must attach, presumed also to put the question, " Master, is it I b ? " And our Lord told him plainly that it was ; and after- wards pointed him out also to the other Apostles, by giving to him a sop in the presence of them all ; that so, when the act should have been committed, and all the distressing conse- quences should have ensued, the other Apostles might remem- ber, that the whole had been foretold by the prophets, and foreseen by our Lord himself0.]
Let us now attend to, II. The instruction to be derived from it —
Truly, it must have been a most affecting scene. From it we learn,
1. That there is no evil which fallen man is not capable of committing —
[There are some evils against which our nature utterly revolts; and, if we were supposed capable of committing them, we should be ready to say, with Hazael, " Is thy servant a dog, that he should do such a thing as thisd?" But so think all, till the fact is proved upon them. Suppose it had been said, " The God of heaven and earth will become incarnate, and in his own person display, as far as human eyes are capable of beholding it, all the glory of his perfections6." The whole period of his existence upon earth shall be occupied in the exercise of the sublimest virtue, and in acts of the most un- bounded beneficence. But he shall be hated, reviled, perse- cuted even unto death, the accursed death of the cross. But where shall we find men base enough to accomplish it all? Where shall we find rulers impious enough to promote such wickedness, or people base enough to carry it into effect? Where shall we find a favoured Disciple to betray him? Where soldiers impious enough to seize him? Where a judge either unjust or timid enough to condemn him ? Where shall we find a man hardy enough to stretch his sacred limbs upon the cross, and nail them to the accursed tree ? Where, in short, shall we find agents capable of acting all the different parts in this bloody tragedy ? If we were to ask of every indi- vidual ruler, and judge, and soldier in the universe, ' Will you be the person to execute such an office against your incar- nate God, and more especially after you have had all his glory displayed, as it were, before your eyes in every quarter of the land?' you would think that the prophecy must fail, for want of persons to fulfil it. But it did take place, according to the
b Matt. xxvi. 25. c John xiii. 18, 19, 25, 26.
d 2 Kings viii. 11 — 13. e John i. 14.