2 Tim. iv. 8.

and mortification of self is one of the great correctives placed within our reach by Him Who would have all men to be pure, even as He is pure. Το crucify the flesh then with its affections and lusts is a necessity of our being, and to take up the cross on our own shoulders is the first necessary step in the execution of our purpose. It was the realisation of this truth which gave birth to the watchword of the martyrs in an earlier age: “No cross no crown.” Bear the cross, and bear it bravely, till God's Own hand shall take it away; then at the last we shall be able to say with all the confidence of S. Paul: "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me in that day."

NOTES.

1 The whole detachment numbered from 400 to 600 men.

2 S. Mark speaks of it as "purple:" S. Matthew as "scarlet: " possibly it was scarlet with the purple "laticlave." The ancients did not distinguish colours very accurately.

3 In Christian Art it is usually represented by a wreath of leafless twigs with long thorns. S. Chrysostom favours the idea that the coronation was for mockery: "they insulted Him with the crown of thorns."

4 The imperfect, ἔτυπτον, ἐνέπτυον, προσεκυνοῦν.

5 Cf. ii. 277.

6 S. Luke says,

"the place which is called 'a skull,"" not,

as the other Evangelists, "of a skull." The Hebrew word is derived from a root signifying to roll, hence "round." There is nothing in the Gospels to indicate that it was a mountain." This is traditional.

7 It was used like the English "gallows-bird" or "hang-dog." 8 It is a coincidence that S. Mark, writing especially for Romans, mentions the sons, who were probably well known to them, for S. Paul salutes Rufus in his Epistle to the Romans, xvi. 13.

9 There is an expression in S. Mark xv. 22 which may favour the idea that He was sinking beneath the burden—¿épovσw avтòV -which may be, but is not necessarily, "they bear Him." In the A. V. it is "they bring Him." But even on the supposition that they actually carried Him, it is no proof that He could not have struggled through, had they not been so impatient to get the execution over.

VOL. II.

T

LXXV.

At the Place of Execution.

S. MARK XV. 23-32.

23. And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not. 24. And when they had crucified Him, they parted His garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. 25. And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 26. And the superscription of His accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27. And with Him they crucify two thieves; the one on His right hand, and the other on His left. 28. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And He was numbered with the transgressors.

29. And they that passed by railed on Him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, 30. save Thyself, and come down from the cross. 31. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; Himself He cannot save. 32. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with Him reviled Him.

It was probably as soon as they arrived at the place of crucifixion that the stupefying draught1 was offered to our Lord. The compassionate women of Jerusalem were wont to provide it at their expense, and bribe the executioners to administer it before Talm. Bab. the painful process of nailing the prisoner to the cross began. Jesus was parched with thirst, and

Synhedr.

43 a.

would gladly have drunk it, as He took the proffered vinegar afterwards; but when He recognised what it was, He refused to drink. He determined to look death in the face with all its possible horrors, and submit to the full penalty of the first transgression; and no anodyne or soporific potion might cloud His faculties at such a time, or dull in the smallest degree the sharpness of the pain.

It is probable, though not certain, that our Lord was nailed to the cross while it lay upon the ground, and that it was then raised into its position, as is represented in the great picture of Rubens in Archäol. Antwerp Cathedral.

Friedlieb.

36 and 41. Ep. of Bar

Pearson on

Art. iv.

"Targ.

Jonath."

Tert. de

The shape of the cross on which He suffered has nabas, 12. been much debated. Some ancient Fathers, fancying the Creed, they found a typical reference in the crossing of the "375. hands over the head of the scape-goat, and in the ad Levit. peculiar mode in which Jacob blessed his grandsons, xvi. 21. often assumed that it was in the form of what is Bapt. viii. commonly called a S. Andrew's cross; others again, iii. 18. seeing in the mystical mark or Tau set upon the xlviii. 14. foreheads of the righteous in Ezekiel's vision a fore- Ezek. ix. 4. shadowing of the cross, concluded that it was like

adv. Marc.

Gen.

S. Hieron. in

Ezech.

Tert. adv.

that which bears the name of S. Anthony, in form Marc. iii. 22. like a capital T.

It is far more probable that it was what is known

Just. Mart. familiarly as the Latin Cross. It was prefigured

Dial. c.
Tryph. xl.

Sueton.
Calig. 32.

by the transverse spits which the priest placed in the Paschal lamb. Its four arms, pointing to the four quarters of the globe, symbolised "the breadth and length and depth and height" of Christ's universal Church. It is a strong argument in favour of this form that "the inscription" was set above the head of the Crucified, which would be impossible in either of the other forms.

After condemnation the grounds upon which a Euseb. v. 1. criminal had been found guilty were briefly inscribed upon a tablet. This was either hung round his neck or carried before him to the place of execution.

This, in our Lord's case, was written by Pilate himself. In his desire to take his revenge for the humiliation to which the Jews had subjected him by compelling him to act in open violation of his expressed convictions, he bore an unconscious testimony to the truth" This is the King of the Jews." And not only so, but he took steps to make it known in every quarter, when he wrote the inscription in "Hebrew and Latin 2 and Greek." In Hebrew, that it might be read in the vernacular of the common people; in Latin, because it was the official language of the Government; in Greek, to render it intelligible to the foreigners, amongst whom that tongue