unto them, It is one of the twelve that dippeth with me in the dish.

21 The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.

22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat this is my body.

23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

24 And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

25 Verily, I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.

28 But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.

29 But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.

30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.

31 But he spake the more ve

hemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.

32 And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane : and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.

33 And he taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;

34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.

35 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt.

37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?

38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

39 And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.

40 And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy ;) neither wist they what to answer him.

41 And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold,

32-42. See notes on Matt. xxiv. 36

36. Abba. That is, father. The word is Syriac. It is elsewhere used, in like manner, in connexion with its interpretation, Rom. viii. 15; Gal. iv.

6.

the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

42 Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.

43 And immediately while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders.

44 And he that betrayed him, had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely.

45 And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and saith, Master, Master; and kissed him.

46 And they laid their hands on him, and took him.

47 And one of them that stood by, drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.

48 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me?

49 I was daily with you in the temple, teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.

50 And they all forsook him and fled.

41. It is enough. "All is over.". Campbell. The meaning probably is, that all which could be done by prayer and watching had been done. The hour had come, and the victim was ready. He had overcome his dreadful fears; and he was ready to submit unresistingly to the will of God, though executed by wicked hands and obdurate hearts.

43-52. See notes on Matt. xxvi. 47

-56.

51. A certain young man. This circumstance is not recorded by the other evangelists; nor is it known who was the young man. It is a circumstance much more likely to have happened than to have been invented. He was

51 And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him.

52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest and with him were assembled all the chief priests, and the elders and the scribes.

54 And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire.

55 And the chief priests, and all the council, sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none :

56 For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.

57 And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying,

58 We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

59 But neither so did their witness agree together.

60 And the high priest stood up probably roused from sleep by the tuinult; and, without waiting to dress, threw around him the blanket of his couch, and ran out to ascertain the cause. Being seized, he left his covering in the hands of the aggressors, and made his escape.

53-72. See notes on Matt. xxvi. 57 -75. In this passage, the fall of Peter is recorded. And it is worthy of remark, that although this Gospel is supposed to have been written under Peter's inspection, or, at least, published with his approbation, his own misconduct is here related with all its aggravations, and without one word of excuse. deed, an additional circumstance is mentioned, which makes his conduct

In

61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?

62 And Jesus said, I am and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?

64 Ye have heard the blasphemy what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.

65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.

66 And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest :

67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.

68 But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock

crew.

69 And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.

70 And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou appear the more inexcusable. The three denials were to be made before the cock should crow twice, ver. 30, 72. After his first denial, he heard the cock crow once, ver. 68; yet this did not prevent his repeated denials. Thus he seems to have been warned to desist,

71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.

72 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.

CHAPTER XV.

AND straightway in the morn

ing the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.

2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering, said unto him, Thou sayest it.

3 And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.

4 And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee.

5 But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled. 6 Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired.

7 And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.

8 And the multitude crying aloud, began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them. even after his transgression commenced; but in vain. None but an honest man, who intended to tell the truth, and the whole truth, would record, or authorize another to record, a transaction so disgraceful to himself.

9 But Pilate answered them, | saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?

10 (For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.)

11 But the chief priests moved the people that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.

12 And Pilate answered, and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? 13 And they cried out again, Crucify him.

14 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.

15 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.

16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Pretorium; and they call together the whole band;

17 And they clothed him with

CHAPTER XV.

See the explanation of the whole chapter, in notes on Matt. ch. xxvii. See also Luke ch. xxiii.; and John xviii. 28-40; xix. 1-42.

15. Willing to content the people. The weakness, not to say wickedness, of Pilate deserves the severest reprehension. He believed Jesus to be innocent; yet he condemned him to death, merely to please the Jews, and to avoid their enmity.

16. Pretorium. The hall of the prætor, or Roman governor; called by Matthew, the common hall.

19. Worshipped him. That is, prostrated themselves before him in mockery. This was not designed as a semblance of religious worship, but only of the civil homage rendered, in the East, to superiors, by prostration. This act was in unison with placing a crown on his head, a purple or scarlet robe on his shoulders, and a reed in his hand for a

purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,

18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!

19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees, worshipped him.

20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.

21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.

22 And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.

23 And they gave him to drink, wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.

24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.

25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.

sceptre; all were designed to ridicule his pretensions of royal authority; for though he never claimed an earthly kingdom, yet his enemies so represented the matter, and thus obtained his condemnation on the charge of treason against the Roman government.

23. Wine. Matthew calls it vinegar. It was probably wine, which had passed that state of fermentation whereby it became vinegar, and might be called by either name indifferently. ¶ Received it not. Matthew says, more particularly, "when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink." See note on Matt. xxvii. 34.

25. Third hour. That is, nine o'clock in the morning. John says " about the John xix. sixth hour," or about noon. 14. It is generally supposed by commentators that John wrote the third hour, and that the change was made by some early transcriber. As it was customary to denote such numbers by single letters, such a mistake would not

26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

27 And with him they crucify two thieves, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.

28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.

29 And they that passed by, railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,

30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross.

31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking, said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.

32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with reviled him.

him,

33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land, until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?

35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.

ing, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. 37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.

38 And the vail of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom.

39 And when the centurion which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

40 There were also women looking on afar off, among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less, and of Joses, and Salome;

41 Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him; and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.

42 And now, when the even was come, (because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,)

43 Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.

44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.

45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Jo

be surprising. See note on John xix.

14.

28 The scripture was fulfilled, &c. "This passage of Scripture is found in Isaiah liii. 12. This does not mean that he was a transgressor, but simply that, in dying, he had a place with transgressors. Nor does it mean that God regarded him as a sinner; but that, at his death, in popular estimation, or by the sentence of the judge, he was regarded as a transgressor, and was

treated in the same manner as the others put to death for their transgressions. Jesus died the just for the unjust, and in his death, as well as in his life, he was holy, harmless, undefiled."— Barnes.

42. Even. The first evening; commencing at the ninth hour, or three o'clock.

44. Pilale marvelled. It was seldom that those who were crucified died so soon. He seems to have suspected a