Calvary
119
extinct. But for a man dying thus to summon such power of voice and
clearness of utterance as Jesus had done, immediately before his death,
was such an astonishing event that the Roman officers, experienced in
[170]
such scenes, marveled greatly; and the centurion who commanded the
detachment of soldiers on duty there, immediately declared, “Truly
this was the Son of God.” Thus three men, differing widely from one
another, openly declared their belief in Christ upon the very day of his
death—he who commanded the Roman guard, he who bore the cross
of his Saviour, and he who died upon the cross by his side.
The spectators, and the soldiers who guarded the cross, were con-
vinced, so far as their minds were capable of grasping the idea, that
Jesus was the Redeemer for whom Israel had so long looked. But
the darkness that mantled the earth could not be more dense than that
which enveloped the minds of the priests and rulers. They were un-
changed by the events they had witnessed, and their hatred of Jesus
had not abated with his death.
At his birth the angel star in the heavens had known Christ, and had
conducted the seers to the manger where he lay. The heavenly hosts
had known him, and sung his praise over the plains of Bethlehem. The
sea had acknowledged his voice, and was obedient to his command.
Disease and death had recognized his authority, and yielded their prey
to his demand. The sun had known him, and hidden its face of light
from the sight of his dying anguish. The rocks had known him, and
shivered into fragments at his dying cry. Although inanimate nature
recognized, and bore testimony of Christ, that he was the Son of God,
yet the priests and rulers knew not the Saviour, rejected the evidence
of his divinity, and steeled their hearts against his truths. They were
[171]
not so susceptible as the granite rocks of the mountains.
The Jews were unwilling that the bodies of those who had been
executed should remain that night upon the cross. They dreaded to
have the attention of the people directed any farther to the events
attending the death of Jesus. They feared the results of that day’s
work upon the minds of the public. So, under pretext that they did not
wish the sanctity of the Sabbath to be defiled by the bodies remaining
upon the cross during that holy day, which was the one following the
crucifixion, the leading Jews sent a request to Pilate that he would
permit them to hasten the death of the victims, so that their bodies
might be removed before the setting of the sun.