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a place." Not one of them calls

Gospel-writers speak of it as it a "mount." 34.--[Father, forgive them.] These words were probably spoken while our Lord was being nailed to the cross, or as soon as the cross was reared up on end. It is worthy of remark that as soon as the blood of the Great Sacrifice began to flow, the Great High Priest began to intercede.

Let it be noted, that during the six hours in which our Lord was on the cross, He showed that He possessed full power as the Son of God, and that though He suffered, His sufferings were voluntarily undertaken. As King and Prophet He opened the gates of life to the penitent thief, and foretold his entrance into Paradise. As Priest, He intercedes, in the words before us, for those who crucified Him.

[They know not what they do.] The principle involved in this saying deserves notice, and requires fencing with two preliminary remarks.

On the one hand, we must beware of supposing that ignorance is not blameworthy, and that ignorant persons deserve to be forgiven their sins. At this rate ignorance would be a desirable thing. All spiritual ignorance is more or less culpable. It is part of man's sin, that he does not know better than he does. His not knowing God is only part of his guilt.

On the other hand, we cannot fail to observe in Scripture that sins of ignorance are less sinful before God than sins of knowledge, and that no case is apparently so hopeless as that of the man who sins wilfully against light.

Our Lord's meaning in the words before us appears to be that those who crucified Him did not at the time know the full amount of the wickedness they were committing. They knew that they were crucifying one whom they regarded as an impostor. They did not know that they were actually crucifying their own Messiah, the Son of God.-This is what St. Peter distinctly asserts, "I wot that through ignorance ye did it." (Acts iii. 17.) So also St. Paul says, "Had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (1 Cor. ii. 8.) To use the words of Gill on this place, our Lord "does not mention the ignorance of those He prays for as a plea for pardon, but as a description of their state." As Clarke observes, "If ignorance does not excuse a crime, at least it diminishes the intensity of it."

The question naturally arises, "Who were those for whom our Lord prayed?"-I cannot, as some do, confine His prayer to the Roman soldiers who nailed Him to the cross. I rather regard it as applying also to the great bulk of the Jewish people who were standing by, and aiding and abetting His crucifixion. They were mere tools in the hands of the leading Scribes and Phari

sees. They were blindly led by blind teachers. They did not really know what they were doing.

Whether our Lord included the Chief Priests and Scribes, Annas and Caiaphas and their companions, who had heard His declaration that He was the Christ, and yet formally rejected and condemned Him, I think more than doubtful. I believe they were given over to judicial blindness, and most of them probably perished in their sins. We never read of any of them being converted. The priests who were “obedient to the faith,” (Acts vi. 7.) were probably of a different party from those who condemned Christ.

Let it be noted, that the union of clear head-knowledge of Christ with wilful heart-rejection of Him, is the nearest approach that can be made to a definition of the unpardonable sin. St. Paul seems to teach this in the sixth chapter of Hebrews. Above all, he seems to point to this when he says of himself, " I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." (1 Tim. i. 13.)

[Parted his raiment and cast lots.] Let it be noted here, that our Lord was evidently crucified naked. The shame and unseemliness of such a posture in death, must doubtless have added much to the misery of the punishment of crucifixion.

The literal fulfilment of the twenty-second Psalm in this verse and in the following one, ought to be carefully observed. (Psalm xxii. 17, 18.) The prophecies about Christ's first advent to suffer were fulfilled and accomplished in every word. In like-manner, and by analogy, we are justified in expecting a literal fulfilment of every word in the prophecies of Christ's second advent to reign in glory.

35.-[He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ.] The utter blindness of the Jewish nation on the subject of Messiah's sufferings is a very remarkable fact. To us those sufferings appear most plainly foretold by David, Daniel, and Isaiah (Psalm xxii. Dan. ix. Isai. liii.), and most plainly prefigured and typified by all the sacrifices of the Mosaic law. Yet the Jewish teachers of our Lord's time could not see them. The idea of Messiah "saving others" by His own death seems never to have entered into their minds. The words before us are a striking proof of the blindness of the rulers. They might have been told most truly, "Because this person before you is Christ, He does not save Himself; and He does not save Himself in order that He may save others."

37.-[If thou be...King of the Jews...save thyself.] The difference between the mockery of the Jewish rulers and of the soldiers ought to be noticed. The Jews mocked our Lord as a helpless Christ," or Messiah unable to save Himself, and therefore unfit to be a Saviour of Israel.-The ignorant Gentile soldiers, on the contrary, mocked Him as a helpless "King of the Jews," without

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a crown, a kingdom, or an army, and therefore only fit to be ridiculed.-The Jew scoffed at His claim to be called the Messiah. The Gentile scoffed at His claim to be regarded as a King. The cross and the apparent weakness were, as usual, the stumblingstone in both cases.

38.-A superscription... Greek... Latin... Hebrew.] All careful readers of the Bible must have observed that the superscription placed over our Lord's head on the cross is variously given by the Gospel-writers. Each one reports it in a manner slightly different from the other three. This apparent discrepancy has given rise to various explanations.

In order to solve the difficulty, we must remember that the superscription was written in three different languages. Greek was the language best known in the world at the time when our Lord was crucified, and there was a Greek superscription for the benefit of strangers from foreign parts.-Latin was the language of the Romans, and there was a Latin superscription, because the sentence on our Lord was passed by a Latin judge, and executed by Latin soldiers.-Hebrew was the language of the Jews, and there was a superscription in the Hebrew tongue, or in some dialect of the Hebrew, because Jesus was crucified as a Jew, that all Jews might see it.-But for anything we know, the superscription in each language may have slightly varied from the superscription in other languages. Matthew may have recorded it as it was in Hebrew,-Mark as it was in Latin,-Luke as it was in Greek;—and John, writing many years after the others, may have given the general substance of the other three. This solution of the difficulty appears reasonable, and preferable to any other.

[The King of the Jews.] Let it be observed, that our Lord was crucified at last as a King. He came to set up a spiritual kingdom, and as a King He died.

LUKE XXIII. 39-43.

39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

41 And we indeed justly; for we

receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

THE verses we have now read deserve to be printed in

letters of gold. They have probably been the salvation of myriads of souls. Multitudes will thank God to all eternity that the Bible contains this story of the penitent thief.

We see, firstly, in the history before us, the sovereignty of God in saving sinners. We are told that two malefactors were crucified together with our Lord, one on His right hand and the other on His left. Both were equally near to Christ. Both saw and heard all that happened, during the six hours that He hung on the cross. were dying men, and suffering acute pain. Both were alike wicked sinners, and needed forgiveness. Yet one died in his sins, as he had lived, hardened, impenitent and unbelieving. The other repented, believed, cried

to Jesus for mercy, and was saved.

Both

A fact like this should teach us humility. We cannot account for it. We can only say, "Even so Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight." (Matt. xi. 26.) How it is that under precisely the same circumstances one man is converted and another remains dead in sins,— why the very same sermon is heard by one man with perfect indifference and sends another home to pray and seek Christ,-why the same Gospel is hid to one and revealed to another, all these are questions which we cannot possibly answer. We only know that it is so, and that it is useless to deny it.

Our own duty is clear and plain. We are to make a diligent use of all the means which God has appointed for the good of souls. There is no necessity that any one should be lost. There is no such thing as decreed damnThe offers of the Gospel are wide,

ation in the Bible.

free, and general. "In all our doings," says the 17th Article, "that will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared to us in the word of God." God's sovereignty was never meant to destroy man's responsibility. One thief was saved that no sinner might despair, but only one, that no sinner might presume."

We see, secondly, in this history, the unvarying character of repentance unto salvation. This is a point in the penitent thief's story which is fearfully overlooked. Thousands look at the broad fact that he was saved in the hour of death, and look no further. They do not look at the distinct and well-defined evidences of repentance which fell from his lips before he died. Those evidences deserve our closest attention.

The first notable step in the thief's repentance was his concern about his companion's wickedness in reviling Christ. "Dost thou not fear God," he said, "seeing thou art in the same condemnation."-The second step was a full acknowledgment of his own sin. "We indeed

are justly in condemnation. We receive the due reward of our deeds."-The third step was an open confession of Christ's innocence. "This man hath done nothing amiss."-The fourth step was faith in Jesus Christ's power and will to save him. He turned to a crucified sufferer, and called Him "Lord," and declared his belief that He had a kingdom.-The fifth step was prayer. He cried to Jesus when he was hanging on the cross, and asked Him even then to think upon his soul.-The sixth and last step was humility. He begged to be “ membered" by our Lord. He mentions no great thing. Enough for him if he is remembered by Christ. These

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