Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said… Never did reason obtain a more complete victory over prejudice. Death is the touchstone of the soul. Even in the most favourable circumstances it tries a man severely. But in this instance there were many aggravating circumstances to weigh clown and overwhelm the soul. 1. The treason of Judas. Jesus had been delivered up to His enemies by one who had been admitted to His friendship and close intercourse with Him. 2. Christ's utter abandonment by His disciples. Not a voice had been uttered in Ills defence, or to comfort Him; not one was found to come forward courageously and acknowledge Him. 3. The injustice of His sentence. Even His judge was convinced of His innocence; yet He was condemned to the most cruel death ever devised. 4. The ignominy accompanying His punishment. The death of Jesus, "expiring in the midst of tortures, abused, insulted, cursed by a whole nation, is the most horrible that could be feared." 5. His knowledge of all that was to come upon Him. His passion and death commenced in Gethsemane. There He resigned Himself unreservedly to all the anguish He afterwards underwent. Nor did He for one moment draw back from the awful sufferings that followed. Was not the centurion justified in the conclusion forced upon him by such a spectacle as this — that He who could thus die must be of a truth not Man only, but the very Son of God? (L. H. Horne, B. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. |
    |