Verses 25-28. "He called them unto him, and said, 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."

This is the lesson the Christian has to learn: and let all who hear these words of Christ, look into his own heart, and see how different is the spirit there. "Each one for himself, and God for us all," is a proverb among worldly people; and it well expresses the struggle that is always going on among them, which shall be foremost in the race after this world's advantages; a struggle so great, so eager, that as the proverb expresses, if God's power did not prevent it, each would trample his fellow beneath his feet, as he passed on to get before him.

It is the very spirit of the world, and is seen in the youngest child, as in the old man. Which of us must not confess to it, if we know ourselves? for there is that within us, whether young or old, rich or poor, that seems as it were to be ever trying to push forward into the foremost rank, or turning angrily upon those who get before us. Religion is not real religion unless it checks this spirit, unless it teaches us to be glad of the success of others; to be content ourselves to stand aside while others pass us by. Yet how hard is it to do so? It is a spirit that will enter even into the religious life, as James and John, though apostles, desired to have the best places in the kingdom of Christ. It will, when for ourselves we seem to have conquered it, rise up again within us for our children, as in Salome, who, though she had herself given up much for Christ, and followed him to minister to him of her substance, yet sought for her reward in seeing her sons preferred to the chief seats of honor

in his kingdom; and so even her ambition was clothed in the garb of religion.

We can best check this spirit by looking round us, each in the station in which God has placed us, to find what work for Christ lies within our reach. Not "seeking for some great thing to do," but quietly, earnestly, to follow his steps, to heal the sick, to comfort the sorrowful, to help the poor and needy, to teach the ignorant.

Now, all this may be done, even by those who have little or no money to give. Kindness, good sense, and earnest desire, are mighty instruments: and it is wonderful what they have been able to accomplish. The kingdom of Christ has been more forwarded by these, than by power and riches. Some may answer, "these things are well in the quiet walks of life; but men in busy professions cannot attend to them." This is not true, for there is no occupation in which men may not follow the example of Christ, who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. In the highest offices of state, as in the simplest professions, those who least seek their own aggrandizement, who most seek the glory of God in the general good, will best fulfil their duties.

Even when the religion of Jesus has so much power over our hearts, as to hold us back from selfishly seeking the best places for ourselves, or from desiring to be highly esteemed among men, even then, this same worldly spirit will strive to shew itself, in a feeling of mortification, almost of angry grudge, that others gain the praise we might have had. If content to remain in the back-ground ourselves, we are apt, like the ten apostles, to be displeased with those, who, like John and James, seek to get before us. This is human nature, and there is no cure for it, but the cure which the Lord Jesus holds out to us, steadily to keep his example in sight, to minister to the good of others as He did, having no other end in view. When we find the proud spirit struggling within us, let us check it, by

trying to be more humble still, in obedience to those words of his, "Whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all." Much prayer is needed for this.

*

This truly is to take

up the cross daily, and to follow Christ. By our efforts after this, we shall know that we are his, for the world glories in that worldly spirit; but to those, who would be Christ's, it is their shame and their grief that it still stirs within them. It is an infectious spirit, for we catch it from each other; and to live much with worldly people greatly increases our difficulty. It is wonderful in how many shapes the desire to be something more than others shews itself. Even in sickness and in sorrow, it is often seen that the sufferer seems to take comfort in the thought that none were ever before so tried with affliction. It is the desire to surpass others that makes life the struggle that it is. The epistle of St. James, (not the son of Zebedee,) but of Alphæus, is peculiarly useful in the help it offers to us against this same worldly spirit. "Grudge not one against another, brethren behold, the Judge standeth at the door." James v. 9. When conscious of the sin, let us fall upon our knees and pray.

:

Prayer.

Lord, thou knowest my heart, thou knowest that I would be thine, yet this evil spirit within me lusteth to evil. Oh! give me more grace; † I would submit myself to thee, I would resist the devil, and I know that he will flee from me: ‡ but the spirit of the world struggles hard within me. It is my grief and shame, it takes away my happiness, it destroys my peace, it makes me double-minded, so that I am unstable in all my ways. Oh! Jesus, my Lord, stretch out thy hand to help, in this my time of need. Give me to fix mine eyes on thee, and with a loving heart, to strive to be like-minded with thee, who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister to James iv. 5, 7.

* Mark x. 44.

Ib. i. 8.

the good of others; and, who gave, even thy life, to be a ransom for many. Oh! gracious God, forgive me, increase my faith, for that alone can overcome the spirit of the world; this, only, is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Amen.

The Lord Jesus saw good to turn aside from the direct road to Jerusalem. He had no need to be there till the appointed hour and much could be done for the bodies and souls of men in the time that lay between.

Verse 46. "And they, (Jesus and his disciples,) came to Jericho."

These simple words give us but little idea of what that journey must have been. The days of the Passover were at hand, and from every part of Judea, from regions far beyond Judea, wherever the sons of Israel dwelt, the whole population in gathering streams rolled onwards to Jerusalem. From every mountain pass, from every road, and from every town, they poured down in joyous crowds, for this was the great national rejoicing, when all Jewish families, old men and women, young men and maidens, even children, all who could travel, flocked to Jerusalem, to celebrate the great deliverance the Lord had made for them from the land of Egypt. They knew not yet that this deliverance was only the type of one far greater, from a bondage worse than that of Pharoah. They knew not now, while they were travelling joyfully to keep the Feast at Jerusalem, and thousands and tens of thousands of lambs were passing the fords of the river Jordan to be sacrificed there,*

According to Josephus, two hundred and fifty-six thousand, five hundred

that He whom all these lambs prefigured, by whose blood they in truth alone could be saved, was calmly journeying on to Jerusalem, to offer up himself a ransom for many. The angel of destruction would again pass through the land, and only those sprinkled with the blood of this holy lamb of God could be saved. All this they knew, not though the hour was hastening on; but all this Jesus knew, and He took his way to Jericho, the great city of the priests, the next in size and wealth to Jerusalem, now filled to overflowing, by the arrival of the crowds gathering there for the approaching Feast. Jericho, the city of Palm-trees, was the most ancient in Judea. Joshua had sent spies into it when first he led the armies of Israel into the promised land. If you do not well remember the manner in which it was destroyed, turn to the 6th chapter of the book of Joshua and read it there, and the curse that was laid upon whoever should rebuild it. It was rebuilt, and the curse fell upon the man who rebuilt it, for his first-born died as the foundation-stone was laid, and his youngest died as the gates were set up, "according to the word of the Lord, spoken by Joshua, the son of Nun."

In the time of Christ it was larger, and more filled with inlambs were sacrificed at one Passover; and the number of those who kept the Feast in Jerusalem, not less than two millions, seven-hundred-thousand persons. * In Jericho was the school of prophets, spoken of in the time of Elisha. It seems probable that the fear of the curse caused the place of the city to be moved as time went on, and many buildings were added. From the appearance of the ruins at the present time, it is thought that the Jericho here mentioned, which had been much strengthened and adorned by Herod, (called the Great,) after he had first sacked the town, lay about two miles from the first city. Nothing now remains of it; but a wretched village, named Rihak, the meanest and dirtiest in Syria, has long been supposed by travellers to be built on the site of ancient Jericho, and the ruins of an old castle on the hill above, has been pointed out as the house of Zaccheus, but this is now understood to be a mistake. See Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, p. 293. Dr. Olin's Travels in the East, and Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. ii.

The whole plain of Jericho shews the remains of ancient aqueducts, &c.

† 1 Kings xviii. 35.

Joshua ii.