63. Then the high-priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?

64. Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.

65. And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.

By this outbreak, this violence of cruelty and hatred, they completed the measure of their own guilt. But they also fulfilled the prophecies, that thus it must be; that he whom God had sent to be a Prince and a Saviour, should be "despised and rejected of men:" that "the stone" which was to become "the head of the corner," on which the church should be raised and supported, must first be "rejected by the builders," the leaders and rulers of the people. And so, too late, they would discover when hereafter they should see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. They should see him come in power, when he should lead on the Roman army to the destruction of their city; and "not one stone should be left upon another" of that temple which was now falsely made a ground of accusation against him.

5

7

"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west: so should the coming of the Son of man be," no less sudden, no less withering, no less destructive, no less irresistible.

This "end," however, "was not yet:" an interval of forty years must pass away: and before

• Isa. liii. 3.

6 Matt. xxiv. 2.

5

Ps. cxviii. 22. Matt. xxi. 42.

7 Ib. 27.

that day of darkness and tribulation arrived, the high-priest and his abettors, together with most of those then present joining in their wickedness, would be laid in their graves. Another, a further, a more distant season must be intended: when "the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, and shall sit on the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations." Then "every eye shall see him, sitting on the right hand of power, and they also that pierced him and all the nations of the earth shall wail because of him; all they, who like these priests and rulers, have rejected and despised him. Then shall they say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand ?" 1

Yet there are those who "shall be able to stand " in that day. They who have acknowledged him in his humiliation, shall be acknowledged by him when he appears in glory. They who in this his condemnation by the Jewish rulers, perceive the condemnation of their own sinful nature which he was then enduring, They who, in his sufferings, see the desert of their own sins, which he then bore in his own body. These now receive him, as the Messiah foretold from the beginning, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed. They trust in him, as the author of eternal life to all them that obey him. And hereafter they shall see him coming in the clouds of heaven, "with the voice of the archangel, and

Matt. xxv. 31.

Rev. vi. 16.

9 Rev. i. 7.

the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first then they which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall they ever be with the Lord." 2

LECTURE XC.

PETER'S DENIAL OF CHRIST.

MARK XIV. 66-72.

66. And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high-priest:

67. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Na

zareth.

68. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch, and the cock crew.

We now see the force of our Lord's previous warning: Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. Not long before, it had seemed impossible to Peter, that he should deny his attachment to his Lord. Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. But now, seeing Jesus in the hands of enemies, and being surrounded by the

1 Thess. iv. 16, 17.

high priest's servants, who would ridicule, at least, if not persecute, the disciple of one whose cause appeared so hopeless, he has not the courage to say, I was one of them. But he denied ;-denied again -denied with an oath, that he knew the man of whom they spake.

It may be asked, what could watchfulness and prayer have done for him, that he might have shown more faithfulness and resolution? WATCHFULNESS would have led him to foresee and provide against the very situation in which he was now placed. Jesus had forewarned them all, that he "must suffer many things, and be set at nought." Peter should have meditated on this; have prepared his mind for acting on such an emergency; should have meditated on the proofs of power, and of truth, and of divinity, which he had seen; enough surely to convince him, that nothing could be done against Jesus which was not permitted from above. And, like his divine Master, he should have strengthened himself by PRAYER against this predicted season; have sought a supply of grace suited to its difficulty; that knowing these things, he should act as if he knew them. Thus when he was questioned, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth, the reply might have been suggested to him, What thou sayest, is true. I was with Jesus of Nazareth. For three years I have followed him: and I have seen him perform such works of power, and heard him speak such words of wisdom, as assure me that he is indeed the Son of God. Even this which seems to you proof that he "deceived the people," is proof that he is indeed a prophet, yea

"that prophet which should come into the world." For he forewarned us, "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."

In this manner both Peter himself and the rest of the apostles did act afterwards, when they were enlightened and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Threatened and assailed by these same rulers, they made a solemn appeal to God, " And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word."

66

Now, however, his mind was darkened; fear overwhelmed him; and though a pause was granted for reflection, conscience had lost its power.

69. And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.

70. And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them : for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.

71. But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.

72. And the second time the cock crew.

And Peter called

to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.

We are told that the transgressions of the people of God are recorded for our example. And the

1 Ch. x. 33, 34.

2 Acts iv. 29.