The Greatness of the Sin-Bearer
‘‘We must not stand to gaze too long,
Though on unfolding Heaven our gaze we bend,
Where lost behind the bright angelic throng
We see Christ’s entering triumph slow ascend.
‘*No fear but we shall soon behold,
Faster than now it fades, that gleam revive,
When issuing from his cloud of fiery gold
Our wasted frames feel the true Sun, and live.”
KEBLE,
(ISAIAH lili. 12.) ry,.. 7. I is impossible to mistake the majestic Personality speaking through the pronoun “I.” It is the voice of God Himself; and it is befitting that, as He introduced his Servant in the opening verses of this marvellous portraiture, so, in these closing words, He should pronounce his verdict on His career. We have watched, as the chapter has unfolded, how the opinion of the speaker and others, being represented by this we, passed through many phases — hostility, criticism, pity — before it settled to penitence and faith. In this respect it is a true delineation of the attitude of the world generally towards Jesus of Nazareth, who realized this unique ideal; and, surely, the words on which we are now to dwell anticipate the verdict of the Eternal, when the mystery of sin and suffering is over for ever, and time is running out to its last day. Two things are clearly predicated of the Sin-Bearer. First, that He should be great; and secondly, that He should attain his commanding position, not as the founder of a new school of thought, nor as the leader of a social reformation, nor as possessed of exceptional saintliness — -but as a Sufferer,, This should be clearly noted. It is because “He poured out his soul unto death” — a phrase which calls attention to the voluntary and moral aspects of his sufferings; because He allowed Himself to be numbered among the transgressors, not as naturally, but as sympathetically, one with them; because He interceded for them, as standing beside them and identified in their interests — that the Almighty Father gives Him a portion with the great, and causes Him to divide the spoil with the strong.
We are not dealing here with the glory He had with the Father before the worlds were made. Of this He emptied Himself when He became obedient unto the death of the cross; and though now He has resumed it, yet the greatness which He obtained through death is not only his greatest boast, but must always have the greatest intrinsic interest for us.
I. THE GREATNESS GIVEN BY THE FATHER AS THE RE-WARD FOR CHRIST’S OBEDIENCE TO DEATH. — It was meet that such a reward should be bestowed, for the sake of those who should afterwards follow in the footsteps of their Divine Master. Here was One who never swerved from the narrow track of obedience, whose course glorified and magnified the character of God; if it could be shown that such unparalleled devotion was fruitless and unrecognised, that it was treated with complete indifference, whilst the faithful Servant was permitted to lie in an unknown and dishonoured grave, would it not daunt other ardent souls, bent on following his example, forcing them to feel that the interests of God were antagonistic to those of man? None could ever deserve more or better than Christ; and if He were without recognition or reward, might it not be thought that heaven had no prize to give for faithful service? Surely He must have a reward, or the very order of the universe might be deemed at fault!
But what reward should He have? What could compensate Him for having laid aside the exercise of his Divine prerogative; for having assumed our nature; for having passed through the ordeal of temptation, sorrow, and pain; for having
170 Ghe Greatness of the Sin-Bearer.
become obedient to death, even the death of the cross? All worlds were his by native right; all holy beings owned his sway as Creator and God; all provinces of thought, emotion, power, and might, sent Him their choicest tribute. What reward could He claim, or have?
The answer may be suggested by recalling our own pleasure in conferring pleasure, our joy in giving joy. To bless, to save, to help another, will fill our bosom with the most unalloyed blessedness of which the heart of man is capable. But our power, as well as our capacity, is limited; we cannot do as we would. Let, however, the limitations imposed by our mortality or circumstances be removed; let us be able to realize to the full the yearnings and promptings of our noblest hours; let the wish to help be accompanied by a sympathy that cannot hurt the most sensitive, a wisdom that cannot mistake, a power that cannot be daunted or thwarted; and probably we should at once drink deep draughts of blessedness like God’s.
This is the blessedness of Christ, and this the reward which ‘the Father has given Him. All power is given Him, in heaven and on earth, because He is the Son of Man, and can use it for the unmixed benefit of those whom He has, in such wonderful condescension, made his brothers. He is raised to the right hand of the Father, that He may requite with coals of fire the nation that rejected and crucified Him, by giving repentance and remission of sins. God has given Him a name — the name Jesus, Saviour — which is above every name, that in it and through it every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of the Father. All that come to - Him may now be saved, even to the uttermost. All that yield to Him are delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the Kingdom of God’s love. To the furthest limit of its meaning, He is able to realize his own prayer, that the essential oneness and blessedness of the Divine nature should be realized in those who believe.
God Himself could not give, nor the Saviour ask for, a greater reward than this. And, in its magnificence, it appeals to all who would tread in his steps. The closer we approach Him in his self-sacrifice, the more fully we shall attain to his recompense. The deeper we drink of his cup, and are baptized with his baptism, the more we shall be able, in our measure, to assist Him in his redemptive purpose. This is what He meant when He spoke of sitting with Him on his throne, and ruling the cities of men in the interests of purity, righteousness, and peace.
Ask Paul why he was so eager to keep under his body, in his zeal making it black and blue with blows; why he denied himself legitimate gratification; why he was so abstemious and self-denying: and he will confess that it arises from his supreme desire, lest, having proclaimed as a herald the rules of the contest for others, he may miss the prize. And if you inquire further of what that prize consisted, he will modestly tell you that its charm and value to him lie in the greater power that it will confer of saving others (1 Cor. ix. 20-27).
This is Heaven’s supreme reward: that all who pour out their souls to death shall obtain enlarged opportunities and possibilities of service. It is clear that they will not abuse them to their own hurt. It is equally certain that the exercise of such prerogatives will ensure the richest and most unalloyed blessedness for those by whom they are exerted.
II. THE GREATNESS THAT CHRIST’S DEATH HAS SECURED HIM AMONG MEN. — He is worthy to take the mysterious scroll of destiny, and break its seals, because of the light He has cast on the great mysteries by which our lot is shadowed.
(1) Pain. As we have sadly learnt, it is ubiquitous. Sooner or later it finds us out. And when it enwraps us in its fiery baptism, we are apt to accuse ourselves or to doubt God. “Hast thou come, O sting of fire, to bring my sin to remembrance, and avenge the sins of my youth?” Such is our cry under the first of these impressions. “God is unjust or careless, or He would never let one of his innocent children suffer thus. There is no righteousness in his government of the world. I will curse Him and die.” Such is our cry under the second.
But Jesus has taught us that there is yet a third way of regarding pain. He had not sinned, yet He suffered as none of woman-born ever did. Evidently, then, pain is not always symptomatic of special sin. He was once so submerged in anguish that for a time He lost the sense of his Father’s love; but He never suggested that there was failure or obliquity in the moral government of the world. The death of Jesus has therefore robbed death of these two implications, and has taught us that it is often sent, and must be borne, with the view of benefiting others. Just because God loves our race, and desires to save and enrich it, He calls some, yea, many, apart from its ranks, and causes them to drink the cup of pain, so that inestimable benefits may accrue to all.
Whenever, therefore, we are called to suffer, especially if unconscious of special sinnership, let us not charge God foolishly; but consider that somehow and somewhere our patient and heroic endurance of anguish, whether physical or mental, will certainly conduce to the furtherance of those redemptive purposes which fill the heart of Jesus — purposes in the sacred partnership of which He has called us to take a share.
What a priceless service was this — to transform pain; to persuade sufferers that by their travail of soul they were enriching the whole world of men; to show the persecuted, the victims of human passion and lust, the paralyzed, cancereaten, and bedridden, that they had an opportunity of co-operating with the Prince of Sufferers in the overthrow of the dark tyranny which has been fraught with such unutterable agony for them and for myriads! For this we count Christ great, that through his death He has transfigured pain.
(2) Death. Men dread it. It is the inevitable shadow which creeps over the warmest sunshine, and silences the gladdest joy. But He, by his dying, has abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light. He spoke of going to his Father; of reunion with his own, on the other side of death, in paradise; of coming again to receive his own to Himself. He showed that there was a track threading the drear valley, which He could pass and repass until all his sheep were safely folded. He had no fear Himself, and taught us to have none. It was the way home, that was all.
Before Jesus came, men had hoped and dreamt that this was so. Stillno one knew. Their prognostications were like those of Columbus before he turned his prow westwards, and ploughed the first furrow across the Atlantic. But when Jesus rose, death and resurrection were no longer matters for reasoning or speculation; that fact spoke to all ages as the guesses of philosophers never could have done. Life and immortality were brought to light. For this, therefore, we count Him great, that through death He undid death.
(3) Szz. When Jesus died on the cross, He was numbered with transgressors; but He stood over against all transgressors, distinct from them and bearing their sin. The sin of the race was imputed to Him. The guilt and penalty accruing to us all, in consequence of our connection with Adam’s fallen family, were borne by Him. As God’s Lamb, He bore the sin of the world. As man’s scapegoat, He bore it into a land of forgetfulness, whence it could be never again recovered.
Nay, more, He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. Not szz alone, as the common heritage of the race; but szus also — thine and mine: so that if we confess them with humility and penitence, we may receive immediate and abundant pardon — a pardon which does not violate, but is guaranteed by the faithfulness and justice of God. He must be faithful to his promises, and just to his Son. The natural and secondary consequences remain, although transfigured; but the penal ones are for ever gone, having been exhausted when He gave Himself a ransom and sacrifice for us all. This surely constitutes an overmastering claim for us to count Christ great. In his death He finished transgression; made an end of sins; purged away iniquity; and brought in everlasting righteousness. Thou art worthy, O Lamb of God; for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.
II]. THE GREATNESS WHICH HIS DEATH WILL WIN FOR CHRIST IN THE ESTIMATION OF OTHER RACES OF BEING. — Not to the Mount of Beatitudes, but to the Cross, will distant worlds send their deputations in all coming ages, to learn the manifold lessons which it alone can teach. There they will learn to know the very heart of God, his hatred against sin, his love for the sinner, his fidelity to covenant engagements, his righteousness, his truth. The Cross is the heavenly prism that enables us to distinguish the constituents of the Divine nature. There they will be amazed to discover the devotion of Divine love, which could stoop to such humiliation and suffering to win its Bride. There they will gladly recognise the victory of the Son of God over all the malice and power of the enemy.
The volcano of hell has, perhaps for ages, belched out its fury on the universe, to its great detriment and misery; but since Jesus died and rose, it has been made manifest that its power is broken — its empire at an end. What a relief to the whole moral universe! For what Jesus did on his cross pertains not to men only, but to all races and orders of beings, to whom it proclaims peace. Having made peace through the blood of his cross, He shall finally reconcile all things to Himself; whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.