borne
it all with joy. And then the cross. The cross in which He who knew
no sin was made sin for us. He was troubled in His holy soul when He
looked towards the cross (John xii:27). In the garden He saw the
cross. "And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly; and His
sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the
ground" (Luke xii:44). And yet it is written "who for the joy that
was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. xii:2). All
the suffering put upon Him by man, acting under satanic impulses and
the shame connected with the cross, He despised, the cross itself He
could not despise, but He endured that. The joy was that He saw and
knew the full and glorious result of all His work He had come to do.
He saw then the travail of His soul and was satisfied. But in that
cross there was that suffering, which is unfathomable. God's own
hand rested upon Him. All His sorrowful complaints as predicted by
His own Spirit were then fulfilled. "_Thou_ hast laid me in the dust
of death." "All _Thy_ waves and billows go over me." "_Thine_ hand
has pressed me sore." "_Thy_ wrath lieth hard upon me." "_Thy_
fierce wrath goeth over me." "_Thou_ hast laid me in the lowest
pit." Thus He suffered from God--smitten and afflicted of God. It
pleased the Lord to bruise Him. Then from that cross there came that
loud and triumphant cry when He gave His life "It is finished!" Oh!
what joy must have filled then His soul, when He knew the work is
done, all is accomplished. And with equal joy God answered the cry
of His well beloved Son, when He rent the veil from top to bottom.

The risen Lord in meeting His disciples greeted them, with the
greeting of joy, which Gabriel had used. "All Hail"--literally, _Oh
the joy!_ (Matt. xxviii:9.) What joy must then have filled His
loving heart as He met His own again. Oh the joy! thus they had
mocked Him when they crowned Him with a crown of thorns and bowed
the knee and in derision shouted "All hail"--"Rejoice"--"King of
the Jews." But in the resurrection He shouts "Oh the Joy!" The
victory is won. Satan, Sin, Death and the Grave are vanquished. And
what joy is His now! What joy will be His ere long! With a shout He
went up (Ps. xlvii:5). What a joy when He passed through the heavens
and as the glorified man He entered the Holy of Holies! What a joy
when the Father had the well beloved with Him again, and He too