The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 614

dreadful consequences, by submitting to ite curse. Such feelings might blot out the vlaion of God for a season. IIL OBRl8T AS THE HOLY SoN 01!' GoD WAS UNUTTERABLY GRIEVED AT LOSING TBl!I OONSOIOUSNESS 01!' BIS FATHER'S PRESENCE. There are men who live without any thought of God, and yet this is no trouble to them. On the contrary, they dread to see God, and it is fearful for them to think that he sees them. Theee are men who love sin, and therefore they do not love Goel. But Jesus liven in the love of his Father. 'fo lose one whom we love with all our heart is a. cause for heart-breaking anguish. Jesus seemed to have lost God. To all who have the love of God in their hearts any similar feeling of desertion must be an agony of soul. IV. OBRIST AS THE BELOVED SON IN WHOM GoD WAS WELL PLEASED COULD NOT BE REALLY DESERTED BY GoD. Not only is God physica.lly near to all men, because he is omnipresent, but he is spiritually near to his own people to sustain and save them, even when they are not conscious of hi8 presence. The vision of God is one thing, and his presence is another. We may mi8s the first without losing the second. Our real state before God does not rest on the shifting sands of our moods of feeling. In the hour of darkness Jesus prayed. This is enough to show that he knew that he was not really and ntterly abandoned by his Father. In spiritual deadness, when it is hard to pray at all, the one remedy is in prayer, Our cry can reach God through the darkness, and the darkness will not last for ever; often it is the gate to a glorious light.-W. F. A. Vers. 57-61.-The burial of Jesus. We may consider this in relation to all the persons concerned-Jesus himself, Joseph of Arimathiea, Pontius Pilate, and the Marys. I. JESUS SUBMITTING TO BURIAL. Jesus himself had departed. It was only the deserted house that was now left. Still, this was the body of Jesus, and th,! burial of it had a significance in regard to the spirit that had once inhabited it. 1. The burial proves the death of Christ. If he had risen immediately it would have been said that he harl never died at all-that he hacl only fainted. But that in his state of exhaustioD he could have been tom down from the cross and sealed up in a tomb without receiving auy nourishment; that he could then have come forth and walked about with nc- traces of suffering upon him,-all this is simply impossible. 2. The burial complete, the humiliation of Christ. It is an humiliation for the body to be handled by others as lifeless e~y, and then to be laid in the tomb, put out of sight as 11, dreadful thing, soon to become repulsive and loathsome. Christ's body never saw corruption; but it was humbled to the grave. II. JOSEPH BEGGING THE BODY 01!' JESUS. 1. This reveals his true discipleship. Joseph was a rich man in a high position. It was highly dangerous for such e. man to avow himself a Christian. But the privilege of burying the body of his beloved Master encouraged him tl run the risk. We are best known as Christ's by what we will do for him, especially when our service involves sacrifice. 2. This also reveals the tardiness of his confession. It was 11, late avowal. Why had not Joseph owned his faith during the lifetime of Christ? He was too like those who build the tombs of the prophets. His courage was real, but it was half spoilt by the fact that it was not manifested when it would have been most valuable. How many opportunities of Christian service are missed by delay in coming out openly on the Lord's side I It ill well to treat the bodies of our departed friends with respect; but this is a small service compared with the help and love we conlcl show them during their lifetime. The Josephs who can only bury a dead Christ are not of the stuff out of which apoatles are made. III. PILATE SURRENDERING THE BODY 01' JESUS. The miserable man should have protected the life of the Prisoner whom he knew to be innocent. His surrender of Jesus to death at the clamour of the Jews was more than an act of weakness, it was treason against justice. Now it is too late to save the life of the Prophet of Nazareth. 'l'he awful crime has been committed, and it can never be undone. Through all tha ages it will brand the name of Pi late with an indelible mark of ignominy. Yet the governor will make a little concession. A friend of J osus-especially as he b rich and influential-may have the lifeless corpse. Thus we see men who are false to their 620 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, [oH, ::txvu.1-66