The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

CHAPTER 166

Jesus before the Sanhedrim. Nicodemus pleads for justice; he shows the incompetency of the witnesses. The council fail to declare Jesus guilty, but Caiaphas, the presiding judge, declares him guilty. The mob maltreat Jesus. He is taken to Pilate’s court.

When Jesus would not speak, Caiaphas stood before the Jewish mob and said,

2 Bind fast the prisoner, for he must go before the great Sanhedrim of the Jews to answer for his life.

3 We cannot execute a criminal until our findings have been verified by this, the highest council of the Jews.

4 As soon as it was day the highest council of the people met; the Lord and his accusers stood before the bar.

5 Caiaphas was the chief; he rose and said, Let the accusers of this man from Galilee bring forth their charges and their evidence.

6 Caiaphas’ scribe stood forth and read the charges and the names of those who had accused the man from Galilee.

7 And all the witnesses were made to stand and testify before the council of the Jews.

8 And then the lawyers weighed the evidence, and Nicodemus stood among the men who plead.

9 He raised his hands and said, Let justice now be done, though every scribe and Pharisee and priest and Sadducee, as well as Jesus, the accused, be judged a liar.

10 If we can prove this Jesus to be foe and traitor to our laws and land, let him be judged a criminal and suffer for his crimes.

11 If it be proved that these who testify are perjurers in the sight of God and man, then let them be adjudged as criminals, and let the man from Galilee go free.

12 And then he brought the testimonies of the witnesses before the judges of the law; no two of them agreed. In heat of passion, or for gain, the men had testified.

13 The council would have gladly judged that Jesus was a criminal and sentence him to death; but in the face of all the evidence they were afraid.

14 And then Caiaphas said, You man from Galilee, Before the living God, I now command that you shall answer me, Are you the Christ, the son of God?

15 And Jesus said, If I would answer, Yes, you would not hear, nor yet believe,

16 If I would answer, No, I would be like your witnesses, and stand a liar in the sight of man and God. But this I say,

17 The time will come when you will see the son of man upon the throne of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.

18 And then Caiaphas rent his clothes and said, Have you not heard enough? Did you not hear his vile blasphemous words? What further need have we of witnesses? What shall we do with him?

19 The people said, Put him to death. And then the mob rushed up and spit into his face, and struck him with their hands.

20 And then they bound a cloth about his eyes and smote him in the face and said, You are a prophet; tell us who it was who smote you in the face.

21 And Jesus answered not and like a lamb before his shearer he, the man from Galilee, resisted not.

22 Caiaphas said, We cannot put a man to death until the Roman ruler shall confirm the sentence of this court;

23 So take this criminal away and Pilate will endorse what we have done.

24 And then was Jesus dragged along the way up to the palace of the Roman governor.

CHAPTER 167

Jesus before Pilate. Is pronounced not guilty. Jesus before Herod and is tortured and returned to Pilate, who again declares him innocent. The Jews demand his death. Pilate’s wife urges her husband to have nothing to do with the punishment of Jesus. Pilate weeps.

Into the palace of the Roman governor the Jews would enter not lest they become defiled and be unworthy to attend the feast; but they led Jesus to the palace court, and Pilate met them there.

2 And Pilate said, Why this commotion in the early day? What is your prayer?

3 The Jews replied, We bring before you one, an evil and seditious man.

4 He has been tried before the highest council of the Jews and has been proven traitor to our laws, our state and to the government of Rome.

5 We pray that you will sentence him to death upon the cross.

6 And Pilate said, Why do you bring him unto me? Go to, and judge him for yourselves.

7 You have a law, and by the sanction of the Roman law, you have a right to judge and right to execute.

8 The Jews replied, We have no right to execute a man upon the cross, and since this man is traitor to Tiberius, our counsellors believe that he should meet the most humiliating death – the death upon the cross.

9 But Pilate said, No man can be found guilty of a crime by Roman law until the testimony all is in, and the accused has been permitted to defend himself;

10 So I will take your bill of charges, with the evidence you have, and judge by Roman law.

11 The Jews had made a copy of the accusations in the language of the Roman court, and they had added to the bill:

12 We charge that Jesus is an enemy of Rome; that he demands that men shall pay no tribute to Tiberius.

13 And Pilate took the bill; his guards led Jesus up the steps into the palace hall.

14 And Jesus stood before the Roman governor, and Pilate read to him the charges of the Jews, and said,

15 What is your answer to this bill? These charges, are they true or false?

16 And Jesus said, Why should I plead before an earthly court? The charges have been verified by perjured men; what need I say?

17 Yes, I am king; but carnal men cannot behold the king, nor see the kingdom of the God; it is within.

18 If I had been a king as carnal man is king, my servants would have stood in my defense, and I would not have willingly surrendered to the minions of the Jewish law.

19 I have no testimony from the sons of men. God is my witness, and my words and deeds bear witness to the truth;

20 And every man who comprehends the truth will hearken to my words, and in his soul give witness unto me.

21 And Pilate said, What is the truth?

22 And Jesus said, Truth is the God who knows. It is the changeless one. The Holy Breath is truth; she changes not and cannot pass away.

23 And Pilate went again unto the Jews and said, This man is guilty of no crime; I cannot sentence him to death.

24 And then the Jews grew boisterous; they cried aloud and said, Our council surely knows. The wisest men of all the land have found him guilty of a score of crimes.

25 He would pervert the nation of the Jews; would overthrow the Roman rule and make himself the king. He is a culprit come from Galilee; he must be crucified.

26 And Pilate said, If Jesus is from Galilee he is a subject of the governor of Galilee, who should be judge.

27 Now, Herod had come down from Galilee and with his suite was in Jerusalem.

28 And Pilate sent to him the Lord in chains; he also sent a copy of the charges, and of the testimonies of the Jews, and asked that he would pass in judgment on the case.

29 And Herod said, I have heard much about this man and I am pleased to see him in my court.

30 And then he asked the Lord about his claims, about his doctrines and his aims.

31 And Jesus answered not a word; and Herod was enraged; he said, Do you insult the ruler of the land by answering not?

32 And then he called his guards and said, Take you this man and torture him until he answers me.

33 The guards took Jesus and they smote him; mocked him; wrapped him in a royal robe; they made a crown of thorns and put it on his head; they put a broken reed into his hands;

34 And then they said deridingly, All hail, thou royal king! Where are your armies and your guards? Where are your subjects and your friends?

35 But Jesus answered not a word. Then Herod sent him back to Pilate with this note of courtesy:

36 Most worthy counsellor of Rome, I have examined all the charges and the testimonies that you sent to me regarding this seditious man from Galilee, and while I might adjudge him guilty of the crimes as charged,

37 I yield to you my rights as judge, because you are superior to me in power. I will approve of any judgment you may render in this case.

38 Now, Pilate and the tetrarch had been foes, but the experience of this hour destroyed their enmity and they were friends in after days.

39 When Jesus had been brought again to Pilate’s court, the Roman governor stood forth before the accusers of the Lord and said,

40 I cannot find this Nazarene to be a criminal as charged; there is no evidence that he should suffer death; so I will scourge him well and let him go.

41 The Jews cried angrily, It is not mete that such a dangerous man should live; he must be crucified.

42 Then Pilate said, I bid you wait a little time. And then he went into an inner room and sat in silent thought.

43 And as he mused his wife, a godly woman, chosen from among the Gauls, came in and said,

44 I pray you, Pilate, hearken unto me: Beware of what you do this hour. Touch not this man from Galilee; he is a holy man.

45 If you should scourge this man you scourge the son of God. Last night I saw it all in vision far too vivid to be set aside as idle dream.

46 I saw this man walk on the waters of the sea; I heard him speak and calm an angry storm; I saw him flying with the wings of light;

47 I saw Jerusalem in blood; I saw the statues of the Cæsars fall; I saw a veil before the sun, and day was dark as night.

48 The earth on which I stood was shaken like a reed before the wind. I tell you, Pilate, if you bathe your hands in this man’s blood then you may dread the frowns of great Tiberius, and the curses of the senators of Rome.

49 And then she left, and Pilate wept.

CHAPTER 168

Pilate’s final effort to release Jesus fails. He washes his hands in feigned innocence. Delivers Jesus to the Jews for execution. The Jewish soldiers drive him to Calvary.

A superstitious people are the Jews. They have a faith that they have borrowed from the idol worshippers of other lands, that at the end of every year,

2 They may heap all their sins upon the head of some man set apart to bear their sins.

3 The man becomes a scapegoat for the multitudes; and they believe that when they drive him forth into the wilds, or into foreign lands, they are released from sin.

4 So every spring before the feast they chose a prisoner from the prisons of the land, and by a form their own, they fain would make him bear their sins away.

5 Among the Jewish prisoners in Jerusalem were three who were the leaders of a vile, seditious band, who had engaged in thefts and murders and rapine, and had been sentenced to be crucified.

6 Barabbas bar Jezia was among the men who were to die; but he was rich and he had bought of priests the boon to be the scapegoat for the people at the coming feast, and he was anxiously in waiting for his hour to come.

7 Now, Pilate thought to turn this superstition to account to save the Lord, and so he went again before the Jews and said,

8 You men of Israel, according to my custom I will release to you today a prisoner who shall bear your sins away.

9 This man you drive into the wilds or into foreign lands, and you have asked me to release Barabbas, who has been proven guilty of the murder of a score of men.

10 Now, hear me men, Let Jesus be released and let Barabbas pay his debt upon the cross; then you can send this Jesus to the wilds and hear no more of him.

11 At what the ruler said the people were enraged, and they began to plot to tear the Roman palace down and drive in exile Pilate, and his household and his guards.

12 When Pilate was assured that civil war would follow if he heeded not the wishes of the mob, he took a bowl of water and in the presence of the multitude he washed his hands and said,

13 This man whom you accuse, is son of the most holy Gods, and I proclaim my innocence.

14 If you would shed his blood, his blood is on your hands and not on mine.

15 And then the Jews exclaimed, And let his blood be on our hands and on our children’s hands.

16 And Pilate trembled like a leaf, in fear. Barabbas he released and as the Lord stood forth before the mob the ruler said, Behold your king! And would you put to death your king?

17 The Jews replied, He is no king; we have no king but great Tiberius.

18 Now, Pilate would not give consent that Roman soldiers should imbue their hands in blood of innocence, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees took counsel what to do with Jesus, who was called the Christ.

19 Caiaphas said, We cannot crucify this man; he must be stoned to death and nothing more.

20 And then the rabble said, Make haste! let him be stoned. And then they led him forth toward the hill beyond the city’s gates, where criminals were put to death.

21 The rabble could not wait until they reached the place of skulls. As soon as they had passed the city’s gate, they rushed upon him, smote him with their hands, they spit upon him, stoned him and he fell upon the ground.

22 And one, a man of God, stood forth and said, Isaiah said, He shall be bruised for our transgressions and by his stripes we shall be healed.

23 As Jesus lay all bruised and mangled on the ground a Pharisee called out, Stay, stay you men! behold, the guards of Herod come and they will crucify this man.

24 And there beside the city’s gate they found Barabbas’ cross; and then the frenzied mob cried out, Let him be crucified.

25 Caiaphas and the other ruling Jews came forth and gave consent.

26 And then they lifted Jesus from the ground, and at the point of swords they drove him on.

27 A man named Simon, from Cyrene, a friend of Jesus, was a-near the scene and since the bruised and wounded Jesus could not bear his cross, they laid it on the shoulders of this man and made him bear it on to Calvary.

CHAPTER 169

Judas is filled with remorse. Hurries to the temple and throws the thirty pieces of silver at the feet of the priests who take it and buy a potter’s field. Judas hangs himself. His body is buried in the potter’s field.

Now, Judas who betrayed his Lord, was with the mob; but all the time he thought that Jesus would assert his power and demonstrate the strength of God that he possessed, and strike to earth the fiendish multitudes and free himself;

2 But when he saw his master on the ground and bleeding from a score of wounds, he said,

3 O God, what have I done? I have betrayed the son of God; the curse of God will rest upon my soul.

4 And then he turned and ran with haste until he reached the temple door; he found the priests, who gave to him the thirty silver pieces to betray the Lord, and said,

5 Take back your bribe; it is the cost price of my soul; I have betrayed the son of God.

6 The priests replied, That matters not to us.

7 Then Judas threw the silver on the floor, and, bowed with grief, he went away, and on a ledge beyond the city’s walls he hanged himself and died.

8 In time the fastenings gave way, his body fell into the Hinnon vale and after many days they found it there a shapeless mass.

9 The rulers could not put the price of blood into the treasury, and so they took the thirty silver pieces with which they bought a potter’s field,

10 Where they might bury those who had no rights to lie within their sacred burial grounds.

11 And there they put the body of the man who sold his Lord.

CHAPTER 170

The crucifixion. Jesus prays for his murderers. Pilate puts an inscription above the cross. Jesus speaks words of encouragement to the penitent thief. Commits to John the care of his mother and Miriam. The soldiers divide his garments among themselves.

The Jewish mob pushed on toward Calvary and as they went the Marys, Miriam, and other women not a few, were close beside the Lord.

2 They wept aloud. When Jesus saw them weeping and lamenting thus he said,

3 Weep not for me, for though I go away, go through the gateway of the cross, yet on the next day of the sun, lift up your hearts, for I will meet you at the sepulchre.

4 The great procession came to Calvary. The Roman soldiers had already bound the two state prisoners to the cross.

5 (They were not nailed, but simply bound.)

6 Four soldiers of the Roman guard that Herod brought from Galilee were called to execute the orders of the court.

7 These were the men who had been set apart to torture Jesus and secure from him confession of his guilt.

8 These were the men who scourged him, put a crown of thorns upon his head, a broken reed into his hands, and wrapped him in a royal robe, and bowed in mockery, before him as a king.

9 These soldiers took the Lord and stripped him, laid him on the cross and would have bound him there with cords; but this would not suffice.

10 The cruel Jews were near with hammer and with nails; they cried, not cords, but nails; drive fast the nails and hold him to the cross.

11 And then the soldiers took the nails and drove them through his feet and hands.

12 They offered him a sedative to drink, a draught of vinegar and myrrh; but he refused to drink the draught.

13 The soldiers had prepared a place in which to plant Barabbas’ cross between the other criminals; and here they raised the cross of Jesus, who was called the Christ;

14 And then the soldiers and the mob sat down to watch him die.

15 And Jesus said, My Father-God, forgive these men; they know not what they do.

16 Now, Pilate had prepared a tablet to be placed upon the cross on which was written in the tongues of Hebrew, Latin and the Greek these words of truth: JESUS THE CHRIST, KING OF THE JEWS.

17 And this was placed upon the cross. The priests were angered when they read these words upon the tablet of the cross.

18 And then they prayed that Pilate would not say, He is the Christ, king of the Jews; but say, He claims to be the Christ, king of the Jews.

19 But Pilate said, What I have written, I have written; let it stand.

20 The Jewish multitudes who saw the Lord upon the cross were wild with joy; they said, All hail, fake king!

21 You who would tear the temple down and in three days would build it up again, why don’t you save yourself?

22 If you are Christ, the son of God, come from the cross; then all men will believe.

23 The priests and scribes and Pharisees looked on the scene and scoffed; they said, He rescued others from the grave; why don’t he save himself?

24 The Jewish soldiers and the Roman guards who came from Galilee were loud in mocking and deriding him.

25 One of the other men upon the cross joined in the mockery; he said, If you are Christ, you have the power; just speak the Word, and save yourself and me.

26 The other man upon the cross rebuked the man; he said, You wretch! have you no fear of God?

27 This man is innocent of any crime while you and I are guilty and are paying up the debts we owe.

28 And then he said to Jesus, Lord, I know thy kingdom comes, the kingdom that the world can never comprehend;

29 And when thou comest on the clouds of heaven, remember me.

30 And Jesus said, Behold, for I will meet you in the realm of souls this day.

31 Now, standing near unto the cross were many women from Judea and from Galilee. Among them were the mother of the Lord and Miriam,

32 And Mary, mother of the two apostles, James and John, and Mary Magdalene, and Martha, Ruth and Mary, and Salome.