ones exercise authority upon them. 43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: 44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. 45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. See notes on Matt. xx. 20-28. And James and John-came unto him. They did this through the instrumentality of their mother. They did not come in person, but they persuaded their mother to make the request for them. Compare Matthew.

46¶And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimeus, the son of Timeus, sat by the highway-side begging.

See this passage explained in notes on Matt. xx. 29-34. 'Blind Bartimeus,' Matthew says there were two. Mark mentions but one, though he does not say that there was no other. He mentions this man because he was well known. Bartimeus, the blind man.

47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. 48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. 49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. 50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.

" Casting away his garment.' That is, his outer garment; the one that was thrown loosely over him. See Matt. v. 40. He threw it off, full of joy at the prospect of being healed, and that he might run without impediment to Jesus. This may be used to illustrate the manner in which a sinner should come to Jesus. He must throw away the garments of his own righteousnesshe must rise speedily-must run with joy-must have full faith in the power of Jesus, and cast himself entirely upon his mercy.

51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. 52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

CHAPTER XI.

1 AND when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples, 2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. 3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither. 4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without, in a place where two ways met; and they loose him. 5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? 6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him. 8 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way, 9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: 10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

See this passage illustrated in Matt. xxi. 1—11, Bethphage and Bethany. Two villages, about two miles east from Jerusalem, at the foot of the mount of Olives. They came first to Bethphage, and he sent his disciples over into Bethany, a village near at hand. Compare Matthew. The Lord.' The word means, here, the Master. The word rendered Lord often means master, as opposed to servants or dependents. See Matt. vi. 24; x. 24. Eph. vi. 5. 'Two ways met.' Cross roads. A public place, probably near the centre of the village. 'What do ye, loosing the colt? Or, why do ye do this? What authority have you for doing it?

:

11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the even-tide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

Into the temple. Not into the edifice properly called the temple, but into the courts which surrounded the principal edifice. Our Saviour, not being of the tribe of Levi, was not permitted to enter into the holy or most holy place. See Matt. xxi. 12. And when he had looked round about upon all.' Having seen or examined every thing. He saw the abominations and abuses which he afterwards corrected. 'The even-tide.' The evening; the time after three o'clock, P. M. The religious services of the temple closed with the offering of the evening sacrifice at three o'clock, P. M., and Jesus probably soon left the city.

12 ¶ And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: 13 And seeing a figtree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

See this passage explained in notes on Matt. xxi. 18-22. 'Afar off.' So far as to see that it was covered with leaves, but not to determine whether there was fruit. If haply.' If perhaps. It implies an expectation, that there might be, and yet an uncer tainty from some cause. It may be remarked that the word 'haply' does not imply that there was any doubt in the mind of Jesus, but is an expression of the evangelist, speaking, as was natural to him, in the circumstances of the case. 'The time of figs was not yet.' The time of gathering figs was not yet. This is thought to be the true meaning of the passage. If the time for figs to be ripe was not yet, it would seem to be unnatural to expect any. But if the time for them to be ripe was come, yet the time of gathering them was not passed, they might expect to find some on the tree.

14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples

heard it.

'No man eat fruit of thee.' This implied that it would bear no more. It was to be withered away, and immediately its decay commenced. Jesus was willing by a miracle to teach his disciples his power, and a lesson respecting the state of the Jews -or that God had come often to the Jewish people for the fruits of holiness, and had found none; that he had himself come up to Jerusalem, and had the preceding day entered the temple, if haply he might find the fruits of righteousness, and had found none; that on account of the barrenness of the Jewish institutions, they were to come to an end; the hand of death was to be laid on the whole temple-service, and it was about to pass away As the barren fig-tree was now to be dried up and die, so Jerusalem was to be abandoned and rained.

for ever.

15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves; 16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

6

See Matt. xxi. 12-15. Any vessel.' Any vessel used in cooking, or connected with the sale of their articles of merchandise.

18

17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. 19 And when even was come, he went out of the city.

All the people was astonished.' He became popular among them. The pharisees saw that their authority was lessened or destroyed. They were therefore envious of him, and sought his life. His doctrine.' His teaching. He taught with power and authority so great that the multitudes were awed, and were constrained to obey.

20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter calling to remembrance, saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig-tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

'Thou cursedst.' To curse means to devote to destruction. This is its meaning here.

22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Have faith in God.' Literally, Have the faith of God. This may mean, have strong faith, or have confidence in God; a strong

belief that he is able to accomplish things that appear most difficult with infinite ease.

25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

'And when ye stand praying.' When ye pray. It seems that the posture in prayer was sometimes standing, and sometimes kneeling. Compare Psa. xcv. 6. 2 Chron. vi. 13. Dan. vi. 10. Luke xxii. 41. Acts vii. 60; ix. 40. We should be careful that anxiety about a mere form do not exclude anxiety about a far more important matter, the state of the soul. Forgive,' &c. See note on Matt. vi. 12, 15.

27 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, 28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? 29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. 31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? 32 But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. 33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

See notes on Matt. xxi. 23-27.

CHAPTER XII.

1 AND he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the wine-fat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the hus