of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Wliere wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover ?
18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him. The Master saith, My time is at hand ; I •will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples.
19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them ; and they made ready the Passover.
20 Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
21 And as they did eat, he said
Verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
22 And they were exceeding sor- rowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I ?
23 'And he answered and said, He that dippeth Ids hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him : but wo unto that man by whom the Son of man is be- trayed ! it had been good for that man if ho had not been born.
25 Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.
We read in the beginning of this passage, how our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed into the hands of His deadly enemies. The priests and scribes, however anxious to put him to death, were at a loss how to effect their purpose, for fear of an uproar among the people. At this juncture a fitting instrument for carrying out their designs, offered himself to them, in the person of Judas Iscariot. That false apostle undertook to deliver his Master into their hands, for thirty pieces of silver.
There are few blacker pages in all history, than the character and conduct of Judas Iscariot. There is no more awful evidence of the wickedness of man. A poet of our own has said, that ^* sharper than a serpent's tooth is a thankless child." But what shall we say of a disci- ple who could betray his own Master, — an apostle who could sell Christ ? Surely this was not the least bitter part of the cup of suffering which our Lord drank.
Let us learn, in the first place, from these verses, tlmt a man may enjoy great privileges^ and make a great reli- gious profession, and yet his heart all the time may not he right before Ood.