4. His seven sayings on the cross. Of these three are recorded by St. Luke, other three by St. John, and the remaining one by both St. Matthew and St. Mark. The first of those seven sayings, or seven words, is a prayer for his murderers: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." There is no doubt that they were acting in ignorance and unbelief; yet they were not excusable on that account, for men are accountable for their belief, and especially so when they have abundant means of rectifying their misbelief or removing their unbelief. The spirit of forgiveness which this prayer breathes is truly wonderful. There is an entire absence of revenge and of all vindictiveness, and yet this was only the negative side; there was the positive feeling of love to his enemies, pity for his murderers, and prayer for those who used him so despitefully. Thus he practiced what he preached, and exemplified what he taught in the condition of the petition, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us." The second of those words is a promise to the penitent sufferer beside him: "To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." At first it would appear that both malefactors had railed upon him, or the plural is used idiomatically for the singular. One became penitent, rebuking the railing of his fellow-sufferer. By faith he looked to the pierced One at his side, and mourned. His faith became marvelously strong in an incredibly short space. The right rendering of his prayer in the Revised Version makes this more manifest: "Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom." The common rendering of into, as if it were εἰς with the accusative, would imply that Jesus passed into his kingdom at the hour of his dissolution, so that faith would not have long to wait; but the expression "in thy kingdom" ( ἐν, with the dative) points not to the immediate future like the former, but to the more distant future when Jesus would come again in his kingdom; and still the faith that prompted the petition patiently looked forward to that far-off day. Thus there is no sinner beyond the reach of mercy; no time too late to seek salvation; and no prayers of faith rejected. The soul united to Jesus is safe in his arms, and admitted to glory soon as separated from the body. The third saying is a provision for his widowed mother in her sore bereavement: "Woman, behold thy son!" and to the disciple he said, "Behold thy mother!" It was to the beloved John the intimation was given to treat the Virgin mother as his own mother, while Mary was to regard and depend on John as her son. The hint was understood by both; the new relationship was accepted, John undertook the responsibility, and Mary confided herself to his care. Jesus, as he hung in agony, was thus mindful of his mother, making careful provision for her. What a lesson of filial love is taught us here! What a lesson of dutifulness to a parent, especially when that parent is bereaved and desolate! The fourth saying is a position of spiritual loneliness: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Here there is faith, but faith wanting the assurance of sense. There is faith in Jesus acknowledging God as his God; but a sense of the Divine presence is absent. The complaint of Divine abandonment is caused by that absence, and the deserted soul is in agony. The condition of the Christian is sometimes similar—when, like Job, he goes forward, but God is not there; backward, but he cannot perceive him; and when he turns himself to every side, but cannot find him. But oh, how great the difference! Such a season of darkness is for the most part occasioned by sin; so in our Savior's case it was indeed for sin, but not his own! The fifth is the pain of bodily suffering: "I thirst." The pain of thirst is worse to bear than that of hunger; when long continued it is distressing in the extreme. Men who have traveled in a desert district or under a tropical sun can realize the severity of this condition. In the case of our Lord there was a peculiar aggravation. Near the cross had been placed a vessel of sour wine (posca) for the use of the soldiers, the sight of which would increase the feeling of thirst and pain on the part of the Sufferer. Nor was that all; among the cruel mocking of our Lord in the earlier stage of the crucifixion was the circumstance that the soldiers tantalized him by raising to his lips their jar or sponge of vinegar, and then suddenly withdrawing it, for we read, "The soldiers also mocked him … offering him vinegar." The sixth is the perfection of his work: "It is finished." As has been beautifully said," Finished was his holy life; with his life his struggle, with his struggle his work, with his work the redemption, with the redemption the foundation of the new world."
"''Tis finished!' was his latest voice:
These sacred accents o'er,
He bow'd his head, gave up the ghost,
And suffer'd pain no more.
"''Tis finish'd!' The Messiah dies
For sins, but not his own;
The great redemption is complete,
And Satan's power o'erthrown.
"''Tis finish'd!' All his groans are past
His blood, his pain, and toils,
Have fully vanquished our foes,
And crown'd him with their spoils.
"'Tis finished!' Legal worship ends,
And gospel ages run;
All old things now are pass'd away,
And a new world begun."
The seventh is presentation of his spirit to his Father: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." Many a time have these words waked a corresponding sentiment in the dying Christian's breast; many a time have they been used by the dying Christian to express his soul's surrender to God. Similarly the protomartyr's "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Likewise in the language of ancient piety, "Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth." Hence too we infer the immateriality of the soul, and its independence of the body. Here also we learn how to die, yielding our soul into the hand of our heavenly Father.—J.J.G.