20

were exactly fulfilled. He was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the chief priests and Scribes. By them he was adjudged worthy of death. He was handed over to Pontius Pilate, was mocked by Herod and the soldiers, was scourged, crucified, and on the third day was raised from the dead. None but a supernatural foresight could have anticipated these particulars; for, as has been observed, humanly speaking, it was much more probable that he would have been privately assassinated, stoned in some transport of popular fury, or by order of the Sanhedrim, than that he should have been thus sentenced to crucifixion, a Roman punishment, with which he had never been threatened. Notwithstanding the plainness of his declarations, Luke tells us, that his disciples "understood none of these things," for they still labored under the infatuation of expecting his temporal glory.

or

20-28. Parallel to Mark x. 35 -45.

20. Though the curtain of a dark future had just been lifted by Jesus, this infatuation was illustrated anew by the mother of two of the Apostles, James and John. Her name was Salome. Mat. xxvii. 56. Mark xv. 40, xvi. 1. Her own services to Jesus, the special favors he had bestowed upon her sons, and the promise in Mat. xix. 28, embolden

ed her to prefer this ambitious request. According to Mark, the sons themselves, James and John, are the supplicants. Both the mother and her children were probably concerned in the application; for Matthew states, she came with her sons. They shielded themselves under their mother's mediation, from the rebuke which had already been administered to the aspiring. Mat. xviii. 3.

21. One on thy right hand, and the other on the left. Their imaginations were possessed with the figure which Jesus had used of sitting upon thrones. That glittering prospect dazzled their eyes, and they could not see or understand that sufferings and death awaited their Master and themselves, before they could reign in their spiritual glory. In reference to eastern customs, they desire the highest places of confidence and honor with Jesus, indicated by sitting on his right and left hand.

22. Ye know not what ye ask. For they mistook the nature of his kingdom. How many parents know not what they ask for their children, when they desire pleasures, possessions, and honors of this world, for them! For, without the jewel of virtue, they will be poor and iniserable indeed, however rich or distinguished.-Cup that I shall drink An image of his future sufferPs. xi. 6, lx. 3. Isa. li. 17. xxvi. 39, John xviii. 11

of.

ings.

Mat.

and humility here inculcated been transgressed by the Roman church, in its vast temporal authority, its arrogant claims, and its spiritual tyranny!

28. Even as the Son of Man. To carry the lesson home still deeper, he presents the highest model for their imitation, in lowliness and usefulness. Even the Messiah himself, with all his power and dignity, came not into the world to receive the homage of men, to be applauded and admired, but to minister to man's wants, to meet the cravings of his undying nature, and to melt the heart to penitence by the power of the cross; thus consecrating himself, and even laying down his life, as a ransom, or as a means of deliverance, for the human family. His own example, therefore, in condescension and self-sacrifice, was a bright pattern for his disciples to copy; a potent corrective of their selfish ambition.-To give his life a ransom for many. Or, to ransom many, i. e. "to deliver them from the evils of ignorance, error, and sin." Wakefield supposes many to refer to the sacrifices under the Jewish laws, one ransom to be given instead of many. But the more common and better opinion is, that many refers to mankind, to all men, The word here translated ransom signified originally the price paid for freeing a slave, and therefore, figuratively, any means of freedom from servitude. Thus God is said to have ransomed the Israelites, not by any substitution, but by the displays of his power. Ex. vi. 6. Deut. vii. 8. Luke xxiv. 21. Thus Jesus Christ has ransomed mankind, i. e. all who' will comply with his religion, from the bondage of a sensual life, and raised them into the joys of a spirit

ual one. This verse affords no countenance to the popular doctrine of the Atonement; that something was necessary to reconcile an offended Deity to his erring children, and that Christ, in his death, supplied that want; for that would be to construe with a bald literalness what, it is as plain as any principle in language can be, should be interpreted figuratively. If we say, Luther redeemed the Christian church, it is understood at once that we speak metaphorically. So ought this phrase to be taken. But all the great corruptions of Christianity, the doctrines of Total Depravity, Transubstantiation, Trinity, Election, as well as this of the Atonement, are attributable to the same cause, the construing of figurative language literally. When the doctrine of the Atouement was once established, this verse was then used as a proof of it, but it did not suggest it originally.

29-34. Parallel to Mark x. 46— 52, Luke xviii. 35–43. There are two discrepancies in this passage, comparing the accounts together. Matthew speaks of two blind men; Mark and Luke of but one. Matthew and Mark describe the cure as taking place when he left Jericho; Luke, when he entered it. As to the number of men, some writers suppose that there were two, but that Mark and Luke mention only the most noted of them, a certain Bartimeus. Others conjecture that he healed them at different times, and that Mark and Luke speak of only one case; at all events they do not say but that more than one was cured. As to the other point, it has been suggested that the expression, was come nigh unto Jericho, might without violence

be translated, was in the vicinity of Jericho, and agree therefore with Matthew and Mark, who state that he did the cure as he departed from the town. A theory of two towns, the old and new Jericho, has been advanced, and that he did the cure as he departed from one and approached the other. But, on the whole, perhaps it is better in these cases to admit that there may have been some contradiction, for the attempt to reconcile difficulties is sometimes overstrained. We would rather say, with Bloomfield, "that, if the trifling discrepancies adverted to were really irreconcilable, still they would not weaken the credit of the Evangelist, being such as are found in the best historians; nay, they may be rather thought to strengthen their authority as independent witnesses."

29. Jericho. This city, next in importance to Jerusalem, and situated about twenty miles north-east of it, and five from the Jordan, was the scene of many interesting events in the Jewish history. It was overthrown by Joshua, Josh. vi. 21-26, and was afterwards rebuilt, 1 Kings xvi. 34, and contained a school of the prophets, 2 Kings ii. 5. It was called "the city of palms," from the number of those trees growing around it. It is now an insignificant village, called Richa.

30. Sitting by the way-side. The most favorable place to beg, and hear the news. O Lord, thou Son

of David. This appellation of the Messiah they might have caught from hearsay, and used it as a conciliatory token of respect. Or, "suffering under a sore misfortune, they were naturally disposed, far more than others, to feel the force of the evidence which Jesus gave of his authority, and to think lightly of the circumstances that seemed to weaken that evidence."

31. Because they should hold their peace. Rather, that they should hold their peace. They cried the more. It was their only chance. They fear that the opportunity may he lost forever. They are therefore instant and importunate, and send their piercing cries through the dense multitude to the ears of Jesus. What naturalness is there in this circumstance, that, unable to see Jesus, they should try to arrest his attention by their boisterous cries! The multitude rebuked them, thinking, perhaps, that it was beneath Jesus to notice these blind beggars, or impatient that his journey or his discourse should be interrupted, anxious or curious as they were to hear every word that dropped from his lips. Mark adds the descriptive circumstance, that, "casting away his garment," as impeding his haste, the blind man ። rose and came to Jesus."

34. Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes. Showing that the miracle proceeded from himself. Our Saviour did not cold

A

ly and mechanically perform his miracles. Although he was surrounded by admiring disciples and a thronging multitude, he yet had time and thought to bestow on the unfortunate, that lay by the roadside, poor and blind. Although on the way to his own crucifixion, and filled with its approaching terrors, he still had a heart to sympathize with, and a hand powerful to succor the miserable. His potent touch could unseal the blinded eye. His everlasting Gospel still goes the rounds of the world, as its author walked in Palestine, mighty to shed light and comfort over the darkened mind of man. Reader, you do not possess your Saviour's divine power, but you can cherish his divine sympathy for the sick and wretched.

CHAP. XXI.

1-11, 14-16. Mark xi. 1-11. Luke xix. 29-44. John xii. 12 -19.

1. Drew nigh unto Jerusalem. See chap. xx. 17, 18, 29.-Were come to Bethphage, i. e. were on their way. Mark and Luke also speak of Bethany. The two villages were situated at the foot of the Mount of Olives, on the east side, and their territories were contiguous. Bethphage signifies house of figs; Bethany, house of dates; from which it has been conjectured that those trees abounded there.-Mount of

Olives. Or, Olivet. A high ridge lying east from Jerusalem, so called from the olive trees growing upon it, and of which a few remain to the present day. The valley of Jehoshaphat, or of Hinnom, and the brook of Kedron or Cedron, lay between this mountain and Jerusalem.

2. The village over against you. Bethphage. An ass tied, and a colt. The ass is a fine animal in the east, and much used in common life, as the Jews were forbidden to keep horses, lest they should be prompted to conquests. Some, however, violated the prohibition.-Bring them. The other writers speak only of the colt or young ass, as that was the animal on which Jesus rode. Both were sent for, as they would go better together, one being the mother, and the other her colt. It was to a friend or acquaintance probably that Jesus sent, who would be willing at once to loan his beasts, when he knew who wished for them. Mark and Luke mention that the colt never had been used for labor, and we are told that it was a custom to employ animals, that never had borne the yoke or saddle, for sacred uses. Deut. xxi. 3. 1 Sam. vi. 7. Jesus foresaw what would befall him in a few days, and he made this public entry into Jerusalem to fix the attention of the people upon himself, and thus give the greatest publicity to