R.A. Torrey's sermon on 'The Crucifixion' delves into the profound events surrounding Jesus' journey to the cross, emphasizing the significance of Simon of Cyrene bearing the cross and the compassion Jesus showed even in His suffering. Torrey highlights Jesus' selflessness, urging listeners to reflect on their own burdens and the call to follow Christ in bearing their own crosses. The sermon also examines the fulfillment of prophecies during the crucifixion, the mockery Jesus faced, and His prayer for forgiveness for those who crucified Him, illustrating the depth of His love and sacrifice. Ultimately, Torrey challenges the audience to consider their response to Jesus' suffering and the implications of rejecting Him.

(Compare Matthew 27:32–44; Mark 15:21–32; John 19:16–23) DISCOVERY OF THE FACTS 1. On the Way to the Cross, vv. 26–32 What was done with the cross of Jesus? Did Simon bear it all the way? (John 19:16, 17.) Why did they afterward lay it upon Simon? Was it a dishonor or an honor to bear the cross of Jesus? To whom is that honor open today? (c. 9:23.) Who must bear the cross after Christ? (c. 14:27.) Does any blessing seem to have come to Simon or his family through his having borne the cross of Jesus after Him? (Mark 15:21.) Who else besides Simon of Cyrene followed Jesus to the cross? What did the women do who followed Him? Were these the women who had “followed Jesus from Galilee”? (Matt. 27:55.) (See v. 28.) Did Jesus desire their pity? (v. 28; Heb. 12:2.) Does He desire our pity? What does He desire in view of His crucifixion for us? With whose sorrows was Jesus occupied more than His own (v. 28)? Are there any other instances recorded when Jesus, though in great physical anguish, was more occupied with the sorrows and miseries of others than with His own? (v. 34; John 19:26, 27.) For whom did Jesus bid them weep? Why did they need to weep for themselves? To what coming day did Jesus refer? (Luke 21:20–24.) Was this prophecy of Jesus fulfilled? How long before had this awful desolation of Israel been predicted? (Deut. 28:49–58.) Why did God visit the nation with such an awful overthrow? (Matt. 21:37–41.) Will the rejection of Jesus as our Christ be visited with equally fearful consequences? (2 Thess. 1:7–9.) Will men ever again cry to the mountains, “Fall on us,” and to the hills, “Cover us”? (Rev. 6:16.) 2. On the Cross, vv. 33–38 Where is the scene of the second division of the lesson laid? Why was the place called Calvary? (R. V. and R. V. margin.) What do we know about the location of Calvary? (Heb. 13:12; Matt. 28:11; John 19:20, 41; Matt. 27:32.) What did they do with Jesus at Calvary? What prophecy was thereby fulfilled? (Ps. 22:16.) Why was it necessary that Jesus be put to death by crucifixion? (Gal. 3:13; John 3:14.) A part of whose plans was the crucifixion of Christ? (Acts 2:23.) Does the fact that the crucifixion of Christ was a fulfillment of prophecy and a part of God’s plan of redemption in any wise lessen the guilt of those who crucified Him? (Acts 2:23.) Was this a painful mode of death? Was the physical agony the severest suffering that Jesus endured? (Matt. 27:46.) Why did they crucify Christ? (John 7:7; Matt. 21:38.) If Jesus were to appear on earth today and live as He lived before and teach as He taught before and make the same demands upon men and upbraid the greed and oppression and hypocrisy of civil and ecclesiastical powers, what would the world do with Him? What companions had Jesus in His humiliations? What prophecy was fulfilled? (Is. 53:9, 12.) What was the purpose of nailing up these malefactors on His right hand and left? Did their presence add anything to the sorrow of the closing moments of the Saviour’s earthly life? Was it a good thing for either of these malefactors to be “crucified with Christ”? Is it a good thing for us to be crucified with Him? How did Jesus feel toward those who crucified Him? What teaching of His own was He exemplifying? (Matt. 5:44.) Who imitated His Master in this? (Acts 7:60.) Who else ought to? ( 1 Peter 2:21.) For whom was it Christ prayed? Were they actually forgiven? What plea did Jesus make why they should be forgiven? If they had known what they did could they have been forgiven? (1 Tim. 1:13.) If they did not know what they did why did they need forgiveness? (Luke 12:47, 48.) As soon as the soldiers had nailed Jesus to the cross what did they do? What state of feeling did that reveal? What prophecy was fulfilled? (Ps. 22:18.) Do we ever today see even the professed followers of Jesus seeking their own petty interests at the very foot of the cross? Of the three who hung upon the crosses who alone was the butt of cruel jokes and ridicule? Which does the world hate most bitterly, a bad man or a holy one? Who engaged in ridiculing the Son of God? (Matt. 27:39; vv. 35, 36; Matt. 27:44.) Did this ridicule cause the Saviour any grief? (Ps. 69:20.) What prophecies were fulfilled in all this? (Ps. 22:6, 7, 8; compare Matt. 27:43; Ps. 69:20.) Did Jesus make any reply to their scoffs? (1 Peter 2:23.) Are we to imitate Jesus in this? (1 Peter 2:21.) What was their taunt? How much of it was true? Why did He not save Himself? (John 10:11, 17, 18; Matt. 20:28.) If He had accepted their challenge and saved Himself, would He thereby have proved that He was “the Christ of God, His chosen”? (1 John 4:9; 3:16.) From whom had a similar challenge come earlier in His life? (Matt. 4:3, 6; 16:22, 23.) Who were most prominent in this reviling of Christ upon the cross? Have religious leaders since that day ever engaged in the ridicule of the truth and its representatives? What man’s leadership is it safe to implicitly follow? (Matt. 23:8, 10.) What induced the leaders to give such venomous expression to their hatred of Jesus? In what other way than by word was Jesus exposed to ridicule? Was there anything more than ridicule in that superscription? By what term shall we characterize man’s treatment of Jesus? By what term shall we characterize your treatment of Jesus? CLASSIFICATION OF TEACHINGS 1. Jesus (1). What Jesus was: A man, 34; king of the Jews, 38; an atoning sacrifice, 33; compare Gal. 3:13. (2). Character: Infinite patience, 33–38; self-forgetting consideration of others; (on the way to the cross He was more burdened with the woe that was coming upon others than with the woe that had already come upon Himself, 28) wondrous pardoning love, 34; boundless self sacrifice, 35. (3). What He suffered: Hated by man, 33, 35, 36, 37; reckoned with vilest criminals, 33; scoffed at by the rulers, 35; mocked at by the soldiers, 36; held up to ridicule by Romans, 38; crushed and fainting beneath the cross He bore, 26; compare John 19:16, 17; crucified, 33; He bore all this for me, Is. 53:4, 5, 6. (3). What He did: Fulfilled prophecy, 33; compare Ps. 22:16; Is. 53:9, 12; 34; compare Ps. 22:18; 35; compare Ps. 22:6, 7, 8; 69:20; sacrificed Himself to save others, 35; interceded for His murderers, 34; bore the curse of the law, 33; compare Gal. 3:13. (4). The result of rejecting Him: Incalculable anguish, 29, 30; compare Matt. 21:39–41. 2. Man Heartless selfishness, 34; incredible indifference to Christ’s agony and shame, 34; hatred to God, 33, 35, 36, 39; mocked at the Son of God, 36; scoffed at the Son of God, 35.; railed on the Son of God, 39; crucified the Son of God, 33. 3. The Word Its certainty, 33; compare Ps. 22:16; . Is. 53:9, 12; 34; compare Ps. 22:18; 35; compare Ps. 22:6, 7, 8; 69:20; its minute accuracy, 33; compare Ps. 22:16; Is. 53:9, 12; 34; compare Ps. 22:18; its divine origin (see reference above)