The chief court of the Jews met in a room near the church, and was made up of three-score and ten men. The high priest and chief priests were there, and the scribes, and head men of the church, and it was for them to say what should be done to those who broke the laws of Mo-ses; some of whom had to pay fines, or to be shut up in jail. But if a man was to be put to death they had to ask the chief whom the Ce-sar of Rome had set to rule in that part of the land if he would let the deed be done.

It was night when the Jews took Je-sus, and as soon as it was day they brought him in-to court to have him tried. The high priest said to him, Art thou the Christ? tell us.

Je-sus said, If I tell you, ye will not think I speak the truth.

Then they all said, Art thou the son of God?

And he said, I am.

Then the high priest rent his clothes, and said, By his own words we can judge him. What do you say shall be done to him? And they all cried out, Let him be put to death!

Then they spit in his face, and struck Je-sus with the palms of their hands. And they bound him and led him blind-fold to Pi-late's house, and told Pi-late some of the things he had said and done.

Pi-late said to Je-sus, Art thou a king? Je-sus said, I am. But my realm is not of this world, else would my men have fought to set me free.

Pi-late said, I find no fault with this man. And the Jews were more fierce, and cried that his words had made a great stir in all the land from Gal-i-lee to that place. Pi-late said, if he came from Gal-i-lee they must take him to He-rod, who ruled that part of the land. And He-rod was in Je-ru-sa-lem at that time.

When He-rod saw Je-sus he was glad, for he had heard much of him, and was in hopes to see some great things done by him. But when He-rod spoke to Je-sus, Je-sus said not one word. And the chief priests and scribes stood by, and cried out that he claimed to be king of the Jews, and the son of God, and had taught men that they need not keep the laws of Mo-ses or of Rome. These were crimes for which he ought to be put to death.

So He-rod and his men of war made sport of Je-sus, and put on him a robe such as kings wear; for he had said he was a king. And then He-rod sent him back to Pi-late.

Pi-late said, I find no fault in this man; nor does He-rod, for I sent you to him; he had done naught for which he should be put to death.

Now it was the rule when this great feast was held, that one of those who were shut up in jail should be set free. And at this time there was a Jew there, whose name was Ba-rab-bas; and he had killed some one.

Pi-late said, Which one shall I set free—Ba-rab-bas, or Je-sus, who is called Christ?

While Pi-late spoke, his wife sent word to him to do no harm to that just man, for she had had a strange dream a-bout him. But the chief priests urged the mob to ask that Ba-rab-bas be set free.

Pi-late said, What then shall I do with Je-sus, who is called Christ?

They cried out, Hang him! Hang him!

When Pi-late saw that he could not get them to ask for Je-sus, he took some wa-ter and washed his hands in full view of the mob, and said, I am not to blame for the death of this just man; see ye to it.

Then the Jews said, Let his blood be on us and on our chil-dren.

But Pi-late was to blame for Je-sus' death; for he gave him up to the Jews that he might please them, and keep the place that he had.

Now it was the law of the land that a man should be scourged ere he was hung. So Je-sus was stripped to the waist, and his hands were bound to a low post in front of him so as to make him stoop, and while he stood in this way he was struck with rods, or a whip of cords, till the blood burst through the skin.

Then Pi-late's men of war led him to a room, and took off his own robe, and put on him one of a red and blue tint. Then they made a crown of thorns and put it on his head; and they put a reed in his right hand. Then they bowed down to him, as if he were a king, and mocked at him and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head, and smote him with their hands.

When Ju-das saw that Je-sus was to be put to death, he was in great grief to think he had brought such a fate on one who had done no wrong. And he took back to the chief priests the sum they had paid him, and he said to them, I have done a great sin to give up to you one who had done no wrong. They said to him, What is that to us? See thou to that. Then Ju-das threw down the sil-ver, and went out and hung him-self.

Then the men of war took off the gay robe from Je-sus, and put his own clothes on him and led him out to put him to death.

They met a man named Si-mon, and made him bear the cross. And a great crowd of men and wo-men went with them who wept and mourned for Je-sus. Je-sus told them not to weep for him, but for them-selves and their chil-dren, be-cause of the woes that were to come on the Jews.

They brought him to a place called Cal-va-ry, not far from the gates of Je-ru-sa-lem. And they nailed his feet and hands to the cross, which was then set up in the ground. And all the while Je-sus prayed, Fa-ther for-give them, for they know not what they do. He meant that they did not know how great was their sin; nor that they had in truth put to death the son of God. With him they hung two thieves, one on his right hand, and one on his left.

Then they sat down to watch Je-sus, who hung for hours on the cross in great pain, ere his death came to him. And they took his robes and gave each one a share; but for his coat they cast lots. And at the top of the cross Pi-late had put up these words:

Je-sus of Naz-a-reth, King of the Jews.

And the Jews as they went by shook their heads at him, and said, If thou be the son of God come down from the cross, and the chief priests and the scribes mocked him and said, His trust was in God; let God save him now if he will have him.

One of the thieves spoke to Je-sus and said, If thou art the Christ save thy-self and us.

But the oth-er said, Dost thou not fear God when thou art so soon to die? It is right that we should die for our sins, but this man has done no wrong. And he said to Je-sus, Think of me when thou art on thy throne. Je-sus said to him, This day shalt thou be with me where God is.

Now there stood near the cross of Je-sus his mo-ther, and John—the one of the twelve most dear to him. And he bade John take care of his mo-ther, and told her to look on John as her son. And John took her to his own home to take care of her and give her all that she had need of.

From the sixth to the ninth hour—that is, from twelve to three o'clock—the sky was dark in all the land. And Je-sus thought that God had turned his face from him. And he cried out with a loud voice O God! O God! why hast thou left me?

One of the men near thought he was in pain, and he took a sponge and dipped it in the gall, and put it up on a reed to his mouth, so that Je-sus might drink. Je-sus wet his lips with the drink that was to ease his pain, then spoke once more, bowed his head and died.

Then the veil which hung in the church, in front of the ark, was torn in two; the earth shook; the rocks were split; the graves gave up their dead, and those who, while they lived, had served the Lord, rose and came out of their graves and went in-to Je-ru-sa-lem and were seen there.

When those who had kept watch of Je-sus as he hung on the cross, saw these things that were done, they were in great fear, and said, There is no doubt that this man was the son of God.

As night came on the Jews went to Pi-late and begged him to kill Je-sus and the two thieves so that they could be put in their graves. For it would not do for them to hang on the cross on the day of rest. The men on guard broke the legs of the thieves to kill them, and thrust a spear in-to Je-sus' side to make sure that he was dead.

Now there was near Cal-va-ry a gar-den, in which was a tomb in which no one had been laid. It was cut in a rock, and was owned by a rich man—Jo-seph of Ar-i-ma-the-a. He came to Pi-late and begged that he might lay Je-sus in this grave, and Pi-late told him to do so. And Jo-seph took Je-sus down from the cross, and wrapped him in the fine lin-en he had brought, and laid him in the tomb, and put a great stone at the door, and left him there.

The chief priests went to Pi-late and said, It has come to our minds that Je-sus said that he would rise on the third day, so we pray thee to have men watch the tomb lest some of his friends come and steal him, and then go and say that he rose from the dead.

Pi-late said, Ye have your own watch-men. Go and make it as sure as you can.

So they went and put a seal of wax on the great tomb, and set men to watch by the tomb.

But that night God sent down an an-gel, and he came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His face shone like fire, and his robes were white as snow. And the watch-men shook for fear of him, and had no more strength than dead men.