Matthew 27:33-37 And when they were come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,… These rude soldiers had doubtless joined with their comrades in the coarse mockery which preceded the sad procession to Calvary; and then they had to do the rough work of the executioners, fastening the sufferers to the rude wooden crosses, lifting these with their burden, fixing them into the ground, then parting the raiment. And when all that is done they sit stolidly down to take their ease at the foot of the cross, and idly to wait, with eyes that look and see nothing, until the sufferers die. A strange picture! I. How IGNORANT MEN ARE OF THE REAL MEANING AND OUTCOME OF WHAT THEY DO. Think of what a corporal's guard of rough English soldiers, out in Northern India, would think if they were bade to hang a native charged with rebellion against the British Government. So much, and no more did these men know of what they were doing. And so with us all. No man knows the real meaning, the possible issue and outcome of a great deal in our lives. If we are wise, we will let results alone, and just take care that our motive is right. II. RESPONSIBILITY IS LIMITED BY KNOWLEDGE. These men were ignorant of what they were doing, and therefore guiltless. God weighs, not counts, our actions. III. IT IS POSSIBLE TO LOOK AT CHRIST ON THE CROSS AND SEE NOTHING. For half a day there these soldiers sat, and it was but a dying Jew they saw — one of three. They were the unmoved witnesses of God manifest in the flesh, dying on the cross for the whole world, and for them. Their ignorance made them blind. Let us all pray to have our ignorance and blindness removed, our hearts softened by the sight of Christ crucified for us. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,WEB: They came to a place called "Golgotha," that is to say, "The place of a skull." |
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