stayed away, for they would have been the only women present. All the disciples were to be there, besides Lazarus, Nicodemus, and others who had been around Him throughout His ministry.
John had told them that, after this, he feared there would be no meeting-place, for that the terrible hour was close at hand. It would be at the Passover that the fate of the Lord would be decided, for they could not doubt that He would be arrested the moment He set foot in Jerusalem, whether He was to be released or condemned; and all knew that, if Caiaphas's will could turn the scale, the Messiah would not be released; nay, more, He had told them that it would be so. Perhaps they still hoped for some great miracle direct from God to save their dear Lord; for hope lingers in the human heart till the very moment at which death comes and bears away our loved ones.
To-night the Nazarene had prepared a bond of remembrance between them that He would establish forever; a bond that would last through all the ages; that would serve for ever to bring back to them the memory of His ministry and His words and His stupendous sacrifice.
To-night would be Judas Iscariot's last chance of redemption. How would He live on after the Lord should have shown him that He knew what was in his heart? The tortuous path of that darkened soul will always remain inscrutable, unknown to mortals, till heaven and earth shall pass away; perhaps even throughout the immeasurable æons of eternity.
