THE KING’S BUSINESS
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of Christ, seeking their own petty inter ests at the very foot of the cross? The casting of lots upon His vesture was also a very literal and_ exact fulfillment of prophecy (Ps. 22:18). The fact that two robbers were crucified with Him was also a fulfillment of prophecy (Is. 53:9, 12). The minutest details of Old Testament prophecy were fulfilled to the very letter in the details of His crucifixion. And in this we have the indubitable proof of the Divine origin of Old Testament Scripture. Tuesday, May 11. Matt. 27:39-44. Passersby, soldiers (Luke 23:36), Jewish rulers, and even the felons crucified beside Him, united in mocking at the Saviour in His dying agonies; and He loved them all and that was what made their mockery so bitter an ingredient in the cup He drank for you and me. There were two felons hanging there beside the Son of God, but neither priest nor people, nor soldiers, have any jibes, for them, only for “the Holy One of God.” The world’s bitterest hatred is visited not upon outlaws but upon Christ and His disciples (John 15:19; 2 Tim. 3:12). When they; said, “He saved others, Himself He cannot save,” they spoke truer than they knew; the good Shepherd must lay down His life to save the sheep (John 10:11). Their highest conception of the right use of power was “save thy self.” That they would not have believed if He had come down from the cross is proven by the fact that they still doubted in the face of a still greater wonder, His resurrection from the dead (Matt. 28:11-
crime of the crucifixion of the Son of God. The Bible, and all history, are full of in stances of weak men who wished to do right but committed awful sin because of the fear of man (Prov. 29:25). In a world so full of evil influences as this, a weak man will always end by being a 'bad man. Pilate did not save himself by his nefarious concession, but ended his life in exile and disgrace. God did not leave Pilate to his awful deed without many warnings and Pilate sinned against much light and be came the victim of awful judgment. He might wash his hands and say, “I am inno cent of the blood of this righteous man” (v. 24 R. V.), but one does not purchase- innoqence so cheaply. A passerby, “Simon, of Cyrene,” was “impressed” by the Roman soldiers “that he might bear His erosa.” A most sweet privilege that, of lightening our Saviour’s burden in these last awful hours. Monday, May 10. Matt. 27:34-38. The four accounts of Jesus'” crucifixion should be read side by side. In the story of the crucifixion, we have the supreme manifestation of man’s sinfulness and God’s holiness. The unfathomable depths of hu man depravity and the infinite heights of Divine love are disclosed at Calvary. The Son of God, He Who was the brightness of God’s glory, and the express image of His person, the perfect incarnation of infinite truth and love, He “in Whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead in a bodily form,” came into this world, and " th e y crucified H im .” The attitude of mankind toward Jesus is not essentially different today. His crucifixion was a literal fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Ps. 22:16; Is. 53: 5 Hebrew; Zech. 12:19). It was necessary for our salvation that He not only die but die in tfiis precise way (Gal. 3:10, 13; Deut. 21:23; John 3:14). The heartlessness of His executioners comes out very clearly in their gambling for His garments at the foot of the cross upon which He hung in agony. But do we not see, even professed,disciples
13; Acts 4:15-18). Wednesday, May 12. Matt. 27:45-50.
Jesus had been hanging on the cross three hours, exposed to the gaze and ridicule of the priests, soldiers and mob, and now God draws a curtain over the scene. When Christ was born, “the glory of the Lord” shining upon the earth turned night into day; when He died, God veiled the sun
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