THE REPROACH OF CHRIST
[p. 476] THE REPROACH OF CHRIST
Hebrews 11:24 - 26; 2 Kings 5:1 - 3; 2 Kings 7:3 - 9; 2 Chronicles 18:6 - 8
I have before me to speak about the reproach of Christ, and to show you how it marked those who were effective in the service and testimony of God.
In referring to it one is reminded of the Lord’s words, “Reproach hath broken my heart” Psalm 69:20. Psalm 69 depicts His sufferings, particularly towards the end of His pathway of service here, and what comes out in it is repeated reference to reproach. He said to Jehovah, “The reproaches of them that reproach thee have fallen upon me” Psalm 69:9. Thus we see how completely the idea of representation marked Christ; representation of God brought upon Him the reproaches that were directed against God. He was, as here, completely the representation of God. He is spoken of indeed as the “image of the invisible God” Colossians 1:15. It is well to bear in mind the invisibility of God, that God is invisible. Many statements in Scripture may seem to be contradictory to this, as, for instance, in Exodus 24, where it is said that Moses and the elders saw the God of Israel; and again in the Lord’s own words, speaking of little ones, “their angels in the heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens” (Matthew 18:10), and many like expressions, so that many have assumed that God is seen in some personal way, in spite of the repeated statement of Scripture that no one has seen Him. John says, “No one has seen God at any time” (John 1:18), and then even after the revelation of God in Christ, Paul says, “dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen nor is able to see” 1 Timothy 6:16. So that we must understand that God in His infinite Being — His essential Being — is far beyond our power of comprehension, in so far as the infinite is beyond the finite.
[p. 477] How the scriptures which speak of His being seen can be explained, is a matter for patient inquiry; but we have to dismiss all idea of God being apprehended in any personal way, save as in Christ. There is a sense in which He may be apprehended attributively, that is, in the physical creation, for it is said that “the invisible things of him are perceived, being apprehended by the mind through the things that are made, both his eternal power and divinity” (Romans 1:20); but “the things that are made” are not personal, and so they do not present God in His essential Being. God is also seen in that world where everything is of Him — the world of new creation, where all things are of God. We can understand how much there is to be seen that speaks of God there; but when we come to His essential Being it is in Christ only that He is seen, both now and in eternity. Nevertheless, although He is invisible, dwelling in light unapproachable, whom no man hath seen or can see, there was, as I said, that which was known of Him among men. There was all His beneficence and goodness, first in the garden and then in the rain and fruitful seasons, then in the law; but in spite of all these things, God was in reproach in this world, and so the Lord says, “The reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me” (Psalm 69:9), and that not partially so, but altogether so, for He was the complete representation of God, He was the image of the invisible God. Man discerned it, Satan discerned it, and so the reproaches fell upon Him in all their weight. He says in that psalm, “Reproach hath broken my heart” Psalm 69:20; He was conscious of it.
It was that which Moses esteemed, and I hope we shall all esteem it; “esteeming the reproach of the Christ”, it says. I wish to work out this great and interesting subject from Moses because he is taken up by the Spirit of God, singled out, as one who esteemed it. I have particularly in view vessels of service,
[p. 478] working the thought out to the great vessel of the testimony — the assembly. It began with reproach, and I make bold to say, it is ending with reproach. One would not assume anything different from that, for one believes that the end will be according to the beginning in every way, not in quantity, but in quality, and the quality is lustred by reproach, the reproach of Christ.
Now, as I say, I take it up in Moses, who is regarded as a great servant of God in the Old Testament; indeed, the first official servant, as we may say. As God begins anything we get certain features that mark it throughout, and this feature — reproach — as I hope to show, has marked the servants of the testimony from the outset, and it will mark them to the end. It is said of Moses, “when he had become great”, that is to say, when he had arrived at a period of his life when he was capable spiritually of making a choice, “he ... refused to be called son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction along with the people of God ... esteeming the reproach of the Christ”. Some of you may wonder how the reproach of Christ could be known by Moses. Sometimes we assume that Abraham, Jacob or Moses could address a company of Christians, but it is an entire mistake to think so. Their intelligence was only partial; it is the Holy Spirit who says that Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ. He never gave it that name. It is the Spirit of God who names the features of the Old Testament saints; hence in the long list in Hebrews 11 we have the Holy Spirit naming faith, naming certain incidents in the Old Testament servants by the designation — ‘faith’. If you look back to the Old Testament you will find the word is not used in this way in connection with these men, but the Holy Spirit speaks of it in the persons mentioned; the thing was there.
Thus the Holy Spirit goes back and shows us what [p. 479] marked these men, and so the reproach of Christ comes to light as the thing that Moses esteemed. It is not the mere incident when service began that the Holy Spirit means us to understand, it is the reproach of Christ. The reproach of Christ has marked service ever since and will still mark it. There will be no reproach of Christ in the millennium; while it is a reproach in the world to be a Christian today, in the millennium it will be a reproach not to be a believer and a follower of Christ. And so the great idea of service which took form in Moses was marked by the reproach of Christ, and what I would mention further before passing on is that that reproach was bound up with the people of God. Christ was not there, I need not say. He was still “in the form of God” (Philippians 2:6), but certain features of Christ had already taken form in the people of God. There was divine care and culture; God had Christ before Him, so that in all the care expended on Israel God had intended to work out some features of Christ, and one feature of Christ at that time was that they were in reproach, they were Hebrews. The word is found in the early chapters of Exodus frequently. The people were regarded as Hebrews by the Egyptians, and this was accepted by them; shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians.
Joseph made no effort to conceal from Pharaoh that his family were shepherds, not that he did not know the antipathy of the Egyptians to shepherds; they came into Egypt as shepherds; they came in under a favourable government and hence the reproach was not at first felt, not until there arose another king who knew not Joseph, then the Hebrew male children must not live. The Egyptian king knew instinctively the danger that threatened him by their multiplication. They were Hebrews; they were foreigners; they had no right in Egypt; they were under reproach. This thought was current in [p. 480] court, and Moses would know the attitude of the court towards them; but when he came to years he elected to identify himself with them. He speaks of them as Pharaoh would speak of them, as Hebrews, but they were his brethren. And that is a word for every young person here. Those who are related to Christ in this world are under reproach; you must not patronise them; if you are to identify yourself with them it must be as your brethren. And so Moses identifies himself with the despised Hebrews, he went out unto his brethren. You call them Hebrews, he says; I admit it; they are foreigners, but they are my brethren, and the Holy Spirit says it was esteeming the reproach of Christ. God had Christ in view in causing them to come into Egypt, and they were under reproach — but God had brought them there, and so Moses identifies himself with the despised people called Hebrews as his brethren. Well, this was the beginning of official service; not that he had as yet entered on it, but that which marked the man was seen beforehand.
Now as to 2 Kings 5. I intend to make this address as practical as possible, because after all it is a question of what is practicable, and if we are to be here as representative of Christ, we must accept the reproach. You say it is here, but it is of great value. Moses esteemed it greater riches than the treasures of Egypt — the leading country of the day; he passes by the treasures of Egypt, for the reproach of Christ is more valuable to him. How delightful to God! The Holy Spirit refers back to that incident, “when he had become great”, and He says it was esteeming the reproach of Christ.
I want to show now how we can be supported in the position. This might be seen and set forth in Moses, but in 2 Kings 5 the little maid is a concrete example of support, of how the believer may be supported in the position of reproach. What comes out [p. 481] in this passage is that she was suffering governmentally; and it is well that we should accept that we are all suffering governmentally. The failure of the assembly involves governmental suffering for the believer. It may not have occurred to some of us, but we are suffering enormously. We are suffering the consequences of that which attaches to the public body; we cannot avoid it. This little maid was suffering under the government of God. The Syrian bands had gone out and she was made a captive. She was in the house of a great man in Syria, and what I want to point out is that she does not complain, there is no feeling of national resentment, and I believe the reason is that she is the normal product of what is set forth in chapter 4, that is, she was great inwardly. We shall never accept the government of God save as we are great inwardly. We can afford then to be small outwardly, and even in the most trying position to be above the circumstances so as to be like God — a great moral triumph. Typically the little maid was an Ephesian. The greater one is, the easier it is to become small outwardly, and to be perfectly content in our smallness; we are thus more than satisfied.
In chapter 4 we have one who was in debt and who was righteously under governmental dealings; the debtor would take her sons; that was a matter of righteousness, but deliverance comes in by the Spirit; righteousness is met by the oil. What follows that, is the Shunammite as a “wealthy woman” 2 Kings 4:8. This woman is particularly mentioned by the Spirit, and what comes to light in her is that she recognised the prophet, not as a man who wrought miracles, but as a holy man of God, for it was that which attracted her attention. She was a wealthy woman in that she could pay her debts and live of the rest, also in that she could accommodate the prophet, recognising him as a holy man of God. Ability to discern a holy man [p. 482] of God will keep you from persons who would lead you astray. You thus pass, as it were, from Romans to Colossians. What distinguished Peter in the great drift away from Christ (John 6) was that he discerned Him to be “the holy one of God” John 6:69. Then this woman gets a son, and the son dies; she is passing on from the greatness acquired by the Spirit into the knowledge of Christ personally as “risen from the dead” Matthew 28:7. She receives the son back again from the dead, she apprehends Christ typically as risen. Then afterwards you get the man from Baal-shalisha who brings bread of the firstfruits, barley loaves, which points to heaven — the place in which all our blessings are, for in Ephesians it is not only the blessings but where they are: “in the heavenlies, in Christ” Ephesians 1:3.
Now I apprehend this little maid is the product of all that, and I speak of it feelingly because it should enter into all of us, particularly in those who serve. We are bound to accept the government of God, in spite of the fact that we may be separated from vessels “to dishonour” 2 Timothy 2:20. As understanding the truth of Romans, Colossians and Ephesians, that is, the whole Christian truth, we are prepared for all circumstances, and we are little in our own eyes. Typically she was full of Christ, and so she says — for her heart is full — “Oh, would that my lord were before the prophet that is in Samaria! then he would cure him of his leprosy”. There is no question in her mind, her heart is so full of Christ typically that she speaks with the utmost definiteness. And so it is at the present time as we accept the full truth, we accept also the governmental circumstances, we are not national, and we are not resentful of oppression. She says, “He would cure him of his leprosy”.
I pass on now to chapter 7. These lepers represent another feature; they represent the saints of God suffering governmentally surely, but more than that, they accept the discerned judgment of God. The [p. 483] presence of leprosy was determined by the priests, and these four lepers were in the public acceptance of the judgment of God as thus arrived at as to themselves. And what is that in our case, beloved, but that we are leprous. The apostle Paul did not shrink from saying that he was the chief of sinners; he accepted the judgment of God on himself; he knew, moreover, that in him, that is in his flesh, no good dwelt. It is a question of discerned judgment, not only based on external evidence, but by close contact. It is by the Spirit of God that we learn what we really are; there is no pretension to hide the fact. There are people who accept the discerned judgment of God. Simon the leper had a public reputation, but he did not hide it. Well, the Lord was in his house, and it was morally right that He should be there, that He should be in the house of one who accepted the judgment of God as to himself. And so Romans 7 should be gone into and we should understand as by the Spirit what we really are and own it.
In Revelation 5:6 we read that the Lamb has seven eyes; I understand that to be the power of discernment. There is nothing bid from His eyes, nor from the eyes of the Spirit. It is said that the Lord walks among the seven golden candlesticks, so that we have the judgment of God as to the public body, and there are those on the earth who accept it, and that is a great testimony to God. We have discerned by the Spirit of God that we are sinful and that God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and has through Him condemned sin in the flesh. And there are those who are known to accept this judgment of God. That brings us under reproach; we are ready to be ostracised. We stand over against the world, building itself up as if man were anything, as if he were a development. There are those in this world who own the judgment of God as to man. “What man is, is known”, Ecclesiastes 6:10.
[p. 484] Thus of necessity we do not fit into this world which would make something of man. Man is leprous, and there are those who accept this fact. Those in this position, however, have the light of God. They do not assume to be evangelists, they have no commission, that is not the point here, but the light of God is with them, they know God, they have been with Him. Like the poor lepers, they have found it out by going to the spot and finding the enemy was routed, and so it is we know it, and we know something of what accrues; we have appropriated those riches and so being moved by right sympathies we go and tell other people. We are in the light that these four ostracised men had for the king and the people. Let us not refrain from accepting the judgment of God upon men, for then we get the light and wealth that accrue from the death of Christ, and we desire and are willing to share these riches. There were four men, suggesting the universal value of these things. What a marvellous position the assembly holds! The very acceptance of the position makes you a custodian of the light.
I refer now to the passage in 2 Chronicles 18:6 - 8. Micaiah was a man who was known to have the place of a prophet. I have no doubt there is development in these passages. Ahab says in answer to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man, by whom we may inquire of Jehovah: but I hate him”. On the other hand there were four hundred prophets, but they were prophets of Ahab. There are many more than four hundred today in that position, who are under the control of men in this world who patronise them, and upon whom indeed they are dependent. There were four hundred of them in that day. I need not go over the ground, how they were telling lies to Ahab and flattering him, and they were professedly prophets of the Lord. Alas! that this kind of thing should be occurrent! But Micaiah is a man who is known to [p. 485] be a prophet, and men know that certain persons have the truth, and they come to them, but they hate them nevertheless. Why do they hate them? Because they tell the truth. Ahab says of Micaiah, “He prophesies no good concerning me”. He was not a liar, he was known to be a prophet of God, even Ahab recognised he was a prophet, but he says he is different from any of the other prophets, for he always says what is evil not good as to me. So it is with those representative of God; they incur the enmity of man, they are under reproach, but they have the great honour of representing God. And so Micaiah suffers, but he is honoured.
Thus we have indicated in these instances the features of public witness at the present time — the reproach of Christ marking us, so as to be effective and to be representative of God and of Christ in this world. We need not shrink from the idea of representation. It is a divine principle, and I believe God will have it at the end as He had it at the beginning, and those at the beginning accepted the reproach. The first mention of Christ in a public way by the apostles is that He was a Nazaraean. Peter says on the day of Pentecost, “Jesus the Nazaraean” (Acts 2:22) and then later, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazaraean rise up and walk” Acts 3:6. Matthew too says, “He shall be called a Nazaraene” Matthew 2:23. The prophets had witnessed to it; it was the tenor of the prophets that Christ should be called a Nazaraean, should be in reproach among men, and His followers were known as a sect of the Nazaraeans; Acts 24:5. They were under reproach, and they accepted it; they made no effort to hide it, and the power of God was with them, and so it will be as we accept the reproach of Christ.