Bible Resource Library http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com A Free Library for Bible Study Fri, 25 May 2012 13:51:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 39-Malachi http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/39-malachi/39-malachi/ http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/39-malachi/39-malachi/#comments Fri, 25 May 2012 13:51:51 +0000 admin http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/?p=474 In this index we present commentaries and studies on Malachi.

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]]> http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/39-malachi/39-malachi/feed/ 0 38-Zephaniah http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/36-zephaniah/38-zephaniah/ http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/36-zephaniah/38-zephaniah/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 13:50:29 +0000 admin http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/?p=472 In this index we present commentaries and studies on Zephaniah.

]]> http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/36-zephaniah/38-zephaniah/feed/ 0 Cameron, A.B. – From the Garden to the Cross - A study of our Lord's Passion http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/christology/cross-blood/cameron-a-b-from-the-garden-to-the-cross/ http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/christology/cross-blood/cameron-a-b-from-the-garden-to-the-cross/#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 15:09:04 +0000 admin http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/?p=868 FROM THE GARDEN TO THE CROSS
A STUDY OF OUR LORD’S PASSION
BY
A. B. CAMERON M.A. D.D.
LONDON
ISBISTER & COMPANY Limited
15 & 16 Tavistocic Street Covent Garden 1896
Thou who tor me didst feel such pain, Whose precious blood the cross did stain, Let not those agonies be vain! “

This 16 chapter work has a lot of scanning errors, but it is a very good work on the passion of Christ.

CONTENTS
Leaving the Upper Room 9
Jesus in Gethsemane… 26
The divine Mystery of the Agony… 43
The Apprehension in the Garden… 63
Jesus before His ecclesiastical Judges… 83
Peter’s Denial 110
Jesus before Pilate 132
Jesus before Herod… 157
Jesus again at Pilate’s judgment bar…181
Jesus at the bar of the People… 199
Pilate washes his hands before the multitude. 221
Jesus scourged and crowned with thorns.. 240
The traitor’s end 262
The Via Dolorosa 284
Simon of Cyrene 302
The Daughters of Jerusalem…318

1. Leaving the Upper Room

LEAVING THE UPPER ROOM.

The hour was at hand when Jesus as our High Priest and Saviour must go forth on His way of death. It wanted now but this, followed by His rising again, to complete His ministry on earth.

He had lived His perfect life, borne His faithful witness to God’s truth and grace, and wrought His deeds of healing power and love. To crown the whole there was needed only the sacrifice of Himself on the cross, with all that should come of it, for the world’s redemption and His own glory. So now He must enter upon His via dolorosa^ which may be said to begin with the departure from the Upper Room and to end with Calvary.

The company attending Him on setting out

were the eleven. Judas had already parted from B q

FROM THE GARDEN TO THE CROSS

them.^ He had gone out from the Upper Room by himself before they had risen from the table.

He was now mingling with his Master’s foes, and basely bargaining with them for a traitor’s reward. His was to be a dark and lonely pathway through sin and shame down to depths of despair over his crime, bringing him to the most tragical end. The others were still clinging to their Master.

There was not, it is true, a traitor among them, but there was not one who was not before long to prove a deserter. Jesus was really to go forward alone on His pathway to the cross. It was, however, with a song upon His lips that He went.

But whither was the company to go? Where were they to pass the night? It seemed as if in Jerusalem Jesus had not where to lay His head.

On other evenings of this Passion week He had gone out to Bethany, and lodged with His friends Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. As some tell us, however, it behoved Him on this paschal night not to go beyond the bounds of the holy city.^

^ Keim thinks Judas did not leave till he saw Jesus set out for Gethsemane (Jesus of Nazam, vol. 6:320). Andrews, that he went out on Jesus sayiug to him at the Supper table, * That thou doest do quicldy’ (Life of ow Lord, p. 413). The question whether Judas partoolv of the Supper has often been discussed. There are weighty authorities on both sides.

~ No one could leave the city after the paschal supper till next morning. 15 ut many more were at the feast than Jerusalem could accommodate. Many found shelter and sleep by night in the gardens around, See Andrews’ Life of our Lord, p. 395.

IQ

LEAVING THE UPPER ROOM

If SO, the Mount of Olives must have been regarded as lying within these bounds. There He had passed nights in retirement before. Judas, we are told, knew the place, the favourite spot, the garden there in which He was likely to be found.

He had doubtless satisfied himself on that point before he left the Upper Room. To that favourite retreat Jesus directed His way, and His disciples accompanied Him with an indefinite feeling of sadness and foreboding in their hearts, it is true, but little knowing that the garden was to become for ever memorable as the scene of the agony and the arrest.

The eleven went forth with Him into the street and into the night. It was drawing towards midnight; the second watch, which began at ten o’clock, was already well advanced. The moon was at the full. Most probably it was just beginning to throw its silvery light over the city, and the hills around were appearing in sombre majesty and impressiveness. There were crowds abroad, for Jerusalem was full of pilgrims, and there were the temple services to attract them.^

Yet Jesus and His disciples seem to have moved on unchallenged. Quietly they made their way

^ Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, vol. II, 533.

II

FROM THE GARDEN TO THE CROSS

through the animated streets; they passed through the eastern gate, then down into the valley through which the brook Kedron flowed, and so onward to the enclosed garden on the slope of Olivet called Gethsemane, destined to be for ever sacred in Christian hearts and memories.

But before they left the supper table they joined in singing a hymn.^ We have the means of knowing what they sang. It was the Hallel, the portion of the Psalter which was wont to be sung at the close of the paschal feast — that from the 115th Psalm to the end of the 11 8th.

It was the custom of the Jews for the father of the house or the superior present to start the singing of the Hallel, and the rest then joined in.^

How intensely interesting and touching for us to think of the voice of Jesus blending with the voices of His disciples in the chanting of these Psalms. Think of Him singing in the Upper Room of Himself thus: “ The sorrows of death compassed me about, the pains of hell gat hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow; “ and then again, ” Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.” Or again,

1 Matt. 26:30.

2 IBaring Gould, Passion of Jesus, p. 63,

LEAVINGJJHE IT PER ROOM

“ All nations compassed me about, they compassed me about, they compassed me about hke bees.”

‘* But the Lord is on my side, I will not fear.

What can man do unto me? “ “ The Lord hath chastened me sore. He hath thrust at me that I might fall. But He hath also helped me, and He hath exalted His right hand.” “ The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner.” “ Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord.” “ O, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.”

Jesus could make those words His own as no other who had ever used them. Li them He could perceive Himself, now as the suffering and again as the triumphant Redeemer. They told of His coming woes, and of the glory in which they were to end. The}^ gave expression to His sublime faith in God. They were wonderfully suited to the lips of Him who saw God directly and personally connected with each one of the experiences through which He had to pass, from the depths of suffering to the heights of joy, from the direst apparent failure and hopelessness to the most glorious triumph. They come with thrilling force from Jesus on His way to Gethsemane and Calvary, not forgetful as He goes of the glory that is to

13

FROM THE GARDEN TO THE CROSS

follow. In them are expressed for us both the weeping of the night of the Garden and the Cross, and the joy of the Resurrection morning.

When modern Jews are observing this paschal meal, it is their custom that, at its close, they throw open the doors of the place in which they are assembled, and then remain in profound silence for some minutes. They are waiting for the coming of Elijah, the great Forerunner, to announce the expected Messiah and the setting up of His kingdom. The solemn silence is broken by the whole company joining in the singing of the Hallel, to which we have already referred, just as they are about to leave. ^ Never could this interesting Jewish custom have been observed with deeper significance than on this occasion when the Messiah Himself was in the midst of His followers, and when He was on the way to that cross which was to become the throne of His new and everlasting kingdom.

When they had sung the hymn, chanted those Psalms predictive of Jesus’ sufferings and also of His triumph, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Doubtless there was much earnest and tender discourse by the way, like that which had

^ Mill, British Jews, p. 201.

14

LEAVING THE UP PER ROO.V

been heard at the table of the Supper. How much of what occupies the 14th, 15th, and i6th chapters of John was spoken in the Upper Room, and how much on the way, it would be impossible to say. It may have been the thought of their going forth as men for whom Jerusalem had no home that led Him for His own and their comfort to say, “ In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” ^ Perhaps it was the sight of the moonlit vines growing in the gardens of Olivet before them that suggested the beautiful words He utters on the vine and the branches.^ The calm resting on all nature, as it drew on to the midnight hour, may have led Him to speak of the peace He was to bequeath, which the world could not give and could not take away, and of the untroubled heart that rested on the great love of God.’“ Then the disciples walking by His side— how the approaching crisis would find them, what their future would be — these subjects could not but be touched upon. The prospect of His own woe, awful though it was, did not wholly absorb Him. He had a loving concern for

1 John 14:2.

2 John 15:1,

3 John 14:27.

FROM TEE GARDEN TO THE CROSS

them. The part ihey were to play was as clearly before Him as His own. He could tell them beforehand of the collapse of their faith and courage, which at the first onset was to take place, and of their scattering like a flock of frightened sheep when He their shepherd should be assailed and smitten.^ He had prayed, and He would still pray for their upholding in their greatest hour of trial. He would warn them anew of their imminent peril, and of their urgent need to be specially sustained.^

Some are of opinion that it was on the way to the Kedron Jesus turned aside and offered up His great intercessory pra3′er.^ They think that in some retired spot in the valley near the bridge over the brook — some spot from which the hill Olivet rising up on the other side and the gardens on its slope might be in full view — Jesus might have found the fitting temple of nature, where, under the open firmament of heaven lighted up by the shining moon, and with a solemnizing calm resting on all around. He could pour out His soul in holy intercession as He desired. Such an idea is certainly not out of place, and for some minds it has its attractions.

1 Matt 26:31.

2 Luke 22:32.

‘^ Lange, Gospel of John, p. 291.

l6

LEAVING THE UPFER ROOM

But it is more likely that the Upper Room itself was the place.^ It is more likely that the chamber already consecrated as the scene of the Supper was still further consecrated by being made the Holy of holies into which Jesus entered as the great High Priest, and where He pleaded with the Father for His disciples and the countless multitude that should beheve on Him through their word. It seems most fitting that the place where the Church held her first communion, with her Lord visibly in her midst, should be the place in which He prayed that those might be kept who had been given unto Him, and that they might know Him, abide in His love and fellowship, and behold His glory.-

But while Jesus spoke of coming trial and danger, and prayed for their safeguarding, the disciples did not seem to understand Him. They did not share their Master’s fears and forebodings.

Peter, w^io spoke for them, evidently had no dread of the flock scattering. Self-confidence made him think that he for one was never likely to leave his Lord. He thought he had the love

^ Geikie, Life and Words of Christ, p. GG6. Also Edeisheira (vol.

IL, 513, 528). Westcott thinks it miiy have been the tenii)le, but that would be too crowded and noisy at this Passover time. 8ee his Gospel of St. John, p. 237.

2 Jehu xvii.

17

FROM TEE GARLEX TO THE CROSS

that was stronger than any. death. Measuring his assurance on this point by the intensity of his feeHngs at the moment he said, “ Though all shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended.”^ So strongly did the tide of feeling within him run in this direction of self-assertion, that nothing for the time could arrest or abate it.

Even the gentle but emphatic warning words of his Master, “ Verily, I say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice,” ^ proved unavaiHng.

Peter knew himself, as he thought, better than his Master did. He could measure himself, he vainly imagined, against any danger. He was equal to any possible challenge to the strength or genuineness of his devotion. With his characteristic ardour and energy he said, ‘* Though I should die with Thee yet will I not deny Thee.” ^ And may we not discern just a trace of injured feeling in his mind as he let fall that passionate utterance, as if the Master were not doing justice to the strength of his attachment and the strength of his character, as if the Master were not quite trusting him as he thought he deserved?

1 Matt. 26:33.

^ Matt. 26:34.

3 Matt. 26:35.

l8

LEAVING TEE UPEER ROOM

But Peter did not stand alone in his declarations.

His zeal and ardour proved contagious as they had often done before. “ Likewise, also, said all the disciples.”^ They rightly interpreted their Master’s words as a challenge to their devotion. They were ready to meet it with the warmest protestations on their part; nor were they consciously exaggerating when they said that they could willingly die for Him. The very thought that some great mysterious sorrow was impending over Him, and that He seemed to be asking for their fidelity in His hour of trial, doubtless made their Master dearer to them than ever, and intensified all their feelings towards Him.

It was not usual for Jesus to call for declarations of attachment. He was content that it should reveal itself in everyday words and deeds, in the thing done or said that showed how much He was loved.

His followers were not required to be painfully introspective, to be examining again and again, as they walked with Him, into the state of their hearts, and to be making frequent avowals of their love and of their faith. We question whether Jesus saw any wisdom or virtue in that — a practice so like that of children taking up by the roots

1 Matt. 26:35.

19

FROM THE GARDEX TO THE CROSS

now and again the things they have planted, that they may satisfy themselves as to how they are growing, with the result that they weaken, if they do not destroy, the life of the plants they are so anxious about. It was enough if the disciples walked with Jesus, and did so with true and honest hearts. Yet times there might be which might specially call for their avowals. Such a time was this when Jesus had His face steadfastly set to go to Gethsemane. In view of all that was to take place there, we can understand Jesus in so many words asking the touching question, “ Will ye also go away? “

It did honour then to the disciples that they should make the avowal which they did, and that they should declare their readiness to die with Him.

But they did not know themselves as their Master knew them. They were still ignorant of what the cross was which was about to come upon Him.

They could not forecast that, as a trial or test of their fidelity, it would be far beyond their strength to face or to abide. They could not believe that there could be any trial great or terrible enough to make them deserters from their Master.^ They could not understand the agony to be endured in

Mark 14:31.

20

LEAVISG THE UFPER ROOM

the prospect of the cross, and which Gethsemane was to witness. When it revealed itself in its dread reaUty it proved too much for them.

Their faith, their courage first faltered, and then for the time failed altogether.^

But could there have been found men anywhere, in that age or in ours, who as disciples would have done any better than they did? If the trial was so great, so appalling, as to cause Jesus His bloody sweat in the Garden, we ma}’ well suppose that the approach of it, and the possibility of sharing in it, would have been enough to make cowards of the bravest and the most heroic.

Once before, on a memorable occasion, Jesus had sent His disciples forth on a mission fitted to make special demands on their courage and faith.^

That was when they were appointed to go two and two, and preach the coming of the kingdom.

Then He had sent them ^\’ithout scrip, purse, or sword. He had bidden them go even as they were while they stood around Him, without provision for their journey and without defence save that of God, whose work they were to do. It was a trial of their faith. It needed personal fortitude and great loyalty to their Master thus to go at His command

‘ Matt. xxvi. ijtj.

2 Luke 10:1-24, ‘J”he sending forth of the Seventy.

21

FROM THE GAliDHy TO TEE CROS!^

to be the preachers of His kingdom. They were for the most part humble fishermen, and they were to perform the office of prophets with nothing to accredit them but their commission from the Man of Nazareth, and their power to work certain miracles in His name. They might well have hesitated.

They might well have had their misgivings. They could not know what reception the people would give them, or what perils and sufferings might be before them; and it was trying to have to go, humanly speaking, entirely unprovided for. But they had been equal to that demand upon their faith and their loyalty. They had gone forth, and they had returned ^vith glad tidings to their Master.

They had ” lacked nothing.” “ Even the devils had been subject to them in His name.” ^

It was, however, another and a greater trial that lay before them now. It needed all the preparation they could make for it. To use Jesus’ own words, which doubtless He meant in a figurative sense, they needed purse and scrip and sword. ”Now,”

said He, “ he that hath a purse let him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.”^ Better without comforts than without the needed weapons

1 Luke 10:17.

2 Lulce 22:35-38.

23

LEAVING THE UPPER ROOM

and defences for the crisis. Their honour and safety could hardly be bought at too great a price.

That they might be sufficientty equipped and armed, that they might have all their spiritual resources and weapons — their trust in God, their faith in their Alaster and His cause whatever might happen, their steadfastness and loyalty — that they might have all these at command to meet the impending trial, was of paramount importance. All these would be required, and would be well tried, when they should see their Master in the hands of His foes on the way to His cross. When the Shepherd should be smitten it would be hard, nay it was to be found impossible, for the flock to keep from scattering.

It would seem that Peter put too carnal a meaning into his Lord’s words. Two swords were forthcoming after those words were uttered,^ and Peter took possession of one of them. What blundering use he made of it we know. The stroke which cut off Malchus’ ear,- would, but for Jesus’ intervention, have proved fatal to them all. It was quite another kind of armour or defence which the coming crisis called for. It was that which the Master Himself had, and in which He placed all His trust. It

^ Luke 22:3b.

3 John 18:10.

FROM THE GARDEN TO THE CROSS

would have been well had the disciples gone to meet the crisis as He did. It would have been worth their while, “ selling their garments,” parting with all else, to buy such a sword as He carried, a sword which was to beat down Satan under His feet, and to win for Him the victory of redemption.

It is remarkable how Jesus rests His prophetic eye on this victory, even when He is about to enter the scene of His passion, and how He seeks to share with His disciples the comfort which the hope of it gave to Himself. While He places before them the dark picture of His agony and cross He is careful to lighten it for them by the hope of His resurrection. In a way so true to His beautiful and perfect love for them He tells them that so soon as ever He should come back from the grave He would make His way to them, that the old fellowship, broken for a while by death, might be resumed never to be broken again.

“After I am risen again,” He says, “I will go before you into Galilee.”^ In the old loved haunts, in the Galilee where they had walked so long with their Master and seen so much of Him, and which was dear to them as the country of

1 Matt. 26:32; Mark xiv 28.

H

LEAVING THE UPPER POOM

their birth, their kindred and their toils, they should meet again, and their joy should be full.

With such discourse of trial and victory, of the darkness of the night and the joy of the morning that was to follow it all, Jesus beguiled the way for His disciples till they reached the garden.

There they thought to pass the solemn paschal night just as probably they had passed many another before. It was, however, destined to be the scene of momentous events for which, notwithstanding all that had been or could be said, they were unprepared.

25

Chapters: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Next |

]]> http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/christology/cross-blood/cameron-a-b-from-the-garden-to-the-cross/feed/ 0 35-Habakkuk http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/35-habbakkuk/35-habakkuk/ http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/35-habbakkuk/35-habakkuk/#comments Mon, 21 May 2012 13:45:56 +0000 admin http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/?p=466 In this index we present commentaries and studies on Habakkuk.

James Van Dine - Analysis of Habakkuk 6 pgs offsite

Calvin, John - Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai (b) 1.2 MB (296 pgs) 
Constable - Habbakkuk (b) (24 pages)  
Gray, James - Concise Bible Commentary on Old Testament (b)#Habakkuk
Henry, Matthew - Commentary (b) Set: Isa.-Mal. Vol.4  16MB (2196 pgs).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown - Commentary on the whole Bible (b)  48.8MB (3949 pages) page 2013
Keil & Delitzsch - Commentary on Habakkuk (b) 300K (88 pages).
Maclaren - Commentary Ez, Dan, Minor, Mt 1-8 (b) 1.4MB (414 pages) 
McGee - Nahum & Habakkuk 211k (18 pages).

]]> http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/35-habbakkuk/35-habakkuk/feed/ 0 37-Haggai http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/37-haggai/37-haggai/ http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/37-haggai/37-haggai/#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 13:48:54 +0000 admin http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/?p=470 In this index we present commentaries and studies on Haggai.

]]> http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/37-haggai/37-haggai/feed/ 0 36-Zephaniah http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/36-zephaniah/36-zephaniah/ http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/36-zephaniah/36-zephaniah/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 13:47:26 +0000 admin http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/?p=468 In this index we present commentaries and studies on Zephaniah.

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]]> http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/36-zephaniah/36-zephaniah/feed/ 0 Bellarmine – The Seven Words on the Cross Bk1 http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/christology/cross-blood/bellarmine-the-seven-words-on-the-cross-bk1/ http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/christology/cross-blood/bellarmine-the-seven-words-on-the-cross-bk1/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 14:30:19 +0000 admin http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/?p=859 THE SEVEN WORDS ON THE CROSS
St Robert Bellarmine

This is a very large and extensive work on Christ’s saying on the cross by Bellarmine (Catholic). Even though it is Catholic, it is a very notable work on Christ’s sayings, well worth examining when studying this topic. Bellarmine’s work is divided into two books, the first deals with the first first three sayings, and the second book with the last three sayings.

Nihil Obstat:
EDWARD A. CERNY, S.S., D.D.
Censor Librorum

Imprimatur:
FRANCIS P. KEOUGH, D.D
Archbishop of Baltimore

See also

Bellarmine – The Seven Words on the Cross Bk2

CONTENTS OF BOOK 1

PREFACE
BOOK ONE: ON THE FIRST THREE WORDS SPOKEN ON THE CROSS
CHAPTER I: The literal explanation of the first Word, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
CHAPTER II: The first fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the first Word spoken by Christ on the Cross.
CHAPTER III. The second fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the first Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER IV: The literal explanation of the second Word, “Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.”
CHAPTER V. The first fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the second Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER VI: The second fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the second Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER VII: The third fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the second Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER VIII. The literal explanation of the third Word–”Behold thy Mother: Behold thy Son.”
CHAPTER IX. The first fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the third Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER X: The second fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the third Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XI: The third fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the third Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XII: The fourth fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the third Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.

Preface

Behold me, now, for the fourth year, preparing for my death. Having withdrawn from the business of the world to a place of repose, I give myself up to the meditation of the Sacred Scriptures, and to writing the thoughts that occur to me in my meditations; so that if I am no longer able to be of use by word of mouth, or the composition of voluminous works, I may at least be of some use to my brethren, by these pious little books. Whilst then I was reflecting as to what would be the most eligible subject both to prepare me to die well, and to assist others to live well, the Death of our Lord occurred to me, together with the last sermon which the Redeemer of the world preached from the Cross, as from an elevated pulpit, to the human race. This sermon consists of seven short but weighty sentences, and in these seven words is comprised everything of which our Lord spoke when He said: “Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the Prophets concerning the Son of Man.”[1] The things which the Prophets foretold about Christ may be reduced to four heads: His sermons to the people; His prayer to His Father; the great torments He endured; and the sublime and admirable works He performed. Now these things were verified in a wonderful manner in the Life of Christ, for our Lord was ever most diligent in preaching to the people. He preached in the Temple, in the synagogues, in the fields, in deserts, in private houses, nay, He preached even from a ship to the people who were standing on the shore. It was His wont to spend nights in prayer to God: for so says the evangelist “He passed the whole night in the prayer of God.”[2] His admirable works of casting out devils, of curing the sick, of multiplying loaves, of allaying storms,[3] are to be read in every page of the Gospels. Again, the injuries that were heaped upon Him, in return for the good He had done, were many. They consisted not only in contumelious words, but also in stoning[4] and in casting Him down headlong.[5] In a word, all these things were truly consummated on the Cross. His preaching from the Cross was so powerful that “all the multitude returned striking their breasts,”[6] and not only the hearts of men but even rocks were rent asunder. He prayed on the Cross, as the Apostle says, “with a strong cry and tears,” so that He “was heard for His reverence.”[7] He suffered so much on the Cross, in comparison to what He had suffered during the rest of His life, that suffering seems only to belong to His Passion. Finally, He never wrought greater signs and prodigies than when on the Cross He seemed to be reduced to the greatest weakness and infirmity. He then not only showed signs from heaven, which the Jews had previously asked of Him even to importunity, but a little while after He showed the greatest of all signs. For after He was dead and buried He rose again from the dead by His own power, recalling His Body to life, even to an immortal life. Truly then may we say that on the Cross was consummated everything that had been written by the Prophets concerning the Son of Man.

But before I begin to write on the words which our Lord spoke from the Cross, it seems proper that I should say something of the Cross itself, which was the pulpit of the Preacher, the altar of the Sacrificing Priest, the arena of the Combatant, the workshop of the Wonder-worker. The ancients commonly agree in saying that the Cross was made of three pieces of wood; one upright, along which the body of the crucified person was stretched; another transverse, to which the hands were fastened; and the third was attached to the lower part of the cross, on which the feet of the condemned rested, but fastened by nails to prevent their moving about. The ancient Fathers of the Church agree in this opinion, as St. Justin[8] and St. Irenaeus.[9] These authors, moreover, clearly indicate that each foot rested on the foot-board, and that one foot was not placed over the other. Hence it follows that Christ was nailed to the Cross with four nails, and not with three, as many imagine, who in pictures represent Christ, our Lord, as nailed to the Cross with one foot over the other. Gregory of Tours,[10] distinctly says the contrary, and confirms his view by an appeal to ancient pictures. I, for my part, have seen in the Royal Library at Paris, some very ancient manuscripts of the Gospels, which contained many pictures of Christ crucified, and these all had the four nails.

St. Augustine,[11] and St. Gregory of Nyssa,[12] say that the upright piece of the Cross projected a little from the transverse piece. It would seem that the Apostle also insinuates the same, for in his Epistle to the Ephesians St. Paul writes: “That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth.”[13] This is clearly a description of the figure of the Cross, which has four extremes; breadth in the transverse piece; length in the upright piece; height in that part of the Cross which stood out and projected from the transverse part; and depth in the part which was buried in the earth. Our Lord did not endure the torments of the Cross by chance, or unwillingly, since He had chosen this kind of death from all eternity, as St. Augustine[14] teaches from the testimony of the Apostle: “Jesus of Nazareth being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain.”[15] And so Christ, at the beginning of His preaching, said to Nicodemus: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.”[16] He often spoke to His Apostles about His Cross, and encouraged them to imitate Him by the words: ” If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”[17]

Our Lord alone knows the reason that induced Him to choose this manner of death. The holy Fathers, however, have thought of some mystical reasons, and have left them to us in their writings. St. Irenaeus, in the work of his to which we have referred, says that the words, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS,” were written over that part of the Cross where the two arms meet, to give us to understand, that the two nations, of Jew and Gentile, which had up to that time been estranged from each other, were henceforth to be united into one body under the one Head, Christ. St. Gregory of Nyssa, in his sermon on the Resurrection, says that the part of the Cross which looked towards heaven, shows that heaven is to be opened by the Cross as by a key; that the part which w as buried in the earth shows that hell was despoiled by Christ when He descended thither; and that the two arms of the Cross, which stretched towards the cast and west, show the regeneration of the whole world by the Blood of Christ. St. Jerome, on the Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Augustine,[18] in his Epistle to Honoratus, St. Bernard, in the fifth book of his work on “Consideration,” teach that the principal mystery of the Cross was briefly touched upon by the Apostle in the words: “What is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth.”[19] The primary signification of these words points to the attributes of God; the height signifies His power; the depth, His wisdom; the breadth, His goodness; the length, His eternity. They have reference also to the virtues of Christ in His Passion; the breadth, His charity; the length, His patience; the height, His obedience; the depth, His humility. They signify, moreover, the virtues which are necessary for those who are saved through Christ. The depth of the Cross means faith; the height, hope; the breadth, charity; the length, perseverance. From this we gather that only charity, the queen of virtues, finds a place everywhere, in God, in Christ, and in ourselves. Of the other virtues, some are proper to God, others to Christ, and others to us. Consequently it is not wonderful that in His last words from the Cross, which we are now going to explain, Christ should give the first place to words of charity.

We shall therefore begin by explaining the first three words which were spoken by Christ about the sixth hour, before the sun was obscured and darkness overspread the earth. We shall then consider this eclipse of the sun, and finally come to the explanation of the other words of our Lord, which were spoken about the ninth hour,[20] when the darkness was disappearing, and the Death of Christ was at hand.

ENDNOTES

1. St. Luke xviii. 31.

2. St. Luke vi. 12.

3. St. Matt. viii.; St. Mark iv.; St. Luke vi.; St. John vi.

4. St. John viii.

5. St. Luke iv.

6. St. Luke xxiii. 48.

7. Heb. v. 7.

8. In “Dial. cum Thyphon,” lib. v.

9. “Advers. haeres. Valent.”

10. “Lib. de Gloria Martyr.” c. vi.

11. Epist i.

12. Serm. i “De Ressur.”

13. Ephes. iii. 18.

14. Epist. 120.

15. Acts ii 23.

16. St. John iii. 14, 15.

17. St. Matt. xvi. 24.

18. Epist. 120.

19. Ephes. iii. 18.

20. St. Matt. xxvii.

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]]> http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/christology/cross-blood/bellarmine-the-seven-words-on-the-cross-bk1/feed/ 0 Bellarmine – The Seven Words on the Cross Bk2 http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/christology/cross-blood/bellarmine-the-seven-words-on-the-cross-bk2/ http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/christology/cross-blood/bellarmine-the-seven-words-on-the-cross-bk2/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 14:30:16 +0000 admin http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/?p=862 THE SEVEN WORDS ON THE CROSS
St Robert Bellarmine

This is a very large and extensive work on Christ’s saying on the cross by Bellarmine (Catholic). Even though it is Catholic, it is a very notable work on Christ’s sayings, well worth examining when studying this topic. Bellarmine’s work is divided into two books, the first deals with the first first three sayings, and the second book with the last three sayings.

Nihil Obstat:

EDWARD A. CERNY, S.S., D.D.
Censor Librorum

Imprimatur:
FRANCIS P. KEOUGH, D.D
Archbishop of Baltimore

See also

Bellarmine – The Seven Words on the Cross Bk1

CONTENTS OF BOOK 2

BOOK II: ON THE LAST FOUR WORDS SPOKEN ON THE CROSS.
CHAPTER I. The literal explanation of the fourth Word, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
CHAPTER II: The first fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the fourth word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER III. The second fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the fourth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER IV. The third fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the fourth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER V: The fourth fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the fourth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER VI: The fifth fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the fourth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER VII: The literal explanation of the fifth Word, “I thirst.”
CHAPTER VIII: The first fruit to be derived from the consideration of the fifth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER IX: The second fruit to be derived from the consideration of the fifth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER X: The third fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the fifth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XI: The fourth fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the fifth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XII: The literal explanation of the sixth Word, “It is consummated.
CHAPTER XIII: The first fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the sixth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XIV. The second fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the sixth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XV: The third fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the sixth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XVI: The fourth fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the sixth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XVII: The fifth fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the sixth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XVIII: The sixth fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the sixth Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XIX: The literal explanation of the seventh Word, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit.”
CHAPTER XX: The first fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the seventh Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XXI: The second fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the seventh Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XXII: The third fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the seventh Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XXIII: The fourth fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the seventh Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.
CHAPTER XXIV: The fifth fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the seventh Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.

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]]> http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/christology/cross-blood/bellarmine-the-seven-words-on-the-cross-bk2/feed/ 0 33-Micah http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/33-micah/33-micah/ http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/33-micah/33-micah/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 13:42:47 +0000 admin http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/?p=462 In this index we present commentaries and studies on Micah.

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]]> http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/33-micah/33-micah/feed/ 0 32-Jonah http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/32-jonah/32-jonah/ http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/com-ot-minor-prophets/32-jonah/32-jonah/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 13:39:57 +0000 admin http://www.bibleresourcelibrary.com/?p=460 In this index we present commentaries and studies on Jonah.

theWord Commentary Modules

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