"WHEN evening was come, He sat down with the twelve" to the meal already prepared by the two disciples whom He had sent in the morning for that purpose. We cannot tell what were the thoughts that then occupied His mind, any further than the Holy Spirit had revealed them to us, but, so far, we without presumption humbly try to enter into them. He knew, though His disciples did not, that his enemies were awake, and already planning His destruction, and that one of His chosen companions, who was breaking bread with Him, would betray Him into their hands. He saw all the weakness and folly of those companions, even then disputing who should be greatest; He foresaw their cowardly desertion and flight. His soul was sorrowful, even unto death; yet we hear no words of impatience; only solemn warnings and tender counsels. There was one of the number to whom every look should have been a reproach, every word a sting. He had sold his Lord already, and was only biding his time to consummate the bargain; yet he could sit there at the board, could take the bread from that Master's own hand, could even ask with the others, "Is it I?" Did his conscience even then torment him? Probably not. He had hardened it too long. Says a well-known writer: "Remorse may disturb the slumber of a man who is dabbling with his first experiences of wrong; and when the pleasure has been tasted and is gone, and nothing is left of the crime but the ruin it has wrought, then, too, the furies take their seats upon the midnight pillow. But the meridian of evil is for the most part left unvexed, and when a man has chosen his road he is left alone to follow it to the end." Judas had chosen his road. He had sold his Master for a paltry sum of money, and probably pleased himself with the thoughts of farther advantages which would be certain to follow such a service to the rulers. The world had hidden all else from his eyes, and if he now and then had a misgiving, he doubtless stifled it with the thought that the Master who had so often escaped the hands of his enemies would easily do so again. He would have the money and the credit, and there would be no great harm done after all. Is there any danger now, that Judas may be found at the Lord's table? Is there any danger that we may betray our Master for gold, for fashion, or for worldly advantage? Do we ever, for the sake of being thought liberal or intellectual, side with His open or covert enemies? Let us beware! It was an awful distinction which our merciful and compassionate Lord gave to Judas. There was pardon for those who forsook Him for fear, for Peter who denied, for Paul who persecuted. It was only Judas who sold Him, of whom it was said, "It were better for that man that he had never been born!" _GOOD FRIDAY._ _THE CROSS._