Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-10-24
JESUS IN G~ETHSEMANE.
LESSON ", FOURTH QUARTER, IN
TERNATlONAL SERIES, OCT. 26.

l1OlHlultu HUN btSSOu t1tlDeT QudIIcTly ny per
mission of II. S. Hoffman, publisher, Philadel-
phia.l
80. "And He came out and went as He
was wont to the Mount of Olives; and His
disciples also followed Him." After the
last lesson we must listen to His most
gracious words as recorded in John xiv,
XIV, xvi, then we hear them sing a hymn,
and then bow our heads and hearts in
deepest alteration as we hear Him pray as
never man prayed before John XVIII. He
prayed so earnestly for them, and for us
who believe on Him through their word,
and again as He thinks of His finished
work the glory fills His vision, and He
asks that for us, too. Then they follow
Him, no doubt silent and wondering, hav-
ing heard such strange things about an
other to take His place as their comforter,
teacher, friend. He had often gone to this
mount before in the evening CHAP. xxi,
81; John viii, y, but perhaps never so late
as this; and now it was the last time, and
He was more alone than ever us far as
human sympathy went. His disciples fol-
low. but they do not understand.
40. "And when He was at the place He
said unto them, Pray that We enter not into
temptation" They had all joined Peter in
saying that they would never deny Him
Mark xiv, 81, and now they are about to
have a little test of how far they can 20
with Him and how much they can bear for
Him. According to Mark, He left the
eleven (perhaps just inside the garden),
and took Peter, James and John, and be-
gan to be sore amazed and very heavy, say
ing, my soul is exceeding sorrowful unto
death" AS He enters into the deepening
shadows of the cross only these three are
privileged to come near.
Al nd Ia x-a rithIrnxr frop, thor,
about a stones cast and kneeled down and
prayed" The shadows still deepen, and
these, too, must be left.
AZ. Saying, Father, If thou be willing
remove this cup from Me; nevertheless,
not My will but Thine be done" He can
not mean the cross and His being made a
curse thereon, for to that He steadily and
unflinchingly journeyed; but this is an
other cup, n sore conflict with the enemy
of which we can understand but little. Let
me state it as | see it and then prove it. In
His great atonement which He came to &C
complish He was to be made a curse by be-
ing hung upon a tree (Gal. iii, 49,. His
hands and feet were to be pierced Cps. xxi,
16); yet not a bone was to be broken (Ex.
xii, 46). Thus His death by crucifixion was
plainly foretold and must be fulfilled Now
if Satan could manage to kill Him in this
pcllSSilldhc ColhlCO, Uneh Ihc WoTh tudI
He came to do would be undone. This
seems to have been the aim of the adver-
sary. And if the Father should so will it,
Jesus would submit.
~. And there appeared an angel unto
Him from heaven strengthening Him"
One of those blessed ones so ready to wait
upon Him and upon all who are His; who
announced and heralded His birth, and
who waited upon Him at His resurrection,
and spoke to Mary and the other women
so kindly.
a. "And being in an agony He prayed
more earnestly; and His sweat was, us it
We're, great drops of blood falling down to
the ground Being strengthened He con-
tinues the conflict and is victor; but who can
tell the agony which caused this sweat like
drops of blood?
~. And when He rose up from prayer
and was come to His disciples He found
them sleeping for sorrow."
46. And said unto them, Why sleep We?
Rise and pray lest We enter into tempta-
ton" 1t was a poor fultillment of their
readiness to die with Him; but as He said,
"while their spirit was willing their flesh
was weak" and He pitied them.
A.. "And while He yet spake, behold a
multitude, and he that was called Judas,
one of the twelve, went before them, and
drew near unto Jesus to kiss Him" He
has been contending with the adversary in
person, and now He is about to meet him
in one of His professed disciples, who while
protesting friendship has murder in his
heart. From the supper Judas went out,
Satan having entered into him John xiii,
20. And having received from the chief
priests a band of officers and men, they
came with lanterns and torches and wea-
pons to arrest Jesus John xviii, -. From
being treasurer of the twelve, and out
wardly "A disciple of Christ, he has now
come ont in his true colors as an adversary,
a devil. While of the number of the twelve
he had never been a truly chosen one John
xiii, Isl.
IS. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, be-
trayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?''
Mark says that Judas said, Master, mas.
ter" and kissed him.
40. "When they which were about Him
saw what would follow, they said unto
Him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?''
Had He not spoken of sword and ad vised
their obtaining them? This, then, was
surely the time to use them. But ali! they
knew Him not, they understood Him not,
they had not much of His spirit; while we
may lawfully defend, we must not attack.
80. "And one of them smote the servant
of the high priest and cut off his right ear. u
; The servants name was Malchus, and il
was Simon Peter who blundered John
xviii, l0D. Had Peter been watching and
praying instead of sleeping he had not
; acted thus rashly and unbidden.
81. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer
ye thus far, and He touched his ear and
healed him" Suffer We thus far is not as
if He said to Peter, You nave gone far
enough, be content, for Peter had gone toe
far and Jesus gently rebukes him, and also
adds, "Thinkest thou that | cannot now
pray to My Father, and He shall presently
give ne more than twelve legions of an.
gels?" Matt. XVI, 5l-53l But He says tc
those who would apprehend Him, who
were probably making noise enough about
Peters act, and ready to kill Peter, "Beai
4 with this, suffer this much, for | will rem.
: edy it," and at the same time He restores
the mans ear. His last act of healing is
upon an enemy who has suffered at the
hands of one of His disciples.
SO. And Jesus said unto the chief priests
and captains of the temple, and the elders