THE GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS, FORMERLY CALLED THE ACTS OF PONTIUS PILATE.
THE CRUCIFIXION PUBLISHED ON WORDPRESS BY DONNA BROWN BOWLES APRIL 7, 2023
JESUS CHRIST THE SON OF GOD
CHAP. VI. 1 Pilate dismayed by the turbulence of the Jews, 5 who demand Barabbas to be released, and Christ to be crucified, 9 Pilate warmly expostulates with them, 20 washes his hands of Christ’s blood, 23 and sentences him to be whipped and crucified.
THEN Pilate having called together Nicodemus, and the fifteen men who said that Jesus was not born through fornication, said to them, What shall I do, seeing there is like to be a tumult among the people.
2 They said unto him, We know not; let them look to it who raise the tumult.
3 Pilate then called the multitude again, and said to them, Ye know that ye have a custom, that I should release to you one prisoner at the feast of the passover;
4 I have a noted prisoner, a murderer, who is called Barabbas, and Jesus who is called Christ, in whom I find nothing that deserves death; which of them therefore have you a mind that I should release to you?
5 They all cry out, and say, Release to us Barabbas.
6 Pilate saith to them, What then shall I do with Jesus who, is called Christ?
7 They all answer, Let him be crucified.
8 Again they cry out and say to Pilate, You are not the friend of Cæsar, if you release this man? 4 for he hath declared that he is the Son of God, and a king. But are you inclined that he should be king, and not Cæsar?
9 Then Pilate filled with anger said to them, Your nation hath always been seditious, and you are always against those who have been serviceable to you?
10 The Jews replied, Who are those who have been serviceable to us?
11 Pilate answered them, Your God who delivered you from the hard bondage of the Egyptians, and brought you over the Red Sea as though it had been dry land, and fed you in the wilderness with manna and the flesh ofquails, and brought water out of the rock, and gave you a law from heaven:
12 Ye provoked him all ways, and desired for yourselves a molten calf, and worshipped it, and sacrificed to it, and said, These are Thy Gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt
13 On account of which your God was inclined to destroy you; but Moses interceded for you, and your God heard him, and forgave your iniquity.
14 Afterwards ye were enraged against, and would have killed your prophets, Moses and Aaron, when they fled to the tabernacle, and ye were always murmuring against God and his prophets.
15 And arising from his judgment seat, he would have gone out; but the Jews all cried out, We acknowledge Cæsar to be king, and not Jesus.
16 Whereas this person, as soon as he was born, the wise men came and offered gifts unto him; which when Herod heard, he was exceedingly troubled, and would have killed him.
17 When his father knew this, he fled with him and his mother Mary into Egypt. Herod, when he heard he was born, would have slain him; and accordingly sent and slew all the children which were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under. 1
18 When Pilate heard this account, he was afraid; and commanding silence among the people, who made a noise, he said to Jesus, Art thou therefore a king?
19 All the Jews replied to Pilate, he is the very person whom Herod sought to have slain.
20 Then Pilate taking water, washed his hands before the people and said, I am innocent of the blood of this just person; look ye to it 2.
21 The Jews answered and said, His blood be upon us and our children.
22 Then Pilate commanded Jesus to be brought before him, and spake to him in the following words:
23 Thy own nation hath charged thee as making thyself a king; wherefore I, Pilate, sentence thee to be whipped according to the laws of former governors; and that thou be first bound, then hanged upon a cross in that place where thou art now a prisoner; and also two criminals with thee, whose names are Dimas and Gestas.
THE GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS, FORMERLY CALLED THE ACTS OF PONTIUS PILATE.
Published on WordPress by Donna Brown Bowles
CHAP. II.
2 Is compassionated by Pilate’s wife, 7 charged with being born in fornication. 12 Testimony to the betrothing of his parents. Hatred of the Jews to him. NOW when Pilate saw this, he was afraid, and was about to rise from his seat. 2 But while he thought to rise, his own wife who stood at a distance, sent to him, saying p. 66 [paragraph continues]Have thou nothing to do with that just man; for I have suffered much concerning him in a vision this night. 1 3 When the Jews heard this they said to Pilate, Did we not say unto thee, He is a conjuror? Behold, he hath caused thy wife to dream. 4 Pilate then calling Jesus, said, thou hast heard what they testify against thee, and makest no answer? 5 Jesus replied, If they had not a power of speaking, they could not have spoke; but because every one has the command of his own tongue, to speak both good and bad, let him look to it. 6 But the elders of the Jews answered, and said to Jesus, What shall we look to? 7 In the first place, we know this concerning thee, that thou wast born through fornication; secondly, that upon the account of thy birth the infants were slain in Bethlehem; thirdly, that thy father and mother Mary fled into Egypt, because they could not trust their own people. 8 Some of the Jews who stood by spake more favourably, We cannot say that he was born through fornication; but we know that his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, and so he was not born through fornication. 9 Then said Pilate to the Jews who affirmed him to be born through fornication, This your account is not true, seeing there was a betrothment, as they testify who are of your own nation. 10 Annas and Caiaphas spake to Pilate, All this multitude of people is to be regarded, who cry out, that he was born through fornication, and is a conjuror; but they who deny him to be born through fornication, are his proselytes and disciples. 11 Pilate answered Annas and Caiaphas, Who are the proselytes? They answered, They are those who are the children of Pagans, and are not become Jews, but followers of him. 12 Then replied Eleazer, and Asterius, and Antonius, and James, Caras and Samuel, Isaac and Phinees, Crispus and Agrippa, Annas and Judas, We are not proselytes, but children of Jews, and speak the truth, and were present when Mary was betrothed. 13 Then Pilate addressing himself to the twelve men who spake this, said to them, I conjure you by the life of Cæsar, that ye faithfully declare whether he was born through fornication, and those things be true which ye have related. 14 They answered Pilate, We have a law, whereby we are forbid to swear, it being a sin: Let them swear by the life of Cæsar that it is not as we have said, and we will be contented to be put to death. 15 Then said Annas and Caiaphas to Pilate, Those twelve men will not believe that we know him to be basely born, and to be a conjuror, although he pretends that he is the son of God, and a king: 2 which we are so far from believing, that we tremble to hear. 16 Then Pilate commanded every one to go out except the twelve men who said he was not born through fornication, and Jesus to withdraw to a distance, and said to them, Why have the Jews a mind to kill Jesus? p. 67 17 They answered him, They are angry because he wrought cures on the Sabbath day. Pilate said, Will they kill him for good work? 1 They say unto him, Yes, Sir.
The Gospel of NICODEMUS the disciple, concerning the Sufferings and Resurrection of our Master and Saviour JESUS CHRIST.
Published on WordPress by Donna Brown Bowles GOOD FRIDAY 2023
CHAP. I.
1 Christ accused to Pilate by the Jews of healing on the sabbath, 9 summoned before Pilate by a messenger who does him honour, 20 worshipped by the standards bowing down to him. ANNAS and Caiaphas, and Summas, and Datam, Gamaliel, Judas, Levi, Nepthalim, Alexander, Cyrus, and other Jews, went to Pilate about Jesus, accusing him with many bad crimes. 2 And said, We are assured that Jesus is the son of Joseph the carpenter, 1 land born of Mary, and that he declares himself the Son of God, and a king; 2 and not only so, but attempts the dissolution of the sabbath, 3 and the laws of our fathers. 3 Pilate replied; What is it which he declares? and what is it which he attempts dissolving? 4 The Jews told him, We have a law which forbids doing cures on the sabbath day; 4 but he cures both the lame and the deaf, those afflicted with the palsy, the blind, and lepers, and demoniacs, on that day by wicked methods. 5 Pilate replied, How can he do this by wicked methods? They answered, He is a conjurer, and casts out devils by the prince of the devils; 5 6 and so all things become subject to him. 6 Then said Pilate, Casting out devils seems not to be the work of an unclean spirit, but to proceed from the power of God. 7 The Jews replied to Pilate, We entreat your highness to summon him to appear before your tribunal, and hear him yourself. 8 Then Pilate called a messenger and said to him, By what means will Christ be brought hither? 9 Then went the messenger forth, and knowing Christ, worshipped him; and having spread the cloak which he had in his hand upon the ground, he said, Lord, walk upon this, and go in, for the governor calls thee. 10 When the Jews perceived what the messenger had done they exclaimed (against him) to Pilate, and said, Why did you not give him his summons by a beadle, and not by a messenger?—For the messenger, when he saw him, worshipped him, and spread the cloak which he had in his hand upon the ground before him, and said to him, Lord, the governor calls thee. 11 Then Pilate called the messenger, and said, Why hast thou done thus? 12 The messenger replied, When thou sentest me from Jerusalem to Alexander, I saw Jesus sitting in a mean figure upon a she-ass, and the children of the Hebrews cried out, Hosannah, holding boughs of trees in their hands. 13 Others spread their garments in the way, and said, Save us, thou who art in heaven; blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord. 7 14 Then the Jews cried out, against the messenger, and said, The children of the Hebrews made their acclamations in the Hebrew language; and how couldst thou, who art a Greek, understand the Hebrew? 15 The messenger answered them and said, I asked one of the Jews and said, What is this which the children do cry out in the Hebrew language? 16 And he explained it to me, saying, they cry out Hosannah, which being interpreted, is, O, Lord, save me; or, O Lord, save. 17 Pilate then said to them, Why do you yourselves testify to the words spoken by the children, namely, by your silence? In what has the messenger done amiss? And they were silent. 18 Then the governor said unto the messenger, Go forth and endeavour by any means to bring him in. 19 But the messenger went forth, and did as before; and said, Lord, come in, for the governor calleth thee. 20 And as Jesus was going in by the ensigns, who carried the standards, the tops of them bowed down and worshipped Jesus. 21 Whereupon the Jews exclaimed more vehemently against the ensigns. 22 But Pilate said to the Jews, I know it is not pleasing to you that the tops of the standards did of themselves bow and worship Jesus; but why do ye exclaim against the ensigns, as if they had bowed and worshipped? 23 They replied to Pilate, We saw the ensigns themselves bowing and worshipping Jesus. 24 Then the governor called the ensigns and said unto them, Why did you do thus? 25 The ensigns said to Pilate, We are all Pagans and worship the gods in temples; and how should we think anything about worshipping him? We only held the standards in our hands and they bowed themselves and worshipped him. 26 Then said Pilate to the rulers of the synagogue, Do ye yourselves choose some strong men, and let them hold the standards, and we shall see whether they will then bend of themselves. 27 So the elders of the Jews sought out twelve of the most strong and able old men, and made them hold the standards and they stood in the presence of the governor. 28 Then Pilate said to the messenger, Take Jesus out, and by some means bring him in again. And Jesus and the messenger went out of the hall. 29 And Pilate called the ensigns who before had borne the standards, and swore to them, that if they had not borne the standards in that manner when Jesus before entered in, he would cut off their heads. 30 Then the governor commanded Jesus to come in again. 31 And the messenger did as he had done before, and very much entreated Jesus that he would go upon his cloak, and walk on it, and he did walk upon it, and went in. 32 And when Jesus went in, the standards bowed themselves as before, and worshipped him.
Jesus’ statement “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” is found in John 8. Jesus was teaching in the temple when the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery, and they asked Him if she should be stoned as required by the Law of Moses. However, they cared nothing about this woman; they were using her to trap Jesus. In their minds, if He told them to set the woman free, they could claim He did not hold to the Law of Moses. If He told them to stone her, they could claim He was not the Savior; and, if He said nothing, they could claim He lacked wisdom. Jesus did not answer immediately but stooped and wrote something on the ground, and they kept pressing Him. Finally, the Lord said, in essence, “Go ahead and stone her because that is what the Law requires. But the Law also requires that the first stone be thrown by a person who is sinless in connection with this charge” (John 8:6–7).
There is no doubt that this woman was guilty of a capital offense and that the Law required that she be stoned, but the Law also required that the guilty man be stoned as well (Deuteronomy 22:22), that witnesses be produced, and that a witness begin the execution. But the Jewish leaders came with venom against Jesus and were thwarted by their own single-minded hate. They did not produce the guilty man, and they were unwilling or unable to produce the required witnesses. We do not know what Jesus wrote, but, after He wrote a second time, the Jews left one by one, from the oldest to the youngest, without saying another word. Jesus then set the woman free with a warning to her to sin no more.
From this passage we learn that we do not accuse others unless we first thoroughly search our own hearts and minds to make certain that we are pure in every possible aspect (Matthew 7:3). Also, if we must admonish someone, we should do so as instructed in Scripture; we always look to God’s glory and never cause unnecessary division or harm (Matthew 18:15), but we do work to keep the church pure. Moreover, Jesus was the only sinless person in the temple scene, and, instead of condemning the woman, He looked ahead to His work on the cross and offered her life. Likewise, we should use every possible opportunity to forgive and to reach out with the gospel and the love of Christ, always remembering that we, too, are sinners in need of the Savior (Romans 3:23).
In his letter to the Roman church, the apostle Paul wrote, “for what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not doing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate… For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.” (Romans 7:15, Romans 7:19-20)
Like Paul, myself and, many others, struggle with our rebellious natures. When we fail, we think that we cannot live up to the expectations of God’s laws. We think, ” it’s impossible to do the things that we should do; Because we do the very things we hate and know are wrong. And when we mess up, we can often grow weary, and beat ourselves up! We feel defeated and hopeless and that’s when the evil one whispers in our ear saying, “You’re terrible, worthless and you can’t measure up!” That could be no further from the truth! The truth is that, you’re now perfect in God’s eyes by the power of the cross and through the blood of Jesus.
What Does it mean, ‘What I Want to Do, I Do Not Do, but What I Hate, I Do?
Even a Christian as, mature as Paul felt as we do. He understood that just because we love God and desire to be like Jesus, we still fall short. Paul went so far as to call himself the “chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15) and a “wretched man” (Romans 7:24), recognizing that, though God’s way is spiritual, he was not (Romans 7:14). We all make mistakes and we all sin. We are at constant war with our old, sinful nature and the deceiver, which is fighting to reclaim his place of influence in our lives.
We will never be perfect in this world, if we could achieve perfection, Jesus wouldn’t have had to sacrifice himself for our sins.
His grace is sufficient for all. The evil one, would have you believe that you’re just not good enough so why try; however, Jesus said, repeat and I’ll forgive you. That’s it, it’s that easy; however, it must be sincere.
So, don’t beat yourself up. It’s okay to be human. Remember that we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
I believe that’s why Jesus had said this. “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.” (John 8:7)
This also, in Matthew 7, is a confirmation of His understanding of our weaknesses; moreover, His unconditional love for us.
Matthew 7:1-5 [1] Judge not, that ye be not judged. [2] For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. [3] And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? [4] Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? [5] Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
LEVI went to heaven January 29, 2022 He’s now one year old in heaven. An innocent baby, a child of GOD, he’s with his real Father in heaven, and I cannot wait to see his beautiful face and smile again!!! Come quickly my Lord, my Father and my Savior, JESUS CHRIST.
FROM JESUS: I am coming to get you very soon! Donna, you will be reunited with your Son, your family, and your real Father in heaven. Stay close to me for you are my daughter and Levi is with Me for, I AM his Father as well as your’s. Watch for me and keep the light that I have given you. For JESUS IS the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness CANNOT put it out. Love Always and forever, GOD.
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