And There Followed Him a Great Company of People
The Saviour's death is a reminder of the sacrifice He made for you, and it should motivate you to live a life of obedience and worship.
C.H. Spurgeon reflects on the profound sorrow of the women who mourned Jesus as He carried His cross to Calvary, emphasizing that their grief, while deep, pales in comparison to the personal anguish he feels for his own sins that contributed to Christ's suffering. He acknowledges that while these women wept for the innocent and good being persecuted, he recognizes his own role in the crucifixion, leading to a deeper, more personal grief. Spurgeon draws parallels between the miraculous acts of Jesus in the lives of others and the transformative power He has had in his own life, urging a response of gratitude and sorrow for the sacrifice made. He concludes with a heartfelt expression of love and grief, committing to honor Christ's sacrifice through his tears and devotion.
Text
Amid the rabble rout which hounded the Redeemer to His doom, there were some gracious souls whose bitter anguish sought vent in wailing and lamentations--fit music to accompany that march of woe. When my soul can, in imagination, see the Saviour bearing His cross to Calvary, she joins the godly women and weeps with them; for, indeed, there is true cause for grief-- cause lying deeper than those mourning women thought. They bewailed innocence maltreated, goodness persecuted, love bleeding, meekness about to die; but my heart has a deeper and more bitter cause to mourn. My sins were the scourges which lacerated those blessed shoulders, and crowned with thorn those bleeding brows: my sins cried "Crucify Him! crucify Him!" and laid the cross upon His gracious shoulders. His being led forth to die is sorrow enough for one eternity: but my having been His murderer, is more, infinitely more, grief than one poor fountain of tears can express.
Why those women loved and wept it were not hard to guess: but they could not have had greater reasons for love and grief than my heart has. Nain's widow saw her son restored--but I myself have been raised to newness of life. Peter's wife's mother was cured of the fever--but I of the greater plague of sin. Out of Magdalene seven devils were cast--but a whole legion out of me. Mary and Martha were favoured with visits--but He dwells with me. His mother bare His body--but He is formed in me the hope of glory. In nothing behind the holy women in debt, let me not be behind them in gratitude or sorrow.
"Love and grief my heart dividing, With my tears His feet I'll lave-- Constant still in heart abiding, Weep for Him who died to save."
Sermon Outline
- The Sorrow of the Saviour's Death
- The Sorrow of the Sinner's Guilt
- The Sinner's Response to the Saviour's Love
- The Sorrow of the Saviour's Innocence
- The Sorrow of the Saviour's Persecution
- The Sinner's Role in the Saviour's Death
- The Sinner's Debt to the Saviour
- Gratitude and Sorrow
- Obedience and Worship
Key Quotes
“Love and grief my heart dividing, With my tears His feet I'll lave-- Constant still in heart abiding, Weep for Him who died to save.” — C.H. Spurgeon
“My sins were the scourges which lacerated those blessed shoulders, and crowned with thorn those bleeding brows: my sins cried 'Crucify Him! crucify Him!' and laid the cross upon His gracious shoulders.” — C.H. Spurgeon
Application Points
- You should be grateful for the new life the Saviour has given you.
- You should show your gratitude and sorrow to the Saviour by obeying His commands and worshiping Him with a broken and contrite heart.
- The Saviour's death should motivate you to live a life of obedience and worship.