Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Pilate must have witnessed much of this cruelty, as it was inflicted right in his court, with his consent, perhaps even by his orders. What a frightful spectacle it was to look upon this figure of a man, scourged almost beyond recognition, with a crown of thorns on His head, bound, and a cloak thrown over His shoulders. Pilate thought that this spectacle would render the Jews merciful, that the punishment had been sufficient. So he led Our Lord over an archway and placed Him in full view of the assembled multitude, saying: "Behold the man!" Yes, O Christian heart, look at the Lord exhausted after the scourging, the crown of thorns on His head, clotted blood in His face, burning with a fever heat, ready to die from loss of blood. O my Jesus, what sufferings didst Thou not endure to satisfy the cruelty of man! Thou hast become a spectacle before God and the world. But the Jews were hardened. The sight of Christ in this condition did not move them. They cried, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him."
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
When the Jews demanded the death of Christ so vehemently, Pilate had water brought to him, in which he washed his hands, as a sign that he was innocent of the great crime of condemning Our Lord to the death of the cross. Still he condemned Him, and wrote the inscription of the cross himself. The Lord was led out to be crucified. St. Catharine of Emmerich saw in a vision the rapture with which Jesus received the cross. That He knelt down and addressed the wood with loving words. It was the consummation of the Lord's desires. His whole aim in life was that He should die on the cross, so now He stretches out His arms to receive that precious burden, the seat of His love, the instrument of His mercy, and the sign of triumph. Dear cross! no longer are you the wood of disgrace on which malefactors are to die; you are now the sign of glory. No longer are you the accursed wood, but the glory of the elect. Cross and altar are now the same thing to us; the altar is our joy and happiness, so also is the cross. The Christian who has no love for the cross is to be pitied.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.