192 SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST'S HUMAN SOUL.

place between the two thieves would be exchanged for the right hand of God; that he would leave the tomb of Joseph for the throne of heaven. He knew that he should "see of the travail of his soul," and "be satisfied;" that his blood would save from perdition countless millions of fallen immortals; that his sufferings would fill the kingdom of righteousness with the joyous sons and daughters of salvation, evermore raising the song of thanksgiving to him their Saviour King. It was a cherished axiom of ancient patriotism, that it was sweet to die for one's country. How much more self-sustaining the Godlike thought of dying for a world! This was the "joy set before him." For this he might well have "endured the cross, despising the shame."-Hebrews, xii., 2.

Fourthly. The pouring out of the wrath of God against sin on the human soul of Christ, as the substitute for sinners, is assigned as another, and the principal cause of his dismay and perturbation. This outpouring on his human soul, and its loss of the light of the divine countenance, and its views of the heinousness of sin, and its sympathy in the fate of the finally impenitent, added to the corporeal pangs of Christ, are deemed, by the advocates of the prevalent theory, sufficient, when taken collectively, to explain the phenomena of his last passion. We admit, indeed, that the human

ity of Christ participated in his sufferings to the extent of its very limited capacity. But besides the plain scriptural indications that his divinity also suffered, we lay it down as a principle, based on the inflexible laws of our nature, that the body and human soul of Christ had not physical capabilities to become the recipient of the amount of sufferings demonstrated by the dismay with which he beheld their approach, and the perturbation which their endurance caused him. Before, however, we enter into the development of this principle, it is necessary that we should review the indications of his dismay and perturbation a little more in detail than we have hitherto done. We shall then be the better able to pursue the development of the principle which we have laid down.

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CHAPTER XIV.

Calvary-Contrast between Christ and penitent Thief-Gethsemane -Speaker and Actor was Christ in both Natures-Sufferings there those of Anticipation-Indications of Dismay-It was the Anticipation of Spiritual, not Physical Agonies-Thrice-repeated Prayer -Appearance of Angel-" My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death"-What the dreaded Cup was.

If we cast our eyes towards Calvary, we behold there the incarnate God suspended on the cross, and by his side the penitent thief. From the latter, it is not intimated that any cry of distress arose. He was just tasting the bliss of sins forgiven. He was to be that day in paradise; and what cared he for the intervening moments of pain? Of the laceration of his quivering flesh his rapt spirit was no longer conscious. The present was lost in the glorious vision of the future. To him the cross was a bed of down. But from the incarnate God, though suffering no greater corporeal pains than the penitent thief, cries lol, plaintive, and repeated arose. He knew that he also was to be that day in paradise; but to him the beatitude of heaven seemed, for the moment, obscured by the agonies of earth. Over his drooping spirit the seraphic future appeared, for the time, to be lost in the present-the ab

sorbing, the all-devouring present. What caused this mighty contrast between the indications of suffering displayed by the frail creature and the omnipotent Creator? But one solution can be found. The penitent thief bore the pains of a man; Christ endured the agonies of a God. Had the sting of death been pointed at his humanity alone, the cross would have been anticipated with delight and met with triumph. The struggle on Calvary would have been hailed as the joyous termination of his vicarious privations and sufferings; the blissful hour of his deliverance from the heavy curse of others' sins; the glorious epoch of his return to his Father's arms, crowned with the laurels of a world redeemed.

But if we would gain deeper views of the dismay and perturbation of our Lord, let us meet him at the Garden of Gethsemane. The occurrences of the garden, so far as they relate to our present purpose, are thus related by St. Matthew: “And he took with him Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.

And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What! could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink of it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again; for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words."-Matthew, xxvi., 37, and the verses following.

The narrative of St. Mark is in the following words: "And he taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; and saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground and prayed, that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt. And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldst not thou watch one hour? Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the