Lu.xxiii.34. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. Joh.xix.24. that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Mtxxvii.35. which was spoken by the prophet, Job.xix.24. which saith, They parted my raiment among them: and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. Mar.xv. 25. Lu.xxiii.35. 36. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. MATT. xxvii. part of ver. 35. 35 and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled-They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. MARK XV. 24. 24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take, SECTION XX. Christ is reviled, when on the Cross, by the Rulers, the MATT. xxvii. 39-44. MARK XV. 29-32. LUKE Xxiii. And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and 37. And saying, If thou be the King of the Jews, save thy- Mtxxvii.39. And they that passed by reviled him, Mar.xv. 29. [and] 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. Bishop Watson, in speaking of that arrogant and dogmatical theology, that decrees the rejection of the doctrine of atonement, as inconsistent with the divine attribute of mercy, uses the following just observations. "We know assuredly that God delighteth not in blood; that he hath no cruelty, no vengeance, no malignity, no infirmity, nor any passion in his nature: but we do not know whether the requisition of an atonement for transgression may not be an emanation of his infinite mercy, rather than a demand of his infinite justice. We do not know, whether it may not be the very best means of preserving the innocence, and happiness, not only of us, but of all other free and intelligent beings. We do not know, whether the suffering of an innocent person may not be productive of a degree of good, infinitely surpassing the evil of such sufferance; nor whether such a quantum of good could by any other means have been produced (c)," (a) Balguy, as quoted by Magee, p. 94. vol. i. (b) See also Whitby, and Scott's Christian Life. (c) Two Apologies, &c, pp. 466, 467. Jerusalem. Mtxxvii.40. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41. Likewise also the Chief Priests, mocking him, with the Mar. xv. 31. among themselves, He saved others, himself he cannot save. Mtxxvii.42. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 43. Mar. xv. 32. Mtxxvii.44. Lu.xxiii.39. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him for he said, I am the Son of God. 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. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. MATT. XXVii. part of ver. 39, 40. and 42. 39-wagging their heads 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. 42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. MARK XV. part of ver. 29. 31. 29 And they that passed by 31 Likewise also the Chief Priests mocking said—with the Scribes SECTION XXI. Christ, when dying as a Man, asserts his Divinity in his LUKE Xxiii. 39-43. And one of the malefactors-railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself, and us. 24 Our Lord, at the time when he made the gracious promise to the criminal on the cross, was reduced to the lowest state of degradation and contempt. He was deserted by all but his beloved disciple, his mother, and two other holy women, who were standing by the cross, the weeping and agonized spectators of his sufferings. His disciples had forsaken him and fled. The assembled multitude of his enemies and persecutors, embittered every pang, by their cruel and exulting mockeries. The evangelists mention all kinds and classes of people, as if for the purpose of demonstrating the universal rejection of our Lord by the Jewish nation. The people stood beholding-and the rulers with them, deriding-the soldiers mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar-the passers by reviled him, and railed on him-the chief priests mocked him, with the scribes and elders-even the very thief on the cross reviled him, and joined in the common mockery. At this moment of general insult and rejection, the penitent thief alone declared his belief in the innocence of the holy Jesus, and made a public confession of his faith in the divine sufferer. Our Lord's answer to the penitent thief fully declared that, although in his human form he was faint and dying, enduring the extreme of pain and torture, he was the Lord of the invisible world, and still retained his divine attribute, the power of forgiving sins. The assembled people loudly and unanimously Jerusalem. Lu.xxiii.40. 41. 42. 43. Joh. xix. 25. 26. 27. But the other answering, rebuked him, saying, Dost Jerusalem. not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me, when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise. SECTION XXII. Christ commends his Mother to the care of John. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own house. demanded of him to prove his former pretensions by a miracle. They called upon him to come down from the cross to save himself, and they would believe him. They seemed to consider this as a fair challenge. They supposed it impossible that any one, who possessed the power, would not use it under such trying circumstances. They therefore required him to relieve his body from torture, from the nails, and the wood, and come among them. But, ever consistent in himself, and faithful in the duties of his divine mission, instead of complying with their wishes, which were confined to temporal objects, he showed the nature of his kingdom by the promise of salvation to a repentant soul. The Jews had frequently threatened to kill Christ, because he asserted his power to forgive sin. "Who can forgive sins, (they exclaimed) but God alone," and therefore, according to their own acknowledgment and belief, he still persevered in his divine claims; and on the point of death proclaimed that their long promised God was before them, obscured in the form of a man. The forgiveness of the penitent thief may be considered as revealing to us that God's mercy may be extended to the last moments of life; but we have no reason whatever to presume that it shall be so with any of us. No human being can ever again be placed in the same situation as this criminal. We cannot be called upon to follow our Saviour to Calvary, to witness his dying agonies; to hear the bitter tauntings of the rabble, and, in the midst of derision and suffering, to declare our faith in a crucified Saviour. When Christ shall again become visible to man, He will be seen in his glory, and all the holy angels with him. Let no man therefore be guilty of delaying repentance, with the hope of eventual salvation, because the penitent thief was forgiven at the last. The account of the pardoned criminal is related by one evangelist only, as if the Holy Spirit foresaw the perversion of the passage. One instance only, to use the language of a celebrated divine, of the acceptance of a dying repentance is recorded; one only, that none might despair, and one only that none might presume. SECTION XXIII. Mar. xv.33. The Death of Christ, and its attendant Circumstances. MARK XV. 33-41. And when the sixth hour was come, LUKE Lu.xxiii.44. there was a darkness over all the earth, until the ninth 45. Mar.xv. 34. hour. And the sun was darkened, And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama Sabachthani " ? 25 Dr. Edwards thinks that the words were repeated twice. The commentators have been much divided as to their signification. Rosenmüller considers the words of our Lord as an expression of suffering, and of prayer, which he appropriated to himself. Such also is the opinion of Dr. Pye Smith, who, both in his excellent discourse on the atonement, and in his work on the person of Christ, considers the words as connected with the sequel and general design of the Psalm, of which it is the commencement, and expressing the extinction of all present and sensible comfort. Such also is the generally received opinion, and the writers in the Critici Sacri, on Matt. xxvii. 46. interpret the passage in a similar manner. Lightfoot, however, has proposed another interpretation of our Lord's exclamation-he would read it-not-why hast thou forsaken me, or left me to the feeling of any spiritual desertion; but-why hast thou left me to such hands, and to such cruel usage? Dr. A. Clarke is likewise inclined to favour this interpretation. The exclamation of our Lord, Matt. xxvii. 46. he would thus render-"How astonishing is the wickedness of those persons, into whose hands I have fallen." God is said in Scripture to do, what he permits to be done, and no decisive argument can be drawn therefore from the expression to prove that he was deserted by his Father. He confirms this interpretation from Mark xv. 34. the words of which passage, he observes, agree pretty nearly with this translation of the Hebrew-Eig rí μE SYKαTEλITES; to what (sort of persons, understood,) hast thou left me? A literal translation of the passage in the Syriac Testament gives a similar sense:-Ad quid dereliquisti me?—“ To what hast thou abandoned me? And an ancient copy of the old Itala version, a Latin translation before the time of St. Jerom, renders the words thus:-Quare me in opprobrium dedisti?"Why hast thou abandoned me to reproach ?" "It may be objected, that this can never agree with the ivari, "why," of Matthew. To this it is answered, that ivari must have here the same meaning as eiç ri-as the translation of nab lama; and that if the meaning be at all different, we must follow that Evangelist who expresses most literally the meaning of the original: and let it be observed, that the Septuagint often translate by ivarí, instead of us ri, which evidently proves that it often had the same meaning. Whatever may be thought of the above mode of interpretation, one thing is certain, that the words could not be used by our Lord in the sense in which they are generally understood. This is sufficiently evident; for he well knew why he was come unto that hour, nor could he be forsaken of God, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. The Deity, however, might restrain so much of its Jerusalem. Mtxxvii.46. Eli, Eli, lama Sabachthani? Mar.xv. 34. which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 35. Joh. xix.28. 29. Mtxxvii.48. And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar : And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, Joh. xix. 29. and put it upon hyssop, 49. The rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elias will Mar. xv. 36 Joh. xix. 30. Mtxxvii.50. will come to take him down. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, Lu.xxiii.46. he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, Joh. xix.30. he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost". consolatory support, as to leave the human nature fully sensible (a) Edwards, ap Doddridge in loc.-Smith's Discourse on the 26 In John xix. 28. we read, "Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst ;" and now, that he hath taken the vinegar, he said, "It is finished," that is, this act was the last circumstance that remained to be fulfilled of all the ancient prophecies and predictions. He took the proffered cup of vinegar, and thereby closed and sealed, by his blood, the Levitical Dispensation, and brought in a more perfect law. "They gave me gall for my meat, in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink," Ps. Ixix. 21. Even the most minute circumstances of our Saviour's life and death were foretold by the spirit of prophecy many centuries before his birth, and they have all been literally and absolutely fulfilled. See the eloquent passages of Porteus, Taylor, Blair, Horsley, &c. on this section. "It is singular that our translators have not observed the three modes of expression which the Evangelists have here adopted. Mark and Luke say EETVEVσE, he expired. John xix. 30, wapέowke tò πvɛvμa, he yielded up his spirit. Matthew xxvii. 50. apŋkɛ tò πvevμa, he dismissed his spirit. The Jerusalem. |