The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 611

rection WBB covered with the ignominy of failure, and hie patriotism was et&ined with the l&wlessness of brigande.ge, Yet he w&s chosen and Christ rejected. So intense was the passion of hate in the mob under the influence of their unprincipled lenders in the Jewish hierarchy I It is strange that any could hate the gracious Christ; and yet, since he was the deadly enemy of all sin, he provoked the opposit.ion of sinners. A person who clings to his sin will come in his heart to what is virtually a hatred of Christ. 2. .A sign of the people's blindness to the merits of Christ. The wickedness of hypocritical rulers was the driving force behind the fury of the mob; with many of the unthinking multitude there was doubtless no great antipathy to our Lord until this had been roused by malignant agitators. But the people did not perceive the attrac- tions of Christ, or they would not have preferred Barabbas. The leaders were wiclrnd, the people were blind. It is possible to be in very close external contact with Christ, and yet not to know him. II. BARABBAB WAS SPARED INSTEAD OF CHRIST. This was not fair or reasonable, for Barabbas was guilty and Christ was innocent. Nevertheless, the unjust thing was done. Tkis is typical of another substitution. Sinners a.re spared and Christ is cruci- fied. That too woul<l be monstrously unjust if our Lord himself had taken no part in the transaction. We can never see the bare outline of the atonement even till we perceive Christ's own free action in the matter. Though the substitution of Jesus for Barabbas is suggestive of Christ's great sacrifice for mankind, the cases are not parallel, because our Lord gave himself up for the world's redemption. What is unjust and wrong in those who slay him does not affect the right of the Saviour to surrender him- self; and it is in this voluntary giving up of himself that the atonement, as a pa.rt of the Divine economy of redemption, is just and right. In conclusion, let us remember that we may be in danger of sinning like the people who preferred Barabbas to Christ, when we are tempted to sacrifice our Lord's claims to any earthly considerations. Money, pleasure, self-will, may be our Barabba.s, chosen to be saved though Christ is renounced.-W. F. A. Ver. 29.-The crown of thorn,. The wrea.th that the unfeeling soldiers pressed on the brow of the pa.tient Christ, in mimicry of the victor's crown, with its cruel thorns to lacerate and pain, was only meant for an insult. It was one element in the torture CJf rude mockery to which our Lord was subjected. Yet, though quite beyond the ~rception of the brutal legionaries, this was wonderfully representative of the true Killgship of Jesus. He is a King crowned with thorns. Let us look a.t the fact from two points of view. I. THE KINGSHIP OF CHBIST NECESSITATED A OROWN OF THOBNS. 1. Because Ii. tDaB King h6 could not but suffer. That is a vulgar notion of royalty which rega.rds it a.s a state of enviable pleasure. The king of the fairy tales may live in a palace of delights; bat the king of history is better represented by Shakespeare, one of whose monarchs exclaims, "Uneasy-lies the head that wears a crown I" Most kings find some thorns in their crowns. 2. The peculiar Kingship of Christ involved ~uliar ,uffering. No other king wore a crown wholly woven of thorns. No other king ever suffered aa he suffered. It was not the common fate of kingship that bruised and crushed the heart of the Divine King. He came to rule in the souls of men, and the rebellion of men's souls wounded him. He came to rule the wills of his people, and the resistance of self-will hurt him. He ea.me to rule with righteousness, to cast out all unrighteousness, and the wickedness of the world turned against him. His great aim was to overthrow the kingdom of Sa.tan and to set up his own kingdom instead of it. That is to say, he came to conquer sin and to reign in holiness. But the victory over sin could only be had through suffering and death. II. THE CBOWN OF THORNS OONFinlllED THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST. If they bad only known it, those heartless, mocking soldiers were rea.lly symbolizing the right of their victim to be their king. Their mimicry of a coronation was most typical of his real coronation. Jesus is a King crowned with thorns, because he is crowned with sorrows, because his sufferings give him a right to sit on his throne and to rule over hie people, 1. The ,uffering• of Christ give him a right to the highest honw,r, After describing hie &elf-emptying and obedience even to the death of the cross, St. Pa.ul adds, " Wherefo~e God L.e.th highly exalted him, and 11;iven him the Name above every name," etc. (Ph1L Cllr,xtvn. 1-66.J THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, 617