Lest They Crush Him
Mark 3:7-12

The Creator is pressed upon by the created. Rebellious, sinful, fallen men and women push the Holy Son of Man to the sea’s edge, demanding healing and liberation.

And he allows it. He knows every one of their stories, their motives, their sins, their inadequacies, their frailties, their humanness. And yet he allows it.

And he won’t stop there at the water’s edge. He will, of his own volition, take their stripes on his back, their cross on his shoulder. He will feel their nails in his hands. He will endure the Father’s wrath for their sin. He will die their death.

Your stripes. Your cross. Your nails. Your sins. Your death. No matter who you are or what you have done.

Is there a man here, whom to associate with were a scandal from which the pure and pious would shrink? The holy, harmless, undefiled one will not disdain even him – for this man receiveth sinners – he is a friend of publicans and sinners. He is never happier than when he is relieving and retrieving the forlorn, the abject, and the outcast. He despises not any that confess their sins and seek his mercy. No pride nestles in his dear heart, no sarcastic word rolls off his gracious tongue, no bitter expression falls from his blessed lips. He still receives the guilty. Pray to him now. Now let the silent prayer go up, “My Saviour, have pity upon me; be moved with compassion towards me, for if misery be any qualification for mercy, I am a fit object for thy compassion. Oh! save me for thy mercy’s sake!” Amen.

From a sermon (No. 3438) published on Thursday, December 24th, 1914. Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON at the Metropolitan Tabernacle.