SERMON XII.

HEBREWS V. 7.-" In the days of His flesh."

ST. JOHN xix. 18.-" They crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.”

THIS was the end of a life spent by the Son of God for man. A life of love unequalled, of dignity unsurpassed, of teaching never before heard; for He taught "as one having authority, and not as the scribes." Though no fault could be found in Him by the man who had, as he himself said, power to crucify Him or to release Him, still He was given up into the hands of wicked men, and crucified between two malefactors-Jesus in the midst. All great truths meet on Golgotha, and cluster round that central Cross. We have great and solemn truths scattered throughout God's Word, each sufficient for the meditation of a lifetime. We have Satan's malignity, and man's depravity; we have sin's exceeding sinfulness, and God's wonderful

perfections, all declared, all strikingly manifested as we turn from page to page, and chapter to chapter, of the Bible. But we have all these brought together, and all set before us in one great picture, and painted, too, in their darkest and brightest colours-the darkness of man's wicked hatred, the brightness of God's forgiving love-in the text, "There they crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.”

First, we have the malignity of Satan, for he put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus; we have the hatred of the people, who for envy gave Him into the hands of His enemies; and we have the astounding and abounding love of God in the act itself. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." If you desire to see the very climax of all that is base in man, and all that is lovely in God, look with the eye of faith on the Cross of Calvary; think for a moment, if sin was so tremendous in its issues that nought could atone for it but that which has atoned for it-the death of the Son of God-and say then if on one side the exhibition of human nature stands not out in blackest colours, and the glory of God manifested

on the other side in all its beauty, its majesty, and power.

Who crucified the Son of God? we may ask. The perfidy of Judas, the bitter enmity of the priests, and scribes, and Pharisees, and the hardheartedness of the Jews, and the insolent cruelty of the Roman soldiers-these, you say, crucified Him. And so they did: Judas sold Him, the priests bought Him, the scribes and Pharisees hated Him, the Jews cried, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" and Pilate, from utter want of purpose and principle, yielded to a fury he was unable to appease. And all these reasons fill us with just indignation. An unjust judge, intimidated to do an act of wrong through pressure and from fear!

Yet let us not limit our views to these, or suppose that these alone must bear the guilt of crucifying the Lord of glory. Remember, the Apostle Peter charged the whole house of Israel with having, by wicked hands, crucified and slain Jesus of Nazareth. Yet it was only a part of that multitude who had lifted up their voices and raised their hands against Him. Nor was the consequence of their guilt, and the imputation of it, restricted to that generation only; "His blood be upon us, and upon our children," is a vengeance called down upon their own

heads, by the wild and reckless imprecation of those who demanded the death of Christ.

In what did the great crime of the Jews consist? In crucifying Him. True, that was the act of final hatred; but the sin lay in rejecting Him, a sin which to this day may be laid to our charge; and when we reject Christ, His offer of pardon, His loving invitation to come to Him, to forsake our sins, to accept Him as the Saviour, both Jew and Christian are guilty, for they "crucify the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame." If the Jew who does not believe in Jesus as the Son of God is guilty, is the Christian guiltless who having the Bible, rejects Him, or the Christian who calls Him "Lord," and "Lord," and by His life denies Him? Surely, if the unbelievers among the Jews are guilty, unbelievers among us are equally guilty; for unbelief is a great crime in His sight, in whatever heart it is cherished.

The force of our text consists in the words "Jesus in the midst "—" On either side one;" representing the world which rejects Him, as seen in the case of the impenitent thief, the world which receives Him, as in the case of the penitent thief, late, indeed, but in earnest.

And it is worthy of observation, that though men

of all ranks and classes-the rich and poor, the learned and unlearned, priests and people, those in authority and those under authority-all gave their voices against Him, yet each had his own reason for so doing. They agreed in their hatred of Jesus, but in nothing else. Some spake against Him, moved with envy; some charged Him with speaking against the Temple; some were offended because He was so lowly, the friend of publicans and sinners; but they all agreed that He was worthy of death, they all agreed that He should be crucified. It was not Jew alone, nor Roman soldiers, nor Gentile, that nailed Him to the cross; it was human nature that rejected, persecuted, condemned, and crucified the Lord of glory.

In placing Jesus where they did, His enemies wished that He should be considered as one of the transgressors; but this act has been overruled by Divine teaching to mean for us all, what is a lesson of singular and wonderful consolation, that He hangs there to be reviled and taunted by one to whom He had done no wrong, to be implored and prayed to by the other, who recognizes his own just condemnation, and acknowledges his fellowsufferer's innocence. He hangs there, Jesus in the midst, the Mediator between God and man.

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