have the blood of a just man on his soul, the governor takes water, and washes his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person; see ye to it!" then answered all the people, and said, "his blood be on us, and on our children!" And now the governor has delivered him to the people to be crucified, and with murderous rage they drag him away from the judgmentseat to the place of execution. Meek, unresisting, uncomplaining, as a lamb he is led to the slaughter! He is almost fainting, yet they compel him to bear the cross on which he is to suffer! He takes it without a struggle, and carries it without a murmur, till at length, exhausted by the loss of blood, he can support its weight no longer; another is deputed to bear it, and in silent agony the mysterious sufferer toils on his way to Calvary! What thoughts are labouring in the bosom, what feelings are struggling within the soul, what sorrows are pressing on the heart of that most wondrous man, as he is hurried along his blood-stained path to the place of crucifixion! Whatever they may be, those around him heed them not; the people follow him with shouts of derision, with curses, and imprecations; but still he is silent! At length, amidst the shouts of insult, he hears the voice of weeping, and he is silent no longer; those lips which no insults, no sorrows of his own, could open to pour forth murmur of complaint-one expression of

one

resentment, are opened at once to pour forth the tender expostulation of affectionate warning, and he turned to the weeping mourners who followed him, and said, "daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children!" At length they have arrived at the fatal spot; three crosses are erected, and there they crucified him, and with him two thieves, on either side one, and He was in the midst! Who? Who was in the midst? They crucified him. Whom? Who is it that hangs on that central cross? Who is it that was thus crowned with thorns, and clothed with mockery, thus scourged and scoffed, thus buffeted and spit upon, rejected when a murderer was chosen, and crucified between two thieves, to mark that he was considered the vilest criminal of the three? Oh! how shall I give utterance to that mystery of mysteries! I am lost in wonder; I am overwhelmed with awe! how shall I speak it! how shall I tell that that rejected, reviled, scorned, scoffed, scourged, crucified one was God, manifest in the flesh, the mighty God, the Lord God Almighty, the Supreme Maker and Monarch of heaven and earth, "Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, God over all, blessed for ever." Oh! is it strange that the sun was afraid to look upon that sight, that the heavens were shrouded with darkness when their Almighty-Maker was expiring, or that the earth shook with convulsive

terror, as if it trembled to support the cross on which its adorable Creator hung? Yes, human reason, in its pride, may reject this stupendous mystery, and with it the salvation which is inseparably linked with its belief; but so unequivocally explicit, so written, as it were, with sunbeams in the Scriptures, are the testimonies to the essential Deity of Him who died upon the cross for our redemption, that either this book is a fable, a falsehood, or else, the brows which wore the plaited crown of thorns are the brows which now wear, and shall for ever wear, the crown of universal sovereignty; and the hands which held that reed of mockery, are the hands that sway the sceptre of creation; and the face which was once buffeted and spit upon, is the face before which angels and archangels veil their faces, and in its smile of love find the heaven of heaven to consist; and He who stood, as an arraigned malefactor, before the judgment-seat of Pilate, shall yet sit as universal judge, on a great white throne, and all the world shall stand before His judgment-seat; and He who was lifted up on that cross of shame, while insulting blasphemers bowed the knee in mockery before Him, shall be lifted up on His throne of glory, while adoring cherubim and seraphim bow, in reverential awe, before that throne, and at His feet, nearest His throne, and nearest to His heart, His own redeemed people

shall cast their blood-bought crowns, and cry, with a loud voice, saying, "worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive honour, and glory, and blessing, and praise, and power, for ever, and ever, and ever! Halleluiah! Halleluiah! Amen.” To those who cordially believe this glorious truth, (the very sun and centre of the whole system of Christian doctrines, and Christian duties,) what a divine preacher of holiness, and promiser of blessings does the cross become; what a divine foundation of confidence and comfort, and fountain of peace and joy! What divine materials and motives does it supply for the deepest humility and the most devoted love, the most fervent thankfulness and the firmest trust, the profoundest penitence and the loftiest praise! Look then, believer, at that cross, and learn what can be savingly learned only there! Learn the infinite hatefulness of sin, when thou seest whose blood must be poured out to purchase its pardon and expiate its guilt! Learn the deepest abhorrence of thine own sins, when thou seest whom they have pierced with agony, even unto death. Look there, and learn the infinite value of thy soul, when thou considerest who bled for its ransom! who died for its redemption; and the perfect security of thy salvation, when thou considerest by whose sufferings it has been accomplished, by whose death it is secured; and, oh! look at that cross, long and

steadfastly, till the sight fills thy soul with such deep, intense, absorbing gratitude to Him whose love is written there in His own blood, that henceforward thou wilt dread one sin more than a thousand sorrows, and thine only fear will be a holy fear of offending or dishonouring, and thine only solicitude an affectionate solicitude to please and glorify, that sufferer of Calvary, the God of thy

salvation.

But does the divinity of Jesus invest His cross with divine attractions alone? Does it not also invest it with appalling terrors? For, if Jesus be Jehovah, what must be the guilt of neglecting Him, despising His salvation, and trampling on His blood? The Jews made the experiment; what has been the result? "His blood be on us and on our children!" It was a fearful imprecation, and it was fearfully answered-answered to them who uttered it, by such tribulation poured out upon them, as was never known upon earth, before or since; and more especially by the appalling fact, recorded by an infidel historian, that after being scourged and terribly tortured (and this by command of a Roman emperor distinguished for his clemency), such multitudes of this devoted people were crucified in the view, and near the walls, of the city of Jerusalem, that there was not room for the crosses to stand beside each other, and at last they had not wood enough whereof to make as