I. THERE MAY BE A BLESSING IN ENFORCED SERVICE. Simon the Cyrenian is raised into the light of history; perhaps to teach us this. No nobler honor for the Christian than to reflect, "I have been called to bear the cross." And for some to reflect, "I was forced into carrying the cross I would have refused, or left on the ground." So with that other Simon, surnamed Peter.

II. PAIN IS RATHER TO BE STRUGGLED WITH THAN ARTIFICIALLY SUPPRESSED, We seek anodynes for our troubles. Jesus teaches us to react against them by the force of faith. In the hour of duty we are to seek presence, not absence, of mind; to collect our faculties, not to distract them.

III. WHAT IS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE MAY BE MORALLY IMPOSSIBLE. Christ could have come down from the cross in the former sense, could not in the latter. He presents the ideal of suffering service for us, and the revelation of God's ways. There may be things which God cannot do, in our way of speaking, because he knows they are not well to be done. We, at ]cast, cannot save ourselves at the expense of duty, and must be content to appear foolish or impotent to many. Suffering and salvation are facts eternally wedded and at one. - J.

We propose to advert to THE FACT THAT JESUS ENDURED HIS LAST AGONIES BETWEEN TWO MALEFACTORS; and then to notice THE RESPECTIVE CHARACTERS OF HIS COMPANIONS IN SUFFERING.

I. Let us behold this strange sight: JESUS SUFFERING, DYING BETWEEN TWO MALEFACTORS! What an amazing spectacle! And it may have been without any specific design on the part of his oppressors that He was crucified in the midst, rather than on either side of His companions in suffering. But whether it was designed by His enemies or not, there can be no doubt that this circumstance constituted a part of our Lord's humiliation. A preeminence was thus assigned Him in ignominy and shame. This circumstance affords a striking fulfilment of prophecy; then was accomplished the declaration of the prophet, "He was numbered with the transgressors:" and not only so, but it is also illustrative of the prophetic Scriptures, as it shows how, without any design whatever, and sometimes with the very opposite design, men may be fulfilling God's purposes, and accomplishing the predictions of His Word. That strange spectacle suggests the remark, how closely men may be allied by circumstances — how completely identified as to their lot on earth — between whom there is no resemblance in real character. Here are three persons suffering at the same time, and in the same place, the same cruel and ignominious death, and yet how perfectly dissimilar in point of character! Outwardly their lot is the same; but inwardly there is not the slightest resemblance between them. Heaven, earth, and hell, are brought into closest contact in the persons of those three sufferers. In the elevated character of Jesus we have all that is highest, purest, best in heaven; in the obduracy, the profaneness, and the impiety of one of the malefactors, we have the most striking characteristic of the lost, who are hardened in sin beyond the possibility of repentance; while in the contrition and prayerfulness of the other, we have what is peculiar to the good on earth. Often may the best and the worst be found in close connection here, sitting at the same able, or suffering on the same scaffold. How clearly does this indicate another state of being! Under the government of one infinitely wise and just, as well as almighty, such disorders cannot be final; there surely must come a time of separation, of adjustment!

II. We now proceed to consider THE CHARACTER OF THE MALEFACTORS WHO SUFFERED WITH OUR LORD. We have already intimated, that they differed essentially from each other; we must, therefore, consider them separately. And, first, of THE IMPENITENT MALEFACTOR. The treatment which our Lord received at his hands is remarkable, and deserves our attention. He reviled the Redeemer, even on the cross. The conduct of this wretched man, in reviling the Redeemer on the cross, not only illustrates the power of example, but it is further instructive, as showing how near death a man may be, and yet how far from thinking seriously of any of the consequences of dying; how far from any reflections suited to his solemn position and prospects! How strikingly does this illustrate the folly of deferring to a dying hour, the all-important work of preparation for an eternal world! Men often speak of the penitent thief, and expect, like him, in their last moments, to find repentance unto life; but they rarely think of his companion who died unchanged; and yet it is to be feared he is the representative of a far larger class than the other. Let us turn to a more pleasing theme — THE SPIRIT AND CONDUCT OF THE PENITENT THIEF; in which there is much that is extraordinary, and deserving of our best attention. We may notice his deep sense of the solemnity of his situation. "He feared God," into whose immediate presence he was so soon to enter. Nothing can operate so powerfully, so constantly, in deterring from evil, and in imparting to the character the highest elevation and purity; and those who do not realize this are exposed to every breath of temptation, and are guilty of neglecting their noblest and best interests. We notice, also, the free and spontaneous acknowledgment of his guilt. He felt and confessed that he and his companion deserved to die, and that they were justly exposed to the displeasure of God — "We, indeed, justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds." How deep seemed to be his conviction of sin and demerit; and how free and full his acknowledgment of it! What a touching illustration we have here of the distinguishing grace of God! The two malefactors who suffered with our Lord were probably condemned for the same offence. They had been associates in sin, and now they were companions in shame, and suffering, and death; and yet, how the one is made to differ from the other! And this leads me to notice his knowledge of the character of Christ. "This man has done nothing amiss." Whence he derived his knowledge of the character of the Redeemer, it were in vain to inquire. It is not impossible that, in former days, he may have heard Jesus preach, and may have witnessed some of His stupendous miracles of power and of mercy. It is not improbable that, while on his way to the cross, and while hanging on it, he heard much of Jesus; for while the multitude reviled and reproached Him, there were some amongst them who bewailed and lamented Him; and these, doubtless, spoke of His worth; and it is certain that he that day saw much of the spirit and conduct of the Redeemer, as well as of His enemies; and no man could observe the conduct of Jesus with an impartial mind, without being convinced that He was a righteous person. Still more remarkable is the persuasion which he entertained and expressed of the dominion and spiritual power of the Redeemer: "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." Strange that he could recognize a king in one whose environment was so humiliating. I cannot but remark, finally, his deep humility, which appears in his throwing himself so unreservedly on the compassion and grace of the Saviour. "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." There is no presumption, no dictation, here. There is nothing of the Spirit of the two disciples who prayed that they might sit, the one on His right hand and the other on His left, in His kingdom; but there is the deep humility which is always characteristic of genuine repentance.

(J. J. Davies.)

Alexander, Barabbas, Elias, Elijah, James, Jesus, Joseph, Joses, Mary, Pilate, Rufus, Salome, SimonArimathea, Cyrene, Galilee, Golgotha, Jerusalem, Place of the SkullAbuse, Ah, Aha, Blasphemed, Build, Builder, Buildest, Building, Derided, Destroy, Destroyest, Destroying, Destruction, Evil, Ha, Heads, Hurled, Hurling, Insults, Passed, Passers-by, Passing, Railed, Rebuild, Reviled, Sanctuary, Saying, Shaking, Shook, Speaking, Sport, Temple, Thrower, Wagging1. Jesus brought bound, and accused before Pilate.
6. Upon the clamor of the people, the murderer Barabbas is released,
12. and Jesus delivered up to be crucified.
16. He is crowned with thorns, spit on, and mocked;
21. faints in bearing his cross;
27. hangs between two thieves;
29. suffers the triumphing reproaches of the crowd;
39. but is confessed by the centurion to be the Son of God;
42. and is honorably buried by Joseph.

Mark 15:29

     5157   head
     5818   contempt
     5865   gestures
     7027   church, purpose

Mark 15:22-32

     5879   humiliation

Mark 15:24-32

     5824   cruelty, examples

Mark 15:25-37

     1680   types

Mark 15:29-30

     2075   Christ, sinless
     4906   abolition

Mark 15:29-32

     2545   Christ, opposition to
     5550   speech, negative
     5838   disrespect
     5893   insults
     8817   ridicule, objects of

Mark 15:29-34

     2525   Christ, cross of
     5901   loneliness

Mark 15:29-37

     2412   cross, accounts of

Simon the Cyrenian
'And they compel one Simon, a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His Cross.'--Mark xv. 21. How little these soldiers knew that they were making this man immortal! What a strange fate that is which has befallen chose persons in the Gospel narrative, who for an instant came into contact with Jesus Christ. Like ships passing athwart the white ghostlike splendour of moonlight on the sea, they gleam silvery pure for a moment as they cross its …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ and Pilate: the True King and his Counterfeit
'And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. 2. And Pilate asked Him, Art Thou the King of the Jews? And He answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. 3. And the chief priests accused Him of many things: but He answered nothing. 4. And Pilate asked Him again, saying, Answerest Thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against Thee. 6. But Jesus yet …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Death which Gives Life
'And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His cross. 22. And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. 23. And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not. 24. And when they had crucified Him, they parted His garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. 25. And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 26. And the superscription …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Dying Saviour Our Example.
(On Good Friday.) TEXT: MARK xv. 34-41. HEAVENLY Father! On all who are assembling to day to commemorate the death of the Holy One, in whom Thou wast well pleased, look graciously down! Let not one go away from the cross of Thy Well-beloved without exclaiming, with new, living faith, Truly this was the Son of God! Let not one wipe away his tears of emotion until the heartfelt desire has taken possession of him that his end may be like that of this righteous One! Let not the feeling of holy reverence …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

The Centurion at the Cross.
MATT. XXVII. 54. Comp. MARK XV. 39. "Now, when the centurion, and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying: Truly this was the [a] Son of God." LUKE XXIII. 47. "Now, when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying: Certainly this was a righteous man." Note.--The centurion here spoken of is the one who, according to Roman custom, presided over the execution (hence called by Seneca centurio supplicio præpositus; …
Philip Schaff—The Person of Christ

Joseph of Arimathea
BY REV. ALFRED ROWLAND, D.D.. LL.B. "Joseph of Arimathea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God."--MARK xv. 43. The crucifixion of our Lord produced strange and startling effects in moral experience, as well as in the physical world. The veil of the Temple was rent from top to bottom as if a hand from heaven had torn it, in order to teach men that the ancient ritual was done with. Darkness covered the earth, suggesting to thoughtful minds the guilt of the world and …
George Milligan—Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known

"Himself He could not Save. " --Mark xv. 31
"Himself He could not save."--Mark xv. 31. "He saved others," scorners cried, Beholding Jesus crucified; "Is this the Son of God with power? Lo, in His own afflictive hour, Himself he cannot save." He was the Son of God with power, He "came unto that very hour;" I'll joy in His reproach and shame, "He savest others;" I'll exclaim, "Himself He could not save." His agony and bloody sweat, His cross and passion paid my debt; He saved others when he fell, Yet,--who the mystery can tell? Himself, He …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Whether Christ was Buried in a Becoming Manner?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ was buried in an unbecoming manner. For His burial should be in keeping with His death. But Christ underwent a most shameful death, according to Wis. 2:20: "Let us condemn Him to a most shameful death." It seems therefore unbecoming for honorable burial to be accorded to Christ, inasmuch as He was buried by men of position---namely, by Joseph of Arimathea, who was "a noble counselor," to use Mark's expression (Mk. 15:43), and by Nicodemus, who was "a ruler of …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

H. The Crucifixion. Ch. 23:26-38
26 And when they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the …
Charles R. Erdman—The Gospel of Luke, An Exposition

Pilate
"And straightway in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate." ". . . And they lead Him out to crucify Him." MARK 15:1-20 (R.V.) WITH morning came the formal assembly, which St. Mark dismisses in a single verse. It was indeed a disgraceful mockery. Before the trial began its members had prejudged the case, passed sentence by anticipation, and abandoned Jesus, as one …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Christ Crucified
"And they compel one passing by, Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them, that he might bear His cross. And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they offered Him wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not. And they crucify Him, and part His garments among them, casting lots upon them, what each should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. And the superscription of …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Death of Jesus
"And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, He calleth Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink, saying, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to take Him down. And Jesus …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Part 1 Christ's Humiliation, Exaltation, and Triumph. Phil. 2:8,9; Mark 15:20,24,29; Col. 2:15
Christ's humiliation, exaltation, and triumph. Phil. 2:8,9; Mark 15:20,24,29; Col. 2:15. The mighty frame of glorious grace, That brightest monument of praise That e'er the God of love designed, Employs and fills my lab'ring mind. Begin, my soul, the heav'nly song, A burden for an angel's tongue: When Gabriel sounds these awful things, He tunes and summons all his stungs. Proclaim inimitable love: Jesus, the Lord of worlds above, Puts off the beams of bright array, And veils the God in mortal …
Isaac Watts—The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts

The Fourth Word
"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani."--ST. MATT. XXVII. 46; ST. MARK XV. 34. There are three peculiar and distinguishing features of this fourth word which our Saviour uttered from His Cross. 1. It is the only one of the Seven which finds a place in the earliest record of our Lord's life, contained in the matter common to St. Matthew and St. Mark. 2. It is the only one which has been preserved to us in the original Aramaic, in the very syllables which were formed by the lips of Christ. 3. It is the …
J. H. Beibitz—Gloria Crucis

The Shortest of the Seven Cries
As these seven sayings were so faithfully recorded, we do not wonder that they have frequently been the subject of devout meditation. Fathers and confessors, preachers and divines have delighted to dwell upon every syllable of these matchless cries. These solemn sentences have shone like the seven golden candlesticks or the seven stars of the Apocalypse, and have lighted multitudes of men to him who spake them. Thoughtful men have drawn a wealth of meaning from them, and in so doing have arranged …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 24: 1878

Third Stage of Jewish Trial. Jesus Formally Condemned by the Sanhedrin and Led to Pilate.
(Jerusalem. Friday After Dawn.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 1, 2; ^B Mark XV. 1; ^C Luke XXII. 66-23:1; ^D John XVIII. 28. ^a 1 Now when morning was come, ^c 66 And as soon as it was day, ^b straightway ^c the assembly of the elders of the people was gathered together, both chief priests and scribes; and they led him away into their council, ^a all the chief priests and { ^b with} the elders ^a of the people ^b and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and ^a took counsel against Jesus to put …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

First Stage of the Roman Trial. Jesus Before Pilate for the First Time.
(Jerusalem. Early Friday Morning.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 11-14; ^B Mark XV. 2-5; ^C Luke XXIII. 2-5; ^D John XVIII. 28-38. ^d and they themselves entered not into the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the passover. [See p. 641.] 29 Pilate therefore went out unto them, and saith, What accusation bring ye against this man? 30 They answered and said unto him, If this man were not an evildoer, we should not have delivered him up unto thee. [The Jewish rulers first attempt to induce …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Third Stage of the Roman Trial. Pilate Reluctantly Sentences Him to Crucifixion.
(Friday. Toward Sunrise.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 15-30; ^B Mark XV. 6-19; ^C Luke XXIII. 13-25; ^D John XVIII. 39-XIX 16. ^a 15 Now at the feast [the passover and unleavened bread] the governor was wont { ^b used to} release unto them ^a the multitude one prisoner, whom they would. { ^b whom they asked of him.} [No one knows when or by whom this custom was introduced, but similar customs were not unknown elsewhere, both the Greeks and Romans being wont to bestow special honor upon certain occasions by releasing …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Crucifixion.
Subdivision A. On the Way to the Cross. (Within and Without Jerusalem. Friday Morning.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 31-34; ^B Mark XV. 20-23; ^C Luke XXIII. 26-33; ^D John XIX. 17. ^a 31 And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the ^b purple, ^a robe, and put on him his garments [This ended the mockery, which seems to have been begun in a state of levity, but which ended in gross indecency and violence. When we think of him who endured it all, we can not contemplate the scene without a shudder. Who …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Morning of Good Friday.
The pale grey light had passed into that of early morning, when the Sanhedrists once more assembled in the Palace of Caiaphas. [5969] A comparison with the terms in which they who had formed the gathering of the previous night are described will convey the impression, that the number of those present was now increased, and that they who now came belonged to the wisest and most influential of the Council. It is not unreasonable to suppose, that some who would not take part in deliberations which were …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Crucified, Dead, and Buried. '
It matters little as regards their guilt, whether, pressing the language of St. John, [6034] we are to understand that Pilate delivered Jesus to the Jews to be crucified, or, as we rather infer, to his own soldiers. This was the common practice, and it accords both with the Governor's former taunt to the Jews, [6035] and with the after-notice of the Synoptists. They, to whom He was delivered,' led Him away to be crucified:' and they who so led Him forth compelled' the Cyrenian Simon to bear the Cross. …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Death of Jesus.
Although the real motive for the death of Jesus was entirely religious, his enemies had succeeded, in the judgment-hall, in representing him as guilty of treason against the state; they could not have obtained from the sceptical Pilate a condemnation simply on the ground of heterodoxy. Consistently with this idea, the priests demanded, through the people, the crucifixion of Jesus. This punishment was not Jewish in its origin; if the condemnation of Jesus had been purely Mosaic, he would have been …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

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