here used by our Saviour, of being lifted up, must have been obscure to those who heard it; as is the case in two other passages in which it is found, when he says, "when ye shall have lifted up the Son of Man, then ye shall know that I am he;" and again, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the Prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. And the same is the case with the word saved, as it is used in connection with the sending of the Son of Man; which, though, in its full meaning, it comprehends everything which was to be done by our Saviour with reference to our salvation, could convey no definite idea to those persons to whom it was immediately addressed'. But St John himself has explained the meaning of our Saviour's expression of being lifted up, when, with reference to the last passage in which it is found, he adds, This he said, signifying what death he should die: and a flood of light is thrown over these apparently obscure intimations of our Saviour, when we compare them with the more clear revelations of his Apostles; who teach us, that it was by his being lifted up upon the cross that our Redeemer accomplished our Salvation and obtained pardon for a guilty world. It was impossible that our Saviour, in the present state of their minds, could fully explain to his hearers and followers the exact sense in which 1 See some excellent remarks on the manner in which this word is used by the Apostles and writers of the New Testament, in Bishop Summer's Evidences. Chap. v. 3. the Father might be said to give his Son for the salvation of the world, or the exact nature of that salvation which he was to accomplish for us. But we may observe, that this discourse of our Saviour, obscure as it must have been to those who immediately heard it, at the same time that it contains a full revelation of every thing which our Saviour was to do and suffer for our redemption,affords also a solution of a transaction in the Old Testament, which itself is obscure and attended with difficulty, till it is viewed in connection with the peculiar character and circumstances of our Saviour's death. 2. Our Lord, in giving those directions to the Apostles after he had called them, in which he prepared them for trials and sufferings, makes use of the following expressions: "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me:" and again, when,-upon our Lord telling his disciples, that "he must suffer many things of the chief priests, and elders, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day," "Peter began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee Lord, this shall not be unto thee,”—he gave that severe reproof to Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men;" he added in conclusion that remarkable 2 Matth. x. 37, 38. exhortation to his disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me1." Now the purport of these words is very plain, that whoever would be his followers must be prepared for persecutions and sufferings: but they were spoken by our Lord prospectively, with reference to his own death: and how affecting is the illustration which we derive from the peculiar circumstances of his death, when we behold the Son of God bearing that cross, on which he was to be crucified! And the full power of the allusion was felt by St Paul, when he said, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world";" and again, "I am resolved not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified;" and again, "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts";" and, lastly, when he spoke of the faith of Christ crucified as the source of his spiritual life: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." 3. Again, there were other occasions, on which, in the midst of a discourse apparently intended for another purpose, our Lord gave a plain intimation of the character and object of his death. 1 Matth. xvi. 21-24. 2 John xix. 17. 3 Gal. vi. 14. 5 Gal. v. 24. 6 Ib. ii. 20. For instance, when, during his last discourses with his disciples, he said to them: A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another; and again, This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you3. Now this commandment, as it issued from our Saviour, was in all respects a new commandment; new, both in the spirit which it inculcated, and in the motives on which it was founded. But the full force of these injunctions could not be perceived, till our Saviour had laid down his life on the cross, and they were enlightened by the Holy Spirit to know the infinite value of the human soul, and the precious price which had been paid for its redemption and then this consideration operated on their minds with all its power, when it impelled them, as it did St Paul, to the noblest exercises of faith and love from a motive of gratitude to Him who loved them and gave himself for them: and this has been at all times the practical effect of a sincere belief in the death of Christ. And again, on another occasion, when he was encouraging his disciples to humility from the consideration of his own example, he adds an expression, which not only implies the certainty of his own death, but the purpose also for which that death was endured: "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister: and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many1.” Now the whole force of the motive, which is here urged, could not be fully appreciated by them, till they had been acquainted with the great purpose of our Saviour's death, and with the personal interest which they had in it. The full power of this principle is exemplified in that noble passage of St Paul, in his Epistle to the Philippians, in which he founds on the consideration of the infinite condescension of the Redeemer for our salvation that most affecting exhortation to humility and charity; and in other passages, where the circumstance of our redemption by the blood of of Christ is made the motive to more earnest exertions in his service: for instance, when he says to the Corinthians, "Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's"." 4. But perhaps the most striking passages, in which our Lord gives the plainest intimation, not only of his death, but also of the object of it, and of the duties resulting from the belief of it, are those which are contained in the discourses which were delivered by him with reference to 1 Matth. xx. 26-28. 66 2 Phil. ii. 1-11. He made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, &c. 3 1 Cor. vi. 20. Compare viii. 23. 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. |