The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 78: Calvary
This chapter is based on Matt. 27:31-53;
Mark 15:20-38; Luke 23:26-46; John 19:16-30.
 |
 |
When the loud cry, "It is finished," came from the
lips of Christ, with a rending noise the inner veil
of the temple was torn from top to bottom by
an unseen hand.
Illustration ©
Review and Herald Publ. Assoc. |
|
"And when they were come to the place, which is called
Calvary, there they crucified Him." {DA 741.1}
"That He might sanctify the people with His own
blood," Christ "suffered without the gate." Hebrews 13:12. For
transgression of the law of God, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden. Christ,
our substitute, was to suffer without the boundaries of Jerusalem. He died
outside the gate, where felons and murderers were executed. Full of
significance are the words, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us." Galatians 3:13. {DA 741.2}
A vast multitude followed Jesus from the judgment hall to
Calvary. The news of His condemnation had spread throughout Jerusalem, and
people of all classes and all ranks flocked toward the place of crucifixion.
The priests and rulers had been bound by a promise not to molest Christ's
followers if He Himself were delivered to them, and the disciples and believers
from the city and the surrounding region joined the throng that followed the
Saviour. {DA 741.3}
As Jesus passed the gate of Pilate's court, the cross which
had been prepared for Barabbas was laid upon His bruised and bleeding
shoulders. Two companions of Barabbas were to suffer death at the same time
with Jesus, and upon them also crosses were placed. The Saviour's burden [742]
was too heavy for Him in His weak and suffering condition. Since the Passover
supper with His disciples, He had taken neither food nor drink. He had agonized
in the garden of Gethsemane in conflict with satanic agencies. He had endured
the anguish of the betrayal, and had seen His disciples forsake Him and flee.
He had been taken to Annas, then to Caiaphas, and then to Pilate. From Pilate
He had been sent to Herod, then sent again to Pilate. From insult to renewed
insult, from mockery to mockery, twice tortured by the scourge,—all
that night there had been scene after scene of a character to try the soul of
man to the uttermost. Christ had not failed. He had spoken no word but that
tended to glorify God. All through the disgraceful farce of a trial He had
borne Himself with firmness and dignity. But when after the second scourging
the cross was laid upon Him, human nature could bear no more. He fell fainting
beneath the burden. {DA
741.4}
The crowd that followed the Saviour saw His weak and
staggering steps, but they manifested no compassion. They taunted and reviled
Him because He could not carry the heavy cross. Again the burden was laid upon
Him, and again He fell fainting to the ground. His persecutors saw that it was
impossible for Him to carry His burden farther. They were puzzled to find
anyone who would bear the humiliating load. The Jews themselves could not do
this, because the defilement would prevent them from keeping the Passover. None
even of the mob that followed Him would stoop to bear the cross. {DA 742.1}
At this time a stranger, Simon a Cyrenian, coming in from
the country, meets the throng. He hears the taunts and ribaldry of the crowd;
he hears the words contemptuously repeated, Make way for the King of the Jews!
He stops in astonishment at the scene; and as he expresses his compassion, they
seize him and place the cross upon his shoulders. {DA 742.2}
Simon had heard of Jesus. His sons were believers in the
Saviour, but he himself was not a disciple. The bearing of the cross to Calvary
was a blessing to Simon, and he was ever after grateful for this providence. It
led him to take upon himself the cross of Christ from choice, and ever
cheerfully stand beneath its burden. {DA 742.3}
Not a few women are in the crowd that follow the Uncondemned
to His cruel death. Their attention is fixed upon Jesus. Some of them have seen
Him before. Some have carried to Him their sick and suffering ones. Some have
themselves been healed. The story of the scenes that have taken place is
related. They wonder at the hatred of the crowd toward Him for whom their own
hearts are melting and ready to break. [743] And
notwithstanding the action of the maddened throng, and the angry words of the
priests and rulers, these women give expression to their sympathy. As Jesus
falls fainting beneath the cross, they break forth into mournful wailing. {DA 742.4}
This was the only thing that attracted Christ's attention.
Although full of suffering, while bearing the sins of the world, He was not
indifferent to the expression of grief. He looked upon these women with tender
compassion. They were not believers in Him; He knew that they were not lamenting
Him as one sent from God, but were moved by feelings of human pity. He did not
despise their sympathy, but it awakened in His heart a deeper sympathy for
them. "Daughters of Jerusalem," He said, "weep not for Me, but
weep for yourselves, and for your children." From the scene before Him,
Christ looked forward to the time of Jerusalem's destruction. In that terrible
scene, many of those who were now weeping for Him were to perish with their
children. {DA 743.1}
From the fall of Jerusalem the thoughts of Jesus passed to a
wider judgment. In the destruction of the impenitent city He saw a symbol of
the final destruction to come upon the world. He said, "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?" By
the green tree, Jesus represented Himself, the innocent Redeemer. God suffered
His wrath against transgression to fall on His beloved Son. Jesus was to be
crucified for the sins of men. What suffering, then, would the sinner bear who
continued in sin? All the impenitent and unbelieving would know a sorrow and
misery that language would fail to express. {DA 743.2}
Of the multitude that followed the Saviour to Calvary, many
had attended Him with joyful hosannas and the waving of palm branches as He
rode triumphantly into Jerusalem. But not a few who had then shouted His
praise, because it was popular to do so, now swelled the cry of "Crucify
Him, crucify Him." When Christ rode into Jerusalem, the hopes of the
disciples had been raised to the highest pitch. They had pressed close about
their Master, feeling that it was a high honor to be connected with Him. Now in
His humiliation they followed Him at a distance. They were filled with grief,
and bowed down with disappointed hopes. How were the words of Jesus verified:
"All ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I
will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered
abroad." Matthew 26:31. [744] {DA 743.3}
Arriving at the place of execution, the prisoners were bound
to the instruments of torture. The two thieves wrestled in the hands of those
who placed them on the cross; but Jesus made no resistance. The mother of
Jesus, supported by John the beloved disciple, had followed the steps of her
Son to Calvary. She had seen Him fainting under the burden of the cross, and
had longed to place a supporting hand beneath His wounded head, and to bathe
that brow which had once been pillowed upon her bosom. But she was not permitted
this mournful privilege. With the disciples she still cherished the hope that
Jesus would manifest His power, and deliver Himself from His enemies. Again her
heart would sink as she recalled the words in which He had foretold the very
scenes that were then taking place. As the thieves were bound to the cross, she
looked on with agonizing suspense. Would He who had given life to the dead
suffer Himself to be crucified? Would the Son of God suffer Himself to be thus
cruelly slain? Must she give up her faith that Jesus was the Messiah? Must she
witness His shame and sorrow, without even the privilege of ministering to Him
in His distress? She saw His hands stretched upon the cross; the hammer and the
nails were brought, and as the spikes were driven through the tender flesh, the
heart-stricken disciples bore away from the cruel scene the fainting form of
the mother of Jesus. {DA
744.1}
The Saviour made no murmur of complaint. His face remained
calm and serene, but great drops of sweat stood upon His brow. There was no
pitying hand to wipe the death dew from His face, nor words of sympathy and
unchanging fidelity to stay His human heart. While the soldiers were doing
their fearful work, Jesus prayed for His enemies, "Father, forgive them;
for they know not what they do." His mind passed from His own suffering to
the sin of His persecutors, and the terrible retribution that would be theirs.
No curses were called down upon the soldiers who were handling Him so roughly.
No vengeance was invoked upon the priests and rulers, who were gloating over
the accomplishment of their purpose. Christ pitied them in their ignorance and
guilt. He breathed only a plea for their forgiveness,—"for they
know not what they do." {DA
744.2}
Had they known that they were putting to torture One who had
come to save the sinful race from eternal ruin, they would have been seized
with remorse and horror. But their ignorance did not remove their guilt; for it
was their privilege to know and accept Jesus as their [745]
Saviour. Some of them would yet see their sin, and repent, and be converted.
Some by their impenitence would make it an impossibility for the prayer of
Christ to be answered for them. Yet, just the same, God's purpose was reaching
its fulfillment. Jesus was earning the right to become the advocate of men in
the Father's presence. {DA
744.3}
That prayer of Christ for His enemies embraced the world. It
took in every sinner that had lived or should live, from the beginning of the
world to the end of time. Upon all rests the guilt of crucifying the Son of
God. To all, forgiveness is freely offered. "Whosoever will" may have
peace with God, and inherit eternal life. {DA 745.1}
As soon as Jesus was nailed to the cross, it was lifted by
strong men, and with great violence thrust into the place prepared for it. This
caused the most intense agony to the Son of God. Pilate then wrote an
inscription in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and placed it upon the cross, above
the head of Jesus. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews."
This inscription irritated the Jews. In Pilate's court they had cried,
"Crucify Him." "We have no king but Caesar." John 19:15.
They had declared that whoever should acknowledge any other king was a traitor.
Pilate wrote out the sentiment they had expressed. No offense was mentioned,
except that Jesus was the King of the Jews. The inscription was a virtual
acknowledgment of the allegiance of the Jews to the Roman power. It declared
that whoever might claim to be the King of Israel would be judged by them worthy
of death. The priests had overreached themselves. When they were plotting the
death of Christ, Caiaphas had declared it expedient that one man should die to
save the nation. Now their hypocrisy was revealed. In order to destroy Christ,
they had been ready to sacrifice even their national existence. {DA 745.2}
The priests saw what they had done, and asked Pilate to
change the inscription. They said, "Write not, The King of the Jews; but
that He said, I am King of the Jews." But Pilate was angry with himself
because of his former weakness, and he thoroughly despised the jealous and
artful priests and rulers. He replied coldly, "What I have written I have
written." {DA 745.3}
A higher power than Pilate or the Jews had directed the
placing of that inscription above the head of Jesus. In the providence of God
it was to awaken thought, and investigation of the Scriptures. The place where
Christ was crucified was near to the city. Thousands of people from all lands
were then at Jerusalem, and the inscription declaring Jesus of [746]
Nazareth the Messiah would come to their notice. It was a living truth,
transcribed by a hand that God had guided. {DA 745.4}
In the sufferings of Christ upon the cross prophecy was
fulfilled. Centuries before the crucifixion, the Saviour had foretold the
treatment He was to receive. He said, "Dogs have compassed Me: the
assembly of the wicked have enclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet. I
may tell all My bones: they look and stare upon Me. They part My garments among
them, and cast lots upon My vesture." Psalm 22:16-18. The prophecy
concerning His garments was carried out without counsel or interference from
the friends or the enemies of the Crucified One. To the soldiers who had placed
Him upon the cross, His clothing was given. Christ heard the men's contention
as they parted the garments among them. His tunic was woven throughout without
seam, and they said, "Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it
shall be." {DA 746.1}
In another prophecy the Saviour declared, "Reproach
hath broken My heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take
pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave Me
also gall for My meat; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink."
Psalm 69:20, 21. To those who suffered death by the cross, it was permitted to
give a stupefying potion, to deaden the sense of pain. This was offered to
Jesus; but when He had tasted it, He refused it. He would receive nothing that
could becloud His mind. His faith must keep fast hold upon God. This was His
only strength. To becloud His senses would give Satan an advantage. {DA 746.2}
The enemies of Jesus vented their rage upon Him as He hung
upon the cross. Priests, rulers, and scribes joined with the mob in mocking the
dying Saviour. At the baptism and at the transfiguration the voice of God had
been heard proclaiming Christ as His Son. Again, just before Christ's betrayal,
the Father had spoken, witnessing to His divinity. But now the voice from
heaven was silent. No testimony in Christ's favor was heard. Alone He suffered
abuse and mockery from wicked men. {DA 746.3}
"If Thou be the Son of God," they said, "come
down from the cross." "Let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the
chosen of God." In the wilderness of temptation Satan had declared,
"If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."
"If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down" from the pinnacle of
the temple. Matthew 4:3, 6. And Satan with his angels, in human form, was present
at the [749]
cross. The archfiend and his hosts were co-operating with the priests and
rulers. The teachers of the people had stimulated the ignorant mob to pronounce
judgment against One upon whom many of them had never looked, until urged to
bear testimony against Him. Priests, rulers, Pharisees, and the hardened rabble
were confederated together in a satanic frenzy. Religious rulers united with
Satan and his angels. They were doing his bidding. {DA 746.4}
Jesus, suffering and dying, heard every word as the priests
declared, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let Christ the King of
Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Christ
could have come down from the cross. But it is because He would not save
Himself that the sinner has hope of pardon and favor with God. {DA 749.1}
In their mockery of the Saviour, the men who professed to be
the expounders of prophecy were repeating the very words which Inspiration had
foretold they would utter upon this occasion. Yet in their blindness they did
not see that they were fulfilling the prophecy. Those who in derision uttered
the words, "He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have
Him: for He said, I am the Son of God," little thought that their
testimony would sound down the ages. But although spoken in mockery, these
words led men to search the Scriptures as they had never done before. Wise men
heard, searched, pondered, and prayed. There were those who never rested until,
by comparing scripture with scripture, they saw the meaning of Christ's
mission. Never before was there such a general knowledge of Jesus as when He
hung upon the cross. Into the hearts of many who beheld the crucifixion scene,
and who heard Christ's words, the light of truth was shining. {DA 749.2}
To Jesus in His agony on the cross there came one gleam of
comfort. It was the prayer of the penitent thief. Both the men who were
crucified with Jesus had at first railed upon Him; and one under his suffering
only became more desperate and defiant. But not so with his companion. This man
was not a hardened criminal; he had been led astray by evil associations, but
he was less guilty than many of those who stood beside the cross reviling the
Saviour. He had seen and heard Jesus, and had been convicted by His teaching,
but he had been turned away from Him by the priests and rulers. Seeking to
stifle conviction, he had plunged deeper and deeper into sin, until he was
arrested, tried as a criminal, and condemned to die on the cross. In the
judgment hall and on the way to Calvary he had been in company with Jesus. He
had heard Pilate declare, "I find no fault in Him." John 19:4. He had
marked His [750] godlike bearing, and His pitying
forgiveness of His tormentors. On the cross he sees the many great religionists
shoot out the tongue with scorn, and ridicule the Lord Jesus. He sees the
wagging heads. He hears the upbraiding speeches taken up by his companion in
guilt: "If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and us." Among the passers-by
he hears many defending Jesus. He hears them repeat His words, and tell of His
works. The conviction comes back to him that this is the Christ. Turning to his
fellow criminal he says, "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the
same condemnation?" The dying thieves have no longer anything to fear from
man. But upon one of them presses the conviction that there is a God to fear, a
future to cause him to tremble. And now, all sin-polluted as it is, his life
history is about to close. "And we indeed justly," he moans;
"for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man hath done
nothing amiss." {DA
749.3}
There is no question now. There are no doubts, no
reproaches. When condemned for his crime, the thief had become hopeless and
despairing; but strange, tender thoughts now spring up. He calls to mind all he
has heard of Jesus, how He has healed the sick and pardoned sin. He has heard
the words of those who believed in Jesus and followed Him weeping. He has seen
and read the title above the Saviour's head. He has heard the passers-by repeat
it, some with grieved, quivering lips, others with jesting and mockery. The
Holy Spirit illuminates his mind, and little by little the chain of evidence is
joined together. In Jesus, bruised, mocked, and hanging upon the cross, he sees
the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. Hope is mingled with
anguish in his voice as the helpless, dying soul casts himself upon a dying
Saviour. "Lord, remember me," he cries, "when Thou comest into
Thy kingdom." {DA
750.1}
Quickly the answer came. Soft and melodious the tone, full
of love, compassion, and power the words: Verily I say unto thee today, Thou
shalt be with Me in paradise. {DA 750.2}
For long hours of agony, reviling and mockery have fallen
upon the ears of Jesus. As He hangs upon the cross, there floats up to Him
still the sound of jeers and curses. With longing heart He has listened for
some expression of faith from His disciples. He has heard only the mournful
words, "We trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed
Israel." How grateful then to the Saviour was the utterance of faith and
love from the dying thief! While the leading Jews deny Him, and even the
disciples doubt His divinity, the poor thief, upon the [751] brink
of eternity, calls Jesus Lord. Many were ready to call Him Lord when He wrought
miracles, and after He had risen from the grave; but none acknowledged Him as
He hung dying upon the cross save the penitent thief who was saved at the
eleventh hour. {DA 750.3}
The bystanders caught the words as the thief called Jesus
Lord. The tone of the repentant man arrested their attention. Those who at the
foot of the cross had been quarreling over Christ's garments, and casting lots
upon His vesture, stopped to listen. Their angry tones were hushed. With bated
breath they looked upon Christ, and waited for the response from those dying
lips. {DA 751.1}
As He spoke the words of promise, the dark cloud that seemed
to enshroud the cross was pierced by a bright and living light. To the penitent
thief came the perfect peace of acceptance with God. Christ in His humiliation
was glorified. He who in all other eyes appeared to be conquered was a
Conqueror. He was acknowledged as the Sin Bearer. Men may exercise power over
His human body. They may pierce the holy temples with the crown of thorns. They
may strip from Him His raiment, and quarrel over its division. But they cannot
rob Him of His power to forgive sins. In dying He bears testimony to His own
divinity and to the glory of the Father. His ear is not heavy that it cannot
hear, neither His arm shortened that it cannot save. It is His royal right to
save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. {DA 751.2}
I say unto thee today, Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.
Christ did not promise that the thief should be with Him in Paradise that day.
He Himself did not go that day to Paradise. He slept in the tomb, and on the
morning of the resurrection He said, "I am not yet ascended to My
Father." John 20:17. But on the day of the crucifixion, the day of
apparent defeat and darkness, the promise was given. "Today" while
dying upon the cross as a malefactor, Christ assures the poor sinner, Thou
shalt be with Me in Paradise. {DA 751.3}
The thieves crucified with Jesus were placed "on either
side one, and Jesus in the midst." This was done by the direction of the
priests and rulers. Christ's position between the thieves was to indicate that
He was the greatest criminal of the three. Thus was fulfilled the scripture,
"He was numbered with the transgressors." Isaiah 53:12. But the full
meaning of their act the priests did not see. As Jesus, crucified with the
thieves, was placed "in the midst," so His cross was placed in the
midst of a world lying in sin. And the words of pardon spoken to the penitent
thief kindled a light that will shine to the earth's remotest bounds. [752]
{DA 751.4}
With amazement the angels beheld the infinite love of Jesus,
who, suffering the most intense agony of mind and body, thought only of others,
and encouraged the penitent soul to believe. In His humiliation He as a prophet
had addressed the daughters of Jerusalem; as priest and advocate He had pleaded
with the Father to forgive His murderers; as a loving Saviour He had forgiven
the sins of the penitent thief. {DA 752.1}
As the eyes of Jesus wandered over the multitude about Him,
one figure arrested His attention. At the foot of the cross stood His mother,
supported by the disciple John. She could not endure to remain away from her
Son; and John, knowing that the end was near, had brought her again to the
cross. In His dying hour, Christ remembered His mother. Looking into her
grief-stricken face and then upon John, He said to her, "Woman, behold thy
son!" then to John, "Behold thy mother!" John understood
Christ's words, and accepted the trust. He at once took Mary to his home, and
from that hour cared for her tenderly. O pitiful, loving Saviour; amid all His
physical pain and mental anguish, He had a thoughtful care for His mother! He
had no money with which to provide for her comfort; but He was enshrined in the
heart of John, and He gave His mother to him as a precious legacy. Thus He
provided for her that which she most needed,—the tender sympathy of
one who loved her because she loved Jesus. And in receiving her as a sacred
trust, John was receiving a great blessing. She was a constant reminder of his
beloved Master. {DA 752.2}
The perfect example of Christ's filial love shines forth
with undimmed luster from the mist of ages. For nearly thirty years Jesus by
His daily toil had helped bear the burdens of the home. And now, even in His
last agony, He remembers to provide for His sorrowing, widowed mother. The same
spirit will be seen in every disciple of our Lord. Those who follow Christ will
feel that it is a part of their religion to respect and provide for their parents.
From the heart where His love is cherished, father and mother will never fail
of receiving thoughtful care and tender sympathy. {DA 752.3}
And now the Lord of glory was dying, a ransom for the race.
In yielding up His precious life, Christ was not upheld by triumphant joy. All
was oppressive gloom. It was not the dread of death that weighed upon Him. It
was not the pain and ignominy of the cross that caused His inexpressible agony.
Christ was the prince of sufferers; but His suffering was from a sense of the
malignity of sin, a knowledge that [753] through familiarity
with evil, man had become blinded to its enormity. Christ saw how deep is the
hold of sin upon the human heart, how few would be willing to break from its
power. He knew that without help from God, humanity must perish, and He saw
multitudes perishing within reach of abundant help. {DA 752.4}
Upon Christ as our substitute and surety was laid the
iniquity of us all. He was counted a transgressor, that He might redeem us from
the condemnation of the law. The guilt of every descendant of Adam was pressing
upon His heart. The wrath of God against sin, the terrible manifestation of His
displeasure because of iniquity, filled the soul of His Son with consternation.
All His life Christ had been publishing to a fallen world the good news of the
Father's mercy and pardoning love. Salvation for the chief of sinners was His
theme. But now with the terrible weight of guilt He bears, He cannot see the
Father's reconciling face. The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the
Saviour in this hour of supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow that
can never be fully understood by man. So great was this agony that His physical
pain was hardly felt. {DA
753.1}
Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus.
The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present
to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father's
acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their
separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will
feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race. It was the sense of
sin, bringing the Father's wrath upon Him as man's substitute, that made the
cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God. {DA 753.2}
With amazement angels witnessed the Saviour's despairing
agony. The hosts of heaven veiled their faces from the fearful sight. Inanimate
nature expressed sympathy with its insulted and dying Author. The sun refused
to look upon the awful scene. Its full, bright rays were illuminating the earth
at midday, when suddenly it seemed to be blotted out. Complete darkness, like a
funeral pall, enveloped the cross. "There was darkness over all the land
unto the ninth hour." There was no eclipse or other natural cause for this
darkness, which was as deep as midnight without moon or stars. It was a
miraculous testimony given by God that the faith of after generations might be
confirmed. {DA 753.3}
In that thick darkness God's presence was hidden. He makes
darkness His pavilion, and conceals His glory from human eyes. God and [754]
His holy angels were beside the cross. The Father was with His Son. Yet His
presence was not revealed. Had His glory flashed forth from the cloud, every
human beholder would have been destroyed. And in that dreadful hour Christ was
not to be comforted with the Father's presence. He trod the wine press alone,
and of the people there was none with Him. {DA 753.4}
In the thick darkness, God veiled the last human agony of
His Son. All who had seen Christ in His suffering had been convicted of His
divinity. That face, once beheld by humanity, was never forgotten. As the face
of Cain expressed his guilt as a murderer, so the face of Christ revealed
innocence, serenity, benevolence,—the image of God. But His accusers
would not give heed to the signet of heaven. Through long hours of agony Christ
had been gazed upon by the jeering multitude. Now He was mercifully hidden by
the mantle of God. {DA
754.1}
The silence of the grave seemed to have fallen upon Calvary.
A nameless terror held the throng that was gathered about the cross. The
cursing and reviling ceased in the midst of half-uttered sentences. Men, women,
and children fell prostrate upon the earth. Vivid lightnings occasionally
flashed forth from the cloud, and revealed the cross and the crucified
Redeemer. Priests, rulers, scribes, executioners, and the mob, all thought that
their time of retribution had come. After a while some whispered that Jesus
would now come down from the cross. Some attempted to grope their way back to
the city, beating their breasts and wailing in fear. {DA 754.2}
At the ninth hour the darkness lifted from the people, but
still enveloped the Saviour. It was a symbol of the agony and horror that
weighed upon His heart. No eye could pierce the gloom that surrounded the
cross, and none could penetrate the deeper gloom that enshrouded the suffering
soul of Christ. The angry lightnings seemed to be hurled at Him as He hung upon
the cross. Then "Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama
sabachthani?" "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" As
the outer gloom settled about the Saviour, many voices exclaimed: The vengeance
of heaven is upon Him. The bolts of God's wrath are hurled at Him, because He
claimed to be the Son of God. Many who believed on Him heard His despairing
cry. Hope left them. If God had forsaken Jesus, in what could His followers
trust? {DA 754.3}
When the darkness lifted from the oppressed spirit of
Christ, He revived to a sense of physical suffering, and said, "I
thirst." One of the [755] Roman soldiers, touched with
pity as he looked at the parched lips, took a sponge on a stalk of hyssop, and
dipping it in a vessel of vinegar, offered it to Jesus. But the priests mocked
at His agony. When darkness covered the earth, they had been filled with fear;
as their terror abated, the dread returned that Jesus would yet escape them.
His words, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" they had misinterpreted.
With bitter contempt and scorn they said, "This man calleth for
Elias." The last opportunity to relieve His sufferings they refused.
"Let be," they said, "let us see whether Elias will come to save
Him." {DA 754.4}
The spotless Son of God hung upon the cross, His flesh
lacerated with stripes; those hands so often reached out in blessing, nailed to
the wooden bars; those feet so tireless on ministries of love, spiked to the
tree; that royal head pierced by the crown of thorns; those quivering lips shaped
to the cry of woe. And all that He endured—the blood drops that
flowed from His head, His hands, His feet, the agony that racked His frame, and
the unutterable anguish that filled His soul at the hiding of His Father's face—speaks
to each child of humanity, declaring, It is for thee that the Son of God
consents to bear this burden of guilt; for thee He spoils the domain of death,
and opens the gates of Paradise. He who stilled the angry waves and walked the
foam-capped billows, who made devils tremble and disease flee, who opened blind
eyes and called forth the dead to life,—offers Himself upon the cross
as a sacrifice, and this from love to thee. [756] He,
the Sin Bearer, endures the wrath of divine justice, and for thy sake becomes
sin itself. {DA 755.1}
In silence the beholders watched for the end of the fearful
scene. The sun shone forth; but the cross was still enveloped in darkness.
Priests and rulers looked toward Jerusalem; and lo, the dense cloud had settled
over the city and the plains of Judea. The Sun of Righteousness, the Light of
the world, was withdrawing His beams from the once favored city of Jerusalem.
The fierce lightnings of God's wrath were directed against the fated city. {DA 756.1}
Suddenly the gloom lifted from the cross, and in clear,
trumpetlike tones, that seemed to resound throughout creation, Jesus cried,
"It is finished." "Father, into Thy hands I commend My
spirit." A light encircled the cross, and the face of the Saviour shone
with a glory like the sun. He then bowed His head upon His breast, and died. {DA 756.2}
Amid the awful darkness, apparently forsaken of God, Christ
had drained the last dregs in the cup of human woe. In those dreadful hours He
had relied upon the evidence of His Father's acceptance heretofore given Him.
He was acquainted with the character of His Father; He understood His justice,
His mercy, and His great love. By faith He rested in Him whom it had ever been
His joy to obey. And as in submission He committed Himself to God, the sense of
the loss of His Father's favor was withdrawn. By faith, Christ was victor. {DA 756.3}
Never before had the earth witnessed such a scene. The
multitude stood paralyzed, and with bated breath gazed upon the Saviour. Again
darkness settled upon the earth, and a hoarse rumbling, like heavy thunder, was
heard. There was a violent earthquake. The people were shaken together in
heaps. The wildest confusion and consternation ensued. In the surrounding
mountains, rocks were rent asunder, and went crashing down into the plains.
Sepulchers were broken open, and the dead were cast out of their tombs.
Creation seemed to be shivering to atoms. Priests, rulers, soldiers,
executioners, and people, mute with terror, lay prostrate upon the ground. {DA 756.4}
When the loud cry, "It is finished," came from the
lips of Christ, the priests were officiating in the temple. It was the hour of
the evening sacrifice. The lamb representing Christ had been brought to be
slain. Clothed in his significant and beautiful dress, the priest stood with
lifted knife, as did Abraham when he was about to slay his son. With intense
interest the people were looking on. But the earth trembles and quakes; [757]
for the Lord Himself draws near. With a rending noise the inner veil of the
temple is torn from top to bottom by an unseen hand, throwing open to the gaze
of the multitude a place once filled with the presence of God. In this place
the Shekinah had dwelt. Here God had manifested His glory above the mercy seat.
No one but the high priest ever lifted the veil separating this apartment from
the rest of the temple. He entered in once a year to make an atonement for the
sins of the people. But lo, this veil is rent in twain. The most holy place of
the earthly sanctuary is no longer sacred. {DA 756.5}
All is terror and confusion. The priest is about to slay the
victim; but the knife drops from his nerveless hand, and the lamb escapes. Type
has met antitype in the death of God's Son. The great sacrifice has been made.
The way into the holiest is laid open. A new and living way is prepared for
all. No longer need sinful, sorrowing humanity await the coming of the high
priest. Henceforth the Saviour was to officiate as priest and advocate in the
heaven of heavens. It was as if a living voice had spoken to the worshipers:
There is now an end to all sacrifices and offerings for sin. The Son of God is
come according to His word, "Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is
written of Me,) to do Thy will, O God." "By His own blood" He
entereth "in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us." Hebrews 10:7; 9:12. {DA 757.1}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"It is Finished"
|
