themselves shall occur in the fulfilment of the prophecy. The two prominent objects which occupy the foreground of the picture are — the final judgment overtaking the people of the covenant and holy city—and the last Judgment, when all the world shall be judged; and, as the former is a type of the latter, the description of the one is the basis on which the description of the other is established.— The present prophecy commences with the announcement of the signs preceding the Judgment, and then describes the actual occurrence of the Judgment itself, and, particularly, the catastrophes accompanying it. (? 195, &c.) The destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple, the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, and the unparalleled misery and distress of that day, appear as a type and prelude of the last catastrophe of the world accompanying the Judgment. The announcement that the precise time of this Judgment is not a subject of revelation, is followed, in conclusion, by a reference, assuming the character of a warning, to the judgment of the Deluge (3 17. 1), and by an exhortation to be watchful and always ready, "for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh."

2. Matt. 25: 1, &c.-This prophetic discourse is succeeded by the parables of the ten virgins, and of the talents, which constitute a continuation of the preceding discourse in connection with a description of the last Judgment, under the image of a shepherd dividing his sheep from the goats. In these latter portions, the last Judgment is represented as an act of separation, and specially, as the last or final and unchangeable separation of those who, amid the struggles and trials of life, had sincerely kept the faith which worketh by love, from those who, through their lukewarmness, sloth or obstinate unbelief, had failed to receive the salvation offered to them, and therefore remained destitute of the fruits of faith and love. (§ 200. 2, ОBS.)-After Jesus had finished all these sayings, he withdrew from Jerusalem, in order that he might pass the last two days without interruption, in the company of his disciples. In the mean time, his enemies again assembled in the palace of the high-priest, and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. But they said: "Not on the feast-day, lest there be an uproar among the people." (Matt. 26: 1-5.)

OBS. Although the success of the plan adopted by the enemies of Jesus seemed to depend strictly on the postponement of active measures until the festival season had terminated, they were, nevertheless, impelled by the unexpectedly rapid development of circumstances and the violence of their hatred, which was even greater than their prudence, to carry it immediately into effect. Thus their acts were, contrary to their own purposes, rendered subservient to the designs of God; for it was appointed that Jesus should die precisely at the feast of the passover, in order to indicate that he was the true and eternally valid paschal sacrifice. (See ? 150. 3, OBS.)

§ 150. The Passover and the last Discourses of Jesus.

1. Matt. 26: 17, &c.; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 13.- On the first day of the feast of unleavened bread (the fourteenth of Nisan, and in this year, Thursday), the Lord sent Peter and John to make the necessary preparations for eating the paschal supper. When the hour had arrived, and the Lord was sitting down at the table with the twelve, the feet of the guests should have been previously washed, according to the Jewish custom, but none of the disciples were prompted by their feelings to perform this servile work in humility. Then the Redeemer himself rose and washed the feet of his disciples, in order to shame them and teach them a lesson of humility. When he came to Peter, the latter, deeply humbled, said: "Thou shalt never wash my feet." The Lord rebuked him, because he was still unable to understand this symbolical act, and said: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." Peter now replied: "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." Jesus answered: "He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all."

OBS.-Christ establishes a connection between the washing of the feet and the baptism of John. The disciples received through the latter their first consecration to the kingdom of God, and had part with Christ; the whole man had been symbolically cleansed by it. But as they had again become unclean through their daily intercourse with the world (not the whole body, however, but only the feet), it was necessary that this uncleanness also should be removed, in order that they might continue to have part with Christ, and be qualified to partake of that meal by which their communion with

him was established. Herein consisted the symbolical meaning of the washing of the disciples' feet.-The baptism of John, and the washing of the feet previous to the paschal meal, correspond to Christian Baptism and the remission of sins previous to the reception of the Lord's Supper. The gifts which were symbolically exhibited in the former, are really bestowed in the latter.

2. Matt. 26:21, &c.; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 13.—The paschal lamb was placed before them, and the passover commenced. "With desire I have desired," said the Redeemer, "to eat this passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." (Luke 22: 15, 16.) When he gave the first cup to the disciples, according to the custom observed at the festival, he said: "I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." While they were eating the paschal meal, Jesus said: "Verily, I say unto you, That one of you shall betray me," and after indicating to the disciple who lay on his breast the individual to whom he referred, by giving a sop to Judas, he said to the latter: "That thou doest, do quickly." The hour had arrived in which Judas was to make a final decision. After the sop, Satan entered into him; Judas went out immediately. "And it was night" in his soul also. (John 13: 21-30.)

OBS. The recital of this exposure of the traitor in the Gospel of Matthew, precedes the account which he gives of the institution of the Lord's Supper, while this order is reversed in Luke, whence it becomes doubtful whether Judas was still present at the institution or had previously departed. According to Luke 22: 20, the institution occurred after the conclusion of the paschal meal the traitor was exposed before the latter was concluded, according to Matt. 26 : 23; John 13: 26; and withdrew immediately after he had received the sop (John 13: 30); this combination of the passages seems to show conclusively that Judas was no longer present when the Lord's Supper was instituted. On the other hand, the passage in Luke 22: 21 seems to indicate as clearly that he was present and also received it. It would therefore be difficult, in attempting to answer this question, to obtain absolute certainty.- Far less importance is to be attached to an apparent discrepancy between John and Matthew; the former

connects the exposure of the traitor with the Lord's act of giving him the sop, while according to the representation of the latter, both dip in the dish at the same time. Various easy modes of removing the difficulty occur; both may have, for instance, dipped in the dish at the same time, and the Lord have immediately given the sop to Judas, before their hands were withdrawn.

3. Matt. 26 26-29 (Mark 14; Luke 22; 1 Cor. 11). Scarcely had the traitor withdrawn, when the Redeemer's love expressed its strength in the solemn words: "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. . . . . A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13: 30-35). The ordinary paschal meal was now ended. Then Jesus again took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said: "Take, eat; this is my body, which is given for you: this do, in remembrance of me." After the same manner also he took the cup, and said: "Drink ye all of it; this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you, for the remission of sins: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."

OBS.-The type contained in the paschal meal of the Old Testatament is fulfilled in the Lord's Supper. Christ is the true archetypal paschal lamb (1 Cor. 5: 7; John 19: 36), for he gave himself and suffered death for us, in order that we and all who believe in him might be saved from destruction and be delivered from the bondage of sin; he gives to us his flesh and blood to eat and drink (John ch. 6), that had been offered in death, restored and glorified in his resurrection, and, after his ascension to heaven, invested with the fulness of divine power and glory.-The significance of the Lord's Supper as a permanent institution by which the most intimate and essential communion of life with the Redeemer is secured by believers of the new covenant, will be considered in 2 190; our attention at present is occupied with the meal alone at which it was instituted. The institution of this Sacrament was indeed the chief purpose of that meal. Still, that meal was not an empty form in itself, possessing a significant character for future times alone, but was, on the contrary, unquestionably the medium through which a real or

actual communion of life between the Lord and the disciples was established. For the fact ought not to be overlooked, that the sufferings of Christ which his death completed, and the glorification of his bodily nature which his resurrection completed, had actually commenced already and were present. The glorified or glorious body (Phil. 3: 21) was already in him, and only veiled "in the likeness of sinful flesh." (Rom. 8: 3.) Even as that dark veil could not conceal his glory on the mount of transfiguration (¿ 145. 2, Obs.), so too it was in his power to form a connection on the present occasion in truth and reality between himself and the bread and wine.

4. With this solemn act were connected the last discourses addressed by Jesus to his disciples and recorded by him who lay on the Master's breast- a legacy of the Redeemer designed for his disciples in all ages, demonstrating an overflowing fulness of love such as the heart of the Son of man alone could entertain, and expressed in terms more soothing, touching and impressive, than any that were ever employed by a mortal. He speaks of his return to the Father and the mansions which he will prepare for his people (ch. 14) of the intimate communion of life existing between himself and them ("I am the vine, ye are the branches," &c., ch. 15) of the mission of the Comforter, who will guide into all truth (ch. 16)—and he concludes by offering a prayer as our high-priest, in which the promise is given that his people shall share the glory which he had with the Father before the beginning of the world (ch. 17).

§ 151. The Agony in Gethsemane.—The Seizure of Christ by the Officers of the Jews.

1. Matt. 26: 30-35 (Mark 14; Luke 22). At the conclusion of the paschal supper Christ went with his disciples to Gethsemane (that is, oil-press), a retired spot on the Mount of Olives owned by persons attached to him, and known to Judas as the Lord's favorite place of resort. Deeply impressed with the sufferings which now awaited him, he said to his disciples: "All ye shall be offended because of me this night." The impetuosity of Peter, who was conscious of the sincerity of his love and his faith, but who did not yet feel his own helplessness, led him to exclaim: "Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I