the Saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth." (Eph. iii. 18.)
I. The Depth. — How ignominious it was! He was suspended aloft in the air, as one unworthy either to live or die on earth. He was condemned at four several tribunals, dragged along the streets, and pointed at as a blasphemer, a seducer, an impostor, a glutton, and an idiot. How can you contemplate this scene and still be so tender of your reputation?
II. The Height. — How grievous His sufferings were! Though His frame and constitution were of a delicate nature, He refused every kind of comfort, both interior and exterior. He was left alone and forsaken by all His friends; " He became a stranger to His brethren, and an alien to the sons of His mother" (Ps. lxviii. 9), i.e., the synagogue. If on the cross He had attempted to court any comfort, the weight of His body pressed the heavier on the wounds of His hands and feet, and increased His torments. If He leaned His head against the cross, the thorns were inserted more deeply in it; and if He thirsted, His drink was vinegar and gall. Although He suffered more than all the martyrs, His interior pains were more afflicting than those of His body. Good God, what unheard of torments!
III. The Breadth. — How universal were His sufferings! " From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein." (Is. i. 6.) His head was pierced with thorns, His face was buffeted by fists and defiled with spittle, His eyes and lips were swollen, His beard plucked, His shoulders lacerated with stripes, His side pierced with a spear, His hands and feet bored with rough nails; in fine, His whole body was bathed in His own blood. Every interior faculty was also tortured: His memory, His intellect, His will. Fear,
