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He, however, only prayed in submission to the will of his Father. His human will would fain have escaped the suffering, but that must yield to his divine will, in which all was determined for the salvation of guilty men: and so he said, "Not as I will," in the form of weak man, "but as thou wilt," that God may be glorified, and sinners be saved.

Our Lord's disciples were wearied, and fell asleep; but he continued to pray, and again and again repeated the same affecting prayer.

Judas had not been with the party, he was absent, and Jesus knew why. He awoke his disciples and said, "Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. 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." They did not exactly know which was Jesus, and so Judas said he would go up to him and salute him, and then they would know. How strangely hardened his heart must have been, and how blinded, after Jesus had told him he was about to be betrayed, and that he would be the betrayer, to suppose that our Lord should not see through his hypocritical design, in kissing him only to betray him! And a worse sign he could not have given, for it only served to show his baseness in the strongest light. Had he struck him it would have been

very bad, but to kiss him only to show his enemies which was he, was the height of wickedness! Those who now pretend to love Christ, and yet do not faithfully give themselves up to his cause, do but too much resemble Judas: this is like kissing Christ and betraying him. Moreover, Judas added, "Hail, Master!" that is, health and happiness, as we say, "and kissed him." from the love of money.

peace be to thee, or

And all this he did

The poor disciples showed too, that while Jesus was so ready to die for them, they were then afraid to lose their lives for him; they all "forsook him and fled !"

Peter was always very zealous and forward in danger, and when Christ was taken, he did not quite like to leave him in the hands of his enemies without seeing what they were about to do, so he "followed him afar off unto the High Priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end."

In the meantime the priests and elders tried to get some persons to bear witness that Christ had said something in their hearing that was very wicked, and according to their law deserved death. Now none could say this in truth; so they were obliged to get false witnesses-that is, pay some bad men to say anything they pleased, to make a reason for pronouncing sentence on him. These vile men then declared that they had heard Christ say, that he could destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. Christ had, indeed, said something like such a thing, but he spake only of "the temple of his body;" that is, that when he should be put to death he would "rise again the third day." And he did not say, "I am able to destroy the temple," but only, "destroy this temple," meaning, as I have just said, his body. This was, however, too trifling to affect his life; so the High Priest tried if he could get Christ to say something that would suit their purpose better, and adjured him to tell them whether or not he was "the Son of God." "Thou hast said," said Jesus; that is, thou art right—“ I am the Son of God." Then the High Priest rent his clothes, declared he had spoken blasphemy, and that there was no further need of witnesses. Had he not been the Son of God, he would, indeed, have spoken blasphemy; but they did not know that he was so, though he had done miracles enough in the land to prove it, and therefore, they now seized the opportunity of putting to death the Lord of Life and Glory.

And now the servants and soldiers spit in his face, struck him, slapped his cheeks, and having blindfolded him, asked him to tell them who did it.

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This was horribly wicked; and they are as horribly wicked who make sport with the name of Jesus, and use it triflingly or in jest: take care never to sport with sacred things.

Peter was all this while sitting among the servants of the High Priest, when one of the maids espied him out, and accused him of being a disciple; but Peter was afraid of suffering in the same way, and so denied it. He then left his seat and went to the porch or entrance of the High Priest's hall; but there he was again discovered by another maid, and then he swore that he knew nothing of Christ. After this some more persons charged him with being one of Christ's followers, and they said that his dialect proved he came from the same part of the country. Peter again cursed and swore, probably worse than before, and said he knew nothing of Christ. Those that curse and swear show most plainly that they cannot belong to Christ, so Peter took a most effectual and wicked method to disguise himself.

Jesus had warned him of this, and told him, that before the cock should crow twice he would deny him thrice. His words now came to pass; the cock crew-Peter remembered it-his heart was ready to break-he thought how wicked he had been, and, going away, he "wept bitterly." This was a sign that he sincerely repented; but no weeping bitterly can ever wash away the foulness of your sins and of mine; that can only be done by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, which has a particular virtue in healing the wounded soul, and taking away its guilt and defilement, and which "cleanseth from all sin."

The Sufferings of Christ-His Death.

MATTHEW XXVII.

We left Christ in the hands of the chief priests and elders, condemned to die, but they had not full power to kill him; they could only show how much they desired to put him to death. About two years before this, the Romans who had conquered the Jews, had taken from them the power to execute any, and therefore another council was held, to know what further to do. So they bound Jesus and led him to Pilate, the Roman Governor, who was placed over them, in order that he might execute the sentence which they had passed upon him.

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