berately made: the Cross is laid on the ground; His bruised body is all but stripped of garments; Oh awful insult to the Incarnate Son of God! Stretched upon the Cross,-His face toward Heaven! At this moment some pitying hand offered Him wine mingled with myrrh, to deaden the sense of pain; "but He received it not." He would drink the Cup of Expiation in all its fulness of unmitigated suffering.2

The instruments of torture are prepared, and His cruel persecutors wait to do their office. Before the stroke of the hammer descends, if it be His Will, He may rise up from dishonour and agony, and destroy His oppressors by a single breath. But it is the "Lamb of God," Who lieth there: if the Sacrifice be not perfected, the poor will not have the Gospel preached to them; sinners will not be reconciled to God; the dying will not rejoice in faith of a happy Resurrection. But if Christ be lifted up, He will draw all men unto Him.3 The murmurs of the rude multitude are hushed; they wait the uplifted arm of the executioners. His word were enough to turn aside the blow; but He speaks it not: they may do their office. He has been taken from prison, and from judgment, He must be cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of His people He must be stricken. This was His eternal purpose. It was the sin of man that caused Him to be scourged, and nailed to the Cross; not

pro illâ tantùm plebe oblatum: et ideo foras civitatem, foras muros, ut scias Sacrificium esse commune, quod totius terræ est oblatio, quod communis est purificatio."" Ludolphus, Vita Christi, p. 638.

1 Justus Lipsius, De Cruce, lib. ii. cap. 7, pp. 42-45.

66

2 Lucas Brugensis, Mark, xv. 23. Myrrham ne gustavit quidem, quòd nullam vellet admittere consolationem inter afflictiones, ut eò copiosiùs pro nobis satisfaceret."

"Bis datus est hic amarus potus: hîc, et prope expirationem in cruce. Mos fuit occidendos forti vino potare, ut hoc minus mortis sentirent angustias: at Christo pro vino dabatur acetum felle mixtum. Sed ita oportuit adimpleri scripturas, Et dederunt in escam meam fel, et in siti meâ potaverunt Me aceto,' Psal. Ixix. 21." Musculus, in Matt., p. 554.

"Extendit manus suas, orbemque dimensus est Christus; ut jam tunc ostenderet ab ortu solis usque ad occasum magnum populum ex omnibus linguis et tribubus congregatum sub alas suas esse venturum, et signum illud maximum [crucis] frontibus suis suscepturum :" "brachiis expansis in cruce in ipso ætatis flore pendet, ut omnes nos complectatur." Barradius, vol. iv. lib. vii. cap. 8, p. 348. Cyril Hieros., Catechesis, xiii. § 28.

3 John, xii. 32.

4 Isai, liii. 8.

only the iniquity of ages before, but of all transgressors now: thus wilful sinners are truly said to "crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." 1

It was nine o'clock in the morning;-as St. Mark says, "the third hour," that is, according to the Jewish mode of reckoning: "AND THEY CRUCIFIED HIM!" They nailed Him to the Cross; and the prophetic words of David are fulfilled, "They pierced My hands, and My feet." Then the Cross was raised, and fixed in the ground, and Jesus was lifted up between Heaven and Earth,--as if to bind them once more together. The golden chain that united man in a state of innocence to his Maker, had been rent asunder by the sin of the first Adam: "the last Adam, as a quickening Spirit," by His meritorious sufferings restores the broken link. The Son of God hangs on the Cross with arms extended, as if He would embrace the World in His all-sufficient atonement.” 1 Heb. vi. 6.

2 "O my soul, here the Work of thy Redemption is commenced! O look upon the Heavenly Creature that hangs here, and think what Riches are treasured up in His Cross! Here He showed Himself a Mediator indeed, hanging in the middle, betwixt a Penitent and a Prodigal, betwixt Heaven and Earth, betwixt the Living aud the Dead." The Crucified Jesus, by Anthony Horneck, 6th Ed., 1716, p. 502.

3"Quòd crucifixerunt Eum, habent quidem omnes Evangelistæ, modum verò crucifixionis non habent. At Psalmo xxii. etiam hoc expressum est; nam ibi sic legimus, Foderunt manus meas, et pedes meos: dinumeraverunt omnia ossa mea. Ipsi verò consideraverunt et inspexerunt in Me. Diviserunt sibi vestimenta mea, et super vestem meam miserunt sortem.' Non potuit propheta clarius exprimere ipsam historiam post tot sæcula futuram. Licet enim in historia crucifixionis nullam fecerint Evangelista clavorum mentionem, quibus cruci affixus est: commemorant tamen in historia resurrectionis, quomodo discipulis ostenderit manus ac pedes; id est, fixuras clavorum in manibus ac pedibus. Ergo iterum adimpletur scriptura etiam in modo crucifixionis." Musculus, In Matt., p. 554.

4 Ps. xxii. 16.

6

51 Cor. xv. 45.

• Propone tibi ante oculos Christum Redemptorem; propone quoque latrones qui cum Eo sunt crucifixi. Cùm latrones figebantur clavis, sortem lamentabantur suam, exclamabant, et ejulabant; at Christus, tanquam mitissimus agnus, nullum impatientiæ signum, multa eademque præclarissima patientiæ documenta dedit. Oculos considera in cœlum suspicientes, vultum alacrem, et erectum, omnique modestiâ plenum, os silens, nullum proferens gemitum, nullum ejulatum, nullum verbum, quo tolerantiam vel tenuissimâ labe aspergeret. Non tamen in cruce omnino siluit, septem protulit verba Divinum Verbum. Primum amoris fuit summi erga inimicos, ‘Pater, (inquit) dimitte illis, non enim sciunt quid faciunt.' Ante omnia charitatis excellentissimum actum profert: pro inimicis precatur: pro illis à quibus opprobriis, cruciatibus, morteque afficitur, fundit preces." Barradius, vol. iv. lib. vii. cap. 14, p. 349.

His Blood is as precious seed of eternal life, to spring up in a plenteous harvest for His garner in Heaven.

The Humanity of the Well-beloved is left desolate and dishonoured. But whilst they adjust and fix the Cross, or probably at the very moment1 when they are driving the nails, His lips move, as though He would speak. Tremble then, ye ruthless band, lest ye be consumed in a moment. If He should call down the vengeance of Heaven, "the ground will cleave asunder, and the Earth open her mouth, and ye shall be swallowed up, and your houses; and ye shall go down alive into the pit, and perish; "—even as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and all their followers, in the wilderness. But who shall fathom the depths of redeeming Love? He utters words of mercy, not of wrath.

The First of Christ's "SEVEN SAYINGS ON THE CROSS is a prayer for His murderers. He exclaims, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." 3 The merciful Redeemer pleads their ignorance! Already on the Cross He enters on His office of Mediator. The great mission, which brought Him down to Earth to suffer such a Death, was the

1 Stier's Words of the Lord Jesus, vol. vii. p. 436. 2 Numb. xvi. 31-33.

3 "Ad locum [ait Anselmus] deductus supplicii, myrrha potatur et felle. Ita in cruce levatur, et dicit, 'Pater dimitte illis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt.' Qualis est Hic qui in omnibus pressuris suis nec semel os suum aperuit, ut aut querelæ aut excusationis, aut comminationis, aut maledictionis verbum adversus maledictos canes illos proferret; sed novissimè verbum benedictionis, quale à seculo non est auditum, super inimicos suos effudit. Quid hoc viro mansuetius, quid benignius, anima mea, vidisti?' Et iterum, 'In omnibus his considera illud dulcissimum pectus, quam tranquillitatem servavit pietatis. Non suam attendit injuriam, non pœnam reputat, non sentit contumelias: sed ipsis potius à quibus patitur, ille compatitur; à quibus vulneratur, ille medetur; vitam procurat, à quibus occiditur. Cum qua mentis dulcedine, cum qua spiritûs devotione, in qua charitatis plenitudine clamat, Pater ignosce illis!"" Ludolphus, Vita Christi, p. 649.

"O clementissime Domine, quanta est patientia tua, semper insidiati sunt tibi, et persecuti sunt Te et tuos: proditiose Te ceperunt, et maliciose Te crucifixerunt, et modò petis ut ignoscatur illis? Domine Jesu, pater misericordiarum, oro Te, ut sicut Tu pepercisti tuis crucifixoribus, et rogasti pro eis, fac ut amore tui parcam ego cunctis mala facientibus, et Tu, Domine, parcere digneris omnibus iniquitatibus meis, et Patri tuo în conspectu gloriæ tuæ me miserum commendare sæpe enim, Domine, Te offendo, et (quantum in me est) peccatis meis crucifigo. Tamen, Domine, Tu scis quia in Te credo, et Te Dominum meum et Deum verum confiteor, à quo veniam peccatorum postulo impartiri mihi misero et indigno." Ludolphus, Vita Christi, p. 649.

restoration of sinners to the favour of God; and He desired to have His very tormentors included in the Covenant of Peace, now to be fulfilled in His sufferings. Nevertheless, Heaven frowned on the deed of blood: at mid-day, the sun refused to give its light: nature shrouded her face from the awful spectacle: "from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour," that is, from 12 until 3 o'clock: for six lingering hours the Son of God endured the agonies of the Cross.1 It could not be darkness

It is to be observed, that SS. Matthew, Mark, and Luke state the hours according to the manner of reckoning among the Jews; their calculations being from six in the morning, about sunrise, and from six in the evening, about sunset: whereas St. John states the hours according to our reckoning, from midnight twelve hours, A.M., and from midday twelve hours, P.M.

The following may be regarded as the principal points of time on the day of Crucifixion :

1st. According to SS. Matthew, Mark, and John, at some early hour in the
morning our Lord was brought by the Chief Priests before Pilate.
2nd. About six o'clock, according to St. John, He was delivered into the
hands of the soldiers.

3rd. All the preparations, before and after the arrival at Calvary, having
occupied three hours, He was nailed to the Cross at nine o'clock, that
is, according to St. Mark, the "third hour."

4th. According to SS. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the darkness began at the "sixth hour" of the Jews, that is, our twelve o'clock, or midday; and lasted until the "ninth hour," that is, our three o'clock, when "He bowed His Head, and gave up the ghost."

Many questions have arisen among the learned as to the different manner in which the Evangelists calculate these hours; and also in regard to the length of time during which our Lord hung upon the Cross. Perhaps these difficulties arise, as in other cases, from critical Harmonists adopting some previouslyconceived theory of their own, and thence bringing strained arguments to maintain it. In this instance the popular notion is, that the sufferings of the Crucifixion lasted only during the three hours of darkness, as expressed in some of the following notes;-and various quotations from other most eminent Commentators might be added to the same effect. But when St. Mark says, "It was the third hour, and they crucified Him;" and a few verses afterwards, “At the ninth hour Jesus, cried with a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?'" it is clear that He was six hours on the Cross.

"Excitatis subitò meridie tenebris, declaravit Deus Pater hunc Filium suum charissimum esse, qui Secum lucem solemque creasset, et mundum gubernaret, valeretque subtracto lumine perdere; cui ut Opifici et Fictori suo cœli debitum cultum præstarent. Declaravit indignitatem atrocissimi sceleris quod in ipsum admittebatur, ac si obtenebrato sole faciem suam à flagitio omnium teterrimo absconderet, cujus neque sol sustineret esse spectator, immo laboraret cum Domino suo laborante, parracidisque perfidis lumen suum ut eo indignis subtraheret." Lucas Brugensis, Matt. xxvii. 45.

"Judæi signa petunt,' ait Paulus 1 Cor. i. 22. Dederat eis innumera

so deep as to interrupt the last cruel acts of His persecutors; but a præternatural lurid gloom, which made the horrors of

in vitâ signa Dominus, addit alia in morte: obscuratus est sol, et tenebræ factæ sunt super universam terram.' Coelum cùm Dominum suum mori cerneret, vestem mutavit, splendorem in meridie exuit, atras induit tenebras: sol tantum perhorrens facinus, sceleratosque homines sua luce privavit. O Deus omnipotens, cur miracula non edis mortifera? Cur fulmina in capita sceleratorum à cœlo, vel cruce non jacularis? Cur igne, grandine, horrendisque tonitruis impios non disperdis? Cur impios aquâ non submergis? Quis manus continet? nunquid clavi? Minimè. Misericordia manus continebat Domini. Miracula edit, non quæ noceant, sed quæ prosint. Jesum esse indicat crucis titulus, id est, Salvatorem: non vult perdere, sed servare; idcirco miracula non facit mortifera, sed quæ ad fidem, pœnitentiam, æternamque vitam Judæos advocent." Barradius, vol. iv. lib. vii. cap. 80, p. 363.

"Factæ sunt tenebræ.' Quia enim agnus innocens, et verus Sol justitiæ eclipsim patiebatur, sol iste visibilis clarissimum mundi lumen, Factori suo compatiens, lucis suæ radios retraxit et occultavit: non valens intueri pendentem Dominum, ac mortis Ejus vilitatem et acerbitatem. Unde Chrysost. 'Sol obscuratus est: non enim ferre poterat creatura injuriam Creatoris. Retraxit radios suos, celavit igneum jubar, ne videret impiorum facinora.'" Ludolphus, Vita Christi, p. 652.

"Designatum est his tenebris tam detestandum fuisse hoc Judæorum factum, ut sol illud aspicere nollet, indignosque ostenderet qui suâ luce fruerentur. Designatum item creaturarum Auctorem jam pati, ac creaturas inanimatas Illum agnoscere, et prædicare quem Judæi agnoscere recusaverunt, et variis insectati sunt contumeliis; easque compati suo Creatori, quem tam variis affecêre homines mente præditi ludibriis. Designatum jam Illum occidere Solem verum, qui illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum, ac mentes Judaicas vera luce destitutas, atque adhuc magis suo demerito destituendas, sicut et cæcitas animi Ægyptiorum, externis tenebris crassissimis et ostensa est, et vindicata." Jansenius Gand., cap. cxliii. p. 1078.

"Tenebræ hæ cœperunt in meridie, quando crucifixus est Christus, et durarunt per tres horas, scilicet usque ad horam nonam, id est usque ad tertiam pomeridianam, quâ expiravit Christus, quo tempore solet esse clarissima et summa diei lux: ut manifeste appararet has tenebras esse insolitas, prodigiosas et supernaturales, nimirùm sol, cœlum, omniaque astra atrata luxerunt tam indignam necem Christi Dei et Creatoris ac Domini sui, ideoque lucem et radios suos à terrâ et terrigenis Deum suum occidentibus subtraxêre." Corn, à Lapide, in Matt. 415.

"Eclipsis solis efficitur, idque præter naturam. Matthæus annotat durationem tenebrarum à sextâ usque ad nonam, hoc est à duodecimâ nobis usque ad tertiam. Tribus continuis horis durat obscuratio solis, atque his horis Christus in cruce pendet vivus." "Testatur natura rerum innocentiam Christi et sol non fert aspectum illum miserandum, quem sine rubore et fronte Judæi irrident." Aretius, In Matt., fol. 167.

"Horâ sexta, Domino existente in cruce, apparuerunt mira. Primo, Sole justitiæ per mortem vicinam eclipsante, sed corporalis extra cursum naturæ ecclipsatur, et obtenebrescit. Defectio enim solis, secundum Hieronymum, non