6. But I am a worm, and no man. How
could the Lord of glory be brought to such abasement as to be not only lower
than the angels, but even lower than men? What a contrast between “I AM” and I am a worm! Yet such a double nature was found in the
person of our Lord Jesus when bleeding on the tree. He felt himself to be
comparable to a helpless, powerless, downtrodden worm, passive while crushed,
and unnoticed and despised by those who trod on him. He selects the weakest of
creatures, which is all flesh; and becomes, when trodden upon, writhing,
quivering flesh, utterly devoid of any might except strength to suffer. This
was a true likeness of himself when his body and soul had become a mass of
misery—the very essence of agony—in the dying pangs of crucifixion. Man by
nature is but a worm; but our Lord puts himself even beneath man, on account of
the scorn which was heaped upon him and the weakness which he felt, and
therefore he adds and no man. The privileges and blessings which
belonged to the fathers he could not obtain while deserted by God, and common
acts of humanity were not allowed him, for he was rejected of men; he was
outlawed from the society of earth, and shut out from the smile of heaven. How
utterly did the Saviour empty himself of all glory, and become of no reputation
for our sakes! A reproach of men. Their common butt and jest; a byword
and a proverb unto them; the sport of the rabble, and the scorn of the rulers.
Oh the caustic power of reproach, to those who endure it with patience, yet
smart under it most painfully! And despised of the people. The very
people who would once have crowned him then condemned him, and they who were
benefited by his cures sneered at him in his woes. Sin is worthy of all
reproach and contempt, and for this reason Jesus, the Sinbearer, was given up
to be thus unworthily and shamefully entreated.
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