The Chief Priests were by no means satisfied with the superscription
written by Pilate, for they persisted in believing that Jesus had no
_right_ to be called King or Messiah. "Then said the Chief Priests of
the Jews to Pilate, Write not, the King of the Jews; but that he said,
I am king of the Jews": an alteration which would have made it appear
that He had been justly punished by the Romans, for claiming a power
to which no one had any right in the Roman provinces.
"Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written." This was a
common mode of expression, meaning that a thing was done, and could
not be undone. Probably Pilate wrote this title on purpose, knowing
that the Jews would not like it; for he was displeased with them for
forcing him, as it were, to do what he felt to be wrong: at any rate,
in this title he declared a blessed truth: even that the King of the
Jews, the long-expected Messiah, the Son of God, was actually hanging
on the cross, atoning for the guilt of man, and purchasing our pardon
by the sacrifice of Himself. Let us remember this with such
thankfulness and gratitude, as will lead us to love, so as to obey.
Whilst Jesus was hanging in agony upon the cross, He prayed for those
who had so cruelly persecuted Him. He had often taught the lesson of
loving our enemies, and doing them good whenever we have the
opportunity; and now He set us a most wonderful example of that love
which we are to show to them. "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them;
for they know not what they do": well might He say of those who had
delivered Him to be crucified, "they know not what they do." Little
did they indeed consider the sin they were committing; still less did
they know what blessings their sin would bring upon all mankind. But
their ignorance was in a great degree wilful, and wilful ignorance
must always be a great sin: they had, therefore, much need that Christ
should pray for them, as now He did.
By law, the executioners had a right to the clothes of their victim;
and accordingly we read, "Then the soldiers, when they had crucified
Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part;
and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top
throughout." "They said, therefore, among themselves, Let us not rend
it, but cast lots for it whose it shall be. And they parted his
raiment and cast lots, that the Scripture might be fulfilled which
saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did
cast lots. These things, therefore, the soldiers did:" according as
David had spoken in the 22nd Psalm.
Thus having finished the work of crucifixion, the soldiers, "sitting
down" at the foot of the cross, "watched him there. And the people
stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He
saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of
God." Had Jesus, indeed, been the worst of criminals, mocking or
deriding Him thus, whilst He hung in agony upon the cross, would have
been a most cowardly and brutal act: but these insults were borne
patiently by One, who with a word could have silenced these mocking
tongues, and have confounded all, by coming down from the cross, and
leaving man's redemption for ever unfinished. Blessed be God, that no
taunts or mockings could so move Him, Who suffered all for our sakes.
We cannot wonder, that following the example of the Jewish priests and
rulers, the heathen "soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and
offering him vinegar," or a light wine drunk by the common people,
"and saying, If thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself. And they
that passed by reviled him, and railed on him, wagging their heads,
and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in
three days, save thyself, and come down from the cross. If thou be the
Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the Chief Priests
mocking him, with the Scribes and elders, said among themselves, He
saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let
him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted
in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I
am the Son of God. Let Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from
the cross, that we may see and believe."
Would they have believed, if Jesus had indeed come down from the
cross? No; their hearts were hardened in wilful unbelief, and their
words were empty mockery. One great truth, however, the Chief Priests
unknowingly proclaimed, when in mockery they cried out, "he saved
others, himself he cannot save": truly the choice lay between the two;
Jesus could not save Himself and us. For our salvation an atonement
must be made: the only effectual atonement was the death of Jesus, He
might have saved Himself from this, and left us to perish. Blessed be
God for the love, that endured to the end, and thus saved us.
We are told, that even "they that were crucified with him, reviled
him"; joining in the abuse now heaped upon him; but without provoking
one word of reproof or complaint. No doubt the behaviour of our Lord
at this time must have gained the admiration of many, and convinced
them that He who now hung upon the cross was no mere man. The Lord
certainly saw fit to touch the heart of one of those who were
crucified with him, for while "one of the malefactors which were
hanged," continued to rail "on him, saying, If thou be the Christ,
save thyself and us," the other, answering, rebuked him, "saying, Dost
not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? and we
indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this
man hath done nothing amiss." Here was true repentance; an
acknowledgment of the justice of the punishment inflicted, coupled
with a declaration of the innocence of Him, whom the dying thief now
believed to be indeed the Son of God, the promised Messiah. In
Christ's agony and humiliation, the penitent malefactor looked to Him
as the King of the Jews, the Saviour of mankind; and in the strength
of his new-born faith, "he said unto Jesus, Lord remember me when thou
comest into thy kingdom": he felt the true nature of Christ's kingdom:
and Jesus, who knows the hearts of all "said unto him, Verily I say
unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." What blessed
words for the poor penitent thief to hear! May each one of us, when we
are dying, have the comfort of believing, This day shall I be in the
kingdom of the Lord: but unless our actions during life have shown
that we do belong to His kingdom on earth, we cannot feel this
comfort.
"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's
sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene." Mary's sorrow
at witnessing the suffering of her Son, must indeed have been, as if a
sword had pierced through her own soul, as Simeon had foretold, when
three and thirty years before she had carried the Holy Babe into the
temple, to do for Him according to the law. Mary, the wife of Cleophas
or Alphaeus, was the mother of James called the Less, to distinguish
him from James the brother of John, the son of Zebedee. The Apostles
had, as we have seen, fled away; but John, who had followed Jesus to
the High Priest's palace, now stood with the women beside the cross.
Even in the midst of all His agony, Jesus could think of others: He
felt for the misery and desolation of His mother, and was anxious to
provide for her future comfort; thus He set a double example, showing
children that they should never cease to love and honour their
parents; and teaching us all, never to let our own troubles or
sorrows, whatever they may be, make us unmindful of the sufferings of
others.
"When Jesus, therefore, saw his mother, and the disciple standing by
whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then
saith he to his disciple, Behold thy mother!" By these words, He bade
His mother look for comfort to His beloved disciple; bidding him treat
her for the future as if she were his own mother. Faithfully was this
last commandment obeyed, "And from that hour that disciple took her
unto his own home."
Jesus had now been hanging on the cross for three hours, suffering the
extreme of bodily agony; but the worst was not yet over. It was the
sixth hour, or twelve o'clock,--mid-day, as we call it,--when an event
took place, which must have greatly alarmed all men. Without any
apparent cause, "the sun was darkened"; "when the sixth hour was come,
there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour." During
these three hours of darkness, we have reason to believe that Jesus
was allowed to feel the full weight of God's wrath against sin. All
the misery deserved by sinful man was in some wonderful and mysterious
way laid upon Him, so that in some incomprehensible manner, He, holy
as He was, tasted the bitterness of that death from which by His
agonies He delivered man. What His sufferings really were, we know
not. God grant we never may! But for the time He felt as if His Father
had cast Him off for ever. What a dreadful thing must sin be, since it
could not be forgiven without such terrible agony, as for three hours
was endured in silence by our blessed Lord; and at length wrung from
Him that heart-rending cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" Let us, for whose redemption He thus felt the wrath of God, watch
and pray, that His sufferings may not have been in vain for any one of
us.