oured Him, in the way that princes and conquerors were often honoured, by spreading their garments before Him, and cutting down branches from the trees, and casting them before Him, St. John tells us they were branches from the palm tree, which was an emblem of joy and victory: also used by the Roman soldiers, as well as the Jews, as a symbol of peace. This was on the day answering to our Sunday before Easter, commonly known as Palm Sunday from the circumstance here related. As the multitudes went along, they shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David." The word Hosanna is Hebrew, and taken from Psalm cxviii. 25, signifying, "Save now, we beseech thee." The whole expression, in the 9th verse, is taken from that Psalm; and we can only conjecture that the multitude had a vague idea that Jesus had come to be a temporal King, and a conquering Messiah, who would set Israel free from all foreign dominion. There must have been an over-ruling, constraining influence on the minds of the Jewish people on this occasion, to receive Christ as King; and, no doubt, the same power will be put forth when He comes at the last day to judge the world. Welcome sight: the Lord descending,— Now from home no longer banished, They are going to their rest; Though the heavens and earth have vanished With their Lord they shall be blest : Blest with Him His saints shall be ; Blest throughout eternity! Death, the Way to Spiritual Life. God's Voice Heard from Heaven. ST. JOHN XII. 23-33. 23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 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. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. 27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. 28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. 29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. 30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. 31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33 This he said, signifying what death he should die. It is probable that these words were spoken by our Lord to His twelve disciples only. He saw the state of mind in which they were: He saw them excited by His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and that they were secretly expecting a glorious kingdom to be immediately set up, in which they would have chief places, power, and authority. But our Lord would have them know that He came to carry a cross, and not to wear He came not to live a life of honour, ease, a crown. and magnificence; but to die a shameful and dishonoured death. The kingdom He came to set up was to begin with a crucifixion, and not with a coronation. Its glory was to take its rise not from victories won by the sword, and from accumulated treasures of gold and silver; but from the death of its King. This sentence was also meant to teach a wider and a broader lesson. It revealed, under a striking figure, the mighty foundation-truth, that Christ's death was to be the source of spiritual life to the world. From His cross and passion was to spring up a mighty harvest of benefit to all mankind. His death, like a grain of seed-corn, was to be the root of blessings and mercies to countless millions of immortal souls. In short, the great principle of the Gospel was once more exhibited, that Christ's vicarious death (not His life, or miracles, or teaching; but His death) was to bring forth fruit to the praise of God, and to provide redemption for a lost world. In the twenty-fourth verse our Lord illustrates a great scriptural truth, by a very familiar fact in nature,—which is, that in plants and seeds life comes by death. The seed must be put into the ground, must rot, decay, and die, if we want it to bear fruit and produce a crop. If we refuse to bury the seed, and will keep it without sowing it, we shall never reap any harvest. We have in this figure a wealth of spiritual truth. The death of Christ was the life of the world: from it as a most prolific seed, was to spring an enormous harvest of blessing to souls and of glory to God: His substitution on the cross, His atoning death were to be the beginning of untold blessings to a THE WAY TO SPIRITUAL LIFE. 385 lost world. To wish Him not to die, to dislike the idea of His death (as the disciples evidently did), was as foolish as to keep seed-corn locked up in the granary, and to refuse to sow it. Let us mark the immense importance which our Lord attaches to His death; nothing can explain this but the old foundation doctrine of the Bible, that Christ's sacrificial death on the cross is the only satisfaction and atonement for the sin of the world. This deep and mighty sentence was followed by a practical application, which closely concerns ourselves : "He that hateth his life shall keep it." He that would be saved must be ready to give up life itself, if necessary, in order to obtain salvation; he who loves the life that now is, so much that he cannot deny himself anything for the sake of his soul, will find at length that he has lost everything; but he who is ready to cast away everything most dear to him in this life, if it stands in the way of his soul, and to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts, will find at length that he is no loser. One object of our Lord in saying these words, was evidently to prevent His disciples looking for good things in this life, if they followed Him: they must understand that His kingdom was entirely spiritual, and that if they were His disciples they must be content to lose much in this life, in order to gain the glory of the life to come. Another object our Lord had, was to teach Christians in every age that, like Him, they must make up their minds to sacrifice much, and to be willing to give up every thing, in the hope of a harvest of glory and eternal life. We learn also from the twenty-sixth verse, that if we profess to serve Christ we must follow Him. That expression "following" is one of wide signification, and brings before our minds many familiar ideas as the soldier follows his general, as the servant follows his master, as the scholar follows his teacher, as the sheep follows its shepherd,-just so ought the professing Christian to follow Christ. Faith and obedience are the leading marks of real followers, and will always be seen in true believing Christians. Their knowledge may be very small, and their infirmities very great; their grace very weak, and their hope very dim; but they believe what Christ says, and strive to do what He commands: and of such Christ declares, "They serve Me: they are Mine." Christianity like this, receives little praise from man it is too thorough, too decided, too strong, too real. To serve Christ in name and form is easy work, and satisfies most people; but to follow Him in faith and life demands more trouble than the generality of men will take about their souls. Laughter, ridicule, opposition, persecution, are often the only reward which Christ's followers get from the world. Their religion is one" whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Rom. ii. 29.) In the twenty-seventh verse we cannot fail to see a mighty mental struggle in our blessed Saviour, arising from the natural feelings of One who was perfect Man, and as man, could suffer all that man is capable of suffering: yet He in whom this struggle took place was the holy Son of God "in Him is no sin." (1 John iii. 5.) There is a fountain of comfort here for |