XXXII.

THE PRODIGIES WHICH ATTEND THE DEATH OF

CHRIST.

Ar the instant Jesus expired, the vail which separated the Holiest from those other parts of the temple where the priests might enter, was, by an invisible hand, rent from the top to the bottom; and this miracle was to show that the ancient types and shadows had received their full accomplishment; that the end and the object of the tabernacle were done away with; that the priesthood was abolished; that our true and great High Priest had entered into the true sanctuary, not "by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood;" that the barrier which shuts us out from heaven was removed, and that from

henceforth all might draw near to the throne of grace, in the name of Him who has consecrated for "us a new and living way," by consenting that his own flesh, which is the true veil, should be torn and separated from his soul by a violent and cruel death, Heb. x. 20.

The miraculous opening of the graves near to Calvary, was a visible proof that the death of Jesus Christ had triumphed over our death.

The earthquake showed that the whole earth was about to be shaken to its base; that the preaching of the gospel would cause a universal revolution; and that all nations would be moved and incited by a sudden impulse to destroy their temples and their idols, to come and worship at the cross of Christ crucified, before whom the earth itself at this moment was trembling and quaking.

The rending of the rocks might indicate, that the hardness of the Gentiles should be overcome by the grace of Him who had just expired, and that with great power he would rule the nations, breaking the rebellious among them with a rod of iron, Psa. ii. 8, 9, and bringing the

I

remainder under the yoke of mercy, as powerful

as his justice.

All that followed the death of Christ served, therefore, to explain why he had died, and what were to be the fruits of his sacrifice.

XXXIII.

THE TESTIMONY OF THE CENTURION.

Ir is a fact worthy of observation, that while Israel continued in their blindness, a man of war, a Gentile, should be enlightened by the grace of God. This centurion could not resist the evidence of the things which he witnessed, but confesses openly, that Jesus "was the Son of God," Mark xv. 39, without fearing Pilate, whose injustice he thus indirectly condemns, or the chief priests, who by his confession stand charged with the worst of all crimes.

But it was not the centurion alone, who renders this striking testimony to the Divinity of our Saviour; "They that were with him, watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God," Matt. xxvii. 54.

116

THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST.

Who among us, in seeing these soldiers shed the blood of Jesus Christ by cruel scourgings, insult him by crowning him with thorns, smite him on the head with the mock sceptre which they placed in his hands, and, after having nailed him to the cross, rail at him and blaspheme him, in imitation of the Jews,-who among us, indeed, in seeing all this, could have thought that some of these same soldiers would perhaps afterwards become the first preachers of the Divinity of Christ, having openly acknowledged it upon Calvary itself, before the resurrection of Christ had taken place?

And who after this will deny the power of the cross of Christ? And how light an effort will it be to him to subdue whole nations, since those very men who put him to death, confessed that he was the Son of God, and published it abroad, without having been taught either by the apostles or the disciples of Christ!

THE END.

R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.