April 2, 2010

  • Stay (I)

    And as they led Him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.

    And there followed Him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem...

    weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
    for behold, the days are coming in the which they shall say,
    blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare...
    then shall they begin to say to the mountains,
    fall on us, and to the hills, cover us
    for if they do these things in a green tree,
    what shall be done in the dry?

    ...and when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and one on the left...

    and the people stood beholding.

    and the rulers also with them derided Him, saying,

    he saved others; let him save himself, if he be the 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 railed on Him, wagging their heads, saying,

    Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,
    Save thyself, and come down from the Cross.

    Likewise the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes,

    He saved others, himself he cannot save.
    Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the Cross,
    that we may see and believe...

    (He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him:
    for He said, I am the Son of God. Matthew 27)

    And they that were crucified with Him reviled Him. Mark 15)

    and one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, saying,

    if thou be Christ, save thyself and us...

    (Insults and reproach have broken my heart; I am full of heaviness and Iam distressingly sick. I looked for pity, but there was none, and forcomforters, but I found none. Psalm 69:20)

    ...And all this acquaintance, and the women that followed Him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

    [Joseph, of Arimathaea,] went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone... and that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on...

    and they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.

    (Luke 23)

    If Jesus came down from the cross, the salvation of humanity would have been doomed.

    The very people He came to save were mocking Him by telling Him to come down from the cross on which their sins were to be eradicated.

    The ones He loved were standing afar off...

    This is indeed the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. He did it for us.