apart" (cf. Zech. xii. 11, 12). (4) He wept bitter tears of repentance for bi~ presump- tuous sin. Mark says, "Wheu he thought thereon he wept" (Mark xiv. 72). Thuse who have sinned sweetly must weep bitterly, if not ill penitence, in despair ; for sin is bitterness itself. The more bitter the tears of repentance, the sweeter the delicrht of the regenemted life. His grief and weeping were of long duration (see Mark :vi. 7). Tradition says he never heard a cock crow but it set him weeping. (5) Peter afterwards confessed Christ openly, and made all the house of Israel know what he thought of him, He confessed him openly both in life and death with watchfulness and prayer.-J. A. M. Ver. 4.-Thefinal devices of our Lord's foes, It appears that the priest-party, under the lead of Caiaphas, had resolved to secure our Lord's death in a council held immedi- ately after the raising of Lazarus (John xi. 47-53). But it /roved to be a much more difficult matter than they imagined, and weeks pa.seed an found them no nearer to the accomplillhment of their purposes, At last they were set upon securing their end by assassination. They tried to devise come way of" taking him by subtlety and killing him." I. WHY WERE TBEY SET Ul'ON NEW DEVICES? Because not only had all their pre- vious devices failed, but they had failed in such ways as had humiliated and angered th086 who devised them. They could not get an accusation, they could not secure his Person, they would not leave him alone. 1. They tried open arrest; their officers were so impressed by him that they dare not touch him. 2. They tried to make him say such things as they could twist into accusations; they only succeeded in entang- ling themselves, and humiliating themselves before the people. 3. They had been made the object of our Lord's fiercest denunciations, and this they felt to be so intoler- able that they resolved not to lose an hour in seeking their revenge. When men are humbled, they give up their self-willed ways. When men are humiliated, they push their wilful ways through to the bitter end. ·1L WHAT DIFFICULTIES HAD THEY YET TO OVERCOME? Two special ones. 1. The good will of the people, and especially of the visi tore to the feast. If they attempted public arrest, there would be a rescue that would mean a riot, and it would bring down on them the vigorous hand of the Romans, and give Pilate another chance of showing his hatred. 2. The approaching feast-time. It was hardly possible to get a good plan arranged before the feast ; nothing could be done during the feast ; and J l!SUS would slip away from the city after the feast. We can imagine their delight when the diffi- euHies were got over by the treachery of Judas. Ill. WHAT BEVEL.ATIONB ABE JUDE BY THESE DEVICES? They show up buth the times and the people. 1. They reveal the estimate formed of our Lord by the people. They always delight in a man who can fearlessly resist official scheming and wicked- !less. 2. They reveal the prejudiced, malicious, and unreasonable character of tho priest-party. Personal feeling was allowed to carry away judgmeut. 3. They reveal the character of Christ. He could not be dealt with as a criminal.-R. T.
Ver. 8.-The law of waste. "To what purpose is thill waste? n It is interesting to notice that St. Matthew speaks generally, aud says, "his disciples;" St. Mark speaks carefully, and says, "some had indiguation ; " St. John speaks precisely, and siugles out the spokesman-it was the mau with the narrow, covetous soul, it was Judas Iscariot. His indignation, partly real and partly affected, was perhaps honestly shared by some of the disciples, especially by those of the third or practical group. To see t'ne point and interest of the woman's act-and we understand the woman to have been Mary, the sister of Lazarus-we must keep in mind the Eastern love of perfumes, and the feast-customs that relate to perfumes. Easterns set value on scents that seem to us too strong. Women keep special aceuts as treasures. A present of perfumes is a mark of reverence and honour. The present sent by Cambyses to the Prince of Ethiopia consillted of" a purple vest, a gold chain for the neck, bracelets, an alabaster box of perfume, and a cask of palm wiue." To sprinkle the apartments, and the person ef a guest, with rose-water and other aromatics is still a mark of respectful attention. Point out that Mary's perfume would really have beeu wasted, if it had been kept after 1a good a use for it came into view. For there is a waste in keeping idle and u,cles9- 674 THE GOSPEL ACCORDL.''\G TO ST. MATTHEW, [OB. xxvi. 1-75.