He tells them they would all be offended and leave him. MAT. XXVI. 31. Then saith Jesus unto the Shepherd, and the 343 clxxxi. XXVI. Then, as they were on the way thither, Jesus SECT. them, All ye shal be says to them, Notwithstanding all the faith you offended because of me have professed in me, and all the affection which Mat. this night: for it is I know you bear me, yet not only one or an written, I will smite other, but all of you shall be offended because of me 31 sheep of the flock shall this very night; and the hour is just at hand, be scattered abroad. when you will be so terrified by the distress be[MARK XIV.27.] falling me in your presence, that it shall prove the sad occasion of your falling into sin, by your forsaking me, your Master and Friend, and leaving me in the hands of the enemy: for it is written (Zech. xiii. 7.) “ I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered":" I am that Shepherd, and you the timorous sheep, to be dispersed by the assault made on 32 But after [that] your Keeper. But, as it is afterwards added 32 I am risen again, there by way of encouragement, "I will turn will go before you inhand upon to Galilee. the little ones," to reduce and my [MARK XIV. 28.] recover them from this dissipated state; so likewise I assure you for your comfort, that after I am risen from the dead, as I shall soon be, I will go before you into Galilee, and there give, not only you, my apostles, but all my disciples, the amplest demonstration both of my resurrection and my love; whereby your hearts shall be established in the firmest adherence to me: and upon this he named the particular place where he would meet them ". But Peter was so grieved to hear him say that 33 they should all be offended, and be scattered from him, that, with a confident assurance of his own stedfastness, he answered and said to him, My dearest Lord, there is no trial can surmount the love I bear thee! and whatsoever danger or distress may be at hand, I am absolutely resolved and determined upon it, that though every one besides, and even all the rest of these my brethren, should be offended because of the calamities that are coming on thee, and upon this account should be induced to forsake thee, yet will I never be offended, but will follow thee even to the last. b He named the particular place where he would meet them.] An appointment to meet in so large a region as Galilee would without this have been of very little use; and Mat. xxviii. 16. (sect. ccii.) expressly de lares such an appointment. We do not know the exact place, but we there learn from Matthew it was a certain mountain: probably it might be near the sea of Tiberias; not only because we find Christ on Jesus the borders of that sea after his resurrection © After 344 SECT. clxxxi. Mat. Reflections on a resolution to suffer for Christ. to thee, That this [day, even shalt deny me thrice. Jesus said to him, Peter, this confidence does 34 Jesus said unto not at all become thee, especially after the warn- him, Verily I say uning I gave thee at supper; but I repeat it again, XXVI. and verily I say unto thee, That to day, yea, [cven] 34 this very night which is now begun, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt repeatedly deny me in the most shameful manner; for after thou hast heard it once, thou shalt not be admonished; but before it crow a second time, thou shalt repeat the fault; nay, thou shalt do it thrice, and every time with new aggravations. 35 [But] Peter [spake the more ve unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee [in any wise]. Likewise also said all the disciples. [MARK XIV. 31.] 35 But Peter upon this, instead of being awakened to a humble sense of his own weakness, spake hemently, and ] said the more eagerly [and,] with a mixture of grief and indignation at the thought, said to him, Lord, no danger whatsoever can induce me to be guilty of such baseness; for such is the sincerity and strength of my affection to thee, that though I should die with thee on the place, yet I will not deny thee in any manner or degree, but would a thousand times rather fall by thy side in a brave and resolute defence, than so much as seem to neglect thee, or in any respect to fail of the strictest and most affectionate fidelity. Likewise also said all the disciples, with equal sincerity of present intention, though neither he nor they had courage enough to abide by that resolution. Jesus therefore insisted no farther on the matter, but left them to be taught by the event. IMPROVEMENT. XXVI. Mat. So feeble is the heart of man, and yet so ready to trust to its 31, 32 own strength! So gracious is the Lord Jesus Christ, that great After the warning I gave thee at supper.] See Luke xxii. 34, and John xiii. 38, p. 293, 294. I persuade myself that an attentive comparison of those texts with these before us in Matthew and Mark will convince the reader that these admonitions were first given at the table, and now repeated as they went out : nor can I find any way of forming them all harmoniously into onc compound text, without such a supposition. d Spake the more eagerly,-I will not deny thee in any manner or degree.] Ex Tρίσσι έλεξε μαλλον, μη σε απαρνήσομαι. I think the energy of these original expressions cannot be reached in a version: I have therefore attempted it in the paraphrase; Shepherd and must observe that, if Mark's gospel was reviewed by Peter, as the ancients say (and particularly Clemens Alexandrinus, as quoted by Eusebius Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. 15, on which see Dr. Lardner's Credibility, part ii. Vol. II. chap. 22, § 5), it is peculiarly worth our notice that the aggravations attending Peter's denial of our Lord should be more strongly represented by Mark than by any other evangelist; which, in that case, probably was done by his own particular direction, and may be regarded as a genuine proof of his deep humiliation and penitence. Compare Mark xiv. 66-72, with Mat. xxvi. 69-75; Luke xxii. 54-62. and John xviii. 25— 27, sect. clxxxiv. a Called 345 SECT. clxxxi. Mat. He takes Peter, James, and John, with him into the garden. Shepherd and Bishop of souls, who gave himself to be smitten for his flock when they had forsaken him; and then returning, sought them out again, and fed them in richer pastures than before! How reasonable is it that our hearts should be fixed in the most XXVI. inflexible resolution for his service! How fit that we should every one of us say, with the utmost determination of soul, Lord, though 35 I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee For how could death wear a more graceful, or a more pleasing form, than when it met us close by our Saviour's side, and came as the seal of our fidelity to him? to us. Surely this is the language of many of our hearts before him, especially when warmed and animated by a sense of his dying love Yet let us not be high-minded; for Peter, after this decla- 34, 35 ration, denied his Master; and the same night in which they had protested they would never leave him, all the disciples forsook him and fled. (Mat. xxvi. 56.) Nor, on the other hand, let the view of that frailty discourage, though it ought to caution us; for the time came when each of them behaved as they here spoke; and they who in his very presence acted so weak a part, through the influences of his strengthening spirit, resisted unto blood, and loved not their lives unto the death, for the testimony of Jesus. (Rev. xii. 11.) SECT. CLXXXII. Jesus enters the garden of Gethsemane, and falls into his agony there; during which his disciples fall asleep, for which he gently reproves them, and warns them of the enemies' approach. Mat. XXVI. 36-46. Mark XIV. 32—42. Luke XXII. 40—46. MAT. XXVI. 36. THEN cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethse. MAT. XXVI. 36. THEN, after this discourse with his disciples, SECT. Jesus comes with them to the place we men- clxxxii. mane; and [LUKE, tioned above, which was called Gethsemane, as Mat. when he was at the being a very pleasant and fertile garden: and XXVI place, he] saith unto [his] disciples, Sit ye when he was arrived just at the entrance into the 26 here, while I go and place whither he was used to retire, he says to pray yonder. [MARK eight of his disciples, Sit ye down here a while, and observe what passes abroad, while I go and pray in yonder retirement. XIV. 32. LUKE And 346 SECT. Mat. agony. 37 And he took with him Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee [James and John], and began to be sorrowful [sore amazed], and very heavy.[MARK XIV. 33.1 Jesus is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, And, as this was a very extraordinary passage clxxxii. of his life, he took along with him Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, who had XXVI. been witnesses of his transfiguration, and were 37 now chosen by him to be witnesses of his And as he went on with them towards a more retired part of the garden, he began to be in a very great and visible dejection, amazement, and anguish of mind, on account of some painful and dreadful sensations which were then impressed upon his soul by the immediate hand of God. 38 Then, turning to his three disciples, he says to them, My friends, you never saw me in so great distress as now; for my soul is surrounded on all sides with an extremity of anguish and sorrow, ry ye here, and watch which tortures me even almost unto death; and with me: [LUK E, and pray, that ye enI know that the infirmity of human nature must ter not into temptaquickly sink under it, without some extraordi- tion.] [MARK XIV. nary relief from God; to him therefore I will 34. apply with the greatest earnestness: and do yon in the mean time continue here, and watch with mes, considering how liable we are to be surprised; [and] let me remind you also to pray for yourselves, that you may not enter into that dangerous temptation of which I have just been b He began to be in great dejection, amazement, and anguish of mind.] The words which our translators use here are very flat, and fall vastly short of the emphasis of those terms in which the evangelists describe this awful scene: for autua signifies to be penetrated with the most lively and piercing sorrow; and adovely to be quite depressed and almost overwhelmed with the load: Mark expresses it, if possible, in a more forcible and stronger manner; for exa69a imports the most shocking mixture of terror and amazement; and wign, in the next verse, intimates that he was surrounded with sorrow on every side, so that it broke in upon him with such violence that, humanly speaking, there was no way of escape. I have endeavoured, as well as I could, to express each of these ideas in the paraphrase.-Dr. More truly observes, that Christ's continued resolution, in the midst of these agonies and supernatural horTors, was the most heroic that can be imagined; and far superior to valour in single combat, or in battle; where, in one case, the spirit is raised by natural indignation; and in the other, by the pomp of war, the sound of martial music, the example of fellow-soldiers, &c. See More's Theolog. giving SS Then saith he to them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tar 40.) LUKE XXII Works, p. 38.-Dr. Whitby will not allow that these agonies arose from the immediate hand of God upon him; which he thinks not to be the case, even of the damned in hell. But it seems impossible to prove that it is not. He rather thinks it might arise from a deep apprehension of the malignity of sin, and the misery brought upon the world by it. But, considering how much the mind of Christ was wounded and broken with what he now endured, so as to give some greater external signs of distress than in any other circumstance of his sufferings, there is reason to conclude there was something extraordinary in the degree of the impression: and it surely comes much to the same, whether we say that God, by his own immediate agency, impressed some uncommon horrors on his mind, or that the strength of his spirits, and perhaps the tone of his nerves, were so impaired, that the view he had of these things should affect him to a degree of exquisite and uncommon sensibility. c Watch with me.] Had they done this carefully they would soon have found a rich equivalent for their watchful care, in the eminent improvement of their graces by this wonderful and edifying sight. d Take And prays, that if possible, the cup might pass from him. 347 MARK XIV. 35. And he went forward cast, and kneeled Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; [O my Father, if it be possible,] giving you notice, or may be kept from falling SECT. by it. See Mat. xxvi. 31, sect. clxxxi. clxxxii. Mark And going on a little way from thence into a a little, [LUKE, and more retired part of the garden, when he was XIV.35. was withdrawn from now withdrawn about a stone's throw from the them about a stone's place where he left them, he first humbly knelt down,] and fell on his down, and then, as the ardour of his devotion face] on the ground, increased, he prostrated himself on his face to the and prayed, That if it ground, and prayed, That if it were possible, that were possible, the hour dreadful season of sorrow, with which he was might pass from him. [MAT. XXVI. 39.— then almost overwhelmed, might be shortened, LUKE XXII. 41.] and pass from him. And he said, Abba, Fa-36 36 And he said, ther, I know that all things proper to be done are possible to thee; and, Ŏ my Father, if it be so far possible, as to consist with what thy wisdom has appointed for the advancement of thy glory, [and let it pass] from and the salvation of thy people, I earnestly beme; nevertheless, not seech thee, that thou immediately wouldest take what I will, but what of bitterness and terror; [yea,] away [MAT. let [it] now pass from me, and let comfort and peace return to my soul: nevertheless, if thou seest it necessary to continue it, or to add yet more grievous ingredients to it, I am here ready to receive it in submission to thy will, and resolutely say upon the whole, Not as I will, but as thou wilt; for though nature cannot but shrink back from these sufferings, it is the determinate purpose of my soul to bear whatsoever thine infinite wisdom shall see fit to appoint. take away this cup, thou wilt. XXVI.-39.] 37 And he cometh ing; and saith unto this cup And upon this, rising up from the ground on 37 [unto the disciples], which he had lain prostrate, he comes again to and findeth them sleep- the three disciples, and, notwithstanding the disPeter, Simon, sleepest tress that he was in, and the command that he thou? couldst not thou had given to them to watch, he finds them all watch one hour?] [What, could ye not asleep: and he particularly says to Peter (who had watch with me one but lately made such solemn protestations of his hour?] MAT. XXVI. peculiar zeal and fidelity), What, Simon dost 40.] thou sleep at such a time as this? and after thou d Take away this cup.] Nothing is more common than to express a portion of comfort or distress by a cup, alluding to the custom of the father of a family, or master of a feast, to send to his children or guests a cup of such liquor as he designed for them. See note d, on Mat. xx. 22, p. 134; and with the texts which are referred to at the end of that note compare Psal, xvi, 5; xxiii, 5; VOL. VII. but Ixxv. 8; Jer. xvi. 7; xlix. 12; Lam. iv. e Watch |