THE CONTRAST OF HUMAN PERFECTION AND HUMAN
DEPRAVITY.
“And they
crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, ‘They parted my garments among them,
and upon my vesture did they cast lots.’ And sitting down they watched him
there.”-Matt.
27:35,36.
HERE, in marked
contrast, are seen the glory of moral perfection and the depth of human
depravity. Here was the most sublime heroism, the most perfect self-abnegation,
the most exalted benevolence, and the most devoted loyalty, in contrast with
the vilest hypocrisy, the most cold-blooded hate, and the most abject
cowardice. The meanest, vilest selfishness, pride and conceit delivered to
ignominy and death the fairest flower of virtue that ever bloomed on earth, and
wicked hands and fiendish hearts executed the dark designs of envy and hate,
taking a morbid pleasure in the dying agonies of the Son of God, while he, as a
sheep before her shearers is dumb, opened not his mouth in self-defence, but meekly
submitted to the terrible ordeal of suffering and death for the world of
sinners, none of whom could then appreciate and understand his motives or his
work. Truly, the contrast of such virtue, in comparison with such depravity,
encircles the Cross of Christ with a halo of ineffable glory, the broken rays
of which, falling upon us, express to us all there is of moral excellence and
worth.
In the apprehension, arraignment and crucifixion of Christ three classes
of criminals come to view. First, there were those who, for envy,
delivered him to death. They were the proud, boastful, self-righteous
hypocrites, who, realizing their own inferiority, and aware of their own
unfitness to be the leaders and saviors of the people, yet so anxiously craved
the honors and praises of men and the emoluments of office that they could not
brook the appearance of a rival of superior talents and ability. These hated
the Lord without a cause, save that which originated in their own depravity.
These, the mighty men of the Jewish nation, the rulers and religious teachers,
the educated men of the nation, the expounders of the law of God, and the
interpreters of the prophets,-these wickedly took counsel together against the
Lord and against his Anointed; and in their counsels among themselves they
acknowledged the superiority of the victim of their hate and expressed the real
animus of it-their envy of his rising fame and influence among the people,
which tended to their own speedy displacement.
Second, there were those cringing, hireling menials, too basely selfish to
spurn a bribe, or to appreciate a principle, and who are ever willing to
sacrifice principle for a trifle of present advantage or gratification. Of
this class was Judas, who sold the Lord for thirty pieces of silver, and also
all of that infuriated mob which, incited by the priests, cried “Away with
him! Crucify him! We have no king but Caesar! His blood be upon us and upon
our children!” Judas loved the money, and these loved the approval of the
priests and rulers, and wanted to be on the popular side. How mean the bribe,
how base the crime!
Third, there were those cold-blooded, cruel servants of the Roman state
who, presuming to have no responsibility in the matter, cared nothing for the
honor of justice or the vindication of right. It was their business to execute
the mandates of their superiors, and they must do so at their own peril.
Looking to their own interests, therefore, it was their business to
drive the nails through the quivering flesh and to plant the thorny crown upon
the victim’s head. It was an awful business, but they were schooled to it, so
that the groans of anguish failed to reach their hearts. So, regarding the
horrid transaction in the light of business, they thought only of their
booty, and, with frigid indifference, sat down and watched the agony of the
Lord, while they cast lots upon his vesture. And some even endeavored to add
to the sufferings by cruel taunts and fiendish exultation.
How strange it seems that humanity, originally in the likeness of God, can
sink so low! and yet it is all too true. The depth of depravity to which an
intelligent being can sink can be measured only by the height of the original
perfection and glory. Satan fell from a great height to a corresponding depth,
and so likewise man falls to the very depths of iniquity, unless he repent and
be converted from the error of his way, and voluntarily submit to the healing
influences of divine grace. Sin, with accelerating speed, ever tends downward
to more and more vile conditions, until it ends in the shipwreck of everything
that is noble and pure; and “sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.”
As we look at the various manifestations of wickedness on the part of
those who crucified the Lord, it is a sad comment upon human depravity to
notice that the very same elements have been in the world ever since; and alas!
are present still. And the special victims of their hate have been, and still
are, the meek of the earth, who have taken up their cross to follow in the
footprints of the crucified One-the body of Christ which fills up the measure
of his sufferings. (Col. 1:24.) All through the age there have been those
anxious to deliver them to death, who, for envy, hypocritically assumed to be
the representatives of God to condemn them, and to seek them out, and hunt them
down, and kill their influence, and deliver them over to be crucified. This is
the Pharisaical class-the class represented by the chief priests, the
scribes and Pharisees. There has also always been the hireling class, ready to
sell their services to such leaders for the paltry bribes they have to
offer-for the favor of their leaders, for the convenience of being on the
popular side, or for a trifle of financial or social advantage. This is the Judas
class-a class which, like Judas and like the priests and scribes and
Pharisees, know, and secretly recognize, the truth and righteousness
exemplified in the body of Christ, yet who nevertheless dislike them, hate
them, and are ever willing to make merchandise of them,-to deliver them over to
scorn and contempt, if not, as in former times, to prison and to death, for the
mean advantage of popular favor.
Then there are still the cruel cold-blooded menials who, with
complacency and indifference, and yet with curiosity, sit down and watch the
sufferings of the body, and wonder what will happen next. They are surprised
and puzzled by the fortitude which daily takes up the cross and follows after
Christ; they cannot understand the motives that inspire it; they have no faith
in the rewards to which the consecrated look, and they curiously watch them to
see if, perchance, their God will interpose and deliver them. And when they
see no miraculous interposition in their behalf, but that instead they bear the
cross to the bitter end of sacrifice, they regard them, like their Head, as
“smitten of God and afflicted,” and to the sufferings are added their
reproaches. And so every member of the anointed body can say with the Head,
“The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”
The important concern to all who are thus suffering with Christ in any
measure is that they bear it with the same humility, benevolence and fortitude
that characterized him under the most crucial tests of endurance. He was not surprised by the exhibitions of human depravity:
he knew that he was in an unfriendly world bound by sin and largely under the
dominion of the prince of darkness, and therefore he expected reproaches,
taunts and persecutions, all of which he endured patiently while his great
loving heart, almost unmindful of its own sufferings, was full of pity and of
loving concern for others. Have we indeed so much of the Master’s
spirit that we can thus suffer with Christ, meekly bearing reproach and trusting
to heaven’s vindication of us in due time? “If when ye do well and suffer for
it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God; for even hereunto were
ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye
should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.” Therefore let us
“consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest
we be wearied and faint in our minds.” (1 Pet. 2:20-23; Heb. 12:3.) And let us also see to it that
we bear the reproaches of Christ as he bore them,-with pity and prayer for the
erring and depraved, if perchance God may grant unto them repentance; and with
humble fortitude esteeming it a privilege to prove our devotion to the Lord by
enduring hardness in his service as good soldiers.
But what shall we say of those who hate the Lord’s body without a
cause, who for envy deliver them to persecution and death, or of those who for
bribes betray the innocent, or of those who, with frigid indifference, but
curious interest, calmly watch the sufferings of the body, as the Roman
soldiers did of the Head, saying, “Let be, let us see whether Elias will come
to save him?” “O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their
assembly, mine honor, be not thou united.” Their way is the way of death.
When the noble spectacle of loyalty to God, to truth and righteousness, and of
Christian fortitude in enduring hardness and persecution meekly and patiently,
fails to move and win the hearts of men, what more remains to be done for
them? The goodness of God exemplified in his children as well as in other ways
should lead to repentance; but if it only hardens the heart and steels it
against the further influences of divine grace, sad indeed is the condition of
such a soul. It is not ours, however, to judge such to condemnation: but it is
our part to shun the company and counsels of all such. “Blessed is the man
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful: but his delight is in the law
of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night....For the Lord
knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall
perish.”-Psa. 1:1,2,6.