by Rev. F. W. Krummacher, D.D.
A blissful and heart-cheering mystery is here presented before us. If I possess saving faith, I find myself in a peculiar relation to the Sufferer at Gethsemane. For know, that the horrors he there experienced are not his curse but mine. The Holy and the Just submits himself, representatively, to the fate of the guilty and condemned; whilst the latter are forever liberated, and inherit the lot of the holy Son of God. Wonderful and incomparably blissful truth! Our only shield and comfort in life and death!
O ye blessed, who belong to Christ, who can worthily describe the glory of your state? We hail the wondrous exchange which the eternal Son of God has made with you. We glorify the Surety and the Liquidator of your debts. Never forget the midnight arrest of your High Priest. Paint it, in bright and vivid colours, on the walls of your chambers. If you are again reminded of the curse which your sins had brought upon you, accustom yourselves to regard it only in this sacred picture, where you no longer behold it lying upon you, but upon Him, in whose agonies it eternally perished.
Therefore, let not shadows any longer disturb you. There will never be a period in eternity when you will be compelled to say to your enemies and accusers, “Now is your hour and the power of darkness.” Your Representative uttered it, once for all, for you; and henceforward only the hour of triumph and delight, which shall never end, awaits you. Peace be with you, therefore, ye who are justified by his righteousness, and for ever perfected by his one offering! No longer dream of imaginary burdens, but know and never forget that your suit is gained to all eternity. Behold Christ yonder bears your fetters; and nothing more is required of you than to love him with all your heart, and embrace him more and more closely who took your entire anathema upon himself, that you might be able eternally to rejoice and exclaim, “Jehovah Zidkenu — the Lord our Righteousness.”