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We See Christ on the Cross, August 1
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
Mark 15:25
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The spotless Son of God hung upon the cross, His flesh lacerated with
stripes; those hands so often reached out in blessing, nailed to the wooden
bars; those feet so tireless on ministries of love, spiked to the tree; that
royal head pierced by the crown of thorns; those quivering lips shaped
to the cry of woe. And all that He endured—the blood drops that flowed
from His head, His hands, His feet, the agony that racked His frame, and
the unutterable anguish that filled His soul at the hiding of His Father’s
face—speaks to each child of humanity, declaring, It is for thee that the
Son of God consents to bear this burden of guilt; for thee He spoils the
domain of death, and opens the gates of Paradise. He ... offers Himself
upon the cross as a sacrifice, and this from love to thee. He, the Sin-Bearer,
endures the wrath of divine justice, and for thy sake becomes sin itself.
In silence the beholders watched for the end of the fearful scene. The
sun shone forth; but the cross was still enveloped in darkness. Priests and
rulers looked toward Jerusalem; and lo, the dense cloud had settled over
the city, and the plains of Judea. The Sun of Righteousness, the Light
of the world, was withdrawing His beams from the once favored city of
Jerusalem. The fierce lightnings of God’s wrath were directed against the
fated city.
Suddenly the gloom lifted from the cross, and in clear, trumpetlike
tones, that seemed to resound throughout creation, Jesus cried, “It is
finished.” “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” A light encircled
the cross, and the face of the Saviour shone with a glory like the sun. He
then bowed His head upon His breast, and died
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The Desire of Ages, 755, 756
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