Jerusalem.

* Or, wrought.

every soldier a part; and also his coat. Now the John xix. 23. coat was without seam, * woven from the top throughout.

knew him, and fled: good spirits ministered to him. He spake of the invisible world, as of the scene of existence to which he had been accustomed, and of angels and devils as his obedient or rebellious subjects. It is evident, therefore, that the actions of our Lord, while in his state of humiliation, were the subjects of attention to an innumerable host of intellectual and spiritual creatures who, we may suppose, are all more or less interested in the heavenly sacrifice. Angels in humble submission desired to look into this great mystery; fallen spirits retained the malignity of their evil nature, saw, believed, and trembled. They fell from their high estate by their own pride and ambition, without external temptation, and they are left to the consequences of their wilful disobedience. Man, having been created of a compound nature, and liable to evil, did not, like them, fall away by his own original, innate perverseness, but by the enticements of a superior and evil spirit. For man Christ died-For man there is hope of salvation, and at this solemn moment the seal was affixed to his pardon. Now was the sentence of eternal punishment pronounced upon the evil spirits. Satan fell as lightning from heaven; and the captivity of hell was led captive. The voice of mercy confirmed the angels in their obedience, and taught them also that there was no more sacrifice for sin: and the human race were emancipated from the bondage and degradation of the Fall, and exalted to become, with the angels, the sons of God. Thus was moral order, which had been disturbed through the dominion of evil, by the sin and disobedience of the first Adam, restored to the whole universe by the triumphant sacrifice of the second Adam.

Sufficient, therefore, is revealed to us to convince us of the necessity of this great atonement, and to demonstrate to us the holy indignation of the Almighty God, against sin and sinners. We all carry about within us, the sad marks of our fallen nature. The remembrance of some past sin continually arises to èmbitter our happiness, and to convince us that we have no power to help ourselves. Man requires some other atonement, some other intercession. His former sins cannot be cancelled by penitence or reformation (a), the only offering he has it in his power to make; "the convert and the sinner are the same individual person: and as such, must be answerable for his whole conduct. His sentiments of himself can only be a mixture of approbation and disapprobation, satisfaction and displeasure. His past sins must still, however sincerely he may have reformed, occasion self-dissatisfaction: and this will ever be the stronger the more he improves in virtue. Now, as this is agreeable to truth, there is reason to conclude, that God beholds him in the same light." Therefore man's redemption must be accomplished by other than himself. It is further evident that the blood of bulls and of goats could not take away sin; they were not of the same nature and origin as man, and therefore incapable of making an expiation for the sin he had contracted. These were only the types and figures of a more perfect sacrifice of that holy victim who was appointed before the foundation of the world. Neither could the sacrifice of any ordinary man make

(a) Balguy, as quoted by Archbishop Magee, p. 94. vol. i.

John xix. 24.

They said therefore among themselves, Let us Jerusalem. not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be.

satisfaction for us, because it is clear he would only suffer that punishment which
his own sins had deserved; and no satisfaction can be made for others, by suffering
that which justice requires for our own offences. No ordinary man could raise
himself from the dead, or procure that redemption for another, which he could
not obtain for himself. Neither could any ordinary man make satisfaction to the
violated laws of God by a life of sinless obedience. He only who had power to
lay down his life, and take it up again, could procure for man a resurrection,
and deliver him from the eternal death his sins had incurred. He alone,
who took upon him human nature, that he might set us an example of human
virtue, "who knew no sin," who was perfect and spotless, the Lamb of God,
could satisfy the purity of divine justice, or reconcile it with his mercy, and the
economy of his government. Throughout the whole system of the divine dis-
pensations, the Father uniformly acts by the ministry of the Son, and the Son
by the ministry of the Holy Ghost. Had the divine acceptance been wanting to
the oblation of our Lord's body, whatsoever virtue it possessed in itself, it would
have been incapable of procuring the pardon of sin, or of redeeming man from
its punishment and power. Whatsoever he purchased for us, he purchased of
the Father by compact, or agreement (b); and He is now exalted to the right
hand of God, to make there his mysterious intercession for the sins of his people.
As the second Adam, the blessed Lord took our humanity; he restored it to
its original dignity and innocence, and then made a sacrifice of it upon the cross,
as a vicarious atonement for the sins of the first, and through him of all man-
kind. He was nailed to the accursed tree, the emblem of Adam's transgression,
and was crowned with a crown of thorns, the first fruits of his disobedience.
The religion which he died to establish was of an internal, spiritual nature.
was a life of holiness and self-sacrifice. It required the crucifixion of the whole
animal and inferior nature; and that the motives, and even the thoughts of the
heart, should be brought into subjection. It required a new birth, a new life,
of which baptism is the beautiful emblem, teaching us, that as infants are
washed immediately on their natural birth, so must the children of God, with
Christ, be born again through the grave and death of sin, into the spiritual
kingdom, by water, and the Spirit. If during the progress of life the animal is
allowed to triumph over the spiritual man, then the sin of the first Adam still
cleaves to us, and the sacrifice of the second Adam pleads for us in vain. The
animal life perishes with the body; the accountable life exists through eternity.
If the natural man be spiritualized by the subjugation of the flesh, he becomes
pure and holy, the companion of angels; but if he be polluted and degraded by
his contagion, he then defiles himself, loses the divine properties of his first
being, and is fitted only for association with devils and evil spirits. To this
fearful condition man was reduced by the fall of the first Adam. To revoke
this curse, Christ, the second Adam, became our atonement, by the sacrifice of
the whole of the offending, but, in him, sinless nature, upon the tree of the
cross: demonstrating to all the world, that the sacrifice of self is the way of sal-
vation, and the most acceptable offering that man can render to his Creator.

(b) See also Whitby, and Scott's Christian Life.

It

Jerusalem.

18.

And they parted his raiment, and cast lots:
that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
which was spoken by the prophet,

Lukexxiii.34.

John xix. 24.

Mat.xxvii. 35.

d Psal. xxii. which saith, They parted my raiment among John xix. 24. them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

And it was the third hour, and they crucified Mark xv. 25.

him.

And sitting down they watched him there.

7

MATT. xxvii. part of ver. 35.

Mat.xxvii. 36.

35 and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled-They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

MARK XV. 24.

24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.

Deeply do I pity that blind man, who prefers rather to trust to his own merits, than by faith in the great atonement to hope for salvation through the blood of Christ. Deeply do I feel for him, when he shall be called upon to appear before the judgment seat of a rejected Saviour, with all his imperfections, all his frailties, and all his violations of duty upon his head, to answer in an unknown state of inconceivable glory, before men and angels, for the sins committed in the body; having spurned the sheltering protection of that MAN who is both a covert from the wind, and a refuge from the storm. How can he hope to escape the wrath of God pronounced upon every offender against his holy laws, when his own beloved Son, as our substitute, who alone bore our sins, underwent such dreadful agonies, both in body and soul. He, who has declared himself of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, has also declared, as fully and plainly, and as repeatedly, that "without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins:" and what blood can have been shed for their remission, but the blood of Christ?

Bishop Watson, in speaking of that arrogant and dogmatical theology, that decrees the rejection of the doctrine of atonement, as inconsistent with the divine attribute of mercy, uses the following just observations:-" We know assuredly that God delighteth not in blood; that he hath no cruelty, no vengeance, no malignity, no infirmity, nor any passion in his nature: but we do not know whether the requisition of an atonement for transgression may not be an emanation of his infinite mercy, rather than a demand of his infinite justice. We do not know whether it may not be the very best means of preserving the innocence and happiness not only of us, but of all other free and intelligent beings. We do not know whether the suffering of an innocent person may not be productive of a degree of good, infinitely surpassing the evil of such sufferance; nor whether such a quantum of good could by any other means have been produced (c)."

(c) Two Apologies, &c. pp. 466, 467.

SECTION XX.

Christ is reviled, when on the Cross, by the Rulers, the Soldiers, the Passengers, the Chief Priests, and the Malefactors.

MATT. XXVii. 39-45.

Luke xxiii.35.

Luke xxiii.36.

Luke xxiii.37.

Mat. xxvii.39.

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.

And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,

And saying, If thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself.

And they that passed by reviled him,

Mark xv. 29. [and] railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,

Mark xv. 30.

Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Mat.xxvii. 40. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the

Mat. xxvii.41.

cross.

Likewise also the Chief Priests mocking him, with the Scribes and elders, said,

Mark xv. 31. among themselves, He saved others; himself he

cannot save.

Jerusalem.

Mat. xxvii.42. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. e He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, e Ps. xxii. 8. if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.

Mat. xxvii 43.

Mark xv. 32.

Mat. xxvii.44.

Let Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.

The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.

MATT. xxvii. part of ver. 39, 40. and 42.

39-wagging their heads

40

And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself.—

42 He saved others; himself he cannot save.

MARK XV. part of ver. 29. 31.

29 And they that passed by

31 Likewise also the Chief Priests mocking said-with the Scribes

Wisd. ii. 16,

17, 18.

Jerusalem.

SECTION XXI.

Christ, when dying as a Man, asserts his Divinity in his Answer to the Penitent Thief .

26

LUKE Xxiii. 39-44.

And one of the malefactors which were hanged Lukexxiii.39. railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself, and us.

26 Our Lord, at the time when he made the gracious promise to the criminal on the cross, was reduced to the lowest state of degradation and contempt. He was deserted by all but his beloved disciple, his mother, and two other holy women, who were standing by the cross, the weeping and agonized spectators of his sufferings. His disciples had forsaken him and fled. The assembled multitude of his enemies and persecutors embittered every pang, by their cruel and exulting mockeries. The Evangelists mention all kinds and classes of people, as if for the purpose of demonstrating the universal rejection of our Lord by the Jewish nation. The people stood beholding-and the rulers with them, deriding the soldiers mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar— the passers by reviled him, and railed on him-the chief priests mocked him, with the scribes and elders-even the very thief on the cross reviled him, and joined in the common mockery. At this moment of general insult and rejection, the penitent thief alone declared his belief in the innocence of the holy Jesus, and made a public confession of his faith in the divine sufferer.

Our Lord's answer to the penitent thief fully declared that, although in his human form he was faint and dying, enduring the extreme of pain and torture, he was the Lord of the invisible world, and still retained his divine attribute, the power of forgiving sins. The assembled people loudly and unanimously demanded of him to prove his former pretensions by a miracle. They called upon him to come down from the cross to save himself, and they would believe him. They seemed to consider this as a fair challenge. They supposed it impossible that any one, who possessed the power, would not use it under such trying circumstances. They therefore required him to release his body from torture, from the nails, and the wood, and come among them. But, ever consistent with himself, and faithful to the duties of his divine mission, instead of complying with their wishes, which were confined to temporal objects, he shewed the nature of his kingdom by the promise of salvation to a repentant soul. The Jews had frequently threatened to kill Christ, because he asserted his power to forgive sin. "Who can forgive sins," they exclaimed, "but God alone;" and therefore, according to their own acknowledgment and belief, he still persevered in his divine claims; and at the point of death proclaimed that their long promised God was before them, obscured in the form of a man.

The forgiveness of the penitent thief may be considered as revealing to us that God's mercy may be extended to the last moments of life; but we have no reason whatever to presume that it shall be so with any of us. No human being can ever again be placed in the same situation as this criminal. We cannot be called upon to follow our Saviour to Calvary, to witness his dying agonies; to hear the