sus still says, "I
thirst." He thirsts for love. He thirsts for prayer. He thirsts for
service. He thirsts for holiness. Whenever the heart of a human being
turns to Him with a genuine impulse of penitence, affection or
consecration, the Saviour sees of the travail of His soul and is
satisfied.

[1] "I thirst."

[2] _tetelestai_--the very word of Jesus Himself--"It is finished--"
which may possibly have been fourth.

[3] He had by this time been on the cross for four hours or more. The
arrest took place about midnight; the ecclesiastical trial terminated
about sunrise; the proceedings before Pilate occupied perhaps from six
to nine, or rather more; the crucifixion took place towards noon; from
noon till three o'clock darkness prevailed; and between this and sunset
the death and burial took place. See Matt. xxvii. 1; Mark xv. 25, 33,
34, 42. St. John's statement of time, xix. 14, is a difficulty. He
appears to reckon from a different starting-point. See Andrews' _Life
of Our Lord_ (new edition), pp. 545 ff. In the same passage St. John
says, "It was the preparation of the passover"; does this mean the day
before the feast commenced, or the day before the Sabbath of Passover
Week? There are held to be other indications that St. John represents
the crucifixion as having taken place the day before the Passover
began, whereas the Synoptists place it the day after (especially John
xviii. 28, where the question is whether "the passover" means the
Paschal Lamb or the Chagigah, a portion of the feast belonging to the
second day). On this question there is an extensive literature. See
Andrews, 452-81, and Keim, vol. vi., pp. 195-219.

[4] "To be in too great a hurry to discharge an obligation is itself a
kind of ingratitude."--LA ROCHEFOUCAULD.

[5] Hoffmann says that Jesus refused the intoxicating draught, before
the crucifixion began, that His senses might be kept clear; and that
now He accepted the refreshing draught for the same purpose.

[6] "Eli, Eli," etc.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE SIXTH WORD FROM THE CROSS[1]

Like the Fifth, the Sixth Word from the Cross is, in the Greek,
literally a single word; and it has been often affirmed to be the
greatest single word ever uttered. It may be said to comprehend in
itself the salvation of the world; and thousands of human souls, in the
agony of conviction or in the crisis of death, have laid hold of it as
the drowning sailor grasps the life-buoy.

Some