Albert was lying in the hospital in much pain. It was difficult to talk with him because spasms of pain were causing him to groan and cry out.
I felt so sorry for him. I could not help him, although he said he was glad to have a visitor. The cries of pain were causing "butterflies" in my stomach.
The two men beside him felt very sympathetic too. When Albert cried out they expressed hope that something could be done for him. The nurse tried to help him. Everyone in the hospital ward felt sorry for Albert; no one joked or laughed.
Long ago, another Man was in pain. What a contrast the circumstances were! No one cared. People standing around did not sympathize; they actually mocked and made fun of the sufferer.
Do you know who this Man was? The Lord Jesus Christ! The Son of God! Where was He? He was hanging on a cross of wood. The Scripture says, "Sitting down they watched Him there." Matt. 27:36.
Was Jesus in pain? You know He was. He was wearing a crown of thorns that had been pressed down on His blessed head. The judge, Pilate, had had Him whipped and He was hanging by nails that had been driven through His hands and feet. Yet others all around the cross were mocking Him. They said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.... He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him: for He said, I am the Son of God." Matt. 27:42, 43. Even the thieves that were crucified with Him were mocking too.
There was a further contrast. Albert was continually calling for the nurse to come and give him an injection for pain. Like most people when in acute pain, he could think only of himself. The Lord Jesus was thinking of those very ones who were mocking Him. He spoke to God and said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34.
He also cared for His mother and committed her to the care of John (John 19:25-27). He spoke with purpose to fulfill Scripture when He said, "I thirst." John 19:28. Blessed Savior!
But there is something much worse that the Lord Jesus endured while on that cross. Do you say. "What could be worse than all that pain"? Let us read Matt. 27:45, 46: "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
What happened during those three hours of darkness? No detail is given. God would not let anyone see. When those words were given prophetically in Psa. 22, it says, "Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." During those dark hours the Lord Jesus was made sin for us. (2 Cor. 5:21.) "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isa. 53:6.
This was much worse than what man did to Jesus. This was entirely God's work; no man could have anything to do with this.
Dear friend, what does all this mean to you? Long ago it was written, "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?" Lam. 1:12.
Jesus died for all, but it is only those who believe who have eternal life. It is "By faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." Rom. 3:22. Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life." John 6:47.
Jesus died so that God could "be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. 3:26.
Is He your Savior? Can you truly say, "The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me"? Gal. 2:20.