nder is also the moment of conquest. When I
consecrate my weakness I put on strength and majesty like a robe.

"_And when He rose up from His prayer_"--what then? Just this, He was
quietly ready for anything, ready for the betraying kiss, ready for
crucifixion. "Arise, let us be going."

MARCH The Twenty-fifth

_THE FEAR OF MAN_

JOHN xviii. 15-27.

And this is the disciple who had been surnamed "The Rock"! Our Lord looked
into the morrow, and He saw Simon's character, compacted by grace and
discipline into a texture tough and firm as granite. But there is not much
granite here! Peter is yet loose and yielding; more like a bending reed
than an unshakable rock. A servant girl whispers, and his timid heart
flings a lie to his lips and he denies his Lord.

Peter denied the Master, not because he coveted money, but because he
feared men. He was not seeking crowns, but escaping frowns. He was not
clutching at a garland, but avoiding a sword. It was not avarice but
cowardice which determined his ways. He shrank from crucifixion! He saw a
possible cross, and with a great lie he passed by on the other side.

But the Lord has not done with Peter. He is still "in the making." Some
day he will justify his new name. Some day we shall find it written: "When
they saw the boldness of Peter, they marvelled"! Once a maid could make
him tremble. Now he can stand in high places, "steadfast and unmovable"!

From the spirit of cowardice and from all temporising, and from the unholy
fear of man, deliver me, good Lord!

MARCH The Twenty-sixth

_THE KING OF KINGS_

JOHN xviii. 28-38.

What a strange King our Lord appears, claiming mystic sovereignty, and yet
betrayed by a false friend!

And yet, even in His apparent subjection His majestic kingliness stands
revealed. When I watch the demeanours of Pilate and Jesus, I can see very
clearly who it is who is on the throne; Pilate wears the outer trappings
of royalty, but my Lord's is "the power and the glory." Pilate fusses
about in a little "brief authority," but my Lord stands possessed of a
serene dominion. Even at Pilate's judgment bar Jesus is the King.

But His kingdom is "_not of this world_." And therefore this King is
unlike every other King. He seeks His possessions not by fighting, but by
"lighting"; not by coercion, but by constraint. His servants do not go
forth with swords, but with lamps; not to drive the peoples, but to lead
them. His visible throne