“When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. . . . . . And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha . . . . Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand,” John 19:13, 17, 41-42.
When I read this chapter a few days ago, I was carried back to my first year as a Christian. I sat in old Ravenhill Free Presbyterian Church in a meeting at which the late Pastor Willie Mullan was preaching. He took us to this chapter and dealt with its contents in a most innovative and thrilling manner. I have never forgotten the gist of what he said.
It came back to me as I read the chapter and I happily put down these thoughts, which doubtlessly owe a lot to what I heard back then, some 57 years ago! Read more…