Customer Reviews

The Cross He Bore

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Sometimes I read a book that has come with such numerous and lofty recommendations that really it can only be disappointing. Having heard so much about how the book will change my life and cause my faith to grow in leaps and bounds, I have often found the reality to be disappointing. Conversely, sometimes a book comes unhyped and unheralded and takes my heart and mind by storm. Such is the case with The Cross He Bore by Frederick Leahy.

Truthfully, I do not remember where I first heard of this book. I was surprised one day to see it turn up in the mail and I soon realized that at one point I had added it to my Amazon wishlist. I knew nothing about it other than what the cover told me: "Meditations on the sufferings of the Redeemer." Edward Donnelly writes in the foreward that this book has three virtues: it provides solid instruction; gives full play to a disciplined and sanctified imagination; and it recalls the neglected art of meditation. He says further that "in rereading these chapters, I found myself more than once compelled by emotion to stop - and then to worship. I cannot help feeling that this is exactly how they were written and that the author's chief desire is that each of us who reads should be brought to gaze in fresh understanding and gratitude upon 'the Son of God,' who loved me and give himself for me." As with Donnelly, I was often compelled to stop and worship, to stop and meditate, or to stop and dry my eyes, thanking Christ for His immeasurable sacrifice.

The book is comprised of thirteen chapters, each of which is a short meditation or reflection on a different aspect of Christ's sacrifice, from the close of the Last Supper to the blotting of the sun from the sky while He hung on the cross. It truly strikes to the very heart of the Gospel.

But I hesitate to say more. Perhaps part of the beauty and significance of this book, was that it came unannounced. There was no lofty position for it to attain to. And perhaps it is best that way. And so I will leave it with merely my wholehearted recommendation and the knowledge that I will return to it often. This short book is an invaluable treasure and I am certain that the reflections it contains will stay with me and come to heart and mind whenever I meditate upon the cross of Christ.

With only 83 pages and 13 chapters this book is pregnant with thought-provoking and soul-humbling truth that caused me often to just cry out as a beggar to God in awe, in love, in gratefulness, and in humble pleading for faith and grace.

Basically what Leahy does in this book is walk the reader through Christ's last hours on earth, His Passion. Dealing in 13 chapters with different aspects and scenes from those hours, the divinity of Christ and His humanness are both kept sharply in focus. The sin of mankind both for which Christ was dying and the sins of those who directly took part in His murder are not deminished, but neither is the fact that "It was the will of the Lord to crush him" that it was the Lord who "has put him to grief" (Isaiah 53:10).

I recommend that you read this book in a quiet place with little destraction with your Bible by your side. Read it one chapter at a time and then sit and re-read, and pray. Let the Spirit take you back to the foot of the cross where you gaze up at your only hope, the King of the universe hanging in misery, damnation, and ultimately victory. Look at the cross he bore and realize that with such a high price to secure our salvation, anything that we hope to add or to repay will only be an insult to His gift, diminishing its value and His glory. Let the Spirit take you to the foot of the cross where you realize who we are, we are all beggars.

Really solid book. Nothing overly done or brought to the table that you wouldn't get out of other books about Christ crucifixion, but a very solid and reliable read. I did begin this after reading through the "Murder of Jesus" so much could have come off as repetitive. This walks through the crucifixion starting at the garden of Gethsemane all the way through His last breaths. It will help you in meditating at the feet of the Christ while on Calvary as we sit in His shadow as He bears the just righteous wrath of God for the due penalty for His people's sin.

A couple of good gems I wrote down:

"Now He gives to His people 'the cup of salvation'...one cup was emptied (cup of wrath towards believers) that the other might be filled overflowing. The first cup guaranteed the second."

"The real truth is that while He came to preach the Gospel, His chief object in coming was that there might be a Gospel to preach."

"There is an error to avoid, the danger of seeing the loving obedience of Christ as primarily and exclusively for the sake of man, when in fact, it was primarily out of love for God that He accepted the cross."

This is worth the time to read.

This little book by the late Frederick Leahy is a priceless gem. I read this for the first time last summer and immediately ordered 15 more to hand out, and I was sorry I hadn't ordered 15 more. In fact, I just ordered 8 more copies to hand out to some of the men in our church to help prepare our minds and hearts for Easter. I have yet to find anything that focuses the attention on the amazing work of our Lord in such a simple and yet powerful way from the garden of Gethsemane to the darkness of Golgotha.

Leahy draws a lot from Klaas Schilder, who I am not familiar with, but this little book is a solid meditation on the work of Christ on the cross. Edward Donnelly write in the foreward to the book that "This is a work which gives full play to a disciplined and sanctified imagination. Some of his past students may be surprised at such a choice of words, since Professor Leahy's adamant rejection of speculation in the formulation of doctrine has become legendary. Yet the Bible is far more than a catalogue of abstract propositions and the task of the preacher is surely to mediate the truth through all the powers of his renewed personality. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was right to complain that 'we have all become so scientific that there is little room left for imagination. This, to me, is most regrettable because imagination in preaching is most important and most helpful . . . what it does is make the Truth lively and living.'"

There are perhaps too many unfortunate examples of too much imagination and not enough sound doctrine, but Leahy (as was Lloyd-Jones) is a terrific example of someone who uses the full faculty of their mind, which includes the imagination, not to create their own version of truth, but to draw closer to THE Truth. These meditations (and that is precisely what they are) serve to fix our gaze on the work He did for us, and to focus our full attention on details we might be too quick to overlook. He closes the first chapter stating, "Schilder is right. 'Gethsemane is not a field of study for our intellect. It is a sanctuary of our faith.' Lord, forgive us for the times we have read about Gethsemane with dry eyes."

Amen.

Do yourself a favor. Don't just buy this book. Buy 30 of them, and give them all away. You will greatly bless the lives of others through this little treasure by Frederick Leahy.

I purchased this book to read during our family devotion times leading up to Easter, and it did not disappoint. All of us became more aware of the deep suffering of our Savior as He moved through the days leading up to His crucifixion.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to fix their attention on what Christ suffered so that those who would repent and trust Him could be counted as righteous. It is appropriate as a read-aloud for families with children as young as middle grade school. Younger children can benefit just from listening to the discussions and from hearing Mom and Dad reflect on the Passion of Christ.

Leahy's book provides several short, easy-to-read but profoundly searching meditations on the Passion of Christ. These are readings to chew on, not rush through. I have found it a useful preparative to partaking of the Lord's Supper.

This is a book I consider a gem--one can really comprehend the sufferings that Christ endured so that we can appropriate his sacrifice to our condition.

The individual chapters are short and allow the reader to read each chapter as time permits. I keep this book in my car to read while waiting for appointments (I'm usually early). As I meditate on the sufferings Christ endured it inspires me
to go through life's challenges, difficulties, hardships, etc. with grace, knowing that Christ paid the ultimate price and he did it with great majesty.