It seemed a ludicrous travesty of royalty that a criminal dying there,
with a crowd of his 'subjects' gloating on his agonies and shooting
arrowy words of scorn at him, should be a King. But His cross _is_ His
throne. It is so because His death is His great work for the world. It
is so because in it we see, with melted hearts, the sublimest
revelation of His love. Absolute authority belongs to utter
self-sacrifice. He, and only He, who gives Himself wholly to and for
me, thereby acquires the right of absolute command over me. He is the
'Prince of all the kings of the earth,' because He has died and become
the 'First-begotten from the dead.' From the hour when He said, 'I, if
I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me,' down to the hour when the
seer heard the storm of praise from 'ten thousand times ten thousand,
and thousands of thousands' breaking round the throne, every New
Testament reference to Christ's dominion is accompanied with a
reference to His cross, and every reference to His cross merges in a
reference to His throne. The crown of thorns was a revelation of the
inmost nature of Christ's rule. The famous Iron Crown of Milan is a
hard, cold circlet within a golden covering blazing with jewels.
Christ's right to sway men, like His power to do so, rests on His
sacrifice for men. A Christianity without a Cross is a Christianity
without authority, as has been seen over and over again in the history
of the Church, and as is being seen again today, if men would only
look. A Christ without a Cross is a Christ without a Kingdom. The
dominion of the world belongs to Him who can sway men's inmost motives.
Hearts are His who has bought them with His own.