THE CRIES OF JESUS
[p. 223] THE CRIES OF JESUS
Matthew 27: 46; John 11:43; John 7: 37; Luke 8: 8
All these scriptures speak of the Lord Jesus crying, not in the sense of weeping or sorrow, but with a loud voice; with a voice that intimated deep feeling and urgency. There are other scriptures that speak of Him in this way which I have not read but which I may feel it necessary to allude to later. These suffice to show how feeling our Saviour was as here in these circumstances. He is not any less feeling now, although never again will He utter those words that He did on the cross, as recorded in Matthew. No words can be found with deeper meaning; no words can be found with deeper feeling. So significant are they in the mind of the Spirit of God that He gives them in the actual vernacular in which the Lord of glory uttered them, then in their translation into Greek, and later we have them in our own tongue. In only a few instances have we the Lord’s actual words, the actual vernacular in which He spoke given to us, and they are indeed treasures, kept in the treasury of God. These exceed all in depth of meaning and feeling for they convey the Lord’s deep sense of being forsaken. He was forsaken of God only once, never again, and no words, as I said, have such deep significance and feeling and no words should appeal to christians with more force. And indeed to any person convicted of sin, these words will come with peculiar force as they really refer to the Lord’s vicarious position, that He was suffering under the unmitigated wrath of God for us. He was entirely immune from such sufferings on personal grounds. “Him who knew not sin”, we are told, “he has made sin for us”, 2 Corinthians 5:21. The forsaking was on account of the sins He had taken on, and it was that [p. 224] we might never be forsaken. Forsaking, that God should hide His face for ever from us, was right, was due, was our deserts. And so it would have been. We should be shut out eternally from the holy presence of God; His countenance would never shine upon us; we should be shut out eternally, were it not that God devised a way whereby we should have access to Him and be before Him eternally. It was a great matter with Him and it involved that One of the divine Persons should become a Man, should become one of us, one of us! Holy, harmless, indeed, we are told, and separated from sinners, but nevertheless a Man, for it is said that He took a bondman’s form, that is, a form in which He could serve, and then it says that He was found in the likeness of men. You cannot find two men exactly alike; each differs from the others; and hence when it is said He took His place in the likeness of men, we are to understand that He was amongst men as one of them. Marvellous condescension! So He could be found in Nazareth in Galilee as one among others, a carpenter, a son of Mary and Joseph by repute, One who had brothers and sisters. That all this should be so is marvellous and is to be received into our souls as truth, as formative truth for christians. The Lord Jesus was really and truly a Man and yet He could at any time say, as He did say in one instance, “Before Abraham was, I am”, John 8: 58. And again to a poor outcast, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”, John 4: 10.
If thou knewest all this. So that He was compassable outwardly; anyone in those days could have seen him for thirty years in ordinary life. You could have seen Him and perhaps assumed that He was just another of the human race, but He was not. He was another in outward form and likeness, but in truth,
the “I am”. It is inscrutable that He should come into such small circumstances. What compression there is, beloved friends, in God in that sense becoming flesh!
But it was, as I said, the outcome of the most careful thought and counsel, behind which was love, for God so loved, we are told. He so loved the world that He gave. Love was behind it, He gave His only-begotten Son. And now Christ is on the cross, He is actually to die; and He feels His position. It was vicarious, I repeat, it could not be otherwise. No such position could overtake Him as regards Himself.
‘No man taketh My life from Me’, He says. No one could, but He submitted Himself, as we are told, to carry out the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, to be crucified and slain by the hands of wicked men. They did it but it was all carefully planned by the Deity and worked out in infinite accuracy, so that at the right moment, the moment planned, He is actually there on the cross, with hands and feet nailed to it by cruel hands. There He is, beloved friends, in a vicarious position, that is, in our stead. For, we are told, “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time”, 1 Timothy 2: 5. This moment belongs to that time when, in some little way, a testimony to the vicarious death of Christ is presented to needy souls; and in no way can I present it in such feeling words as in the Lord’s own, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” Those words rang out in heaven as upon earth and under the earth on that day of days, and the Spirit of God has brought them down to us in their infinite meaning, that God had forsaken Jesus so that we might never be forsaken; “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”, John 3: 16. One man hanging by His side, as Luke alone tells us, believed on Him in this moment. May some here be turned [p. 226] to Jesus! You are not suffering on a gibbet like that poor thief, you may be comfortable as regards your physical position, having everything that a great beneficent Creator can provide. You are comfortable, provided for in every way, and as here tonight it is your opportunity, your privilege to turn to the Lord as that thief did and say, “Lord, remember me”.
That thief had already said that he was receiving the due reward of his sins. He confessed that he was a poor gibbet-deserving thief and he was enduring the penalty of the law which he deserved. His acceptance of that is a suitable introduction to what he is going to say to Jesus. He has spoken to his companion thief the other side of Jesus, he confers with him across the Lord; the Lord was between the two.
What a scene it was! Two wicked men suffering, the one railing on Jesus and the other saying, No; we indeed justly. We are receiving the due reward of our deeds but “this man hath done nothing amiss”, Luke 23:41. It might be said to him, ‘Did you not know that this One in the middle had been tried at court? — that He had been before the high priest who condemned Him and that the whole priesthood and all the leaders and elders of Israel said, Away with Him?’ Surely the unrepentant thief might say, ‘There must be some truth in the accusation, there must have been a good cause for their attitude’. And what could the repentant thief say? He certainly could not say anything as to the facts of the case as he was not present, but light had come into his soul and that is what made the difference between him and the other thief. And that is what makes the difference between most of us here and you if you have not confessed the Lord. Light is in our souls, and not in yours. We received and believed the gospel and we are saved. It may have come to your ears but you have shut it out, you have not as yet received it.
[p. 227] And then the repentant thief turns to the Lord. There is no argument about it, no facts adduced, light is in his soul at the moment. What a moment it was for heaven! A poor thief deserving the gibbet which he was enduring, turning to Jesus as it were and saying, ‘Lord, will You not do this?’ He confessed with his mouth. He unfurled his standard as at the side of Christ there on the cross. Will you not join that thief? The Lord said to that man, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise”. They did not go together, of course, to paradise. The Lord Jesus must always have the pre-eminence. No one went to paradise with Him, He went alone, that was His right. He must be first but the thief followed Him, for Jesus died before the thief. If He had not, the thief could not go to paradise. The thief could only go there in that Jesus had died. You will remember that Pilate sent to enquire if the Lord were already dead and He was. It was unusual. The thief died later. But he went to paradise; so if anyone here now who has never confessed the Lord, confesses Him, you will be in the company of that thief. You will go to paradise if the Lord orders it that you die before He comes. He says, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise”.
The Lord is saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” He was saying it with a loud voice. It was to be heard. It has come down the ages to us in its power, and myriads have heard and have turned to God. He was being forsaken so that the blackest sinner might go to paradise and be with Him there. Is there anyone here that is moved in any way in regard to this? There were those standing by and they did not understand the words; they thought He was calling for Elias. Elias was a mere man who needed the Saviour as much as the thief alongside of Jesus. He was a great prophet, of course, but he was a poor sinner at one time. The Lord Jesus was not appealing [p. 228] to the saints. No, those who pray to the saints are in the dark. Hundreds of millions of people pray to the saints, and these bystanders thought the Lord Jesus was praying to Elias. Bad hearing, you know. That is the difficulty, poor hearing. The Lord says Himself, “Take heed how ye hear”. As I am speaking tonight, that is a word for you. How are you hearing? Were I standing at the cross with my present hearing, I should understand that Jesus was speaking to God. Eli is not Elias; Eli is God. My God, my God It was God who was forsaking Him and Jesus knew it. He was forsaking Him that the thief might not be forsaken.
Another man stood by, the centurion, a Roman officer, and he took notice of what happened. The Lord cried out twice according to Matthew, first in the words we have read, and then when in a loud voice He cried and gave up the ghost. The first, His forsaking by God in His unmitigated judgment against sin; and the second as He terminated for ever, in His own body on the tree, the man that sinned. It was done for ever and the Lord cried as He did it. The man that sinned was dealt with judicially and ended in the laying down of that precious life on the cross.
The next scripture is in John 11. It refers to the power of Christ in resurrection. Matthew 27:46 refers to the death of Christ and the forsaking by God. If the Lord had come down from the cross without dying, there would have been no atonement. The forsaking in itself would not do, so we have the second cry, as I said, in Matthew, when the Lord actually died. There must be actual death. The penalty is death and so the Lord went to the full extremity when He died and uttered a loud cry in that connection. He was buried for three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. All that had to do with the great vicarious work of Christ, beloved [p. 229] friends. It is now available to every guilty sinner so that he might not come into judgment but pass from death into life, for He who knew not sin was made sin for us, “that we might become God’s righteousness in him”. The result is wonderful. As you sit there, however black your history has been, the gospel brings the good news to you that on the simple principle of faith, all is changed. Not only are we given righteousness but made the righteousness of God in Christ. It is a solid foundation on which we christians rest for we shall never come into judgment. We are not only clothed with righteousness, but made it.
Now John 11 gives another cry which alludes to the Lord’s power in resurrection. The same lips were used, with a loud voice, as on the cross. Only now it is to call a dead believer out of the grave. The Lord loved him. What a word for us! But I would enlarge on it, not simply as the power applied to ourselves but the power of God in Christ raising Him from the dead, for indeed in this gospel the Lord says, “Destroy this temple”, meaning His body, “and in three days I will raise it up”, John 2: 19. He is “marked out Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead”, Romans 1:4.
That is the next thing I want to present, the power that is presented in the gospel of raising the dead. First, Christ is raised for our justification. Romans presents that side. The point there is not to emphasise the exceeding greatness of God’s power but is to meet our conscience and it is presented as if He were raised for no other purpose. Marvellous way of presenting it! Delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification. Does it not come home to you that God has such an interest in you that He has raised Christ for your justification? Let it come into your soul that He did it for you! Chapter 6 of Romans [p. 230] says He was raised by the glory of the Father. The Father delighted in Him; but He was raised for us! Let it into your soul that God is so interested in you that He raised Christ for your justification!
Here it is a question of Lazarus, and the Lord cries with a loud voice, “Lazarus”. How comforting this is, should the Lord be pleased to take any of us by dissolution, as indeed is likely; it is quite likely. Not that I am putting off the coming of the Lord but as far as I can discern it is quite likely that most of us will die as Lazarus did. The Lord told His disciples that Lazarus had died. You might say He was acknowledging His inability to keep him from dying. No, not at all; He stayed away that he should die. He wanted to show His power and His power was the expression of His love, for He loved Lazarus. I do not think Lazarus would ever regret having died. One would like to have spoken to Lazarus. It is never once said that Lazarus spoke. The point is a risen man speaks loudly, the very fact of his resurrection speaks volumes. He is not said to have preached, but people believed on Jesus on account of him; he was a witness of the power of Jesus. Would you not like to come into the circle of those loved of Jesus and who shall in due time hear His voice even though they be dead? His voice cried, “Lazarus, come forth”. Lazarus would never forget that. I should like to ask him, when I meet him, how it was. You must not think I am fanciful. I expect to meet the saints. I shall look up Lazarus, speaking humanly. What a history he had! Four days in the grave and now the loud voice of the Son of God addressing him — “Lazarus, come forth”, and he came forth. No power in the universe can keep him there if Jesus says, “Come forth”. What a gospel that is! I mean gospel in regard of future circumstances — the solemn circumstance of the grave. It is part of the gospel that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with archangel’s shout and the trump of God and that He shall call forth the sleeping saints by name. So here — “Lazarus, come forth. And the dead came forth, bound feet and hands with graveclothes”, but he came forth. What a testimony to the power of Christ, expressed as I said, in the loud cry!
Am I appealing to anybody here? Are these transcendent facts of any interest to you? Is there anyone here who has no interest in them? I know most have. I know most are delighted, for they revel in these facts. It may be there is someone careless. God forbid! I would urge you to hear aright tonight. Let the voice of Jesus speak to you! He would call you by name.
The third scripture is in chapter 7 of this gospel, and is founded on the other two. The first scripture referred to the death of Christ, the forsaking of God, His vicarious death; the second includes, according to what I have been saying, His resurrection in power, applied in due course to the saints. The third is a wonderful message of grace to living persons here. It is a religious setting. The first is in a judgment setting, the second in a resurrection setting, the power of Christ applied to men in death, for the testimony is, “that one died for all, then all have died”, 2 Corinthians 5: 14. The third is a religious setting, christendom, the great religious setting today, five hundred million people nominally christians. The work of the gospel today is in that setting, in the religious circle, and the setting of this passage in John 7 is that the religion of the day was bankrupt. The greatest day of the feast it was, the very best day, and they were bankrupt! The Lord knew it and it is as if He were to say to men and women, boys and girls of Jerusalem, ‘You have nothing in that feast, there is nothing for you, you are living without any satisfaction. It is the last day, you will be going home tomorrow to [p. 232] your residence in the country. Turn to Me. Come unto Me’. That is what the Lord means. His voice is resounding through christendom this very day calling attention to the poverty of mere worldly religion and urging people to come to Him. “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink”. Are you thirsty? It may be that you are clear as to the judgment of God. I hope there is no one here tonight not clear as to his sins being dealt with by Christ, but even if this is so, you may be thirsty and unsatisfied. The gospel for you tonight is to make you satisfied. “Come unto me”. There is nothing for you where you are.
And then the Spirit of God tells us what He meant. It means the Spirit Himself. “But this he said concerning the Spirit, which they that believed on him were about to receive”. All we christians here have received the Spirit of God. Speaking generally, christians have the Spirit of God and they are satisfied. It says of the saints typically, the trees of the Lord are satisfied. And you are not satisfied, the reason is that you have not come to Jesus. He cries in your ears tonight, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink ... . For the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified”. But He is given now; He is here in this room. I am not merely theoretical. Not at all. I am as sure of it as I am alive. The Spirit of God is in what I am saying. It is the voice of Christ, nothing else. “If any one thirst”. Do not stay away, do not be thirsty. Do not be disgruntled with your wife, mother, children or neighbours, come unto Jesus and He will satisfy you. It is the Spirit of God that satisfies.
Then there is the passage in Luke 8. The setting of this is the various states of soul that are present when the gospel is preached. The Lord had been speaking a parable, the one we call the parable of the sower. Matthew gives it at much greater length than [p. 233] Luke, but Luke quotes the Lord as urging in the parable the idea of good ground. There are different kinds of soil, it may be they are all represented here tonight. The first one the Lord mentioned was the wayside. As He sowed the seed fell on the wayside and was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. That is, there was no result. Maybe there is someone like that here, with a superficial apprehension of the word that I am speaking but like the seed on the wayside, there is no soil in which it can germinate. You have never once confessed your sins to God, never come to see that you are a poor lost sinner. There may be some little effect produced in your mind, but when you go out of the room it disappears. The devil, the demons, the servants of the devil, are watching you lest any little grain might get into your soul and cause faith in Christ. That is the first kind of soil.
The second is the rock. The seed fell on the rock and as soon as it was sprung up it withered away because it lacked moisture. That is another kind of soil, there is nothing there to cause it to grow. In the first case the fowls of the heaven took it away. Then in verse 7 some fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. Now the Lord enlarges on the meaning of all this later but we have not time now to read what He says. Thorns allude to someone here who has got sickness, it may be. It means something has happened causing worry and whilst you are interested in what I am saying, when you go out you forget all about it. You are just choked with your cares, the cares of this life.
Whereas this is the one thing needful. All others are secondary and the one thing needful now is your soul. Your everlasting soul is at stake; whether you are to believe and be among christians with Christ for ever, or remain an unbeliever and be among the lost for ever, outside in the lake of fire in unbelief.
[p. 234] That is the position. The one thing needful for the moment is to close in with this matter, to forget your cares and decide, like Mary, to commit yourself to Christ. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house”. All your cares, too, will be looked after.
Now when the Lord comes to the finish He speaks about the good ground in verse 8, it bore fruit one hundredfold. There is no variation here. Like gives you the full result as if to say that it is worth your while. Matthew gives the descending, Mark the ascending line, but Luke is the full result all at once as much as to say, ‘Can you resist it?’ That is what the Lord is saying. What is the good ground? An honest and good heart. One of the most difficult things to find today is an honest and good heart. That is what the Lord calls good ground. And so, when He had said these things He cried. If I am urging you now, it is just the same thing. If I could cry louder I would urge you as to this matter. The Lord is urging you about it. He cried and what are His words? “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear”. It is a very solemn thing if anybody in the reach of my voice is not affected. It means that you have not ears to hear. Your ears are just dull natural ears and the Lord feels it. He felt it then undoubtedly. The crowds around Him suggested to Him that there were very many deaf ears, and He felt it. And He feels it every time He has approached a sinner and is repelled, and He would utter a cry saying how urgent it is. And so I would reflect His cry, and say, It is urgent that your ears be turned to what has been said, and your heart opened to receive the word, so that you may bear fruit one hundredfold.