The prince of this world came against the Second Man, armed with all the power with which the first man’s sin had invested him. He brought to bear upon the Lord’s spirit all the power and all the terrors of death as the just judgment of God. Jesus met all this in its utmost force and in all its awful intensity. Hence, we hear such words as these, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.”

The One who undertook to redeem His people, to give eternal life to His members, to accomplish the will and counsels of God, had to meet all the consequences of man’s condition. There was no escaping them. He passed through them all, but He passed through them alone, for who but Himself could have done it? He, the true Ark, had to go over alone into the dark and dreadful river of death to make a way for His people to pass over on dry land.

But not only did our Lord meet all the power of Satan as the prince of this world, all the power of death as the just judgment of God, all the violence and bitter enmity of fallen man, there was something far beyond all this. When man and Satan, earth and hell, had done their very utmost, there remained a region of darkness and impenetrable gloom to be traversed by the spirit of the Blessed One, into which it is impossible for human thought to enter. We can only stand upon the confines and with our heads bowed in the deep hush of unutterable worship, hearken to the loud and bitter cry which issues from there, accompanied by those words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Words which eternity itself will be insufficient to unfold.

Here we must pause and ascribe once more eternal and universal praise, homage and adoration to the One who went through all this to procure life for us. May our hearts adore Him! May our lips praise Him! May our lives glorify Him! He alone is worthy.