3 Modern travellers have noticed that there are not infrequently two gateways in Oriental cities, one for beasts of burden, and one for foot-passengers, and that the name given to the latter is Es Summ el Kayût, The eye of the needle. Cf. Kitto, Pict. Bible. The figure of an elephant passing through a needle's eye is sometimes used in the Talmud. Cf. Lightfoot in loco. A "cable" has been conjectured for "camel," but the reading rests on no Ms. authority, and would destroy the whole Oriental spirit of hyperbole, which belongs to the proverbial saying in its generally accepted form.

4 In the catalogue, "or wife" is omitted in some of the oldest Mss. and versions, and "wives" are not mentioned in the list of those blessings which will be multiplied, so that there was no ground for the sneering jest of Julian about the multiplicity of wives which the Christian was taught to look for.

S. Matt.

XX. I.

XLVIII.

The Ambitious Request of SS. James

and John.

S. MARK X. 32-45.

OUR Lord had just before spoken the parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard. It must have been while He was still beyond Jordan, for such an

illustration would be naturally suggested by the features of a Peræan landscape. The note that they were going up to Jerusalem indicates that they had crossed the ford. It was an eventful epoch in their journey. The road to the scene of the Crucifixion was no longer interrupted, and thither "He set His face steadfastly to go up." Whether it was an impatient eagerness to reach the goal, such as He expressed in the outburst, "How am I straitened S. Luke till it be accomplished!" or whether, in the anticipation of what awaited Him, He felt that He must gather strength from undisturbed communion with the Father, we cannot tell. All we know is, that, contrary to His general habit, He was walking1 in advance of the rest by Himself alone. It was so unlike what they had been used to, that it led to anxious questionings among His followers.

xii. 50.

They saw perhaps an intense earnestness in His look that bespoke grave forebodings, and their wonder grew into a weird feeling of awe, and "they were afraid." And He, knowing their thoughts, called the Twelve, who would naturally be nearest in the crowd, and for the third time told them of His S. Matt. coming Death, only now with a greater distinct- xvii. 22, 23. ness, as befitted its nearer approach. He predicted even the mocking and spitting, the scourging and

VOL. II.

E

xvi. 21;

S. Matt.

XX. 19.

Joseph.
Antiq.

vi. 11. 9.

S. Matt.

XX. 20.

Heb. ii. 10.

crucifixion,2 who would be the chief instigators, and who the agents by which it should be accomplished.

Strange as it may seem, what He told them of the coming shame and dishonour laid no hold upon their minds; they thought only of the glory that was to follow. Two of the favoured three came, and either with their own mouth, or through the intervention of their mother, preferred a request for the two prominent places of distinction in the kingdom which they supposed was about to be revealed.

There is no real discrepancy, such as has been alleged, between the narratives of S. Matthew and S. Mark. One puts the request into the mouth of the mother, the other into that of the sons. James and John had laid the plan, and Salome fell in with it. All no doubt were present, and it matters little by whom the petition was actually made. The answer, according to both narratives, was addressed to the sons, from whom it really emanated, directly or indirectly.

Jesus asked them if they were ready to share His lot, to drink the same cup of shame, and to be baptized in the same sea of affliction and blood. He Himself would not enter into glory till He had suf

2 Tim. ii. 12. fered pain, and those who would reign with Him

hereafter must suffer with Him here. In the confident hope of strength to bear whatever might befall, inspired by His Presence, they assured Him that they could do what He asked.

S. Greg.

xxi. 9.

Tertull. de

He set His seal to their promise, seeing, it may be, their future history, when the one should lay down his life as the first martyr in the Apostolic Acts xii. 2. company, and the other live on to advanced age in Rev. i. 9. persecution, and cruelty, and exile, cheerfully borne in Luc. for the Master's sake. But they had misconceived how the honour which they sought was to be won. It was not as an arbitrary gift from His sovereign Victorinus will, but to be assigned on recognised principles of labour and reward. It must be earned before it can be received. It is "not Mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared."

Præscript.

xxxvi.

in Apocal. ix.

xxii. 29.

This rendering of the Authorised Version is some- s. Luke what misleading, and seems to contradict what is 2 Tim. iv. 8. elsewhere taught, that it will be the prerogative of Rev. iii. 21, Christ to award us our places in His future kingdom. The contradiction has been avoided by the Revised Translation: it "is not Mine to give, but 3 it is for them for whom it is prepared." No doubt stress is laid upon the word "to give," for, though it is in one sense a free gift of God, it is in another and most true sense wages for labour done. Men