Matthew XXVI

1. And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples,

2. Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

3. Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,

4. And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.

5. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

The rapid movement from “sayings “to” crucified.” Christ’s perfect idea of time in relation to His mediatorial development. His last sayings had related to His “glory,” and now He turns to His crucifixion, — the climax of speech was to be succeeded by the climax of suffering. 1. We have the prepared Christ, — He knew His work, He proclaimed it, He was ready for it. 2. We have the hesitating murderers, — they consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty and kill Him, but they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people: (a) subtilty, a sign of cowardice; (b) the moral guarantee of popular instincts. Lange says: “What is it that the Lord lays most stress upon when He announces His passion? 1. Not that He should be hung upon the cross; but 2. That He should be betrayed — perfect truth mourning over perfect falseness in the deepest grief — the sufferings of Christ, the consummation of all Joseph’s sufferings: to be betrayed and sold by His brethren;” and again: “The greatest of all insurrections (against the Lord’s Anointed) must always be in dread of the phantom of insurrection: — 1. They lift themselves up against the Lord; and 2. Brand the possible uprising for His defence as rebellion.” Lange’s last reflection is excellent:” God can make sacrifices of His

u 2 own, but He does not give them up to secret murder. They might crucify Him openly before the world; but secretly do away with Him they could not. The blood of the saints does not sink silently into the ground; it publicly flows, and preaches aloud.” The perfect consistency between Christ’s manner of life and Christ’s preparation for death should not be overlooked; in both cases there is: — i. Entire self-possession. 2. Co-operation with the Father. 3. Universal benevolence. 4. Perfect adaptation to the necessities of the case, — human ignorance (doctrine), human guilt (atonement).

6. Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,

7. There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.

8. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?

9. For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

10. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.

11. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.

12. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

13. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

I. The all-surrendering generosity of love. Only one box, and it was given, — given, not demanded. The heart may be wealthy, though the hand be poor. If this woman had laid away her one box of ointment, how much could she have afforded for Jesus Christ? 2. The moral depravity of selfish calculation in the Christian life. “To what purpose is this waste” {wasting, literally)? The astounding anomaly of arithmetical love! The same word is used in the original to denote waste and perdition; it was the son of perdition who called this service waste! What is the lesson? The men who denominate other people’s service “waste” are themselves the most likely to be cast away as the refuse of the universe. What became of Judas? He had an ethical system of his own, — he carried the bag. 3. The all-comprehending wisdom and benevolence of Jesus Christ’s judgment (ver. 10-12), — “She hath wrought a good work,” literally, a beautiful work. 1. Christ is anxious for the peace of all who serve Him, — “Why trouble ye the woman?” Questions of casuistry; questions of frivolous distinction. 2. Christ shows that every age brings its own opportunities for doing good, — “Ye have the poor always.” 4. The assured immortality of goodness (ver. 13). 1. Only a Divine being can guarantee immortality to any action. 2. In immortalising goodness Christ gives assurance of a happy future. 3. The nature of a being is known by the nature of the actions which he would immortalise.

The whole subject gives a word: — 1. To those who have few resources. 2. To those who form a superficial estimate of the services of their brethren. 3. To those who are waiting for opportunities of doing good. 4. To those who would leave a memory to be praised. There is one mournful reflection occasioned by the circumstance, viz., the rarit)’ of the truly heroic element in human history, — the deed is spoken of as standing by itself, a solitary but magnificent heroism. “Many women had come unto Him before, but none without some bodily disease impelling; this woman comes last, and is impelled only by the disease of her sins.” — (Chrysostom.) “John says that she anointed His feet, and other two His head; but this is reconciled if we say that she anointed both head and feet.” — (Augustine.) “I think that the women spoken of by the four evangelists are three. One by Matthew and Mark in the house of Simon the leper, at whom the disciples murmured; another by Luke, when there was no murmuring; and a third by John, not in the presence of Simon, but of Lazarus, not two days, but six days before the Passover, Judas only murmuring.” — (Origen.) “Mary Magdalene, or Mary of Magdala, the name of her city, was probably a very respectable woman, out of whom our Lord had cast seven devils: but this was no stain upon her moral conduct. It is therefore from a baseless tradition that the Italian painters have painted exquisite pictures of penitent dishonoured women, and called them Magdalenes; and somewhat of injury is done to her memory, by applying her name to this class of females.” — (Richard Watson.)

14. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,

15. And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

16. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

This action on the part of Judas shows: — 1. The power of man to resist the most convincing evidence of a Divine mission; the evidence was twofold — (a) the magnificence of power; (b) the persuasiveness of love. 2. The tremendous despotism of avarice, — “What will ye give me?” The avaricious man (a) makes life a mere question of calculation; (b) all the calculation is limited to self-aggrandisement. 3. The influence of present gain as blinding man to consequences. Judas sold Christ for what would be about four pounds ten shillings of English money; he knew not that he “would pierce himself through with many sorrows.” 4. The connection which subsists between moral actions, — “From that time he sought opportunity to betray him;” whether the actions be bad or good, the actors should jealously watch the beginning.

17. Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?

1 8. And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.

19. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.

20. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.

21. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

22. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

23. And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.

24. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

25. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

I. An incidental illustration of the poverty of Jesus Christ, — He had no house of His own, in which to eat the passover. 2. A positive declaration of the method of His end. It was betrayal. This method in harmony with the whole development of the diabolic element in human history; from the very beginning it has been a system of treachery. 3. An acknowledgment of the power of one individual to do mischief, — “One of you shall betray me.” The power of the individual has again and again been acknowledged in the Bible: for example, the Devil; Cain; Achan; Jonah; Judas; &c. 4. A distinction between mere association and vital fellowship, — “He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.” The very climax of treachery, and so much the more in keeping with the tragic scene. There is a marvellous consistency throughout the whole development, — the consistency of diabolism! 5. The sorrow of the Church preliminary to its joy. The growth of the Church starts from an opposite point to that of the world; the world began with joy, the Church with sorrow. 6. The difference between betrayal and atonement: the betrayal gives the diabolic side; the atonement the Divine side. Men are not saved by the betrayal, but by the atonement.

“Our Lord not only ate the paschal, and not a common supper, but He did so at the same time in which it was eaten by at least the generality of the Jews.” — (Richard Watson.) The same writer says, on the 24th verse: “It had been better for him (the positive being used for the comparative) never to have had any existence, than to be doomed to eternal shame and punishment. This passage is conclusive against Judas’s repentance and forgiveness in this life, and equally cogent to prove the doctrine of the eternity of future punishment. For if all lapsed intelligences are to be restored to happiness, then Judas must be amongst the number; and if so, since, however long the punishment may be, it is but temporary and the ultimate felicity eternal, it could not be said that it had been better for him not to have existed.”

26. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

27. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

28. For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

29. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

30. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

Lord’s Supper: — 1. Sacrifice. 2. Fellowship with Jesus Christ and with one another. 3. Simplicity of observance.

Or, 1. Time of recollection of sin. 2. Time of triumph over the torrent of memory.

Or, 1. Common observances elevated into Christian sacraments. 2. Common objects made into Divine symbols.

Or, 1. Out of the deepest sorrows may come the richest joys. 2. This can only be the case when we suffer with

Christ or for Christ. 3. Then the most solemn and saddening revelations may be succeeded by the singing of a hymn, — a hymn shall conclude all God’s ministry amongst men.

Or, 1. The division yet the unity of human life, — as they were eating, Jesus took bread, &c, the lower life and the highest, &c. 2. The great meanings which are possible to the realising power of faith and love, — common bread became as the body of the Lord.

31. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

32. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

i. The great events of time developed according to Divine prediction. 2. The loneliness of Jesus Christ in the final scene an incidental proof of His Divine mediation. 3. Christ’s Divine power of looking beyond the process to the great result. 4. Though Jesus Christ was deserted by His disciples, yet the disciples were not deserted by Jesus Christ, — “I will go before you into Galilee.” Abandonment of Jesus Christ, up to the degree of absolute loneliness, seems to have been necessary to the full realisation of His mission. Who could have been His companion? The loneliness of Jesus Christ is a circumstance not to be lightly passed over; it was a necessity; His work was fundamental, relating not to men but to man — to every man, though those men who stood near Him and bore the name of His disciples might not seem to require to be included in the final service. At the point where Jesus Christ’s absolute loneliness became a necessity, the great mystery of the atonement begins.

33. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

34. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

35. Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

The announcement shocked the natural feelings of the heart, so little does the heart know itself! The announcement, however, showed, in a most unexpected manner, the minuteness and accuracy of Jesus Christ’s knowledge, though it did shock the strongest instincts of the disciples. Jesus Christ “knew what was in man,” and yet, knowing it, He loved man even unto death. The incident may be homiletically used as showing: — 1. That the most unlikely men may fail in the great crises of life. 2. That the Saviour’s resources were equal to the most terrible strain of sorrow. 3. That all vows made in unaided human strength are unreliable. 4. That even now, when pain is threatened, men are in danger of repeating the first apostasy of the disciples. The last reflection might form the basis of a discourse upon Methods of deserting Jesus Christ: some of the methods are obvious, some are subtle, all are bad. Special attention should be given to unintended desertions; the disciples did not plan the apostasy. Men may wound Christ without intending it.

A discourse might be prepared upon the three characteristics of the individuals who took a prominent part in the final scene: — 1. Mary; or, all-surrendering love. 2. Judas; or, all-grasping avarice. 3. Peter; or, all-promising impulsiveness.

36. Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

Gethsemane (gath=a. press; shemen=oiY), the garden of the oil press, or olive-press. “I have trodden the winepress alone.” Jesus separates Himself from His disciples, but it is that He may pray! Even in Gethsemane He is

Lord and the disciples are servants. Man cannot always pray, even in the presence of his most cherished friends. There are sobs of the breaking heart, which friendship may not hear, — God alone is fit auditor! Jesus says, “While I go and pray yonder;” “while” (eo>?) sometimes signifies continuous, indeterminate duration; how long the prayer of His great sorrow might continue was not foretold; who can tell when sorrow will utter its last pleading word to God?

37. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

Peter, James, and John, the same who had beheld the glory of the Transfiguration. Special persons are often elected for special revelations. Why may not this principle of election be in operation now? Has God no further disclosures of truth to make? Is the Infinite exhausted? It often happens, in common as well as in sacred history, that the persons who see most of light are led into the deepest darkness, as if it were only by the violence of extremes that men could be balanced in mind.

Jesus Christ “began to be sorrowful and very heavy:” dSr]jjiov6iv=gyavissimb-angi) to be oppressed with grief; Xvireicrdat, to be sad, from Xvat, to dissolve, a very expressive word; His vigour was dissolved, His strength became as water, it was as though body and soul would be separated.

38. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

“Exceeding sorrowful,” Trepikvrros; Trepc is used intensively, as in TrepUpycx;, exceedingly diligent, irepixapr)*; very much delighted. The sorrow was extreme, the very next point was death! It was emphatically a sorrow of the soul; no mere dread of physical suffering, but a pain as it were at the very centre of the moral nature; a sorrow that was occasioned by such a view of sin as the Divine eye alone can take. According to the capacity and culture of the moral nature is the measure of any man’s sorrow.

39. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

“Fell on his face,” the ordinary posture of the suppliant, when a great favour was asked or great humiliation required.

“‘Let this cup pass from me;’ perhaps there is an allusion here to several criminals standing in a row, who are all to drink of the same cup; but the judge extending favour to a certain one, the cup passes by him to the next.” — (Adam Clarke.) “UapeKOero), let pass, as we should say of a threatening cloud, ‘It has gone over.’ But what shall we say of the irorrjpLov or &pa, of which our Lord here prays that it may pass by? Certainly not the mere present feebleness and prostration of the bodily frame, not any mere section of His sufferings; but the whole, the betrayal, the trial, the mocking, the scourging, the cross, the grave, and all besides which our thoughts cannot reach. Of this all, His soul, in humble subjection to the higher Will which was absolutely united and harmonious with the Will of the Father, prays that if possible it may pass over. And this prayer was heard ... on account of His pious resignation to His Father’s will, or on the ground of it, so that it prevailed, — He was strengthened from heaven.” — (Alford.)

40. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

A reproof of the presumptuous impulsiveness which had promised to go with Him even unto death. There is peculiar significance in the fact that the inquiry was addressed to Peter, who had promised so much. If a man cannot watch, how can he die? A very proper accommodation of the words would give us the principle that indifference is the first step towards denial: when the bodily is in excess of the spiritual influence, the man must apostatise. In the case, however, of the disciples, Jesus Christ makes every allowance, knowing as He did the strain which had distressed the physical faculties of His disciples; hence He says: —

41. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

The only method of sustaining all the energies is by holding vigilant and continuous communion with God — watch and pray; the very exercise that would seem to weaken the powers strengthens them. No man ever wastes the energy he spends in prayer. Better to have a willing spirit and a feeble body, than a strong body and an unwilling spirit. We shall not have both in perfection until resurrection has done for the flesh what regeneration has done for the soul.

42. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

We may obtain by a second prayer what was not obtained by a first. In the case of Jesus Christ the second prayer was a continuation of the first, and an enlargement of it in the direction of self-surrender. Even in Jesus Christ’s humanity there was a point to be conquered. “None of the damned had ever so large a capacity to take in a full sense of the wrath of God as Christ had. The larger any one’s capacity is to understand and weigh his troubles fully, the more grievous and heavy is his burden. If a man cast vessels of greater and lesser quantity into the sea, though all will be full, yet the greater the vessel is, the more water it contains. Now Christ had a capacity beyond all mere creatures to take in the wrath of His Father; and what deep and large apprehensions He had of it may be judged by His bloody sweat in the garden, which was the effect of His mere apprehensions of the wrath of God. Christ was a large vessel indeed; as He is capable of more glory, so of more sense and misery than any other person in the world.” — (Flavel.)

43. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

44. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

45. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

46. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

“Here, then, we have two subjects of contemplation distinctly marked out for us. 1. The irreparable Past. 2. The available Future. The words of Christ are not like the words of other men: His sentences do not end with the occasion which called them forth; every sentence of Christ’s is a deep principle of human life, and it is so with these sentences: ‘Sleep on now ’ — that is a principle; ‘Rise up, and let us be going ’ — that is another principle. The principle contained in ‘Sleep on now ’ is this, that the past is irreparable, and after a certain moment waking will do no good. You may improve the future, the past is gone beyond recovery. As to all that is gone by, so far as the hope of altering it goes, you may sleep on and take your rest; there is no power in earth or heaven that can undo what has once been done.” — (Robertson.) “Here seems to be a contradiction: He bids them rest, and yet by-and-bye He says, ‘Arise, let us go hence.’ Some answer that He speaks by way of upbraiding and not of permitting; but Mark makes it plain, that after this speech, staying awhile, He stirred them up again, saying, ‘Let us go hence.’ For having bidden them sleep, He says, as after some interim granted, It sufficeth, and then the hour cometh, &c.” — (Augustine.) “Even as water may be pierced with a weapon, and so likewise the fire and the air, yet they cannot be said to be wounded; so the body of Christ might be beaten, hanged up, and crucified, yet these passions in His body did lose the nature of passions, and the virtue of His body, without the sense of pain, received the violence of pain raging against Him. The Lord’s body indeed had been sensible of pain, if our body had been of the same nature to go upon the water, and not to make impression with our footsteps, and to go through doors that were shut. But seeing this nature is proper only to the Lord’s body, why is the flesh conceived by the Holy Ghost judged by the nature of a common body? He had a body indeed to suffer, but He had no nature to grieve.” — (Hilary.)

The paragraph included between the 36th and 46th verses may be thrown into homiletic form as a whole. Let the subject have some such designation as The Decisive Struggle of Life; then, as strictly limited to human experience (most carefully distinguishing between that and the sacrificial element that marked our Lord’s suffering), we shall find: — 1. That the decisive struggle of life is associated with the intensest agitation of the soul; man cannot give up the past without sorrow. 2. That the decisive struggle of life develops the religious capacities and sensibilities of men; Jesus prayed, prayed alone, prayed repeatedly. 3. That the decisive struggle of life can be triumphantly conducted only as the true character of God is apprehended. In what terms does Christ address God? As the Omnipotent, the Eternal, the Sovereign? He addresses Him as Father, and as My Father. An inferior conception of God would have meant hesitancy, partial trust, defeat! In the decisive struggle, the struggle which determines a man’s future for ever, the heart cannot rest upon an inanimate immensity, a lifeless infinitude; it must touch the life of life, the love of love, the very essence of the highest Being, which is fatherliness. 4. That the decisive struggle of life ends well only in proportion to the subordination of the human will to the Divine. “God’s pleasure is the wind our actions ought to sail by: man’s will is the stream that tides them up and down. It is safer to strive against the stream, than to sail against the wind.” — (Quarles.)

47. And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.

“One of the twelve,’’’ — a good name heading a bad cause. The fact shows the possibility of using Christian advantages for unchristian purposes, — the consummation of treachery, the very extremity of diabolism!

“And with him a great multitude,” — the power of one man to do mischief! Could Judas ever have prevailed upon a great multitude to follow him in a good work? We see how easy it is to go down, and how in the descent men gather appropriate increments until they become very powerful for mischief. As a supposed Christian, Judas was only one of twelve; but as an opponent of Jesus Christ he was the chief of a great multitude. If moral force is to be measured by numerical majorities, the cause of Christianity was evidently doomed to make an impotent struggle and find its way to an early and dishonoured grave. As the numbers stand in the text, we have twelve men, counting the Saviour Himself, confronted by “a great multitude:” who or what can withstand the stormy anger of an incensed host?

“With swords and staves,” — the radical error of superficial controversialists! Can truth be put down by* a staff? Can any man cleave a sunbeam with a sword? We may conceive of insane men attempting to pluck the sun from the heavens, or to blow back the billows of the sea, or to derange the order of nature, and, having conceived the monstrous idea, can treat it with the contemptuous pity which it deserves; but there is a gloomier madness than this, and it reached its extremity in the attempt to destroy the kingdom of truth by sword and staff. The man who speaks truth may be put down, may not only be silenced but killed; yet his doctrine will subdue the obstinacy and compel the homage of the world. If truth could be endangered, God Himself might be put in jeopardy!

“From the chief priests and elders of the people:” the great multitude was not a mere rabble; the authority, the culture, the influence of the time, was with them. Whatever there was of saintliness in the word priest, or of venerableness in the word elder, was on the side of the multitude.

The great lesson taught by this verse is that principles should not be judged by circumstances. It would be as reasonable to say that there cannot be a summer because December has been darkened by a snowstorm, as to say that Christianity can never be predominant because all social, political, and ecclesiastical forces were opposed to Jesus Christ. Confine the attention to the scene depicted in the text; regard the contest as simply between one degree of physical force and another; and who would hesitate to pronounce against the little band headed by Jesus Christ? So much for the impression produced by outward circumstances! This will be instantly acknowledged as a historic certainty; yet there is the greatest difficulty in applying its practical lesson to contemporaneous life: some good men are as easily swayed by disastrous circumstances of to-day, as if history had given no illustration of their evanescence. Let it be remembered that while Judas, with his great multitude with their swords and staves and their authority from the chief priests and elders of the people, are execrated by the civilised world, Jesus Christ is worshipped and loved by unnumbered millions of redeemed men in heaven and on earth. The history of darkness is the history of a declension; the history of light is an expanding and brightening climax, satisfying and gladdening an amazed and thankful world.

48. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, the same is he: hold him fast.

49. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.

As in the 47th verse we saw a high name debased to a vicious design, so now we see a token of love perverted into a signal of treachery, — “Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he.” Is there anything sacred to the bad man? Is there anything in the simplicity of childhood or in the purity of love, in the dignity of honour or in the holiness of religion, which he would scruple to press into his infernal service? When veneration decays, a man loses vitality and responsiveness to all good influences: he has, if the expression be not irreverent, lost so much of God; and by so much as the Divine element has been impaired or abated, all earthly sources of pathos or chivalrous unselfishness, of ennobling inspiration or subduing charity, have been impoverished or exhausted.

There is enough in the picture of Judas kissing Christ, to enkindle at once the anger and the imagination of the world. Did ever such extremes meet? The son of perdition kissing the Son of God! The devil entered into a serpent that he might tempt Eve; but he entered into a man that he might betray her Son. The higher the work, the higher the instrument required. Why did not Jesus Christ smite the deceiver, and beat back the multitude as if with a blast of fire? Because He had a work of salvation to carry forward to a sublime and permanent completeness, and to His omniscience suffering and death were but steps in His way to the supremacy of the universe. Justice has a line that can neither be extended nor curtailed; honour stands upon the same pedestal from age to age; ethical righteotisness never changes her tests and standards; but Love dies to live, suffers that she may increase her power, and for a moment hides her head in the tomb that she may lift it up for ever above the thrones and powers of heaven.

Judas kissing Jesus! After such a kiss, what nail or spear could hurt the body of Christ? The iron pierced the flesh, but the traitorous kiss wounded the soul. To-day the Church has more to fear from hypocrisy than open hostility. Who can protect himself against treachery? If the sign of love may itself be used as a sign of enmity, how great is that enmity!

50. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.

Why use the term friend? Was it to touch the conscience of the traitor? Was it to throw into bolder relief the perfidy of the deceiver? Was it to give the traitor a final opportunity of breaking down in his purpose?

51. And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear.

An illustration of the power of the times over human actions. Viewed from any point short of the very highest altitude, the action of Peter was most natural and most proper. Regarded as a combination of force against force, of the many against the few, this organisation (whilst involving an incidental tribute to the power of Jesus Christ)

betrayed the most abject and contemptible cowardice. There is a touch of the heroic about this action of Peter, — animal heroism, which is the lowest form of courage. Peter instinctively proceeded upon the principle that certain people must be fought with their own weapons, that men who trust in staves should feel the weight of their own instruments. The great battles of the world are not between staff and staff, but, as we shall see in another stage of this tragedy, between heart and heart.

52. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

A personal reproof, and an universal doctrine. It is a poor cause that requires the assistance of the sword. To fight even for truth is to put truth in a false position. Neither truth nor error can be deposed by the sword; but while error can use the sword without lowering its own nature, truth cannot touch it without distrusting the omnipotence and love of God. It is laid down as an universal doctrine that they who use the sword shall perish by the sword; they shall conduct a small war to a small issue; they shall never know aught of the inspiration and magnificence of real battle. Steel can beat steel. The supremacy of one sword over another is merely a question of time and training. It will be found as civilisation develops that war will be destroyed by the mere competition of martial genius in the formation of new engines of death. Already the stoutest iron is shattered by tremendous projectiles; and, by the multiplication and improvement of all kinds of arms, war is wearing itself out, and the day cannot be far off when the red and reeking monster shall fall by its own hand as an exploded barbarism, an exhausted device of the devil.

Whatever opinion may be held of war generally, it is distinctly taught that Jesus Christ is never to be laid under obligation to the use of carnal weapons. Even when His cause is in the utmost extremity, they are not to be employed. His kingdom is not of this world. It is a spiritual, ideal, heavenly kingdom, of which the sword is not only a palpable but a demoralising contradiction.

53. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

54. But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

A most pathetic yet noble declaration! It is as though He had said: “My Father is looking on: a word from Me, and all His angels will come as a host of defence; the Lord God of Elisha, who filled the mountain with horses and chariots of fire, and smote the Syrians with blindness, is My Father: His ear is open to My cry, but there is something higher and better than mere personal self-protection.” A great purpose was to be realised; a word upon which the Church had lived for many an age was to become a great wonder and a melancholy joy to all nations; the Seed of the woman was to bruise the head of the serpent! Jesus was not the victim of His own weakness; He was not overmatched by numbers; all heaven was within reach of His prayer; the whirlwind and the earthquake, the darkening storm and the shattering thunderbolt, the floods of great waters and the plague of darkness, — each was within the hearing of His voice, so that at His bidding His assailants might have been swallowed up as those that go down to the pit. The Son of man came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them; and even in the hour of His humiliation He was constant to His gracious purpose to redeem and save the world. Captured as an enemy of Caesar, despised and rejected by the people of Israel, forsaken by the very persons who had sunned themselves in the light of His love, He is still faithful to the all-gracious and all-comprehending purpose of His incarnation: the ancient word must be to the uttermost fulfilled!

The admonition which was addressed to Peter may serve to show the true character of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. He gave Himself; the entire service was voluntary; no outward force could have touched the Son of God; He had power to lay down His life, and He had power to take it again; in the exercise of that power lay the whole quality and virtue of the atonement for the sins of the world.

55. In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.

56. But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

Jesus Christ treated as a “thief,” and forsaken by His chosen friends, — this was the hour and the power of darkness! Was He then alone? Yes; yet not alone, for the Father was with Him! A saddening spectacle, yet a necessary element in the process of redemption, was this being left alone with the Father. The work must lie between the Father and the forsaken Man, the one Man: in His sacrifice He goes alone; in His victory He takes with Him a multitude not to be numbered. There is a loneliness which means preparation for sovereignty: there is also a loneliness which precedes insanity and suicide. Jesus was alone; Judas, too, was alone at a later stage in the same proceedings: what was the difference? The Father was with the one; the other had made himself an orphan. Jesus died; Judas died: what was the difference? Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice for sins: Judas was the victim of his own transgression; and as we look upon him — a mangled and revolting spectacle — we see how true it is that they who use the sword shall perish by the sword.

57. And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.

58. But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.

59. Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

60. But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,

61. And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.

62. And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?

63. But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

64. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

65. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.

66. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.

67. Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,

68. Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?

69. Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.

70. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.

71. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.

72. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.

73. And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.

74. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

75. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

Is it no trial even now to be identified as a disciple of Jesus Christ? There are easily conceivable circumstances under which any man might feel honoured in having his name associated with Jesus Christ, but such circumstances do not test the sincerity of faith. We must put ourselves in Peter’s position, before presuming to reproach him. The Master was in the hands of His enemies; all the brightness of Peter’s dream had faded away; he was alone, surrounded by taunting observers, charged with being the ally of a blasphemer; the day was dark; the storm was breaking upon the lonely man with great fury; the star in whose light he had trusted had been extinguished, — how then could he be strong enough to withstand so great a pressure? Is there not a point in every man’s life when his strength is exhausted, — when his love lies, so to speak, bleeding on the wreck of his will? There is, too, a point in human life when a man cannot bear one word from without, so pressed is he by secret and most painful emotion; we have seen a child with a heart so full, that even an enquiring look from the most friendly eye would cause the tears to overflow. Under such circumstances parents have preserved silence, and thus the fortitude of the child has remained unbroken. We are not entitled to say that at heart Peter was an apostate; in his innermost spirit there might have been a loving and reverent trust; but the man was in heavy trouble, the day had gone against him: there was a great wonder rousing and tempting his spirit, — and at that moment there was but a taunting word required to urge him to extremity. The subtlety of the tempter is seen in the adaptation of suggestion to circumstances. It is when a man is “an hungered” that the devil tempts him to make bread; when he is lonely and powerless, that he offers terms of worldly luxury and dominion. Peter was in that mental condition in which a man’s future may be decided by a word; his power of self-control is exhausted; every faculty is strained to the utmost, and one cruel touch alone is needed to produce reaction sudden and complete, — often, indeed, fatal. This reaction will, of course, be in proportion to the capacity and quality of the sufferer. The self-possessed and carefully-trained nature will, even in extremity, seek to shelter itself from open scandal; but the sanguine and fervid nature will express itself with all eruptiveness and desperation. All we have ever known of Peter is realised in this scene; his boldness in being near the palace; his cowardice in falling before the first charge; the vehemence of his language, the bitterness of his tears, — all are characteristic. The other disciples might have denied Jesus Christ as utterly, yet not one of them would have displayed the same violence, — they might have subsided as a river, but he heaved and trembled like a volcano.

The practical point to be noted is that every disciple, at some time or under some circumstances, will have to endure the trial of being identified as a follower of Jesus Christ; to each will be said: “Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.” The strength of the trial depends mainly upon the circumstances under which it is sustained. Take illustrative instances. Young man, among worldly campanions; poor man, seeking aid from the openly wicked; rich man, surrounded by the thoughtless and gay.

In connection with the fall of Peter there are four circumstances specially monitory: —

I. He was the oldest of the disciples. We are accustomed to regard age as a guarantee of character, and our judgment is founded upon a sound principle. The man who has sustained the trials of a life-time without dishonouring the Christian name, is entitled to the confidence and love of the whole Church. He is an “epistle of commendation.” He is a monument of Divine mercy. Travel-worn, and even travel-stained, with staff and sandals which have never been laid aside, he is deserving of all honour for the Lord’s sake. It is no easy thing to live a life — a long, varied, tempted life. Though Peter’s life was not long as measured by time, yet he was the first, the oldest of the disciples, and he fell! “Let him that thinketh,” &c.

II. He uttered the most emphatic declarations of constancy. “Though all men forsake thee,” &c, “I am ready to go with thee to prison,” &c. There is a wide difference between strong conviction and strong language, they are perfectly compatible, yet where the language is always extreme it is probable that great inconsistencies will mar the life. In the deepest sense actions should speak louder than words, otherwise there will almost of necessity come a great halt in the Christian experience.

There is, however, one danger to be avoided; while there is a possibility of saying too much, there is also a temptation to say too little. Men may say, “Because Peter made a great profession and fell, therefore it is better not to make any profession at all.”

III. He was surprised into this denial of his Master. We are to be prepared not only for formal and elaborate defence, but for sudden assault. “Watch.” “Pray without ceasing.”

IV. He was deeply penitential, — “he went out and wept bitterly.” There is hope of amendment where there is this sorrow for sin. Penitence is one of the first conditions of new life. What does penitence imply? — 1. Consciousness of guilt; 2. Consciousness of responsibility; 3. Self-reproach and self-renunciation.

Where the whole story is intensely practical, it is difficult to assign superiority of claim to any portion. We may, however, look: — 1. At the rapidity of descent in Peter’s case, — he denied, he denied with an oath, then began he to curse and to swear. 2. We may look to the sudden quickenings of memory which mark the spiritual life, — “then remembered he the word of Jesus.” By one flash the whole life is lighted up.

Though man fails, the truth proceeds to assert its claims and establish its ground. The servant yields, but the Son is “obedient unto death.” Peter is an example of what the strongest man would be apart from the Master. “Without me ye can do nothing.”