Behold the Man! {#Joh 19:5} If there is one place where our Lord Jesus most fully becomes the joy and comfort of his people, it is the place he plunged deepest into the depths of woe. Come here, gracious souls, and behold the Man in the garden of Gethsemane; behold his heart so brimming with love that he cannot hold it in — so full of sorrow that it must find a vent. Behold the bloody sweat as it distils from every pore of his body, and falls upon the ground. Behold the Man as they drive the nails into his hands and feet. Look up, repenting sinners, and see the sorrowful image of your suffering Lord. See him, as the ruby drops stand on the thorn crown, and adorn with priceless gems the diadem of the King of Misery. Behold the Man when all his bones are out of joint, and he is poured out like water and brought into the dust of death; God has forsaken him, and hell surrounds him. Behold and see, was there ever sorrow like his sorrow which he experienced? All you who pass by draw near and look upon this spectacle of grief, unique, unparalleled, a wonder to men and angels, a prodigy unmatched. Behold the Emperor of Woe who had no equal or rival in his agonies! Gaze upon him, oh mourners, for if there is not consolation in a crucified Christ there is no joy in heaven or earth. If in the ransom price of his blood there is no hope, oh harps of heaven, there is no joy in you, and the right hand of God shall know no pleasures for evermore. We have only to sit more continually at the foot of the cross to be less troubled with our doubts and woes. We have only to see his sorrows, and we shall be ashamed to mention our sorrows. We have only to gaze into his wounds to heal our own. If we wish to live properly it must be by the contemplation of his death; if we wish to rise to dignity, it must be by considering his humiliation and his sorrow.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 09:58:09 +0000