things; and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken." So it was before,* when our Lord told them that " he should be delivered into the hands of men," "They understood not the saying." And so it was still, when they had had longer time to become acquainted with the genius of his religion, and when he expressed himself much more fully and explicitly. The expectation which they still entertained of his assuming temporal power, would not allow them to think of his dying; nor could they reconcile what he himself had said of the coming glory of his kingdom with his passing through a scene of such humiliation. Though they understood these things when they remembered them afterwards, their prejudices at the time were such as to prevent them from understanding them at all, or affixing any meaning to what he said. Such is the weakness of men; and so effectual are prejudices in blinding the mind and warping the judgment. Let us beware of every improper bias; let us, 66 as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that we may grow thereby;" and let us pray that the Lord would "open our understandings to understand the Scriptures." Illustrated as these things, which Jesus spoke privately by the way to his disciples, now are by subsequent events, and accustomed as we are to have them explained, we shall be very dull indeed, if we fail to apprehend their import, and very culpable, if we do not find in them much that is edifying and consoling. Waving various remarks which would be fully as natural on many other occasions, the two following seem to be peculiarly appropriate to the way in which these most important events are here introduced.

First, The Lord Jesus Christ distinctly foresaw and foretold all the sufferings which lay before him. We are, at times, ready to wish that we were able to foresee what is to befall us; but this is not wise. In denying us this, God evidences his wisdom and goodness. It may well be doubted whether most men, if they could see beforehand all the toil, and trouble, and grief, and pain, and calamity lying before them, would be able to bear the sight. Dread of what was to come would blast every present enjoyment, and life would become a burden. The Lord, has, therefore, in great kindness, cast a veil over futurity. It was not so, however, with our Saviour. He knew all things;" and, therefore, he knew the particular things which were to happen to him

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* Luke ix. 45.

self. The circumstances of his sufferings and death, in all their extent and horror, lay clearly and fully before him. And, as he foresaw them, so he often foretold them. He said that he was the good Shepherd who was to "give his life for the sheep "-that he was to "give his life a ransom for many." In other places, such as that before us, he was amazingly particular in the delineation of circumstances. The minuteness with which he foretold his sufferings, fulfilled as they were, is a clear proof that he was a true prophet. Indeed, the single circumstance of his foretelling that he was to be crucified, is decisive in this way. It was, humanly speaking, not to be supposed, and even altogether improbable, that he should be crucified. There might have appeared to be some probability that he would be set upon and murdered by a ferocious rabble, or that he would, with some form of law, be put to death by stoning, which was the appointed mode of punishing false prophets; but, that he should be crucified, was not only not to be foreseen, or conjectured by human sagacity, but so unlikely, that no impostor would have thought of giving it out. The same re

mark is obviously applicable to the event of his resurrection, with the additional consideration of its being miraculous. These fulfilled predictions prove him to be, not only a true prophet, but the chief of prophets, and the Son of God, both as they were uttered by himself, and as they embody much of the substance of the Old Testament prophecies of Messiah. Let us, then, unhesitatingly "believe and be sure that this is that Christ, the Son of the living God;" and let us receive him in all his offices.

Secondly, Our Lord not only foresaw and foretold these sufferings, but willingly and eagerly went forward to endure them. Though he knew what was to befall him at Jerusalem, he did not hesitate to go; nay, he resolutely bent his steps thither. Mark* gives the following striking description of the manner of his progress at this moment: "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." He did not lag behind, but he pressed on in the front; so that his disciples were amazed at the resolution which he manifested, and were afraid, both for him and for themselves. From eternity, he cheerfully undertook to perform his part in the covenant of redemption, "rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth, and his * Mark x. 32.

delights were with the sons of men." When he came into the world, he came saying, "Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God." And as the hour of his being offered up approached, he testified greater and greater eagerness to go forward. "I have a baptism to be baptized with," said he, "and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" Let us imitate his alacrity in going forward to whatever trials and sorrows may lie before us. Let us also admire the display of love towards us in this resolute procedure. His purpose was fixed. Nothing could make him desist. He advanced with determined step, baring, as it were, his bosom to the stroke, and anxious to be on the proper spot, as the destined victim, when Jehovah should give the command, "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow; smite the Shepherd." Such was the amazing resolution of his soul, when he marched before his disciples, going up to Jerusalem.

To conclude. Let us all see that we place our sole hope of acceptance with God on that meritorious obedience unto death to which Christ was now going forward. Let us take care that we understand these things, and also believe them. Let us understand and believe, not only that he died, but that he died for our sins; and not only that he rose again, but that he rose again for our justification, and to confirm the perfection and acceptance of his atonement. Let us trust in him who is set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood: and let us, at the same time, improve his death and resurrection in the way of dying unto sin and living unto righteousness. Thus shall we be clear from every accusation, and safe against every danger, and be able humbly yet confidently to say, "Who shall lay any thing to our charge? It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."

LECTURE XCVIII.

LUKE XVIII. 35–43.

"And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way-side begging: 36. And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. 37. And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passed by. 38. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. 39. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace; but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. 40. And Jesus

stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, 41. Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. 42. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. 43. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God."

JERICHO was a celebrated city belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, and situated about twenty miles from Jerusalem, and six or eight from the river Jordan. It was also called "The city of palm-trees," because of the abundance of these trees in the fertile plain in which it lay.* It was the first city in the promised land taken by Joshua. He destroyed the city, according to God's command, and denounced on the man who should dare to rebuild it a prophetic curse, to the effect that his eldest son should die (in what way is not said), when he began the work, and his youngest when he finished it. Accordingly, we read that, in the days of king Ahab, "did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his first-born, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son, Segub." The purpose of God being served in its overthrow, in its subsequently lying for more than five centuries in a state of desolation, as a monument of his righteous displeasure against iniquity, and in the judgments inflicted on the individual who had the hardihood to set the malediction at defiance; no permanent providential curse appears to have rested on the place afterwards; on the contrary, it was dwelt in with safety, it became a city of considerable note, and the Son of * Deut. xxxiv. 3; 2 Chron. xxviii. 15. † Josh. vi. 26; 1 Kings xvi. 34.

God wrought a miracle in its vicinity, and honoured it with his presence.

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Let us consider, first of all, the apparent difference between the three evangelists in their accounts of this miracle. Matt. xx. 29: "And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way-side." Mark x. 46: "And they came to Jericho and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples, and a great number of people, blind Bartimeus, the son of Timeus, sat by the highway-side begging." Luke, in the passage under consideration, says: "And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way-side begging." Three difficulties present themselves in harmonizing these three passages. First, when we compare both Mark and Luke with Matthew, we find that they speak only of one blind man, whereas, he speaks of two. Secondly, when we compare Luke alone with Matthew and Mark, we find that he says, according to our version, that the miracle of which he speaks was performed "as Christ was come nigh unto Jericho;" whereas, they say that the miracle of which they speak was performed as Christ departed from," or "went out" of Jericho. And, thirdly, when we compare Mark alone with Matthew, we find that they agree in the latter point, but differ in the former. In order to reconcile these accounts, some have thought it necessary to suppose that our Lord cured one blind man before he entered into Jericho, and two when he was leaving it. The supposition of three miracles, however, would be necessary to remove all the difficulties, if we are not to use common and reasonable liberty of explanation;—that is, it would be necessary to suppose that he cured, according to Luke, one blind man before entering into the city; according to Mark, one blind man as he left it; and according to Matthew, by a different act of power, two blind men as he left it. But that these three passages contain an account of three, or even of two distinct miracles, is highly improbable; because they all occur about the same period of the history; because the circumstances introduced are, on the whole, so similar; and because if our Lord had cured one blind man before entering into the city, it is to be supposed that the people would not bave endeavoured to prevent another blind man, or other blind men, from applying to him when he left it, but would rather have encouraged all who were in that afflicted state to come to him for relief.