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Cruelty Brings Love
“One of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34).
For one last time an unbeliever was allowed to touch the Lord Jesus. From that moment onward He would say to His own, “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have” (Luke 24:39). And to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side.” (John 20:27). But no man without faith was allowed to touch Him again. The final act of man’s hatred was for the Roman soldier to plunge his spear into the side of the Lord. It was too late to kill the Lord of life. He had already laid down His own life willingly. But that act of hatred immediately brought out the blood and water. It is that blood that makes an atonement for sin. That blood “cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). What cruelty, what a price was paid, but what great love superseded it all! We are now redeemed, forgiven, justified, sanctified, brought near, and made fit for Heaven through that blood.
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