pieces of silver, crying, 'I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood!' The priests heard, and answered him with a sneer. 'What is that to us?' they asked; 'see thou to that!' Judas left the money, the price of his Lord, and departed for ever from the Temple.

It may be he lingered through the terrible morning of the crucifixion, until after the awful crime in which he had had a chief share was completed. Then, seeking out the field he had coveted, and which was all but

purchased, he put an end to his miserable life. Not without warning had this bitter end come, a merciful warning from his Lord, who had said, whilst there was yet time for him to repent, 'The Son of man goeth as it is written of Him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born,'

THE END.

Printed by William Moore & Co.

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