friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

Instead of attending to the allusion, the twelve began immediately to inquire among themselves, which of them it was, that should do this thing: And they began to be exceeding sorrow ful, and to say unto him, one by one, Lord, is it I? And another said, Is it I?t Our Lord, in-i stead of giving a direct answer to each individual, merely repeated his assertion in general terms : It is one of the twelve. ‡ Yes. He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.§ The Son of man indeed goeth, as it was determined, and as it was written of him: but woe unto that man, by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man, if he had not been born. ||

That our Lord uttered these words generally, and without any direct or marked reference to Iscariot, is clear; for the Apostles continued to look one on another, doubting of whom he spake.¶

Now, St. John, the personal friend of our Saviour, was reclining nearest to him; and Simon

• Psalm, xli. 9.

† Luke, xxii. 23. Mark, xiv.19. Matt.xxvi. 22.

Mark, xiv. 20, 21.

|| Luke, xxii. 22.

f Matt. xxvi. 2 .

John, xiii. 22. 27.

Peter, restrained, by the rebuke he had so lately received, from speaking himself, beckoned to John, that he should ask, in a whisper, who it should be, of whom he spake. He, then, lying on Jesus' breast, saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. That all this passed in a whisper, is evident from the fact, that, when he afterwards said to Judas, That thou doest, do quickly, no man at the table tent he spake this unto him. But some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of, against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. They appear, it may observed, to have thought, that, notwithstanding the present supper, he still intended to keep the feast on the morrow.

knew for what in

be

In the mere circumstance of our Lord's dipping a morsel in the sauce, and giving it to one of his disciples, there was nothing remarkable. In his character of ruler of the feast, he would do this, as a matter of course, to all; and it may now have been Iscariot's turn to receive it. But, in the manner of doing it, there was evidently something significant; while horror was depicted on the countenance of the

son of Zebedee. traitor, with that mixture of boldness and timidity, which we so often see in the guilty, immediately, but in an under tone, enquired, Master, is it I? The answer was dignified and decided. Thou hast said. Jesus, while displaying a full knowledge of his designs, would not condescend to upbraid him for his perfidy. And, if the heart of Judas had not been harder than a piece of the nether millstone, he would, surely, have been touched by the benevolence, which forbore to expose him openly, to the detestation of his fellows; and, convinced by his Master's miraculous knowledge of what had been whispered against him*, that he possessed, both, the means of detecting the most crafty devices, and the power, also, of bringing them to nought, he would have prostrated himself before his injured Benefactor, and sought that forgiveness, which, has never been withheld, from the truly penitent. But no, The same sun which beams life and health upon the pure, shines but to putrefy, where corruption is ingrained. The apostate, therefore, became but the more anxious to accomplish his treachery; and to guard against the frustration of a project, which he knew to be

For, the conscience-stricken

* Psalm, xli. 7.

infallibly detected.

Accordingly, when he had received the sop, he went immediately out. It was night, and the ceremonies of the festival were drawing to a close. They again washed their hands; after which, it was usual, on such occasions, for the officiator or ruler, once more, to address the assembled company, on the mercies of Jehovah, and the redemption of Israel from the sword of the destroying angel. At the conclusion of this exhortation, he blessed a third cup of wine, which, together with a portion of bread reserved for that purpose, he distributed to the guests. During the former part of the entertainment, general conversation was permitted; but, towards the conclusion, it partook of a more purely religious character; and related, always, to the origin, or the object, of the Passover. Hence, they prepared themselves for it, while performing their ablutions, by uttering a short ejaculatory prayer.

On resuming, therefore, their places at the table, the eleven were prepared to receive our Lord's exhortations, with more than ordinary attention and respect. But, instead of referring to the Jewish Passover, the holy Jesus solemnly announced his immediate glorification: Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also

glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.*

Now, when our Lord speaks of a glorification soon to take place, he alludes, no doubt, to his approaching resurrection from the dead; since, by that stupendous event, the Son of man was proved to be, also, the Son of God; and, having triumphed over the principalities and powers of darkness, his enemies were made his footstool. But, if such be the case, it seems impossible to give a future signification, to the former part of the sentence; and, therefore, when the blessed Jesus says, 'The Son of man is glorified,' he must, of necessity, refer, either, to something that was already past, or to something that was actually taking place before their eyes. The traitor had now departed; he had perhaps escaped unmarked, while the other disciples were engaged in these last ablutions: and the Lord Jesus had returned to the table, determined, and prepared, to institute the Sacrament of his Body and Blood; to which, it would seem, that the passage refers, which I have just read. For, in that sacrament, he did, if we may use the expression, anticipate his sacrifice; and, by the sacramental symbols, he applied to his followers, individually, the benefits

John, xiii. 31, 32.