Minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

"But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. . . . It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ entered not into the holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the presence of God for us: nor yet that He should offer Himself often; as the high priest entereth into the holy place year by year with blood not His own; else must He have often suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once at the end of the ages hath He been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment; so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for Him, unto salvation. .

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which He dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; and having a great priest over the House of God; let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our body washed with pure water: let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for He is faithful that promised and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhort

...

ing one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh. But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel. Wherefore, receiving a

kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews i., iii., iv., v., vi., vii., viii., ix., x., xi.)

It is, to say the least, somewhat remarkable that, in this glowing parallel which the writer draws between the order of Melchizedek and the High Priesthood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, not a word is said of the appointment of a new set of earthly sacrificing priests under the new covenant. This omission seems fatal to the contention of those who would make a sacrificing priesthood essential to right ritual.

However simple may be the surroundings of that feast of bread and wine, of which the feast of Melchizedek was a type, there is no warrant for the slovenliness and lack of reverence which too often characterize this rite.

On the other hand, there is nothing to forbid the devotion of the resources of music and art in the celebration of this mystery in which we "show forth the Lord's death till He come." It is a most regrettable fact that this feast of love has been the battle ground of more contentions and more bitter

ness and divisions amongst Christians than any other legacy left by the Crucified One.

Such unseemly strife might grow less were it more constantly kept in mind that the great Sacrificing Priest is on high, and that there can be no type of Him now on earth, and that our expectation should be in heaven, whence we look for Him who is indeed "The Hope of Humanity!"

ON

WAS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED

MAUNDY THURSDAY OR ON GOOD FRIDAY? Now the question which stands at the head of this section is not raised for any sensational purpose, nor for the sake of antiquarian research, but it may possess a practical purpose.

It should not be forgotten that the races which inhabited Judea at the time of the Crucifixion were not friendly to the Christian Faith, and that their computation of time was different to ours.

Our days of the week still bear testimony to our heathen customs, Thursday meaning "Day of Thor." The German name of Donnerstag, "Day of Thunder," would be preferable, supposing our Lord to have been crucified on that day. Good Friday has been associated from time immemorial with the anniversary of Calvary, and the difficulty in the way of its leaving only two nights for our Lord's being in the intermediate state has scarcely ever troubled the conscience of commentators.

Maundy Thursday is a happy term as reminding us of our Lord's injunction, "A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."

(St. John xiii. 34.) But the day might still be called Maundy should it appear that it was upon that very day that our Lord gave practical testimony to His own injunction of the day before.

Now I am bold enough to be doubtful, very, as to Good Friday being tbe anniversary of our Lord's Crucifixion, though not of the anniversary of the absence of our Lord from His Body.

Looking at the accounts in St. Matthew and St. John, they seem to point to the Crucifixion having taken place on the day of preparation for the Passover, our Maundy Thursday. To His being still in the tomb on the day after the preparation, our Good Friday, and also on the Sabbath, which answers to the Saturday, our Easter Eve. It was on the eve of the preparation, our Maundy Thursday, that Joseph of Arimathea buried the body, and Pilate marvelled that He was already dead. (Cf. St. Matt. xxvii. and St. John xix.)

We may take it for certain that the doctrine of the Atonement is not popular in many quarters; there is a phase of thought which only acknowledges Christ as the Great Exemplar. On the other hand, there is a revolting way of speaking of the Atonement as though the setters forth of this doctrine. were special pleaders for convicts, and were behind the scenes in what they are specially fond of calling "The plan of salvation." The Atonement, taken as a representation of the inexhaustible love of the Father, Mother, and Son, is indeed amply sufficient to draw all mankind unto Christ; but many would fain be drawn by some shibboleth instead. Now, I fancy I can hear some kind reader say, " And you

are going to add to the confused voices by some new-fangled fad about the day of Crucifixion."

God forbid ! the subject is too serious, but before you turn a deaf ear to what follows, please to remember that sacred days have been changed before now, e.g., the Day of Rest and Easter. Of course, if the Atonement was completed on the cross one day is as good as another; but if the Atonement was only commenced on the cross, and completed on the first day of the week, then it is very material to enquire what work was being done during that interval, and what was the duration of that interval; for we know for certain the day of the Resurrection, the uncertain quantity is the exact day of the Atonement. It is pertinent to enquire whether anything fell from our Lord's lips during His lifetime which may help to set us right. I think there was a statement made by Him which shows clearly that commonly accepted human chronology is at fault.

Study this and mark the italics :-"An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet: for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale: so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."-(St. Matt. xii. 39-41.)

We know then from our Lord Himself how long His soul was to be separated from His body, and this makes us independent of Jewish feasts or calculation of time, just as much as we are independent of the time in the Antipodes.

This much is certain from our Lord's own words."