for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." Thus, he unwittingly uttered a prophecy, that JESUS should be sacrificed for the Jewish nation; and of much wider import than he imagined; not only for them, but for "the children of GOD" in general, or the faithful" scattered" throughout the world, who were to be collected into one [fold] by Him, John xi. 45-53.

CHRIST RETIRES TO EPHRAIM.

Knowing their machinations against him, JESUS no longer walked openly among the Jews; but departed thence into a city called Ephraim, in the mountainous country near the wilderness of Judea, on the borders of Benjamin, in the tribe of Ephraim, about fifteen miles north from Jerusalem; where he abode with his disciples, John xi. 54.

HIS LAST JOURNEY TOWARDS JERUSALEM.

His stay at Ephraim was but short. The fourth passover approached; and his time was come. He departed from thence, leading the way, with firmness, and followed by his dejected and dismayed Apostles. On the way, he foretold to the twelve, still more minutely, his prophetic sufferings at Jerusalem: "1. That he should be betrayed unto the chief priests and Scribes ; 2. that they should condemn him to death; and 3. deliver him up to the Gentiles, [Romans,] to mock, to scourge, spit upon him, and crucify him; but 4. that he should rise again the third day. But they understood none of these things, and the saying was hidden from them, and they knew not the meaning of what he said," Matt. xx. 17-19, Mark x. 32-34, Luke xviii. 31-34.

CHRIST PASSES THROUGH JERICHO.

OUR LORD did not go the direct way to Jerusalem, he took a circuit eastwards, through Jericho, then a' considerable city, which he does not appear to have visited before. There he probably staid a few days.

On his departure from Jericho, he performed that remarkable miracle of giving sight to two blind beggars by the way side, one of whom was Bartimeus, who petitioned him, with faith,

as the Son of David, or CHRIST, that he would have mercy on them, and open their eyes, Matt. xx. 29-34, Mark x. 46–52, Luke xviii. 35-43 *.

ZACCHEUS.

This was a rich chief publican, or collector of taxes, who, anxious to see JESUS as he passed by, had climbed up into a sycamore tree, because he was of small stature. OUR LORD, when he came to the place, looked up and said, Zaccheus, hasten down, for I must lodge in thy house to-day. So he hastened down, and entertained him joyfully. This gave great offence to all our Lord's attendants, that he should invite himself to be the guest of such a notorious "sinner." Zaccheus, who probably heard their murmurs," stood forth," and made a public profession of his conversion: "LORD, I am about to give half my goods to the poor; and if I have wronged any man in any respect, to restore it four fold." This was a most ample restitution of his exactions; the law requiring only the principal, and a fifth part over, Levit. vi. 2-5; and where he could not make restitution, he promised to make amends, by giving half his goods, or substance, to the poor. Thus furnishing a remarkable contrast to the rich young ruler; and enabling our LORD to extend salvation to a rich man, in return for his repentance, his attachment to CHRIST, and a rejection of Mammon. For he said to the by-standers, concerning him †, openly, "This day is salvation come to this house; forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham," or admitted into covenant with CHRIST. And to silence their murmurs for going uninvited to his house, He represented the grand design of his divine

There is a considerable variation in the accounts of this miracle by the three Evangelists. Mark and Luke notice only one blind man, Matthew two; Luke represents the miracle as performed "when JESUS was drawing nigh to Jericho," before he entered it; Matthew and Mark, after he had left Jericho. The joint testimony, however, of Matthew and Mark, as to the time, seems to outweigh that of Luke; who is not so observant of chronological order; and as all agree, that CHRIST was then attended by a "multitude," who "led the way," and who " followed him" towards Jerusalem, it is more probable, that the incident took place after he left Jericho, where this multitude seems to have been collected. For He came privately from Ephraim to Jericho, attended only by the twelve.

роs аνтоv, must be rendered "concerning him," as in Luke xx. 19, Heb. i. 7, &c. it could not be "to him," because he is spoken of in the third person-" He also is a son of Abraham."

mission-" to seek and to save lost sinners," Luke xix. 1-10.

And in order to correct the error of his followers in supposing that "the kingdom of God would immediately appear," in all its glory, and that He was now actually on his way to "Jerusalem which was nigh," to assume it openly as THE MESSIAH in that royal city; "he added" the following mysterious parable, Luke xix. 11-27.

PARABLE OF THE NOBLEMAN.

The "nobleman" represented CHRIST; who leaving this world at his ascension, "travelled to a far country," heaven, "in order to receive a kingdom" from HIS FATHER;" and to return" to this world after a good while. "The ten servants,” among whom he distributed ten minæ, (or pounds,) to be put to interest against his return, represented the Apostles and preachers of the Gospel. "His citizens, who hated him, and rejected him for their king," were the Jewish and other apostate nations. On his second appearance in glory, to establish his kingdom upon earth, He is to reward or punish his servants according to their deserts, and to slaughter his enemies.

This awful prophecy, which was necessarily vailed in a parable, not then to be understood, began to be fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and will be concluded "in the days of vengeance," destined to precede his next approaching appearance. As explained more fully in our Lord's prophecies to his disciples, in the sequel.

HE ARRIVES AT BETHANY.

Six days before the passover, our Lord reached Bethany, John xii. 1.

The day of his arrival, is generally supposed by Harmonists, to have been the Saturday before his crucifixion; but it seems rather to have been Sunday, the first day of the Passion, or "suffering" week; which was the sixth *, before his crucifixion on Friday.

Cardinals, "six," &c. are frequently put for ordinals, " sixth," &c. in sacred and profane history. See Vol. I. p. 20, 21.

The Harmony of this short, but most interesting period of the Gospel history, and therefore most circumstantially detailed by all the Evangelists, has been considerably embarrassed and perplexed hitherto, partly by the mistakes of Harmonists, in arranging events; partly by some remarkable inversions of chronological order in the narratives of Matthew and Luke; and partly from some apparent differences of place and time, between John and the other Evangelists.

1. The Harmonists in general, Newcome, &c. assume, that Christ foretold his approaching crucifixion two days after, (Matt. xxvi. 2; Mark xiv. 1,) on Wednesday morning; whereas the context evidently shews that he foretold it on Wednesday evening, immediately after his prophecies on Mount Olivet, and before he went to sup at Bethany with Simon the leper. By tracing backwards, therefore, the series of events, he necessarily came first to the house of Lazarus at Bethany, on Sunday, instead of Saturday, as generally imagined, on the former supposition*. It is re

• The received hypothesis, however, that CHRIST came to Bethany, on Saturday, is thus supported by a learned friend.

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two

"Your objections to the old opinion, are principally drawn, 1. From the time of our Lord's foretelling his death; and, 2. From our having no account of any thing that passed in the course of Wednesday. With respect to the time when the prediction was delivered, μera dvo nμɛpas, I readily join with you, that it should be rendered, days after," or, "two days hence;" i. e. "the day after to-morrow. Now, what was then to take place ? Ο υίος του ανθρωπου παραδίδοται εις το σταυρωθηναι. The circumstance, therefore, foretold, was not his crucifixion, but his being delivered up to be crucified. But this was on the Thursday: the words must, therefore, have been spoken on Tuesday.

"But you will say, What occurred on the Wednesday? The Evangelists are altogether silent on that head. May I then be allowed to conjecture, that our blessed Lord spent the day in retirement, preparing to meet his approaching fate.-This conjecture is countenanced by the po τns iоprns тоv Tαoxa of St. John (xiii. 1,) the day before the passover;' which, by the bye, shews what that Evangelist meant by Taoxa." Specious as this argument may seem, its conclusiveness may be questioned:

1. The phrase, ἡ ἑορτη του πασχα, is not confined to "the day of sacrificing the passover," but includes the whole "feast of the passover," which lasted a week, corres