Crucified!

It was a terrible form of death, which had become fearfully common throughout the Roman Empire. The Cross stood for the maximum of lingering torture, indignity, and shame which man could inflict upon his fellow. It was invented by the Phcenicians, but Rome from the time of Cesar adopted and improved on it.

Dr. Edersheim tells us that three kinds of cross were in use: the so-called St. Andrew’s Cross, like an X, the Cross in the form of a T, and the ordinary Latin Cross. It was on the latter that the God-Manwascrucified. His agony on the Tree rendered that form of death no longer shameful, but has made the Cross the symbol of love and mercy, of humanity and civilization.

Golgotha derived its name from its skull-like appearance. Thus we speak of the brow of a hill. It stood two or three minutes aside from the high road, with a sudden depression beneath, as if the jaws of the skull had opened. Thither Christ bore His cross, accompanied by four soldiers, and

preceded by the centurion in command.
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The weight of the cross was too heavy, however, for that frail body, which had yielded sweat and blood the night before, had been unrefreshed by food or sleep, and bore upon it the deep furrows of recent scourging. Small wonder that the pity of the daughters of Jerusalem was moved! Before many steps had been taken, the heavy beam had to be transferred to Simon of Cyrene, and perhaps Jesus needed to be Himself supported till the sad procession reached its scene of execution “outside the city wall.”

We dare not harrow the feelings which Christianity has made so sensitive by narrating in detail the harrowing incidents that followed. It is enough to mention the nails, the erection of the cross, the weight of the body, the shame, the fever, the rigour, the inability to move. We turn away our eyes! We cannot endure to look! But remember He was held there not by iron bands or soldier cohorts, but of His own choice. No man could take His life from Him. He had power to lay it down, and power to take it again. The love of man constrained Him!

The cross was not high, probably “those blessed feet ’? were but one or two feet from the ground. Above His head the title, written perhaps by Pilate’s own hand: on the ground beneath, the

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soldiers dicing for his clothes: on either side a malefactor: quite near a group of women and disciples who loved Him better than themselves: an outer ring of Israel’s leaders, jeering, taunting, and wagging their heads: all around the roar of -the crowds, of the scum and refuse of Jerusalem, attracted to the sickening spectacle. And thus from nine in the early morning for three long, weary hours, till, at midday, midnight suddenly supervened.

He thought of the soldiers and prayed that they might be forgiven: gave comfort to the dying penitent beside Him: made provision for the mother that bare Him: and whose heart was

pierced by the sharp sword of unutterable suffering. Then the World’s Redeemer girded Himself to meet to the full measure the bitterness of death, the death of the Substitute, of the supreme Sacrifice, of the Accursed. It is written, “Cursed be every one that hangeth on a tree,” and in fulfilment of this prophecy He was therefore made a sin-offering and a curse for man.

No mortal eye may penetrate the shroud of darkness which hangs over those hours of more than mortal woe. It is enough to know that He gave His life a ransom for many, vanquished the last and greatest enemy of our race, and obtained eternal redemption for us all. The cry of forsaken- ness uttered at three in the afternoon, marked the climax of that awful tragedy, which purchased a world’s redemption; and the words “I thirst,”’ as the expression of human need seemed to indicate that the more terrible aspect of spiritual anguish was over. He would not take the drug offered Him at the beginning, because He must suffer with full consciousness; but gladly accepted the vinegar which gave Him the physical vigour with which to meet the article of death.

The breaking light, not only of the sun, but of the Father’s manifested love now broke on the Redeemer’s soul, and its calm serenity is mirrored in “the Father” of conscious fellowship, with which He passed to the Joy that was set before Him. “He was crucified through weakness, and liveth by the Power of God.”