Mark xv.26. the superscription of his accusation Mtxxvii.37.
And set up over his head his accusation written,
guage. As St. Luke wrote for the Gentiles in Achaia, it is pro- bable that he would prefer mentioning the Greek inscription. As St. Matthew addressed the Jews, it is likely therefore that be should use the Hebrew: and as St. Mark principally wrote to the Romans, he would naturally give the Latin inscription. I have observed in my arrangement the order proposed by Dr. Townson. He remarks, the Evangelists all mention this super- scription, but every one with some difference, except in the last words, The King of the Jews.
We may reasonably suppose St. Matthew to have recited the Hebrew;
JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS,
and St. John the Greek:
JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS. If it should be asked, why the Nazarene was omitted in the He- brew, and we must assign a reason for Pilate's humour, perhaps we may thus account for it. He might be informed that Jesus in Hebrew denoted a Saviour (John xi. 49-51.) and as it car- ried more appearance of such an appellative, or general term, by standing alone, he might choose, by dropping the epithet, The Nazarene, to leave the sense so ambiguous, that it might be thus understood:
A SAVIOUR, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Pilate, as little satisfied with the Jews as with himself, on that day, meant the inscription, which was his own, as a dishonour to the nation; and thus set a momentous verity before them, with as much design of declaring it, as Caiaphas had of prophe- sying, that Jesus should die for the people (John xi. 49-51.) The ambiguity not holding in Greek, the Nazarene might be there inserted in scorn again of the Jews, by denominating their King from a city which they held in the utmost contempt. (John i. 46.)
Let us now view the Latin. It is not assuming much to sup- pose, that Pilate would not concern himself with Hebrew names, nor risk an impropriety in speaking or writing them. It was thought essential to the dignity of a Roman magistrate, in the times of the Republic, not to speak but in Latin on public occa- sions (Valerius Maximus, b. ii. c. ii. §. 2) of which spirit Tibe- rius the Emperor retained so much, that in an oration to the senate, he apologized for using a Greek word; and once, when they were drawing up a decree, advised them to erase another that had been inserted in it. (Sueton in Tiberi, c. 71. The two words were monopoly and emblem.) And though the ma- gistrates in general were then become more condescending to the Greeks, they retained this point of state with regard to other nations, whose languages they esteemed barbarous, and would give themselves no trouble of acquiring. Pilate indeed, according to St. Matthew, asked at our Lord's trial, Whom will ye that I release unto you, Barabbas, or Jesus, which is called Christ? And again, What shall I do with Jesus, which is called Christ? But I judge this to be related as the interpreter by whom he spake delivered it in Hebrew.-(See Wolfius on Matt. xxvii. 2.) For if the other Evangelists have given his exact words, he never pronounced the name of Jesus, but spake of him all along by a periphrasis: Will ye that I release unto you The King of the Jews? What will ye then, that I shall do unte
John xix.19. and put it on the cross.
Lu. xxiii.38. in letters of Greek,
John xix.19. JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Mtxxvii.37. THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
This title then read many of the Jews': for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.
Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.
him whom ye call The King of the Jews? Thus be acted in con- ference with the Rulers, and then ordered a Latin inscription, without mixture of foreign words, just as St. Mark repeats it: THE KING OF THE JEWS,
which is followed by St. Luke, only that he has brought down This is, from the above superscription, as having a common re- ference to what stood under it.
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
It is very possible, that a better account may be given of the three forms of the inscription; but I think I am well founded in asserting that there were variations in it, and that the shortest was that of St. Luke, in the Latin.-Townson's Works, vol. i. p. 199.
S. Reger has published a dissertation on the title on the cross, and comes nearly to the same conclusions as Townsan, who does not however refer to, nor appear to have seen, his treatise. He supposes that the inscription varied in each language, and that they might have been written on three several tablets, in this
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He mentions many opinions on the imagined difficulty-Alii enim duos Evangelistas Matthæum et Lucam duo verba ovróc is, non ex titulo descripsisse, sed sententiæ perficiendæ gratiæ adjecisse. Alii vero Marcum, et Johannem dicta verba neglexisse; præterea tres reliquos cognomen Nazareni; Marcum et Lucam vero Nomen proprium JESUS omisisse, quamobrem ex omnium Evangelistarum, descriptionibus tres conformes formant
הוה יִשוּעַ הַנָצְרִי מֶלֶךְ הַיְהוּדִים : inscriptiones, hoc modo
ἔτος ἔσιν Ιησᾶς ὁ Ναζαραιος ὁ βασιλευς Ιεδαίων. Hic est Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judæorum. See the dissertation ap Crit. Sac. vol. xi. p. 241, &c. &c.
MARK XV. part of ver. 22. and ver. 26.
22 And they bring him unto the place called Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, the place of a skull.
38 And a superscription also was written over him—
JOHN xix, part of ver. 18.
18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one
SECTION XVIII.
Christ prays for his Murderers.
LUKE Xxiii. part of ver. 34.
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
The Soldiers divide, and cast Lots for the Raiment of
part of ver. 34.
And they crucified him
LUKE XXiii. JOHN XIX. 23, 24.
Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a
25 He hangs upon the cross, for us, and for our salvation! The Son of God dies for the restoration of man! The manifested God, who was present at the creation of this scene of his glory; who for the sins of one generation of man, brought the deluge of waters upon the earth; He who was seen in the firmament, commanding the fire to descend upon the cities of the Plain; the dweller between the cherubim, the form which tabernacled in the moving flame, guiding his people through the wilderness; the King of glory, the Lord of angels, the Ruler of the universe, the fellow of Jehovah, the future Judge of the world, He hangs upon the cross, and offers himself a willing sacrifice for the sins of an offending world. That this holy and mighty Being should die as a man, amidst the indig. nities and cruel mockings of the higher as well as of the lower ranks of his people, for the sins of those who pierced him, and of all who in ages to come should believe in this wonder.ul atonement, is a mystery so truly sublime, that the intellectual powers of man, while in the body, cannot fully comprehend its effects and benefits. The wonderful and holy Being, whose mysterious death we are now contemplating, is revealed to us, not merely as the Lord of mankind, but as the superior of augels. Evil spirits knew him, and fled: good spirits ministered to him. He spake of the invisible world, as of the scene of existence to which he had been accustomed, and of angels and devils as his obedient or rebellious subjects. It is evident, therefore, that the actions of our Lord, while in his state of humiliation, were the subjects of attention to an innumerable host of intellectual and spiritual creatures who, we may suppose, are all more or less interested in the heavenly sacrifice. Angels in humble submission desired to look into this great mystery; fallen spirits retained the malignity of their evil nature, saw, believed, and trembled. They fell from their high estate by
Joh. xix. 23. part; and also his coat. Now the coat was without Jerusalem. seam, woven from the top throughout.
their own pride and ambition, without external temptation, and they are left to the consequences of their wilful disobedience. Man, having been created of a compound nature, and liable to evil, did not, like them, fall away by his own original, innate perverseness, but by the enticements of a superior and evil spirit. For man Christ died-for man there is hope of salva- tion, and at this solemn moment the seal was affixed to his pardon. Now was the sentence of eternal punishment pronounced upon the evil spirits. Satan fell as lightning from heaven; and the cap- tivity of hell was led captive. The voice of mercy confirmed the angels in their obedience, and taught them also that there was no more sacrifice for sin: and the human race were emancipated from the bondage and degradation of the Fall, and exalted to become, with the angels, the sons of God. Thus was moral or- der, which had been disturbed through the dominion of evil, by the sin and disobedience of the first Adam, restored to the whole universe by the triumphant sacrifice of the second Adam.
Sufficient, therefore, is revealed to us to convince us of the necessity of this great atonement, and to demonstrate to us the holy indignation of the Almighty God, against sin and sinners. We all carry about within us, the sad marks of our fallen nature. The remembrance of some past sin continually arises to embitter our happiness, and to convince us that we have no power to help ourselves. Man requires some other atonement, some other intercession. His former sins cannot be cancelled by peni- tence or reformation (a), the only offering he has it in his power to make; "the convert and the sinner are the same individual per- son and as such, be answerable for his whole conduct. His sentiments of himself can only be a mixture of approbation and disapprobation, satisfaction and displeasure. His past sins must still, however sincerely he may have reformed, occasion self-dissatisfaction: and this will ever be the stronger the more he improves in virtue. Now, as this is agreeable to truth, there is reason to conclude, that God beholds him in the same light." Therefore man's redemption must be accomplished by other than himself. It is further evident that the blood of bulls and of goats could not take away sin; they were not of the same nature and origin as man, and therefore incapable of making an expiation for the sin he had contracted. These were only the types and figures of a more perfect sacrifice of that holy victim who was appointed before the foundation of the world. Neither could the sacrifice of any ordinary man make satisfac- tion for us, because it is clear he would only suffer that punish- ment which his own sins had deserved; and no satisfaction can be made for others, by suffering that which justice requires for our own offences. No ordinary man could raise himself from the dead, or procure that redemption for another, which he could not obtain for himself. Neither could any ordinary man make satisfaction to the violated laws of God by a life of sinless obedience. He only who had power to lay down his life, and take it up again, could procure for man a resurrection, and deliver him from the eternal death his sins had incurred. He alone, who took upon him human nature, that he might set us an example of human virtue, "who knew no sin," who was perfect and spotless, the Lamb of God, could satisfy the purity of divine justice, or reconcile it with his mercy, and the eco- nomy of his government. Throughout the whole system of the divine dispensations, the Father uniformly acts by the ministry of the Son, and the Son by the ministry of the Holy Ghost.
They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rent Jerusalem. it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be.
Had the divine acceptance been wanting to the oblation of our Lord's body, whatsoever virtue it possessed in itself, it would have been incapable of procuring the pardon of sin, or of redeeming mau from its punishment and power. Whatsoever he purchased for us, he purchased of the Father by compact, or agreement (b); and He is now exalted to the right hand of God, to make there his mysterious intercession for the sins of his people.
As the second Adam, the blessed Lord took our humanity; he restored it to its original dignity and innocence, and then made a sacrifice of it upon the cross, as a vicarious atonement for the sins of the first, and through him of all mankind. He was nailed to the accursed tree, the emblem of Adam's transgression, and was crowned with a crown of thorns, the first fruits of his disobedience. The religion which he died to establish was of an internal spiritual nature. It was a life of boliness and self- sacrifice. It required the crucifixion of the whole animal and inferior nature; and that the motives, and even the thoughts of the heart, should be brought into subjection. It required a new birth, a new life, of which baptism is the beautiful emblem, teaching us, that as infants are washed immediately on their natural birth, so must the children of God, with Christ, be born again through the grave and death of sin, into the spiritual kingdom, by water, and the Spirit. We are all the authors of our own happiness or misery. If during the progress of life the animal is allowed to triumph over the spiritual man, then the sin of the first Adam still cleaves to us, and the sacrifice of the second Adam pleads for us in vain. The animal life perishes with the body; the accountable life exists through eternity. If it be spiritualized by the subjugation of the flesh, it becomes pure and holy, the companion of angels; but if it be polluted and degraded by its contagion, it then defiles itself, loses the divine properties of its first being, and is fitted only for asso- ciation with devils and evil spirits. To this fearful condition man was reduced by the fall of the first Adam. To revoke this curse, Christ, the second Adam, became our atonement, by the sacrifice of the whole of the offending, but in him, sinless, nature, upon the tree of the cross: demonstrating to all the world, that the sacrifice of self is the way of salvation, and the most acceptable offering that man can render to his Creator.
Deeply do I pity that blind man, who prefers rather to trust to his own merits, than by faith in the great atonement to hope for salvation through the blood of Christ. Deeply do I feel for him, when he shall be called to appear before the judgment seat of a rejected Saviour, with all his imperfections, all his frailties, and all his violations of duty upon his head, to answer in an unknown state of inconceivable glory, before men and angels, for the sins committed in the body; having spurned the sheltering protection of that MAN who is both a covert from the wind, and a refuge from the storm. How can he hope to escape the wrath of God pronounced upon every offender against his holy laws, when his own beloved Son, as our substitute, who only ore our sins, underwent such dreadful agonies, both in body And soul. He who has declared himself of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, has also declared, as fully and plainly, and as repeatedly, that without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins: and what blood can have been shed for their remission, but the blood of Christ?
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