The Crucified Christ, the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, despised and rejected by men and having no beauty that we should desire him (Isaiah 53:3,2), he appeals only to those who glimpse something of the inner meaning and reality of Good Friday.  And that Our Lord has revealed to us in the Parable of the Good Shepherd who willingly gives his all, even to the sacrifice of his life, that we his flock may be saved.

In all the sacrifices we make, there is some ulterior motive, however hard we may endeavour to suppress it: it may the desire for people’s praise or respect; it may be the hope of being rewarded hereafter.  But in the sacrifice of Calvary there was no such hidden selfish aim.  For Jesus had actually relinquished Heaven itself to be reviled and spat upon.  His only motive was that he loved us and desired that we should find our complete happiness in loving him in return.