(3) CHRIST'S PRESENT ATTITUDE
(3) CHRIST’S PRESENT ATTITUDE
The facts recorded in this chapter happened well nigh two thousand years ago; that is a long time in the way in which we reckon, but we sometimes forget that God does not count time: “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”. But any way, the lapse of time has in no wise altered the attitude of the Lord. The point on which I purpose dwelling, the Lord helping me, is the attitude which Christ took here in regard to the disciples; it is still His attitude towards His people down here. I speak of His attitude, and of the proof of it, for the Lord is not only occupying a certain attitude towards His people, but is giving proof of it.
I take up the subject in connection with what I have had to say previously in regard to this gospel, as to the way in which Christ is presented in Luke. He is, I judge, presented in a priestly way all through this gospel; attending upon man, in priestly grace, to bring home to him the knowledge of God. We see this in the case of the thief on the cross. The Lord was Himself suffering, and in the company of the thief; but He took occasion of it to attend on the thief, to bring the knowledge of God’s grace home to him.
Now we have the same thing in a remarkable way in the close of this chapter, in the position which the Lord takes up in regard to His disciples. He was their Instructor and the Expositor of Scripture. I quoted a passage from Malachi, “The priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth”. That is what came to pass here; they sought the law at His mouth, and they got it. The law was the Scriptures, “He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself”. The Lord goes farther; He showed them what behoved, that is, what was morally appropriate; “Thus it behoved Christ to suffer”; it was in order that He might have a name. Then He speaks of what He purposed doing; He was going on high to send the promise of the Father. Then at the close He lifted up His hands and blessed them, and in that act He was parted from them. I do not think the attitude of the Lord is limited to the disciples, for it was in the act of blessing them that He was parted from them; the blessing was, in a sense, not finished. Simeon had blessed the parents of Jesus; now we have Christ Himself blessing those whom He had gathered round Himself in the course of His ministry. Blessing is a great thought in Scripture; it is a difficult word to attempt to explain. You will certainly not get the idea by looking the word up in the dictionary. The thought of God from the outset was blessing; we get it time after time in the Old Testament; “Blessing I will bless thee”. Then the blessing of God is confirmed in Isaac, i.e., in Christ risen, and we read in Galatians, “That the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”. You will find that blessing is pretty much connected with the priest. The first time we read of the priest in Scripture, it is in connection with blessing. He took tithes of Abraham and blessed him that had the promises. The same thought is seen with Moses and Aaron; when they came out of the tabernacle they blessed the people. Blessing is the proper function of the [p. 92] priest. In the great time of blessing which is to come, we are told that the counsel of peace shall be between them both, the king and the priest (Zechariah 6: 13). You cannot get blessing without the priest. In a sense, you will not get it without the king, for the authority of God must be established; but you certainly will not without the priest.
The first thing the Lord does here is to assure the disciples of the reality of Himself as a risen Man; He took pains that way (verses 36 - 43). Nothing can be of greater moment than that, for if there is no resurrection, there is no triumph of God over death. Death is the penalty which has come in upon man by sin, resurrection is the triumph of God’s power over death in virtue of redemption: hence resurrection is a point of cardinal importance. The apostle takes it up doctrinally in 1 Corinthians 15, “By man came also the resurrection of the dead”; it has been brought to pass in the last Adam, the Head of every man. Here the Lord shows to them the reality of resurrection, in that He was actually in a body, even capable of eating and drinking. If we have not the resurrection, we had better give up the faith altogether, because the triumph of God over what has come in upon man by reason of sin cannot be witnessed to otherwise than by resurrection from the dead.
After that the Lord takes the place of Expositor (verses 44, 45). In that we get a wonderful expression of the grace of the Lord. He opened their understanding: He did it more abundantly when He went on high. A christian is one who has an unction from the Holy One, and knows all things: not of himself, nor by natural power. The Lord, in a sense, took the place of the unction here. Christ is the key to the Scriptures; no one will ever understand them except in the faith of Christ. People often go to the Scriptures to find Christ, instead of,
[p. 93] by the Spirit, bringing Christ to the Scriptures. You want the key; the Lord gave it to the disciples, He opened their understanding. The Scriptures testify of Christ; that is the divinely given evidence of all Scripture. I do not suppose anyone would be disposed to look for evidence outside Scripture: if you do, you are on doubtful ground. You do not go outside the sun to find evidence that it shines; the sun carries its own evidence. The same thing is true in regard to Scripture; in Scripture the Sun of righteousness shines, and we know it is Scripture because of that. You may divide Scripture up, as the Lord did; and in every part of it you will find the testimony of Christ. If you take the books of Moses, you have the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat; they did not come in until after the defection of Israel. In the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat God showed how, in spite of a broken law and the defection of the people, He would put Himself into contact with man in the rights of mercy. I believe that the twenty-fifth chapter of Exodus is the most important chapter in the whole Pentateuch. God gave to Israel the tabernacle of testimony, and the beginning of the detail furnished was the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat. Then in the historical books there are two great points: one I understand to be David; David slew the giant, and established the ark in mount Zion. David did many other things; but nothing to equal these. If you look at David as a type of Christ, you can see the application. Christ is the true David; He has slain the giant, and in Him the ark is brought to Mount Zion. When Israel or man had forfeited all in the crucifixion of Christ, God gives Christ back to man in sovereign mercy, on the ground of redemption. Then, too, in the historical books we get Elijah and Elisha; they practically teach the same thing. Everything that [p. 94] would in any sense serve Israel has to come to them in that which is foreshadowed in Elisha, a risen Christ and the power of the Spirit. In the Psalms also there is a complete testimony to Christ. You get Christ incarnate, suffering, exalted, Priest for ever, and coming again into the world. It is a very complete witness running through the Psalms like a golden thread, beginning with His incarnation in Psalm 2, and ending with His coming again into the world, and the people saying, “Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 118: 26). In the prophets we get the principle: “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”. Jesus means Jehovah saving. I believe it to be exceedingly valuable to apprehend how, in every part of Scripture, the great subject is the testimony of Christ. Do not be too much taken up with detail; the point is to seize the great principle, and the principle throughout Scripture is the testimony of Christ.
I have said enough to show that Christ binds every part of Scripture together. We have not a number of books brought together in a kind of heterogeneous mass. The books are divided into classes; and if you take up the classes severally, you will find the same thing to be the pervading feature in each, viz., the testimony of Christ. Scripture is irrefutable. Critics may deal with the letter, but they have no understanding of the spirit. They do not know the first principle, that is, that the testimony of Christ is the spirit of Scripture; if they did, I do not think they would be carping at the letter and the detail in the way they do. There is an effort abroad now to invalidate the Old Testament; but the greatest witness to the Old Testament is the Lord Himself, and if you touch the Old Testament scriptures, you touch Christ. The testimony of Christ is just as much the pervading feature in the Old Testament as it is in the New.
When the Lord spoke of “the scriptures”, of course He referred to the Old Testament Scriptures.
I pass on to verses 46 - 48. The first consideration with God was man, not Israel. Israel thought that they were every consideration with God; but the truth comes out in Christ risen that He is the last Adam: that puts Him in relation, in a sense, to every man. The first Adam is dead long since; he is not head of anybody, he lost his place of headship morally when he fell; hence there really never was but one Head. In order that the Christ might take the place of the last Adam in regard to man, it behoved Him to suffer and to rise again, so that, in the name of the last Adam, the One who stands in relation to every man, repentance and forgiveness of sins might be proclaimed. His suffering and death had acquired for Himself as last Adam repentance and forgiveness of sins in regard to man; hence they were to be preached in His name. It is not simply that they were to be preached; the important expression in the passage is, “In his name”. He had a name in relation to men, a new name which He had acquired by redemption. In Christ God is propitious toward the whole world. There is nothing which Christ has accomplished which He did not accomplish in a sense for Himself. He accomplished righteousness, that He might be the Sun of righteousness; He acquired forgiveness and repentance, in regard to man, that He might be the last Adam, the Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. It would not have been possible for Christ to take up the position of last Adam, had He not acquired repentance and forgiveness in regard to man. Now they are at the service of every man upon earth, they have been acquired by the One who is Head of every man. The anointed Man did not belong simply to the Jew; the proper idea connected with the Messiah [p. 96] is that He is Head of every man. One difference between Christ and us is this: He was anointed in order to accomplish redemption; we are anointed in virtue of redemption.
We come to the next point, verse 49: in this we see the effect of redemption, of His being the last Adam; no one would doubt that the reference is to the Spirit of God. It was not only that Christ had acquired repentance and forgiveness of sins; but, having acquired them, He was the One who could send the promise of the Father. I have little doubt that all the ways of grace in regard to man are in view of man receiving the gift of the Spirit. I do not think that forgiveness is the end and purpose of God’s ways; but that man may receive the Spirit, and thus be brought into attachment to Christ. All God’s ways and counsels centre in Christ. He is the One in whom God has purposed to gather together in one all things. The giving of the Holy Spirit was on the day of Pentecost, and the disciples were brought by it into attachment. The bond was established between them and Christ; they no longer belonged to this world. One brought into attachment to Christ belongs to Christ, and to the world of which Christ is the Centre. The great mistake which has been made in christendom generally is to connect Christ with this world. Christ and christianity have been captured, and made to do service to the world as it is. That never was the purpose of God. Whoever received the Spirit and was brought into attachment to Christ was delivered from the present course of things, because such were brought into that world which is centred in Him. To that end the Lord was going up on high, to send the promise of the Father. The point was that the testimony might go out from thence. Heaven was the real source of the testimony, and the substance of the testimony was Christ exalted [p. 97] on high in the value of redemption. What a testimony that is! God has borne witness to His work, like He bore witness to the sacrifice of Abel. There is a Man exalted on high in the virtue of redemption; that is the witness which is gone out into all the world. Any man is accepted of God in the faith of that Man and of what that Man has accomplished. The disciples had no natural qualification for the work which the Lord entrusted to them; they were to wait for power from on high.
In verses 50 and 51 we have the climax. It is remarkable that the Lord did not first bless them and then say that He would send the promise of the Father upon them. That seems the more natural course. He speaks about sending the promise of the Father, and then He blesses them. It is important to my mind, because in moral order the blessing follows upon the promise of the Father. The mind of Christ toward them was blessing, and in blessing them He was parted from them. Christ has gone up on high; the Comforter has been given. Attachment to Christ is brought about; we are married to Him, and the attitude of Christ towards His people here is still blessing. The predominant thought in Luke’s gospel is of Christ as Priest. He is Priest after the order of Melchisedec, which is blessing. You may say, Is there nothing else connected with priesthood? Yes, surely; He sympathizes; He succours the tempted; He saves to the uttermost; He makes intercession. There are many things He does; but I do not think that even all these things come up to the height of His priesthood; He is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec, and what is properly priestly is the blessing of the people. The time will come when people will not want care or sympathy, when the universe will be filled with the knowledge of God; when people will not need to be saved to the [p. 98] uttermost. That is peculiar to the present time, and will be peculiar to Israel in their time of trouble. But hereafter priesthood will be after the character of Melchisedec, that is, in blessing. That is the true character of priestly service, and it is the attitude of Christ. I think I can prove this; it seems to me that throughout Scripture the sign and proof of divine blessing to a people down here is that God gives rain, and consequent prosperity. One point in regard to the land of Canaan was that it received rain from heaven. So, too, in the world generally, we get rain and fruitful seasons. The deprivation of rain was a mark of disfavour, whilst the presence of rain was a sign of the blessing of God (Hebrews 6: 7, 8). I take it that spiritual rain comes by the grace of Christ; it is the effect of His blessing. Sunshine is of all importance, but we want rain so long as we are down here. The earth could not do without sunshine, but it is often in want of rain. God sent a plentiful rain for refreshment upon His inheritance when it was weary. Refreshment is a sign and proof of the blessing of Christ, and the object of it is that the earth (we are the earth in that sense) may drink it in, and receive blessing from God. It is priestly service on the part of Christ, so that we may be according to God, sensible of the favour that comes to us, so that we may show fertility. On the other hand, you may get idle ground nigh unto cursing; that is possible. Mere professing christendom will come under that; they do not answer to the care of Christ, and their end is to be burned.
It is a great thing to apprehend the attitude of Christ to His people. Christ is indispensable to us. We want care and sympathy, and the Lord knows how to succour the tempted; many things come to us which cause exercise; we need to be kept here; we need One at the right hand of God to make [p. 99] intercession for us; but it is very blessed to take in the idea of the proper priestly attitude of Christ in regard to His people. Everything that the Lord did in regard to man upon earth, He does in some sense now. He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. If when upon earth He laid Himself out to attend on man, to bring home to him the knowledge of God, the same thing is true in regard to Him now at the right hand of God. He is in the attitude of blessing; He never gives it up, and the proof of it is that rain comes; by rain I mean the ministry which comes to the Lord’s people in the way of refreshment, the object of which is that we may be fruitful, that the ground may respond to the care which is exercised in regard to it.
It is a great thing to be in the region of realities, to live in the region of the Spirit. People move in a way a good deal out of the region of the Spirit, and are exposed to many dangers. It is a great thing to keep within the Spirit’s region; it is a safe place for saints to abide in: the region of the Spirit is instinct with life; there is no death there. The moment you move outside that region there is moral death in every direction. People say, where am I to find the region of the Spirit? I think it is to be found; it certainly existed at the beginning, and in that region life prevailed, not death. It is a great thing for us to be found there, because there we live in realities. The greatest of realities is what Christ is towards His people down here, in the attitude of blessing, which He never gives up. When the Lord comes again for His people He will come in the attitude of blessing. We look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. He will come in the attitude of blessing, to give us the climax of all; “I will come again, and receive you unto myself”. It is a great thing for the heart to be familiar with blessing; there is plenty in this world [p. 100] that is not blessing at all. There is no service which the Lord carried out when He was upon earth that He does not still carry out in regard to His people; He is unchangeably the same.