Matthew 26

Matthew 26:26

Christ, at the conclusion of the passover, institutes the eucharist. Mat. XXVI. 26—30. Mark XIV. 22—26. Luke XXII. 19, 20.

MAT. XXVI. 26. AND as they were eating, Jesus took bread, [LUKE, and gave thanks,] and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take,

MAT. XXVI. 26.

SUCH was the admonition that Christ gave to Peter, and such was his discourse with his disciples while they were at supper: and now, as they were eating, or just as they had finished, the paschal supper,³ Jesus took a cake of bread; and having in a solemn manner given thanks to his heavenly Father, and blessed [it], that is, having implored the Divine blessing on it, and on the ordinance then to be instituted, that it might in all succeeding ages tend to the edification and comfort of his people;ᵇ he brake the bread into several pieces, and gave some of [it] to each of the disciples present, and said,

ᵃ Just as they had finished the paschal supper.] Maimonides and other rabbies tell us that it was a rule among the Jews, at the end of the supper, to take a piece of lamb for the last thing they eat that night. (See Ainsworth, as quoted before, noteᶜ, p. 405.) If this custom was as old as Christ’s time, it would make this action so much the more remarkable. It would plainly shew that the bread here distributed was a very distinct thing from the meal they had been making together; and might be, in the first opening of the action, a kind of symbolical intimation that the Jewish passover was to give way to another and nobler divine institution.

ᵇ Blessed it.] It is not expressly said in the original that Christ blessed it, that is, the bread (nor indeed that he brake it); but it is very reasonable to imagine that this thanksgiving was attended with a

prayer that the Divine blessing might accompany the bread. And it is so very plain from 1 Cor. x. 16, that the apostles taught Christians to bless the cup, that I cannot but wonder that one of the most accurate and penetrating writers of our age should scrupe to allow that Christ blessed the sacramental elements. The same word is used in Mat. xiv. 19; Mark vi. 41; viii. 7; and Luke ix. 16; where it is certain an extraordinary blessing attended the bread and fishes in answer to his prayers. (See also Mark x. 16; Luke ii. 34; and Gen. ii. 3, Septuag.) It would indeed be absurd to interpret this of his conferring a virtue on bread so set apart, to work as a charm, either on men’s bodies or souls; but I hope few Christians are so ill instructed as to imagine this to be the case in the eucharist; and all wise and faithful ministers will, no doubt, be solicitous to preserve them from so wild and mischievous a notion.

He distributes bread and wine as his body and o .

Take this bread, and eat it with reverence and thankfulness; for this is my body, that is, it is the sensible sign and representation of my body, which is freely given, and is speedily to be broken, bruised, wounded, and even slaughtered for you. Do this hereafter, in your assemblies for religious worship, in a pious and affectionate commemoration of me, that you may keep up the memory of my dying love, may openly profess your dependance on my death, and impress your hearts with a becoming sense of it. (Compare 1 Cor. xi. 24.)

And in like manner, after they had supped, he also took the cup, that is, another cup different from that which he had before divided among them (Luke xxii. 17, p. 406); and when he had given thanks to his heavenly Father, and implored his blessing upon it, as a solemn

This is my body.] When I consider that (as a thousand writers have observed) on the same foundation on which the Papists argue for transubstantiation from these words, they might prove, from Ezek. v. 1—5, that the prophet’s hair was the city of Jerusalem; from John x. 9, and xv. 1, that Christ was literally a door and a vine; and from Mat. xxvi. 27, 28, and 1 Cor. i. 25, that the cup was his blood, and that Christ commanded his disciples to drink and swallow the cup; I cannot but be astonished at the inference they would deduce from hence. Had Ireneus or Epiphanius reported such a thing of any sect of ancient heretics now extinct, one would have been so candid to human nature as to suppose the historian misinformed. As it is, one’s almost tempted to suspect it to be the effect of arrogance rather than error; and to consider it as a mere insolent attempt to shew the world, in the strongest instance they could invent, what monstrous things the clergy should dare to say, which the wretched laity should not dare to contradict; nay, which they should be forced to pretend they believed. In this view the thought is admirable, and worthy the most malicious wit that ever lorded it over the heritage of God. But it may deserve some serious reflection, whether it be not an instance of infatuation, to which God has given them up, that it may be a plain mark to all that will use common sense, of the grossest error in a church which claims infallibility; and may not be

intended by Providence as a kind of antidote against the rest of its poison.

After they had supped, he also took the cup.] A learned divine of the establishment, who has favoured me with many sheets of accurate remarks on this work (which were of so great use to me in correcting it for the second edition as to demand my public acknowledgments), has objected to the supposition here made of its being another cup, which I have asserted in the paraphrase. But, with all due deference to his penetration (which is indeed very great), I must beg leave to observe, that it still appears most probable to me that it was as I there represent it; not merely because Luke mentions a cup taken before the bread (Luke xxii. 17, p. 406), but because in the passage before us (ver. 20) he adds to that the mention of a cup after it. It is well known the Jews used several cups of wine at the passover, and one of them with the antep st, at the very beginning of the feast. (See note on Mark xiv. 17, p. 405) I know not how far so accurate a writer as St. Luke might farther intimate this distinction by using the word ἀξιώμους (ver. 17) with respect to the first cup, which strictly expresses receiving it from the hand of another, probably of the servant who waited at the table; whereas μῶσαι (taking) is the word used ver. 19, of which σοῦσιν here in ver. 20 is governed; which might have been equally proper, if the cup stood on the table before him, as the bread used in the eucharist probably did.

the forgiveness of sins.

he gave [it] to them, and said, sect. that is, of the wine which it clxxii cordingly they all drank some to them, as he delivered it into cup of wine is a representation of that blood which is the great venant, [or] is itself the seal of established in my blood, which [d] for many more, as the great for the forgiveness of sins, rewith a firm resolution to comments of that covenant, and pe of its invaluable blessings: en as ye drink it, in a thankon of me, and with a proper between this and a common ng what you do in this ordia religious purpose. (Com- .) And then our Lord 29 had said as they were siter (Luke xxii. 18, p. 406),

were by no means worthy; and which they cannot at all the better deserve for that sanction which the papal authority has given to one of them, though it seems thereby to have been preferred to the original.

[In my blood which is shed—as the great ransom to be paid for the forgiveness of sins.] I apprehend this ordinance of the eucharist to have so plain a reference to the atonement or satisfaction of Christ, and to do so solemn an honour to that fundamental doctrine of the gospel, that I cannot but believe that while this sacred institution continues in the church (as it will undoubtedly do to the end of the world) it will be impossible to root that doctrine out of the minds of plain humble Christians by all the little artifices of such forced and unnatural critcisms as those are by which it has been attacked. Unprejudiced and honest simplicity will always see the analogy this ordinance has to eating the flesh of the Son of God, and drinking his blood; and will be taught by it to feed on him as the lamb that was slain by the gracious appointment of God to take away the sins of the world. The enemies of this heart reviving truth might as well hope to pierce through a coat of mail with a straw as to reach such a truth, defended by such an ordinance as this, by any of their trifling sophistries.

They close the ordinance with singing a hymn.

Verily, I say unto you, That from this time I will drink no more of this produce of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it new with you in the kingdom of God my Father: that is, till, being risen from the dead, I have received my mediatorial kingdom, and we shall share together in much nobler entertainments than earth can afford, even in its highest religious solemnities, which shall then be happily superseded.

And when, according to the usual custom at the close of the passover, they had sung an hymn of praise to God at the conclusion of the eucharist, and had passed some remaining time in those discourses, and in that prayer which will be the subject of the following sections, they went out to the mount of Olives; where our Lord had determined to spend some time in devotion, though he knew that Judas and his enemies would come thither to seize him.

IMPROVEMENT.

Mat. Let us now review, with most thankful acknowledgment, this gracious legacy of our dying Redeemer, this reviving and nourishing ordinance, which he instituted for the benefit of his church the same night in which he was betrayed. (1 Cor. xi. 23.) So tenderly did his love for them prevail when his heart was full of his own sorrows! May we always consider to what purposes this holy rite was ordained; and as we shall see the wisdom of the appointment, so we shall also be both awakened to attend to it, and assisted in that attendance!

Luke It is the memorial of the death of Christ, by which we represent it to others, and to ourselves. May we be ever ready to

I will drink no more of this produce of the vine.] This may seem an intimation, that though Christ drank with them after his resurrection (Acts x. 41), he did not make use of wine. Perhaps their poverty might not allow them often to drink it; and we do not find that he was ever present at any feast; at least we are sure he never celebrated another passover with them. Nor does it appear that he partook of the eucharist with them, or ever administered it, but at this time of its institution.

An hymn of praise to God.] The hymn that was usually sung by the Jews at the passover is what they call the Hallel, which began at Psal. cxiii. and ended with Psal.

cxviii. some of which psalms might be used by our Lord at the close of the eucharist, as very suitable to this occasion; though it is uncertain whether (as Grotius and some others think) it might not be som other hymn, more closely adapted to the celebration of the eucharist. I thought it proper here to conclude the story of the passover, and to mention their going out though that did not immediately follow on their singing the hymn. Some such little anticipations seem to me an advantage rather than an impropriety in any harmony, especially when attended with a para phrase, or notes, and divided into such short sections as those must be which are intended for the use of families.

Reflections on the institution of the eucharist.

give this most regular and acceptable token, that we are not ashamed to fight under the banner of a crucified Redeemer! It is also the seal of the new covenant in his blood. Let us adore the grace that formed and ratified that everlasting covenant, so well ordered in all things, and so sure. (2 Sam. xxiii. 5.) And whenever we approach to this sealing ordinance may we renew our consent to the demands of that covenant, and our expectation of those blessings which are conveyed by it! a consent and expectation so well suited to the circumstance of its being ratified by the blood of Jesus. Thus may every attendance nourish our souls in grace, and ripen them for glory; that at length all may be fulfilled and perfected in the kingdom of God.

clxxii. ver.20

Mark xiv. 25

In the mean time may God, by the influences of his Spirit, give to all professing Christians right notions of this ordinance, and a due regard for it; that, on the one hand, none may, under the specious pretence of honouring it, live in the habitual neglect of so plain and important a duty; and that, on the other, it may never be profanely invaded by those who have no concern about the blessings of that covenant it ratifies, and impiously prostitute it to those secular views, above which it was intended to raise them! And may none that honour the great Author of it encourage such an abuse, lest they seem to lay the very cross of Christ as the threshold to the temple of those various idols to which ambitious and interested men are bowing down their souls!

Matthew 26:36-46

Parallels: Luke 22; Mark 14

Jesus enters the garden of Gethsemane, and falls into his agony there; during which his disciples fall asleep, for which he gently reproves them, and warns them of the enemies’ approach. Mat. XXVI. 36-46. Mark XIV. 32-42. Luke XXII.

MAT. XXVI. 36.

THEN, after this discourse with his disciples, Jesus comes with them to the place we mentioned above, which was called Gethsemane, as being a very pleasant and fertile garden:ᵃ and when he was arrived just at the entrance into the place whither he was used to retire, he says to eight of his disciples, Sit ye down here a while, and observe what passes abroad, while I go and pray in yonder retirement.

And, as this was a very extraordinary passage of his life, he took along with him Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, who had been witnesses of his transfiguration, and were now chosen by him to be witnesses of his agony. And as he went on with them towards a more retired part of the garden, he began to be in a very great and visible dejection, amazement, and anguish of mind,ᵇ on account of some painful and dreadful sensations which

ᵃ Called Gethsemane, as being a very pleasant and fertile garden.] It is well known that נָא שְׁכָנוֹם signifies the valley of Fatness. The garden probably had its name from its soil and situation, and lay in some little valley between two of those many hills, the range of which constitutes the mount of Olives; and it is with some peculiar reference to this situation that some have rendered it torcular olei, or a fat of oil.

ᵇ He began to be in great dejection, amazement, and anguish of mind.] The words which our translators use here are very flat, and fall vastly short of the emphasis of those terms in which the evangelists describe this awful scene: for אֲשֶׁרֶתֶן sig-

nifies to be penetrated with the most lively and piercing sorrow; and שְׁמָנוֹם to be quite depressed and almost overwhelmed with the load: Mark expresses it, if possible, in a more forcible and stronger manner; for וּבְשִׁירָה imports the most shocking mixture of terror and amazement; and שְׁמָנוֹם, in the next verse, intimates that he was surrounded with sorrow on every side, so that it broke in upon him with such violence that, humanly speaking, there was no way of escape. I have endeavoured, as well as I could, to express each of these ideas in the paraphrase. Dr More truly observes, that Christ’s continued resolution, in the midst of these agonies and supernatural horrors, was the most heroic

VOL. 2.

He prays that, if possible, the cup might pass,

were then impressed upon his soul by the immediate hand of God. Then, turning to his three disciples, he says to them, My friends, you never saw me in so great distress as now; for my soul is surrounded on all sides with an extremity of anguish and sorrow, which tortures me even almost unto death; and I know that the infirmity of human nature must quickly sink under it, without some extraordinary relief from God; to him therefore I will apply with the greatest earnestness: and do you in the mean time continue here, and watch with me, considering how liable we are to be surprised; [and] let me remind you also to pray for yourselves, that you may not enter into that dangerous temptation of which I have just been giving you notice, or may be kept from falling by it. See Mat. xxvi. 31, sect. clxxxi.

And going on a little way from thence into a more retired part of the garden, when he was now withdrawn about a stone’s throw from the place where he left them, he first humbly knelt down, and then, as the ardour of his devotion increased, he prostrated himself on his face to the ground, and prayed, That if it were possible, that dreadful season of sorrow, with which he was then almost overwhelmed, might be shortened, and pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, I know that all things proper to be done are possible to thee; and, O my Father, if it be so far possible, as to consist with what thy wisdom has appointed for the advancement of thy glory,

that can be imagined; and far superior to valor in single combat, or in battle; where, in one case, the spirit is raised by natural indignation; and in the other, by the pomp of war, the sound of martial music, the example of fellow soldiers, &c. See More’s Theolog. Works, p. 38. Dr. Whitby will not allow that these agonies arose from the immediate hand of God upon him; which he thinks not to be the case, even of the damned in hell. But it seems impossible to prove that it is not. He rather thinks it might arise from a deep apprehension of the malignity of sin, and the misery brought upon the world by it. But, considering how much the mind of Christ was wounded and broken with what he now endured, so as to give some greater

external signs of distress than in any other circumstance of his sufferings, there is reason to conclude there was something extraordinary in the degree of the impression: and it surely comes much to the same, whether we say that God, by his own immediate agency, impressed some uncommon horrors on his mind, or that the strength of his spirits, and perhaps the tone of his nerves, were so impaired, that the view he had of these things should affect him to a degree of exquisite and uncommon sensibility.

Watch with me] Had they done this carefully they would soon have found a rich equivalent for their watchful care, in the eminent improvement of their graces by this wonderful and edifying sight.

les sleep, and are exhorted to watchfulness.

and the salvation of thy people, I earnestly be- seech thee, that thou immediately wouldest take away this cup of bitterness and terror;4 [yea,] let [it] now pass from me, and let comfort and peace return to my soul: nevertheless, if thou seest it necessary to continue it, or to add yet more grievous ingredients to it, I am here ready to receive it in submission to thy will, and resolutely say upon the whole, Not as I will, but as thou wilt; for though nature cannot but shrink back from these sufferings, it is he determinate purpose of my soul to bear whatsoever thine infinite wisdom shall see fit to appoint.

And upon this, rising up from the ground on which he had lain prostrate, he comes again to the three disciples, and, notwithstanding the distress that he was in, and the command that he had given to them to watch, he finds them all asleep: and he particularly says to Peter (who had but lately made such solemn protestations of his peculiar zeal and fidelity), What, Simon, dost thou sleep at such a time as this? and after thou hadst just declared thy resolution to die with me, couldst thou so soon forget thy promise to stand by me, and not so much as watch or keep awake but for one hour, when I was in such an agony? And you that were so ready to join with him in the same profession, could neither of you be mindful of me; and in this time of my extreme distress were ye all so unable to perform your resolution as not to watch one single hour with me? I must again exhort you to watch and pray with the greatest earnestness, that ye may not enter into and fall by that dangerous temptation which is now approaching: the spirit indeed is forward, and

Take away this cup.] Nothing is more common than to express a portion of comfort or distress by a cup, alluding to the custom of the father of a family, or master of a feast, to send to his children or guests a cup of such liquor as he designed for them. See note 4, on Mat. xx. 22, p. 259; and with the texts which are referred to at the end of that note compare Psal. xvi. 5; xxiii. 5; lxxv. 8; Jer. xvi. 7; xlix. 12; Lam. iv. 21; Ezek. xxiii. 32, 33; Hab. ii. 16; and Rev. xiv. 10; xvi. 19. In some of which texts there may, perhaps, be a

reference to the way of executing some criminals by sending them a cup of poison; which is well known to have been an eastern, though not (so far as I can learn) a Jewish custom.

Watch and pray, &c.] How poorly is this exhortation answered by those vigils and nocturnal offices of the Romish church, which are said to have had their original from hence! Rhemish. Testam. p. 79. I think it more proper, on a review, to render κλικ και ισχυσαίτι in the preceding verse, with Dr. Hammond, Were ye so unable,

He repeats his prayer with submission to his F

ready to express the dutiful regard that you have for me, and I know your resolutions of adhering to me are very sincere; but yet, as your own present experience may convince you, the flesh is weak;¹ and as you have been so far prevailed upon by its infirmities, as to fall asleep at this very unseasonable time, so if you are not more upon your guard, and more importunate in seeking for assistance from above, it will soon gain a much greater victory over you.

And when he had thus gently admonished them, he went away again the second time, to a little distance from them, and prayed as he had done before, speaking much the same words, or expressing himself to the like effect, with the same ardour and submission, saying, O my Father, if it be necessary, in the pursuance of the great end for which I came into the world, that I should endure these grievous sufferings, and this cup cannot pass from me without my drinking it, and wringing out, as it were, the very dregs of it, I will still humbly acquiesce, and say, Thy will be done, how painful soever it may be to flesh and blood.

And returning back to his three disciples, he found them asleep again; for the fatigue and trouble they had lately undergone had exhausted their spirits, and their eyes were quite weighed down with weariness and sorrow: and he admonished them again as before; and they were so thoroughly confounded, that they knew not what to answer him; and yet immediately after they were so weak and senseless as to relapse into the same fault again.

And, having roused them for the present from their sleep, he left them; and went away again, and prayed the third time, speaking much the

We, than to retain our version of Slave, what, which seems a less common and less forcible sense.

¹ The spirit indeed is forward and ready, but the flesh is weak.] So gentle a rebuke, and so kind an apology (as Archbishop Tillotson very justly and beautifully observes), were the more remarkable, as our Lord’s mind was now discomposed with sorrow, so that he must have the

deeper and tenderer sense of the unkindness of his friends. (See Tillot’s Works Vol. II. p. 435.) How apt are we to think affliction an excuse for peevishness. But how unlike are we to Christ in that thought, and how unkind to ourselves, as well as our friends, to whom, in such circumstances, with our best temper, we must be more troublesome than we could wish!

gel appears to strengthen him in his agony.

same words as before, or offering petitions to the same effect: g Saying, Father, if thou leasest to take away this cup from me, and to excuse me from the continuance of this bitter anguish and distress, h it is what would greatly rejoice me, and with due submission I would humbly ask it; nevertheless, as I said before, not my will, but thine be done. And, in this last address, his combat was so violent and severe, that he was almost overwhelmed; and therefore, for his assistance against the powers of darkness, which united their force against him in the most terrible manner, there appeared to him an angel from heaven, standing near him in a visible form, strengthening him by that sensible token of the Father’s protection and favour, and suggesting such holy consolations as were most proper to animate his soul in such a struggle. i Yet, with all these assurances that he was still the charge of heaven, and quickly should be made victorious over all, his terror and distress continued; and, being in an unspeakable agony, he prayed yet more intensely than before, insomuch that, though he was now in the open air, and in the cool of the night, his sweat ran off with uncommon violence; yea, so extraordinary was the commotion of animal nature, that blood was

g Speaking much the same words.] It is plain, by comparing ver. 39 and 42, that the words were not entirely the same; and it is certain that λυγθ often signifies matter: so that no more appears to be intended than that he prayed to the same purpose as before.

h If thou pleasest to take away this cup from me.] The observing reader will easily perceive by the paraphrase, that I do not suppose Our Lord here prayed to be excused entirely from sufferings and death. Such a petition appears to me so inconsistent with that steady constancy he always shewed, and with that lively turn (John xii 27, 28, p. 296) in which he seems to disown such a prayer, that I think even Hooker’s solution, though the best I have met with, is not satisfactory. (Hooker’s Eccles. Polity, lib. v. § 48.) It appears to me much safer to expound it, as Sir Matthew Hale does (in his contemplation, Vol. I. p. 59), as relating to the terror and severity of the

combat in which he was now actually engaged. (See Limborch’s Theol. lib. iii. cap. 13. § 17.) This throws great light on Heb. v. 7, He was heard in that he feared. Since the former editions I have had the pleasure to find this interpretation beautifully illustrated and judiciously confirmed by the learned Dr. Thomas Jackson, in his Works, Vol. II. p. 813, 817, 947.

i An angel from heaven strengthening him.] Some of the ancient Christians thought it so dishonourable to Christ that he should receive such assistance from an angel, that they omitted this verse in their copies; as Jerom and Hilary inform us. It is indeed wanting in some manuscripts: but far the greatest number of copies have it; and could Hilary have proved it a spurious addition, he would, no doubt, have done it, since it so directly contradicts the wild notion he seems to maintain, that Christ was incapable of any painful sensations. (See Dr. Mill, in loc.)

He tells his disciples that the traitor was con

also forced in an amazing manner through the pores together with the sweat ; which was as it were great drops of blood falling down from his face, and dropping in clots on the ground, as he bowed himself to the earth.ᵏ

And rising up from prayer, after this dreadful conflict, he came back to his disciples the third time, and, notwithstanding the repeated admonitions he had given them, he again found them sleeping ; for their senses were quite stupified, and their spirits exhausted with sorrow. And he said to them, Why do you still go on to sleep at such a season as this ? This drowsy disposition makes it necessary to renew my exhortation, and to call upon you yet once more to arise and pray, that you may not enter into a circumstance of very dangerous temptation. But as all this did not sufficiently rouse them, and he knew those that came to apprehend him were just now entering the garden, he altered his voice, and said to them in an ironical manner, You may now sleep on if you can, and take your rest as long as you please. I have been calling you to watch ; but it is now enough ; for this season of watching is over, and I have no further need to press you to it : you will now be roused by another kind of alarm than what my words have given ; for behold, the long expected hour is at length come, and the Son of man is even now betrayed into the hands of the most inhuman sinners : Arise, therefore, and let us go along with them whithersoever they shall lead us ; for behold, he

ᵏ *His sweat was as it were great drops of blood, &c.] Many expositors have thought, as Mr. Le Clerc did, that the expression [ὁ ἰδίως ἀνὴ ἄρμῳσι αἰμάθῳ] only implies that his drops of sweat were large and clammy like clots of gore : but Dr. Whitby observes that Aristotle and Diodorus Siculus both mention bloody sweats as attending some extraordinary agony of mind ; and I find Leti, in his Life of Pope Sextus V. p. 200, and Sir John Chardin, in his History of Persia, Vol. I. p. 126, mentioning a like phenomenon ; to which Dr. Jackson (in his Works, Vol. II. p. 819) adds another from Thuanus, lib. x. p. 221. Dr. Scott and Mr. Fleming both imagine that Christ now strugled with the spirits of darkness : the former says he was not surrounded with a mighty host of devils who exercised all their force and malice to persecute and distract his innocent soul ; and the latter supposes that Satan hoped, by overpowering him here, to have prevented the accomplishment of the prophecies relating to the manner and circumstances of his death. (See Scott’s Christian Life, Vol. III. p. 149, and Fleming’s Christology, Vol. II. p. 130.) But however this be, I can hardly think, as Dr. Scott suggests, that there was some supernatural agency of those evil spirits in the drowsiness of the disciples, since the sacred historian is silent on this head, and refers it to another cause.

Reflections on Christ’s agony in the garden.

at hand that doth that betrayeth me is just at hand. Accordingly sect. betray me. [MARK Judas and his retinue immediately appeared, clxxxii. XIV. 42.] and seized him in the manner which will be next related.

IMPROVEMENT.

ON the most transient survey of this amazing story we cannot but fall into deep admiration. What a sight is here! Let our souls turn aside to behold it with a becoming temper: and surely we must wonder how the disciples could sleep in the midst of a scene which might almost have awakened rocks and trees to compassion.

Behold the Prince of life, God’s incarnate and only begotten Son, drinking of the brook in the way (Psal. cx. 7); and not only tasting, but drawing in full draughts of that bitter cup which his heavenly Father put into his hands on this awful occasion. Let us behold him kneeling, and even prostrate on the ground, and there pouring out his strong cries and tears to him that was able to save him from death. (Heb. v. 7.) Let us view him in this bloody agony, and say, If these things be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? (Luke xxiii. 31.) If even Christ himself was so depressed with sorrow and amazement, and the distress and anguish he endured were such, that in his agony the sweat ran from him like great drops of blood, when our iniquities were laid upon him, and it pleased the Father to bruise him, and to put him to grief (Isa. liii. 6, 10); how must the sinner then be filled with horror, and with what dreadful agonies of anguish and despair will he be overwhelmed, when he shall bear the burden of his own iniquities, and God shall pour out all his wrath upon him? Behold, how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God! (Heb. x. 31.)

Here was no human enemy near our blessed Redeemer; yet such invisible terrors set themselves in array against him, that his very soul was poured out like water; nor was there any circumstance of his sufferings in which he discovered a greater commotion of spirit. Nevertheless, his pure and holy soul bare all this without any irregular perturbation. In all this he sinned not by a murmuring word, or an impatient thought: he shone the brighter for the furnace of affliction, and gave us at once the most wonderful and the most amiable pattern of resignation to the Divine disposal, when he said, Father, not as I will, but as thou wilt. May this be our language under every trial! Lord, we could wish it was; and we would maintain a holy watchfulness over our own souls, that we may be so! But in this respect, as well as in every other, we find that even when the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. How happy is it for us that the blessed Jesus

Mark xiv. 35 Luke xxii. 44

Mat. xxvi. 38

Judas comes to the garden with soldiers to seize him.

knows our frame, and has learnt, by what he himself suffered in our frail nature, to make the most compassionate allowance for its various infirmities! Let us learn to imitate this his gentle and gracious conduct, even in an hour of so much distress. Let us bear with and let us pity each other, not aggravating every neglect of our friends into a crime; but rather speaking of their faults in the mildest terms, and making the most candid excuses for what we cannot defend. Let us exercise such a temper, even in the most gloomy and dejected moments of life; which surely may be well expected of us, who ourselves need so much compassion and indulgence almost from every one with whom we converse; and, which is infinitely more, who owe our all to the forbearance of that God, of whose mercy it is that we are not utterly consumed.