264 The NEW and COMPLETE L IFE of our BLESSED 'LORD -him, turned himfelf about, and, with a benevolence and tendernefs truly divine, faid to them, Daughters of ,7erufalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourfelves and for your children. For, behold, the days are com- ing, in the which theyfhallfay, Bled arethe barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the flaps which never gavefuck. Then (hall they begin tofay to the mountains, Fall on us : and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do thefe things in a green tree, what (hall be done in the dry? As if he had faid, Dry up thefe tears, ye daughters of Jerufalem, which ye fhed in compaffion to me, and referve them for the deplorable fate of yourfelves and your children ; for the calamities that will foon fall on you and your offspring, are truly terrible, and call for the bittereff lamentations. In thofe days of vengeance you will paffionately with that you had not given birth to a generation, whofe wickednefs hasrendered them the obje&s of the wrath of the Al- mighty to fuch a degree as was never before experienced in the world. Then (hall they with to be crufhed under the weight of enormous mountains, and con- cealed from their enemies in the bowels of the earth. The thoughts of thefe cala- mities affliét my foul far more than the feeling of my-own fufferings: for if the Romans are permitted to inflilt punifh- ments on me who am innocent, how dreadful muff the vengeance be which they (hall infliét on a nation whofe fins cry aloud to heaven, haftening the pace of the divine judgments, and rendering the perpetrators as proper for judgment as -dry wood is for flames of fire. At the place of execution; which was called Golgotha, or the place of a ikull, from the criminals bones which lay fcat- tered there, fome of our Redeemer's friends offered him a Itupifying potion, to render him infenfible of the ignominy and excruciating pain of his punilhment: but as foon as he tailed the potion, he refufed to drink it, being determined to bearhis fufferings, however (harp, not by 2 intáxicating and ffupifying himfelf, but by- the flrength of patience, fortitude, and faith. Having therefore refuled the potion, the foldiers began to execute their orders by ¡tripping him quite naked, and in that condition began to fallen him to his crofs_ But while they were piercing his hands and his feet with nails, inftead of crying out with the fharpnefs of the pain, he calmly, though fervently prayed for them, and for all thofe who had any hand in his death ; befeeching the Almighty to forgive them, and excufing them himfelf by the only circumfiance that could alle- viate their guilt; I mean, their ignorance. Father, faid the.compaffionáte Redeemer of mankind, forgive them; fir they know not what they do. This was infinite meek- nefs and goodnefs, truly worthy of the only begotten Son of God; an example of forgivenefs, which, though it can never be equalled by any, fhould be imitated by all, when fuffering in a good caufe. Behold now the appointed foldiers dig the hole in which the crofs was to be erelied. The crofs is placed in the ground, and the bleffed Jesus lies on the bed of forrows ; they nail him to it; they erel it ; his nerves crack ; his blood diffils ; he hangs upon his wounds naked, a fpeftacle to heaven and earth. Thus was the only begotten Son of God, who came down from heaven to fave the world, crucified by his own creatures; and, to render the ignominy Hill greater, placed between two thieves: Hear, 0 heavens! 0 earth, earth, earth, hear! TheLord hath nourilhed and brought up children, and they have rebelled againll him ; by rejelting the only Saviour, and the God of all their mercies. Crimes committed by malefaéfors were ufually written on a white board with black, and placed over their heads on the crofs. In conformity to this culions, Pilate wrote a title in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages, that all foreigners as well as natives, might be able to read it, and
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