THE chief priests and the scribes and elders of Israel little understood the significance of their own words when they said mockingly to Jesus on the cross, “He saved others, himself he cannot save.” “The passers-by reviled him, wagging their heads, and led the way in sang, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matt. 27:39, 40). The religious leaders took up the cry, and said: “He saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.” And the thieves crucified with Him, reiterated the cry, casting the same in His teeth (Matt. 27:44). And again a little later others, when they heard His cry, said, “Let be, let us see whether Elias will come and save him” (vs. 49).
What a deeply solemn scene! Jesus, the Son of God, on a cross between two thieves, the object of the taunts and derision of those He came to save. One who might have called on His Father, and presently He would have given Him twelve legion of angels to escape the hands of His foes. One, the majesty of whose presence caused those who came to take Him to step backward and fall to the ground (John 18:6). One who could have put forth divine power, and have smitten every foe with a word. But One who passed through all, that He might by death on the cross glorify God as to the whole question of sin, and save sinners guilty and lost.
Perfect in His obedience, not a word escaped His blessed lips against His tormentors, in the midst of all His sorrows and suffering. All was borne in perfect meekness, the wickedness of His enemies in crucifying Him only eliciting these precious and memorable words, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
The very thing His enemies bade Him do, namely, to save Himself, and come down from the cross, was the one thing He could not do, if such as they were to be saved. “Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.” Little did their dark minds and wicked hearts realize the folly of their own words. Of what avail would it have been to believe Him if He came down? How could their sins be put away from before God, apart from His death? How could He save others, if He saved Himself? Impossible. “If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross,” said the passers-by. It was because He was the Son of God that He was there to glorify God, to overthrow the enemy’s power, to save them. None other than the Son of God could do it.
Precious Saviour, nothing moved Him. During three awful hours He bore the judgment of God against sin, as well as the repeated taunts and mockeries of His enemies. “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” was His heart-felt bitter cry, as He drained the last dark drop of that dreadful cup ere He yielded up the ghost. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Ah, why indeed? One answer only can there be. That God might be glorified as to the foul blot of sin, that in righteousness He might display His grace and make known His love to every sinner that believeth. “He saved others, himself he cannot save,” cried the mocking priests and others. Never were words more true, but in a very different sense to the thought of those who uttered them. He could not save Himself if others were to be saved. And wondrous love, God spared not His Son but delivered Him for us all; and He, having offered Himself through the eternal Spirit without spot to God, was made sin and died.
“If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.” That He could not do, if to believe Him should be of any value. But He did a far more wonderful thing than that. Instead of coming down from the cross, He came up from the grave (1 Cor. 15:4). And though His own received Him not, God received Him up in glory. From thence He saves others on the ground of His finished work, from that day to this. Even ere He commended His Spirit to His Father on the cross, one of the reviling thieves proved the power of His word and the efficacy of His mighty work, and passed into paradise to share His blessed company forever. What a Saviour Jesus is! Reader, do you know Him? Are you one of His saved ones?
Blessed, faithful Lord, He finished the work given Him to do, and His precious blood was shed. And now He sits a triumphant Victor and Saviour at the right hand of God, and His Spirit works in power in the hearts of men. The enemies of Christ said they would believe Him if He came down from the cross. Will you believe Him now that He has come up from the grave, the living Christ in glory? For nearly nineteen centuries God has waited in His rich grace, offering pardon and salvation full and free to a lost world. But soon, very soon, the hour of grace will have passed, and the hour of judgment have come. Now and now only is God’s time for sinners to be saved. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). God offers you Christ as a present Saviour. What think ye of Him? Will you in blind folly and unbelief continue on the side of the world that mocked and crucified the Lord of glory, or do you believe in Him as your Saviour and Lord? Delays are dangerous. Procrastination is the thief of time. Today, even now, the present moment is the moment for decision, for ere tomorrow you may be in eternity, and then it will be too late!
“Too late, too late, how sad the sound
For anxious human ears!
But now glad tidings loud resound,
God has a Saviour for us found,
And in His death a righteous ground,
To banish all our fears.”
“He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God,” said they derisively. Ah! God is not mocked. His trust in Him was not in vain. He did deliver Him, but it was not from dying, but out of death itself and all the enemy’s power. If He will have Him! If! It was the delight of His heart. God was delighted to receive in glory Him whose delight it was to do His will on earth. For He said, “I am the Son of God.” They did not believe it, but He said it, and He said the truth. And “he was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). The Son of God is now in the glory of God. And priests, elders, scribes, all, whether Jew or Gentile, are invited to believe on Him now.
Others said, “Let be, let us see whether Elias will come and save him.” But it was to God, infinitely greater than the Jewish prophet, that Jesus cried. And He saved Him, not from, but out of death and the grave, the Man in whom He was well pleased, and presents Him now as the Object of faith in the glory. And there is not a need of any soul but what He can meet. Himself He could not save, for He would save others. By His death and blood-shedding is the only way. There is no other.
All our efforts and ways, all our doings and works, all our righteousnesses after the flesh, are utterly valueless to meet God and His claims. All have been met once for all by Christ on Calvary. And the whole benefit of His work is put to our account the moment we believe on Him. His blood cleanseth us from all sin, and He Himself becomes our righteousness before God forever. What we are not He has been, a holy Man, and hence what we could not do He has done. That is, He, the Holy One and the Just, poured out His soul unto death at Calvary, to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. So perfectly was every question met and settled there, that God glorified Him, and the great question for your soul now is, What think ye of Christ? Do you believe in His Name? To all who do, God says, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
“Himself He could not save,
He on the cross must die,
Or mercy could not come
To ruined sinners nigh;
Yes, Christ, the Son of God, must bleed,
That sinners might from sin be freed.”
E. H. C.