Evening, July 22
Go To Morning Reading
“Behold the man!”
John 19:5
If there be one place where our Lord Jesus most fully becomes the
joy and comfort of his people, it is where he plunged deepest into
the depths of woe. Come hither, gracious souls, and behold the man
in the garden of Gethsemane; behold his heart so brimming with love
that he cannot hold it in—so full of sorrow that it must find a vent. Behold the bloody sweat
as it distils from every pore of his body, and falls upon the ground.
Behold the man as they drive the nails into his hands and feet. Look
up, repenting sinners, and see the sorrowful image of your suffering
Lord. Mark him, as the ruby drops stand on the thorn-crown, and adorn
with priceless gems the diadem of the King of Misery. Behold the man
when all his bones are out of joint, and he is poured out like water
and brought into the dust of death; God hath forsaken him, and hell
compasseth him about. Behold and see, was there ever sorrow like unto
his sorrow that is done unto him? All ye that pass by draw near and
look upon this spectacle of grief, unique, unparalleled, a wonder
to men and angels, a prodigy unmatched. Behold the Emperor of Woe
who had no equal or rival in his agonies! Gaze upon him, ye mourners,
for if there be not consolation in a crucified Christ there is no
joy in earth or heaven. If in the ransom price of his blood there
be not hope, ye harps of heaven, there is no joy in you, and the right
hand of God shall know no pleasures for evermore. We have only to
sit more continually at the cross foot to be less troubled with our
doubts and woes. We have but to see his sorrows, and our sorrows we shall be ashamed to mention. We have but to gaze into
his wounds and heal our own. If we would live aright it must be by
the contemplation of his death; if we would rise to dignity, it must
be by considering his humiliation and his sorrow.