Christ Jesus the Surety for His People

"He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretyship is sure."—Proverbs 11:15.

Blessed Jesus, well is it for me that thou didst not hate to become a Surety; for hadst thou so done, and refused the vast undertaking, I must have perished for ever. And hadst thou consented to have become a Surety only for friends, and those only that loved thee, still here again I should have been lost: but when thou condescendedst to become Surety for me, O Lord, it was not simply for a stranger, but for a rebel, a hater and despiser of thee, and of thy great salvation. Oh the love of God that passeth knowledge! And how, blessed Jesus, didst thou indeed smart, and wert crushed and broken, when for my dreadful debt of sin, which surpassed all the angels of light to pay, it pleased the Father to bruise thee, and to put thee to grief. Oh matchless love of a most compassionate Saviour! Methinks I still see thee taking my place under the angry eye of God's broken law. Methinks I see thee striking my worthless name out of the bond of the covenant of the law of works, and putting thine own in. Methinks I still hear thee, like another Judah, who in this was evidently thy type, saying to God and the Father, "I will be Surety for him: at my hands thou shalt require him." O Lamb of God! I bless thee as my Surety. I acknowledge thee as my glorious Sponsor. I was a stranger, indeed, and thou hast owned me, and brought me home. I was in debt and insolvent, and thou hast cancelled the whole in the blood of thy cross. "I was naked, and thou hast clothed me; sick, and in prison, and thou hast visited, healed me, and brought me out." I was lost, and thou hast redeemed and saved me. "Oh what shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me? Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name."

- Robert Hawker, The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions, December 16, Morning