_And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper._ WORKING FOR CHRIST The home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus at Bethany, about two miles from Jerusalem across the Mount of Olives, had been the scene of some of the calmest and happiest moments of our Lord’s life. We know something of the swee... [ Continue Reading ]
_The poor with you always._ THE CONDITION OF THE POOR MAY BE BETTERED Covetous men have put our Lord’s words, “Ye have the poor with you always,” beside the Old Testament sentence, “The poor shall never cease out of the land,” in order to quiet the trouble of their own consciences when forced to th... [ Continue Reading ]
_She hath done what she could._ DO WHAT YOU CAN I. That the Lord Jesus likes His people to be doing Christians. She “did something.” She did “what she could.” Hence the praises bestowed upon her. The great Head of the Church likes “doing” Christians. Christians who show their Christianity in their... [ Continue Reading ]
_For a memorial of her._ WORKS DONE FOR CHRIST REMEMBERED AND RECOMPENSED The doing of works has been over-valued in one part of the Church’s history, _i.e., _works as separate from the motives which led to them; and, as you know, for a long season language was held as if there was a merit in works... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Judas Iscariot._ MARY AND JUDAS As these verses, and especially the narrative of the Fourth Gospel, place in juxtaposition the grandest act of Mary and the vilest deed of the son of Iscariot, let us take this opportunity of contrasting the one with the other, that the brightness of the one ch... [ Continue Reading ]
_When they killed the Passover._ THE PASSOVER, A TYPICAL OBSERVANCE No other festival was so full of typical meaning, or pointed so clearly to “good things to come” (Hebrews 10:1). I. It was a feast of redemption, foreshadowing a future and greater redemption (Galatians 4:4). II. The victim, a l... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go ye into the city._ THE FINDING THE GUEST CHAMBER We might expect that Christ, knowing to how great effort the faith of His followers was about to be called, would, in His compassionate earnestness for their welfare, keep their faith in exercise up to the moment of the dreaded separation. He wou... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go ye into the city._ THE FINDING THE GUEST CHAMBER We might expect that Christ, knowing to how great effort the faith of His followers was about to be called, would, in His compassionate earnestness for their welfare, keep their faith in exercise up to the moment of the dreaded separation. He wou... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shall betray Me._ THE BETRAYAL What think you, my brethren, if a similar declaration were made in regard to ourselves? Should we sorrowfully ask, “Lord, is it I?” Should we not be more likely to ask, “Lord, is it this man?” “Lord, is it that man?” Would not Peter be more ready to say, “Is it John?... [ Continue Reading ]
_And as they sat and did eat._ THE COMPANY MAKES THE FEAST The ingredients of this meal were few and simple, but the presence of Christ made it more than royal. It is not what men have to eat, but the company that makes a meal delightful. Agassiz, when a young man travelling in Germany, visited Oke... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus took bread._ THE SYMBOLS OF CHRIST’S BODY I. Let us glance at the gospel feast, as exhibited to our view in our periodical approach to the table of the Lord. What is it that we are to feast upon? What is it of which Jehovah Jesus says-“This is My Body, and this is My Blood”? It is His own P... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when they had sung an hymn._ THE BEST HARMONY Jesus sung an hymn, and when before was heard music so pleasing to God, so grand and beautiful to listening angels? We know not what harmonies from the power of sound the Creator produces for the ceaseless joy of His intelligent creatures who fill... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will smite the shepherd._ WHY CHRIST IS CALLED A SHEPHERD 1. As descending from ancient patriarchs who were shepherds. They were types of Him. 2. He knows His sheep, and marks them for His own (John 10:3; John 10:14). God sets His seal on them (2 Timothy 2:19). 3. He feeds their souls and bod... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will go before you into Galilee._ VOICES FROM GALILEE It is quite certain that, in the manhood of Christ, there was, in a very large degree, the truest poetry of the heart. His sympathies with nature-His love of the beautiful everywhere-His tenderness to childhood and to weakness-the delicacy of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Although all shall be offended, yet will not I._ PETER’S AIM WAS A THREEFOLD ONE It consisted in- 1. His vehement contradiction of the words of Christ. 2. His preferring himself to and putting himself above the rest of the apostles. 3. His self-confidence and boastfulness of his own strength.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shall deny Me thrice._ DANGER OF SELF-IGNORANCE “The _Dougal, _an old line of battle ship, which has been lying in Portsmouth Harbour since her return from a cruise on the China station, in 1871, has been recently docked for the purpose of alterations, so as to fit her for taking the place of... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will not deny Thee in any wise._ PETER’S DENIAL OF CHRIST I. We may learn from this transaction not to be too forward in our professions, or too confident in our own strength, lest confidence should at last increase the guilt and shame of failure; and in the event of nonperformance, our professi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which was named Gethsemane._ THE CONFLICT IN GETHSEMANE I. The place of the conflict calls for a brief notice. II. The story of the conflict. Its intensity is the first fact in the story that strikes us. “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground.” This conflict wrung f... [ Continue Reading ]
_The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak._ 1. I think, will some say, that my sin is a sin of infirmity because it is but small. But if you look into 1 Samuel 15:1, you may read that Saul’s sin, for which the Lord rejected him, was of no great outward bulk; for he spared the fatlings that... [ Continue Reading ]
_And prayed, and spake the same words._ PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER We may learn from this what we are to do in time of distress and affliction; we are not only to go to God by prayer for help, comfort, and deliverance; but we are to go to Him again and again: yea, often to call upon Him, and seek to H... [ Continue Reading ]
_He found them asleep._ POWER OF SLEEP The most violent passion and excitement cannot keep even powerful minds from sleep; Alexander the Great slept on the field of Arbela, and Napoleon upon that of Austerlitz. Even stripes and torture cannot keep off sleep, as criminals have been known to give wa... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sleep on now and take your rest._ THE NIGHT SCENE IN GETHSEMANE 1. The first thought suggested by this text is that the Son of Man may even now be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Men are apt to imagine that had they lived in the time of Christ they would not thus and thus have treated Him. But... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that betrayeth Me is at hand._ THE BETRAYER I. We see in him what religious privileges and advantages it is possible to enjoy and yet be destitute of vital piety. How impressively does the fatal example of Judas admonish the hearers of the gospel, the members of Christian churches, and especia... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that betrayeth Me is at hand._ THE BETRAYER I. We see in him what religious privileges and advantages it is possible to enjoy and yet be destitute of vital piety. How impressively does the fatal example of Judas admonish the hearers of the gospel, the members of Christian churches, and especia... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they all forsook Him and fled._ THE DESERTERS We may take three views of the desertion of our Lord on this occasion; that event may be considered with reference to the deserters, to the deserted, and to ourselves. I. The desertion of our Lord may be considered with reference to the apostles.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked._ HASTE IN RELIGION It strikes me that this “certain young man” was none other than Mark himself. He was probably asleep; and, aroused by a great clamour, he asked what it was about. The information was speedily given-“The guards have come to a... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they led Jesus away to the High Priest._ CHRIST BEFORE THE PRIESTS I. Give attention to the two high priests with whom the trial of Jesus began. II. The midnight council of triers. For blind men to be fair critics of Turner, for bats to be fair critics of sunshine, for worms to be fair criti... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Peter followed Him afar off._ FOLLOWING AFAR OFF A young man, it is told, was for several months in a backsliding state, which manifested itself in the usual way,-of conformity to a fashionable and unholy course of life, and a neglect of the ordinances and institutions of the house of God. Du... [ Continue Reading ]
_All the council sought for witness against Jesus._ THE COUNCIL-JESUS BEFORE THE JEWISH COUNCIL The world, in its best moods, exalts justice; and, in its worst moods, defeats it. Everything depends on the mood for the time being. Multitudes on the first day of Holy Week strewed the way with their... [ Continue Reading ]
_But He held His peace._ ELOQUENT SILENCE There is a silence which is often more eloquent than speech, means more than any words, and speaks ten times more powerfully to the heart. Such, for example, is the silence when the heart is too full for utterance, and the organs of speech are choked by the... [ Continue Reading ]
_And ye shall see the lion of Man._ THE VALUE OF CHRIST’S OATH BEFORE PILATE I propose to inquire what the value of this oath is; what value we ought to attach to it as evidence that Jesus was the Messiah; and I suppose that this is to be determined on the same basis and grounds on which we determ... [ Continue Reading ]
_And as Peter was beneath in the palace._ THE HIGH PRIEST’S PALACE The palace of the High Priest was in all probability built much in the Roman style. There was what was called the _vestibulum, _an entrance adorned with pillars; in this was the _ostium, _or entrance hall, closed with doors. On one... [ Continue Reading ]
_Peter warming himself._ PETER AT THE FIRE 1. Peter had one reason for being there-to see what would be the issue of Christ’s apprehension, and to while away the time: but God had another end in view. Had Peter favoured the revealed will of God, he had not been there with no business but to sit do... [ Continue Reading ]
_But he denied._ THE FOULNESS OF PETER’S SIN 1. He denies flatly and peremptorily. 2. He gives a double denial; implying more resolution. And both his denials are distinct and manifest lies. 3. He denies Christ before a multitude. (1) Bad enough to have denied Christ before one witness. How muc... [ Continue Reading ]
_But he denied._ THE FOULNESS OF PETER’S SIN 1. He denies flatly and peremptorily. 2. He gives a double denial; implying more resolution. And both his denials are distinct and manifest lies. 3. He denies Christ before a multitude. (1) Bad enough to have denied Christ before one witness. How muc... [ Continue Reading ]