The Three Hour Sermon on God, Sin and Salvation

Once during the presidency of Dr. Neeshima there was a great disturbance in the Doshisha, caused by friction between teachers and students. The whole school was thrown into disorder. There was a great strike among the students. The president tried in every way to conciliate both parties. But even he could not succeed in his task of reconciliation. When; every hope of bringing the school to order was gone, it was decided as a last resort to expell the disturbing elements from the school. There was no other way but to apply this extreme form of discipline.

One morning when all the teachers and students were assembled in the chapel the president came in with a cane in his hand. Whisperings were heard " Why, the president has a cane, he has come into chapel with a cane in his hand." As soon as he came in he stood before the school and said " Gentlemen, I am sorry to see such a disturbance in the school. It is a disgrace to Doshisha. But, as such a disturbance has arisen we must punish the person or persons who are responsible for it, so this morning I will punish the offender." Of course everybody expected the president was going to punish the ringleaders of the rioting. But, the president continued to speak. " But," he said, " gentlemen, I can not lay this responsibility upon any of the students, neither upon any of the teachers. Then who is responsible? If neither students nor teachers are responsible for this disturbance, upon whom shall this responsibility fall? I will tell you. The person who is wholly responsible for this great disturbance in Doshisha is this Joseph Neeshima, its president. It is the duty of a president to govern his school and keep it in good order. Now this president Neeshima has failed to preserve order in his school; he has failed in the discharge of his duty and thus caused this great disturbance in Doshisha. This disturbance has not only brought great misfortune upon the students and has given great trouble to the teachers, but it has brought disgrace upon this institution. All this has come as the consequence of the president's inability to govern the school as he ought. So now the whole responsibility must be laid upon him, he must bear it and he must be punished."

As he finished speaking he lifted his cane in his right hand and holding out his left hand he began to strike it with all his might, again and again. He struck his hand so hard that finally the cane broke into three pieces, and you can easily imagine its effect upon his hand. It began to bleed and the whole school was taken aback. How could they any longer endure such a sight.

One of the students rushed up to the president's side and seizing his arm began to cry, " Oh, my teacher! my teacher! " This cry broke up the whole school. Teachers and students all burst into tears and wept aloud. It was a wonderful sight indeed. The president with his hand bleeding and the whole school weeping!

Why did he punish himself? Was there anything in his conduct which deserved such treatment as this? A man of love, with his heart full of fatherly affection for his students, most faithfully working day and night for the welfare of the school? What fault could you find in such a man as that?

No, no, we could find no fault in him. He was indeed respected and honoured and loved by the whole school. Though the students rose in rebellion it was not against the president but against the teachers of the school. In fact, the president had had nothing whatever to do with the uprising, and the whole school knew. that. Why then being a faultless man should he punish himself before the whole school?

There was no need of explanation. Everybody understood that the president was performing Migawari substituting for his students. Those students had transgressed the laws of the school, they knew that. And transgressors must be punished. The inflicting of severe punishment upon the rebellious students was the only way by which the school could be kept in order. Therefore as the president of the school he must punish them and expell them. There was no other way to take. But Dr. Neeshima was not simply a president, an administrator of the school. He was the real father of his students in interest and affection, loving them as his own children. How could he strike his beloved children even in punishment? So you see he was placed between two fires justice and love. But love gained the day. He decided to be wounded for their transgressions; to be bruised for their iniquities; to take upon himself the chastisement of their sins. And thus with his stripes their wounds were healed.

By this act of love the hearts of the erring students were entirely changed. No longer the rebels of yesterday, they were the most faithful and devoted students of the whole school. They began to say, " If our president loves us so much as not to spare himself even such suffering as this, should we not love him more? " " We are ready to give our lives, if need be, for such a president," they said.

Yes, for a good man, a man with true love, men sometimes venture to die.

Afterwards those rebellious students had their picture taken in commemoration of this memorable event. They grouped themselves around a table upon which were the three pieces of the broken cane. The spirit of the school was changed. All friction between teachers and students vanished entirely. Ill feelings among the students were all gone. The school was melted into one harmonious whole by this love of the president. Yes, it was born again, and became an entirely new school. Discipline was restored, order was kept and the dignity of the school was greater than ever. We all had witnessed the power of love.

Dr. Neeshima was not naturally a very eloquent man. But when he preached he was quite often in tears. These tears were powerful sermons and we were all moved by them. But this silent sermon of the bleeding hand was the most powerful sermon that revered teacher ever preached.

And now, my friends, whence do you think Dr. Neeshima obtained such a loving heart? Whence did he get this idea of substitution? Of course he got it from the cross of Christ. I knew him very well. He believed in the cross of Christ. He not only believed in the cross of Christ but he also tried to bear the cross of Christ in himself. Yes, he did show the cross in this case. I think the true Christian must not only believe in the cross but must bear the same cross in himself. We must all be followers of the crucified Jesus. It is not necessary to do what Dr. Neeshima did, but we must be ready to bear the cross in our own way and in our own circumstances.

Christianity is the religion of love. And its perfect example was given upon the cross of

Christ. He taking upon Himself all the sin of the world and dying in our stead upon the cross is the greatest personification of the love of God. And His love is now melting the hearts of the whole world.

You all know, I suppose, what crucifixion is? In our country we used to call it Hatritsuke. But what we know in this country as Haritsuke, crucifixion, is different from crucifixion in the time of Christ.

In our country crucifixion was in this manner. The criminal was tied with cords to the crossed pieces of wood and then he was pierced on each side with a spear. It must be a terrible thing to be tied to a cross and pierced with a spear. But a man pierced in the side with a spear dies instantly. The pain and suffering though intense are but for a moment, and then all is finished.

But ~*^"ifixion in the time of Christ was not of this kind. In those days before a criminal was crucified he was stripped and scourged with rods. This Roman rod was made of several strips of leather on the ends of which were pieces of ivory to make the scourging more severe and painful. After this cruel scourging the cross on which the man was to be crucified was bound on his back and he was dragged along to the place of execution. There he was stripped of all his clothing and laid upon the cross, his hands outstretched^ and the nailing began. For he was not merely tied with cords to the cross, he was actually nailed to the cross. Large iron nails, especially made for that purpose, were driven with a hammer right through the palms of both hands. That finished, the feet were nailed in the same manner. Sometimes the nails were driven through both feet together, but quite often each foot was nailed separately. And now after the victim was nailed securely to the cross, it was raised so that the weight of the body hung from these cruel nails.

Here is another difference between our Haritsttke and crucifixion in the time of Christ. In Haritsuke the man is killed instantly with a spear. But in the time of Christ the man was not killed instantly by either spear or sword. He was kept hanging on the cross to die of the most excruciating pain. Have you ever stuck a needle into your hand? Did it not cause intense pain? Think then what it would mean to have a spike driven through both hands and feet. Can you imagine the pain caused by such cruel treatment? And to have this suffering prolonged until at last when it became unendurable the victim would cry out, " Kill me, kill me and end my pain." If by a spear thrust or a sword cut you should put an end to his suffering at once you would be showing him great mercy.

But in those times no one would do that. The object of crucifixion was not to take life but to inflict pain and suffering; so they left the victim hanging on the cross until he died a slow death of agony. Sometimes the victim lingered several days in an agony of pain. There is no death more painful than this death on the cross. Death by a spear thrust or by fire comes quickly, and death by hanging is instantaneous; but death on the cross as in the old time method is a lingering agony.

Now, my friends, when we say that Jesus Christ died upon the cross it means that He died this lingering, this most agonizing death. We do not know what spiritual suffering He endured upon the cross. Of course His spiritual suffering must have been the greatest of all His suffering. But that is beyond our comprehension. We can never know the real nature of that spiritual agony. But we can understand His bodily suffering. We can even feel it if we will. It is enough for us to know that He endured this agonizing death upon the cross for us, even to save us from sin and eternal suffering.

Jesus was not a sinner. They found no fault in Him. But He took upon Himself our sins. God laid all our sins upon His dear Son and redeemed us from death by this sacrifice.

Now, this is salvation. I hope you have understood it fully.

I told you a few minutes ago about Dr. Neeshima's striking his own hand with his cane and thus saving his students from receiving their just punishment. As you heard that story you all seemed to be very much impressed. I noticed some of you were in tears. And I thank you for your sympathy with my dear teacher.

But I think no one of you here tonight was personally acquainted with Dr. Neeshima. This incident took place more than thirty-five years ago. Moreover, perhaps you have no connection with the University of Doshisha. The true love which my beloved teacher showed upon that occasion has even now the power of melting people's hearts, people who never knew him and whom he did not know. This is indeed a wonderful quality of love.

But, my friends, Dr. Neeshima only struck his left hand until it bled a little. His was not great suffering at all. Yet everywhere I tell this story people are affected by it and shedtears.

It was not so with our Lord. It was not a mere striking of the hand until it bled. Our Lord was crucified. He was nailed to the cross in the most cruel manner. His hands and His feet were pierced with iron spikes. He was crowned with thorns. His whole body was mutilated and bleeding from that scourging received at the hands of the merciless Roman soldiers.

Now, my dear friends, if your hearts are touched by this story of Dr. Neeshima's slight suffering for his students, and if you could shed tears for him with whom you have no connection, how is it with this great suffering of your Saviour, Jesus Christ, who died not for some unknown students, but for you, to save you from eternal suffering? Can you shed tears for Him and His suffering? Of course you will shed tears if you take it to heart. But the shedding of tears is not enough. For Christ died to save you from sin. Repent of your sin, I beg of you my friends, and accept His offering of salvation through His cross. Be cleansed and purified by His blood. And come back, come back to your Heavenly Father once more as His dear children. This is salvation through the death of Christ upon the cross.