We cannot wonder, that following the example of the Jewish priests and rulers, the heathen "soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar," or a light wine drunk by the common people, "and saying, If thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself. And they that passed by reviled him, and railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come down from the cross. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the Chief Priests mocking him, with the Scribes and elders, said among themselves, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. Let Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Would they have believed, if Jesus had indeed come down from the cross? No; their hearts were hardened in wilful unbelief, and their words were empty mockery. One great truth, however, the Chief Priests unknowingly proclaimed, when in mockery they cried out, "he saved others, himself he cannot save": truly the choice lay between the two; Jesus could not save Himself and us. For our salvation an atonement must be made: the only effectual atonement was the death of Jesus, He might have saved Himself from this, and left us to perish. Blessed be God for the love, that endured to the end, and thus saved us.