642
The Desire of Ages
and rulers. The teachers of the people had stimulated the ignorant
mob to pronounce judgment against One upon whom many of them
had never looked, until urged to bear testimony against Him. Priests,
rulers, Pharisees, and the hardened rabble were confederated together
in a satanic frenzy. Religious rulers united with Satan and his angels.
They were doing his bidding.
Jesus, suffering and dying, heard every word as the priests declared,
“He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let Christ the King of
Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Christ
could have come down from the cross. But it is because He would not
save Himself that the sinner has hope of pardon and favor with God.
In their mockery of the Saviour, the men who professed to be
the expounders of prophecy were repeating the very words which
Inspiration had foretold they would utter upon this occasion. Yet in
their blindness they did not see that they were fulfilling the prophecy.
Those who in derision uttered the words, “He trusted in God; let Him
deliver Him now, if He will have Him: for He said, I am the Son of
God,” little thought that their testimony would sound down the ages.
But although spoken in mockery, these words led men to search the
Scriptures as they had never done before. Wise men heard, searched,
pondered, and prayed. There were those who never rested until, by
comparing scripture with scripture, they saw the meaning of Christ’s
mission. Never before was there such a general knowledge of Jesus as
when He hung upon the cross. Into the hearts of many who beheld the
crucifixion scene, and who heard Christ’s words, the light of truth was
shining.
To Jesus in His agony on the cross there came one gleam of com-
fort. It was the prayer of the penitent thief. Both the men who were
crucified with Jesus had at first railed upon Him; and one under his
suffering only became more desperate and defiant. But not so with
his companion. This man was not a hardened criminal; he had been
led astray by evil associations, but he was less guilty than many of
those who stood beside the cross reviling the Saviour. He had seen
and heard Jesus, and had been convicted by His teaching, but he had
been turned away from Him by the priests and rulers. Seeking to stifle
conviction, he had plunged deeper and deeper into sin, until he was
arrested, tried as a criminal, and condemned to die on the cross. In
the judgment hall and on the way to Calvary he had been in company