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first born of whom shall be esteemed stricken of God, and his name a cause of your being hated of all men."

CHRIST'S DECLARATION THAT HE WAS TO BE BETRAYED, PUT TO DEATH,

AND RISE AGAIN.

Ver. 32-34.

And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes ; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles and they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him and the third day he shall rise again.

Agreeably with the view given in the preceding section, of Christ's words to his disciples, we find him, in the very next portion of the narrative, again telling them plainly those circumstances about his future career, which were incompatible with their obstinate view of his kingdom. They had grounds now for believing on him, in spite of so much that was incomprehensible to them in his proceedings; and all

amazed they found him journeying still onwards to Jerusalem, and to certain death. Nevertheless they followed him, assured that he was the Christ, and expecting, no doubt, some miraculous solution of a difficulty which to them seemed inexplicable. His plain avowal of his approaching death, only seems to have kept alive this state of suspense and surmise, without at all tending to remove it. O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory 5?" was applicable to them even to the last period of their earthly intercourse with their Master,

THE AMBITIOUS REQUEST OF JAMES AND

JOHN, THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE.
Ver. 35-45.

And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized

Luke xxiv. 25, 26.

And Jesus said unto

with? And they say unto him, We can. them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

But so

That all Christ now said, about the near approach of his kingdom, was interpreted by the apostles in the sense in which every Jew expected the renewal of the theocracy, is evident from the request of James and John. They asked for posts of honour; and it was in vain that our Saviour, by allusion to the cup which his Father had given him to drink, and the baptism or immersion of the grave through which he was to pass, endeavoured to awaken them to a sense of their error. He was obliged plainly to tell them, that, what he was going to purchase for them—

that which made it expedient for him to go away— was not the prizes of his kingdom, but the means of obtaining them. "To sit on my right hand, and on my left hand, is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared."

me.

BARTIMEUS RESTORED TO SIGHT.

Ver. 46-52.

And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimæus, (the son of Timæus,) sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

And he, casting away
And Jesus answered

Besides the indication of divine power and divine mercy displayed in this miracle, its moral -its instructive character-is also apparent. The

disciples had now been familiarized with this secondary and peculiar application of miracles by Christ. In cases of blindness removed especially, they had been more than once directed to the symbolical notice conveyed concerning a partial blindness of heart, and the gradual removal of it in their case, as well as to that total blindness which characterized those who were not in the train of our Lord's followers. On the occasion particularly noticed in chapter viii. when his repeated instructions had not been understood, we may remember that his discourse was followed up by a very remarkable cure of blindness. Here we have a similar instance of dulness to another lesson, followed up as before by the same symbolical reproof. It was our Lord's custom even to repeat instruction that had been understood; but there was much more reason for doing so, when it had not at first produced the due impression. At this moment certainly the apostles appear to have required the continual renewal of the warning-that to many important features of Christianity they were still blind; that they still needed to apply for sight to Christ, and were still to hope for it only by persevering in faith.

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