31 When the Son of man fhall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he fit upon the 32 throne of his glory. And all the nations fhall be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd feparateth the fheep from the 33 goats. And he will fet the fheep on his right-hand, 34 and the goats on his left. Then will the king say to them on his right-hand, Come bleffed of my Father,. inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foun35 dation of the world. For I was hungry; and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a 36. ftranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye cloathed me: I was fick, and ye vifited me; I was in prison, and ye 37 came to me. Then will the righteous answer him,

ye

faying, Lord, when faw we thee hungry, and fed thee: 38 Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When faw we thee a 39 ftranger, and took thee in; Or naked and cloathed thee?

Or when faw we thee fick or in prison, and came to thee? 40 And the king will anfwer and fay to them, Verily I say to you, inasmuch as ye did it to one of the least of these my 41 brethren, ye did it to me. Then will he fay to them on his left-hand, Depart from me, ye curfed into the everlast, V. 31. When the Son of man fhall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him---With what majefty and grandeur does our Lord here fpeak of himfelf! Giving us one of the nobleft inftances of the true fublime. Indeed not many descriptions in the sacred writings themselves, feem to equal this. Methinks we can hardly read it, without imagining ourselves before the awful tribunal it defcribes.

V. 34. Inherit the kingdom-Purchased by my blood, for all who have believed in me, with the faith which wrought by love. Prepared for you --On purpose for you. May it not be probably inferred from hence, that man was not created merely to fill up the places of the fallen angels? V, 25. I was hungry and ye gave me

drink-All thefe works of outward meat, I was thirty and ye gave me

He

fuppofe faith and love, and must needs be accompanied with works of fpiritual mercy. But works of this kind the judge could not mention in the fame manner. could not fay, I was in error, and ye recalled me to the truth; I was in fin, and ye brought me to repentance. In prifon---Prisoners need to be vifited above all others, as they are commonly folitary and forfáken by the rest of the world,

V. 37. Then hall the righteous anfwer---It cannot be, that either the righteous or the wicked should answer in these very words. What we learn herefrom is, that neither of them have the fame eftimation of the own works as the judge hath.

V. 40. Inafmuch as ye did it to one of the leaft of thefe my brethren, ye did it to me---What encouragement is here, to affiff the houfhold of faith? But let us likewife remember, to do good to all men.

V. 41. Depart into the everlafting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels-Not originally for you: you are intruders into everlasting fire. V. 44. Then

VOL. I.

K

ing fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat; I was 43 thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger,

and ye took me not in; naked, and ye cloathed me 44 not; fick and in prison, and ye vifited me not.

Then

will they also answer him, faying, Lord, when faw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or fick, or in prison, and did not minifter unto thee? 45 Then will he anfwer them, faying, Verily I say to you, inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of 46 these, ye did it not to me. And thefe fhall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life everlasting.

XXVI.

* And when Jefus had finished all these dif2 courses, he faid to his difciples, Ye know that after two days is the paffover, and the Son of man is be

V. 44. Then will they answer-So the endeavour to justify themselves, will remain with the wicked even to that day!

V. 46. And thefe shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life everlasting-Either therefore the punishment is strictly eternal, or the reward is not. The very fame expreffion being applied, to the former as to the latter. The judge will fpeak firft to the righte ous, in the audience of the wicked. The wicked fhall then go away into everlasting fire, in the view of the righteous. Thus the damned fhall fee nothing of the everlasting life. But the juft will see the punishment of the ungodly. It is not only particularly observable here, 1. That the punishment lafts as long as the reward: but 2. That this punishment is fo far from ceafing at the end of the world, that it does not begin 'till then.

V. 1. When Jefus had finished all thefe difcourfes-When he had fpoken all he had to fpeak. Till then he would not enter upon his paffion: then he would delay it no longer.

V. 2. After two days is the paffover-The manner wherein this was celebrated, gives much light to feveral circumstances that follow. The mafter of the family began the feaft with a cup of wine, which having folemnly blessed, he divided among the guests. (Luke xxii. 17.) Then the fupper began with the unleavened bread and bitter herbs; which when they had all tafted, one of the young perfons prefent (according to Exod. xii. 26.) asked the reason of the folemnity. This introduced The fhewing forth, or declaration of it: in allufion to which we read of shewing forth the Lord's death (1 Cor. xi. 26.) Then the master rose up and took another cup, before the lamb was tafted. After fupper, he took a thin loaf or cake, which he broke and divided to all at the table, and likewife the cup, ufually called the cup of thanksgiving, of which he drank firft, and then all the guests. It was this bread and this cup, which our Lord confecrated to be a standing memorial of his death.

V. 3. The

* Mark xiv, 1. Luke xxii. 1,

3 trayed to be crucified. Then the chief priests, and the Scribes, and the elders of the people affembled together at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caia4 phas, And confulted together, how they might apprehend Jefus by fubtlety and kill him. But they faid, Not at the feaft, left there be a tumult among the people.

But his

6 Now when Jefus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, There came to him a woman, having an alabaster box of very coftly ointment, and 8 poured it on his head, as he sat at table. 9 difciples feeing it, had indignation, faying, To what purpose is this wafte? For this might have been fold 10 for much, and given to the poor. Jefus knowing it, faid to them, Why trouble ye the woman? She hath 11 wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor 12 always with you; but me ye have not always. For in pouring this ointment on my body, fhe hath done it for my burial. Verily I fay to you, wherefoever this gofpel fhall be preached in the whole world, this alfo which the hath done fhall be spoken for a memorial of her.

13

14

*Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, going to the chief priefts, faid, What will ye give me, 15 and I will deliver him to you; And they bargained

V. 3. The chief Priests and the Scribes and the Elders of the people(heads of families) these together conftituted the Sanhedrim, or Great Council, which had the fupreme authority, both in civil and ecclefiaftical

affairs.

V. 5. But they faid, Not at the feaft-This was the refult of human wisdom. But when Judas came, they changed their purpofe. So the counfel of God took place, and the true pafchal lamb was offered up on the great day of the pafchal folemnity.

V. 8. His difciples feeing it, had indignation, faying-It feems feveral of them were angry, and spoke, though none fo warmly as Judas Ifcariot.

V. 11. Ye have the poor always with you-Such is the wife and gracious providence of God, that we may have always opportunities of relieving their wants, and fo laying up for ourselves treasures in

heaven.

V. 12. She hath done it for my burial-As it were for the embalming of my body. Indeed this was not her defign: but our Lord puts this conftruction upon it, to confirm thereby what he had before faid to his difciples, concerning his approaching death

V. 13. This gospel-That is, this part of the gospel hiftory.

V. 15. They bargained with him for thirty pieces of filver-(About three pounds fifteen fhillings.) The price of a flave, Exod. xxi. 32.

+ Mark xiv. 3.

K 2

V. 17. On

*Mark xiv. 10. Luke xxiii. 3.

16 with him for thirty pieces of filver. And from that time he fought opportunity to deliver him. 17 + On the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jefus, faying to him, Where wilt thou 18 that we prepare for thee to eat the paffover? And he faid, Go into the city to fuch a man, and fay to him, The Mafter faith, My time is at hand: I keep the 19 paffover at thy houfe with my difciples. And the

difciples did as Jefus had appointed them; and they made ready the paffover.

20 When the evening was come, he fat down with 21 the twelve. And as they ate, 'he faid, Verily I fay to 22 you, one of you will betray me. And they were exceeding forrowful, and began each of them to say to 23 him, Lord, Is it I? And he answering, faid, He that dippeth his hand with me in the difh, the fame will 24 betray me. The Son of man indeed goeth as it is written of him but wo to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed: it had been good for that man if 25 he had never been born. Then Judas who betrayed him anfwering faid, Malter, is it I? He faith to him, Thou haft faid.

26

And after they had eaten, Jesus took the bread and bleffed and brake and gave it to his difciples, and faid, V. 17. On the first day of unleavened bread-Being Thursday the four teenth day of the first month, Exod. xii. 6, 15.

V. 18. The Mafter faith, My time is at hand―That is, the time of my Tuffering.

V. 23. He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish--Which it feems Judas was doing at that very time. This dish was a veffel full of vinegar, wherein they dipped their bitter herbs.

V. 24. The Son of man goeth through fufferings to glory, as it is written of him-Yet this is no excufe for him that betrayeth him: miferable will that man be. It had been good for that man, if he had not been born

May not the fame be faid of every man that finally perifhes? But who can reconcile this, if it were true of Judas alone, with the doctrine

of universal falvation?

V. 25. Thou haft faid-That is, it is as thou haft faid.

V. 26. Jefus took the bread-The bread, or cake, which the mafter of the family used to divide among them, after they had eaten the paffover. The cuftom our Lord now transferred to a nobler ufe. This bread is, that is, fignifies or reprefents my body, according to the file of the facred writers. Thus Gen. xl. 12. The three branches are three days. Thus Gal. iv. 24. St. Paul speaking of Sarah and Hager fays, Thefe are the two covenants. Thus in the grand type of our Lord, Exod. xii. 11. God fays of the pafchal lamb, This is the Lord's paffover. Now Chrift fubftituting the holy communion for the passover, follows the ftile of the

Old

+ Mark xiv. 12. Luke xxii. 7. ‡ Mark xiv. 17. Luke xxii. 14.

27 Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and having given thanks gave it to them, faying, 28 Drink ye all of it. For this is my blood of the New

Teftament, which is shed for many, for the remission 29 of fins. I fay to you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, 'till that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

30

* And when they had fung the hymn, they went 31 out into the Mount of Olives. Then faith Jesus to them, All ye will be offended at me this night, for it is written, I will fmite the fhepherd, and the fheep of 32 the flock fhall be scattered. But after I am rifen, I

will go before you into Galilee. Peter anfwering faid 33 to him, Though all should be offended at thee, I will 34 never be offended. Jefus faid to him, Verily I fay to thee, that in this very night before cockcrowing thou 35 wilt deny me thrice. Peter faith to him, If I must die with thee, yet will I'in no wife deny thee. In like manner also faid all the disciples.

Old Teftament, and uses the fame expreffions the Jews were wont to use in celebrating the paffover.

V. 27. And he took the cup-Called by the Jews, the cup of thankf giving, which the mafter of the family ufed likewise to give to each after fupper.

V. 28. This is the fign of my blood, whereby the New Teftament or Covenant is confirmed. Which is fhed for many-As many as spring from

Adam.

V. 29. I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, till I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom--That is, I fhall tafte no more wine, till I drink wine of quite another kind in the glorious kingdom of my Father. And of this you fhall alfo partake with me,

V. 30. And when they had fung the hymn-Which was conftantly fung at the close of the paflover. It confifteth of fix pfalms, from the 113th to the 18th. The Mount of Olives-Was over against the temple, about two miles from Jerufalem.

V. 31. All ye will be offended at me-Something will happen to me, which will occafion your falling into fin by forfaking me.

V. 39. But notwithstanding this, after I am rifen, I will go before you (as a fhepherd before his fheep) into Galilee-Though you forfake me, I will not for this forfake you.

V. 34. Before cock-crowing thou wilt deny me thrice-That is before three in the morning, the ufual time of cock-crowing: although one cock was heard to crow once, after Peter's first denial of his Lord.

V35. In like manner also said all the difciples-But fuch was the tendernefs of our Lord, that he would not aggravate their fin, by making any reply.

K 3

* Mark xiv. 25. Luke xxii. 39. John xviii. 1.

V. 36. Then

+ Zech. xiii. 7.