But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of
the people.--Psalm xxii. 6.
Do we not here instantly recognise the language of the despised
Nazarene? And is not the whole Psalm a striking description of
his unparalleled sufferings, of his unprecedented degradation
and humility? He whose will formed the universal law of nature;
he who marshalled the stars, and called them all by name; who
bid the planets roll, and the sun to shine; who gave the orb of
day his splendid rays, and lent the moon her silvery light; he
whose word the congregated waters of the ocean felt and owned,
when he said, "hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here
shall thy proud waves be stayed"--he who shared the throne of
Deity,[77] and received the adorations of glorified saints, of
Cherubim and Seraphim, and before whose footstool even Gabriel
bowed and worshipped.[78] He whose right it was to reign in Heaven,
condescended to visit this, his distant kingdom, and tabernacle
here for a season in the garb of humanity. Surely, if the Lord of
Heaven and Earth deigned, for great and wise purposes, to enter this
lower world, it was undoubtedly his just right to have appeared in
all the majesty and splendour becoming his rank, and thus to have
displayed himself as the glorious God. Was it not a condescension in
the second person of the glorious Trinity to assume the character
and office of Mediator? But, how unspeakably great his condescension
in taking our nature into union with his Divine Person, even if it
had always retained the splendours exhibited to the three disciples
on the mount of transfiguration. Is there not just reason to believe
the human nature to which Deity was united, as far exceeded in its
native powers and faculties the rest of mankind[79]; as that the
intellectual powers of the justly celebrated Newton exceeded the
mental capacities of an idiot? We behold the God-man, Christ Jesus,
voluntarily waiving his just claim to glory, and appearing, as the
Prophet described, "without form or comeliness;" for in the eyes
of those who saw him "there was no beauty that they should desire
him." He was exposed to every species of scorn and contempt, his
name a reproach, himself an outcast, the sport and ridicule of the
Jewish nation. We discover Jesus, as the surety of man, cheerfully
lay aside for a season all his visible and personal glory[80], to
recompense the injury God's manifested glory had sustained by the
creature's sin. And as Adam the creature, sinned in aspiring to
be as God[81], so Christ, the Son of God, in making restitution,
condescended to assume the creature. The satisfaction of Jesus did
not consist merely in his obedience and sufferings, but also in his
abasement and humiliation. He emptied himself, as it were, of all
personal glory[82] to honour God, who, in the person of God the
Father, covenanted to maintain and demand the honour and dignity due
to Godhead.[83] The apostasy and disobedience of man had reflected
dishonour on God, therefore Jesus submitted to shame and reproach,
and to have his personal glory debased to make reparation. The lower
he humbled himself, the greater honour did he reflect upon God, and
the greater was the display of his love to man. When we consider the
character of him with whom it is no "robbery to be equal with God,"
and contrast the true dignity of his person, with his appearance
and reception on earth, we are overwhelmed at the extent of his
zeal for his Father's honour, and his love for the fallen race of
Adam, which prompted him to descend from the heights of glory and
blessedness to take the lowest rank, and most humbled situation[84],
in society, to raise and exalt his enemies to a participation and
share in the glories of his Heavenly Kingdom. Surely "this was
compassion like a God."
[77] Psalm cx. 1. Zech. xiii. 7.
[78] Heb. i. 6.
[79] John vii. 46.
[80] John xvii. 5.
[81] Gen. iii. 5.
[82] Phil. ii. 7.
[83] Matt. v. 18.
[84] Luke xxii. 27.