OM THE CROSS[1]

The Seven Words from the Cross may be divided into two groups. In the
first three--namely, the prayer for His crucifiers, the word to the
penitent thief, and the directions about His mother--our Lord was
dealing with the interests of others; in the last four, to which we now
pass, He was absorbed in His own concerns. This division is natural.
Many a dying man, after arranging his affairs and saying his farewells,
turns his face to the wall, to encounter death and be alone with God.
It was highly characteristic of Jesus, however, before turning to His
own things, first to mind the things of others.

Between these two groups of sayings there seems to have elapsed a long
interval. From the sixth hour to the ninth Jesus was silent. And
during this interval there was darkness over all the land. Of what
precise nature this atmospheric effect may have been it is impossible
at this distance to say. But the Evangelists, three of whom mention
it, evidently consider it to have indicated in some sense the sympathy
of nature with her Lord. It was as if the sun refused to look on such
a deed of shame. It may be supposed that by this weird phenomenon the
noises round the cross were in some degree hushed. At length the
silence was broken by Christ Himself, who, in a loud voice, gave
utterance to the Fourth Word from the cross. This was a word of
astonishment and agony, yet also of victory.

I.

Of what nature had been the meditations of our Lord during the three
hours of silence? Had He been in an ecstasy of communion with His
heavenly Father? Not infrequently has this been vouchsafed to dying
saints. And it has sometimes enabled them completely to overcome
physical suffering. Martyrs have occasionally been so exalted at the
last as to be able even to sing in the flames. It is with awe and
astonishment we learn that the very opposite of this was the state of
mind of Jesus. The word with which He burst out of the trance of
silence may be taken as the index of what was going on in His mind
during the preceding hours; and it is a cry out of the lowest depths of
despair. Indeed, it is the most appalling sound that ever pierced the
atmosphere of this earth. Familiar as it is to us, it cannot be heard
by a sensitive ear even at this day without causing a cold shudder of
terror. In the entire Bible there is no other sentence so difficult to
explain. The first thought of a preacher, on coming to it, i