The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-27
Second Quarter. Lesson IA. Johl xix, Iy-3O. May 2S, 1905.
 TKxEs CynTrURUYInN

second quarter. Lesson Ix. John
 xix, I7-3O. May 2s, 1905.
 THE CRUCIFIXION.
 The Quadruple description of the cru cifxion is a literary marvel Though circumstance of transcendent import lance, the narrative of it Is surprisingly ,condensed. There is no spinning out of details, no obtrusion of the personal sopinions and sentiments of the narra- kors. Here is a suggestion of how wa yourselves should approach Calvary: H 'as not a theme for volubflity. There should be no striving to magnify us painful horrors, or to compare the phy- sical sufferings of it's victim with those of others. A spiritual interpretation IS the thing desirable. A personal appro- priation by faith is great riches.
 We first have the numbering of Jesus with transgressors. He was crucihed between the indicators, the insurgent robbers and murderers. He who could challenge the world to impeach his sim 1essness, was made sim" He was put to the extremity of a convicted felon. With the shedding of His blood begins His mediatorial prayer, Father, TOT give them" The "inventiveness or love" finds a palliating circumstance in their ignorance. They know not what they do" The prayer sweeps out to include not the coarse executioners alone, but the cunning conspirators who use them as their tools 1t IS enough to brand 1t with infamy that destroying vice of gambling that 1t obtruded It. self at the crucihxion. The soldiers threw dice to determine which should have the most valuable garment of the sufferer. They "chanced off, the seam less robe.
 Tile saved others Unconscious. un- designed encomium! Let Him save TIimselfi" Last recurrence of the Will derness temptation? That which is a literal possibility is moral impossl- hflity Except He stay upon the cross He cannot be a Savior. If He remains not, he can not utter that inefrable cry sTt is flnishedl'-"the work the FatneT gave Me to do" Keener than mortal bangs are the brutal gibes of rulers popuIace, and soldiery. That triple in ecrfption may signify that the story oh the cross Is destined to go into all ian euages, as it there appeared Tn tno tongues of conquest, culture ana COT loquy. VII.
 The "third word" of Jesus from His cross is a lustrous example Of hiial ar lection. Even shame and agony ot hls rrucifxion was not sufncleht to dlNett His thought from His mother or 10 confuse His judgment as to what woutu he the best provision for her. In toucn- ing and significant terms He commenu ed her to the care of His dearest friend. z..,,,o,
 The sovereign power of redeemins love has a splendid exempllhcauoh even in the deepening gloom or Cal- vary. As the hours wear away. the innocence, the Divinity of his tellow- sufferer dawns upon the mind or the Ynalefactor It pains him to near the continued railing of his comrade III crime. He chides him, reminding hlm of the justness of their condemnation and affirming the guiltlessness Of Je- sus To eye of faith there opens to him A blissful vista beyond the chasm oe death. He recognizes the sufferer anfte of His marred visage as mon- arch of that realm. In the strength Of a belief that prompts to action, he joins lis fortunes irrevocably with those of the cruclfed Nazarene, and entreats recognition when He comes to the re- gal splendors of His coronation. What Jesus did then, He has been doing ever since. He opened paradise to penl- tent. But His obedience unto death' even the death of the cross, was the key, and the only one. to unlock that paradise.
 Nature, as if become sentient on &C., eount of the incomparable tragedy now enacting, drapes herself in veil of im- Denetrable blackness. In that dark ness. the seventh word from the cross ia heard The Son, having drunk to It's dreRs the cup the Father had given Him. now, in the very hour and article If death, confidently comments His aoul to that Father.