y of divines that Jesus asserted his own godhead, he is reported
as saying, "I and my father are one," and, as St, Paul says, "He thought
it no robbery to be equal to God." Were not the Jews, then, bound to
kill him if they could?

Let it not be supposed that _we_ would have killed him. We are not
excusing the Jews as men, but as observers of the Mosaic law and
worshippers of Jehovah. Their God is responsible for the death of Jesus,
and if Jesus was a portion of that very deity, he was responsible for
his own death. His worshippers had learnt the lesson so well that they
killed their own God when he came in disguise.

It is contended by some Christians that Pontius Pilate killed Jesus.
According to these arguers, Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent, and the
execution was therefore a murder. But is it not perfectly obvious from
the Gospel story that Pilate tried to save Jesus? Did not the obstinate
prisoner plead guilty to what was really a charge of sedition? Did he
attempt any defence? Did he call any witnesses? Was he not contumacious?
And had Pilate any alternative to sentencing him to the legal punishment
of his crime?

Other friends of Jesus lay the blame of his death on Judas Iscariot, But
the whole story of his "betrayal" of Jesus is a downright absurdity. How
could he _sell_ his master when the commodity was common? What sense
is there in his being paid to indicate the best-known man in Jerusalem?
Even if the story were true, it appears that Jesus knew what Judas was
doing, and as he could easily have returned to Galilee, he was accessory
to his own fate. It may also be pointed out that Judas only killed Jesus
if the tragedy would not have occurred without him; in which case he was
the proximate cause of the Crucifixion, and consequently a benefactor
to all who are saved by the blood of Christ. Instead of execration,
therefore, he deserves praise, and even the statue which Disraeli
suggested as his proper reward.

Who killed Christ? Why himself. His brain gave way. He was demented. His
conduct at Jerusalem was that of a maniac. His very language showed a
loss of balance. Whipping the dove-sellers and moneychangers, not out
of the Temple, but out of its unsanctified precincts, was lunatic
violence. Those merchants were fulfilling a necessary, reputable
function; selling doves to women who required them as burnt offerings,
and exchanging the current Roman money for the sacred Jewish coins
which alone were acce