151 The Lord also spoke to Moses and to Aaron , saying , 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel , and say to them, ' When any man has a discharge from his body , his discharge is unclean . 3 'This , moreover, shall be his uncleanness in his discharge : it is his uncleanness whether his body allows its discharge to flow or whether his body obstructs its discharge . 4 'Every bed on which the person with the discharge lies becomes unclean , and everything e on which he sits becomes unclean . 5 'Anyone , moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening ; 6 and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting , shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening . 7 'Also whoever touches the person with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening . 8 'Or if the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean , he too shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening . 9 'Every saddle on which the person with the discharge rides becomes unclean . 10 'Whoever then touches any of the things which were under him shall be unclean until evening , and he who carries them shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening . 11 'Likewise, whomever e the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening . 12 'However, an earthenware vessel which the person with the discharge touches shall be broken , and every wooden vessel shall be rinsed in water . 13 'Now when the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge , then he shall count off for himself seven days for his cleansing ; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean . 14 'Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons , and come before the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest ; 15 and the priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering . So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord because of his discharge . 16 ' Now if a man has a seminal emission , he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening . 17 'As for any garment or any leather on which there is seminal emission , it shall be washed with water and be unclean until evening . 18 'If a man lies with a woman so that there is a seminal emission , they shall both bathe in water and be unclean until evening .
19 ' When a woman has a discharge , if her discharge in her body is blood , she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days ; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening . 20 'Everything also on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean , and everything on which she sits shall be unclean . 21 'Anyone who touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening . 22 'Whoever touches any thing on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening . 23 'Whether it be on the bed or on the thing on which she is sitting , when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening . 24 ' If a man actually lies with her so that her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days , and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean . 25 ' Now if a woman has a discharge of her blood many days , not at the period of her menstrual impurity , or if she has a discharge beyond that period , all the days of her impure discharge she shall continue as though in her menstrual impurity ; she is unclean . 26 'Any bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like her bed at menstruation ; and every thing on which she sits shall be unclean , like her uncleanness at that time . 27 'Likewise, whoever touches them shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening . 28 'When she becomes clean from her discharge , she shall count off for herself seven days ; and afterward she will be clean . 29 'Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them in to the priest , to the doorway of the tent of meeting . 30 'The priest shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering . So the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the Lord because of her impure discharge .' 31 "Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness , so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them." 32 This is the law for the one with a discharge , and for the man who has a seminal emission so that he is unclean by it, 33 and for the woman who is ill because of menstrual impurity , and for the one who has a discharge , whether a male or a female , or a man who lies with an unclean woman .
161 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron , when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died . 2 The Lord said to Moses : "Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside e the veil, before e the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die ; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat . 3 "Aaron shall enter the holy place with this : with a bull e e for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering . 4 "He shall put on the holy linen tunic , and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body , and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments ). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on.
5 "He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering . 6 "Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household . 7 "He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting . 8 "Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats , one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat . 9 "Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell , and make it a sin offering . 10 "But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord , to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat . 11 "Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household , and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. 12 "He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before e the Lord and two handfuls e of finely ground sweet incense , and bring it inside e the veil . 13 "He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord , that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony , otherwise he will die . 14 "Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times .
15 "Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people , and bring its blood inside e e the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull , and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat . 16 " He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins ; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities . 17 "When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel . 18 "Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides . 19 " With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it.
20 "When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar , he shall offer the live goat . 21 "Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat , and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins ; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness . 22 "The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land ; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness . 23 "Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there . 24 " He shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes , and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people . 25 "Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar . 26 "The one who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water ; then afterward e he shall come into the camp . 27 "But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering , whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside e e the camp , and they shall burn their hides , their flesh , and their refuse in the fire . 28 "Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water , then afterward e he shall come into the camp .
29 "This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month , on the tenth day of the month , you shall humble your souls and not do any work , whether the native , or the alien who sojourns among you; 30 for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord . 31 "It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls ; it is a permanent statute . 32 "So the priest who is anointed and ordained e to serve as priest in his father's place shall make atonement : he shall thus put on the linen garments , the holy garments , 33 and make atonement for the holy sanctuary , and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar . He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly . 34 "Now you shall have this as a permanent statute , to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year ." And just as the Lord had commanded Moses , so he did .
271 Now when morning came , all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred e together against Jesus to put Him to death ; 2 and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor .
3 Then when Judas , who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned , he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders , 4 saying , "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood ." But they said , "What is that to us? See to that yourself !" 5 And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed ; and he went away and hanged himself. 6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said , "It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury , since it is the price of blood ." 7 And they conferred e together and with the money bought the Potter's Field as a burial place for strangers . 8 For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day . 9 Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled : " AND THEY TOOK THE THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER , THE PRICE OF THE ONE WHOSE PRICE HAD BEEN SET by the sons of Israel ; 10 AND THEY GAVE THEM FOR THE POTTER'S FIELD , AS THE Lord DIRECTED
11 Now Jesus stood before the governor , and the governor questioned Him, saying , "Are You the King of the Jews ?" And Jesus said to him, " It is as you say ." 12 And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders , He did not answer . 13 Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?" 14 And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge , so the governor was quite amazed .
15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted . 16 At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner , called Barabbas . 17 So when the people gathered together , Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas , or Jesus who is called Christ ?" 18 For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over. 19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat , his wife sent him a message, saying , "Have nothing to do with that righteous Man ; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him." 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death . 21 But the governor said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said , "Barabbas ." 22 Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ ?" They all said , "Crucify Him!" 23 And he said , "Why , what evil has He done ?" But they kept shouting all the more , saying , "Crucify Him!" 24 When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing , but rather that a riot was starting , he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd , saying , "I am innocent of this Man's blood ; see to that yourselves ." 25 And all the people said , " His blood shall be on us and on our children !"
26 Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged , he handed Him over to be crucified .
(Read Matthew 27:1-10)
Wicked men see little of the consequences of their crimes when they commit them, but they must answer for them all. In the fullest manner Judas acknowledged to the chief priests that he had sinned, and betrayed an innocent person. This was full testimony to the character of Christ; but the rulers were hardened. Casting down the money, Judas departed, and went and hanged himself, not being able to bear the terror of Divine wrath, and the anguish of despair. There is little doubt but that the death of Judas was before that of our blessed Lord. But was it nothing to them that they had thirsted after this blood, and hired Judas to betray it, and had condemned it to be shed unjustly? Thus do fools make a mock at sin. Thus many make light of Christ crucified. And it is a common instance of the deceitfulness of our hearts, to make light of our own sin by dwelling upon other people's sins. But the judgment of God is according to truth. Many apply this passage of the buying the piece of ground, with the money Judas brought back, to signify the favour intended by the blood of Christ to strangers, and sinners of the Gentiles. It fulfilled a prophecy, Zechariah 11:12. Judas went far toward repentance, yet it was not to salvation. He confessed, but not to God; he did not go to him, and say, I have sinned, Father, against heaven. Let none be satisfied with such partial convictions as a man may have, and yet remain full of pride, enmity, and rebellion.
(Read Matthew 27:11-25)
Having no malice against Jesus, Pilate urged him to clear himself, and laboured to get him discharged. The message from his wife was a warning. God has many ways of giving checks to sinners, in their sinful pursuits, and it is a great mercy to have such checks from Providence, from faithful friends, and from our own consciences. O do not this abominable thing which the Lord hates! is what we may hear said to us, when we are entering into temptation, if we will but regard it. Being overruled by the priests, the people made choice of Barabbas. Multitudes who choose the world, rather than God, for their ruler and portion, thus choose their own delusions. The Jews were so bent upon the death of Christ, that Pilate thought it would be dangerous to refuse. And this struggle shows the power of conscience even on the worst men. Yet all was so ordered to make it evident that Christ suffered for no fault of his own, but for the sins of his people. How vain for Pilate to expect to free himself from the guilt of the innocent blood of a righteous person, whom he was by his office bound to protect! The Jews' curse upon themselves has been awfully answered in the sufferings of their nation. None could bear the sin of others, except Him that had no sin of his own to answer for. And are we not all concerned? Is not Barabbas preferred to Jesus, when sinners reject salvation that they may retain their darling sins, which rob God of his glory, and murder their souls? The blood of Christ is now upon us for good, through mercy, by the Jews' rejection of it. O let us flee to it for refuge!
(Read Matthew 27:26-30)
Crucifixion was a death used only among the Romans; it was very terrible and miserable. A cross was laid on the ground, to which the hands and feet were nailed, it was then lifted up and fixed upright, so that the weight of the body hung on the nails, till the sufferer died in agony. Christ thus answered the type of the brazen serpent raised on a pole. Christ underwent all the misery and shame here related, that he might purchase for us everlasting life, and joy, and glory.
