2.03.09. Jesus in the midst

IX. JESUS IN THE MIDST.

“Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported imto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.” — 1 Peter 1:12.

HAVING examined the two junctures which these three links present, and the two pairs which are constituted by these three members, let us now take a parting glance of the whole in one view. The grace unto you.
The sufferings unto Christ.
The glories after these.

Behold another example of that revealed mystery, — “ On either side one, and Jesus in the midst.” When Christ was crucified on Calvary, his cross was flanked right and left by a sinner saved and a sinner lost. When his throne of judgment is set, the same phenomenon will reappear, with this difference, that instead of a single sample from either host, the hosts will all be there. Here in this apostle’s letter is an exhibition most interestingly analogous. Who is this that stands in the midst here? It is Christ crucified; — “ the sufferings unto Christ.” On either side of that central object is one, and who are they? On one side favour to the sinful, on the other side glory to God! From the cross stream, right and left, these two distinct but kindred glories — this way pardon to the guilty, that way divine righteousness satisfied and adorned. On no other root do these twin blossoms grow, on no other foundation do these twin pillars stand. Hark, a melody, as the Spirit breathes through the three distended strings of this harp, — we have heard the song before. Then too it was Jesus in the midst. The twin stanzas, radiating both like light beams from the head of the Babe born in Bethlehem, are “ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men.” A pictorial, an almost dramatic interest adheres to this brief but pregnant portion of Peter’s letter. We have already pointed out, that making Christ crucified the centre, we find the cross supported on either side by favour poured on sinners and glory rising to God the Judge. These are the more immediate surroundings. But extend the radius, and you will find at the greater distance a parallel pair, and the form still is, “ On either side one, and Jesus in the midst.” Before verse eleventh, where the cross is elevated, you find in verse tenth the prophets promising Christ, and after it in verse twelfth the apostles proclaiming him.

Here is the vision. In the centre stands a throne, and “ in the midst of the throne a Lamb, as it had been slain." On the one side a line of prophets stretches from the steps of the throne upwards to the creation of man; for the Lord never left himself without a witness on the earth. Latest and greatest of the race, the Baptist stands nearest, looking unto Jesus, and exclaiming, “ Behold the Lamb of God.” Earliest and farthest off”, on the eastern brink of time, Abel may be descried, shedding the blood of his sacrifice, and through it seeing Christ’s day afar off. Hand in hand they stand this long-drawn line of witnesses, promising a Saviour yet to come. On the other side of the throne stand the chosen witnesses of the Lamb’s death and resurrection, reporting the great accomplished fact of the Divine government and of human history, and preaching glad tidings to the world through the power of the Holy Ghost. From the cross in the midst a light streams upward to the very gate of Eden, giving life and meaning to all the sacrifices which, without it, would have been dull and dead; and downward, till the milder light of the first coming meet the lightning flash of the second. All that went before promised. He is coming; all that follow report, He has come. And so in him all the promises of God are yea and Amen.

Incidentally here, an interesting feature of the gospel emerges — “ preaching “ and “ reporting “ are identical. To preach the gospel is substantially to report a fact. To tell the now old, old story, and tell it so as to make it ever new — this is the highest style of a gospel ministry. It is finished. The Son of God became the Son of man, that he might take our place, and that we might stand in his. He gave himself, the just for the unjust. His invitation is, “ Whosoever will, let him come; “ and, “ There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”

Yet another feature is added to the landscape — thrown in near the outskirts, and communicating a tender settingsun-like glow to the whole canvas — “ Which things the angels desire to look into.” These holy spiritual beings, flames of fire though they be in ardent and intelligent service to their Creator, could not fully comprehend the redemption of men. They lacked experience. In taking up a difficult idea, no amount of intellectual acuteness can make up for the want of having gone through the case yourself. They had seen, I suppose, that their fellowcreature man had fallen by sin, and yet that the fallen were spared, forgiven, and restored to favour. In the fulness of time they had seen the weU-beloved of the Father, whom they were wont to worship, forsaken of the Father, and by wicked hands crucified and slain. This was beyond their comprehension. They stood amazed before the mystery.

Saved men have another view-point, and can understand all. Seen from their stand-point, this cloud dissolves into light, and becomes a glory to God in the highest. In the estuary of a great navigable river, between parallel lines of green hills, a great number of buoys are seen scattered over the surface of the water. You stand on the neighbouring hill-top and see — see, but cannot understand.

Some of the buoys are large, some small; some are white, some are red; some are near the shore, and some in midchannel. They seem to you as if they had fallen from the clouds without order, meaning, or use. But come down from that height; get into a ship that is coming from abroad and making its way home; thread your way through these signals right and left. You will see that they mark the way for the voyager; not the straight, but the deep safe way from the outer ocean to the harbour-home. In some such way might the angels, from their high place, be unable to understand the way of life for the lost, and might desire to descend, and get into our position, and share our experience, so as to taste and see the goodness and wisdom of God in the scheme of redemption. In the earlier year of the current century, certain nebula — shreds of white, mist-like clouds — were familiar to astronomers, hanging in the blue, far beyond the region of our atmosphere — farther distant than the fixed stars.

What might these be? Has a dull, creeping mould or mildew tainted the purity of highest heaven? At length a new and more powerful instrument was turned in that direction, and, lo, the clouds resolved themselves into innumerable separate stars — shining worlds so thickly strewn, that in the aggregate they seemed a mildew spot on the surface of the azure. If the angels, who are amazed at the sight of sinners spared and the Holy One forsaken, could get a glimpse of the same objects through our instruments and with our eyes, the things that seemed anomalous spots on the universal purity of the Supreme would break out into separate glories — glories that excelled all that they had hitherto known.

Certain it is, that however bright the place of the saints’ eternal rest may be, “ the Lamb is the light thereof.” The method and the means whereby the redemption of lost men has been accomplished will be hereafter the chief study of perfect creatures, and the brightest glory of the Creator God.