reverence. They show us that every word of Holy Scrip- ture was given by inspiration of God. They teach us to beware of the mischievous practice of spiritualizing and explaining away the language of Scripture. We must settle it in our minds that the plain, literal meaning of the Bible is generally the true and correct meaning. Here is a prediction of Zechariah literally and exactly fulfilled. Our Lord was not merely a very humble person, as some spiritualizing interpreters would have explained Zechariah's words to mean, but He literally rode into Jerusalem on an ass. Above all, such fulfilments teach us what we may expect in looking forward to the second advent of Jesus Christ. They show us that we must look for a literal accomplishment of the prophecies con- cerning that second coming, and not for a figurative and a spiritual one. Forever let us hold fast this great prin- ciple. Happy is that Bible-reader who believes the words of the Bible to mean exactly what they seem to mean. Such a man has got the true key of knowledge in looking forward to things to come. To know that predictions about the second advent of Christ will be fulfilled literally, just as predictions about the first advent of Christ were ful- filled literally, is the first step towards a right understand- ing of unfulfilled prophecy.
Notes. John XII. 12—19.
12. — \_On the next day.] This day must have been the Sunday before Easter, which is commonly known in England as " Palm Sunday," from the circumstance here related.
[Much people... come to the feast.'] This must include many of the Jews who had come up to the passover from Galilee, and were doubtless well acquainted with our Lord's ministry and the numerous miracles He had wrought in Galilee. Some of them in all human probability had formed part of the multitude whom He fed with a few loaves in the wilderness.
[When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.'] We must suppose that by some means our Lord's intention of coming to Jerusalem must have become known, either by Him*