They are marvellous when we remember the sufferer, the eternal Son of God ! They are marvellous when we remember the persons for whom these sufferings were endured. We and our sins were the cause of all this sorrow. He " died for our sins." (1 Cor. xv. 3.)
Let us observe in the first place, the extent mid reality of our Lord''s sufferings.
The catalogue of all the pains endured by our Lord's body, is indeed a fearful one. Seldom has such suffering been inflicted on one body in the last few hours of a life. The most savage tribes, in their refinement of cruelty, could not have heaped more agonizing tortures on an enemy than were accumulated on the flesh and bones of om- beloved Master. Never let it be forgotten that He had a real human body, a body exactly like our own, just as sensitive, just as vulnerable, just as capable of feeling intense pain. And then let us see what that body en- dured.
Our Lord, we must remember, had already passed a night without' sleep, and endured excessive fatigue. He had been taken from Grethsemane to the Jewish council, and from the council to Pdate's judgment hall. He had been twice placed on his trial, and twice unjustly con- demned. He had been already scourged and beaten cruelly with rods. And now, after all this suffering, He was delivered up to the Koman soldiers, a body of men no doubt expert in cruelty, and of all people least likely to behave with delicacy or compassion. — These hard men at once proceeded to work their will. They " gathered together the whole band." They stripped our Lord of His raiment, and put on Him, in mockery, a