Then the soldiers seized Him, threw Him down violently upon the cross, stretched out His arms, and drove through His feet and hands, with dreadful violence, the nails which were to hold Him to the planks; as had been foretold by the prophet: They have dug my hands and feet, they have numbered all my bones. Who can conceive the awful pain which must have convulsed the entire frame of Jesus at each heavy blow of the hammer, and again at the rude, and jostling, and tedious uplifting of the cross itself!

2. THE INSCRIPTION ON THE CROSS. JESUS AGAIN DERIDED

"Pilate wrote also an inscription or title," in large legible characters, according to the custom of the Romans, and put it upon the cross of Jesus, "over His head," denoting the cause for which He suffered. "And it was written: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. This inscription many of the Jews read; because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city. The chief priests, therefore, of the Jews, said to Pilate: Write not the king of the Jews, but that he said, I am the king of the Jews. Pilate answered: What I have written, I have written."

Admirable dispensation of Providence! The decree of the Eternal Father guides the very hand of the unjust judge to write in the inscription no other charge and no other cause of condemnation but that Jesus was really and truly the Messias foretold by the prophets, as a Nazarene, and as king of the Jews. Of this inscription we are daily and hourly reminded by the four letters1 which we see at the top of every crucifix. These remind us also of another mysterious inscription or hand-writing, alluded to by St. Paul in his epistle to the Colossians: "blotting out the hand-writing of the decree that was against us, he hath taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the cross." What is the meaning of this handwriting? It is nothing more nor less than the sin-record of men, on which, equally through the particular undersigning of the sinner, rests the sins and iniquities of all mankind, and their well-deserved punishments stand recorded. Rejoice and

"The four letters I. N. R. J. are the initial letters of the Latin words, Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaorum, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Pilate had this inscription written also in Greek and Hebrew, thus unwittingly giving testimony to the universal application of the sacrifice of the cross to East and West-to all nations,

be glad, O sinful humanity! This bill of indictment has been nailed to the cross, and cancelled by the saving blood of the high priest, Jesus Christ. Henceforward no single creature shall be lost on account of his sins, for if he be lost, it will be only because he failed to apply this saving blood to his soul, by faith, hope and obedience.

Look up, then, with gratitude and confidence to the great High-Priest on the cross. Consider how willingly He offers, in bleeding sacrifice to His heavenly Father for our sins, His divine-human life. Eternal justice is now vindicated, and the arms of the Eternal Father are once more open to receive humanity redeemed in Christ. O lamentable blindness of the people, culpable perversity of their leaders! Instead of surrounding the cross to repent, and to share in its blessings, they hurl still further insulting reproaches and blasphemies against the crucified Jesus.

"And they that passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads, and saying: Vah, Thou that destroyest the temple of God, and in three days buildest it up again, save Thyself; if Thou be the Son of God, save Thyself, coming down from the cross. Now the people stood looking on, and mocked Him. In like manner also the chief-priests, mocking, said with the Scribes and ancients, one to another: He saved others, Himself He can not save; if He be the king of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. Let Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe. Let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the elect of God. He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him now, if He is pleased with Him; for He said, I am the Son of God. And the soldiers also made sport with Him, coming and offering Him vinegar, and saying: If Thou be the king of the Jews, save Thyself. And the self-same thing the thieves also that were crucified with Him, reproached Him."

CHAPTER XIX

THE SEVEN LAST WORDS OF JESUS

Matt. xxvii. 45-50; Mark xv. 33-37; Luke 23, 24, 39-46; John xix. 25-30

DURING the space of three long, tedious and dreadful hours, Jesus hung upon the cross, dying. And as we stand in silence by the side of this sad and dreary death-bed of our Saviour,

we should strive not to lose a syllable of the few final words that He will utter, before He breathes His last agonizing breath. With pious eagerness listen to the mysterious intercessory prayer, which the great High Priest, during these hours of sacrifice, sends up to His heavenly Father for His disciples and for all future Christians, for the entire church with her prelates and pastors, for His enemies of the hour, and for all persecutors in time to come. But who can or dare penetrate into these secret mysteries of Jesus' heart as it languished through its three hours' agony? In presence of this sublime sacrifice, where Jesus Christ is at once the high priest and the suffering, throbbing, dying victim, let us bow down in mingled sentiments of embarrassment and awe, of love and gratitude. Our dying Saviour wishes to impart to us as it were a taste of these unfathomable mysteries, when He pronounces these seven last words. Wondrous words they are, teeming with power to fortify us in our faith, to confirm our hope, and to inflame our love. Let us listen eagerly and attentively to these parting words of our dying Saviour, treasure them up carefully, bury them deeply and permanently in our heart of hearts. Our dying friend and Father is declaring His last will and testament. Listen!

1. "FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO"

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke xxiii. 34.)

What a prayer at such a moment! Though the Redeemer has been racked and tortured, both in body and mind, to a degree beyond all conception, yet He has more compassion and more solicitude for His unrelenting persecutors than for Himself. His soul is more keenly pained at the thought of the eternal condemnation awaiting these blinded creatures, than by all the insulting reproaches which they continue to spew out at Him in this hour of His extremest anguish. Yet, before uttering His complaining cry of desolation and of abandonment by His Father, before comforting His beloved disciple or even His afflicted Mother, He prays for those merciless enemies of His, who in their persistent, culpable, and passionate blindness, will not recognize and acknowledge His divinity: "Forgive them, O Father! the guilt of their blindness and ignorance." Thus lovingly and mercifully did our

Saviour deal with His enemies. Love of enemies is the text of the first sermon preached from the pulpit of the cross. 2. "AMEN, I SAY TO THEE, THIS DAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE"

"And one of those robbers who were hanged, blasphemed Him, saying: If Thou be the Christ, save Thyself and us. But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil. And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Amen, I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise." (Luke xxiii.)

The figures and prototypes of the Old Testament are being realized. Joseph, who was a prototype of Christ, found himself, in the days of his degradation in Egypt, placed between two malefactors; to one of whom he foretold his rehabilitation, to the other his coming condemnation. And Christ too, as He hangs dying upon the cross, between two convicts, is also a prototype; for on the great judgment day He will appear before our eyes, similarly attended, with the just upon His right and the reprobate upon His left hand.

And who was this highly-favored individual, whose privilege it was to be the first to reap the fruits of Christ's sufferings, and to hear these words of consolation? Holy Scripture furnishes neither his name nor his previous history; designating him, together with his companion in suffering, as a public robber. The robber recognizes his guilt, regretfully confesses it before the whole world, and is willing to suffer the temporal punishment incurred. "We suffer justly, for we receive the due rewards of our evil deeds." O that every sinner would understand what value such an humble self-accusation has in the eyes of our divine judge! In heartfelt sympathy and with generous charity, he defends the friendless Jesus, and by testifying to His innocence, averts from him, to the best of his power, the blasphemous rebuke of the impenitent thief, saying: "This man hath done no evil." Consider the circumstances attentively. At a moment when all were hurling jeers, insults and blasphemies at the dying Jesus, when His own disciples had either denied or deserted Him, this criminal fearlessly acknowledges the innocence of the Redeemer. Whence come the courage and the strength to make this open

profession of faith? From supernatural love, which is mightier than death itself. Now turning his head, he looks imploringly at his Saviour, and says: "Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy kingdom." What a living faith! This man sees at his side a deserted, destitute victim nailed to a cross, a malefactor covered with wounds, and condemned to the most disgraceful of deaths; but looking as he does, with the eye of faith, he discovers in this wounded and dying culprit, the Lord, the King to whom the kingdom belongs, that God who possesses both power and grace sufficient to forgive all sin. And although he had wasted and lost his whole lifetime in wrong-doing, he turns with confidence to his divine Master and King, and sues for pardon. What a courageous hope! He asks not for any earthly favor, nor for relief from his sufferings, nor for release from impending death. His soul yearns eagerly for one look of mercy from the eye of the crucified Jesus, only one look like unto that which was given to the penitent Peter, forgiveness of his many sins, and a gracious kindly remembrance by Jesus in the kingdom of heaven.

3. "WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON"

"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen His mother, and the disciple standing, whom He loved, He saith to His mother: Woman, behold thy son." (John xix.)

In the midst of His agony, Jesus sees at the foot of His cross four faithful, deeply-sympathizing friends; three women and one man. Of these four persons, who in this hour of darkness and despair, persevered with courage and resolution in adhering to their disgraced and fallen Lord, three belonged to the weaker sex. This circumstance reflects undying honor on the devout female sex, and foreshadows prophetically woman's fearless devotion to the cause of Christ for all time to come.

O Mary, my mother of sorrows! As thou standest under the cross, with what awful and real precision is fulfilled the dismal prophecy of Simeon, uttered three and thirty years before. That threatened sword is really now piercing thy bleeding heart. But I can not conceive nor describe thy suffering, for the lamentation of Jeremias is now being verified in thee. "To what shall I compare thee? or to what shall