ministry, he cried concerning this Jesus, ‘Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world.—And he,’ saith John, ‘that sent
me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt
see the Spirit descending, and remaining’ or abiding, ‘the same is he
which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that
this is the Son of God’ (John 1:29-34).
The Testimony of the Star and Wise Men.—The star that appeared at his
birth in the east, and that coasted through the heavens till it came
over the place where the young child Jesus was, that star gave
testimony that he was the Saviour. This star alarmed many, especially
the wise men of the east, who were brought by it from afar to worship
him: ‘And lo, the star which they saw in the east, went before them
till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw
the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were
come into the house, they saw the young child, with Mary his mother,
and fell down and worshipped him; and when they had opened their
treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and
myrrh’ (Matt 2:9-11).
The Testimony of the Angels.—1. To Mary herself—‘And in the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named
Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, -and the
virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail,
thou that art highly favoured.—And the angel said unto her, Fear not,
Mary; for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt
conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest;
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David,
and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom
there shall be no end’ (Luke 1:26-33). 2. The angels’ testimony to the
shepherds, as they were feeding their flocks in the fields by
night—‘And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of
the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the
angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord’ (Luke
2:9-11). 3. How the angels solemnized his birth among themselves—‘And
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, goodwill towards men’ (vv 13,14).
The Testimony of God the Father.—1. When he was baptized—‘And Jesus,
when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and, lo,
the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and, lo, a voice from
heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’
(Matt 3:16,17). 2. The Father’s testimony of him at his
transfiguration—‘And he took Peter and John and James, and went up into
a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance
was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.’ And there
appeared Moses and Elias talking with him, and a cloud from heaven
overshadowed them; at which the three disciples began to be afraid.
Then ‘there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved
Son, hear him’ (Luke 9:28-35). This is that testimony of God which
Peter speaks of, saying, ‘We have not followed cunningly devised
fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received
from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to
him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were
with him in the holy mount’ (2 Peter 1:16-18). 3. God gave testimony of
him by signs and wonders—‘Believest thou not that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of
myself: but the Father, that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.’ ‘God
also bearing them witness,’ that preached salvation by Jesus, ‘both
with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy
Ghost, according to his own will’ (John 14:10; Heb 2:4).
Concerning Jesus, how he put himself upon the test among his
adversaries.
The Lord Jesus also putteth himself upon the test among his adversaries
divers ways.
First. He urgeth the time of the appearing of the Messias to be
come—‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent
ye, and believe the gospel’ (Mark 1:15).
For this he had a threefold proof—1. The heathens had invaded and taken
the land, according to that of Daniel (9:25,26). 2. The sceptre was
departed from Judah, according to that of Jacob (Gen 49:10). To which
also suited that prophecy: ‘Before the child shall know to refuse the
evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be
forsaken of both her kings’ (Isa 7:16). 3. The Roman emperor had not
only subdued the nation, and put down the kingly race of the Jews, but
had set up and established his own power over them. In the fifteenth
year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate was governor of
Judea; Herod was tetrarch of Galilee; Philip, tetrarch of Iturea; and
Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene; all heathens, and of Tiberius’ making.
Besides, the kingly race of Judah was at this time become so low by
reason of the Roman oppression, that the chief of them were put to get
their living by their own hands; even Joseph, the supposed father of
Jesus, was then become a carpenter. Poor man! when Jesus was born, he
was fain to thrust into a stable, for there was in the inn no room for
such guests as they. The offering also which was brought unto God at
the time when Jesus was presented unto the Lord, was two turtle-doves,
or two young pigeons—a sacrifice allowed only for them that were poor,
and could provide no bigger—‘And if she be not able to bring a lamb,
then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, the one for the
burnt-offering, and the other for a sin-offering’ (Lev 12:8). Besides,
Jesus himself saith, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have
nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.’
Now, I say, all these things were so apparent to the Jews, that they
could not object; they felt the Romans were come, they knew the sceptre
was gone, they smarted under the Roman tyranny, and knew the kingly
race of Judea was overthrown. How, then, could they object that the
time was not come for Christ to be born?
Further, the people were generally convinced that the time was come,
and therefore, saith the text, they were in expectation. ‘And as the
people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John,
whether he were the Christ or not’ (Luke 3:15). The unbiased people,
observing the face of things, could do no other but look for the
Messias. And hence it is that the Lord Jesus gives the Pharisees, those
mortal enemies of his, such sore rebukes, saying, ‘O ye hypocrites, ye
can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of
the times?’ The kingdom is lost, the heathens are come, and the sceptre
is departed from Judah. ‘Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the
sky, and of the earth, but how is it that ye do not discern this time?’
(Matt 16:3; Luke 12:56).
Second. He yet again puts himself upon the test by the miracles which
he wrought before them—‘Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the
Father in me, or else believe me for the very works’ sake’ (John
14:11). ‘For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the
same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me’
(John 5:36.)
This proof they could not withstand, but granted that he did many
miracles, while they did nothing. ‘Then gathered the chief priests and
the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many
miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him, and
the Romans shall come, and take away both our place and nation’ (John
11:47,48).
Yea, so did Jesus confound them, that by their own records and laws, by
which they were to prove persons clean or unclean, they, in reading
their lectures, did justify him, and overthrow themselves.
For instance, it was written in their law, ‘If he that hath an issue
spit upon him that is clean,’ that spittle should make him unclean (Lev
15:8). Now Jesus, whom they counted most unclean, because he said he
was the Son of God, as they thought, speaking blasphemy, he spits upon
people, and makes them whole. He spat, and made clay with the spittle,
and with that clay made a blind man see (John 9:6). Also he spat on the
eyes of another, and made him see (Mark 8:23-25). Again, he spat, and
with his spittle touched the tongue of one that was dumb, and made him
speak immediately (Mark 7:33-35). Thus he proved himself clear of their
accusations, and maintained before them that by their law he was
guiltless, and the Son of God; for the miracles which he wrought were
to prove him so to be.
Again, in their law it was written that whoso toucheth the altar of
incense should be holy (Exo 29:37). A woman with a bloody issue touched
him, and is whole of her plague (Mark 5:28). Yea, they brought to him
many diseased persons, ‘and besought him that they might only touch the
hem of his garment; and as many as touched were made perfectly whole’
(Matt 14:36).
Thus was he justified before them out of their own law, and had his
glory manifest before their faces, to their everlasting confusion and
contempt.
Indeed, the Jews did make one objection against Jesus Christ that
seemed to them to have weight in it, and that was, because he first
began to appear and manifest his glory in Cana of Galilee. At this, I
say, they stumbled. It was their sore temptation; for still, as some
affirmed him to be the Christ, others as fast objected, ‘Shall Christ
come out of Galilee?’ ‘Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look; for
out of Galilee ariseth no prophet’ (John 2:1,11, 7:40-42,52).
But this their stumble might arise either from the cruelty of Herod, or
from their own not observing and keeping mind the alarm that God gave
them at his birth.
1. It might arise or be occasioned through the cruelty of Herod; for
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city where David dwelt. But when Herod
sent out to kill him, and for his sake killed all the young children in
Bethlehem, then was Joseph warned by an angel of God to take the young
child and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and so he did, and was there
till the death of Herod (Matt 2:1,13,16). After this, the angel comes
to them in Egypt, and bids them take the young child, and return into
the land of Israel; wherefore they arose and went. But hearing that
Herod’s son, that tyrant, ruled in the room of his father, they were
afraid to go to Bethlehem, but turned aside into the parts of Galilee,
where they remained till the time of his showing to Israel (Matt
2:19-23).
2. This stumble of theirs might arise from their not observing and
keeping in mind the alarm that God gave them of his birth. (1.) God
began to give them the alarm at the birth of John the Baptist, where
was asserted that he was to go before the face of the Lord Jesus, and
to prepare his ways. ‘And fear came on all that dwelt round about them,
and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill
country of Judea’ (Luke 1:65). (2.) Again, what a continuation of this
alarm was there also at the birth of Jesus, which was about three
months after John Baptist was born? Now come the angels from heaven.
Now comes a strange star over the country to lead the men of the east
to the stable where Jesus was born; now was Herod, the priests, the
scribes, and also the city of Jerusalem, awakened and sore troubled;
for it was noised by the wise men that Christ the King and Saviour was
born. Besides the shepherds, Simeon and Anna gave notice of him to the
people. They should, therefore, have retained the memory of these
things, and have followed God in all his dark providences, until his
Sun of Righteousness should arise among them with healing under his
wings.
3. I may add another cause of their stumble—they did not understand the
prophecies that went before of him. (1.) He was to come to them out of
Egypt—‘Out of Egypt have I called my Son’ (Matt 2:15; Hosea 11:1). (2.)
He turned aside into Cana of Galilee, and dwelt in the city of
Nazareth, ‘that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets,
He shall be called a Nazarene’ (Matt 2:23). (3.) That saying also was
to be fulfilled, ‘The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by
the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people
which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the
region and shadow of death light is sprung up’ (Matt 4:15,16; Isa 9:2,
42:7).
At these things, then, they stumbled, and it was a great judgment of
God upon them. Besides, there seemed to be a contradiction in the
prophecies of the Scripture concerning his coming. He was to be born in
Bethlehem, and yet to come out of Egypt. How should he be the Christ,
and yet come out of Galilee, out of which ariseth no prophet? Thus they
stumbled.
Hence note, that though the prophecies and promises be full and plain
as these were, that he should be born in Bethlehem, yet men’s sins may
cause them to be fulfilled in such obscurity, that instead of having
benefit thereby, they may stumble and split their souls thereat. Take
heed then; hunt not Christ from plain promises with Herod, hunt him not
from Bethlehem, lest he appear to your amazement and destruction from
Egypt, or in the land of Zabulon! But this much to the second question;
to wit, What it was for Jesus to come into the world.
I come now to the third question.
[WHAT IT WAS FOR JESUS TO COME TO BE A SAVIOUR.]
QUEST. THIRD. What it was for him to come to be a Saviour.
For the further handling of this question I must show—First. What it is
to be a Saviour. Second. What it is to come to be a Saviour. Third.
What it is for Jesus to come to be a Saviour. To these three briefly—
First. What it is TO BE a Saviour. 1. A saviour supposeth some in
misery, and himself one that is to deliver them. 2. A saviour is either
such an one ministerially or meritoriously.
Ministerially is, when one person engageth or is engaged by virtue of
respect or command from superiors, to go and obtain, by conquest or the
king’s redemption, the captives, or persons grieved by the tyranny of
an enemy. And thus were Moses and Joshua, and the judges and kings of
Israel, saviours—‘Thou deliveredst them into the hands of their
enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they
cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy
manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the
hand of their enemies’ (Neh 9:27). Thus was Jesus Christ a Saviour; he
was engaged by virtue of respect and command from God to obtain, by
conquest and redemption, the captives or persons grieved. God sent his
Son to be ‘the Saviour of the world’ (John 4:42).
Meritoriously is, when the person engaging shall, at his own proper
cost and charge, give a sufficient value or price for those he
redeemeth. Thus those under the law were redeemed by the money called
the redemption-money—‘And Moses gave the money of those that were
redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons’ (Num 3:46-51). And thus was Jesus
Christ a Saviour. He paid full price to Divine justice for sinners,
even his own precious blood—‘Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the
precious blood of Christ’ (1 Peter 1:18,19).
And forasmuch as, in man’s redemption, the undertaker must have
respect, not only to the paying of a price, but also to the getting of
a victory; for there is not only justice to satisfy, but death, devil,
hell, and the grave, to conquer; therefore hath he also by himself
gotten the victory over these. He hath abolished death (2 Tim 1:10). He
hath destroyed the devil (Heb 2:14,15). He hath been the destruction of
the grave (Hosea 13:14). He hath gotten the keys of hell (Rev 1:18).
And this, I say, he did by himself, at his own proper cost and charge,
when he triumphed over them upon his cross (Col 2:14,15).
Second. What it is TO COME to be a Saviour.
1. To come to be one, supposeth one ordained and fore-prepared for that
work—‘Then said he, Lo, I come, a body hast thou prepared me’ (Heb 10).
2. To come to be a Saviour supposeth one commissionated or authorized
to that work—‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath
anointed me,’ authorized me, ‘to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath
sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised’ (Luke 4:18). And upon this account it is that he is
so often called Christ, or the Anointed One; the anointed Jesus, or
Jesus the Anointed Saviour. ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which
should come into the world.’ ‘This Jesus whom I preach unto you is
Christ.’ He ‘testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ,’ ‘and
confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving’ by the Scriptures
‘that this is very Christ’ (John 11:27; Acts 9:22, 17:3, 18:5); the
very anointed of God, or he whom God authorized and qualified to be the
Saviour of the world.
3. To come to be a Saviour supposeth a resolution to do that work
before he goeth back—‘I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I
will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I
will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes’ (Hosea
13:14).
And as he resolved, so he hath done. He hath purged our sins (Heb 1:3).
By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified
(Heb 10:14). He hath obtained eternal redemption for them (Heb 9:12; 2
Tim 1:10; Heb 9:26; Col 2:15; Heb 6:18-20).
Third. I come now to the third question—What it is for JESUS to come to
be a Saviour.
1. It is the greatest discovery of man’s misery and inability to save
himself therefrom that ever was made in the world. Must the Son of God
himself come down from heaven? or can there be no salvation? Cannot one
sinner save another? Cannot man by any means redeem his brother, nor
give to God a ransom for him? Cannot an angel do it? Cannot all the
angels do it? No; Christ must come and die to do it.
2. It is the greatest discovery of the love of God that ever the world
had, for God so to love the world as to send his Son! For God so to
commend his love to the world as to send it to them in the blood of his
Son! Amazing love! (John 3:16; Rom 5:8).
3. It is the greatest discovery of the condescension of Christ that
ever the world had, that he should not come ‘to be ministered unto, but
to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many’ (Matt 20:28). That
he should be manifest for this purpose, ‘that he might destroy the
works of the devil’ (1 John 3:8). That he should come that we ‘might
have life, and that we might have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10).
That the Son of God should ‘come to seek and to save that which was
lost’ (Luke 19:10). That he should not come ‘to judge the world, but to
save the world’ (John 12:47). That ‘Christ Jesus should come into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief’ (1 Tim 1:15). That he
should ‘love us, and wash us from our sins in his own blood’ (Rev 1:5).
What amazing condescension and humility is this! (Phil 2:6-9).
HOW JESUS CHRIST ADDRESSED HIMSELF TO THE WORK OF OUR REDEMPTION.
I come, then, in the next place, to show you how Jesus Christ addressed
himself to the work of man’s redemption.
The Scripture saith, ‘he became poor,’ that he made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, that he humbled
himself unto death, even the death of the cross. But particularly,
FIRST. He took upon him our flesh. SECOND. He was made under the law.
THIRD. He took upon him our sins. FOURTH. He bore the curse due to our
sins.
[HE TOOK UPON HIM OUR FLESH.]
FIRST. He took upon him our flesh. I showed you before that he came in
our flesh, and now I must show you the reason of it—namely, because
that was the way to address himself to the work of our redemption.
Wherefore, when the apostle treated of the incarnation of Christ, he
added withal the reason—to wit, that he might be capable to work out
the redemption of men.
There are three things to be considered in this first head. First. That
he took our flesh for this reason—that he might be a Saviour. Second.
How he took flesh, that he might be our Saviour. Third. That it was
necessary that he should take our flesh, if indeed he will be our
Saviour.
[He took our flesh, that he might be a Saviour.]
[First.] For the first. That he took our flesh for this reason—that he
might be a Saviour: ‘For what the law could not do, in that it was weak
through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh’ (Rom 8:3).
The sum of the words is, Forasmuch as the law could do us no good, by
reason of the inability that is in our flesh to do it—for the law can
do us no good until it be fulfilled—and because God had a desire that
good should come to us, therefore did he send his Son in our likeness,
clothed with flesh, to destroy, by his doing the law, the tendency of
the sin that dwells in our flesh. He therefore took our flesh, that our
sin, with its effects, might by him be condemned and overcome.
The reason, therefore, why he took flesh is, because he would be our
Saviour—‘Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and
blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage’ (Heb 2:14,15).
In these words it is asserted that he took our flesh for certain
reasons.
1. Because the children, the heirs of heaven, are partakers of flesh
and blood—‘Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and
blood, he also himself took part of the same.’ Had the children, the
heirs, been without flesh, he himself had not taken it upon him; had
the children been angels, he had taken upon him the nature of angels;
but because the children were partakers of flesh, therefore leaving
angels, or refusing to take hold of angels, he took flesh and blood,
the nature of the children, that he might put himself into a capacity
to save and deliver the children; therefore it follows, that ‘through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil.’
2. This, therefore, was another reason—that he might destroy the devil.
The devil had bent himself against the children; he is their adversary,
and goeth forth to make war with them—‘Your adversary, the devil.—And
he went to make war with the remnant of her seed’ (1 Peter 5:8; Rev
12:17). Now the children could not destroy him, because he had already
cast them into sin, defiled their nature, and laid them under the wrath
of God. Therefore Christ puts himself among the children, and into the
nature of the children, that he might, by means of his dying in their
flesh, destroy the devil—that is, take away sin, his [the devil’s]
work, that he might destroy the works of the devil; for sin is the
great engine of hell, by which he overthroweth all that perish. Now
this did Christ destroy by taking on him the similitude of sinful
flesh; of which more anon.
3. ‘That he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil, and deliver them.’ This was the thing in chief intended, that he
might deliver the children, that he might deliver them from death, the
fruit of their sin, and from sin, the sting of that death—‘That he
might deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage.’
He took flesh, therefore, because the children had it; he took it that
he might die for the children; he took it that he might deliver the
children from the works of the devil—‘that he might deliver them.’ No
deliverance had come to the children if the Son of God had not taken
their flesh and blood; therefore he took our flesh, that he might be
our Saviour.