Mark 15

Chap. XV. Ver. 1—47. “The sufferings of our meek and holy Redeemer are an inexhaustible source of instruction to the lively believer; and a subject of which, in his best hours, he cannot be weary. To believe, that such an atonement was absolutely necessary, in order that a God of infinite mercy might honourably pardon sin, and save sinners, cannot fail to give the mind the deepest impression of his justice and holiness, the excellency of the law which was thus magnified, and the evil of sin which was thus expiated: and it must at the same time destroy all expectations of being saved in any other way; for, ‘if righteousness come by the law, then Christ died in vain.’ With what earnestness will the man who firmly believes these truths, seek an interest in this great salvation!

With what ardent gratitude will he receive the comfortable assurance, or even the dawning hope, of forgiveness and eternal life, as purchased for him by the sufferings and death of the incarnate Son of God! And with what ‘godly sorrow’ will he mourn over those sins, which he now looks on as having ‘crucified the Lord of glory!’ “Careful meditation on the silence, meekness, and patience of the holy Jesus, amidst all his complicated sufferings, and the varied contempt and cruelty of his numerous enemies, must cause us to exclaim, ‘did Jesus thus suffer, and shall I, a wretched sinner, fret or repine? shall I indulge resentment, or utter reproaches and menaces, because of troubles and injuries?

With this object before us, surely we cannot think it too much to pour out tears for those sins, for which the Son of God shed his precious blood; or to pour out our prayers for those blessings, for which ‘he by his soul unto death, and was numbered with malefactors;’ or to bear hardship for him who bore the wrath of God for us. Indeed all we can suffer must be light, compared with his unknown agonies: yet how often are we ‘weary and faint in our minds;’ instead of being thankful that we are not in the pit of destruction, as we justly might have been!’— J. Scott.