The Excellency of Christ (Part 3)

Jonathan Edwards

SECTION 2 (Cont’d)
To show how this comparison of Christ’s excellencies appears in Christ’s life.

3. Christ never so eminently appeared for divine justice, and yet never suffered so much from divine justice, as when He offered up Himself a sacrifice for our sins. In Christ’s great sufferings, He showed His infinite regard to the honor of God’s justice. Yet in these sufferings, Christ was the mark of that very justice of God. Revenging justice then spent all its force upon Him because of our guilt. Our guilt made Him sweat blood and cry out upon the cross. It literally broke His heart, the fountain of blood, or some other blood vessels. A violent fermentation turned His blood to water when the blood and water poured out of His side when pierced by the spear. This seems to have been blood squeezed though its very vessels so there might be a kind of literal fulfillment of Psalms 22:14, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

“Suffering a terrible execution was the way that Christ stood up for the honor of God’s justice. When He had undertaken for sinners, and had substituted Himself in their place, divine justice could have its due no other way than by His suffering its revenges.

4. Christ’s holiness was never so illustriously shone forth as it did in His last sufferings. He was treated as purely guilty. Christ’s holiness never had such a trial as it had then. When it was tried in this furnace, it came forth as gold or as silver purified seven times. His holiness was steadfast in pursuit of the honor of God, and in His obedience to Him. By yielding Himself to death, this was the greatest act of obedience that ever was paid to God by anyone since the foundation of the world.

Christ was treated as any wicked person would have been. He was apprehended and bound as a criminal. His accusers represented Him as a wicked wretch. In His sufferings before His crucifixion, He was treated as if He had been the worst and vilest of mankind. Then He was put to a kind of death that none but the worst sort of criminals suffered. He suffered as though guilty from God Himself. This was our guilt imputed to Him. For He who knew no sin, was made to be sin for us. He was made subject to wrath, as if He had been sinful Himself. He was made a curse for us.

Christ never so grestly showed His hatred of sin as against God, as in His dying to take away the dishonor that sin had done to God.

5. He was dealt with as totally unworthy in His last sufferings, and yet it is chiefly because of the sufferings that He is worthy. He was treated as unworthy when they cried, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him.” John 19:15, And they chose Barabbas before Him.

He suffered from the Father, as one completely unworthy. Our unworthiness was laid upon Him. Yet it was by the very act of His subjecting Himself to those sufferings that He was worthy of the glory of His exaltation. Philemon 2:8-9, “He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death; wherefore God hath highly exalted him.”

We see that it is because of this account that He is extolled as worthy by saints and angels in the context: “Worthy,” say they, “is the Lamb that was slain.”

6. Christ at His death suffered most from those toward whom He was showing the greatest amount of love. He never suffered so much from His Fataher (though not from any hatred to Him, but from hatred to our sins), for He then forsook Him. Isaiah 53:10, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him, and put Him to grief.” As has already been shown, He never gave so great a demonstration of love to God as then.

Christ never suffered so much from the hands of men as He did then, yet He was always exercising His love to them. He was never treated so badly by His disciples. They were so unconcerned about His sufferings that they would only watch with Him one hour in His agony. When He was apprehended, they all forsook Him and fled, except Peter, who denied Him with oaths and curses. Yet Christ was suffering, shedding His blood, and pouring out His soul unto death for them.

He shed His blood for some of them that were shedding His blood. These were those for whom He prayed while they were crucifying Him; and who were probably afterwards brought home to Christ by Peter’s preaching. (Compare Luke 23:34; Acts 2:23, 36:37, 41; Acts 3:17; and Act 4:4.) This is the contrast of justice and grace in the redemption of Christ.

7. It was in Christ’s last sufferings, above all, that He was delivered up to the power of His enemies, and yet at the same moment He obtained victory over His enemies. Christ was never so in His enemies’ hands as He was at the time of His last sufferings. They sought His life before then, but could not get Him. His time was not yet come. But now they were allowed to do with Him what they wanted. He was delivered up to the malice and cruelty of both wicked men and devils. And when Christ’s enemies came to apprehend Him, He said to them, Luke 22:53, “When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hand against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

Yet it was principally by means of those sufferings that He conquered and overthrew His enemies. Christ never so effectually bruised Satan’s head as when Satan bruised His heel. The cross was the weapon Christ used to destroy the devil, and completely triumph over him. Colossians 2:14-15, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances … nailing it to his cross: and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

In His last sufferings, Christ sapped the very foundations of Satan’s kingdom. He conquered His enemies, and beat them with their own weapons. David cut off Goliath’s head with His own sword. The devil had swallowed up Christ, as the whale did Jonah. But it was deadly poison to him.

Christ gave Satan a mortal wound in his belly. Satan was quickly sick of his morsel, and was forced to do by Him as the whale did by Jonah. To this day Satan is heart-sick of what he swallowed as his prey. In those sufferings of Christ was laid the foundation of all that glorious victory He has already obtained over Satan, in the overthrow of ihs heathenish kingdom.

Thus Samson’s riddle is most eminently fulfilled. Judges 14:14, “Out of the eataer came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.” The true Samson does more toward the destruction of His enemies at His death than in His life. In yielding up Himself to death, He pulled down the temple of Dagon, and destroyed many thousands of His enemies, even while they are making sport in His sufferings.

So Christ, whose type was the ark, pulls down Dagon and breaks off his head and hands in Dagon’s own temple, even while He is brought in there as his captive (1 Samuel 5:1-4).

So Jesus Christ appeared at the same time and in the same act, as both a lion and a lamb. He appeared as a lamb in the hands of His cruel enemies, as a lamb in the paws and between the devouring jaws of a roaring lion. He was a lamb actually slain by this lion, and yet at the same time, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, He conquers and triumps over Satan, as Samson triumphed over the lion that roared upon him.

In nothing has Christ appeared so much as a lion, in glorious strength destroying His enemies, as when he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter. In His greatest weakness He was most strong. When H suffered most from His enemies, He brought the greatest destruction on them. Here is plainly seen the contrast between Christ in His offering up himself to God in His last sufferings.

Fourth, it is still clearly seen in His acts, in His present state of exaltation in heaven. Indeed, in Hi exalted state, He most eminently appears in demonstration of those excellencies. He is still compared to a lion, but He also is still the Lamb. Revelation 14:1, “And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion.” In His state of humiliation, He chiefly appeared as a lamb, and yet still had the power of the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Though Christ is now at the right hand of God, exalted as King of heaven and Lord of the universe, yet as He still is in the human nature, He still excels in humility. Though the man Christ Jesus is the highest of all creatures in heaven, He is still in humility. Although He now appears in glorius majesty and dominion in heaven, yet He appears as a lamb in His mild, sweet treatment of His saints here. For He is the Lamb still, even on the throne of His exaltation. He that is the Shepherd of the whole flock is Himself a Lamb, and goes before them in heaven as such. Revelation 7:17, “For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

Though in heaven every knee bows to Him, and though the angels fall down before Him adoring Him, yet he treats His saints with infinite tenderness, mildness, and endearment. In His acts towards the saints on earth, He still appears as the Lamb, showing love and tenderness in His intercession for them.

He has not forgotten what these things are, nor had he forgotten how to pity those that need Him most. He still maintains His lamb-like excellencies in dealing with his saints on earth: exercising love, gentleness, and compassion. See Him now instructing, supplying, supporting, and comforting them, often coming to them and revealing Himself to them by His Spirit. See Him eat with them, and they with Him. See Him admitting them to sweet communion, enabling them with boldness and confidence to come to Him for help in time of need. Christ still appears, as it were, with the marks of His wounds upon Him, and so appears as a lamb as it had been slain. This is as He was represented in vision to St. John, in the text, when He appeared to open the book sealed with seven seals, which is part of the glory of His exaltation.

Fifth, and finally, this contrast of excellencies will be seen in Christ’s acts at the last judgment. He then, above all other times, will appear as the Lion of the tribe of Judah in infinite greatness and majesty, when He shall come in the glory of His Father with all the holy angels, and the earth will tremble before Him, and the hills will melt. This is He (Revelation 20:11) “that shall sit on a great white throne, before whose face the earth and heaven shall flee away.”

He will then appear in the most dreadful and amazing manner to the wicked. The devils tremble at the thought of that appearance. When it happens, kings, great men, rich men, chief captains, mighty men, every bond-man, and every free-man will hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. They shall cry to the mountains and rocks to fall on them, to hide them from the face and wrath of the Lamb.

None can declare or conceive of the amazing manifestations of wrath in which He will then appear toward these wicked men. There will be astonishment, shrieking, and gnashing of teeth from those who will stand before His judgment-seat, and receive the terrifying sentence of His wrath.

Yet at the same time He will appear as a Lamb to His saints.

He will receive them as friends and brethren, treating them with infinite mildness and love. There shall be nothing terrifying about Him to them. He will clothe Himself wholly with sweetness and endearment. The Church will then become His true bride. It will be a wedding day. The saints shall all be sweetly invited to come with him to inherit the kingdom, and reign in it with Him throughout all eternity.

(To be continued …)