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thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." The lawyer said, "Who is my neighbour?" Then Jesus replied, by relating the parable of the good Samaritan, by which he showed both him and all the by-standers that the pure spirit of love has no limits; and that it must not only be practised toward Jews, but toward all men of whatsoever family or nation, the Gentile whom they despised, or the Samaritan whom they hated.

Fourth Messianic journey through Galilee.-It is impossible to trace the historical order of the events of this last journey through Galilee. Our Lord's mission upon earth was drawing to a close. The hour of his last agony was approaching. We have no geographical data for ascertaining the compass of his journey, but it appears to have partaken of the character of a circuitous route, which was to terminate at Jerusalem. His miracles called forth similar remarks and accusations as on former occasions. His healing a demoniac was again ascribed to the interposition of Beelzebub. His eating with unwashen hands again excited the astonishment of the Pharisees, and led to a discourse against their hypocrisy and carnal righteousness. His sermons were still of the same character, and it would almost appear that many of them were repetitions of the same Divine words which he had spoken on former occasions, intermingled with fresh illustrations and parables. He prescribed to his disciples a form of prayer, and delivered a discourse on the subject. He related the parables of the rich man, who laid up treasure for himself and not for God; of the fig tree that would bear no fruit; of the great supper to which many were called, but from which all who were bidden began to make excuse; of the hundred sheep and of the ten pieces of silver; of the prodigal son; of the unjust steward; and of the rich man and Lazarus. Meantime however the Pharisees were every where exerting their influence against

him. His life was threatened by the tetrarch Herod' Antipas. Even the people who came in crowds to listen to his teachings declined in faith. At one village ten lepers prayed him to have mercy upon them. He sent them to the priests. On their way they were healed. But only one, and he was a Samaritan, returned to give thanks and glorify God.

Last journey from Galilee through Peræa to 76 Jerusalem.-The fourth Passover now drew near, and Jesus began his last journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. The Samaritans, as we have already seen, refused to entertain him. He therefore crossed the Jordan and proceeded through Peræa to Judæa. Here he was followed by vast multitudes, whom he taught and healed. The Pharisees, as usual, pursued him with their questions. They asked him when the kingdom of God should come, upon which he delivered a long discourse upon the subject to them and to his disciples, in which he endeavoured to banish from their minds the last hope that he was about to establish a mere earthly dominion. "The kingdom of God is spiritual, and cometh not with outward show. Men shall not cry, Lo here! or lo there! as though some temporal sovereignty was about to be established before your eyes, for I tell you that the kingdom of God is to be established within your hearts. Deceivers will arise and men will cry, 'See here!' or 'see there!' but go not after them. The Son of man will indeed come, but first must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation. And then when he comes, unbelievers will be punished as they were by the deluge in the days of Noah, and by the brimstone fire in the days of Lot, and few will be able to stand the trial." Jesus concluded his sermon by two parables. First, he taught that men ought always to pray, and not to faint, and illustrated the efficacy of constant prayer by the parable of the woman, who continually cried to the unjust judge. Secondly, he taught that men must beware of presuming on self-righteousness, and of despising re

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pentant sinners, and illustrated the evils of this sin by the beautiful parable of the Pharisee and the publican. When he had finished, the Pharisees endeavoured to involve him in an argument upon divorcement, for the two great Pharisaic schools of Hillel and Schammai were chiefly divided upon this question. Jesus however denied the right of any one to put away his wife. A certain young man, who was very wealthy, next came to him, and said, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus replied, "Keep the commandments!" But the young man said he had done so from his youth up. Then Jesus beholding him, loved him, and said, "One thing thou lackest go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me." The young man departed very sorrowful, and Jesus took the opportunity of showing his disciples how hardly a rich man could enter into the kingdom of God; but that all who left relations and riches for the gospel's sake, should receive an hundred-fold and inherit eternal life. He concluded this sermon also with a parable, in which he explained the peculiar character of the Jews and Gentiles in the kingdom of God, by the beautiful story of the labourers in the vineyard.

Reaches Bethany and Jerusalem. — At last Jesus and his disciples entered Judæa. The disciples began to be alarmed, and he took the twelve apart and explained to them all that was to happen, and how the writings of the prophets were to be accomplished at Jerusalem. The twelve however could not understand him. The expectation of an earthly kingdom still lingered in their hearts. Two of them, John and James the elder, who belonged to the favoured three, came to him with their mother Salome, and begged that they might sit one on his right hand and the other on his left when he had established his kingdom. He replied, that it should be given to them for whom it was prepared by the Father; and seeing that the other ten

disciples were displeased with James and John, he declared that in his spiritual kingdom they should not exercise power like the princes of the Roman empire, who were in their turn subject to higher authorities. He then passed through Jericho, healing one blind man as he entered it, and two blind men as he left it. He visited Zaccheus, who was a chief of the publicans, or general receiver of the money; and he delivered a discourse on the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and illustrated it by the parable of the nobleman, who, when about to go into a far country, gave different sums of minas or pounds to each of his ten servants, with orders to employ the money until his return. At length Jesus reached Bethany, six days before the feast of Passover.

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CHAPTER VIII.

PASSION WEEK.

A. D.-30.

1st day, Sunday. The Sanhedrim try to arrest Jesus.-The last week of our Lord's life on earth was now commencing. He resided at Bethany with Lazarus and his two sisters, but made frequent visits to Jerusalem, which was only two miles distant. Meanwhile the Sanhedrim were endeavouring to take both Jesus and Lazarus. At Bethany Jesus was entertained by Simon the leper, and Lazarus sat at the table whilst Martha served; and Mary poured the very precious spikenard on his head, and anointed his feet and wiped them with her hair. The disciples angrily inquired the reason of the waste. Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, asked why the ointment was not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor, not however because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and carried the bag, or common purse of the disciples. But Jesus replied, "Let her alone! she hath done a good work on me. Ye always have the

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poor with you, but me ye have not always. She is come beforehand to anoint my body for the burial; and wheresoever this gospel shall be preached, that which this woman hath done shall be told for a memorial of her."

2nd day, Monday. Messianic procession into Jerusalem.-The news had now reached Jerusalem that Jesus was at Bethany. The report had spread throughout the capital that the Messiah was coming to establish the throne of his father David. The whole population were aroused. The people took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus, crying, "Hosanna! blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." On the same morning Jesus had already prepared for his public entry into Jerusalem in accordance with the words of Zechariah (ix. 9): Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, Meek and sitting upon an ass,

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And upon a colt the foal of an ass.'

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On reaching the Mount of Olives on his way from Bethany to Jerusalem, he had sent two of his disciples to the neighbouring village of Bethphage to bring him an ass's colt, which they would find tied, and on which no man had ever sat. The disciples brought the colt and cast their garments upon it, and Jesus sat thereon. A vast multitude were now assembled. The people strewed the way with their garments and with branches from the trees. Rejoicings and praises filled the air, and as Jesus descended the Mount of Olives, the crowd of disciples cried, "Blessed is the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." The Pharisees in the multitude said to him, "Master, rebuke thy disciples!" But he replied, "I tell you that if they held their peace, the very stones would cry out." Those who went before and those who followed still continued crying, "Hosanna! blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! blessed be the kingdom of our father David that

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