coming to the feast, came out to meet Him.

And

Jesus having found a young ass, sat thereon, as it is written; Fear not, daughter of Sion; behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt." Meanwhile the people who had been with Him when He had called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, came to bear record of the miracle which they had seen'; and they took branches of palm trees and strewed them in the way. "And when he was come nigh, even at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God for all the mighty works that they had seen, and cried, Hosanna to the Son of David: 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. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you, that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto 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

1 John xii. 17. 13.

2 Matt. xxi. 9.

3 Mark xi. 9.

they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation'!" "And when the even-tide was come, He went out unto Bethany with the twelve 2."

The events of the Monday are described with equal exactness. In the morning the Lord entered Jerusalem, from Bethany, with His disciples, and cursed the barren fig-tree as He passed. He then went into the temple, and cast out of it those that bought and sold there.

"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. And when even was come, He" again "returned to Bethany with His disciples."

On the Tuesday morning, as they passed again from Bethany to Jerusalem, they saw the fig-tree dried up by the roots. On entering Jerusalem, Jesus went again into the temple; and as He was teaching, the Scribes and Chief Priests and elders came up to ask Him by what authority He did those things: He replied to them by asking them of the baptism of John, whether it was from heaven or of men; and then, resuming His usual mode of teaching, delivered the parables of the certain man who had two sons, the householder who let out his vineyard to husbandmen and went into a far

1 Luke xix. 41-14.

2 Mark xi. 11.

3

Matt. xxi.

G

country, and the marriage supper. After this, in pursuance of the design of entangling Him in His talk, which the Jews had recently determined upon, the Herodians came to Him with their political question respecting the tribute-money. Then came the Sadducees, to ask Him of the woman who had married seven brothers; and when they were answered, the Scribes, to ask Him which was the great commandment of the Law. When this joint design was frustrated by our Lord's discreet answers, He asked a question of them in turn; the effect of which was, that from that day forth no man durst ask Him any more questions. After the observations which arose from the poor widow throwing in two mites into the treasury, Jesus left the temple; and when the disciples called His attention to the vast strength and beauty of the building, He took His seat upon the Mount of Olives, over against the temple, and uttered those solemn and remarkable prophecies of the destruction of the temple and the city, and the final destruction of the world at His own second Advent: and that night He went out and abode in the Mount of Olives, probably in the garden of Gethsemane, where, as St. John incidentally observes, He often resorted with His disciples.

Then follow those two silent nights and days, of which the Evangelists give us no particular account, till on the Thursday evening, the day on which the

passover was killed, the last supper was celebrated in the large upper-room furnished, which had been miraculously pointed out to Peter and John.

The narrative of these few days, so deeply interesting from the time of it, and from the subjects which it embraces, is studied with great profit in this connected and particular form. By comparing the Evangelists, we learn the time, the locality, and all the other circumstances of each particular lesson, and thus obtain a striking and vivid representation of the most important events that ever passed upon this earth.

But it is with the circumstances of the Sunday, the day which corresponds with this present day', that we are now most immediately concerned; and the peculiar grace of our Lord's perfect character, which our Church in her Collect for the day offers to our imitation, and which the events of this passage of His life strikingly exhibit, is His humility.

"All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold your King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

We have not now to speak of those greater exhibitions of His humility, that though He was in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant,

1 This Sermon was preached on the Sunday before Easter-day.

and, being found in fashion as a man, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,but rather with such as marked His holy demeanour throughout His life of trials, and offer the most accessible examples to our imitation.

The entry into Jerusalem- was one of the very few occasions in our Lord's life when He appeared rather in His state of triumph than of humiliation. He was now known not only as the teacher whom the people had for some time been accustomed to listen to with delight and astonishment, but also as the divine Messenger whose word had been effectual in their own sight to raise Lazarus from his tomb. The persecution of the Chief Priests and Scribes was greatly compensated by the attachment and respect of the populace. What a natural occasion, then, was this for a man to have exhibited the spirit of human pride and gratified ambition!

He came as a King-the very King of glory to whom the everlasting doors of heaven were to be opened, but it was to refuse and decline the earthly kingdom which His followers would fain have set up. He came surrounded by the witnesses of His divine power, who rent the air with their Hosannas -but it was meekly, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. Surely majesty the most exalted, and the most unaffected simplicity, were never so marvellously blended. He did not repress, He was not ashamed or afraid of the loud praises of His attendant disciples; on the contrary, He declared that if they held their peace, the very