Vera. 54-71.-C'lwist's t,,ia7s in tl,e higl, priest's palace. The agony of G~thsemane is over, and our Lord has met his enemies iu the calmness of real courage. Ile allows Limself to be led to the palace of the high priest, and we have now t.o consider all the trials through which he passed there. '!'he first of these is from Peter. Love to tbo Master keeps the disciple in tbo train of the procession, and even leads him to linger without until through J ohu's good offices he gets into the hall. But, alas I instea,l of keeping near the Master, he lingers near the fire which was kindled in the ball to keep the cold at bay. And here let us notice- I. PETEn's TEMPTATION. (Vers. 54-60.) It wa.~ identification with a lost cause. Here is Jesus down; no hope apparently lingers about him; be cannot now be save<l. What use is there in further identifying himself with Jesus? Iustead of responding holdly to the challenge and confessing Christ, he is tempted to deny Lim. And the denials are repeated, the last time with an oath. Peter's distant view of his Master and of his cause leads him to the fatal conclusion that it is safest to cut the connection aud deny that he bas ever known him. It is, alas I the temptation of men still. Iu the blazing light of society, when worldliness seems so strong and comfortable, it is convenient to ignore the Master and his cause. Peter's temptation is constantly repeated, and his fall bas its counterpart continually in the cowardice of souls. II. PETEB18 RECOVERY AND REPENTANCE, (Vers. 61, 62.) The Master iu warning him had giveQ him a sign, that of the cock-crow. It acts as an alarum upon the dnll ear of Peter. Along with this there comes the look iueffable of the loving Lord. The great heart is broken, and Peter passes out to weep bitterly. We.have o. great coutrn~t between the sorrow of Peter and that of Judas. It is the sorrow of the world wbicti workcth death in the one case; it is the sorrow which is godly and saving in the other. As Gerok, in an admirable discourse upon the subject, says, (1) Peters sorrow proceeds upon his sin, Judas's upon the consequences of his sin; (2) Peter's sorrow turns him from the world, Judas's turn~ him towards the world; and (3) Peter's ~orrow leads him to life, Judas's leads him to death. 1 Peter's repentance was thus the consequence of hi~ Master's love, and the sign of bis recovery. How sensible he must have been of the mighty wrong he had done the Master! Jesus knew when Peter slunk away out of the palace that he was safe iu his bitter sorrow, and that he would come forth from it a better man. Our Lord's trial through l'eter's faithlessness terminated when the disciple's heart was brokeu. III. THE DUFFET-GAME. (Vers. 6:l-65.) The heavy hours till morning must be spent, and so the soldiers determine to get some amusement out of their notable Prisoner. They make Jesus, consequeutly, the centre in what is now known as the buffet-game. Blindfolding him, they proceed to strike him, and call upon him to tell who bas inflicted the blows. '!'hey are terrible liberties they thus take with the Sou of God. But they are unable to irritate this meek and lowly Man. 'fheir blows are lost upon bis magnificent meekness. They must have been struck at the majestic carringe of the Prisoner under their brutni horse-play. Yet the blows of the soldiers were less a trial, we may he sure, than the faithlessness of the disciple. But we are surely to.ugbt how essentiBlly degro.ding it is to mo.nufacture mirth out of the hu~ilia- tion of others I 'l'be soldiers r,over were so brutal as when they treated Jesus 1n the style they did. IV. Hrs 'IRIAL Er.FORE Tll.l!: SANHEDmN. (Vers. 66-71.) In the mornin~ the Jewish authorities assembled, nnd their line of examino.tion was as to the nature of his Messiahship. As we have seen, it was not a Diviue, but a militariJ Messiah the Jews 1 Gerok's • Evangelicn-Preuigten,' s. 2i6. 23! TTIE GOSPEL ACCORDING 'l'O ST. LURE. [err. urn. 1-ti8.
desirc,1. To their qnestion he replios first that they will not believe him If he answers them truthfully. They will only believe what they like. In other words faith le lnrgely n matter of the will as influenced by emotion. 'l'hey were not pr~parcd to accept truth and follow it to its consequences. After this preliminary Jesus goes on to declare, "From henceforth shall the Son of man be seated at the ri;ht hand of the 1~wcr of God" (Revised Version). That is to say, liis Me.~siahghip is~ be a heavenly reign, not 11n earthly and temporal one. At once they saw in this a claim to Divine Sonshi_r. Hence they challenge h~m upon _the Jl?int, and get his manly reply that he is. On this ground they condemn him. It 1s plmn, therefore, that this Divine Meesinh was not what suited their fancy. It was not deliverance from such impalpable foes as si~. nnd anxiety and suffering they desired, but from the Romans. 'l'hey• wanted a m1htary leader-a J_)ILSha; an~ wbe~ ~ gave them ?is Son 11s their heavenly King, they condemned him to an 1gnomimous death. It 1s thus that men despise their greatest blessings, and do their best to put them out of the way.-Il. M. E.