The Temptation To Come Down From The Cross

Lastly our Lord was tempted to come down from the cross."Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him" Matt. 27:42. 

When these voices broke upon His ear, were they not fraught with terrible temptation? 

Think of the agony He was enduring in His so sensitive and sinless frame. 

Think how the very passion of His heart was that these men and women should believe in Him. 

And as these cries rang upon His ear did they not carry with them the suggestion that in one instant He might escape His torture, and doing it win the allegiance of His own?

Tempted in every prospect of the cross, our Lord was tempted on the cross itself.

By one swift action might He not end His agony and win the great ambition of His life?

And the wonderful thing is that on the cross as in the desert at the opening of His ministry, He steeled Himself against these tempting voices. 

They said "Come down, and we will believe in you." 

We believe, because He did not come down. To us the glory is in His hanging there till He cried in a loud voice "It is finished." 

And when we are tempted, as we so often are, to release ourselves when "crucified with Christ," what a comfort that we can quietly say, "He was tempted in all points like as we are."

~George H. Morrison~