Psalms 22:14-18

They pierced my hands and my feet.

Our Lord’s passion

The great mystery of the passion of our Lord is one which in all its fulness the human mind cannot comprehend. In what manner His sufferings purchased our redemption, and what was the precise nature of those sufferings, are points which we shall in vain attempt to ascertain or demonstrate by words, however forcible; but that Christ died for our sins, and that we are redeemed by His precious blood, are amongst the many declarations of Scripture which place beyond all doubt the truth that the sufferings of Christ were an atonement for our sin.

I. The sufferings of Christ as man. Every kind of pain tortured His body. The closing scenes of His life mark Him most conspicuously as “the Man of Sorrows.”

II. The sufferings which Christ endured as the Son of God. The sins of the whole world oppressed Him. Sin when duly felt is a heavy burden. How heavy, then, must have been the weight of the sins of the whole world! How wondrous is the outpouring of such love on the part of Jesus and of God! Let the memory of it guard us from attempting to extenuate sin, or in any way making light of it. And when we are called upon to suffer, let the example of our Lord’s meekness and humility be that which we shall follow. (T. R. Redwar, M. A.)

The influence of a great sacrifice

It is strange to think that any man should think lightly of sin viewed in the light of Calvary Cross. It has a wonderful power and influence if you would view it aright. One day a little girl, sitting by her mother’s side, gazed very intently at her parent’s hand. A mere stranger would have said, “What a deformity!” as the hand was blurred and twisted. The girl asked her mother why the hand was different to the other. The mother told her that years ago when her little child was a baby the cot in which she lay caught fire, and her mother in her terror and anxiety tore off the curtains to stop the flames and wrap the child in. In doing so she so burned her hand that for months after she was unable to use it. You can think how the child’s love multiplied beyond all words as she heard the story. Her future delight was to save that injured hand all the work she could possibly.