Basic HTML Version
Crucifixion of Christ
179
Poor, weak, miserable man spat in the face of the King of glory,
while a shout of brutal triumph arose from the mob at the degrading
insult. They marred with blows and cruelty that face which filled all
heaven with admiration. They will again behold that face, bright as
the noonday sun, and will seek to flee from before it. Instead of that
shout of brutal triumph, they will wail because of Him.
Jesus will present His hands with the marks of His crucifixion.
The marks of this cruelty He will ever bear. Every print of the nails
will tell the story of man’s wonderful redemption and the dear price
by which it was purchased. The very men who thrust the spear into
the side of the Lord of life will behold the print of the spear and will
lament with deep anguish the part which they acted in marring His
body.
His murderers were greatly annoyed by the superscription, “The
King of the Jews,” placed upon the cross above His head. But then
they will be obliged to see Him in all His glory and kingly power.
They will behold on His vesture and on His thigh, written in living
characters, “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” They cried to Him
mockingly, as He hung upon the cross, “Let Christ, the King of Israel,
descend from the cross, that we may see and believe.” They will
behold Him then with kingly power and authority. They will demand
no evidence of His being King of Israel; but overwhelmed with a
sense of His majesty and exceeding glory, they will be compelled to
acknowledge, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
The shaking of the earth, the rending of the rocks, the darkness
[180]
spread over the earth, and the loud, strong cry of Jesus, “
It is fin-
ished
“, as He yielded up His life, troubled His enemies and made
His murderers tremble. The disciples wondered at these singular
manifestations; but their hopes were crushed. They were afraid that
the Jews would seek to destroy them also. They felt assured that
such hatred as had been manifested against the Son of God would
not end with Him. Lonely hours they spent in weeping over their
disappointment. They had expected that Jesus would reign a tem-
poral Prince, but their hopes died with Him. In their sorrow and
disappointment, they doubted whether He had not deceived them.
Even His mother wavered in her faith in Him as the Messiah.
Notwithstanding the disciples had been disappointed in their
hopes concerning Jesus, they yet loved Him and desired to give His