out devils through Beelzebub the prince of the devils, which occasioned his impressive discourse against blasphemy; and his declaration, "that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment;" not meaning trifling, careless, or foolish words, but evidently alluding to the malignant calumny of the Pharisees that had preceded. The Pharisees, probably, not much relishing this refutation of their slanderous accusation, endeavoured to turn it aside by saying, "Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas; for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."*

It was usual with our Lord to compare present things with past, and in this case there was a great similitude, for not only as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, was the Son of Man to be three days and

* Matt. xii. 38-40.

three nights in the heart of the earth; but the Prophet Jonas had been sent to preach repentance to the great city of Ninevey, as Christ was the messenger of God to preach repentance to the Jewish nation; and to this our Lord immediately refers." The men of Ninevey shall rise in judgment against this generation, and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold a greater than Jonas is here;"* manifestly intimating that, if they did not repent in like manner at the preaching of a greater than Jonas, they would be subjected to that overwhelming destruction which he afterwards frequently prophesied would inevitably be their fate.

An instance of Christ's foretelling his death, and the manner of it, is to be found at the commencement of his ministry, in the 3rd chapter of St. John, where he is instructing Nicodemus in the spiritual nature of his kingdom; on being told that he must be born again, Nicodemus is startled, and asks in surprise, "How can a man be born when he is old."+ The decisive answer of our Lord is, 66 Verily,

verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."* He then illustrates his doctrine by the beautiful and apt similitude of the wind. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the spirit." Nicodemus, yet unsatisfied, asks, "How can these things be?" It is well worthy of observation, how naturally our Lord's answer to this question led him to speak of himself, of the heavenly kingdom whence he came; of the end for which he was sent into the world; and of his own death, which can alone accomplish that end, and of the manner of it. "Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness; if I

* John iii. 3-7.,

have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of hea

venly things.' In saying this, Jesus probably alludes to his appearing in person as the Messiah, and to his miracles, which the Jews did not believe. His having spoken of heavenly things, carried him at once to the following declaration. "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He who came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven." Then he refers to the manner of his death.

"And as Moses

lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life; for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."+

Well, therefore, might the angel declare, when the Saviour of the world was born, in conformity with the predictions of the Prophets concerning him, "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day, in the

* John iii. 10-12. + John iii. 14, 15, 16.

city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." And well might the heavenly host praise God and say, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men."+

There are two more instances, in the Gospel by St. John, of Jesus having made use of the term lifted up, in allusion to his being about to die on the cross. The one is in the 8th chapter, when he was accused by the Pharisees of bearing record of himself, and therefore his record was not true; which he answers by saying, that "His Father bore witness of him; meaning, principally, as he affirms also in many other places, by his works or miracles. After this discourse in the Temple, "Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins; whither I go ye cannot come. Then said the Jews, will he kill himself, because he saith, whither I go ye cannot come? And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath, I am from above; Ye are of this world, I am not of this world." He then repeats the appalling sentence, "I said there

*Luke ii. 10, 11.

Luke ii. 13, 14.