The Private Thoughts and Words of Jesus

The Private Thoughts and Words of Jesus

(No. 2212)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, JULY 12, 1891,

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH
26, 1891

"And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart in
the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son
of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes,
and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the
Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify Him: and the third day
He shall rise again." Matthew 20:17-19.

You have this same story in Matthew, Mark and Luke, a little
differently told, as would naturally be the case when the information
came from three different observers. It will be to our edification to
put the three accounts together, so as to get a complete view of the
incident, for each Evangelist mentions something omitted by the others.

Our Lord firmly resolved to go to Jerusalem about a fortnight before
the Passover, with the view of becoming, Himself, the Lamb of God's
Passover. He had frequently left Jerusalem when His life had been in
danger because His time was not yet come and He, thus, set us the
example of not willfully running into danger, or braving it with
foolhardiness. But now that He felt that the hour of His s

Sacrifice was near at hand, He did not hesitate, or seek to avoid it,
but He resolutely set out to meet His sufferings and His death. When He
was in the highway that led to Jerusalem, He marched in front of the
little band of His disciples with so vigorous and bold a step–and with
such a calm, determined air of heroism upon Him, that His followers
were filled with astonishment (Mark 10:52).

Here are the very words–"And they were in the way going up to
Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them; and they were amazed, and as
they followed they were afraid." Knowing that, according to His own
account, He was going to suffering and death and, being well assured,
from their own observation, that He was about to encounter the most
furious opposition, they were amazed at His dauntless courage and
wondered what made Him so resolved! We also read that "they were
afraid," afraid for themselves, in a measure, but most of all afraid
for Him. Would not His daring lead to conflict with the powers then in
authority and might not terrible things happen both to Him and to them?
It was not altogether timidity, but awe which came over them–His
manner was so majestic and sublime. That lowly Man had a something
about Him which commanded the trembling reverence of His disciples.
After all, meekness is imperial–and commands far more reverence than
anger or pride.

His followers felt that great events were about to transpire and they
were deeply sobered and filled with awe-struck apprehension. In the
Presence of their Lord, who seemed to be leading a forlorn hope to a
fierce battle, they were afraid. They were amazed at His courage and
afraid for the consequences. They were also amazed at Him and afraid
because of their own unfitness to stand in His Presence. Do we not know
what this feeling is? Then it was that He took the 12 aside and began
to tell them what things should happen to Him. The conversation was
private. At this time we will go aside with the chosen Apostles for a
little while and hear what their Lord would say to us, even as He
aforetime said it to them. May the good Spirit bless our meditation!

I shall have three things to speak of and the first will be our Lord's
private communings. This will give us an insight, secondly, into our
Lord's private thoughts. And when we have looked into these a little,
as far as our dim eyes are able, we will then notice, in the third
place, our Lord's dwelling on the details of His passion, for into
those details He went with singular impressiveness. Let us not forget
our need of the Holy Spirit's illumination while we come near to a
place so holy as this of "The Revelation of the Passion."

I. First, then, our LORD'S PRIVATE COMMUNINGS. He did not say all
things to all men. He spoke certain matters only to His disciples. To
the outside world it was given to hear the parable, but to the
disciples was it given to know the explanation. Not even to all the
disciples did our Lord make known the whole of His teachings. He had an
elect out of the elect! First came 12 out of the many and then came
three out of the twelve. These three were admitted to special
manifestations which the other nine did not share. As if to carry the
principle of election to the utmost extent, one was chosen out of the
three, who enjoyed a peculiar personal love and leaned his head upon
his Lord's bosom, as the other two never did. We are happy to be
admitted, by the key of Inspiration, into the inner chamber of our
Lord's private conferences.

On this occasion, our Lord's communings were with the leaders of His
band. Those who have to lead others need more instruction than the
rest. It needs more Grace to lead than to follow. No man can give out
what he has not received. If you are to be a fountain of living waters
to others, you must, yourself, be filled from the fullness of God. Dear
Brothers and Sisters, you whom the Lord has chosen to be vessels of
mercy to others, take care that you wait much upon Him yourselves, and
are much with Him in secret retirement. Live near to God, that you may
bring others near. I remember sitting, one rainy day, in an inn, at
Cologne, looking out of a window upon a square. There was not much to
see, but what was to see I did see, as I occasionally looked up from my
writing.

I saw a man coming to a pump that stood in the middle of the square and
from that pump he filled a vessel. A little while after, I saw the same
man again filling his buckets. All that morning I saw no one else, but
only that one water-loving individual, filling his buckets again and
again. I thought to myself, "What can he be? Why is he always drawing
water?" Then I perceived that he was a water carrier, a bearer of water
to families in the adjoining streets. Well might he often come to the
fountain, himself, since he was supplying others. You that are water
carriers for thirsty souls must necessarily come often to the Living
Water, yourselves, and be thankful that your Master is always willing
to meet you and give you rich supplies! He graciously waits to take you
apart in the way and speak to you things which you need to hear and
tell. Take care that you hear well that which you are commissioned to
publish to all the world. Take good note of this, you who instruct
others–neglect not the yielding of your ears to your Lord quite as
completely as your tongue. Hear Him that you may speak of Him. Be sure
that you are alone much with your Lord, that you may have Him much with
you in public.

When our Lord, on this occasion, spoke to the 12, the time was
significant–it was on the way to a great trial. To Him, His coming
suffering was the sum of all trial. He was about to be wounded for our
transgressions and bruised for our iniquities! The chastisement of our
peace was about to fall upon Him that with His stripes we might be
healed. But it was also to be a time of great trial to the disciples.
Inasmuch as they loved their Lord, they would sympathize with His
sufferings and death. Inasmuch as they trusted in Him, it would be a
sharp trial to their faith to see Him dying on the Cross, vanquished by
His remorseless enemies. Inasmuch as they loved His company, they would
weep and lament, and feel like orphaned children when He was taken from
them. Therefore they must be favored with a special private interview
to prepare them for the coming ordeal.

Have you ever noticed how our Lord, before the coming to us of a great
tribulation, strengthens our hearts by some heavenly visitation? Either
before or after the affliction, it has happened to me to enjoy very
special manifestations of the Well-Beloved. At such junctures He brings
us into His banqueting house and His banner over us is love, that we
may go down to the battle like men refreshed by a feast. He gives us a
joyful bracing up, that we may be ready for tomorrow's stern service. I
feel that it is so and I pray that each of you may know, by personal
experience, how wise is your Redeemer's foresight–and how, by the
communion apart, He prepares us for that which we are to meet at the
end of the way. A drink from the brook of fellowship by the way will
make you ready for the heat of the conflict. A word from His
myrrh-dropping lips will perfume the air, even of the valley of
death-shade. Speak to us, Lord, and we will not heed the howls of the
dog of Hell!

When our Master thus took the 12 apart, we may say of His conversation,
that it was upon choice themes. Our Lord's conversation is always holy
and suitable for the occasion. He spoke to them of the Scriptures. Luke
says, "He took unto Him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go
up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the Prophets
concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished." Blessed theme–the
Word of the Lord by His Prophets and the fulfillment thereof! Have you
ever noticed how our Divine Lord delights to speak upon the Scriptures?
How often does He en-

force His teaching by, "as the Scripture has said"! If He has only two
of them and they are walking on the road, we read, "Beginning at Moses
and all the Prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning Himself." Communion with Christ Jesus must be based
on the Word of the Lord!

If you speak half a word derogatory of Holy Scripture, your fellowship
will evaporate. Men talk about building upon Christ and not upon the
Scriptures, but they know not what they say, for our Lord continually
established His own claims by appealing to Moses and the Prophets! They
would be Christo-centric, they say–I only wish they would! But if they
take Christ for a center, they will inevitably have the Scriptures for
a center, too–and these men neither want the one nor the other. They
care nothing for the center–they only want to do away with the
circumference, that they may roam at their own proud wills! Our Lord
made the written Word to be the reason for many of His acts–He did
this and He did not do that–because of what the Scriptures had said.
He comes not to take away the Law and the Prophets, yes, not a jot or a
tittle does He destroy, so careful is He of the Scriptures of truth! We
learn from Him to believe not only in Inspired Words, but in Inspired
jots and tittles!

They that have been much with Christ always show a profound reverence
for the Word of God. I have never yet met with a person worthy to be
called a saint who did not love and revere the Inspired Book. I have
heard, in the last few days, the newly-coined word, "bibliolatry,"
which is meant to set forth the imaginary crime of worshipping the
Bible. I know not who may be guilty of the offense–I have never met
with such idolaters. When I do, I will try to show them their error,
but at present I am too much occupied with the enemies of the Bible to
think much of its too ardent friends, if there is such an one! While
the word may be used in an accusation against us, it most surely is a
confession on the part of those who use it that they see nothing
special about the Scriptures and are angry with those who do! Let them
speak as they will, O Lord, "my heart stands in awe of Your Word." I
would be numbered with the men who tremble at Your

Word!

The words of the Holy Spirit are more than words to me. I tremble lest
I should sin against Him by sinning against them! I would not take away
a word from the Book of this prophecy, nor add thereunto–let it stand
as it is–for here it is that Jesus meets us and communes with us! He
opens the Scriptures to our understanding and then He opens our
understanding to receive the Scriptures. He makes us hear His voice in
these chapters–yes, we see Him in them–

"Here I behold my Sa vior's face Almost in every page."

We cannot look up to Heaven and see Jesus amid the celestial splendors,
but He lovingly looks down from the Throne of His Glory into the mirror
of the Word–and when we look into it we see the sweet reflection of
His face. As in a mirror, His countenance is displayed by Scripture. O
Believers, love the Word of God! Prize every letter of it and be
prepared to answer the cold, carping words of critics who know nothing
of the benediction which comes to us through every line of Inspiration.
These are they who would cruelly divide the living child, for it does
not belong to them, but we will have no sword come near it, for it is
our love–it is life and bliss to us! Our Lord, in His most private
conversation with our souls, speaks in, and by, and through the
Scriptures in the power of the Holy Spirit!

But the chief theme that our Lord dwelt upon was His own suffering even
unto death. Beloved, our Lord Jesus has said many delightful
things–and let Him say what He will, His voice is as angels' music to
our ears! But from the Cross, His voice is richest in consolation. We
never come so near to Jesus–at least, such is my experience–as when
we gaze upon His bloody sweat, or see Him robed in shame, crowned with
thorns and enthroned upon the Cross! Our Lord's incomparable beauties
are most visible amid His griefs. When I see Him on the Cross, I feel
that I must borrow Pilate's words and cry, "Behold the Man!" Covered
with His own blood from the scourging and about to be led away to be
crucified between two thieves, you look into His inmost heart and
behold what manner of love He bore towards guilty men!

We know not Christ till He puts on His crimson garments. I know not my
Beloved when He is only to me as the snow-white lily for purity. But
when, in His wounding, He is red as the rose, then I perceive Him! "My
Beloved is white and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand." A suffering
Savior bears the palm for me–a wounded Savior is my Lord and my God!
The lower He went for my redemption, the higher does He rise in my
soul's loving esteem. He saw this when He said, "I, if I am lifted up,"
for, indeed, it was a lifting up of Him to die upon the cruel Cross. To
the wondering universe, the Son of God is lifted to a height of
wondering admiration by His becoming obedient unto death out of love to
His

chosen. He is lifted up in every grateful heart and shall be lifted up
forever. Our fellowship with Jesus largely flows along the great deep
of His suffering and to me, at least, it is then deepest, truest and
sweetest.

Our Lord talked to the 12 of His sufferings in great detail, of which
we will speak further on, but He did not shrink from dwelling upon His
death, nor did He stop there, but foretold His rising again. In each of
the three accounts He appears to end the story of His passion by saying
that on the third day He would rise again from the dead. That was a
glorious climax–"The third day He shall rise again." Oh, that blessed
doctrine of the Resurrection! If our Lord's record ended at the Cross,
it might drive us to despair. But He is declared to be the Son of God
with power by His Resurrection from the dead! That He was raised from
the dead makes us see the merit, the power, the great reward of His
death. He that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the Everlasting Covenant, even
He will make us perfect in every good work to do His will. Whenever the
Master comes very near to us in His gracious condescension, He shows us
not only that He shed His blood for us, but that He rose again and
always lives to carry on our cause. When you worship most closely, you
will worship Him that lived, died, rose again and now lives forever and
ever. This is our Lord Jesus Christ! He is not only a teacher, or
merely a bright example, but One whose death is the source of our
salvation and whose Resurrection and eternal Glory are the guarantee
and foretaste of our everlasting bliss! A living, dying, risen Christ
is One with whom we have joyful fellowship! And if we know Him not in
this Character, we do not know Him at all!

Furthermore, He conversed with them upon their share in all this. They
were one with Him in that which would befall Him. He says, "Behold, we
go up to Jerusalem." True, they would have no share in the scourging,
the spitting and the Crucifixion. He must tread that winepress alone.
But yet they would, with Him, carry the cross in the near future, and
with Him deny themselves during the rest of their lives. Henceforward
it would not only be Jesus the Lord who would bear witness for God and
righteousness, but the followers of the Crucified One would unite in
testimony to the same Truth of God, for the same great purpose! It was
well for Him to speak to them on such a practical theme–they would be
cheered and comforted in later days when they remembered that He had
told them of these things. He will draw us into very intimate communion
if we are willing to take up His Cross and bear His reproach. We lose
much when we quit the separated path because it is rough, for we lose
our Lord's sweet company. Oh, for Grace to love the rough paths because
we see His footprints on them!

They listened to this private talk, but we are told by Luke that it was
very much lost upon them because they did not understand Him. "And they
understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken." "But," you say, "it
was very simple." Possibly that is why they did not understand it.
Numbers of people imagine that they understand mysteries and yet the
simplicities of the faith are hid from their eyes because they are
gazing after abstruse doctrines. They search after difficult things and
miss the plain Truth of God! We groan as we wantonly dive into a
profound abyss and yet we stand confounded over a little transparent
stream, which, to wade through, would bring us bliss!

When our Lord told the 12 that He would die, they imagined that it was
a parable, concealing some deep mystery. They looked at one another and
they tried to fathom where there was no depth, but where the Truth lay
on the surface. The deep things of God, thousands will pry into, but
yet these are not saving matters–nor are they of any great practical
value. Fixed fate, free will, predestination, prophecy and the
like–these have small bearings upon our salvation from sin–but in the
death of our Lord lies the kernel of the matter! Beloved, when we try
to commune with Jesus, let us wear the garments of simplicity! It is
the serpent who trades in subtlety, but I would have you remember "the
simplicity which is in Christ Jesus." There is in Him a depth which we
cannot fathom, but His every Word is the pure Truth of God and those
things which are necessary are made so plain that he who runs may read
and he who reads may run!

Believe Him to mean what He says and take His promises as they stand
and His precepts in their plain meaning! And, oh, if we do this, we
shall be made greatly wise! Do not confuse your minds with doctrinal
riddles nor amuse your souls with spiritual mysteries, but believe in
Him who is Jesus, the faithful and true, who makes known to us the
heart of the Father! Believe that He died in our place! Believe that He
took our sin upon Him and carried it all away! Believe that we are
justified through His Resurrection and are made to live because He
lives! Hypotheses and critical doubts we may leave to the dogs that
first sniffed them out, but as for us, we will be as children who eat
the bread their father gives them and

ask no questions as to the field in which the wheat was reaped–and
raise no debates as to the mill at which the seed was ground!

Thus, you see, the private conversations of our Lord with the 12 dealt
with His sufferings and death–and His communications come home to our
hearts in proportion as we are prepared to receive them in childlike
simplicity.

II. Secondly, we will now turn our minds to THE PRIVATE THOUGHTS OF OUR
LORD JESUS. We shall not be

presumptuous if we humbly enquire–What were the thoughts of our Lord
at the time? When He had called them quite apart and spoken to them, we
may be quite sure that what He said to them was the outcome of His
innermost meditations.

Our Lord was forecasting His death in all its mournful details. Do you
not know that frequently it is more painful to anticipate death than it
is actually to die? Yet our Lord dwelt upon His sufferings, even to
their minutiae. A person was speaking to me, the other day, of a
painful operation which he was bound to undergo. There was no
probability that he could get into the hospital for another month or
two and he remarked that he greatly wished that the operation could
have been performed sooner, "For," he said, "it is so painful to be
looking forward to a matter so distressing. Let it be soon," was his
cry. Our Lord was like a grain of wheat which is cast into the ground
and lies there, for a while, before it dies. He was buried, as it were,
in prospective agony–immersed in suffering which He foresaw. In the
thought of the Cross, He endured it before He felt the nails! The
shadow of His death was upon Him before He reached the tree of doom!
Yet He did not put away the thought, but dwelt upon it as one who
tastes a cup before he drinks it to the dregs. After so deliberate a
testing, is it not all the more marvelous that He did not refuse the
draught?

Did He not remember His engagement to go through with our redemption?
"Lo, I come," He said, "in the volume of the Book it is written of Me."
He had pledged Himself by solemn Covenant and in the Book it was
written that He would stand in our place and give His life an offering
for sin. From this suretyship He never departed. He knew that the
Father would bruise Him and put Him to grief in the approaching day of
His anger. He knew that the wicked would pierce His hands and His feet.
He knew all that would occur and He stayed not back from the pledge
which He had given in the council chamber of eternity, that His life
should be rendered up as a ransom for many! It were well if we, also,
remembered our vows to God and the obligations under which we are
placed by His great love.

Our Lord's thoughts took the form of a resolution to do the Father's
will to the end. He set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem.
Nothing could make Him look aside. He had undertaken and He would go
through with it. Unless it should prove possible for us to be saved
otherwise, He would not set aside that cup which His Father had given
Him to drink. The thought of our perishing, He could not bear–that was
not to be tolerated. He would suffer all imaginable and unimaginable
woe sooner than desert the cause He had espoused. He was straitened–so
He described it–straitened till His labor was accomplished! He was
like a Man pent up against His will–He longed to be discharging His
tremendous task. He had an awful work to do, an agonizing suffering to
bear, and He felt fettered until He could be at it–"How am I
straitened till it is accomplished!" He was as a hostage bound for
others, longing to be set free! He longed to be bearing the penalty to
which He had voluntarily subjected Himself by His Covenant Suretyship.
He therefore thought upon that "obedience unto death" which He was
determined and resolved to render.

He had an eye, all the while, to you and to me. While He was thinking
of death, He was chiefly regarding those for whom He would suffer. I
doubt not that there flashed before that mighty mind the individuals
who make up the vast host of His redeemed–and among them there were
insignificant individuals such as we are. Out of His strong love to us,
even to us, He determined to pay our ransom price in death–it was part
of His solace that He would deliver you and me. "He loved me and gave
Himself for me." He made a voluntary offering of Himself for me, before
He actually died–often and often surrendering Himself in purpose
before the Cross was reared for the actual offering up of His body once
and for all.

Then there came into His mind, also, the thought of the grand sequel of
it all. He would rise again! On the third day it would all be over and
the recompense would begin. A few hours of bitter grief. A night of
bloody sweat. A night and a morning of mockery when He would be flouted
by the abjects and made nothing of by the profane. A direful afternoon
of deadly anguish on the Cross and of dark desertion by Jehovah! And
then the bowing of the head and a little rest in the grave for His
body. And on the third day the light would break upon mankind, for the
Sun of Righteousness would arise with healing in His wings! The light
that would come when He should rise would lighten the Gentiles and be
the Glory of His people Israel. He would then have said, "It is
finished," and He would shortly afterward ascend to reap His reward in

personal glorification and in receiving gifts for men–yes, for the
rebellious, also, that the Lord God might dwell among them!

Surely our Lord's thoughts were all the while upon His Father! He
always remembered the Beloved Father to whom He was to be "obedient
unto death, even the death of the Cross." That 22nd Psalm, which might
well be our Lord's on the Cross, is full of God–it is an appeal to
God. As our Lord went on His way with the 12, conversing upon the road,
they must have seen that He was in close communion with God. There was
about Him a deep solemnity of spirit–a rapt communion with the
Unseen–a heavenly walking with God even beyond His usual. This, mixed
with His deeply-fixed re-solve–and that stern joy which only they can
feel who are resolved to accomplish a great purpose through bowing to
the Divine will, let it cost what it may. The God and Father of our
Lord Jesus was everything to Him! And in all His acts, His heart was
set upon Jehovah's Glory.

I wish that I had time for my subject, but it is overwhelming me. I can
only open the door and bid you look into the private thoughts of Him
whose thoughts are priceless gems, whereas yours and mine are as the
pebbles of the brook. What meditations were His! How precious, also,
are Your thoughts unto me, O Christ! How great is the sum of them!
Wonderful things did You ponder in Your soul on those days of Your
nearing passion!

III. Now we will have a few moments as to OUR LORD'S DWELLING ON
DETAILS. I do not want to preach. I wish to be a kind of guide for your
thoughts, just setting the example by thinking first that you may
follow. May the sacred Spirit now lead you quietly into the points upon
which our Lord so calmly enlarged!

Note well what our Lord said about His sufferings. "Behold, we go up to
Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be betrayed." Stop there!
"Betrayed"! It is as though I heard the deep boom of a death knell.
"Betrayed"! "Betrayed"! To die, yes, that is not a word with a sting in
it to Him! But, "Betrayed"!–that means sold by cruel treachery! It
means that one who ate bread with Him lifted up his heel against Him!
It means that a man who was His familiar acquaintance, with whom He
walked to the House of God in company, sold Him for a paltry bribe.
"Betrayed for thirty pieces of silver! A goodly price, indeed, for the
blood of such a Friend! "Betrayed"! Hear how He cries–"If it were an
enemy, then I could have borne it." "Betrayed"! It was no stranger–it
was no bloodhound of the Pharisees who scented Him out in the
garden–but, "Judas also, which betrayed Him, knew the place." Betrayed
with a kiss and with a friendly word! Handed over to them who sought
His blood by one who ought to have defended Him to the death!
"Betrayed"! It is a dreadful word to be set here before the passion,
and it throws a lurid light over it all. We read–"The same night in
which He was betrayed He took bread." This was the bitterest drop in
His cup–that He was betrayed.

And still is He betrayed! If the Gospel dies in England, write on its
tomb, "Betrayed." If our churches lose their holy influence among men,
write on them, "Betrayed." What care we for infidels? What care we for
those who curse and blaspheme? They cannot hurt the Christ! His wounds
are those which He receives in the house of His friends. "Betrayed"! O
Savior, some of us have been betrayed, but ours was a small sorrow
compared with Yours, for You were betrayed into the hands of sinners by
one who claimed to be Your friend, by one who was bound by every tie to
have been Your faithful follower. "Betrayed"! Beloved, I cannot bear
the word! It falls like a flake of fire into my bosom and burns its way
into my inmost soul. "Betrayed"! And such a faithful Friend as He! So
full of love and yet betrayed!

Read on. "The Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests, and
unto the scribes."" The chief priests ought to have always been His
best defenders! They were the leaders of the religion of the day–these
chief priests were the guides of Israel! When Israel bowed before the
Lord, the chief priests presented the sacrifice. Yet these were our
Lord's most bitter enemies–by their malice He was condemned and
crucified! It is hard to have the professed servants of God against
you. The scribes, too, those Bible writers and Bible
interpreters–these, also, were fiercely against Him. From the hands of
scribes He would have less mercy than from soldiers. I said, the other
Lord's-Day, what I now repeat–I would rather be bitten by wolves than
by sheep! It is wretched work to have those against you who are
reckoned to be the best men of the time. It was little to Him to have
Herod against Him, or Pilate and the Romans as His foes, for they knew
no better. But it was heart-rending work to see the men of the
Sanhedrim, the men of prayers and phylacteries, the men of the Temple
and of the synagogue arrayed against Him! Yet into their hands He
falls! Good Master, You are delivered into the hands of men who know no
mercy, for they hate You for Your faithful words! They can compromise,
but You cannot! They can trifle with language, but You cannot! They can
play the hypocrite and that, You cannot do!

Read on–"And they shall condemn Him to death." They did not leave the
sentence of condemnation to the Romans, but they, themselves, passed
sentence upon their Victim. The priests, whose office made them types
of Himself–and the scribes, who were the official interpreters of His
Father's Book–these condemned the Holy and Just One! They count Him
worthy of death–nothing less will serve their turn. This the Christ
could plainly see and it was no small trial to come under the censure
of His country's governors. They could not put Him to death,
themselves. If they dared, they would have stoned Him and that would
have broken the prophecy which declared that in death His enemies must
pierce His hands and His feet. They can condemn Him to death, but they
cannot execute the sentence! Yet none the less, this iron entered into
His soul that those who were professedly the servants of God condemned
Him to die! If you have ever tasted of this cup you know that it has
wormwood in it.

Notice, further–"And shall deliver Him to the Gentiles." All men
conspired in our Master's death–not half the world, but all of it must
have a hand in the tragedy of Calvary. The Gentile must come in. He
takes his share in this iniquity, for Pilate condemns Him to the Cross.
The chief priests hand Him over to Pilate and he commits Him to the
Roman soldiers that they may do the cruel deed. They "delivered Him to
the Gentiles." The Master dwells on this. It opens another gate through
which His sorrows poured. At the hands of the Gentiles He dies–and for
Gentiles He suffered. Beloved, I like to see how the Master notes this
point. He makes distinctions. He does not say that He should be
condemned by Pilate, but He is condemned to die by the chief priests
and then He is delivered to the Gentiles. He sees it all and dwells
upon the points of special interest. O Believer, behold your Lord bound
and taken away to the Hall of Pilate! See Him delivered to the
Gentiles, while His fellow countrymen cry, "We have no king but
Caesar"! They shout, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" And the Gentiles carry
out their cruel demand. Unanimity among our persecutors must add
greatly to the sting of their unkindness.

These three words follow–"To mock, and to scourge, and to crucify
Him." Mark puts in, "To spit upon Him." That was a sad part of the
mockery. What dreadful scorning He endured! From the Jews, when they
blindfolded Him and buffeted Him–and from the Gentiles when they put
on Him a purple robe and thrust a reed into His hand, bowed the knee
and cried before Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They plucked His hair.
They smote His cheeks. They spat in His face. Mockery could go no
farther. It was cruel, cutting, cursed scorn! Ridicule sometimes breaks
hearts that are hardened against pain–and the Christ had to bear all
the ridicule that human minds could invent. They were maliciously
witty. They jested at His Person. They jested at His prayers. They
mocked Him when He cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
Herein is immeasurable grief and the Savior foresaw it and spoke about
it.

That was not all–they scourged Him. I will not harrow your hearts by
trying to describe scourging as it existed among the Romans. The
scourge was an infamous instrument of torture. It is said to have been
made of the sinews of oxen, intertwisted with the hucklebones of sheep
and slivers of bone–so that every time the lashes fell, they plowed
the back and laid bare the white bones of the shoulders. It was an
anguish more cruel than the grave! But our Lord endured it to the
fullest. They mocked Him and they scourged Him–He dwells upon each
separate item. Some of our most touching hymns upon our Lord's passion
are spoken of by the cold-blooded critics of today as sensuous. "I
cannot bear," says one, "to hear so much about the physical agonies of
Christ." Beloved, we must preach the physical agonies of Christ more
than ever because this is an age of affectation in which His mental and
spiritual griefs are no more apprehended than those of His body!

The device is to be rid of His sufferings altogether! This age is as
fond of physical pleasure as any that has gone before it and it must be
made to know that physical pain was a great ingredient in the cup which
our Lord drank for man's redemption! Very many are so unspiritual that
they will never be reached by high-soaring language, appealing to a
delicacy which they do not possess. We must exhibit the bleeding Savior
if we would make men's hearts bleed for sin! The cries of His great
grief must ring in their ears or they will remain deaf! Let us not be
ashamed to dwell upon points upon which the Lord, Himself, dwelt.

Then He adds, "to crucify Him." Here I will come to a pause. Behold
Him! Behold Him! His hands are extended and cruelly nailed to the wood.
His feet are fastened to the tree and He is left to bear the weight of
His body upon His hands and feet. See how the nails tear through the
flesh as the weight drags the body down and enlarges the wounds! Look,
He is in a fever! His mouth is dried up and has become like an oven!
And His tongue cleaves to the roof thereof! Crucifixion was an inhuman
death and the Savior was "obedient unto death, even the death of the
Cross." The wonder is that He

could foresee this and speak of it so calmly. He meditates upon it and
speaks to choice familiar friends about it! Oh, the mastery of love,
strong as death! He contemplates the Cross and despises its shame!

Thus He dwells on it all and then closes by saying, "and the third day
He shall rise again." We must never forgot that, for He never forgets
it! Ah, you may think as much as you will of Calvary and let your tears
flow like rivers. You may sit at Gethsemane and say, "Oh, that my head
were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and
night for my Lord!" But, after all, you must wipe those tears away, for
He is not in the grave–He rose again on the third day! O blessed
morning! Not to be celebrated by an Easter, once in the year, but to be
commemorated on every first day of the week, more than 50 times in each
year! Every seven days that the sun shines upon us brings us a new
record of His Resurrection! We may sing every Lord's-Day morning–

"Today He rose and left the dead,

And Satan's empire fell!

Today the saints His triumph spread,

And all His wonders tell."

The first day of the week stands forever as the remembrance of our
risen Lord and on that day He renews His special communings with His
people! We believe in Him! We rise in Him! We triumph in Him! And, "He
ever lives to make intercession for us." Thus, you see, I have not
preached my own thoughts, but I have set you thinking. Treasure these
thoughts in your minds! All this week, sweeten your souls with the
sacred spices of our Lord's thoughts and Words when near His death. God
bless this meditation to you by His Holy Spirit!

If you have never believed in Him, may you believe in Him at once! Why
delay? He is able to save unto the uttermost! Believe in Him right now!
And if you have believed, keep on believing and let your believing grow
more intense. Think more of Jesus, love Him more, serve Him more and
grow more like He. Peace be unto you for His dear sake! Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Matthew 16:13-28.