March 28

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me.—Luke 24:44.

IT is evident by comparing the ancient figures with the present truth, the copies with the original, the pictures with the life, that eternal wisdom contrived them. For no created understanding could frame so various representations of Christ, and all exactly agreeing with him at such a distance before his appearance. And if we compare the predictions with the events, it is most clear that only the divine knowledge could reveal them. For otherwise how was it possible that the prophets, so many ages before the coming of Christ, should predict those things concerning him, that exceed the foresight of all the angels of light? What intelligence could there be between Moses, and David, and Isaiah, that lived such a distance of time from each other, to deliver such things as meet in him as their centre? And these prophecies are conveyed to us by the Jews, the most obstinate enemies of Christianity, who, although they reverence the letter, yet abhor the accomplishment of them: so that there can be no possible suspicion that they are feigned, and of a later date than their titles declare. Their successive fulfilling is a perpetual miracle to justify the truth of our religion.

Our Saviour used this method for the instruction of his disciples: These are the words which I spake unto you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me. As by dissecting a dead body, we see the order and position of the parts in the living; so by searching into the legal types, we may discover the truth of evangelical mysteries. Accordingly St. Paul framed a powerful demonstration from the Scriptures, to prove that Jesus was the Christ. In his writings he deciphers the riddles of the law, and removes the veil to discover the face of Christ engraven by the divine Artificer. Briefly, by showing the consent between the two testaments, he illustrates the Old by the New, and confirms the New by the Old. Now what religion is there in the world, whose mysteries were foretold by the oracles of God, and figured by his institutions above two thousand years before it was exhibited? Whose doctrine perfectly accords with the most ancient, venerable, and divine writings? Can that religion be any other than divine, which God did so expressly predict, and portray in such various manner, for the receiving whereof he made such early preparations in the world? Certainly, without offering the greatest violence to our rational faculties, none can disbelieve it. He degrades himself from the dignity of being a man, that refuses to be a Christian.

From hence we may understand the excellent privileges of Christians, not only above the heathens, who by divine desertion were wholly strangers to the covenant of mercy, but above God's peculiar people. The Messiah was the expectation and desire of heaven and earth. Before his coming, the saints had some glimmerings of light, which made them inwardly languish after the blessed manifestation of it. But that was reserved for believers in the last ages of the world. That ancient promise,—the morning-blush of the gospel day—That the seed of the woman should break the head of the serpent, and the serpent bruise his heel, signified the bloody victory the Messiah should obtain over Satan; but how little of it was understood? "One may as well from the sight of the root foretell the dimensions of a tree, the color, figure, and taste of its fruit, as from that prediction have discovered all the parts of our Mediator's office, and the excellent benefits resulting from it. The incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, are in the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, as corporeal beings are in the darkness of the night; they have a real existence, but no eye so clear as to enlighten the obscurity. The most sharp-sighted seer might say, I shall see him, but not now. The ministry of the law is compared to the light of a candle, that is, shadowy, and confined to a small place; that of the gospel is like the sun in his strength, that enlightens the world. The prophets who were nearer to the coming of Christ, had clearer revelations, but did not bring perfect day: as some new stars appearing in the firmament increase, but do not change the nature of the light. Isaiah, who is so exact in describing all the circumstances of our Saviour's death, and his innocence, humility, and patience, that he seems to be an evangelist rather than a prophet; yet the Ethiopian proselyte, who certainly was a proficient in the Jewish religion, understood not of whom the prophet spake. We see what they were ignorant of, not that our sight is stronger, but our light is more clear. The doctrine of the Messiah saved them, but it was then seen at a distance, and under a veil of ceremonies after the Jewish fashion, that concealed its native beauty. The manifestation of it is more evident in the accomplishment, than while it is the object of future expectation. The passover had respect to their deliverance from Egypt that had passed, and therefore easily apprehensible; but it was also a type of the Lamb of God that was to take away the sins of the world, and in this relation not so clearly understood. Our sacraments have a relation to what is passed, and excite the memory by a clear signification of his sufferings. The full discovery of these mysteries was reserved as an honor to our Saviour's coming. He expounded the silent types and speaking oracles by an actual accomplishment, and real comment in his person, life, and death. He is the Sun of Righteousness, and sheds abroad a light that excels that of all the prophets in brightness, as well as his person transcends theirs in dignity. And how should the evangelical light warm our hearts with thankfulness to God for this admirable privilege? The dim foresight of the Messiah two thousand years before his coming, put Abraham in an ecstasy of joy; how should the full revelation of him affect us? Many holy prophets and kings desired to see the things that we see. They embraced the promises, we have the blessed effects; they had the shadows, we have the light; they only saw the veiled face of Moses, we all with open face, as in a glass, see the glory of the Lord. Now what is our duty, becoming this privilege, but to be transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord? The life of every Christian should be a shining representation of the graces and virtues of Christ that are so visible in the gospel. Their holiness and heavenliness, their hopes and joy, should as much exceed the graces and comforts of believers under the legal dispensation, as their knowledge is incomparably more clear and perfect.