both, he comes to reward men according to their works. There is no room for doubt, that it is the same event which is spoken of in both these passages. Now notice particularly that the Saviour says, "there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." To "taste of death," is a Hebraism, signifying to die; and hence the meaning of this passage is, there be some standing here which shall not die, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Here it is evident beyond possibility of mistake, that the coming of the Son of man was to take place, during the natural lives of some of those who stood near him at the time he uttered these words. Whenever the evangelists give an account of this conversation of our Lord with his disciples, as to the subject under consideration, they give it precisely in the same manner. See Mark viii. 38, ix. 1, "Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels. And he said unto them, Verily, I say that there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." See, also, Luke ix. 26, 27, “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God." Here, in each instance, the evangelists have recorded the explicit assurance of Jesus, that his coming to judge and recompense men according to their works would take place, while some of those people lived who stood near him when he

unto you,

1

spake. What can be more plain than this subject?

On other occasions, Jesus embraced opportunities to impress upon the minds of his disciples, the same fact with respect to the coming of the Son of man. And in one particular instance, he pointed out John, his beloved disciple, as a person who should live until his coming took place. The account of this is recorded in John xxi. 21-23. "Peter seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, he shall not die; but if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" Agreeably to this account, John lived until after the destruction of Jernsalem. Again, in Matt. x. 23, we have the following words: "But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another for verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of man be come,' Here is an unconditional assurance from the lips of the Saviour, that, pursued by their angry persecutors, the disciples would not traverse all the cities of Israel, before the coming of the Son of man took place. Now, as every thing predicted in the parable was to be fulfilled at the time of the coming of the Son of man, why ought it to be applied to a day of judgment in the future state? Is not the fulfillment confined by the words of the Great Teacher, to time long ago passed by?

But there are other means by which to ascertain to what time the Saviour alluded in the parable be fore us. We must consult the connexion in which it is found. This, however, is not done because it is thought there is any thing invalid in the explana

tion and proofs already offered. But as there may be a multitude of proofs brought forward on this interesting question, we wish to make the reader acquainted with a fair proportion of them.

Let it then be understood, that the 24th and 25th chapters of Matthew are one discourse, unbroken by any thing but the division into chapters and verses. This division is comparatively a modern invention, carried into effect by uninspired men. It is, in some respects, very useful. By the help of it, we are enabled to point out a particular sentence, phrase, or word in any book, refering to the chapter and verse in which it may be found; and this we could not conveniently do, without the aid of this division. And it is pre-eminently useful in the construction of Concordances to the scriptures. Cardinal Hugo, we think, has the credit of being one of the earliest projectors of the division. While we bear testimony to the general utility of it, we still believe that the division is, in some places, made where it ought not to be; but where, on the contrary, the closest connexion ought to have been preserved. That the 25th chapter of Matthew is a continuation of the subject commenced in the 24th, is evident from the first verse, and even from the first word of it. "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins." Here it is evident the Saviour was refering to time of which he had before spoken, and that the things he was about to describe were to take place at the same time. If not, why is then, the abverb of time, used? Let us go back, and examine the context.1

1 Bishop Pearce, in his Commentary, has maintained, at some length, that the subject of the destruction of Jerusalem is continued through the twenty-fifth chapter. Here follow his Notes on several verses of that chapter. Verse 1. "Then shall the kingdom, &c.

While Jesus was in the temple, he uttered a malediction upon the Scribes and Pharisees. "Wherefore, behold I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city that upon you may come all the righteous This shews that Jesus, in this chapter, is speaking on the same subject as in the foregoing one, viz. what was to happen at the destruction of the Jewish state." Verse 13. "Wherein the Son of man cometh. This plainly shews that what was said before in this chapter, relates to the destruction of the Jewish state, expressed by the Son of man's coming, as in chapter xvi. 27, 28." Verse 15. "According to his several ability. The moral of this parable is, that Jesus would reward or punish Christians according to their behaviour under the means of grace afforded to them; and that from every one would be required in proportion to what had been given to him. And this distinction, made between them, was to be made at the time when the Jewish state was to be destroyed." Verse 31. " Shall come in his glory, i. e. to destroy the Jewish state. See chapter xvi. 27, 28. xxiv. 30. xxvi. 64. Jesus is still giving an account of what distinction will then be made between good and bad Christians." Verse 34. "The King, i. e. the Son of man then in his kingdom. See ch. xvi. 28."

After all this, when the Bishop comes to verses 41 and 46, he thinks Jesus had the day of general judgment in his thoughts. Bp. Pearce had that ideal judgment in his thoughts; and although he got nearly through the whole account with a correct interpretation, his religious opinions got the advantage of his reason at last.

Arch Bp. Newcome was confident that the subject of the destruction of Jerusalem extended into the twenty-fifth chapter. See Newcome's Observations, note in loco.

Adam Clarke was determined to be right. He made the twentyfifth chapter refer to both events, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the judgment in eternity. And when he comes to the 31st verse, he most solemnly assures his readers, without giving them a particle of proof, that this must be understood of Christ's coming at the last day, to judge mankind: though all the preceding part of the chapter may be applied also to the destruction of Jerusalem."

The above Notes are not quoted from these authors because we have the least doubts of the correctness of the exposition here given, but to shew what they felt themselves obliged to acknowledge, with all their prepossessions.

blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar." And the Saviour was particular to say in addition, "Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. Matt. xxiii. 34-36.

Shortly after this, Jesus "departed from the temple ;" and, as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, tell us when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Matt. xxiv. 3. When shall what things be? The answer is contained in the second verse. "And Jesus said unto them, see ye not all these things?" Now another question arises, see ye not all what things? Jesus had given indications of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, particularly of the temple. The disciples pointed out to him the buildings of the temple, with all their strength and magnificence. "Jesus said unto them, see ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Strong and magnificent as this temple is, it shall be levelled with the dust. "When shall these things be?" inquired the prying disciples, "and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" By the end of the world, the disciples meant the end of the Jewish age. The expression in the original, signifies-of the end of the age. A great proportion of the most respectable translators and commentators render this passage in this manner.1 But the word world may be re

1 At the head of these I place the renowned Dr. Campbell. He renders the expression, “the conclusion of this state," meaning the Jewish state. See his Notes on Matt. xiii. 39. xxiv. 3.

Adam Clarke renders the expression, "end of the age." Ken