Ver. 25.—I will no more drink (otxért ov wu») wlw) of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom ef God. It is observable that our Lord here calls the wine “the fruit (yévvnua) of the vine,” after he has spoken of it as gacramentally his blood. ur Lord here refers to the time of the regeneration of all things, when the heavenly kingdom shall @ppear in the fulness of its glory; and when his disciples, who now feed upon him sacra- mentally and by faith, shall then eat at his table in his kingdom, and drink of the wiver of his pleasures for ever.
Ver. 26.—And when they had sung a hymn, they went out unto the mount of Olives. Some suppose that this was one
rticular hymn out of the Jewish service-
ks appointed for use at the close of the Paschal supper. The word in the Greek is simply survhoarres. What they sang was more probably the Hallel, consisting of six psalms, from Ps. exili. to Ps. exvill. in- elusive. They went out unto the Mount of Olives. It was our Lord’s custom, in these last days ef his earthly life, to go daily to Jerusalem, and teach in the temple, and in the evening to return to Bethany and sup; and then after supper to retire to the Mount of Olives, and there to spend the night in prayer (Luke xxi. 37). But on this occa- sion he did not return to Bethany. He had supped in Jerusalem. Besides, he knew that his hour was come. So he voluntarily put himself into the way ef the traitor (John xviii. 2).
Ver. 27.—All ye shall be offended. The words which follow in the Authorized Ver- sion, “ because of me this night,” are not to be found in the best manuscripts and ver- sions. They appear to have been imported from St. Matthew. Shall be offended (oxay- darrtcOnoerbe); literally, shall be caused to stumble. Our Lord was to prove “a stone of stumbling” to many, not exluding his ewn disciples. Even they, under the in- fluence of terror, would for a time lose con- fidence and hope in him. For it is written,
I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad. This is a quota- tion from Zechariah (xiii. 7), “ Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and ayuinst the man that is my Fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the Shepherd.” This passage brings out in a remarkable manner the Divine agency in the death of Christ. The sheep shall be scattered abroad. The dis- ciples all forsook him and fled, when they saw him actually in the hands of his enemies They felt doubtful for the moment whether he was indeed the Son of God. “They trusted that it was he who should redeem Israel;” but now their ho gave way to fear and doubt. The ed hither and thither like frightened sheep. But God gathered them together again, so that when our Lord roge from the dead, he found them all in the same place; and then he revived their faith and courage. Our Lord and his disciples had no settled home or friends in Jerusalem; go they had no other place to flee to than that upper cliamber, where, not long before, Christ had kept the Passover with them. The owner of that house was a friend; so thither they went, and there Christ appeared to them after his resurree- tion.
Ver. 28.—Howhbeit, after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee. ‘his our Lord said to reassure them. Galilee was more like home to them than Jerusalem, and they would there be less afraid of the un- believing Jews.
Ver. 29.—But Peter said unto him, Al- though all shall be offended, yet will not I. Our Lord had just distinctly stated that they would all be offended, and _tlerefore these words of St. Peter were very pre: sumptuous. Conscious of his own infirmi- ties; hé ought to have said, ‘I know that through my own infirmity this may easily happen. ‘Nevertheless, I trust to thy mercy and goodness to seve me.”” Just such is the Christian’s daily experience. We often think that we are strong in the faith, strong in purity, strong in patience. But when temp- tation arises, we falter and fall. ‘The true remedy against temptation is the conscious- ness of our own weakness, and supplication for Divine strength.
Ver. 30.—Verily I say unto thee, that thou to-day, even this night, before the cock crow twice, shalt deny me thrice. The day had begun. It began at six in the evening. If was already advanced. This second crowing of the cock is mentioned by St. Mark only ; and it forms an additional aggravation of Peter’s sin. The “cockcrowing” was a term used for one of the divisions of the night (see ch, xiii. 35). But it appears that there were three times at which the cook-
|] crowing might be expected—namely, {1}
te
284
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING To 8T. MARK. [ou. x1v. 1—72
early in the night, between eleven and. twelve; (2) between one an ; and (3) between five and six. The two cockcrow- ings here referred to would be the two last of the three here mentioned. It would probably be about 2 a.m., when the first trial of our Lord took place in the house of Caiaphas.
Ver. 31.—But he spake exceeding vehe- mently (éxrepisod@s éAdde), If I must die with thee (édv ue dép), I will not deny thee. The right reading (€AdAe:, imperfect) im- plies that he kept asserting over and over
in. He was, no doubt, sincere in all this, but he had yet to learn his own weakness. St. Hilary says on this, “ Peter was so carried away by the fervour of his zeal and love for Christ, that he regarded neither the
ficepmese of his-oyn flesh nor the truth of -2» Dis aster’, 2}
er. 32.—And they come (€pyorra:)—here again St. Mark’s present gives force to the narrative—unto a place which was named Gethsemane. / place (xwploy) is, literally, an enclosed piece of ground, generally with a cottage upon it. Josephus tells us that these gardens were numerous in the suburbs of Jerusalem. St. Jerome says that “ Geth- semane was at the foot of the Mount of Olives.” §8t. John (xviii 1) calls it a garden, or orchard (xjjwos). The word “Gethsemane” means literally “the place of the oléve-press,” whither the olives which abounded on the slopes of the mountain were brought, in order that the oil contained in them might be pressed out. The exact position of Gethsemane is not known; although there is an enclosed spot at the foot of the western slope of the Mount of Olives which is called to this day Hl Jes- médntye. The real Gethsemane cannot be far from this spot. Our Lord resorted to this place for retirement and prayer, not as desiring to escape the death that awaited him. It was well known to be his favourite resort ; 80 that he went there, as though to put himself in the way of Judas, who would naturally seek him there. Sit ye here, while I pray. St. Matthew (xxvi. 36) says, “While I go yonder and pray.”