The Meaning of Calvary B y M E R V R O S E I X , M o n t r o s e , C a l i f o r n i a
(Read this to understand why the world is not hopeless — even now!)
I f we could place a human skull upon the ground near a miniature ancient city and swathe the place sur rounding the skull with more than a million multi-colored puppet soldiers, priests, Arabs and Jews from countries far-flung as well as from the Holy City . . . Calvary would live again. And could we know the hate surging through heated and expressive Oriental hearts against One whom most believed to be an imposter and a blasphemer (though His hand had brought naught but blessed comfort to every sufferer He had met in those three full years) . . . Calvary would live again. If each tiny figure beside that human skull could grow proportionally so that we could walk among them and look into each squinting eye, at each bearded face, at each gaping, screaming mouth with ragged teeth and rought abusives, at each tear-stained, fearful child, each woman tom between sympathy and dread, each agitated animal bearing human cargo — if we could see them and live among them for those six hours . . . Calvary would live again. Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Syrians, Africans, Egyptians and other Eastern people were among the throng of the international Jewry (met to commemorate the Passover of which Christ’s death was to be the antitype) as hoofs, wheels and sandals scraped a muffled death knell on the stony path to the brow of the skull. These human vultures had crowded early toward the hillside of crosses, and though no official invitation had been issued, they had met to presage the days of Christian slaughter. Amid the flash of burnished brass carried by the Roman soldiers and the shrieking hiss of brazen, hyster ical, unpaid heraldry, walked One called the Nazarene. That He was accompanied by such that followed and preceded Him belied such a humble name. Was He not the man who claimed sonship with God and kingship over the Jews? Was He not the expected Messiah? If not, then why the great procession of scribes, elders, rabbis, Pharisees with broad phylacteries, Sadducees, and repre sentatives of each group of the then-known world? Aside from the testimony of the presence of dignitaries, an onlooker would have known this was the Christ, for with silent mouth and submissive mien, He accepted the blows that rained on His body and the taunts that rushed against His ears. As He trod the serpent trail beneath the burden of the Roman gibbet, the transverse beam gouged the crown of thorns deeper into the back of a head already covered with a matted mixture of dried blood and hair. Upon the face and body, the blood had blackened hard beneath the hot Oriental sun, but not before it had besmirched the outer robe and inner seamless tunic. Every step seemed to be His last, for the Roman scourge had mangled skin, flesh and sinew in a vain attempt to spare the Cross its labor. The contagious hate of the high priest bubbled like a boiling cauldron as the Roman soldiers spiked the Christ to the gibbet and gambled His garments away. The majestic mien, the more majestic because it was framed between felons, matched the tender words, “ Fa ther, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
From nine o’clock in the morning, according to our modern reckoning, until high noon did man revile the Hanged One as they bowed in mockery, shooting out the lip and cursing the Blessed Name, as He dealt with the penitent thief and His beloved below Him. When the sun rode the highest, it was blotted from the heavens as God turned His back on the Son buried beneath the composite of earthly sin. The earth rolled like a ship under the feet of His crucifiers, and in that dread moment Christ shouted, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Watchers trembled as the wail of desperation cut to the heart. Was this, then, truly the Son of God as He had maintained? Certainly the subse quent cries from the center cross answered the query. Yet the resurrection of that God-man was the ultimate vindication of the facts stated during a life of perfect ministry. Death was not the victor, for He was seen of “ above five hundred brethren at once” before the day of the promise written in Acts 1:9-11, for “ while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” “ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in (through) Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with.them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thessalonians 4:14-17). In lieu of the fact of sin, such a provisional transaction as was demonstrated by a personal and infinite God entails a definite responsibility upon each individual. This responsibility has involved all of us in varied discussion. Each reader has his own peculiar reactions to the doctrines of Christianity. They may be positive or negative. Possibly 50 percent of those wise enough to have an interest in the teachings of the world’s greatest text are merely following a precedent established by an organization or individual. Another 30 percent would admit that literature of one kind or another had influ enced them. Of the remaining 20 percent, perhaps half would be loathe to state the reason for following their peculiar habit of worship, whereas those of the last 10 percent would, no doubt, dogmatically declare their philosophies of religion founded upon notions and ideas that would give logic no end of trouble. Let us state the problem. Among so many and varied opinions regarding our relation to the living God, how can we know what to believe and what to reject as false? “ A certain gentleman states his views regarding a doc trine, another has his ideas as to the interpretation of a certain writing, and a third steps in to declare all pre-
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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