Herod's birth-day was kept: the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine were in the feast, and the blood of the righteous was mingled with it all. The just was condemned and killed, but there was to be no resistance—no present redress. The sin of Babylon was found in Jerusalem, and more than the sin of Babylon. It was a feast full of more horrid rites than that which drew forth the hand-writing of death upon the wall, to seal the fate of Belshazzar and his kingdom. The vessels of the temple were profaned there, but in Jerusalem the blood of the righteous was shed. But there was no second hand-writing: the Lord came not to break the bruised reed, nor to quench the smoking flax; He came not to visit Israel's sin upon them. And so we read, that when He had heard of this deed which so stained their land, “He departed into a desert place apart,” His spirit thus leading Him away from the view of the nation's sin (which was not as yet to call forth His right hand from His bosom) to pursue, as we find, His patient labors of mercy through their land, though they were thus rewarding Him evil for good, and hatred for His love.
In tracing further the ministry of the Lord, we find Him in Matthew (chap. 15.) brought into view again of other evidence of Jewish apostasy, such as showed that all their worship had been now turned to vanity; that, loving the praise of men rather than the praise of God, they were honoring man in his traditions, and, for the sake of this, forsaking God and His commandments. And thus were they forsaking their own mercy, and, traveling on in the darkness of this world, they knew not whither they were going, and would speedily stumble, and be snared, and taken.
Thus witnessing all the way the deepening of Jewish unbelief, and the settling of the purpose of their revolted heart not to receive Him, we are at length conducted to that scene in the Lord's ministry which prepares for His ascent without further delay up the holy mount. On His again being challenged to show the sign from heaven (15:1), after upbraiding them with their hypocrisy, we read that He “left them and departed.” Another action of the Lord, big with judgment, had this voice, that the time was at hand when they should be judicially deserted of God. We find that He pursued this solemn journey of separation from them, till He reached the coast of Caesarea Philippi, the most distant corner of the land. Here we must pause with Him, and meditate on this most interesting moment of His ministry, when He, having taken up this lonely and remote position, judicially separating Himself as far as He could from all Jewish associations and recollections, breaks open both to the eye and ear of His disciples the secret that had been hid from ages and from generations, that is, the special and distinctive glory which in the purpose of God had been of old ordained for His church.
Here in the solitudes of Caesarea Philippi, the Lord, as we read, “asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?” By this He designed (closing His controversy with them) to draw forth the full and formal proof of the nation's unbelief, of their having failed or refused to discover in Him the light that was to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of His people Israel. And such was now drawn forth; for the disciples, who had been more than their Lord mixed with the multitudes, and had known their present ways, could only say, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias; or one of the prophets.” But they had no tidings to bring Him that any had echoed the joy of the prophet, “To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given;” that they had ever heard, through their towns and villages, one saying, “I am the Lord's; and another calling himself by the name of Jacob; and another subscribing with his hand to the Lord, and surnaming himself by the name of Israel” (Isa. 44:55One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. (Isaiah 44:5)). His hand was as strong now for them, as when He rode with His chariots of salvation through the sea, and covered the Egyptian heavens with sackcloth; but there was none (Isa. 1:1, 21The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. (Isaiah 1:1‑2)). Israel did not know, the people did not consider, that the Heir of the vineyard was refused and disallowed by the husbandman.
Thus was the earth shut upon Him; for His earthly throne, by His own ancient decree, was set in Zion (Psa. 2:66Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. (Psalm 2:6)). The people of the earth had rejected Him. “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not; He came to His own, and His own received Him not.” And now was the time for His unveiling another and hitherto hidden region. The heavens must open if earth be shut to Him and His people. If the key of the house of David laid upon His shoulder cannot as yet be used to give Him entrance to His inheritance of the fullness of the earth, the keys of the kingdom of heaven must open the glories and joys of heaven to Him and His church. And therefore, as we read, the Lord, designing to draw this forth of His elect, and to bring it into direct contrast with the unbelief of Israel, said to the disciples, “But whom say ye that I am?” And so He did draw this forth; for Peter, as confessing the faith of the body of Christ, the faith of the family that belongs to the Father in heaven, “answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” For this is just the knowledge by which the heavenly family have their very being: “he that hath the Son hath life.” And the body of Christ is fashioned by the power of the Holy Ghost imparting this faith, and will have its full edification when all the elect have by the same Spirit been brought into this faith; as it is written, “till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God onto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:1313Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:13)).
And the Lord therefore at once acknowledged this confession to be the confession of the church; the proper faith of all those who have had the Son revealed to them by the Father in heaven, and are thus made one with Christ in the present love wherewith He is loved and in the coming glory wherewith He is to be revealed. “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I also say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it: and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (ver. 17-19).
Here then, for the first time, the Son and the church—the destined Bridegroom and Bride are manifested in the presence of each other; here do they for the first time salute each other, and enter into that fellowship of knowledge and those blessed embraces of love which shall endure forever. Then did the church in Spiritising, “I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine;” and the Son could rejoice in opening to His brethren the very heavens themselves, and giving them seats with Himself in the Father's house. In His esteem, as it were, the earth was too low for them, and the heavens must open to them. His members should be fashioned here, but the body in its perfectness should find its place forever on high. The throne and not the footstool should be theirs.
I do believe there was no moment like this in the ministry of our blessed Master. This was the great moment of transition from earth to heaven: the one was refusing its increase to God, and would now cast out the Heir of all its fullness; the other was preparing a throne for Him, and for all who would love and adhere to Him in this scornful and rejecting world.
Thus can we discern, during the ministry of our Lord, the unfoldings of that character and unbelief in Israel which carried His prospects, if I may so speak, from earth to heaven; and so are we able to trace that way which conducted His steps to the distant coasts of Caesarea Philippi; and from thence, as we shall presently see, up the heavenly ascent of the Mount of Transfiguration.
The earth being thus, as He now saw, closed upon Him, the Lord begins, as we read, from that time to reveal the wonder of His death; which was the finishing of the earth's sin, and its rejection of God. It was a circumstance in the history of their Messiah that lay quite beyond all Jewish calculations, that was beside His character as Son of David in which Israel knew Him. This was the time, therefore (the Son of David being thus disowned by Israel), for the Lord to speak fully and openly to His disciples of His death. “From that time forth began Jesus to show onto His disciples how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (ver. 21).
But here, alas, how far below the power of His own blessed confession so lately made, does the apostle come! Like Abram of old, he had just come out, as it were, from his home and kindred on earth, in the energy of the faith of the Son of God, which was really separating him unto the heavenly glory; but, like Abram, how soon the world and the god of this world has him under the power of his own spirit (see Gen. 12). “Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee. But He turned and said onto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan, thou art an offense unto Me; for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (vers. 22,. 23).
Could Peter promise himself that his Master would be anything but a sufferer in a world which had thus been manifesting its rejection of God? And should Peter, or those whom Peter's confession represents, look for any portion for themselves in a world which has now rejected the Son, and is still saying that they will not have Him to reign over them? It is only of Satan that the love of it can savor, and thus it cannot abide in the same heart with the love of the Father. The saints through the Holy Ghost have met the Father in affection, in the person of the Son; and the world by the spirit of the wicked one is at enmity with the Father, by still refusing to kiss the Son, counting that there is no beauty that they should desire Him.
In accordance with this reprobate character of the world, the Lord shows His disciples, drawn to Him in spirit out of it, what their suffering condition must also needs be while in it. “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me; for whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.” But at the same time He graciously sustains them thus called to be His suffering followers, with a promise of reward in the glory of His kingdom; a glory too, which He at the same time intimates to be far above all Jewish measures or expectations of glory, being “of the Father.” “For,” says the Lord to them, “what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? for the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works.” And so great, so wondrous, so exceeding all previous calculations, was this “glory of the Father,” which He now speaks of, that He gives His disciples a very solemn pledge of it, promising them (in terms most strikingly expressive of the deep and interesting value of it) a sight of this glory. Thus by the two witnesses, as it were, His prophecy and their vision of it, the thing must be adjudged to be no “cunningly devised fable,” but be established in their faith, and ever live in the remembrance of His church, till the day itself dawned, and till the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the majesty of His kingdom, should rest no longer in vision or in promise, but be manifested to the everlasting satisfaction of all who wait for it. “Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Accordingly this gracious pledge He quickly redeems. As we read, “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them; and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if Then wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid: and Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid: and when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only” (Matt. 17:1-81And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. (Matthew 17:1‑8)).
(Continued from page 100.)
(To be continued.)