who had put John the Baptist to death, and he had probably come to Jerusalem at that time on account of the feast of the passover: of our blessed Saviour's interview with Herod you will read an account in the next chapter.

LESSON THIRTY-FIRST.

LUKE XXIII. 8-12.

AND when Her-od saw Je-sus, he was ex-ceed-ing glad: for he was de-sir-ous to see Him of a long season, be-cause he had heard man-y things of Him: and he hop-ed to have seen some mir-a-cles done by Him. Then he ques-tion-ed with Him in man-y words: but He answer-ed him noth-ing. And the

chief priests and scribes stood and ve-he-ment-ly ac-cu-sed Him. And He-rod with his men of war set Him at nought, and mock-ed Him, and ar-ray-ed Him in a gor-ge-ous robe, and sent Him a-gain to Pilate. And the chief priests ac-cused Him of man-y things: but He an-swer-ed noth-ing. And Pi-late ask-ed Him a-gain, say-ing "Answer-est thou noth-ing? Be-hold how many things they wit-ness a-gainst thee?" But Je-sus yet an-swer-ed noth-ing; so that Pilate mar-vel-led. Now at that feast he re-leas-ed un-to them one prison-er, whom-so-ev-er they de-sir-ed. And there was one nam-ed Barrab-bas which lay bound with them that had made in-sur-rec-tion with

him, who had com-mit-ted mur-der in the in-sur-rec-tion. And the mul-ti-tude, cry-ing a-loud be-gan to de-sire him to do as he had ev-er done unto them. But Pi-late an-swer-ed them, say-ing, "Will ye that I re-lease un-to you the King of the Jews?" For he knew that the chief priests had de-li-ver-ed Him for en -vy. But the chief priests mov-ed the peo-ple, that he should ra-ther re-lease Bar-rabbas un-to them. And Pi-late answer-ed, and said a-gain un-to them, "What will ye then that I should do un-to Him whom ye call the king of the Jews?" And they cri-ed out again, "Cru-ci-fy Him." Then Pi-late said un-to them, "Why, what e-vil hath He done?"

And

they cri-ed out the more ex-ceeding-ly, "Cru-ci-fy Him." And so Pi-late, wil-ling to con-tent the peo-ple, re-leas-ed Bar-rab-bas unto them, and de-liv-er-ed Je-sus, when he had scourg-ed Him, to be cru-ci-fi-ed.

QUESTIONS.

Was Herod glad of this opportunity of asking our Lord questions?

Yes, for he had long desired to see Him.
What did Herod hope to see?

Some miracle wrought by Jesus.

Did our Saviour perform any miracles, or answer his questions?

No.

What did Herod then do?

Arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate.

Why did he do this?

To expose Him to ridicule and insult, for pretending to be a king.

Did our Lord answer the accusations of His enemies, or the questions of Pilate ? No, He answered nothing.

What was it customary for the Roman Governor to do at the Passover?

To release any one prisoner whom the people should choose.

Whom did Pilate then wish to release ?
Jesus.

Whom did the people prefer to Jesus?
The murderer Barabbas.

Why did Pilate wish to release Jesus? Because he knew that the chief priests had delivered Him for envy.

When Pilate asked what he should do with Jesus, what did they say?

Crucify Him.