ion followed Him as a babe: Herod sought to slay Him, and Joseph
and Mary had to flee into Egypt.[092] He was "despised and rejected" by
His countrymen. His claims were refused by His kinsmen. He "endured the
contradiction of sinners."[093] He "took our infirmities and bare our
sicknesses." He hungered and thirsted and was weary; He was spit upon,
buffeted, and scourged. The cross on which He was to suffer was laid
upon His shoulders, till His exhausted frame broke down; and on Calvary
a thorny crown was set upon His brow, and the cruel nails pierced His
hands and His feet. But the sorrow within His soul was worse to bear
than bodily buffering. Travail of soul was the consummation of His
afflictions, and while we do not read of a groan wrung from Him by
bodily torture, soul-trouble led Him to ask His Father with "strong
crying and tears," as His frame was agonized and His sweat was like
drops of blood--"If it be possible, let this cup pass from me."[094] As
man's Saviour Jesus was made perfect through suffering.[095] "We have
not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin."[096] The world is full of suffering, and He alone can understand
and sympathise with it who has experienced it. It is the knowledge that
their Divine Saviour is their Brother-man that gives to believing
sufferers boldness and confidence as they draw nigh to the throne of
grace.

SECTION 2.--WAS CRUCIFIED

Prophecy in the sense of prediction is a very interesting and important
branch of Christian evidence. Old Testament prophets foretold minute
events in the history of the Lord Jesus Christ, such as His lineal
descent, the place and time of His birth, its miraculous character, His
death, His burial, His three days' sojourn in the sepulchre, the casting
of lots for His raiment, the piercing of His hands and feet, His last
exclamation, His resurrection and ascension. Whatever view may be taken
as to the dates of the various books of Scripture, it must be admitted
that the whole body of the Old Testament was in circulation among the
Jews hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. There can be no doubt
that these prophecies were separated by great distance in time from the
events predicted. Even the Septuagint Version, which is a Greek
translation from the original Hebrew Scriptures, existed at Alexandria
about two hundred years before His advent.

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