And then that traitor Judas had gone to make his
bargain; and the Savior knew the bands were hunting him. O, think of that
hour and that garden! Think of the agony of that Savior's heart, which made
him say, 'My heart is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death'! Think of
the agony, when the blood from the pores of his skin dropped down on
Gethsemane's garden, and when he came up to the judgment hall the noisy
rabble insulting him; his followers abandoning him; the man who two short
hours before had said to him, 'that though all others forsake thee, I will
not,' uttering curses in his hearing and denying that he ever knew him;
then the scarlet robe and that crown of thorns! O, has earth ever witnessed
such a spectacle as that? And then that cowardly Roman governor, though he
knew he was innocent, yielded him up to the hands of a vociferous, noisy,
and infuriated mob; and he was by him condemned to an ignominious death. In
the service of such a Master, who of his followers would talk of sacrifice?
And then the consummation upon the cross, when all the powers of darkness
on earth and hell were defeated! Three days, and on the morning of the
first day of the week that buffeted, that down-trodden, and crucified
Savior burst the shackles of the tomb, laid the monster Death at his feet,
and rose a triumphant conqueror over the grave.
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