Matthew 27:43

He trusted in God,....

If he will have him - Or, if he delight in him - ει θελει αυτον. The verbs θελω and εθελω, are used by the Septuagint in more than forty places for the Hebrew חפץ chaphets, which signifies, earnestly to desire, or delight in.

THESE WORDS ARE a fulfilment of the prophecy contained in the twenty-second Psalm. Read from the seventh verse’"All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." Thus to the letter doth our Lord answer to the ancient prophecy.

These verses describe the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ after his condemnation by Pilate, his sufferings in the hands of the brutal Roman soldiers, and his final sufferings on the cross. They form a marvelous record. They are marvelous when we remember the sufferer—the eternal Son of God. They are marvelous when we remember the persons for whom these sufferings were endured. We and our sins were the cause of all this sorrow! He “died for our sins” ( 1 Corinthians 15:3 ). Let us observe in the first place the extent and reality of our Lord’s sufferings. The catalogue of all the pains endured by our Lord’s body is indeed a fearful one: seldom has such suffering been inflicted on one body in the last few hours of a life. The most savage tribes, in their refinement of cruelty, could hardly have heaped more agonizing tortures on an enemy than were accumulated on the flesh and bones of our beloved Master. Never let it be forgotten that he had a real human body, a body exactly like our own, just as sensitive, just as vulnerable, just as capable of feeling intense pain. And then let us see what that body endured. Our Lord, we must remember, had already passed a night without sleep, and endured excessive fatigue. He had been taken from Gethsemane to the Jewish council, and from the Council to Pilate’s judgment hall. He had been twice placed on his trial, and twice unjustly condemned. He had been already scourged and beaten cruelly with rods. And now, after all this suffering, he was delivered up to the Roman soldiers, a body of men no doubt expert in cruelty, and, of all people, least likely to behave with delicacy or compassion. These hard men at once proceeded to work their will.

THESE WORDS ARE a fulfilment of the prophecy contained in the twenty-second Psalm. Read from the seventh verse’"All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." Thus to the letter doth our Lord answer to the ancient prophecy. It is very painful to the heart to picture our blessed Master in his death-agonies, surrounded by a ribald multitude, who watched him and mocked him, made sport of his prayer and insulted his faith. Nothing was sacred to them: they invaded the Holy of holies of his confidence in God, and taunted him concerning that faith in Jehovah which they were compelled to admit. See, dear friends, what an evil thing is sin, since the Sin-bearer suffers so bitterly to make atonement for it! See, also, the shame of sin, since even the Prince of Glory, when bearing the consequences of it, is covered with contempt! Behold, also, how he loved us! For our sake he "endured the cross, despising the shame." He loved us so much that even scorn of the most cruel sort he deigned to bear, that he might take away our shame and enable us to look up unto God. Beloved, the treatment of our Lord Jesus Christ by men is the clearest proof of total depravity which can possibly be required or discovered. Those must be stony hearts indeed which can laugh at a dying Saviour, and mock even at his faith in God! Compassion would seem to have deserted humanity, while malice sat supreme on the throne. Painful as the picture is, it will do you good to paint it. You will need neither canvas, nor brush, nor palette, nor colours. Let your thoughts draw the outline, and your love fill in the detail; I shall not complain if imagination heightens the colouring.

These verses describe the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ after his condemnation by Pilate, his sufferings in the hands of the brutal Roman soldiers, and his final sufferings on the cross. They form a marvelous record. They are marvelous when we remember the sufferer—the eternal Son of God. They are marvelous when we remember the persons for whom these sufferings were endured. We and our sins were the cause of all this sorrow! He “died for our sins” ( 1 Corinthians 15:3 ). Let us observe in the first place the extent and reality of our Lord’s sufferings.