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Bethphage, by the Mount of Olives, the Lord called two of His disciples, and said to them, "Go into the village over against you; and when ye enter it, 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.”

Now there had been a prophecy respecting the coming of the Messiah, in which it was said, "Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass ;" and when the Lord Jesus thus entered into Jerusalem, this prophecy was fulfilled. The disciples, accordingly, brought the ass and the colt, and laid their clothes upon them; and thus our Saviour rode into Jerusalem. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the path to do Him honour; and others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way. And in their joy and gladness at the coming of the blessed Redeemer, the multitude shouted" Hosanna (or hail) to the son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

Alas! the very people who were now so anxious to do honour to the Lord Jesus were only too quickly

led away to clamour for His death, and soon they were shouting, not "Hosanna!" but "Crucify Him! crucify Him!" So prone is the human heart to wickedness and unbelief, and so quickly are people led astray by a few bad advisers.

When the Lord Jesus came into the temple at Jerusalem, it grieved Him to see how that sacred place was profaned and put to unworthy uses. There were people who sold doves for the sacrifices, and men who changed money; and for these proceedings of bargain and of sale, they had established themselves in the temple itself,

But when Jesus saw this, He made a scourge of small cords, and drove out with disgrace all these ignoble traffickers, overturning the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. For He said, "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." And now a very different scene was beheld in the temple. The blind and the lame heard that their good teacher, their kind and sympathizing friend, had come; and they flocked in crowds into the temple, imploring His pity, and beseeching Him to look upon their distress. And the kind Saviour healed them.

The Lord Jesus was very fond of little children. He loved them, and cherished them, and often spoke of

their simplicity and obedience. Once when His disciples-who, though good and pious men, had their faults and weaknesses—were disputing as to who should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, the Saviour took a little child, and placed him in the midst of them, telling them that those who did not receive the gift of the kingdom of God as little children, humbly and thankfully, should in nowise enter therein. Another time, when young children were brought to Christ, that He might lay His hands upon them and bless them, His disciples, unwilling, perhaps, that He should be troubled with the little creatures, would have forbidden those who brought them to approach. But the kind Saviour, when He saw this, said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

And now, in the temple itself, the voices of children resounded, crying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" and singing the praises of the kind Lord who had been so good and so gentle to them. But when the chief priests and the Scribes saw the wonderful works He did, and heard the infant voices thus uplifted to magnify Him, their sinful hearts swelled with envy and hatred against Him, and they would have made the children hold their peace; but Jesus answered them out of the

Scriptures, saying, "Have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise?"

Who would imagine that there was a single being who did not love and revere this kind teacher, this ready, gentle helper of the distressed, and healer of the sick? Alas, alas! the more good Jesus did, the more the Pharisees, and Scribes, and the priests and elders hated him. For they saw that in contrast to His goodness their sin showed worse than ever. And they sought occasion to slay Him.

Jesus, my all-in-all Thou art;

My rest in toil; my ease in pain;
The balm to heal my wounded heart;
In storms, my peace; in loss, my gain;
My joy beneath the tyrant's frown;
In shame, my glory and my crown.

THE SAVIOUR'S LAST DAYS ON EARTH.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that

the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

St. John, xiv. 13, 14.

BUT the hatred and rage of the chief priests and Scribes and elders against the Lord Jesus became more and more bitter. They saw how His good deeds were a reproach to their bad actions; they saw how He strewed blessings, while they were a burden and curse to the people; and they conspired among themselves, consulting how they might kill Him.

The feast of the Passover approached-that great festival which the people held to commemorate the mercy of God to them, when He had caused them to pass out of the land of bondage, and to go on dry land through the Red Sea. You will remember that the Jews were commanded at this feast to eat unleavened bread, in memory of the haste with which they had left the land of Egypt. At this time, when the thoughts of all should have been turned in humility and thank

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