#126 The Bitterness of The Cross

Zechariah 12:10—“They shall be in bitterness for him.”

When the Jews receive Jesus as Messiah, they shall look upon him as pierced and slain: and the first result will be bitter repentance. It is the same with us. Of all sights, a sight of Jesus crucified is the sweetest; but at the same time it causes bitterness.

I. OUR FIRST SIGHT OF CHRIST BRINGS BITTERNESS.

For not having known his preciousness before. What a loss!
For having slighted such love so long. What crime upon crime!
From fear lest he should not be ours after all. This causes a bitter pang, an anxious grief of soul.
Sin, its greatness, and its effects, are seen in his cruel death; and this makes us deplore our guilt, and his woes.
The wrath of God, its justice and terribleness, are also seen at the cross, and we tremble.
Dread of never being forgiven, and a sense that we can never forgive ourselves, are mingled in one bitter draught.

II. OUR CONTINUED SIGHT OF CHRIST WORKS IN US THROUGHOUT LIFE A MEASURE OF THE SAME BITTERNESS.

His great love, when better known, brings deeper grief for sin.
It inspires a direr dread of grieving him.
It creates a deeper regret for our present unworthiness.
It inspires a greater horror at man’s rejection of him, while we see thousands around us perishing by that madness.
It promotes a more overwhelming sympathy with Jesus in his striving against the evil which he died to destroy.

III. THIS BITTERNESS HAS MOST GRACIOUS EFFECTS.

It works great hatred of sin, and a tender and careful avoiding of it.
It makes Christ very sweet.
It makes worldly joys and temptations tasteless.
It removes the bitterness of affliction, pain, and death.
It prevents the sinful bitterness of anger, etc., at persecution.
It has an unutterable sweetness in it. We come to relish repentance, and to feel a pleasure in lowly grief for Jesus.

Nails

I see the crowd in Pilate’s hall, I mark their wrathful deportment;

Their shouts of “Crucify!” appal, with blasphemy between,

And of that shouting multitude I feel that I am one;

And in that din of voices rude, I recognize my own.

I see the scourges tear his back, I see the piercing crown,

And of that crowd who smite and mock I feel that I am one;

Around yon cross, the throng I see, mocking the Sufferer’s groan,

Yet still my voice it seems to be,—as if I mocked alone.

‘Twas I that shed the sacred blood, I nailed him to the tree,

I crucified the Christ of God, I joined the mockery;

Yet not the less that blood avails to cleanse away my sin,

And not the less that cross prevails to give me peace within.

We must nail our sins to the cross of Christ, fasten them upon the tree on which he suffered. Sin will begin to die within a man upon the sight of Christ on the cross, for the cross of Christ accuses sin, shames sin, and by a secret virtue destroys the very heart of sin. We must use sin as Christ was used when he was made sin for us; we must lift it up, and make it naked by confession of it to God; we must fasten the hands and feet of it by repentance, and pierce the heart of it by godly sorrow.—Byfield.

Now, to make and keep the heart soft and tender, the consideration of Christ’s dolorous passion must needs be of singular use and efficacy; as the sight of Caesar’s bloody robes greatly affected the people of Rome, and edged them on to revenge his death.—Trapp.

I am no preacher, let this hint suffice— The cross once seen is death to every vice; Else he who hung there suffered all his pain,

Bled, groaned, and agonized, and died, in vain.—Cowper.

Newton’s hymn, “In evil long I took delight,” describes the experience of one who was brought to repentance and salvation by the sight of Christ crucified.

It is a sweet saying of one of old, “Let a man grieve for his sin, and then joy for his grief.”—Thomas Brooks.