1 ON MOUNT GOLGOTHA. 397 dead; so that they were obliged, as soon as they were able, to fly away in confusion from the sepulchre.Such was the behaviour of our Saviour's friends and enemies at his burial. By way of a closer application of this narrative of our Saviour's interment, we shall here insert a hymn, composed on that subject, and illustrate it with a short paraphrase on every stanza. ! 1. Thou, who my sins (a heavy curse!) 2. O glorious type, by which the curse By faith we claim the heav'nly prize 3. Now hast thou drank the bitter cup 4. Thy sacred word, which never fails, 1 5. Thou like a fruitful corn of wheat 6. Even in thy darksome grave I see * Daniel in the lion's den, and Jonah in the whale's belie prefigured the burial of Christ. 398 CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS 7. Since then my Saviour did descend 8. As in the font, I die to sin, And wash my guilt away, ** 1. Thou, who my sins (a heavy curse!) Here our thoughts are directed from our Saviour's sepulchre to Mount Golgotha. For in order to reap any real benefit from the consideration of our Lord's burial, we must reflect on the character and quality in which he hung on the cross, before he descended into the sepulchre. He hung on the cross as the Lamb of God, bearing both the burden of our guilt, and the load of our punishment and curse; so that by undergoing this painful, ignominious death, he might atone for our sins, and satisfy the Divine justice for the innumerable offences committed against it. Now as this Lamb of God was taken down from the cross, and deposited in a sepulchre, it is a certain proof that he has suffered all the punishment he deserved on our account; that he has discharged the immense debt, abolished the curse of the law, and by the shedding of his precious blood, satisfied the Divine justice. For if justice had any further claim on this sacred person, it never would have permitted him to be taken down from the cross, and honourably interred. But as God not only permitted, but even raised up a man of wealth and distinction to be the instrument of it, it is, as it were, a ON MOUNT GOLGOTHA. 399 public declaration, that justice had no further demands on the person who hung on the cross; but that the whole enormous sum of the debt of all mankind has been duly and completely discharged. This is a comfort not to be purchased by all the riches of this world; but it must be appropriated to us only by the medium of faith and repentance, and by being dead unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, (Rom. vi. 9.) 2. O glorious type, by which the curse By faith we claim the heav'nly prize In these words we are reminded of the following passage in the Divine law : ' And if a man have committeda sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree; his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day, for he that is hanged is accursed of God, that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance,' (Deut. xxi. 22, 23.) That this precept alluded to Christ, who was to be hanged on the cross as a curse for us, we are informed by St. Paul, in these words: 'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree,' (Gal. iii. 13.) What a wonderful ordinance of providence was this! While an Israelite was hanging as a curse on a tree, the whole community of which he was a member, the whole land of Israel in which he lived, was polluted and accounted unclean. But God, by allowing that such a one should be taken down in the evening and buried, fignified, that his justice was for that time satisfied, by the punishment of the transgressor; and that the land, where God had thusmanifested his wrath, was again reconciled to him. Jesus bore our curse on the cross; but, in the evening, he was taken down 400 CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS from it according to this injunction of the Divine law; which was a token that the curse was removed, and the Iand was again clean. Now he, who by faith enters into fellowship with Christ, becomes a partaker of his death and burial, and all the precious fruits accruing from both of them. Such a person is consequently looked on by God, as if he himself had been buried, discharged from the demands of the law, and entirely freed from the curse. Know therefore, ye penitent believers who are in this happy state, that you are clean in the sight of God, and that there is no longer any curse or condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, (Rom. viii. 1.) The curse is abolished and done away by the perfect innocence of your Mediator. Your heavenly Father is reconciled to you by the sufferings of Christ who hung on the cross; and satisfaction having been made to his justice by your surety, he has discharged you from all further claims. Only approach the throne of grace, repent of your sins, believe in Christ, and obey his precepts; and ye shall inherit a blessing, instead of a curse. 3. Now hast thou drank the bitter cup The burial of Christ is a kind of intermediate state between his death and resurrection, and serves as a confirmation of the truth of both. For, from the burial of Christ it is evident, First, That he really died, and that there was no collusion in the manner of his death. Now if he really died, then it is certain that he tasted death, and consequently that he really overcame death. Hence. it appears, that death had not an absolute power over Jesus the Son of God; nevertheless, Christ having encountered him, it was overcome by him, and swallowed up in victory. The Prince of Life has extracted 1 ON MOUNT GOLGOTHA. 401 his venomous sting, which was sin. He not only triumphed over him by the cross, to his death; but pursued him even into the grave, which is his residence and strong-hold, and there, as it were, for the last time, bruised his head. But, Secondly, It is likewise clear from our blessed Lord's burial, that he really and truly rose again from the dead. By his resurrection he manifested his triumph over death, and put an end to the power of death over himself; he demolished death's stronghold, and set up the trophies of his victory therein. At the same time, he laid the foundation of our justification; hence St. Paul says, "That he was raised again for our justification,' (Rom. iv. 25.) For as our blessed Saviour was himself justified in his resurrection, i. e. he was publicly discharged by the decree of the supreme judge from all further demands, from suffering any thing more on account of sin; so 'all penitent souls, who by faith are found in Him, are justified by his person. Now these comforts spring from Christ's death, the certainty of which, as well as that of his resurrection, is confirmed by his burial. 4. Thy sacred word, which never fails, Here we are referred to that part of scripture, in which the burial of Christ was both predicted and prefigured. That the burial of Christ was foretold in Holy Writ, may be inferred from these words of St. Paul: 'He was buried and rose again the third day, according to the scripture,' (1 Cor. xv. 4.) Thus, for instance, when it is said in the Psalms, 'Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [or in the state of departed souls] neither wilt thou suffer thine HOLY ONE to see corruption,' (Psalm xvi. 10.) It presupposes that the Messiah was to be laid in the grave, which is the usual place of corruption. Isaiah says, 'that the Messiah made his grave, &c.' and this likewise |