"The Piercing."

by Milne, J. | Category: General | Feb 1954

"And when they came unto the place, which is called the skull, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left" (Luke 23.38).

The cross-work of the Lord Jesus Christ is a matter of vital and eternal interest. Upon that cross there are unfolded to us the intense love of God, the inherent hatred of mankind, and the malignant enmity of Satan and his hosts. It was a sight that must have amazed the hosts of angelic beings on high, a sight of self-sacrificing love, a sight never before seen on earth. Upon that centre cross on Calvary's hill, in agony, bleeding and dying, the Son of God was crucified. The great vital question of sin was being settled there, according to the righteous demands of a holy God, and according to the dire need of a guilty race. The divine Sufferer, the Lord Jesus Christ, was there as your Surety and mine. He suffered, the Just One, for us the unjust ones, that He might bring us to God.

Those excruciating sufferings we shall never be able to comprehend, but we shall always see the nailprints in His blessed hands and feet, and the spear-wound in His side. Supported only by His lacerated limbs, our blessed Redeemer had nearly six hours of painful torment to endure. He was pierced in His head by the thorns, He was pierced in His hands and feet by the nails, and He was pierced in His side by the spear.

As we gaze on that blessed One, let us remember that, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed " (Isaiah 53.5). The eyes of a righteous and holy God were averted at this sight, for He could not look upon sin. The Lord Jesus Christ was the Sin-offering, making atonement for sin, and He was made sin for us, Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; Who His own self bare our sins in His body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed (1 Peter 2.22-24). Think of that moment when He was parted from His disciples. He led them out until they were over against Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. What a lovely scene! He ascended in blessing with outstretched arms; with what rapture would they gaze upon those nail-pierced hands and feet! Think too what it will mean to the nation of Israel on a coming day to see those wound-prints, for we read in Zechariah 12.10, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto Me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."

What a day of mourning and repentance that will be for Israel, when they look upon their glorious Messiah! The words of Peter are apposite to this, for being filled with the Holy Spirit he said, in seeking to bring home their guilt to them, "Be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel ... Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead " (Acts 4.10). Think too of the words of John when a lonely exile on Patmos, "Behold, He cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they which pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over Him, even so. Amen" (Revelation 1.7). Well may we worship God and sing,

"Thou Thy Son hast given, see His body riven,

Pierced with cruel thorn and spear upon Golgotha's tree,

For our sins He suffered, and His body offered,

And His blood outpoured a sacrifice to Thee." Amen.

Milne, J. | Feb 1954
General