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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 3
the judgment hall; and were tried for their lives because they were the
disciples of Christ.
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When the condemnation of Jesus was pronounced by the judges,
a satanic fury took possession of the people. The roar of voices was
like that of wild beasts. They made a rush toward Jesus, crying, He
is guilty, him to death! and had it not been for the Roman soldiers,
Jesus would not have lived to be hanged upon the cross of Calvary.
He would have been torn in pieces before his judges, had not Roman
authority interfered, and by force of arms withheld the violence of the
mob.
Although Jesus was bound, yet he was also guarded, and held by
two men lest he should escape from the hands of his persecutors. The
judges and rulers now entirely forgot the dignity of their office, and
abused the Son of God with foul epithets, railing upon him in regard
to his parentage, and declaring that his presumption in proclaiming
himself the Messiah, notwithstanding his low birth, made him deserv-
ing of the most ignominious death. Most dissolute men engaged in
this infamous abuse of the Saviour. An old garment was thrown over
his head, and his jeering persecutors struck him in the face, crying,
“Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?” Upon
the garment being removed, one poor wretch spat in his face. But the
Saviour directed no word or look of retaliation against the deluded
souls around him, who had cast off all restraint because they perceived
that the priests and rulers sanctioned their acts.
Jesus realized that the hosts of Heaven were witnessing his humil-
iation, and that the least angel, if summoned to his aid, could have
instantly dispersed that insulting throng, and delivered him from their
power. Jesus himself could have stricken down the excited multitude
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like dead men, by a look or word of his divinity, or driven them fright-
ened from his presence, as he had the defilers of the temple. But it was
in the plan of redemption that he should suffer the scorn and abuse
of wicked men, and he consented to all this when he became the Re-
deemer of man. The angels of God faithfully recorded every insulting
look, word, and act directed against their beloved Commander; and
the base men who scorned and spat upon the calm, pale face of Christ,
were one day to look upon it in its glory, shining brighter than the sun.
In that awful time they would pray to the rocks and the mountains: