lace, Christ was apparently so little known that the authorities were unable to tell who he was and had to bribe someone to point him out. It does not speak very well for Christ's hold upon his followers, nor of his philosophy, that one of them, Judas, should have betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver. This follower must have considered him an impostor instead of the Son of God, and if he had believed that Christ was the Son of God, he most certainly never would have betrayed his Master for such an insignificant sum, or for any amount. If one of Christ's own immediate and appointed followers could have so much doubt, why should those who have received the information about the so-called God, second and third hand, and thousands of years later, be persecuted for having doubts?
As a matter of fact, the Bible itself tells how the disciples all forsook Christ when he was apprehended. In Matthew 5:6 it is reported -- "Then all of the disciples forsook Him and fled."
There is the story of Peter having followed "afar off" the crowd that took Christ before Pilate and then having denied that he knew Him. All this illustrates is the natural tendency of men to save their own skins.
Christ's own actions at, and before, the time of the crucifixion were nothing heroic, as we would expect in the case of a man who was willingly and gladly sacrificing himself for the future salvation of all mankind.
Here another discrepancy occurs. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Judas is reported to have earned his thirty pieces of silver by kissing Christ, as an evidence of who he was, but in John 18:4 Christ is reported to have asked whom they sought and to have told who he was, all of which indicates that the various books of the Bible were based upon oral traditions handed down, translated, interpolated and edited by various leaders of the church.
That Christ had had some knowledge that he was being sought by the authorities is evident by his statements a few days before his apprehension, and it is evident that he was hiding out because it was necessary to find someone who would lead the authorities to him. Not only was he hiding out, but according to some of the testimony, it was at night that he was apprehended.
That Christ feared there might be some attempt to injure him is shown by his having left immediately after hearing rumors that an antagonistic group was gathering, and while his actions were perfectly proper from the standpoint of a prudent man, they cannot be said to be heroic, for it is told in Matthew 12:14 that "Then the Pharisees went out and held a counsel against him, how they might destroy him.
15: "But when Jesus knew it he withdrew himself from thence: And great multitudes followed him, and he held them off:"
16: "And charged them that they should not make him known." In other words, when he knew the religious leaders were opposed to him, he hid out and tried to keep his hiding place a secret.
Christ showed a considerable amount of caution, for it is related in Matthew 15 that when he heard of John the Baptist, his cousin, having been beheaded, he departed "thence, by ship, into a desert place apart."
In the 26th Chapter of Matthew, the story of Christ's being sorrowful, "even unto death shows that he was worried and frightened just like any other man would be in a similar case. It is also evident that besides hiding out, he and his disciples were watching to see that none came, for he chided them for going to sleep.
It is also quite evident from the difficulty of finding witnesses against him that he was not well known. And from Pilate's words it is clear that the Roman government considered him of no great danger to itself, and Pilate looked upon him much as any Judge would now look upon a religious fanatic claiming to be a King. His chief opponents appeared to be the priests and rabbis whom he had been roundly abusing for several years. It is also clear that Christ, before the crucifixion, believed that he would be able to call down the Powers of God to protect him, for he says: Matthew 26:53 -- "Thinkest thou that I cannot now