(saith the heathen man), that the most sharp and bitter pains of all other
have their name from hence, and are called cruciatus —pains like those
of the cross. It had a meaning, that they gave him, that he had (for
his welcome to the cross) a cup mixed with gall or myrrh; and (for his
farewell ) a sponge of vinegar; to show by the one the bitterness, and
by the other the sharpness of the pains of this painful death.
Lancelot Andrewes.
Verse 14. "All my bones are out of joint." We know that the greatest
and most intolerable pain that the body can endure, is that arising from a
bone out of its place, or dislocated joint. Now when the Lord was raised up
upon the cross, and his sacred body hung in the air from the nails, all the
joints began to give, so that the bones were parted the one from the other
so visibly that, in very truth (as David had prophesied) they might tell
all his bones , and thus, throughout the whole body, he endured acute
torture. Whilst our Lord suffered these torments, his enemies, who had so
earnestly desired to see him crucified, far from pitying him, were filled
with delight, as though celebrating a victory.
Fra Thom� de Jesu.
Verse 15. "My strength is dried up," etc. Inflammation must have
commenced early and violently in the wounded parts—then been quickly
imparted to those that were strained, and have terminated in a high degree
of feverish burning over the whole body. The animal juices would be thus
dried up, and the watery particles of the blood absorbed. The skin parched
by the scorching sun till midday would be unable to supply or to imbibe any
moisture. The loss of blood at the hands and feet would hasten the
desiccation. Hence our Lord says, "My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws." The fever would devour his small
remaining strength. And THIRST, that most intolerable of all bodily
privations, must have been overpowering. His body appeared to his feeling
like a potsherd that had been charred in the potter's kiln. It seemed to
have neither strength nor substance left in it. So feeble had he become, so
parched and dried up that CLAMMINESS OF THE MOUTH, one of the forerunners of
immediate dissolution, had already seized him; "My tongue cleaveth to my
jaws, and thou hast brought me into the dust of death."
John Stevenson.
Verse 15. "My strength is dried up;" not as in the trial of gold and
silver, but "like a potsherd," as the earthen vessel dried up by the heat,
spoken in humiliation.
Isaac Williams, in loc.
Verse 15. "A potsherd." (Heb.) rendered potsherd, is a word which
denotes a piece of earthenware, frequently in a broken state. As employed
in the verse under consideration, it seems to derive considerable
illustration from the corresponding word in ARABIC, which expresses
roughness of skin, and might well convey to the mind the idea of the bodily
appearance of one in whom the moisture of the fluids had been dried up by
the excess of grief.
John Morison.
Verse 15. That hour what his feelings were is dangerous to define: we
know them not; we may be too bold to determine of them. To very good
purpose it was that the ancient Fathers of the Greek church in their
liturgy, after they had recounted all the particular pains, as they are set
down in his passion, and by all and by everyone of them called for mercy,
do, after all, shut up with this Di agnwstwn kopwn basanwn elehson ki swson
emas. By thine unknown sorrows and sufferings, felt by thee, but not
distinctly known by us, have mercy upon us and save us.
Lancelot Andrewes.
Verse 16. "Dogs have compassed me." So great and varied was the
malignity exhibited by the enemies of our Lord, that the combined
characteristics of two species of ferocious animals were not adequate to its
representation. Another emblematical figure is therefore introduced. The
assembly of the wicked is compared to that of "dogs" who haunt about the
cities, prowl in every corner, snarl over the carrion, and devour it all
with greediness—like "dogs," with their wild cry in full pursuit, with
unfailing scent tracking their victim, with vigilant eye on all its
movements, and with a determination which nothing can falter, they run it on
to death. The Oriental mode of hunting, both in ancient and modern times,
is murderous and merciless in the extreme. A circle of several miles in
circumference is beat round; and the men, driving all before them, and
narrowing as they advance, inclose the prey on every side. Having thus made
them prisoners, the cruel hunters proceed to slaughter at their own
convenience. So did the enemies of our Lord: long before his crucifixion it
is recorded that they used the most treacherous plans to get him into their
power.
John Stevenson.
Verse 16. "Dogs have compassed me." At the hunting of the lion, a
whole district is summoned to appear, who, forming themselves first into a
circle, enclose a space of four or five miles in compass, according to the
number of the people and the quality of the ground which is pitched upon for
the scene of action. The footmen advance first, running into the thickets
with their dogs and spears, to put up the game; while the horsemen, keeping
a little behind, are always ready to charge upon the first sally of the wild
beast. In this manner they proceed, still contracting their circle, till
they all at last close in together, or meet with some other game to divert
them.
Dr. Shaw's Travels, quoted in Paxton's "Illustrations of Scripture."
Verse 16. "They pierced my hands and my feet;" namely, when they nailed
Christ to the cross. Matthew 27:35; John 20:25. Where let me simulate,
saith a learned man, the orator's gradation, Facinus vincire civem
Romanum, etc. It was much for the Son of God to be bound, more to be
beaten, most of all to be slain; Quid dicam in crucem tolle? but what
shall I say to this, that he was crucified? That was the most vile and
ignominious; it was also a cruel and cursed kind of death, which yet he
refused not; and here we have a clear testimony for his cross.
John Trapp.
Verse 16. "They pierced my hands and my feet." Of all sanguinary
punishments, that of crucifixion is one of the most dreadful—no vital
part is immediately affected by it. The hands and the feet which are
furnished with the most numerous and sensitive organs, are perforated with
nails, which must necessarily be of some size to suit their intended
purpose. The tearing asunder of the tender fibres of the hands and feet,
the lacerating of so many nerves, and bursting so many blood-vessels, must
be productive of intense agony. The nerves of the hand and foot are
intimately connected, through the arm and leg, with the nerves of the whole
body; their laceration therefore must be felt over the entire frame.
Witness the melancholy result of even a needle's puncture in even one of the
remotest nerves. A spasm is not unfrequently produced by it in the muscles
of the face, which locks the jaws inseparably. When, therefore the hands
and feet of our blessed Lord were transfixed with nails, he must have felt
the sharpest pangs shoot through every part of his body. Supported only by
his lacerated limbs, and suspended from his pierced hands, our Lord had
nearly six hours' torment to endure.
John Stevenson.
Verse 16. "They pierced my hands and my feet." That evangelical
prophet testifies it, "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my
hands." Isaiah 49:16. Were we not engraven there when his hands were
pierced for us? "They digged my hands and my feet." And they digged them
so deep, that the very prints remained after his resurrection, and their
fingers were thrust into them for evidence sake. Some have thought that
those scars remain still in his glorious body, to be showed at his second
appearing: "They shall see him whom they have pierced." That is improbable,
but this is certain; there remains still an impression upon Christ's hands
and his heart, the sealing and wearing of the elect there, as precious
jewels.
Thomas Adams.
Verse 17. "I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me." The
skin and flesh were distended by the posture of the body on the cross, that
the bones, as through a thin veil, became visible, and might be counted.
George Horne.
Verse 17. "I may tell all my bones." For, as the first Adam by his
fall, lost the robe of innocence, and thenceforth needed other garments, so
the second Adam vouchsafed to be stripped of his earthly vestments, to the
end it might hereafter be said to us, "Bring forth the first robe, and put
it on him." Luke 15:22.
Gerhohus, quoted by J. M. Neale.
Verse 17. "They look and stare upon me." Sensitively conscious of his
condition upon the cross, the delicate feelings of the holy Saviour were
sorely pained by the gaze of the multitude. With impudent face they looked
upon him. To view him better they halted as they walked. With deliberate
insolence they collected in groups, and made their remarks to each other on
his conduct and appearance. Mocking his naked, emaciated, and quivering
body, they "looked and stared upon him."
John Stevenson.
Verse 17. "They look and stare upon me." Oh, how different is that
look which the awakened sinner directs to Calvary, when faith lifts up her
eye to him who agonised, and bled, and died, for the guilty! And what
gratitude should perishing men feel, that from him that hangs upon the
accursed tree there is heard proceeding the inviting sound, "Look unto me,
and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and besides me
there is none else.
John Morison.
Verse 18. " They part my garments," etc. Perfectly naked did the
cruciarii hang upon the cross, and the executioners received their clothes.
There is nothing to show that there was a cloth even round the loins. The
clothes became the property of the soldiers, after Roman usage. The outer
garment was divided probably into four, by ripping up the seams. Four
soldiers were counted off as a guard, by the Roman code. The under garment
could not be divided being woven; and this led the soldiers to the
dice-throwing.
J. P. Lange, D.D., on Matthew, 27:35.
Verse 18. "They part my garments," etc. Instruments will not be
wanting to crucify Christ, if it were but for his old clothes, and those but
little worth; for these soldiers crucify him, though they got but his
garments for their reward. Christ did submit to suffer naked, hereby to
teach us:—1. That all flesh are really naked before God by reason of
sin (Exodus 32:25; 2 Chronicles 28:19), and therefore our Surety behoved to
suffer naked. 2. That he offered himself a real captive in his sufferings,
that so he might fully satisfy justice by being under the power of his
enemies, till he redeemed himself by the strong hand, having fully paid the
price; for therefore did he submit to be stripped naked, as conquerors use
to do with prisoners. 3. That by thus suffering naked he would expiate our
abuse of apparel, and purchase to us a liberty to make use of suitable
raiment, and such as becometh us in our station. 4. That by this suffering
naked he would purchase unto them who flee to him, to be covered with
righteousness and glory, and to walk with him in white for ever, and would
point out the nakedness of those, who, not being found clothed with his
righteousness, shall not be clothed upon with immortality and glory. 2
Corinthians 5:2, 3. 5. He would also by this, teach all his followers to
resolve on nakedness in their following of him, as a part of their
conformity with their Head (1 John 4:17; Romans 8:35; Hebrews 11:37), and
that therefore they should not dote much on their apparel when they have it.