_The words_: “Give us Barabbas and take Jesus away.” How can I complain when others are preferred to me? “Let him be crucified”; “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” How fearfully has this curse been carried into effect. Behold the whole Jewish race struck with spiritual blindness for already nineteen centuries, in the midst of nations blest with the light of faith. How this ruin of His nation must have grieved the heart of the Redeemer. Pilate vainly tries to disclaim his responsibility for the deicide: “I am innocent of the death of this just man.” So we may deceive ourselves, wilfully. Am I always honest in my pretences? _The actions._ Pilate delivers Christ to be crucified. This is the price paid for every soul, the death of Christ. How precious is a soul! The blood of Christ is the atonement of sin; what a terrible evil is sin! _Colloquy_ with Jesus, as He stands there condemned to an ignominious death; indulging the sentiments aroused by the meditation. CONSIDERATION On Generosity in the Service of God When we performed the meditation on the Kingdom of Christ, we imagined a very noble prince, who, at the call of God, abandoned all other pursuits to devote himself to the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, and summoned all brave souls to rally under his standard for this exalted purpose. We next considered that this parable was not a mere creation of the fancy, but was a fit expression of a grand reality. For such a noble prince did actually appear on earth, one far nobler than we could have conceived possible, the Son of God Himself, come down to establish the Kingdom of His Father in the hearts of men, and thus prepare them to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. At this summons we resolved to follow Him, and we have really left all things for that purpose, and our highest ambition now is to follow Him most closely by making ourselves as like to Him as, with God’s grace, may be possible. To accomplish this purpose, we have been studying His example, from the moment of His incarnation, through His birth, childhood, His private and His public life, till we have seen Him deliver Himself into the hands of His enemies, submit to the most shocking indignities and torments; and all this through love for us, paying the penalties of our sins in His own Person, to save us from Hell and make us share His glory. The most appropriate term to express all this devotedness is “boundless generosity.” This is the most striking characteristic of our glorious King. As we are earnestly striving to make ourselves like to Him, we will now consider the excellence of the virtue of generosity; and we do so by preference on this day on which we are meditating on the sacrifices by which Christ’s generosity was exhibited in the most impressive manner.