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the nature of the question, replied "We are able." And Jesus said unto them "Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father." This circumstance excited some jealousy among the rest of the apostles, but Jesus reproved them, saying, “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."

During this conversation they reached Bethphage, a hamlet on the mount of Olives, not quite a mile from Jerusalem. Here they stopped while Jesus sent two of his disciples to a place where two roads met, saying, "Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her loose them and bring them to me; and if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send

them." They brought the ass and colt accordingly, and, having spread a garment upon the latter, placed Jesus upon it, and accompanied him to Jerusalem in a kind of triumph. Thus was the prophecy of Zechariah fulfilled, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

The multitude joined the procession, hailing the advent of the Messiah with tumultuous joy. Many, according to the Eastern fashion of welcoming a monarch, laid their garments on the road, others cut down branches of the trees, and spread them before him, exclaiming "Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest." Hosanna, or Hoshah-nà, signifies in Hebrew, "Save, we pray," and was a form of blessing taken from the following verses of the Psalms: "Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD."

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The Pharisees were greatly offended at the honours which Jesus received, and asked him to silence the multitude, but he refused, declaring "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." He was not, however, elated by all this pomp; he knew that in a few days the Hosannas of this fickle crowd would be changed into the blasphemous cry of "Away with him, crucify him." As he drew nearer Jerusalem, the sight of that rebellious and unhappy metropolis revived in his mind the more dreadful prospect of the ruin that was fast approaching, and he exclaimed "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belongs to thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."

The people, however, too full of the present triumph to regard the menace of distant sufferings, entered the city with continued acclamations. So vast a concourse produced a great uproar in Jerusalem; the

citizens were amazed when they heard that it was a procession in honour of Jesus of Nazareth, recognized by the multitude as the promised Messiah, especially when they remembered what a severe sentence the Sanhedrim had passed, not only against him, but against every one who should acknowledge him to be Christ.

Having entered the city, our Lord visited the Temple, and, after a short delay, returned to Bethany, where he spent the night.

CHAPTER XII.

PASSION WEEK.

Monday.

JESUS returned to Jerusalem early in the morning, and, visiting the Temple, expelled the merchants and traders as he had done before, without encountering any opposition. He worked several miracles on the blind, lame, and sick, so that the wondering multitude, amongst whom were several children, again

raised the triumphal shout of "Hosanna to the Son of David." The Priests and the Pharisees were grievously annoyed; they tried to silence them in vain, and then appealed to Jesus. In reply, he referred them to the prophecy of the Psalmist, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger."

When the Pharisees were thus put to silence, some Greek proselytes to the Jewish religion, who had come to celebrate the feast of the Passover at Jerusalem, asked Philip, with whom they had become acquainted at Bethsaida, to bring them to Jesus. He complied with their request. Our Lord took this opportunity of removing the scandal of the cross, by which he was going to procure the salvation of both Jew and Gentile; he therefore spoke to them respecting his sufferings in the following terms. "The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where

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