Daily Devotionals

The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions

Devotional: April 5th

April 5—Morning—Luke 22:44

"Being in an agony."—Luke 22:44.

My soul, art thou still in Gethsemane? Look at Jesus once more; behold him in his agony; view him in his bloody sweat, in a night of cold, and in the open air, when we are told the servants, in the high priest’s hall, were obliged to make a fire of coals to warm themselves. In such a night was thy Jesus, from the extremity of anguish in his soul, by reason of thy sins, made to sweat great drops of blood. Look at the Lord in this situation; and as the prophet, by vision, beheld him coming up with his dyed garments, as one that had trodden the wine fat; so do thou, by faith, behold him in his bloody sweat; when, from treading the winepress of the wrath of God, under the heavy load of the world’s guilt, his whole raiment was stained with blood. Sin first made man to sweat: and Jesus, though he knew no sin, yet taking out the curse of it for his people, is made to sweat blood. Oh thou meek and holy Lamb of God! methinks, I would, day by day, attend the garden of Gethsemane by faith, and contemplate thee in thine agony. But who shall unfold it to my wondering eyes, or explain all its vast concern to my astonished soul! The evangelists, by their different turns of expression to point it out, plainly shew, that nothing within the compass of language can unfold it. Matthew saith, the soul of Jesus was "exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. "Matthew 26:38. The sorrows of hell, as is elsewhere mentioned, encompassed him. Psalms 18:5. My soul, pause over this. Was Jesus’s soul thus sorrowful, even with hell sorrows, when, from the sins of his people charged on him, and the penalty exacted from him as the sinner’s surety, the wrath of God against sin, lighting upon him, came as the tremendous vengeance of hell? Mark describes the state of the Lamb of God as "sore amazed." The expression signifies the horror of mind; such a degree of fear and consternation as when the hairs of the head stand upright, through the dread of the mind. And was Jesus thus agonized, and for sins his holy soul had never committed, when standing forth as the surety of others? John’s expression of the Redeemer’s state on this occasion is, that he said," his soul was troubled." John 12:27. The original of this word troubled, is the same as the Latins derive their word for hell from. As if the Lord Jesus felt what the prophet had said concerning everlasting burnings. Isaiah 33:14. "My heart," said that patient sufferer, "is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels." Psalms 22:14. Hence Moses, and after him Paul, in the view of God’s taking vengeance on sin, describe him under that awful account—"our God is a consuming fire" Deuteronomy 4:24. Hebrews 12:29. Beholding his Father thus coming forth to punish sin in his person, Jesus said—"Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, therefore my heart faileth me," Psalms 40:12. And Luke folds up the account of Jesus with "being in an agony;" such a labouring of nature as implies an universal convulsion, as dying men with cold clammy sweats: so Jesus, scorched with the hot wrath of God on sin, sweated, in his agony, clots of blood! My soul, canst thou hold out any longer? Will not thine eye-strings and heart-strings break, thus to look on Jesus in his agony!. Oh precious Jesus! were the great objects of insensible, inanimated nature, made to feel as if to take part in thy sufferings; and am I unmoved? Did the very grave yawn at thy death and resurrection; and were the rocks rent, while my tearless eyes thus behold thee? Oh gracious God, fulfil that promise by the prophet," that I may look on him whom I have pierced, and mourn as one that mourneth for his only son, and be in bitterness as one that is in bitterness for his first-born."

April 5—Evening—John 19:5

"Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, behold the man."—John 19:5.

My soul, thou art engaged in solemn subjects at this season, both night and morning; and here is one as solemn as any; thy Jesus coming forth in his coronation robes! Yes! For he, and he alone, is the prince of sufferers, as the prince of his people. Many of his dear children have been beset with thorns; and to many, indeed to all more or less, the Lord hedgeth up their way with thorns. But none but the ever blessed Jesus was crowned with thorns. Now, my soul, ponder well the solemn subject. And Oh! that God the Holy Ghost may open all the glories of it to thy view. And first, look at thy Jesus, crowned with thorns. None but the Lord Jesus could properly wear this crown; because the curse pronounced by God at the fall, of thorns being brought forth to the man, could belong to none but him, the God-man Christ Jesus. This curse contained an abridgment of all the curses in the bible: and which never fell upon any but the person of Christ, so as to crown him as having suffered all. He was first made sin, and then a curse for his redeemed. Now the three grand branches of this curse were never fulfilled in any but in Christ: as, first, a separation from God; secondly, a state of unequalled sorrow, subject to all the frailties of nature, in pain and misery; and thirdly, death: in dying he died; intimating thereby the very death, as comprehensive of all in one. All men in death are exposed to a cold and clammy sweat; but it was reserved to the Lord Jesus, in his death, to sweat a bloody sweat. My soul! do thou thus look at him, in his purple robe, and crown of thorns, who is here represented to thy view, and never, never forget, that in all this he was and is thy surety; the Lord thy righteousness! But there is another point to be regarded in this solemn scripture, which demands thy closest attention; and let this form a second delightful consideration for thy evening’s comforts. When Jesus thus came forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe, as the translation represents the passage; it is Pilate who saith, "Behold the man!" But this is a mistake, and a sad mistake indeed: for it is not Pilate that speaks, but Christ. The word Pilate, if you well observe, is printed in italics, which denotes that it is a word not found in the original, but put in by another hand; and much to be lamented it is, that it should ever have been there. The Lord Jesus Christ had been all along pointed out in the old testament scripture as the man, the very man, that should be "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;" who should give his back to the smiters, and his cheek to them that plucked off his hair, and that would not hide his face from shame and spitting. When, therefore, Pilate brought the Lord Jesus to the view of his people, in direct and full testimony as answerable to those characters; Jesus saith unto them, "Behold the man!" He had before, under the spirit of prophecy, cried out, "Behold me! behold me!" (Isaiah 65:1.) and now, as if to shew the wonderful and complete agreement of scripture prophecy with his sacred person, he saith, "Behold the man!" Oh! how blessed is it to receive this testimony from Jesus’s own mouth! Oh! how refreshing to the soul, to perceive Christ’s gracious attention, in such a moment of trial, to the security and comfort of his people! And what a blessed strengthening to the faith of his redeemed, to behold all the persons Of the Godhead calling upon the church to the same contemplation! "Behold (saith God the Father) my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth?" Isaiah 42:1. Behold (saith God the Holy Ghost) the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!" John 1:29. "Behold the man!" saith Christ himself, as in this most blessed scripture. Lord Jesus! give me to behold thee, with an eye of faith, and so to gaze, with holy joy, and wonder, love, and praise, upon thy glories, that my ravished soul may go forth in longing desires after thee, and thus daily behold thee, until faith be swallowed up in sight, and hope be lost in absolute fruition!