THE PRINCIPAL WITNESS.—HIS TESTIMONY RESPECTING THE DEATH OF CHRIST.
We have now to consider the various notices in Justin respecting our Lord's Crucifixion, and the events immediately preceding and following it. Justin notices our Lord's entry into Jerusalem:—
"And the prophecy, 'binding His foal to the vine and washing His robe in the blood of the grape,' was a significant symbol of the things which were to happen to Christ, and of what He was to do. For the foal of an ass stood bound to a vine at the entrance of a village, and He ordered His acquaintances to bring it to Him then; and when it was brought He mounted and sat upon it, and entered Jerusalem." (Apol. I. ch. xxxii.)
Justin in a subsequent place (Dial. ch. liii.) notices the fact only mentioned in St. Matthew, that Jesus commanded the disciples to bring both an ass and its foal:—
"And truly our Lord Jesus Christ, when He intended to go into
Jerusalem, requested His disciples to bring Him a certain ass, along
with its foal, which was bound in an entrance of a village called
Bethphage; and, having seated Himself on it, He entered into
Jerusalem."
Justin thus describes the institution of the Eucharist:—
"For the Apostles, in the Memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and, when He had given thanks, said, 'This do ye in remembrance of me, this is My body;' and that after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, 'This is My blood;' and gave it to them alone." (Apol. i. ch. lxvi.)
He thus adverts to the dispersion of the Apostles:—
"Moreover, the prophet Zechariah foretold that this same Christ would be smitten and His disciples scattered: which also took place. For after His Crucifixion the disciples that accompanied Him were dispersed." (Dial. ch. liii.)
He mentions our Lord's agony as the completion of a prophecy in Psalm xxii.:—