cfatinct impression AB to the reality and intensity of the BUffering through which Jesua pa~~ed. Jesus, while a calm Sufferer, must be also a great Sufferer, otherwise it oaunot be_ folly true that "he t&e~ death for_ever:)'. man." Painless deat~--euthanasia, an easy ex)t from t~e world-such lB the :portion ot some; they seem~ d1s~olve out of no.tural cx1~tence with hardly an ache. But what a scene of suffering other deaths present I what groaning11 I what clenched hands I what unendurable misery revealed in tho fnce I And because of this, Jesus also had to know the greatest intensity of physical pain. His comforts in pain are the comforts of one who has been through pain. The very fact that h~ suffiin,d so much physically shows that physical suffering is far from the wo~t of c,·ils. It is a thing to be escaped, if possible, and relieved as much as possible; but there &re things far worse. A suffering Jesus with no feeling of forgiveness for those who bad 110 treated him, with no sympathy for his fellow-sufferer, with no solicitude for his mother about to be bereft, absorbed in his own suffering,-a Jesus such as that would have suggested experiences more deplorable than any physical pain. II. THE UTl'ERANCE OF THE FEELING. The thirst might have been felt, yet the feeling not expressed. Why, then, was it expressed? The mere fulfilment of e. prophecy does not explain, for then the prophecy itself has to be explained. Surely the great leSBOn of the utterance is that, when suffering bas done its work, it may cease. In sufferin~ merely as suffering there is no merit. 'l'he merit of suffering is measured by the remedhl and purifying agencies it brings into play. Jesus was no ascetic, even on the cross. He never went an inch out of his way to seek privation and pain. What came in the way of duty he faced and accepted; but to the notion that God can be pleaBed with suffering as suffering, with austerity as austerity, he never lent the slightest 88.Dction. And so, when the mental pain was over, he took the first oppor- tunity to relieve the physical pain. But we must not stop with the mere literal interpretation of the cry. It was not enough for Jesus to escape from suffering. Bodily thirst was soon allayed, bnt there remained a thirst of the heart to be satisfied. We have to think of the &ims, desires, and achievements that lay beyond all this suffering, There is the intense desire in the heart of Jesus to win the world to himself. The longings of prophets and apostles for a better world are but faint types of the longing that abid81! in the heart of the Saviour. He knew from experience the delight of e. draught of cold spring water in a dry and thirsty lll.Ild. Pleasant to him such e. draught must often have been. But pleasanter far is it, because refreshment to his loving bee.rt, when each latest one among the children of men comes to him in fulness of trust and obedience.-Y. , er. 30.-The finished work. From the nature of the case this could not be more than a mere ejaculation ; but the meaning is plain enough to those who will put their minds into a state to perceive it. Suppose you have a friend who is building e. house. ~~~~~~b~~~~~~~to~~had watched the progress of the building. At last your friend breaks in on you some morning with the cry," It is finished!" You would know at once what he meant--;-that the house was finished. .And your friend would presume on your part e. real and live!y interest in hearing the news. So too we must know a good deal of what Jesus said and did during life or we shall fail in understanding what he said and did in the hour of death. Be who 'said," It is finished I" must also have had seasons in which he coul& say, "It is begnn," "It is going on." l. We must illustrate how JESUS LOOKED FOBW.ABD TO A TIME FOB UTTERING TnI8 woBD. Recollect what he said to the disciples by the well : "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish hi, work." Recollect also his word to the Jews after he had healed the impotent man on the sabbath day. He Rpeaks there concerning the works which the Fe.ther he.d given him to finish.. Here a.re spec~mens of the pec~~ar and testifying works of Jesus. Here are declarations by Jesus himself of the umting and definite purpose with which his life was bound up. What he talked of no~ and then he must have thought of continually. To the superficial eye, indeed, the life of Jesus did not look 8.1! if it had any definite purpose. How would he have been put down in the "occupation" column in a census record? Yet the life of Jesus was full of purpuse-purpose never absent, never forgotten. '!'he parable ~f the man ":ho went away from Lome, leaving his money as a trust in the hands of hie servants, 1s surel.:, orr. xx. 1-31.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 4131
11 parnhlc ont of the very deptlrn of the Saviour'R own exprricnce. To him tl,o,re was given II stewardship ofinestim11ble value. How the servant with the five talents would look forward to the surrender and accomplishment of his trust I And just in this spirit Jeeus must have looked forward to the hour when he should be able to say "It is finished I " ' II. Thus IN l'IIE INOAilNATE Lfll'E OF JESUS WE HAVJI: BOXETJlfNll COY!PT,ETE FOR ';B TO l'ROll'IT DY. Something complete I The life of ,Jesus was complete, just as the hfe of a seed becomes complete when it has gone through all the cycle of its chan"es- germination, bn<lding, blossoming, formation of fruit, ripening of frnit. The very life of Jesus was a finishca. work. It was like a book on the last page of which "Finis" C?uld be truly written. Here is the book of n. really complete human lire. What a d1fforonce between Jesus .ind many authors and makers of finished tbinrrs I Many complete things, things that the world is agreed in calling complete and precious in their own order, were achieved by very incomplete men. Read the words of GiLbon the historian, iu which he records b.is emotions on completing his monumental work. He has succeeded, and yet in the bottom of his heart he has somehow failed. Thousands 9:re,fi~ishing many things, but never touching the one thing needful. We, from our hfe e rncompleteness, should look on the completeness of the life of Jesus, and, while we look, rise into that hope and confidence which his manifested completeness is meant to give. Here is One who Jived out the life of humanity according to the ideal of him who ma.de humanity. He never needed to pray,'' Forgive me my debts;" for he never owed a debt he did not pay, never closed a day of life which was not as full of service as of opportunities of service. And be finished that we might begin and also finish something which, but for the finishing of his own work, we never should have had the disposition to touch.-Y.