04.02. Part 2.

Part 2. But here, as of old, it may be said, we would see Jesus. We turn then from the portrait to the Person Himself with the prayer on our lips, "Lord, show me Thy glory," and with confidence of heart contemplate those spiritually enchanting scenes set before us in the pages of the four evangelists. Here the King stands before us, giving concrete expression to the whole. Every line is filled with life, which gives substance to the shadow, completeness to the mould, and equilibrium to the whole. It has been said that Christ would not have come sooner than He did, and in the combined view of both the purposes and ways of God nothing can be more certain; the pre-christian ages being a necessity, during which the activity of the Godhead is seen working in the fallen race both in grace and government. Behind it all, however, there was the sketching out of an order of life and being which the Incarnation of the Son only could make good. In the birth of Christ all was actualised because every part of truth was perfectly combined in Him. The divine glory and credentials are prominent in John and the human pedigree in connection with the nation in Matthew. Bethlehem, though small, is the place from which He comes, whose goings forth have been from the days of eternity. The glory of the Person is interwoven with the human details and presented in such charming simplicity as to rejoice the heart, while all fits in perfectly with what had been written before. All that Hebrews 1:1-14 predicates of Him is here seen in the Babe who is called Immanuel The control of affairs is markedly in divine hands, and the Child must be taken to Egypt. Not merely to escape the dragon’s power however, but that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "Out of Egypt have I called My Son." The history of the nation, which was one of failure, had begun from that place: He goes there to identify Himself with that history and put His own perfect stamp upon all. As soon as He is announced by His forerunner and before beginning His public ministry, another king — one who had had long practice on man — comes upon the scene to challenge His royal rights and attempt to allure Him from the path of His moral glory. The one temptation relative to our present theme is that given second by Matthew, and alludes to the holy city and the temple. connecting with His place in Israel both politically and ecclesiastically. But the King, whose right it is to command, knows perfectly how to obey and the evil one is defeated by the Word of God.

Having defeated the strong man He goes forth to spoil his goods. He enters the strong man’s palace where he kept his goods in peace, where he had his armour and much spoil, to dispossess and cast him out. That one had early raised up bulwarks between the creature and God, but the Deliverer had come. The King is here in the sphere of man’s need on the line of mercy, but it never can be possible to think of mercy toward the spiritual forces of evil. The crushing of Satan meant the deliverance of man in so far as he was prepared to submit himself to the King. For there could be no truce in that conflict nor compromise, since mercy were lost on that which is irreconcilable.

Satan left Him for a season to come back at the end with his last and strongest weapon; Indirectly, however, his murderous opposition is kept up all through the time of the Lord’s ministry. The ingenuity of his tactics is seen in a multitude of ways, for not only are evil spirits seen at work, but the very people that the King had come to bless are made the instrument of his attack. When we reflect that the very elements are stirred up by him to frustrate the work of the King, as in the storm on the lake of Galilee, we get some idea of the determiner! opposition of the evil one.

Demons were commanded to be silent, and on being cast out were found pleading with Him not to be sent into the abyss (Mark 1:34; Mark 3:11; Luke 8:31). Here we have the saddest of all truths, that though Satan may delude man into the foolish device of scepticism it is beyond his power to do that with evil spirits. "The demons even believe and tremble" (James 2:19). The majesty and resource of the King is seen not only in the exposure of every device of Satan, but that all is made to work out for his disgrace and defeat. This is seen all through the history, but nowhere more conspicuous than at the cross, where his last, worst. and vilest attack brings about his downfall for eternity. As we behold the moral scenery of the Gospels the plenitude of His glory shines before us in such a way and in such variety that we feel the difficulty of keeping to the Scarlet. There everything utters glory and blends together, combining what is Personal, Moral, Official, and Creatorial, with the cross at the end, where the glory of Redemption (the door of entrance for us, whereby we may enter in and contemplate them all), shines in full meridian splendour. The unity, variety, and symmetry of what belongs to God and man may be traced in such a way as to anticipate God’s eternal day, when He shall dwell with man in a condition of things into which disorder can never come. There, if we may be allowed the expression with all reverence, we see God at His best because He is dispensing grace and mercy in a world of need, and there, too, we see Manhood for the delight of the heart of God, a Sight for all intelligences to behold. Thousands have drawn near to the Ark of the covenant in that holy place, getting their tiny vessels filled and thousands mole will follow, but it must ever remain in its own eternal fulness the richest of the rich, the grandest of the grand, the most wonderful of all the wonders of God.

We make no apology then, dear reader, for asking the favour of your company that we may together go by the footsteps of the flock, and enter into the inner chambers of the King, saying to Him, "We will be glad and rejoice in Thee, We will remember Thy love more than wine" (Song of Solomon 1:7). "Where the word of a King is there is power, and who may say unto Him what doest Thou?" Such words could only be used in an absolute sense of our Lord and point forward to His public reign. But the One who is to rule in a scene of righteousness must first rule in grace, and we may well ask as we look forward in the light of the past and present which is most profound. "The shout of a King is among them," was as true in John 7:37, as it will be in the time to come, and of this we have living proof in those who have heard the mighty voice of the Son of God and been made to live. Power is there, but controlled by love, in the sphere of good and evil and on behalf of the creature who had long groaned under the power of the tyrant. His word carries authority, and from the moment He comes upon the scene the axe is laid to the root of the trees ready to cut them down. His being a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief is in relation to the conditions which prevail among men, this being a mark of divine grace towards the race in which His purpose centred, could in no wise affect His dealings with all other parts except that all should be in happy harmony with Himself in His work of grace. Where this was not true the very opposition, because of who He was, was bound to work for its own destruction. All is at His command. The physical, the animal, the spiritual, and the moral. The winds and waves obey, the tree withers away, the unbroken colt carries Him, the fish obey His voice as the sea yields her treasures, the demons quake before Him, and death itself, the king of terrors, surrenders to Him his spoil. No King like this. In Psalms 24:1-10, the question is asked, Who is He? "Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." His word controls the seen and unseen, heaven, earth, and hell, and destruction and death say we have heard the fame thereof with our ears. But see the effect of that word in human hearts. Distressed ones are filled with joy as they behold their loved ones relieved from both disease and death. The nobleman’s son (John 4:1-54), the distressed sisters of Bethany (John 11:1-57), and the widow of Luke 8:1-56, show the gladdening rays of the Sun of Righteousness streaming in on sorrowful hearts in anticipation of the day when all tears shall be wiped away. "I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof," said the centurion, "but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed." And the soldiers sent to apprehend Him have to say, "Never man spake like this Man." Some would say, "What doest Thou" to their shame, and even a disciple might unwisely intrude to meet with stern rebuke. Other kings hold their subjects under command either by fear or affection. He is Lord of all, and holds the mind and heart of each under His control.

There were those again whose delight it was to bow before Him, owning His sovereignty and drinking in His word. "In the light of the King’s countenance there is life and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain (Proverbs 16:15). The woman of Luke 7:1-50, found His words to be like drops of water to a thirsty soul, and the grace of heaven dispensed by Him made her heart like a watered garden. If she learned the grace of forgiveness the woman of Luke 10:1-42, tasted His complacency in the joy of communion. Surely the Person and the communications of the King commanded her whole being and made her oblivious of all else. She knew the light of His countenance, and her faith rejoiced His heart by penetrating into His thoughts and His excellency to such an extent as to anoint Him in view of both the sepulchre and the throne (Matthew 26:1-75 and John 12:1-50).

Take again the words: — "Take away the wicked from before the King" (Proverbs 25:5). Perhaps the most solemn illustration of this is seen in the going out of Judas into the dark of that, for him, morally dark night. The case, too, of those who brought the sinful woman for Him to condemn. The answer of His lips so exposed them that they were shamed out of His presence and all slink away. In Matthew 12:1-50, the King is seen on the line of mercy, the expression of which arouses the animus of the leaders to such an extent as to seek to destroy Him. Silenced by His word and baffled by the work of His goodness they go out and hold a council to put Him to death. While they are on the line of murder He goes on in His work of mercy taking. so to speak, no notice till He bring forth judgment unto victory. The moment is at hand, however, when He will turn His attention to these, when "the Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war, He shall cry, yea, roar: He shall prevail against His enemies." Then shall He say, "I have a long time holden My peace, I have been still and refrained, now will I cry like a travailing woman, I will destroy and devour at once" (Isaiah 42:1-25). In the language of another prophet it shall then be said, "The lion hath roared, who will not fear?" (Amos 3:8).

Judah is the royal tribe whose ensign was a lion, and from him Messiah sprang. And when we reflect that lions are emblematical of the majesty and dignity of Israel’s throne, we get some sense of the true dignity of the nation as linked up with the Son of David. Judah is a young lion. "From the prey, my son, thou art gone up," says Jacob. "He stoopeth, he layeth himself down as a lion, and as a lioness who will rouse him up." We who live in the light of accomplished redemption with the power of Satan broken at the cross, can see how having spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing over them, He has gone up. Yes, He that descended into the lower parts of the earth has ascended up far above all heavens that He might fill all things (Ephesians 4:1-32). "But who shall rouse Him up?" That shall be the day of the vengeance of our God (Isaiah 60:1-22), when He shall say, "I have sharpened my gleaming sword and my hand shall take hold of judgment, for a fire is kindled in Mine anger that shall burn unto the lowest sheol" (Deuteronomy 32:22; Deuteronomy 32:41). Is there nothing akin to this, it may be asked, in the day of His ministry? Can we not see something of this when His disciples remembered that it had been written of Him, "The zeal of thine house devours Me"? He found in the temple the sellers of oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers sitting, and having made a scourge of small cords He cast them all out of the temple and said . . . . "take these things hence: make not My Father’s house a house of merchandise." This second cleansing of the temple, it will be recalled, took place within a few days of His death, and at no time in the history does His supremacy so shine out. If the doings of the last week be carefully studied it will be seen that He is indeed a King against whom there is no rising. "The voice of Jehovah is powerful, the voice of Jehovah is full of majesty, the voice of Jehovah breaketh the cedars" (Psalms 29:4-5). But there is another side to His character which is of great importance for us to look at. He is the Lamb as well as the Lion, and it is worthy of note that both these titles come out in the first and last books of Holy Writ. This double presentation of our Lord presents Him either at the top or at the bottom, and while the Lamb is used as typifying His death, it is never so with the Lion, for no wild animal could be used in sacrifice. See Him in John 5:1-47, whose power will sweep the whole domain of death and whose mighty voice commands the tomb, and almost in the same breath hear Him say, "I can of mine self do nothing." If the exigency of the moment demanded stern righteousness He is there, "Jesus Christ the righteous," and if need or suffering, He is there to bind up the broken heart. "I beseech you," says the apostle, "by the meekness of Christ," and His own words were, "Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart and ye shall find rest to your souls." The two things come together at His arrest. At one word from Him they all go backward and fall to the ground. and immediately afterwards He submits to all. There is no distraction in that moment, and although Peter’s zeal created a scene, He is there to bind up and bring all to order. See Him before the council, spat upon and buffeted, then in Gentile hands mocked and crowned with thorns, and follow on to see Him led as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb. It is this combination of divine power and glory with lowly grace, that submits to all manner of abasement, that entrances the soul; an inscrutable mystery which fills us with speechless amazement and richest adoration.

"There see the Godhead glory shine through that human vail, And willing hear the story of love that’s come to heal. My soul in secret follows the footsteps of His love;

I trace the Man of sorrows His boundless grace to prove."

While beholding these two features shining out the difference between them is pressed upon us. The working of miracles in one very obvious sense could be nothing wonderful for Him, nor indeed the checking of evil and deliverance of the creature from sin, disease, and Satan’s power. All these things He had been doing in different degrees all along the line. He Himself is to us the greatest miracle of all, and the marvel would be if He did not do such things. But the most wonderful thing of all, and that which is bound to touch the heart most deeply is, that such a Person should be found going through the circumstances of this life patiently and calmly committing Himself to God and doing everything in a way that was well-pleasing to Him. Here, beloved reader, let us ponder as we behold this sight which is surpassingly lovely; to see such an One commanding the storm or walking on the water produces wonder indeed, because it was done in Manhood’s lowly guise, but to see Him smitten, stricken, and afflicted, mocked, and spat upon, surpasses all that creatures can conceive. What could bow the soul in holy and adoring worship like that? It is that which has been called His moral glory, and in which He is seen as the most gracious and accessible of all men. One who never turned any away, whether old or young, but made Himself the servant of all.