into the mount of Olives. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of Me this night for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter

Lapide mentions a tradition that as Christ was borne back across the brook, He was thrown headlong into it; and illustrates it by quoting Ps. lxviii. 1. But he gives no good authority for the story. The derivation of the word Cedron is by some said to be a Greek corruption of the Hebrew name, and so would mean "Cedars ; " but by others a Hebrew origin is given, which signifies "darkness." Farrar observes that the name which has been translated to mean Cedars, though there is no tradition of any cedar trees there, "is probably no more than a curious instance of the Grecizing of a Hebrew name; " and cites a parallel from 1 Kings xviii. 40, where the brook Kishon, when similarly Grecized, comes to mean "the brook of the Ivies." See David's passage across this brook in 2 Sam. xv. 23-30.

4. offended. In the usual sense of Christ proving a "stumbling-block and rock of offence" in the way of those who wanted faith. They should all fall before the trial to which His cause should now subject them. They had "continued with Him in His temptations; " but now one had betrayed Him, and was gone out from them to return no more; and all they that remained would fail in their duty, one denying Him, all forsaking Him in the presence of His foes. Some writers place this warning before the farewell discourses, and in the Supper-room; but the present arrangement is probably correct.

5. written.-Zech. xiii. 7. There are several parts of this prophecy most significant of our Lord's present position. (See Zech. xi. 12, 13; quoted Matt. xxvii. 9, 10.) The context of the present passage is very striking, and makes it impossible to mistake the allusion to Christ: Awake, O sword, against the Man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of hosts; "where the allusion to the humanity and the divinity of our Lord is distinct, as is also the fact that God ordained and sanctioned this submission of the Son to the sword of divine justice; this slaying of the Shepherd in behalf of the sheep, in consequence of which they are scared and "scattered abroad," as sheep that have no shepherd.

6. go before. The original word is sometimes used to express the action of an Eastern shepherd, who goes before His sheep when he takes them to pasture. (See John x. 4.) There is, no doubt, this meaning here; and the connection between this promise of our Lord and the prophecy of the scattering of the sheep is thus marked; Christ would gather again His little flock, and go before them, as their Shepherd risen from the dead, into Galilee. If we accept this meaning of the word, we may reconcile the difficulties which arise on our noticing that, although

answered and said unto Him, Though all shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired

our Lord had said He would see the disciples in Galilee (which was full of disciples, and the familiar scene of so much of His ministry); yet we find Him appear repeatedly to them, in Jerusalem and its environs, on the day of the resurrection. (See P. II. i. 20). He thus appeared to them all; first to Mary Magdalene; then to the women who had gone to the sepulchre; then to Cephas; then to the disciples who went to Emmaus; then to the Apostles, Thomas being absent; then again to the eleven, Thomas present. After this He was seen in Galilee (John xxi. 1-24). The Apostles seem, in the interim, to have proceeded there in consequence of our Lord's direction; He "went before them" (as a shepherd before the sheep which follow him), but whether He went visibly before them, or, as seems more probable, gathered them in spirit, and so directed them, we know not. S. Luke (Acts i. 3) says, "He was seen of them forty days;" where the original word implies that He appeared at intervals during that period, on the scene of their former converse in Galilee, when He spoke to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and its constitution and progress, and their office and work in connection with it. It is probable that, shortly subsequent to His appearance at the Sea of Tiberias, He showed Himself to the Apostles, and to "above five hundred brethren at once," who were assembled with them, many of whom had doubtless been witnesses of His former labours (1 Cor. xv. 6), the same who are mentioned in Matt. xxviii. 17. Towards the close of the forty days the Apostles appear to have returned to Judea, where He was specially James, then of all the Apostles," gathered to His ascension. (See P. II. iii. 25, vi. 2, vii. 1–3, viii. 1, 2.)

seen of

7. though all.-In the A. V. of Matt. xxvi. 33, there is a mistake made, which is avoided in the A. V. Mark xiv. 29. We read, "though all men ; "the word "men," being in italics, is put in to supply the sense, which it curiously perverts. S. Peter does not say, "though all men," but "though all" (my fellow disciples) "shall be offended," yet will not I: his words are his reply to our Lord's declaration, “All ye shall be offended because of Me this night."

8. desired. The original word is a strong one; it implies that he had made the demand, and had obtained it. This passage recalls the demand of Satan against Job (Job i. 6-12, ii. 1-6), which has often been looked on as a poetical allegory, but which, in the light here thrown upon it, must appear a revelation of truth. It is the certain doctrine of Scripture that God permits trial and temptation (urged under Satan's malign influence) to overtake mankind in order to prove them; but that also limits are imposed by His wisdom within which the trial may be made. (See 1 Cor. x. 13; James i. 2-4.) This

into the mount of Olives. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter

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Lapide mentions a tradition that as Christ was borne back across the brook, He was thrown headlong into it; and illustrates it by quoting Ps. lxviii. 1. But he gives no good authority for the story. The derivation of the word Cedron is by some said to be a Greek corruption of the Hebrew name, and so would mean Cedars;" but by others a Hebrew origin is given, which signifies "darkness." Farrar observes that the name which has been translated to mean Cedars, though there is no tradition of any cedar trees there, "is probably no more than a curious instance of the Grecizing of a Hebrew name; " and cites a parallel from 1 Kings xviii. 40, where the brook Kishon, when similarly Grecized, comes to mean "the brook of the Ivies." See David's passage across this brook in 2 Sam. xv. 23-30.

4. offended. In the usual sense of Christ proving a " stumbling-block and rock of offence" in the way of those who wanted faith. They should all fall before the trial to which His cause should now subject them. They had continued with Him in His temptations; " but now one had betrayed Him, and was gone out from them to return no more; and all they that remained would fail in their duty, one denying Him, all forsaking Him in the presence of His foes. Some writers place this warning before the farewell discourses, and in the Supper-room; but the present arrangement is probably correct.

5. written.-Zech. xiii. 7. There are several parts of this prophecy most significant of our Lord's present position. (See Zech. xi. 12, 13; quoted Matt. xxvii. 9, 10.) The context of the present passage is very striking, and makes it impossible to mistake the allusion to Christ: "Awake, O sword, against the Man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of hosts; " where the allusion to the humanity and the divinity of our Lord is distinct, as is also the fact that God ordained and sanctioned this submission of the Son to the sword of divine justice; this slaying of the Shepherd in behalf of the sheep, in consequence of which they are scared and "scattered abroad," as sheep that have no shepherd.

6. go before. The original word is sometimes used to express the action of an Eastern shepherd, who goes before His sheep when he takes them to pasture. (See John x. 4.) There is, no doubt, this meaning here; and the connection between this promise of our Lord and the prophecy of the scattering of the sheep is thus marked; Christ would gather again His little flock, and go before them, as their Shepherd risen from the dead, into Galilee. If we accept this meaning of the word, we may reconcile the difficulties which arise on our noticing that, although

answered and said unto Him, Though all shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired

our Lord had said He would see the disciples in Galilee (which was full of disciples, and the familiar scene of so much of His ministry); yet we find Him appear repeatedly to them, in Jerusalem and its environs, on the day of the resurrection. (See P. II. i. 20). He thus appeared to them all; first to Mary Magdalene; then to the women who had gone to the sepulchre; then to Cephas; then to the disciples who went to Emmaus; then to the Apostles, Thomas being absent; then again to the eleven, Thomas present. After this He was seen in Galilee (John xxi. 1-24). The Apostles seem, in the interim, to have proceeded there in consequence of our Lord's direction; He "went before them” (as a shepherd before the sheep which follow him), but whether He went visibly before them, or, as seems more probable, gathered them in spirit,

and so directed them, we know not. S. Luke (Acts i. 3) says, "He was seen of them forty days;" where the original word implies that He appeared at intervals during that period, on the scene of their former converse in Galilee, when He spoke to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and its constitution and progress, and their office and work in connection with it. It is probable that, shortly subsequent to His appearance at the Sea of Tiberias, He showed Himself to the Apostles, and to "above five hundred brethren at once," who were assembled with them, many of whom had doubtless been witnesses of His former labours (1 Cor. xv. 6), the same who are mentioned in Matt. xxviii. 17. Towards the close of the forty days the Apostles appear to have returned to Judea, where He was specially seen of James, then of all the Apostles," gathered to His ascension. (See P. II. iii. 25, vi. 2, vii. 1–3, viii. 1, 2.)

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7. though all.-In the A. V. of Matt. xxvi. 33, there is a mistake made, which is avoided in the A. V. Mark xiv. 29. We read, "though all men ; the word "men," being in italics, is put in to supply the sense, which it curiously perverts. S. Peter does not say, "though all men," but "though all" (my fellow disciples) "shall be offended," yet will not I: his words are his reply to our Lord's declaration, “ All ye shall be offended because of Me this night."

8. desired. The original word is a strong one; it implies that he had made the demand, and had obtained it. This passage recalls the demand of Satan against Job (Job i. 6-12, ii. 1-6), which has often been looked on as a poetical allegory, but which, in the light here thrown upon it, must appear a revelation of truth. It is the certain doctrine of Scripture that God permits trial and temptation (urged under Satan's malign influence) to overtake mankind in order to prove them; but that also limits are imposed by His wisdom within which the trial may be made. (See 1 Cor. x. 13; James i. 2-4.) This

to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto Him, Lord, I am ready to go with Thee, both into is, however, quite different from the temptations and trials, far greater in their number and danger, to which mankind subject themselves, by yielding to sins against which God's Word emphatically warns them.

9. sift you as wheat.-S. John seems to record this in the sequence of result, rather than of event; as SS. Matthew and Mark apparently give the anointing at Bethany just before the treachery of Judas. (See xxii. 8.) He would mark a connection with the strife amongst the disciples for pre-eminence: their want of humility gave a vantageground to Satan, of which he was prompt to avail himself, pride of heart being a spirit kindred to his own. This sifting tried them all; it carried away Judas altogether, and displayed the infirmity of Peter and of the other disciples.

10. for thee. He had desired to have them all ("you" is plural), but Peter especially needed the shield of Christ's intercession; and therefore for him especially Christ prayed. And, lest he should be overwhelmed with sorrow for the depth of his fall, Christ graciously places on him the honour and duty of strengthening those whose fall had been less disgraceful than his own. There is the same kindness manifested in the risen Saviour's message to the disciples: "Go, tell His disciples and Peter"—especially him who needs, in his humiliation, an individual token of remembrance and love. (See P. II. i. 19.) But the injunction to Peter conveys a general lesson: those who have known the bitterness of a fall are, on their restoration, charged, as specially qualified, to strengthen the weak against the same errors into which they fell; they are most sensitive and alive to all the perils of temptation; and thus Christ's mercy gives them the true source of comfort and recovery to themselves, in bidding them guard and comfort others.

11. fail not.-Fail not utterly, beyond remedy. "And when thou art converted," penitent, and restored from the failure of faith over which you shall grieve and mourn, then recover your happiness and confidence in labouring to support the faith of others who have fallen with you, though less notoriously; who, had you been as strong in act as in profession, might not have fallen.

12. I am ready.-There is warm affection evident in Peter's reply, different, as light from darkness, from the sullen temper in which Judas sinned against his Lord. But there is that self-dependence and want of humility which must ever injure the cause of Christ. It is painful to notice this pride of heart in the warm-hearted devotion of Peter; he cannot think it possible that he should fall; he would dare the lingering despair of imprisonment, nay, even the sharp agony of death, before he would desert the cause which he had now heartily espoused.