to a cross; bruised and bleeding, pierced and naked, dying a felon's
death between two thieves; in perfect misery, in utter shame, mocked
and insulted by all the great, the rich, the learned of His nation;
one who had grown up as a man of low birth, believed by all to be a
carpenter's son; without scholarship, money, respectability; even
without a home wherein to lay His head--and here was the end of His
life! True, He had preached noble words, He had done noble deeds:
but what had they helped Him? They had not made the rich, the
learned, the respectable, the religious believe on Him; they had not
saved Him from persecution, and insult, and death. The only mourners
who stood by to weep over His dying agonies were His mother, a poor
countrywoman; a young fisherman; and one who had been a harlot and a
sinner. There was an end!

Do you know who that Man was? He was your King; the King of rich and
poor; and He was your King, not in spite of His suffering all that
shame and misery, but just because He suffered it; because He chose
to be poor, and miserable, and despised; because He endured the
cross, despising the shame; because He took upon Himself to fulfil
His Father's will, all ills which flesh is heir to--therefore He is
now your King, the Saviour of the world, the poor man's friend, the
Lord of heaven and earth. Is He such a King as YOU wish for?

Is He the sort of King you want, my friends? Does He fulfil your
notions of what the poor man's friend should be? Do you, in your
hearts, wish He had been somewhat richer, more glorious, more
successful in the world's eyes--a wealthy and prosperous man, like
Solomon of old? Are any of you ready to say, as the money-blinded
Jews said, when they demanded their true King to be crucified, "We
have no king but Caesar?--Provided the law-makers and the authorities