Here, in Gethsemane, we see Jesus engaged in paying the price of our redemption: this means, what he had to suffer for us before our sins could be pardoned. The pains and sorrows through which Jesus passed, in the agony of the garden, and the death on the cross: the sighs he heaved—the groans he uttered—the tears he shed—the fears, the griefs, the unknown sufferings that he bore—all these were part of the price he had to pay, that we might be saved from our sins.
When we read of all that Jesus endured in Gethsemane: when we hear him say—“my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death:” when we see him fall to the earth, in such an agony that “his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground:” we may well ask the question—what was it which caused him all this fearful suffering? And there is only one way of answering this question; and this is by saying that he was bearing the punishment of our sins. There was nothing else that could have made him feel so sad and sorrowful. But this explains it all. Then, as the prophet says—“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities;—and the Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Is. liii: 5, 6. Our sins had provoked the wrath of God against us, and Jesus was bearing that wrath for us. In all the world, there is nothing that shows so clearly what a fearful thing sin is, as the awful sufferings of Jesus when he was paying the price of our sins, or making atonement for us. And it is by knowing what took place in Gethsemane, and on Calvary, and only in this way, that we can learn what a terrible evil sin is, and how we are to be saved from it.
Some years ago, there was a good Christian lady in England who had taken into her family a deaf and dumb boy. She was anxious to teach him the lesson of Gethsemane and Calvary; that Christ had suffered and died for our sins. Signs and pictures were the only means by which she could teach him. So she drew a picture of a great crowd of people, old and young, standing near a deep, wide pit, out of which smoke and flames were issuing, and into which they were in danger of being driven. Then she drew the figure of one who came down from heaven, representing Jesus, the Son of God. She explained to the boy that when this person came, he asked God not to throw those people into the pit, because he was willing to suffer and to die for them, that the pit might be shut up and the people saved.
The deaf and dumb boy wondered much: and then made signs that the person who offered to die was only one, while the guilty ones who deserved to die were many. He did not understand how God could be willing to take one, in the place of so many. The lady saw the difficulty that was in the boy’s mind. Then she took a gold ring off from her finger, and put it down by the side of a great heap of withered leaves, from some faded flowers, and then asked the boy, by signs, which was the more valuable, the one gold ring, or the many withered leaves? The boy took in the idea at once. He clapped his hands with delight, and then by signs exclaimed—“The one—the golden one.” And then to show that he knew what this meant, and that the life of Jesus was worth more than the world of sinners for which he died, he ran and got his letters, and spelled the words—“Good! The golden one good!” The deaf and dumb boy had learned two great lessons that day. For one thing he had learned this lesson about sin which we are trying to learn from Gethsemane. He saw what a dreadful thing sin is, when it was necessary for Jesus to die before it could be pardoned. And then, at the same time, he learned a lesson about Jesus. He saw what a golden, glorious character he is: that he is perfect man, and perfect God. This made his blood so precious that the shedding of that blood was a price sufficient to pay for the sins of the whole world.
Jesus Privately Examined by Pilate
Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?—St. John xviii: 33-38.
NOTE BY THE ARTIST
If Herod’s palace was built according to the customary Roman method, the private examination of Jesus would naturally be conducted either in the library, or in Pilate’s business room—apartments which usually occupied positions on opposite sides of a short passage leading from the further extremity of the spacious atrium to the inner halls and chambers of the palace. There were six examinations of our Lord: (1) before Annas for fact; (2) before Caiaphas for determinations; (3) before the Sanhedrim for official confirmation; (4) before Pilate for preliminary enquiry; (5) before Herod Antipas as Tetrarch of Galilee; (6) before Pilate for final acquittal or condemnation.
62