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 Trial and Condemnation of Jesus as a Legal Question. 399 "14. Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp : and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. "15. And thou shalt speak unto the chil dren of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. "16. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death." Also in the commandment as stated in Exodus, chapter xx., and in Deuteronomy, chapter xiii., where it is provided : " If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams . . . saying, Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known, and'serve them, thou shalt not hearken unto the words . . . and that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death." Blasphemy embraced not alone cursing " by the ineffable name of God," but included claim made to the possession of divine power, or equality with God. It was under the latter charge that Jesus was tried. This was the Mosaic law, and as such was codified in the Mishna, which it is claimed was delivered to Moses upon Mount Sinai, and by Moses trans mitted, passing through forty receivers, until the time of Rabbi Judah, the Holy. These receivers were qualified by ordination, and handed it from generation to generation. It was considered unlawful to reduce it to writing; but after the Captivity, for political purposes, it was formulated in a written code, and furnished the course of judicial procedure of the Jews so long as they re mained in Judaea. By this code blasphemy was punishable with death by stoning, and also by post-mortem hanging, the latter ignominy being applied to but two cases, — the one mentioned, and idolatry. Our next inquiry is, Does the testimony of the Evangels show Jesus to have been guilty of this offence? It is not only not claimed by the Christian that Jesus was not the Son of God, but on the contrary it is the basic groundwork of the Christian faith. Some writers have said, in order to overthrow the charge that Jesus

committed any offence against Jewish law, that for a person to call himself a Son of God was not blasphemy as understood by the Jews, since it was a common appellation, indicating that the person was a follower of the Most High, and that it was in that sense that Jesus used it, consequently he was not a blasphemer within the Mosaic law. Such reasoning cannot stand unless there fall with it the divinity of Christ. The ques tion naturally arises, If Jesus did not claim to be the Son of God and one with the Father, why then is he believed equal with God? Jews and Christians alike believe that Jesus claimed to be sent of God, and one with the Father. That the Jews so understood him does not admit of doubt. The first direct accusation of blasphemy was after the first Passover feast, when, being at Galilee, Jesus healed a man sick of the palsy, saying : " Son, be of good cheer : thy sins be forgiven thee. And behold, cer tain scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth : who can forgive sins but God only? " And again on the Sabbath day, as written by John, at the pool of Bethesda he cured a man of an infirmity, and directed him to take up his bed and walk. The Jews sought to slay him, " because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God." Violating the Sabbath was also pun ishable with death by stoning. The complaints of the Jews for violation of the Sabbath day, for the forgiveness of sins, for eating with unwashed hands, and eating with publicans and sinners, occur fre quently in the records of all the Evangelists, and such complaints were based upon viola tions of the Jewish law. At the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem, in Solomon's porch in the Temple, the Jews came around about him and said : " How long dost thou make us doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not : the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me ... I and my Father are one.' Then