Spurgeon: July PM
* 07/22/PM
"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.