wrote in Hebrew, and left to posterity, is after this fashion"
("Apocryphal Gospels," B.H. Cowper, pp. 229, 230). In the first chapter
we learn how the Jews came to Pilate, and accuse Jesus, "that he saith
he is the son of God and a king; moreover, he profaneth the Sabbaths,
and wisheth to abolish the law of our fathers." After some conversation,
Jesus is brought, and in chap. 2 we read the message from Pilate's wife,
and "Pilate, having called the Jews, said to them, Ye know that my wife
is religious, and inclined to practise Judaism with you. They said unto
him, Yea, we know it. Pilate saith to them, Behold my wife hath sent to
me, saying, Have nothing to do with this just man, for I have suffered
very much because of him in the night. But the Jews answered, and said
to Pilate, Did we not tell thee that he is a magician? Behold, he hath
sent a dream to thy wife." The trial goes on, and Pilate declares the
innocence of Jesus, and then confers with him as in John xviii. 33-37.
Then comes the question (chaps, iii. and iv.): "Pilate saith unto him,
What is truth? Jesus saith to him, Truth is from heaven. Pilate saith,
Is truth not upon earth? Jesus saith to Pilate, Thou seest how they who
say the truth are judged by those who have power upon earth. And,
leaving Jesus within the praetorium, Pilate went out to the Jews, and
saith unto them, I find no fault in him." The conversation between
Pilate and the Jews is then related more fully than in the canonical
accounts, and after this follows a scene of much pathos, which is far
more in accord with the rest of the tale than the accepted story,
wherein the multitude are represented as crying with one voice for his
death. Nicodemus (chap. v.) first rises and speaks for Jesus: "Release
him, and wish no evil against him. If the miracles which he doth are of
God, they will stand; but, if of men, they will come to nought... Now,
therefore, release this man, for he is not deserving of death." Then
(chaps. vi., vii., and viii.): "One of the Jews, starting up, asked the
governor that he might say a word. The governor saith, If thou wilt
speak, speak. And the Jew said, I lay thirty-eight years on my bed in
pain and affliction. And when Jesus came, many demoniacs, and persons
suffering various diseases, were healed by him; and some young men had
pity on me, and carried me with my bed, and took me to him; and when
Jesus saw me, he had compassion, and said the word to me, Take up thy
bed, a