Scc.tioo 
 
 
XTbe Cross anb passion 
 
Boofts ftg Wtm ^^oUfies 
 
 EVERYMAN'S RELIGION 
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
 
 CHRISTIANITY BETWEEN SUNDAYS 
 
 THE HERESY OF CAIN 
 
 THE BATTLES OF PEACE 
 
 THE HUMAN NATURE OF THE SAINTS 
 
 THE PATH OF LIFE 
 
 THE YEAR OF GRACE (2 Vols.) 
 
 THE CROSS AND PASSION 
 
 FAITH AND SOCIAL SERVICE 
 
 CLASSBOOK OF [OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 
 
(5oo& 3fri&a? a^&reeaee 
 
 (Heorge Hotiges 
 
 S>ean ot tbe Episcopal ^bcologfcal 
 Scbool at CambriDgc 
 
 Ubc /iDacmtllan dompanp 
 X915 
 
 Aii rights reserved 
 
Cop^rfabt, 1904, 
 3Q^ XLbc /l&acmtllan Compan)?* 
 
 Berwick & Smith Co., Norwood, Maw., U.S.A. 
 
Contents. 
 
 Introbuctorp a^^re0s . 
 
 ... I 
 
 tTbc first milor& . . . 
 
 ... 9 
 
 Zbc Sccon& Mor^ . . 
 
 ... 19 
 
 ^bc ?Cbirb Morb . . . 
 
 ... 29 
 
 ZTbefourtbMorb. . . 
 
 ... 39 
 
 ^befiftbMor^ . . , 
 
 . ... 49 
 
 ZCbc Sdtb Mlort) . . . 
 
 ... 59 
 
 ^be Seventb Morb . . 
 
 , ... 69 
 
flntrobuctorig Bbbress 
 
f ntrobuctor^ Hbbress 
 I. 
 
 ET us remember, as we 
 meet, how he promised to be 
 with us. The Lord, whose 
 suffering and death for our 
 sake we have in devout 
 memory this day, is here beside us. The 
 words] which we speak are spoken in his 
 hearing. May he forgive whatever is said 
 in ignorance, whatever is mistaken; and 
 may he bless this service to the deepening 
 of our affection, and to the praise and 
 glory of his holy name. The thoughts of 
 our hearts are known to him: all: our dis- 
 tractions, our petty interruptions, all our 
 wandering interests, all our weariness and 
 coldness, he perceives. May he, in his 
 great sympathy and charity and perfect 
 understanding of us, pardon and assist 
 and bless us. 
 
 We meet as of old they met the Master, 
 
 crowding about him and touching him, — 
 
 yet not all. Only one, there in Capernaum, 
 
 so touched him as to be healed by him. 
 
 We hear the voice of Jesus as they 
 
 3 
 
flntrobuctor^ Hbbress 
 
 heard it once in Jericho. This hour, even 
 as then, and here even as there, Jesus of 
 Nazareth passeth by. There must have 
 been many bUnd men in Jericho ; but only 
 one of them drew near, and cried for help, 
 and received his sight. 
 
 We look to-day upon the Crucified, as 
 they looked who were assembled at the 
 cross. They all saw the same sight. Jesus 
 Christ was set forth, crucified among them. 
 And the words which we have met this 
 hour to hear, they all heard. They saw 
 alike, and heard alike. But some were 
 intent upon their gain, and were throwing 
 dice for his garments ; and some had their 
 hearts so full of bigotry that there was 
 no room for a good, compassionate, fra- 
 ternal thought even to crowd in, and they 
 looked on, having not the faintest under- 
 standing of the meaning of the sight; and 
 some were there professionally and form- 
 ally, to whom crucifixion was an event of 
 common happening, — they saw and heard, 
 and heeded little; they only wondered 
 when it would be over and they could go ; 
 4 
 
f ntrobuctor^ Hbbress 
 
 some who were there were cowards and 
 some were curious folk come to look on. 
 Only one that day was turned from dark- 
 ness to the light. At least, we know of 
 only one. 
 
 God is always waiting to be gracious. 
 He is always ready to help and bless and 
 counsel and comfort us. His hand is out- 
 stretched; it is we who hold our hands 
 back. God does not give us the gift of his 
 grace, unless we meet his hand with ours. 
 The woman at Capernaum, the blind man 
 at Jericho, the malefactor at Calvary, — 
 they held out their hands, and God made 
 them rich. The others came poor, and went 
 away poor. The fault was in them. 
 
 Here we kneel before the cross. With 
 shut eyes we see him who is invisible. 
 Truly he is here; truly he is amongst us, 
 as he said. The hands which as on this 
 day were outstretched on the cross, are ex- 
 tended now to us, in invitation and in bene- 
 diction. Hewillblessus,if we will be blessed. 
 
 The open heart, the devout mind, the 
 upward look, the lowly, reverent, receptive 
 
 5 
 
Untrobuctor^ Hbbress 
 
 spirit, we must have. God can not bless us 
 unless we let him, unless we open our 
 hearts to him. Let us do that now. Be 
 still, all that distracts and disquiets; be 
 still, all that would speak of the world 
 without or of self within. So shall we hear 
 the divine voice speaking in the silence to 
 our souls. 
 
 n. 
 
 The years roll back. The walls fall away. 
 Over our head is the sky of the Holy Land ; 
 beneath our feet is the place called Gol- 
 gotha. We look behind us, and there is 
 the Jerusalem wall, and the gate through 
 which we have just come, following the 
 procession in the midst of which the Mas- 
 ter walked bearing his cross. Thus they led 
 him out, as for ages, in symbol of this 
 day, " the bodies of those beasts, whose 
 blood is brought into the sanctuary by the 
 high priest for sin, [have been] burned 
 without the camp; wherefore Jesus also, 
 that he might sanctify the people with his 
 own blood, suffered without the gate." We 
 6 
 
1fntrobuctori2 Hbbress 
 
 look before us, and there is the cross, and 
 upon the cross, the Crucified. Let us try 
 to realize that scene. Let us be there, not 
 here. Let us be blind and deaf for a little 
 while to all else. We are, indeed, afar off. 
 Almost all of those who loved him were 
 afar off that day. And we see but dimly. 
 But we do see. There is the crowd of in- 
 different and hostile folk about him, — 
 soldiers in armor, idlers from the city, the 
 man with the ladder, the man with the 
 nails and hammer, Pharisees and scribes, 
 — and in the midst is the cross, and on 
 either side a cross; and on the middle 
 cross, his head crowned with thorns, a 
 mocking inscription written above him, 
 his hands outstretched nailed to the beam, 
 is he who for our sake is enduring all the 
 shame and pain, he whom we love. Thus 
 we kneel as if the sacred, blood-stained 
 cross were indeed plain in our sight, and 
 we look into his face. 
 
 The blessed Saviour, who as on this day 
 did endure the trial and the mocking, the 
 shame and the smiting; who was betrayed 
 
 7 
 
Ifntrobuctor^ Hbbress 
 
 and forsaken, who was scourged and 
 crowned with thorns, who hung upon the 
 bitter cross, — may he help us and bless 
 us, as we watch with him this hour. 
 
 Darkness was over all the earth; dark- 
 ness is in our hearts, the darkness of un- 
 belief, of indifference, of worldliness, of 
 sin, — may he, the Light, enlighten us. 
 
 His hands and feet were sore and bleed- 
 ing, pierced with nails, —may we this hour 
 consecrate our hands to minister unto him, 
 and our feet to walk in the straight way 
 of his commandments. 
 
 Let us kneel, and each in the silence 
 think of that scene until it is plain and 
 real. Let us join the little company of 
 loving and faithful disciples who from afar 
 behold it. Let us look into the face of 
 Jesus, and make our hearts ready to hear 
 what he shall speak. 
 
Ube J^irst Morb 
 
XTbe first Morb 
 I. 
 
 UR Lord had had no food 
 and no sleep. At midnight 
 the crowd had seized him, 
 and since then there had 
 been no rest for him in 
 bodyor mind^ He was walking in the way 
 of sorrows. 
 
 He had been given up into the hands of 
 his enemies by one of his own friends, 
 who had betrayed him with a kiss. An- 
 other follower and friend, a confidential 
 friend, whom he had brought nearer to 
 him than most of the others, and who had 
 been more outspoken and earnest than 
 any of them in his professions of loyalty, 
 and had declared that though all should 
 ^sake him, yet would he never forsake 
 him, he would die first, he said, — this 
 friend had protested, even with cursing 
 and swearing, that he had never so much 
 as seen him before. And Jesus had heard 
 the hard words of denial. All had turned 
 against him. The wealth, the dignity, 
 the power, the learning, even the reli- 
 
 II 
 
^be Cro88 anb passion 
 
 gion of his day had joined in the assault. 
 And the common people, the working folk, 
 for whose sake he had denied himself all 
 rest and comfort, among whom he had 
 gone about doing good, whose friend and 
 advocate he was, — they had had their 
 choice between him and a common repro- 
 bate, a murderer, and had chosen the mur- 
 derer. Of those who steadfastly loved him, 
 some stood silent and afraid afar off, and 
 all the others had forsaken him and fled. 
 Where were the sick to whom he had 
 given health, and the blind to whom he 
 had restored sight? Where were the lame 
 whom he had made to walk? Where were 
 those whom he had raised even from the 
 dead ? Not one stood beside him. He was 
 left alone. 
 
 And, being alone, there had fallen to 
 him the lot of the friendless. No man 
 cared for him, no man defended him. 
 The officer of the high priest might smite 
 him with a rod; the soldiers might make a 
 mock of him, and dress him in garments 
 of derision, and make him the victim of 
 
 Z2 
 
their coarse and brutal jesting; even the 
 slaves might strike him with the palms of 
 their hands, and spit upon him; Herod 
 might laugh and set him at naught; Pilate 
 might have him scourged. 
 
 Thus had passed the slow hours of the 
 early morning. 
 
 At last, at nine o'clock, fainting under 
 the burden of the cross, Simon the Cyre- 
 nian helping him to carry it, before him 
 an officer bearing on a white board the 
 writing of his accusation, on either side a 
 condemned malefactor, and, following be- 
 hind, the curious crowd of enemies, he 
 reached the place of crucifixion. The cross 
 was laid upon the ground. His hands and 
 feet were nailed to it with great spikes. 
 Those gentle hands, which had been laid 
 so tenderly upon all sick and sorrowing 
 people, and the feet, weary with going 
 about doing good, — thus they pierced 
 them. Then the cross, bearing the Cruci- 
 fied, was lifted up and thrust heavily into 
 the earth. It was a moment of supreme 
 torture. At this moment," the" crucified 
 
 13 
 
 / 
 
Zhc Cross anb passion 
 
 malefactors on either side, if they followed 
 the fashion of their kind, broke out into 
 fierce and bitter cries, cursing and blas- 
 pheming. At this moment Jesus spoke. 
 He had long been silent. As a sheep be- 
 fore her shearers is dumb, so opened he 
 not his mouth. He had kept still silence, 
 — a silence so marked and singular, so 
 stem and sorrowful, that it amazed Pilate. 
 At last he spoke : — 
 
 ** ffatber, tovQivc tbentt tot tbe^ ftnow 
 notwbattbe^^o/* 
 
 II. 
 
 Forgiveness is distinctively a Christian 
 virtue. It is one of those higher graces 
 which make a difference between Chris- 
 tianity and all heathen religions. It is not 
 natural to forgive. It is more natural to 
 hate and to revenge. The Indian, the Arab, 
 the savage, will lay up an injury in his 
 heart, and visit it, when he has opportu- 
 nity and power, upon the head of his 
 enemy. We show our kinship with these 
 lower orders of man when we harbor 
 14 
 
Zbc first Morb 
 
 hatred. Something of the barbarian lurks 
 in our veins. He who hates his brother, is, 
 thus far, a heathen and a savage. 
 
 Our Lord said plainly that it is not 
 natural to forgive. But he came that he 
 might hft us above the passions of our 
 lower nature. He came to save us from 
 whatever is coarse and brutal and savage 
 in us, and to make us men, to make us 
 sons of God. He said plainly that the pub- 
 licans and sinners love those only who 
 love them, but he said also that that shall 
 not be so of any of his true disciples. He 
 set that difference as one of the tests of 
 our religion. 
 
 Forgiveness is not only a Christian vir- 
 tue, but it is chief among the character- 
 istics of true Christianity. It is written 
 among the Commandments: Jesus said 
 that the words, " Thou shalt do no mur- 
 der," forbid all unfratemal thoughts. It is^ 
 in the Lord^s Prayer, where we pray that 
 Gpdjnay forgive us in the same proportion 
 injwhich we forgive others. We ask God 
 then to endure our faults and infirmities 
 
 15 
 
Zhc Cross anb passion 
 
 only so far as we bear with the faults and 
 infirmities of our brethren. Forgive me, as 
 I forgive my brother. If I hate him, do 
 thou hate me. If I turn from him, turn 
 thou from me. If I content myself with 
 silent dislike and avoidance, do thou, 
 Lord, dislike and avoid and forget me. As 
 I feel toward him who has offended me, 
 so, Heavenly Father, feel, I pray thee, 
 towards me, who have tenfold more of- 
 fended thee. That is what the Lord's 
 Prayer means. 
 
 Forgiveness is also in the creed. "Cru- 
 cified, dead and buried," — he for us his 
 enemies, in the face of our offences, was 
 content to die. He who taught, by precept 
 and by parable, the brotherhood of man 
 and the religion whose alphabet is love, 
 teaches that lesson here by his example. 
 
 Behold him, loving and forgiving; his 
 enemies are all about him, hating him 
 without a cause, unjust, unmerciful, re- 
 turning curses for blessings, intent upon 
 his shame and suffering and death; not 
 one thing is wanting which can make 
 i6 
 
Zhc first Motb 
 
 enmity fierce and injury unpardonable ; be- 
 hold him, looking out over that crowd of 
 mocking and hostile faces, and forgiving 
 them, not willing yet to put them out of 
 his heart, praying for their forgiveness, 
 loving them in spite of themselves. 
 
 Forgiveness is not an act of unreason- 
 ing obedience. Even if it were, we ought 
 to be willing to forgive. Had he who died 
 upon the cross said, "I want you to for- 
 give," and never a word more, that would 
 be enough. Had he said, " I want you to 
 do it for my sake. Do it without any rea- 
 son, or in the face of reason, because I 
 ask you," we ought to be glad to forgive. 
 But he gives a reason. He himself forgives 
 because, as he says, they know not what 
 they do. 
 
 We know not what we do when we 
 commit sin against God. We know not 
 how we injure our own nature. We know 
 not how we influence our brother to his 
 hurt. We know not how we grieve the 
 heart of God. 
 
 They who offend us know not what they 
 
 17 
 
Zbc Cross anb Ipasston 
 
 do. Often they have no such intention as 
 we imagine; still more often there is a 
 misunderstanding at the heart of it all 
 Sometimes the trouble is not so much with 
 our neighbor as with ourselves, who are 
 unduly sensitive. Here for our example is 
 the Master, suffering at the hands of those 
 who hate him even to the extremity of 
 death, and yet making all possible allow- 
 ance, saying, " They know not what they 
 do." 
 
 The first lesson from the cross is plain 
 enough: it is the lesson of forgiveness. 
 Let us now in silence apply it as we each 
 have need to our own life. 
 
 z8 
 
Zhc Seconb Morb 
 
Ubc Seconb Morb 
 
 T was written of our Lord 
 that he should be numbered 
 with the transgressors. So he 
 was in Bethlehem, when he 
 took upon him the nature 
 of sinful man ; so he was in Gethsemane, 
 when he drank the cup of the bitterness 
 of our transgressions. And in his cruci- 
 fixion it was pictured so that the dullest 
 might understand it, in the position of the 
 cross. Jesus was crucified between two 
 thieves. 
 
 The agony of the cross grew every hour 
 more bitter. The strained attitude, the hot 
 sun and wind, the festering wounds, 
 freighted each moment with a burden of 
 pain which constantly grew heavier. They 
 offered him an opiate, such as they were 
 accustomed to give to crucified persons to 
 deaden the agony, — wine mingled with 
 myrrh. But he refused it. He would have 
 his mind clear. 
 
 The mental distress of the crucifixion 
 was still harder to bear. The cross was 
 
 21 
 
Zbc Cross anb passion 
 
 low; the Crucified hung near the ground, 
 within reach of smiting and spitting. Over 
 the head of Jesus was written his accusa- 
 tion: "This is the king of the Jews." It 
 was a mocking sentence and provoked the 
 derision of the crowd. 
 
 The inscription was written in three lan- 
 guages, in Latin and Greek and Hebrew. 
 These languages represented the nations 
 of the world. Here was a scene enacted in 
 which the whole world was concerned. 
 Write the words so that all may read, for 
 he who hangs here this day suffers for us 
 all. Before the cross were Jews, — among 
 them the Church of Christ was to begin. 
 Before the cross were Romans,— their ar- 
 mies were to carry the name of the Cru- 
 cified to lands remote. Before the cross 
 were Greeks, — theirs was to be the lan- 
 guage of the gospels. But to-day Roman 
 and Greek and Jew join in reviling him. 
 " If he be a king, let him come down, 
 then, from the cross." 
 
 The thieves, too, representing the sin 
 and sorrow and death which he had come 
 to heal, revile him. 
 
 22 
 
Zbc Seconb Morb 
 
 Presently, however, a difference ap- 
 peared between these reviling thieves. 
 "One of the malefactors which were 
 hanged railed on him, saying, " If thou be 
 Christ, save thyself and us. But 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. 
 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember 
 me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 
 And Jesus said unto him: — 
 
 **\I>ctil^, IT sa^ unto tbee, Zo^ba^ sbalt 
 tbou be witb me in iParabise/* 
 
 11. 
 
 Our Lord is always waiting to be gra- 
 cious. In the first word from the cross 
 was shown his great compassion, forgive- 
 ness and love for his enemies. With how 
 quick a tenderness does he turn now to 
 receive him who ceases his enmity and 
 cries out for his mercy! The Good Shep- 
 herd has followed the lost sheep over the 
 
 23 
 
Zbc Cross anb passion 
 
 bleak hills, through the thorns, among the 
 rocks, seeking and calling, careless of his 
 own comfort, intent only upon saving the 
 sheep; will he not then very gladly re- 
 ceive the straying sheep, if it shall hear his 
 voice and come to him? Here is the Good 
 Shepherd; for the lost souls of men, like 
 sheep gone astray, turned every one to his 
 own way, for these he came ; to gain these 
 lost ones he hung upon the cross ; will he 
 not gladly, then, receive every sinful soul 
 that turns to him? 
 
 The difference between the two thieves 
 appeared not in their words but in their 
 tones of voice. The voice interpreted the 
 words. One of them prayed, " If thou be 
 Christ, save thyself and us;" the other 
 prayed, " Lord, remember me when thou 
 comest into thy kingdom." Which of 
 those prayers was prayed in derision? 
 Which was prayed in faith? The words do 
 not tell us. The meaning was revealed by 
 the face and the voice. 
 
 Take the impenitent thief's prayer: "If 
 thou be Christ, save thyself and us." It is 
 24 
 
^be Seconb Morb 
 
 true that the first word is " if,'' and that 
 means doubt. But the father of the de- 
 moniac lad met Jesus at the foot of the 
 transfiguration hill with the same " if." 
 Yes, with an *4f " which meant, so one 
 might think, a deeper doubt, — " if thou 
 canst do anything," help us. Yet Jesus 
 heard that prayer, and blessed the man 
 who prayed it. 
 
 Think, too, of the situation. The im- 
 penitent thief was struggling with horrible 
 pain, out of which he could see no pos- 
 sible escape but death. It was a time when 
 doubt was almost inevitable. Moreover, 
 Jesus was dying on the cross. That was 
 of itself enough to make even a disciple 
 lose his faith. The disciples did lose faith. 
 They forsook him and fied. Where were 
 any to be seen upon his side? The intelli- 
 gence, the authority, the piety of the day 
 were against him. The magistrates had 
 condemned him at the request of the 
 clergy. All the people from whom men 
 commonly got their opinions were his 
 enemies. He seemed to have no friends. 
 
 2$ 
 
XTbe Cross anb passion 
 
 There he was upon the cross, dying like 
 any common evildoer, his life ending in 
 tragic failure. The word which the situa- 
 tion seemed imperatively to demand was 
 the impenitent thief's word — "if." "If 
 thou be the Christ;" ought it not to be 
 put to the credit of the impenitent thief 
 that he said so much as that? Can Jesus 
 possibly be the Christ ? It is incredible. 
 Yet he prays this prayer. 
 
 There must have been something in the 
 tone of voice which expressed a meaning 
 other than that which is contained in the 
 words. The other thief said, "Lord, re- 
 member me when thou comest into thy 
 kingdom." These words, too, need to be in- 
 terpreted. They have a railing look. There, 
 side by side, hang the thief and the Mas- 
 ter, seemingly miserable alike, under the 
 same condemnation, facing the same fate, 
 and the thief turns to the Master, and 
 asks to be remembered in his kingdom. 
 What kingdom has this forsaken and dis- 
 credited leader, dying on the cross? The 
 words seem to be spoken in derision. The 
 26 
 
Zbc Second Morb 
 
 only way in which it could be known that 
 they had an earnest meaning was by the 
 tone of voice. 
 
 Let us apply this immediately in several 
 directions. 
 
 First, to our Lord's words as they are 
 recorded in the gospels. Some of them are 
 terribly stern words. Some of them, as for 
 example the denunciation of the scribes 
 and Pharisees, sound even like the utter- 
 ance of anger. What indignation, what 
 bitterness, seem to be in them! But in 
 what tone of voice did he speak these hard 
 words? When we read in them the ac- 
 cents of sorrow and of loving disappoint- 
 ment rather than of anger, it makes a 
 difference. 
 
 Let us apply this also to our neigh- 
 bor's words as they are reported to us, or 
 written in a letter. The words need inter- 
 pretation. Without the face and voice, they 
 are of doubtful meaning. A great many 
 misunderstandings would be avoided if we 
 were not so quick to conclude that the 
 words which grieve or displease us were 
 spoken in a hard and unfratemal voice. 
 
 27 
 
XTbe Cross anb passion 
 
 This applies also to our own words when 
 we pray. For here beside the cross are 
 two prayers, one of which seems to be a 
 cry of faith and the other a cry of de- 
 rision: but the intention changes them 
 about. What do our prayers mean? Not 
 simply what the words mean. God attends 
 not to the words only, but to the spirit in 
 which we speak them. 
 
 Let us pray again in silence, occupying 
 ourselves with these two acts: the act of 
 realization, that we may make the words 
 of our prayer true words, which shall ex- 
 press our hearts; and the act of repent- 
 ance, that we may turn to Christ as the 
 penitent malefactor did, bringing him our 
 sinful selves, asking him to receive and 
 bless us. 
 
 28 
 
^be Zbixb Morb 
 
I. 
 
 OT all who stand about the 
 cross are enemies; not all 
 are keeping the watch of 
 curiosity, or of mere formal 
 duty: some there are who 
 love him. The enemies are cursing and 
 reviling, wagging their heads, passing and 
 repassing, insulting him; but afar off, and 
 mournfully silent, there are friends. 
 
 There are tender-hearted women. Mary 
 Magdalene is one of them. Another is the 
 mother of James and John. She had asked 
 that her sons might have their places on 
 the right hand and on the left, where now 
 the crosses stand! And another is the 
 mother of Jesus, — the sorrowing mother, 
 the sword of grief piercing her soul. Be- 
 side her is the disciple whom Jesus loved. 
 How dark the world must have seemed to 
 them! How miserable the present, how 
 empty the future! Thus do we also look 
 sometimes into the future, finding it blank 
 as they did. 
 Out of all the world, God had chosen 
 
 31 
 
^be Cro86 anb passton 
 
 the holy mother for supreme distinction. 
 The Son of God, taking our nature upon 
 him, and beginning our life at the be- 
 ginning, was intrusted to her care. What 
 a mark of the approbation of God ! Blessed, 
 indeed, was she among women. But the 
 blessing did not mean wealth: Mary was 
 as poor as ever; she had to work hard all 
 her life. Neither did the blessing mean 
 peace, of the world's kind. It brought 
 shame at the beginning, and then anxiety 
 and perplexity, and now pain at the end. 
 Here, too, is the penitent thief whom 
 Christ has blessed; the cross hurts just as 
 much as it did before. Here is the be- 
 loved disciple with his heart full of great 
 grief. Here, indeed, is the Son of God him- 
 self hanging on the cross. It is a scene to 
 think of when we are tempted to think 
 that pain and grief contradict the love of 
 God for us. 
 
 Our Lord's first word was for his ene- 
 mies ; the next was for an enemy, be- 
 come penitent, turning to his love. He 
 speaks now to his friends. 
 32 
 
^be Zbixb Morb 
 
 We have seen how the nations of the 
 world were represented about the cross; 
 see now how all sorts and conditions of 
 men were there. There were the bitter 
 enemies, reviling him, some hating him 
 because he did not belong to their eccle- 
 siastical party; and some because he had 
 interfered with their unrighteous dealing; 
 and some because he had exposed and dis- 
 credited them in the eyes of the people; 
 and some because they felt themselves re- 
 buked by his good life. There were the 
 unstable multitude, then as now, blind to 
 their best interests, persecuting their 
 friends, following men who despised them, 
 having their choice between a murderer 
 and a deliverer, and choosing the mur- 
 derer ; against the Christ, because that was 
 the common sentiment of the street, not 
 knowing why. There were the indifferent, 
 strangers passing by on the road, milkmen 
 and market-men coming in out of the 
 country on their daily errands, and seeing 
 some one hanging on a cross — seeing 
 three, and distinguishing no difference be- 
 
 33 
 
XTbe Cross anb passion 
 
 tween them. There were secret friends, 
 standing among enemies, really reveren- 
 cing him, but not brave enough to confess 
 it, not daring to stand openly upon his 
 side. There were beginners in true religion, 
 the penitent thief representing them. And 
 there were also those who had intimately 
 known and loved him. 
 
 He turns now to these last, to his mother 
 and his friend. He says : — 
 
 '*Moman, bebolb tb^ Som— 3Bebol^ 
 tbi^ motbet/' 
 
 II. 
 
 The cross is the symbol of unselfishness. 
 It was lifted up because God is unselfish. 
 " God so loved the world that he gave his 
 only-begotten Son: " he gave himself. The 
 cross was lifted up, and the Son of God 
 submitted to be crucified to make us un- 
 selfish. "He died for all." Why? "That 
 they which lived should not henceforth 
 live unto themselves." 
 
 Unselfishness shows itself in considera- 
 tion for others. Two conditions make such 
 consideration difiicult. One of them is our 
 
 34 
 
^be Zbkb Morb 
 
 own pain, our own trouble. It makes us 
 selfish. Very often in sickness or in grief, 
 Christians forget about other people. They 
 are altogether absorbed in themselves. The 
 other hardening condition is social differ- 
 ence. It is sometimes found that those who 
 are highly considerate of the desires and 
 feelings of those who are closely con- 
 nected with them by bonds of kinship, or 
 friendship, or personal congeniality, are in- 
 considerate of persons whom they do not 
 know very well, or who are in what we 
 call dependent positions, or are socially un- 
 congenial. They will exert themselves to 
 give pleasure to those who can give them 
 pleasure in return, but those whose ac- 
 quaintance will yield no apparent profit 
 they will not please. They are social pro- 
 tectionists, shutting themselves up within 
 narrow limits, and exchanging pleasures 
 and privileges with the pleasant and the 
 privileged. They are not interested in the 
 unprivileged. 
 
 He who hung upon the cross thought 
 not of himself. There he hung for the sake 
 
 35 
 
^be Cross anb passion 
 
 of those to whom he came not that they 
 might minister to him, but that he 
 might minister to them. Even the penitent 
 thief was selfish: he wanted something for 
 himself — though what he wanted was for 
 his soul, not for his body : that makes a 
 difference. We are intent upon our own 
 comfort and convenience. We are so bent 
 upon enjoying our privileges that we for- 
 get that they are ours only as stewards of 
 them for the good of others. 
 
 Selfishness shows itself in small things. 
 The selfish soul is not careful of the tastes 
 of others ; commonly does not notice ; goes 
 about hurting people's feelings without 
 knowing it. The unselfish soul is always 
 saying a kind word, and doing little thought- 
 ful things to set people at ease, and show 
 friendship. You see him talking with the 
 neglected people, and doing the humbler 
 duties. He is all the time going out of his 
 way to do to others as he would have 
 them do to him. 
 
 The world is full of unkindness, when 
 it might so easily be full of friendliness 
 36 
 
XTbe XTbxrb Morb 
 
 and love. There is probably no way in 
 which we can so effectively advance the 
 kingdom of heaven as to be quietly 
 thoughtful for others. 
 
 In the midst of his pain, Jesus sees be- 
 side the cross his mother, and his friend, 
 and in the midst of his pain he ministers 
 to them. 
 
 See what it is that he says. It is not 
 simply a word of affection and of consola- 
 tion. It is a word of helpful counsel. The 
 sorrowing mother, the sorrowing disciple, 
 are helped by being given something to do. 
 They are to find comfort for themselves 
 by comforting each other. That is the mes- 
 sage from the cross to all who are in any 
 trouble. To sit down and think about it 
 is fatal. In that direction is no comfort. 
 The thing to do is to seek opportunities of 
 ministry. Thus does Jesus apply his own 
 example of unselfish consideration. 
 
 Let us take this third word from the 
 cross into our own thoughts and prayers 
 in silence. It teaches the lesson of unself- 
 ish consideration. Do we need the lesson? 
 Are we unselfish and considerate? 
 
 37 
 
Zbc Jfourtb Morb 
 
Zbc jfourtb Morb 
 
 I. 
 
 Between the first words 
 
 from the cross and those on 
 which we now come to medi- 
 tate there was an interval. 
 Several hours seem to have 
 passed. In that time the darkness came. 
 
 Jesus has forgiven his foes; he has 
 blessed his friends; he has welcomed one 
 who ceases to be a foe and becomes a 
 friend. Now the noise of the reviling stops. 
 With the darkness a silence falls upon the 
 crowd beside the cross. And with the dark- 
 ness a veil falls between Christ and the 
 world. He looks away from earth, above, 
 to his Father. 
 
 The supreme pain of our Lord's suffer- 
 ing was the grief of his soul. This had 
 been so bitter that before a hand had been 
 laid upon him, lying on his face under 
 the olive trees in Gethsemane, his sweat 
 was as great drops of blood. This had been 
 the hardest part of all that he had en- 
 dured during the long tragedy of the night 
 and the morning. 
 
 41 
 
. Xtbe Cross anb passion 
 
 There are two things which grieve the 
 soul above all others: they are sin and 
 separation. 
 
 On him was laid our sin. We know not 
 how, but somehow the burden of a world's 
 sin was laid upon his heart. He bare our 
 sins in his own body on the tree. There 
 pressed in upon his human soul a con- 
 sciousness, intense beyond expression, of 
 the dread fact of sin. The sin of the race 
 was present to his mind. He saw it, past, 
 present, and to come. He saw its immens- 
 ity, its enormity. The lamentation of hu- 
 manity was in his ears. He saw, too, the 
 sorrow which sin causes in the heart of 
 the eternal Father. He realized, — what no 
 other human soul has ever adequately 
 realized, — what sin is. And beside sin was 
 love : the sin of man, the love of God. 
 
 He had not sinned, but somehow he 
 was made responsible for sin. He was the 
 sacrifice for our sins. By an instinct well- 
 nigh universal, the priests of different re- 
 ligions have, after a confession of sin, 
 laid their hands upon the head of a sac- 
 42 
 
Ube jfourtb Motb 
 
 rificial victim, as if to transfer to it their 
 own sins and the people's, and have killed 
 it. Here now is the supreme victim. Upon 
 this altar of the cross is one who taketh 
 away the sin of the world. He represents 
 us sinners; that we may not die, he dies 
 for us. 
 
 And with this sense of sin comes the ^4 
 pain of separation. The blackness of sin so 
 shuts in the human soul of Jesus that he 
 loses for a moment the sight of the face 
 of God. That is what sin does. It sets a 
 wall of separation between the soul and 
 God. Jesus knows what it means for us to 
 have to struggle against sin. He knows 
 what it means when men despair and lose 
 sight of God. He knows what it means 
 when men lose faith, and the sky above 
 is brass, and prayer echoes back as against 
 a wall, and the fear lays hold of a man's 
 soul that there is no heaven, no life be- 
 yond the grave, no God. Jesus knows what 
 even that means, so deep went his human 
 soul into the profoundest sorrows of our 
 lives. 
 
 43 
 
XTbe Ct088 anb passion 
 
 Jesus is dying. Darkness is without; 
 darkness is within. He cries with a loud 
 voice : — 
 
 ** /iDp (Bob, mp GoD, wbi? bast tbou tot* 
 saKen me/' 
 
 II. 
 
 We know the very syllables he spoke. 
 They have come down in the records of 
 that hour, as if they echoed in the ears of 
 those who heard them. They were familiar 
 words. They stand at the beginning of the 
 twenty-second psalm. But from that mo- 
 ment they had a new meaning. Thence- 
 forth the voice out of the darkness clung 
 to the very letters of those words. 
 
 They are altogether human words. Jesus 
 Christ is truly God and also truly man. No 
 attempt is made in the New Testament to 
 reconcile these truths. Here they are, the 
 divinity and the humanity, like two col- 
 umns in a great cathedral, between which 
 we stand, touching one here and the other 
 there ; somewhere out of sight, in the dark- 
 ness of the high roof, they meet. " My 
 
 44 
 
Zhc dfourtb Morb 
 
 God ! " he cries, looking up as we must into 
 God's face, and uttering his prayer. The 
 words are human words. God is revealed, 
 but in a humanity like our own. You re- 
 member the great lines in Browning's 
 "Saul": — 
 
 'Tis the weakness in strength that I cry for ! my 
 
 flesh that I seek 
 In the Godhead ! I seek and I find it. O Lord, 
 
 it shall be 
 A face like my face that receives thee ; a man 
 
 like to me. 
 Thou shalt love and be loved by forever ! a Hand 
 
 like this hand 
 Shall throw open the gates of new life to thee! 
 
 See the Christ stand ! 
 
 God is in Christ, revealing on the cross 
 his infinite, his unimaginable love for 
 man. But the voice is a man's voice, like 
 our own. And the words are those which 
 a man spoke, one like ourselves, looking 
 up out of the depths, out of the blackness 
 and despair of pain and grief into the 
 dumb sky. It is all real, — terribly, tragi- 
 cally real. Jesus feels that God has for- 
 saken him. And the question which he 
 
 45 
 
^be Cross anb passion 
 
 asks is the ancient question which men 
 have asked in tears, in anger, in amaze- 
 ment, since the world began. 
 
 God has forsaken him: but how? Not 
 by the withdrawal of his presence. God 
 cannot thus forsake us, nor we him: for 
 God is always with us, and in him we live 
 and move and have our being. Not by the 
 withdrawal of his love. The great mystery 
 of the atonement has led some to read 
 into the words a fearful punishment which 
 Jesus at this moment suffered for the re- 
 mission of our sins. The dense cloud of 
 our transgression drifts in between the 
 soul of Jesus and the face of God. That 
 may be true, but the words do not teach 
 it. 
 
 No; God had forsaken Jesus not by the 
 
 withdrawal of his presence, nor by the 
 
 withholding of his love, but by the with- 
 
 \ drawal of his help* Jesus had been given 
 
 4 ul/i. over into the hands of his adversaries, and 
 
 . . ^Mvw^ they had done with him what they would, 
 
 **--'^ and God had kept still silence. They had 
 
 mocked and derided him, they had set him 
 
 46 
 
 '/ 
 
XLbc Jfourtb Morb 
 
 at naught and spit upon him, they had 
 scourged him, they had crucified him, and 
 God had not spoken, God had not stirred. 
 
 What depths of tragic meaning are in 
 the words we may never know. St. Francis 
 of Assisi prays all night, saying nothing 
 from beginning to end but, " my God! 
 my God ! " What confessions and thanks- 
 givings, what litanies of supplication, what 
 love unspeakable the words contained. 
 "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ? " No; the 
 words can never be translated. 
 
 The lesson of it which we may take 
 with us now into the silence of our prayers 
 is the lesson of the reality of the sym- 
 pathy of Jesus. He knows what it means 
 to suffer, and he knows what it means to 
 wonder why. The supreme pain is that 
 which touches mind and soul. The su- 
 preme crisis in the tragedy of life is that 
 moment when we seem to be forsaken 
 even by God. Jesus Christ understands 
 that. The awful doubt which invades the 
 heart of man, he knows. His blessed sym- 
 pathy is with us. We know that we can 
 
 47 
 
 1 
 
Zbc Cross anb passion 
 
 go on, because he did. And we know that, 
 going on, we shall come, as he came, into 
 the light, into the joy of God, into the 
 peace which passeth understanding. 
 
 48 
 
Zhc fifth Morb 
 
Zhc mttb Morb 
 
 I. 
 
 NE third of the gospel nar- 
 rative is occupied with the 
 history of this week. Chap- 
 ter after chapter, which 
 might have contained a rec- 
 ord of the words and works of our blessed 
 Lord, is taken up with a recital of what 
 his enemies said and did against him. Thus 
 are we taught the importance of his blessed 
 death. Not by his teaching only did he save 
 us ; not by his sinless life did he redeem us. 
 We are saved by his blood. 
 
 Recall how often and in how many ways 
 that is repeated : —My blood, which is shed 
 for you and for many, for the remission 
 of sins ; — redemption through his blood; 
 
 — peace through the blood of his cross; — 
 the people sanctified with his own blood ; 
 
 — redeemed with the precious blood of 
 Christ. Remember how both of the sacra- 
 ments are connected with the cross: — we 
 are baptized into his death; we offer his 
 broken body and shed blood as a memorial 
 of his death. 
 
 SI 
 
Zhc Cross anb passion 
 
 It is remarkable, however, how brief is 
 the record of the sufferings of Jesus. We 
 are told what took place. He was taken 
 from the garden by a mob of servants and 
 soldiers; he was put on trial before the 
 chief priests who had before determined to 
 destroy him; he was set at naught by 
 Herod's men-at-arms, and stricken with a 
 rod, and scourged, and spit upon, in the 
 courts of Pilate's palace; the cross was 
 laid upon his shoulders that he might bear 
 ! it out beyond the gates; there he was cru- 
 cified, his hands and feet being nailed to 
 the cross; and there he hung all day, from 
 nine o'clock in the morning till three in 
 the afternoon, in increasing pain. That is 
 the tragic story. The evangelists tell it 
 without comment, without exclamation, 
 without adjective. In its silence, in its al- 
 most incredible self-repression, it is one 
 of the most remarkable narratives in all 
 history. When was ever a martyr's death 
 described so quietly, with so just a sense 
 of spiritual perspective, with so little ref- 
 erence to the cruelty of the executioner, 
 or to the pain of the hero. 
 
 52 
 
XTbe mtib Morb 
 
 Jesus did not ask for pity, nor did they 
 ask it for him. When the compassionate 
 Jerusalem women lined the road as with 
 his cross upon his back he went along the 
 way of sorrows, and wept to see him, you 
 remember what he said. He told them not 
 to weep for him, but for themselves and 
 their children. Very notable, indeed, is the 
 gentleness of Jesus. All that is best in 
 womanhood is in him. Take, for example, 
 the beatitudes — perhaps the most char- 
 acteristic sentences of his teaching — how 
 quiet, how friendly and peaceable, how 
 gracious, how womanly, are these gentle 
 virtues! But no less notable is the hero- 
 ism, the audacity, the strength, the mas- 
 terfulness, of Jesus. He was the manliest 
 of men. When he asked his disciples, 
 " Whom do men say that I am? " They 
 answered that some called him another 
 Jeremiah, and some another Elijah, and 
 that all agreed that he was like one of 
 the ancient prophets come to life again. 
 It is a register of the popular impression. 
 It means that men were chiefly impressed 
 
 53 
 
Zbc Cross anb passion 
 
 by the directness of his speech, by his 
 boldness in rebuking sin, by his position 
 as a leader of men, by his commanding 
 masculine personality. When the crowd 
 went out to take him, they armed them- 
 selves with swords and clubs. They were 
 afraid. When he came forward, and said, 
 "I am he," they fell back in confusion, 
 disconcerted, fearful what might happen. 
 Jesus did not appear to the people of his 
 time to be a passive person, eminent espe- 
 cially for his tenderness, his sweetness, his 
 gospel of peace. To the scribes and Phari- 
 sees, he was a revolutionist, a dangerous 
 man, to be watched and dreaded, to be 
 put out of the way. The characteristic 
 which they saw most clearly in him was 
 strength. 
 
 No hero ever went to death in a fight 
 for the right with a firmer step than that 
 of Jesus along the way which led to the 
 cross. We hardly realize to-day, now that 
 we and our fathers have lived so long in 
 the midst of the blessed conditions which 
 he made possible, — we hardly realize how 
 
 54 
 
XTbe fifth Morb 
 
 he stood out alone against all the princi- 
 palities and powers, against all the official 
 wisdom, all the authority, of his time, 
 knowing that it meant sure death, but 
 never drawing back for that. The silence i 
 of the gospels is a tribute to the manli- « 
 ness of Jesus. The men who wrote them, I 
 wrote what they thought he would approve. } 
 They spent no time telling how the nails j 
 hurt his hands ; they did not dwell upon the ; 
 agonies of the cross. They knew very well j 
 that he would not like that. No strong i 
 man would. 
 
 In one word only does Jesus show that 
 a part of the woe of the cross was pain of 
 body. He cries — 
 
 **1FtbitBt/* 
 
 n. 
 
 One of the inevitable torments of the 
 cross was thirst. At the beginning of the 
 crucifixion they had offered him a sooth- 
 ing draught, as the custom was, but he 
 had refused it. It was mercifully drugged, 
 that it might deaden the sense of pain. He 
 chose to meet death face to face. He would 
 
 55 
 
Zbc Cross anb passion 
 
 " hate that death bandaged his eyes, and 
 forbore, and bade him creep past." But 
 now the bitterness of the last fight is over. 
 A breath or two more, and there will be 
 an end; all things will be accomplished; 
 will be finished. And he thirsts. They dip 
 a sponge in vinegar, — that is, in the sour 
 wine of which the soldiers have been 
 drinking, — and put it on a reed, — on the 
 end of a slender stem, — and lift it to his 
 lips. 
 
 All great words have meanings which 
 are hidden from the careless reader. The 
 grammar and the dictionary do not suf- 
 fice to interpret them : they can be under- 
 stood only by experience. Sometimes they 
 require the experience of centuries. Even 
 to-day, after all the ages, rich truth lies 
 unquarried, even unfound, in the pages 
 of the Bible. The Bible has its messages 
 which have not been heeded, which have 
 not been heard. There are revolutions and 
 reformations still, hidden in the book. 
 There are words which are but symbols of 
 a truth of which the sound is the sug- 
 gestion. 
 56 
 
Zbc fifth Morb 
 
 Jesus thirsts. Is it for water only? No ; * 
 it is for our allegiance, for our faith and 
 love, for our souls. He gives himself for i 
 us, asking that we in return give ourselves | 
 for him. This, he says, have I done for ; 
 thee; what doest thou for me? The out- 
 stretched hands upon the cross are out- 
 stretched in benediction, in invitation. Je- 
 sus calls us. In the voice of love, with the 
 gesture of love, he calls. It is for us he 
 thirsts. 
 
 Jesus is the manifestation of God. All 
 that he spoke and did, all that he is, 
 teaches us of God. And upon the cross, he 
 thirsts. It is the longing of which he told 
 us, which the good shepherd has for the 
 lost sheep. It is the love of which he told 
 us, which the father has for the prodigal 
 son. Let us take this thought with us into 
 the place of silence, and consider it. He 
 thirsts, who came that we might never 
 thirst. He will satisfy us utterly; but he 
 himself will not be satisfied until we give ; 
 him our allegiance, our confidence, our J 
 love, our selves. ' 
 
 57 
 
Zbc Siitb Morb 
 
^be Siitb maorb 
 I. 
 
 HE seven words from the 
 cross fall into three divi- 
 sions. The first three were 
 words which had to do with 
 our Lord's human relation- 
 ships: he addresses first his enemies, then 
 one enemy who has become a disciple, then 
 his friends, his most faithful and beloved 
 friends. The next two words were cries of 
 conflict: one of spiritual distress, the other 
 of physical distress. The last two words 
 were cries of triumph. He looks back over 
 the fought field: the fight is ended, victo- 
 riously ended — " It is finished." He looks 
 forward to the benedictions of the great 
 achievement, to the approbation of the 
 Father, — ** Father, into thy hands I com- 
 mend my spirit." 
 
 The end draws near. It is about the 
 ninth hour. At three o'clock they had a 
 daily service in the temple, and offered a 
 lamb upon the altar. They need not offer 
 it to-day. It is but a symbol. Here is the 
 reality. Here is the Lamb slain, — the 
 
 6i 
 
Zhc Cross anb passion 
 
 Lamb of God, which taketh away the sm 
 of the world. 
 Again Christ speaks, saying: — 
 
 11. 
 
 What was finished? 
 
 Finished, men who stood about him 
 would have said, a life mistakenly thrown 
 away. Finished, a life which might have 
 been long, and full of love and comfort 
 and honor, but which was voluntarily 
 made hard; a life of work without reward, 
 of labor without appreciation, willingly 
 shortened. Finished, a tragic failure. For 
 the cross was but the last inevitable step 
 in a long descent. It was not as if a life 
 of splendid achievement, of victory added 
 to victory, of glorious promise, had sud- 
 denly been cut short. The death of Jesus 
 was not like the death of the general in 
 the moment when the battle is won. It 
 was the last extremity of prolonged defeat. 
 Little by little, day by day, friends had be- 
 come fewer, foes had grown mightier. 
 62 
 
^be Siitb Morb 
 
 That was what made the disciples so lose 
 heart. That was why they forsook him 
 and fled. They had been losing heart for 
 a long time. It was a life of failure, a de- 
 feat, it seemed, which thus upon the cross 
 was finished. 
 
 How different is God's judgment from 
 ours! how different his valuation! Much 
 which we account to be failure is success, 
 as he sees it. Much which we consider 
 wealth is but pitiful poverty. They alone 
 shall save their lives, he says, who are 
 content to lose them. Here in the darkness 
 and ignominy of the cross, amid the re- 
 viling of enemies and the forsaking of 
 friends, was ended the life of one who in 
 the sight of men had met defeat; but in 
 the sight of God, this crucified man had 
 won the victory of victories. 
 
 What will be finished, let us ask, when 
 death comes to us ? How will our life look 
 in that hour, not to our neighbors, nor 
 even to ourselves — though we shall see it 
 plainer than we do now — but to him who 
 sees entirely and in truth ? How will it 
 look to him ? What will be finished ? 
 
 63 
 
Zbc Cross anb passion 
 
 One day our finished lives must meet a 
 test. It will be like the testing of a house 
 by fire. We are each one of us building the 
 house of our life. One has a house of wood ; 
 another's house is but a pile of straw; 
 another's house is but a heap of worth- 
 less stubble, swept together; another's 
 house shines like the precious wall of the 
 celestial mansions, set with the gems of 
 helpful deeds. Our life is a house, and we 
 are building it every day, and by-and-by 
 it will be finished, ready to be tested, — 
 to be tested, St. Paul says, as by fire. 
 What will be left of wood, hay, stubble, 
 after the fierce fire has breathed upon 
 them? Just as much as will be left of our 
 lives, if they are constructed of materials 
 as perishable. One finishes a life built up 
 of treasure gathered for the earth, a self- 
 ish, foolish, unhelpful, unholy life, with- 
 out any honest thinking in it, without any 
 good deeds in it. What a finishing is that! 
 Think what the words, "It is finished," 
 must mean to such a soul. 
 
 Finished, here upon the cross, a life of 
 64 
 
Zhc Qixtb Morb 
 
 perfect obedience. The first recorded words 
 of our Lord are, "Wist ye not that I must 
 be about my Father's business?" "My 
 meat," he said, " is to do the will of him 
 that sent me, and to finish his work." 
 Now the work was finished. Finished, a 
 short life, and a hard life, but a success- 
 ful life. Successful? It has transformed the 
 world. By what means? By spiritual means. 
 It begins in a stable and ends on the 
 cross. There is not a moment of it when 
 Jesus has any money, or any might of 
 arms, or any political influence. It is not 
 necessary, then, in order to effectual ser- 
 vice, to have wealth or power. By simpli- 
 city, by loyalty, by self-sacrifice, by wil- 
 lingness to give ourselves as he did for the 
 good of men in the name of God, — thus 
 shall the kingdom of God come, thus shall 
 we begin and finish the work which he 
 has for us to do. 
 
 Life is finished here; death, too, is fin- 
 ished. All his life he had looked forward 
 to this hour. We all know that we must 
 die, but with him this common calamity 
 
 65 
 
Zhc Cross anb passion 
 
 was combined with a strange foreboding. 
 He was strong and courageous; that is 
 plain. When the moment came he met it 
 " as a brave man meets a foe." But he 
 dreaded it exceedingly, and with much 
 more than the ordinary fear of death as 
 an entrance into the unknown. His words 
 to Nicodemus at the beginning show how 
 it was in his mind : the Son of man must 
 be " lifted up." His frequent warnings to 
 his disciples as the end approached show 
 how his thoughts dwelt upon it. The agony 
 in the garden as he passes at last into the 
 awful shadow of it shows that there was 
 something singularly terrible about it.This 
 death which is now accomplished is no 
 common death. 
 
 No ; it is our death also, as well as his, 
 which is here finished. Death itself is here 
 met and conquered. It is not abolished ; we 
 know that only too well. But it is shown 
 to us in its true meaning. It is made to 
 read its ancient riddle. It is a visitation not 
 of dread but of blessing. Jesus died upon 
 the cross for us. To save us ; to put an end 
 66 
 
XTbe Sixth Morb 
 
 to death and dread and sin, he died. For 
 those who give themselves to him, every- 
 thing that is bad is finished. All things are 
 become new. Death is finished; pain and 
 grief are finished. /^^^ '^'^J.jj; 
 
 We kneel now again in the silence, and 
 listen to this word of victory. It brings 
 two messages: a message of warning and 
 a message of consolation. The word warns 
 us in the midst of our busy lives. Some 
 day there will be an end to all this occu- 
 pation, and it will be finished. What will be 
 finished ? The word comforts us in the 
 midst of the sore trials and sorrows which 
 beset us all. Jesus Christ has gone on 
 along the same road, and tells us where it 
 leads. There is light and joy and infinite 
 blessing at the end of it. " Let not your 
 heart," he says, "be troubled; ye believe 
 in God, believe also in me. In my Father's 
 house are many mansions; if it were not 
 so, I would have told you. I go to prepare 
 a place for you. And if I go and prepare 
 a place for you, I will come again, and re- 
 ceive you unto myself, that where I am, 
 
 67 
 
XTbe Cross anb passion 
 
 there ye may be also. . . . Peace I leave 
 with you, my peace I give unto you; not 
 as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let 
 not your heart be troubled, neither let it 
 be afraid." 
 
 68 
 
Zbc Seventh Morb 
 
Zbc Seventh Morb 
 
 ^ T last it is the end, — the end 
 of his pain and of our watch- 
 
 '/^ ing. At three o'clock, Jesus 
 •^ cried with a loud voice, and 
 speaking a final word of 
 peace and faith, he bowed his head and 
 died. 
 
 Before, when he cried aloud, it was in 
 the moment of his desolation. God seemed 
 to have forsaken him. The sin of the race 
 had come between his human soul and the 
 face of the Father. But now when he lifts 
 his voice again, the words are words of 
 confidence and satisfaction. Again he calls 
 God, "Father." 
 
 IL 
 
 When he cried, "It is finished," that 
 was the end, the end of the supreme sac- 
 rifice. Now he cries again, and it is the 
 beginning; Jesus passes on out of his life 
 which is like our present life into that 
 other life which shall sometime be ours 
 also, but which is hidden from our eyes; 
 
 71 
 
^be Cross anb Ipassfon 
 
 old things are passed away, behold all 
 things are become new. 
 
 The human life of Jesus ends with the 
 great name of God. This phrase, "The 
 name of God," means the character of 
 God. When we find in the Bible a new 
 name of God, we find that it is the ex- 
 pression of a new truth about God. Thus 
 to Moses, we are told, God taught a new 
 name. He had been called by a name 
 which meant power; God was known as 
 a mighty force or company of forces out 
 of sight but active in our eyes. Now he 
 was to be called by a name which means 
 personality and eternity, the name Jeho- 
 vah. That was the revelation of a new 
 truth about God, and it was at the heart 
 of that great social and religious revolu- 
 tion of which Moses was the leader. 
 
 Jesus came with a new name of God: 
 he called God "Father." The advance 
 which this name indicates over the earlier 
 names of the Old Testament is plain 
 enough. It changed, deepened, and enriched 
 men's thoughts of God. He was seen to 
 72 
 
Zbc Seventb Morb 
 
 be all that men had hitherto believed con- 
 cerning him, and wonderfully more also. 
 It was a great thing to realize God as eter- 
 nal, but to realize him as paternal, — what 
 a new and blessed thought! This name 
 contains the special revelation which Jesus 
 made of God. It has already wrought revo- 
 lutions, and will go on changing both the 
 thought and the life of man. 
 
 So characteristic is this name of the 
 doctrine of God which Jesus taught, that 
 men remembered the tone of voice in 
 which he spoke the word. "Abba," he said, 
 a word which expresses not only the idea 
 of fatherhood, but the idea of loving son- 
 ship, — a term of closeness and endear- 
 ment. He said it so often and with so sin- 
 gular an accent of reverence and affection 
 that it is left untranslated, being filled so 
 full of his blessed voice that it was not 
 possible adequately to translate it. 
 
 This name of God interprets life. The 
 unknown is to be approached by the way 
 of the known. That is plainly what we do 
 in all common reasoning! We argue from 
 
 73 
 
^be Cross anb passion 
 
 the known to the unknown. Here, then, 
 are the difficult mysteries of human life, 
 the pain and grief which we vainly try to 
 understand. One thing is known, and that 
 is that God is our Father. That is sure. 
 Everything else must somehow be brought 
 into accord with that. That truth inter- 
 prets life. To the human soul of Jesus as 
 he hangs upon the cross, a horror of great 
 darkness seems to envelop earth and sky. 
 Death was at that moment a thing as un- 
 known to him as it is to us. All the dread 
 of the untried experience lay upon him. 
 He could see no farther than we can. But 
 somehow all is right. Over all is the 
 Father. Out of it all he looks, with seren- 
 ity and faith, commending his spirit into 
 his Father's hands. 
 
 It is the word of perfect trust. Death is 
 no leap into the dark. It is mysterious 
 enough, and dreadful enough, but God is 
 on the other side as he is here. St. John saw 
 the tree of life on both sides of the river. 
 
 We put our hand into the hand of God, 
 and he takes care of us; that is what it 
 74 
 
Zbc Seventh Morb 
 
 means, whether in death or in life. Into 
 the Father's hands we commend our 
 spirit, with the dawn of each new day; 
 into the Father's hands we commend our 
 spirit, when the day is done, casting all 
 our care on him who careth for us. And 
 when life is done, when we look back over 
 it, as Jesus did, crying, " It is finished," 
 still into the Father's hands, into his 
 hands who loves us, we give ourselves, as 
 Jesus did. 
 
 And now our watching beside the cross 
 is over. May God bless the prayers of these 
 memorial hours to the deepening of our 
 love, and the strengthening of our faith, 
 and the bettering of our lives! 
 
 When the watch was over at Calvary, 
 and the darkness lifted, and the Saviour 
 of the world, with pierced side, hung dead 
 upon the cross, all the people that came 
 together to that sight, beholding the 
 things which were done, smote their 
 breasts and returned. As we kneel now at 
 the end of this service before that blessed 
 cross^ let us follow their example. 
 
 75 
 
XTbe Cross anb passion 
 
 By thine agony and bloody sweat, by 
 thy cross and passion, by thy precious 
 death and burial, Good Lord, deliver us. 
 
 Lamb of God, who takest away the 
 sin of the world, have mercy upon us! 
 
 76 
 
*HE following pages contain advertisements of 
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 Cross and Passion (preparing). 
 
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