The accounts of all the Evangelists should be compared in order to get a full account of the tragedy of the Cross. Each gives several incidents that are peculiar to him. John gives more fully than any other the account of the division of the Savior's garments, and he alone names the parting words to his mother.

      Scientists are seeking to locate the center of the physical universe. A point is conceivable around which the suns and systems all revolve. The center of the moral universe is the cross of Christ. That is the pivotal point upon which the world's history swings. Upon it turn the doors of eternal life and of the heavenly existence. Without this cross these high and holy ends might have been desired, but then never could have been attained.--Vincent.

      The lesson on the Crucified Savior may be regarded as the central one for the whole year, or indeed of the whole Bible. The death of Christ on the Cross is the most eventful act that has transpired since the world began. [236]

      17. He went forth bearing his cross. It was customary to make the condemned carry the timbers of the cross to the place of execution. The cross was laid on Christ, but from weakness, perhaps caused by the scourging and abuse to which he had been subjected, he sinks under the burden. Simon, a Cyrenian who was met in the way, was then compelled by the soldiers to bear the cross. Called the place of a skull . . . Golgotha. A Hebrew word, meaning a skull. From its Latin equivalent, calvaria, comes our English word Calvary, which occurs in the English New Testament only in Luke 23:33, where it should be translated "a skull." The significance of the name is uncertain. Some suppose that it was the common place of execution, and that the skulls of those who were executed lay about; others that it was a bare rounded knoll, in form like a skull.--Abbott. It was, (1) apparently a well-known spot; (2) outside the gate (compare Heb. 13:12); but (3) near the city (John 19:20); (4) on a thoroughfare leading into the country (Luke 23:26); and (5) contained a "garden" or "orchard" (John 19:41).

      18. Where they crucified him. The cross was an upright pole or beam, intersected by a transverse one at right angles, generally in the shape of a T. In this case, from the "title" being placed over the head, the upright beam probably projected above the horizontal one, as usually represented. To this cross, the criminal, being stripped of his clothes, was fixed by nails driven through the hands, and not always, nor perhaps generally, though certainly not seldom, through the feet, separate or united. The body was not supported by the nails, but by a piece of wood which passed between the legs. A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly--dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, tetanus, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of untended wounds--all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness. And two other with him. These two are called "thieves" and "malefactors" elsewhere. They may have been zealots who believed in a coming Judean kingdom, made their patriotism a cover for robbery and murder, and had finally been arrested and condemned. It is a reasonable hypothesis that they belonged to the band of which Barabbas was the chief. See Mark 15:7.

      19. Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. It was the Roman custom to place on the cross over the criminal's head, a placard, stating the crime for which he suffered. Luke (23:38) says that the title was written in Greek, Latin [237] and Hebrew, the chief languages then spoken, and all spectators would be able to read it. The superscription is given differently by each evangelist. This is Jesus the King of the Jews (Matt. 27:37). The King of the Jews (Mark 15:26). This is the King of the Jews (Luke 23:38). Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews (John 19:19). Although no serious and sensible writer would dream of talking about "a discrepancy" here, it is very probable that the differences arise from the different forms assumed by the title in the three languages.

      20. It was written in Hebrew, and Greek and Latin. The Greek was the universal language of literature; the Latin was the language of the Roman Empire; the Hebrew was spoken vernacularly by the Jews. The rabbins say there are three most powerful languages: The Roman for battle, the Greek for conversation, the Hebrew for prayers.

      21, 22. Write not, The King of the Jews. This was the crime of which our Savior had been guilty they said. Pilate intended that the inscription should have a sting in it for the chief priests and elders and scribes. He had been frustrated and galled; and he took his revenge by flashing the idea before the public mind, that it was a crime, in the estimation of at least the chief priests and scribes and elders, to seek to have a Jewish king. Pilate's shaft did not miss his mark. The chief priests wished him to amend the description thus: "He said, I am King of the Jews;" but he silenced them with the answer, "What I have written, I have written." Thus the cross proclaimed the Kingship of Jesus.

      23. Then the soldiers . . . . took his garments, and made four parts. There were four soldiers at the cross and the garments were a perquisite of the soldiers. The outer garments were divided into four parts, one to each, but the coat, rather the "tunic," an inner garment, was seamless, woven in one piece, probably of wool. As it would have been spoiled by dividing it, the soldiers decided to cast lots for it, thus fulfilling another prophecy (Psalm 22:18). This has given occasion to the remark that Christians have, in their party divisions, paid less respect to their Master than the heathen soldiers did. [238]

      24. Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it. Romans did not gamble with cards, but dice. Gamblers will ply their trade even in the shadow of the cross, and in the presence of death. The 22d Psalm, from whence a quotation was made, has been universally regarded by Christian critics as referring to the Messiah.

      25. There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, etc. While the apostles mostly were afar off, the women were near the cross. Some have held that there were only three, "his mother's sister" being "Mary the wife of Cleophas," but the best Bible students think otherwise and suppose that Salome, the mother of James and John, is the sister meant. Matthew names among the women, "Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children." The last, Salome, is supposed to have been the sister of the mother of Jesus (Matt. 27:56).

      26, 27. Woman, behold thy son! Agonizing as the sight was, it was the part of a mother to press as near her great suffering son as possible, and she, with other saintly women, were near the foot of the cross. Jesus, in that awful hour, thought of others rather than himself, and looking at John, the nephew of Mary if Salome was her sister, he said to his mother, "Behold thy son!" No doubt a widow, and now bereft of her son, he commends her to the watch-care of John, an example of filial affection most wonderful when we consider the agonies of the cross. The original is more graphic than our English Version. The Savior's words are: "Woman, look! thy son I" and "Look! thy mother!" words brief, ejaculatory, in perfect harmony with his state of mortal agony. From that hour, or time, John took Mary to his own home, and she, doubtless, remained there till her death.

      28. After this, Jesus . . . . saith, I thirst. All things were now accomplished, the end was at hand, and in order that the predictions of the, Old Testament Scriptures might be fulfilled by his death, he comes to the last moment [239] saying, "I thirst." I hold this to be the meaning, as there is no prediction that he should utter these words.

      29. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar. This was the sour wine used by the soldiers; not mixed with myrrh, as in the case of the stupefying draught Jesus had refused before crucifixion (Mark 15:23). The sponge had probably served instead of a cork to the jar in which the soldiers had brought the drink that was to refresh them in their long day's work. Some one, probably a soldier, heard the cry, "I thirst," and, prompted by a rough pity, stretched out a cane or stalk of hyssop (John 19:29), with the sponge that had been dipped in the wine upon it, and bore it to the parched lips of the Sufferer. It was not now refused.

      30. He said, It is finished. This is a cry of triumph. He had won the victory and had reached the end of his cruel pathway. It betokens a deep sensation of relief, relief from a crushing burden, rest after agonizing toil. The work of redemption was wrought. He had said, "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" His baptism of suffering was now over. It is interesting to study all the words uttered by Jesus on the cross. By a comparison of all the Evangelists this will be found to be his sixth utterance. The three Evangelists all dwell upon the loudness of the cry, as if it had been the triumphant note of a conqueror. The last words from the cross were those recorded in Luke 23:46, "Father, into thy hands," etc. This cry of Jesus teaches us that his death does not proceed from the decay of his strength, but from the excess of his love; that his life is not taken from him by violence, but that he gives it up by his power. It is, on the part of the Jews, a Deicide and a sacrilege; but on his own it is a holy and voluntary sacrifice. He bowed his head and gave up the ghost. "Gave up his spirit" (Revision). The record does not say that he died. He, voluntarily, of his own act, surrendered up his spirit. He had declared, "I lay down my life to take it up again." He died by his own act; he was raised by his own power. If he died by his own surrender of his spirit, his death was not due to the effect of the cross. The two malefactors outlived him, and were put to death by other means in the evening in order that they might not be upon the cross upon the passover sabbath (see verses 31-33), but Jesus was already dead. The physical cause of Christ's death has been thought by many to have been rupture of the heart. (1) Crucifixion was generally a very lingering death; the victim lived seldom less than twenty-four hours, often three or four days. (2) Usually the victim died of sheer exhaustion; but Christ was not exhausted, as he cried with a loud voice. (3) John records that blood and water flowed from Christ's side when pierced by the spear. This could only occur if the heart had been ruptured, and the blood, before death, had flowed out into the cavity which surrounds the heart. Christ then literally died of a broken heart. This theory draws our hearts away from the mere bodily [240] tortures which Christ endured, to the mysterious woe that pressed upon him on account of imputed sin. For a full discussion of this question, see Hanna's Life of Christ, vol. 3, in which the views of the most eminent British physicians are given. Dr. Simpson, whose reputation is world wide, declares that the cross could not have caused the death so soon, and the thrust of the spear was a rude post mortem examination, revealing the blood and water, which could only result from a rupture of the heart.

      1. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

      3. To the cross the Old Testament pointed. From the cross the New Testament histories radiate, and thence comes all the inspiration of the Christian life.

      4. At the crucifixion scene, Rome, with her paganism, was represented in the executioners; Judaism with its formalities, in the rulers and the people whom they swayed; and Christianity with its tender fidelity, in the women who with John, stood by.

      5. The cross reveals the cruelty, the depravity, and the malignity of unregenerate hearts. Verse 33.

      6. The cross shows us how the darkest deed of crime may be overruled to become the means of a glorious redemption. Verse 33.

      7. The cross shows, in contrast with man's hate, the exceeding love of Christ. Verse 34.

      8. The parted garments are an emblem of the Church in its universality, to be sent out into the four quarters of the globe; the unparted garment is emblematic of the Church in its unity, to be kept whole and unparted; the gambling soldiers are an emblem of those who treat the unity of the Church of Christ as a matter of indifference.--Wordsworth.

      9. Verse 25. Christ crucified shows (1) the evil of sin; (1) the greatness of our danger; (3) the value of salvation; (4) the wonderful love of God; (5) it strengthens every motive for being good; (6) it is the culmination of our perfect example.

      10. Verse 26. The title in three languages teaches (1) that Christ died for all men; (2) for all the wants of men; (3) all language, all history, all culture, are to be laid at the feet of Jesus as King; (4) here is a prophecy of Christ's universal kingdom. [241]

[CLC01 236-241]