15 The messenger answered them and said, I asked one of the Jews and said, What is this which the children do cry out in the Hebrew language?
16 And he explained it to me, saying, they cry out Hosannah, which being interpreted, is, O, Lord, save me; or, O Lord, save.
17 Pilate then said to them, Why do you yourselves testify to the words spoken by the children, namely, by your silence? In what has the messenger done amiss? And they were silent.
18 Then the governor said unto the messenger, Go forth and endeavour by any means to bring him in.
19 But the messenger went forth, and did as before; and said, Lord, come in, for the governor calleth thee.
20 And as Jesus was going in by the ensigns, who carried the standards, the tops of them bowed down and worshipped Jesus.
21 Whereupon the Jews exclaimed more vehemently against the ensigns.
22 But Pilate said to the Jews, I know it is not pleasing to you that the tops of the standards did of themselves bow and worship Jesus; but why do ye exclaim against the ensigns, as if they had bowed and worshipped?
23 They replied to Pilate, We saw the ensigns themselves bowing and worshipping Jesus.
24 Then the governor called the ensigns and said unto them, Why did you do thus?
25 The ensigns said to Pilate, We are all Pagans and worship the gods in temples; and how should we think anything about worshipping him? We only held the standards in our hands and they bowed themselves and worshipped him.
26 Then said Pilate to the rulers of the synagogue, Do ye yourselves choose some strong men, and let them hold the standards, and we shall see whether they will then bend of themselves.
27 So the elders of the Jews sought out twelve of the most strong and able old men, and made them hold the standards and they stood in the presence of the governor.
28 Then Pilate said to the messenger, Take Jesus out, and by some means bring him in again. And Jesus and the messenger went out of the hall.
29 And Pilate called the ensigns who before had borne the standards, and swore to them, that if they had not borne the standards in that manner when Jesus before entered in, he would cut off their heads.
30 Then the governor commanded Jesus to come in again.
31 And the messenger did as he had done before, and very much entreated Jesus that he would go upon his cloak, and walk on it, and he did walk upon it, and went in.
32 And when Jesus went in, the standards bowed themselves as before, and worshipped him.
2 Is compassionated by Pilate's wife, 7 charged with being born in fornication. 12 Testimony to the betrothing of his parents. Hatred of the Jews to him.
NOW when Pilate saw this, he was afraid, and was about to rise from his seat.
2 But while he thought to rise, his own wife who stood at a distance, sent to him, saying
LEFT: THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. FROM A PAINTING ON WOOD BY FRA FILIPPO LIPPI. RIGHT: THE MURDER OF THE INNOCENTS. FROM A PAINTING ON WOOD BY MATTEO DI GIOVANNI.
and elders of the Jews mocked him, saying, he saved others, let him now save himself if he can; if he be the son of God, let him now come down from the cross.
7 The soldiers also mocked him, and taking vinegar and gall offered it to him to drink, and said to him, If thou art king of the Jews deliver thyself.
8 Then Longinus, a certain soldier, taking a spear,
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. A TRIPTYCHON BY AN ITALIAN PAINTER OF THE THIRTEENTH OR FOURTEENTH CENTURY.
come, and hath enlightened us who sat in death.
7 And while we were all rejoicing in the light which shone upon us, our father Simeon came among us, and congratulating all the company, said, Glorify the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God.
8 Whom I took up in my arms when an infant in the temple, and being moved by the Holy Ghost, said to him, and acknowledged,
THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST IN THE JORDAN. FROM A ''BOOK OF THE EVANGELISTS.'' GREEK MANUSCRIPT OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY.
1 Pilate goes to the temple; calls together the rulers, and scribes, and doctors. 2 Commands the gates to be shut; orders the book of the Scripture; and causes the Jews to relate what they really knew concerning Christ. 14 They declare that they crucified Christ in ignorance, and that they now know him to be the Son of God, according to the testimony of the Scriptures; which, after they put him to death, they are examined. AFTER these things Pilate went to the temple of the Jews, and called together all the rulers and scribes, and doctors of the law, and went with them into a chapel of the temple. 2 And commanding that all the gates should be shut, said to them, I have heard that ye have a certain large book in this temple; I desire you therefore, that it may be brought before me. 3 And when the great book, carried by four ministers of the temple, and adorned with gold and precious stones, was brought, Pilate said to them all, I adjure you by the God of your Fathers, who made and commanded this temple to be built, that ye conceal not the truth from me. 4 Ye know all the things which are written in that book; tell me therefore now, if ye in the Scriptures have found any thing of that Jesus whom ye crucified, and at what time of the world he ought to have come: shew it me. 5 Then having sworn Annas and Caiaphas, they commanded all the rest who were with them to go out of the chapel. 6 And they shut the gates of the temple and of the chapel, and said to Pilate, Thou hast made us to swear, O judge, by the building of this temple, to declare to thee that which is true and right. 7 After we had crucified Jesus, not knowing that he was the Son of God, but supposing he wrought his miracles by some magical arts, we summoned a large assembly in this temple. 8 And when we were deliberating among one another about the miracles which Jesus had wrought, we found many witnesses of our own country, who declared that they had seen him alive after his death, and that they heard him discoursing with his disciples, and saw him ascending unto the height of the heavens, and entering into them; 9 And we saw two witnesses, whose bodies Jesus raised from the dead, who told us of many strange things which Jesus did among the dead, of which we have a written account in our hands. 10 And it is our custom annually to open this holy book before an assembly, and to search there for the counsel of God. 11 And we found in the first of the seventy books, where Michael the archangel is speaking to the third son of Adam the first man, an account that after five thousand five hundred years, Christ the most beloved Son of God was come on earth, 12 And we further considered, that perhaps he was the very God of Israel who spoke to Moses, Thou shalt make the ark of the testimony; two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 1 13 By these five cubits and a half for the building of the ark of the Old Testament, we perceived and knew that in five thousand years and a half (one thousand) years, Jesus Christ was to come in the ark or tabernacle of a body; 14 And so our scriptures testify that he is the son of God, and the Lord and King of Israel. 15 And because after his suffering, our chief priests were surprised at the signs which were wrought by his means, we opened that book to search all the generations down to the generation of Joseph and Mary the mother of Jesus, supposing him to be of the seed of David; 16 And we found the account of the creation, and at what time he made the heaven and the earth and the first man Adam, and that from thence to the flood, were two thousand, two hundred and twelve years. 17 And from the flood to Abraham, nine hundred and twelve. And from Abraham to Moses, four hundred and thirty. And from Moses to David the king, five hundred and ten. 18 And from David to the Babylonish captivity, five hundred years. And from the Babylonish captivity to the incarnation of Christ, four hundred years. 19 The sum of all which amounts to five thousand and half (a thousand). 20 And so it appears, that Jesus whom we crucified, is Jesus Christ the Son of God, and true and Almighty God. Amen. In the name of the Holy Trinity, thus end the Acts of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which the Emperor Theodosius the Great found at Jerusalem, in the hall of Pontius Pilate among the public records; the things were acted in the nineteenth year of Tiberius Cæsar, Emperor of the Romans, and in the seventeenth year of the government of Herod the son of Herod king of Galilee, on the eighth of the calends of April, which is the twenty-third
day of the month of March, in the CCIId Olympiad, when Joseph and Caiaphas were Rulers of the Jews; being a History written in Hebrew by Nicodemus, of what happened after our Saviour's crucifixion. 64:1 Matt. xiii. 55, and John vi. 42. 64:2 John v. 17, 18. Mark xv. 2. 64:3 Matt. xii. 2, &c.; Luke xiii. 14. John, v. 18. 64:4 Exod. xx. 8, &c. 64:5 Matt. vi. 24, and xi. 5. 64:6 Matt. iv. 34, and xii. 24, &c. 64:7 Matt. xxi. 8, 9, &c. 66:1 Matt. xxvii. 19. 66:2 John v. 17, 18; Mark xv. 2. 67:1 3 John x. 32 67:2 John xviii. 31, &c. 67:3 Exod. xx. 13. 67:4 John ii. 19. 67:5 Matt. xxvii. 24. 68:1 Leviticus xxiv. 16. 68:2 Exodus xx. 13. 68:3 Luke xxiii. 16. 69:1 John iii. 2. 69:2 Acts v. 38. 69:3 These are mentioned also as the names of the magicians, 2 Tim. iii. 8. 69:4 Exod. viii. 18, &c. 69:5 Acts v. 35. An allusion to Gamaliel's speech. 69:6 John v. 1, 2. &c. 69:7 Mark x. 46. 70:1 Matt. viii. 11, &c. 70:2 Luke xiii. 11. 70:3 Matt. ix. 20, &c. See concerning this woman called Veronica, on whom this miracle was performed, and the statue which she erected to the honour of Christ, in Euseb. Hist. Eccl. l. 7, c. 18. 70:4 John ii. 1, &c. 70:5 Luke iv. 33, &c. 70:6 Matt. v. 23. 70:7 Mark iii. 11. 70:8 Matt. viii. 5, &c. 71:1 John xi. 17, &c. 71:2 Matt. xxvii. 24. 71:3 Matt. xxvii. 21. 71:4 John xix. 12. 72:1 Matt. ii. 72:2 Matt. xxvii. 24, &c. 72:3 Matt. xxvii. 33. 73:1 John xix. 34. 73:2 John xix. 19. 73:3 Matt. xxvii. 45, &c. 74:1 John xix. 88. 75:1 Deut. xxxii. 35; Heb. x. 40. 75:2 Matt. xxviii. 11, 12, &c. 75:3 Matt. xxviii. 1, 2, &c. 76:1 Matt. xxviii. 16. and Mark xvi. 16. 77:1 Heathens. 79:1 Luke, ii. 29. 79:2 Deut. xvii. 8. 79:3 Matt. xxvii. 53. 80:1 Isai. xi. 1 Matt. iv. 16. 81:1 Luke ii. 29. 81:2 Matt. iii. 13. 82:1 St. Jerome affirms that the soul of Christ went to hell. 82:2 Matt. xxvi. 38. 83:1 John xi. 83:2 Psalm xxiv. 7, &c. 83:3 Psalm cvii. 15, &c. 83:4 Isaiah xxvi. 19. 84:1 Psalm xxiv. 7, &c. 84:2 Psalm cii. 19, 20. 84:3 Luke i. 79. 86:1 Psalm xxx. 1, &c. 87:1 Psalm xcviii. 1, &c. 87:2 Psalm cxlix. 2. 87:3 Hab. iii. 13. 87:4 Matt. xxiii. 39. 87:5 Gen. v. 24. 87:6 Kings ii. 11. 87:7 Rev. xi. 11. 88:1 Luke xxiii. 43. 90:1 Exod. xxv. 10.
Footnotes