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III Jesus Christ

1. THE MEDIATOR

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. Heb. 13:8.

The only way to continue in the right faith is to keep to the foundation and not to turn away from it a single inch. If a man does not hold on to Christ, his wisdom is mere folly, even though he comprehend heaven and earth; for all the treasures of heavenly wisdom are contained in Christ. Therefore, this is a remarkable verse, because from it we see that there is no other rule of true wisdom except to set our whole minds on Christ alone. And, since the writer had to do with the Jews, he teaches that Christ has at all times in the past reigned as he does today, and that he will reign till the end of the world as he has reigned to the present time.Yesterdayhe says,today, andthe same also forever; by these words he means that Christ, who is now manifested to the world, has reigned from the beginning of the world, and that, when we come to him, we must go no further.Yesterdaytherefore, includes the whole duration of the Old Testament. The word is used to establish that, even though the gospel has been preached but recently, this does not justify jumping to the conclusion that it will soon disappear; in fact, Christ has been revealed recently for the very purpose that men might know him from that time on and ever after. From this it is evident that the apostle is speaking not of Christ as he is in eternity, but of our knowledge of him, which the godly have always had, and which is at all times the foundation of the church. Of course it is true that Christ was, before he revealed his power. But about what is the apostle speaking? I say that in this verse he is speaking not of Christ's being but, so to say, of his quality (or of how he acts towards us); the question is not his eternal presence before the Father, but what men have known of him. Moreover, even though, with regard to external form and manner, Christ was manifested differently under the law and in our time, the apostle nonetheless speaks truly and properly when he says that the faithful have always had their eyes fixed upon Christ.

The sun of righteousness shall rise to you who fear my name, and with healing in his wings; and you will go forth and leap like well-fed(orfattened)young bulls. Mal. 4:2. (Calvin's wording.)

Now the prophet directs his words to the faithful. Up to this point, he had been threatening the hypocrites who arrogantly claimed holiness for themselves alone, although they had never ceased to provoke God's anger. Now, as I said before, he is addressing the others when he saysshall rise to you. He distinguishes those who fear God or worship him purely from the multitude with which he has so far been disputing.

The antithesis is important. Although the people as a whole had been infected with the general disgrace, God had kept a few untouched by it. He had been contending with the majority of the people; now he gathers the chosen apart by themselves and promises that for them Christ will be the author of true salvation. We know that the faithful would be terrified at God's threats of punishment and would almost cease to breathe, if God did not soften the severity of his condemnation. Whenever he announces punishment to sinners, most of them either laugh, or become angry, or else pay no attention at all. So it happens that the wicked continue securely in their crimes, while God thunders. But the faithful are terrified at one word from him and would be wholly discouraged if God did not bring some remedy.

Therefore the prophet softens the harshness of the preceding threat, as if to say that he had not proclaimed the terror of Christ's coming with the purpose of filling their hearts with fear. Its dreadfulness did not concern them; he had described it only to frighten the wicked.

This, then, is what he means: " Come near, you who fear the Lord, for I have a different word for you. The Sun of Righteousness will rise and will bring healing in his wings. Let those perish who despise God, who even fight against him and wish to hold him in subjection to themselves. But you, lift up your heads and wait patiently for that day. In the hope of it, endure all misfortunes calmly."

Now we come to the high point of the verse. There is no doubt that Malachi here calls Christthe Sun of Righteousness, and the words appear especially appropriate when we consider how the situation of the fathers differed from our own. God always gave light to his church, but the full light was brought by Christ; as Isaiah also taught (60:1 ff.),The Lord will shine upon you and the glory of God will be seen among you. This is fulfilled only in the person of Christ.Then behold shadows will cover the earth. . . and the Lord will shine upon thee; and also,There will be no sun and moon by day or night, but God alone will shine. All these passages show that the name of sun is appropriate to Christ because God the Father shines upon us so much more brightly in his person than formerly in the law and all the additions to the law.

For the same reason Christ calls himself the light of the world. Not that the fathers wandered like blind men in a mist, but that they had to be content with the light of early dawn or with the moon and stars. We know how obscure the teaching of the law was, so that it is truly called a " shadow." But when the heavens were finally opened by the gospel, then indeed did the sun rise; and when the risen sun gives light the full day comes. It is Christ's true office to give light. Therefore John begins by saying that the true light was from the beginning and lights every man coming into the world; and that the light itself shines in darkness. For some sparks of reason remain in men even when they have become blind by Adam's Fall and the corruption of their nature.

But Christ is fittingly called light in relation to the faithful whom he has rescued from their natural blindness and has raised up to be ruled by his Spirit. This is the meaning ofsunwhen the name is given metaphorically to Christ. He is calledsunbecause without him we can only wander and go wrong, but when He leads us we keep on the right road; as he says,Who follows me does not walk in darkness.

It must be noted that this promise is not restricted to the physical presence of Christ, but refers also to the gospel; as Paul says,Wake, you who sleep, and rise from darkness and Christ will give you light(Eph. 5:14). Every day, Christ enlightens us by his teaching and his Spirit; and although we do not see him with our eyes we know by experience that he is our sun.

Further, he is called in the Hebrewsun of righteousness, that isperfection of justice, either because in him nothing will be incomplete or because the righteousness of God will be seen in him. But in order to comprehend the light which we enjoy through him and which comes to us from him to shine upon us, we must keep our eyes not on temporary advantages but on the spiritual life. This is the one requirement. Christ acts as our sun, not to direct our hands and feet in earthly actions, but to bring to us the light which shows the road to heaven and the direction by which we come to a happy and eternal life.

Also we must note that this spiritual light cannot be separated from righteousness. In what sense is Christ our sun? Because he rescues us from the shame of the world and transforms us to the image of God. This is the force of the wordrighteousness.

The prophet addshealing in his wings, calling the rays of the sunwings. This metaphor has much charm, because it is taken from nature itself and is beautifully suited to Christ. For we know that nothing is more health-giving than the sun's rays. We should be overcome in a short time -- even in one day -- by evil smells, if the sun did not cleanse the earth of its refuse. Without the sun, we could not breathe.

Also we feel a lift of the spirit at sunrise. For night is like a burden to us, and when the sun sets we feel a heaviness in all our limbs. But in the morning, even the sick are encouraged and feel some change just from the effect of the sun's nearness, because it does indeed bring healing in its wings.

But the prophet is here saying more than that a bright sun in a clear sky brings health. There is also an implicit contrast between storm clouds and fair, clear weather. In good weather we feel much more alive -- I mean all men, both sick and well. There is no one who does not get some sense of revival from a clear sky; but when the weather is cloudy even the strongest of us feel some discomfort. In this sense, Malachi says that healing will be in the wings of Christ, although we must still bear many ills.

If we think back to the history of those times, we realize that the condition of the people was most miserable. The prophet now promises them a change, [a time] when the restoration of the church will bring them joy. We see then how he understands the healing in Christ's wings. Christ will disperse the darkness, and bring back from behind the clouds a serene sky, giving courage to the minds of the faithful.

To call the faithfulthose who fear Godis an ordinary usage in Scripture; for, as we have said, the center of righteousness and holiness is the worship of God. But here something new is expressed. It is the mark of true religion that men submit themselves to God although he is not seen, and although he does not speak face to face, and does not openly show his hand holding the scourge. When men willingly honor God's glory and acknowledge the world to be ruled by him and themselves to be under his authority, then they give true evidence of religion. This is what the prophet means byfear my name. Those whofear the nameof God, do not desire to bring him out of heaven, nor do they demand obvious signs of his presence; they are content to show their faith by adoring and serving God, although they do not see him face to face, but only in a mirror or a riddle, or through his righteous and powerful judgments and the other great acts which he presents to our eyes.

After saying that the sun of righteousness will rise for the Jews, Malachi adds that this will give them joy. As sadness oppresses the faithful when they are without Christ, or think him to be far away, so his favor is their greatest happiness and a solid delight. Therefore the angels proclaiming Christ's birth to the shepherds began,Behold I give you tidings of great joy. And although the metaphor may seem harsh, the prophet has a good reason for saying that the Jews will be likefattened calves. He is describing an unbelievable change and he must put it before them in vivid terms, to give them the greater hope.

A contrast is implied in the verbgo out. Their anxiety had long held them captive; now there would be freedom to go out. When things change for the better with us, we show the joy of our hearts openly to others, and seek a stage on which to express our feelings. Now we can see why the prophet says the Jews willgo out. They have before been shut in by hard times. Now God will grant them room for lively rejoicing. So Paul says (2 Cor. 3:17),Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Gen. 28:12.

Behold a ladder. Here we have the description of a vision in which form and content are closely related. God showed himself perched upon a ladder, the ends of which touched heaven and earth. And angels were using it to go back and forth between heaven and earth.

The ladder is taken by some Jewish commentators as a symbol of divine Providence which includes both heaven and earth under its direction. This interpretation is not satisfactory, for God would have given a more suitable symbol.

But for us who hold the truth that the covenant of God was founded on Christ and that Christ was always the same eternal image of the Father and revealed himself to the holy patriarchs, nothing in this vision is perplexing or ambiguous. For men are separated from God by sin, although his power fills and sustains all things; and we do not see the line of communication which draws us towards him. Rather there is between us such a gulf that we flee from him, believing him to be hostile to us. The angels who are assigned the guardianship of the human race do not deal with us in a way which makes us familiar with their nearness and reveals it to our senses.

It is Christ alone who joins heaven to earth. He alone is Mediator, reaching from heaven to the earth. He it is through whom the fullness of all heavenly gifts flows down to us and through whom we on our part may ascend to God. . . . Therefore, if we say that the ladder is a symbol of Christ, the interpretation is not forced. For the metaphor of a ladder is most suited to a Mediator through whom the service of angels, righteousness, and truth, and all the spirits of holy grace descend to us step by step. We, on our part, who are firmly fixed not only upon the earth but in the abyss of the curse, and are submerged in hell itself, through him climb up to God.

Moreover the God of hosts tops the ladder because the divine fullness dwells in Christ, who therefore reaches heaven. For although all power was given by the Father to Christ's human nature, yet he would not be the support of our faith if he were not God manifest in the flesh. The fact that the body of Christ is finite in no way prevents his filling the heavens, since his grace and power is spread over all. To this Paul bears witness when he says that Christ ascended to heaven to fill all things.

Those who translate'alasnearwholly distort the meaning [of this verse], for Moses wished to say that full deity dwelt in Christ. In fact, Christ does not so much come to us as become encumbered with our nature to make us one with him.

Confirmation of the ladder as a symbol of Christ is found also in this consideration (and nothing has been more fully agreed by all): God sanctified his eternal covenant with his servant Jacob in his Son. And incalculable joy comes to us when we hear that Christ who excels all creation is joined to us. Indeed the majesty of God, plainly shown in his Son, must inspire terror so that every knee bows to Christ, all creatures pray to him and adore him, and all flesh is silent before him. Yet at the same time Christ shows himself to us as friendly and gentle, and he makes known to us by his descent that heaven is open to us and the angels are made our companions; with them we have a brotherly communion, because our common Head took his place on earth.

The angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads. Gen. 48:16.

Jacob joins the angel to God as an equal. He worships him and asks from him the same things he asked from God (v. 15). If you take this verse as a reference to an ordinary angel, the words are absurd. . . . It is necessary to understand them of Christ, who is intentionally given the title ofangelbecause he has been the perpetual Mediator. Paul testifies that He was the leader and guide of the journey of his ancient people [through the wilderness].

Christ had not yet been sent by the Father to take on our flesh that he might come nearer to us; but he was always the link joining men to God, and God did not reveal himself otherwise than through him. Therefore he is rightly calledangel, messenger. . . . For there has always been between God and man a distance too great for any communication to be possible without a mediator.

But although Christ has appeared in the form of an angel, we must hold to what is said in Heb. 2:16; he did not put on the nature of an angel and become one of the angels, as he did become true man. When the angels are clothed with a human body, they do not become men.

Moreover we are taught by these words that the true gift of Christ to us is that he guards us and rescues us from all evils. And we must therefore take heed that our faithless forgetfulness does not bury this gift, which has been shown to us more clearly than it was formerly to the saints under the law. For Christ proclaimed openly that the faithful are given into his custody and that no one of them will perish. Therefore trust in his guardianship ought to flourish better in our hearts, and we ought to celebrate it with fitting praise. And also we should be roused to seek primarily the help of our best Guardian.

His help is indeed especially necessary for us today. For if we think over all the dangers which surround us, we can find scarcely a day on which we were not rescued from a thousand deaths. And how does this happen except that we are under the care of God's Son, who took us over from his father's hand to watch over us.

. . .The first tabernacle was yet standing, which was a figure for thetimes then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience. . . . But Christ being come as a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Heb. 9:8-9,11-12.

The Greek word forfigureis parabolh[therefore] which in my judgment is about the same as a) nti/ tupon. The apostle means that the Tabernacle was a secondary exemplar which corresponded to the original; as the picture of a man ought to correspond to himself, so that when we see it we are immediately reminded of him.

Besides, when he says that the first Tabernacle was a likenessfor that time, he means that it was valid so long as the external observances were in force. In this way, he restricts its use to the period of ancient law. This is almost the same as what he says soon after: that the ceremonies were in effect until the time of reformation (under the gospel). . . .

As pertaining to conscience. This means that the ancient gifts and sacrifices could not penetrate the soul so as to make it truly holy. Some use here the wordperfect, which I do not reject; but I thinksanctifyfits the context better.[81]But, if the reader is to understand the words of the apostle, he had better watch the contrast between the flesh and the conscience. What the apostle does is to deny that the legal sacrifices cleansed inwardly and spiritually those who performed them; and the reason he gives for his denial is that all the rites of the first Tabernacle were of the flesh or carnal. Then what good were they? There is a common notion that they were intended to teach people honesty and good manners. But those who think this way forget the promises which were added to these observances. Therefore we must reject their invention. It is all wrong and absurd to think that the flesh itself was justified by these rites, as though they were good only for the cleansing and purity of the body! The apostle's judgment is that they were earthly symbols which failed to penetrate to the soul. They were testimonies to perfect holiness, even though they neither contained it nor could confer it on men. They were helps given to the faithful, which laid hold of their hands and led them to Christ, to seek in him what was lacking in the symbols.

But, someone will ask, Why did the apostle show so little respect for sacraments instituted by God, treating them with contempt, and going even so far as to rob them of all power? He did so, because he was thinking of them as they are when separated from Christ. We know that considered in themselves, they are niggardly elements of this world, as Paul himself called them (Gal 4:9). . . .

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands. . .

He now presents us with the reality behind the symbols of the law, in order to turn our eyes to it. For, anyone who believes that the things foreshadowed [in the law] have been revealed truly in Christ, will no longer hold on to the shadows. He will embrace the substance in all its solid reality.

Nevertheless, we must see carefully and in detail how he compares Christ with the ancient high priest. He has already said that the high priest alone entered the sanctuary once a year, carrying blood with which to expiate sins. Christ is like the ancient high priest, in that He alone is honored with this dignity and office; but he is different in that he brings with him gifts which are eternal and establish his priesthood forever. Secondly, the ancient high priest and our own are alike in that they both entered the Holy of Holies through the sanctuary; but they differ in that Christ alone entered heaven by way of the temple of his own body. Even though the Holy of Holies was opened to the high priest once a year for a solemn performance of expiation, this was only a poor figure for the matchless [self-] offering of Christ. Indeed, they both went in. But the one entered into an earthly place; the other, into heaven, forever, even to the end of the world. Both offered blood, but there is all the difference in the world between blood and blood; the ancient high priest offered the blood of cattle, Christ offered his own. They both made expiation; but the one made under the law was ineffectual and had to be repeated each year; Christ's expiation kept its vigor forever, and is the source of our salvation in eternity. Hence, every word of the apostle is heavily weighted. Some changeChrist being cometo " Christ being nearby." But this does no justice to the apostle's thought. What he means is that after the Levitical priests had performed their office, at a fixed time they were removed, and Christ was chosen in their place. But this is obvious from ch. 7 of this epistle.

Of good things to comemeans of things eternal. As me/ llwn kairo[therefore] Vis set against tw=! e) nesth/ koti, so future goods are opposed to the present. In short, the priestly work of Christ brings us to the heavenly Kingdom of God, and makes us to partake in spiritual righteousness and eternal life: therefore, no good comes from looking for something better. We need not go beyond Christ, because he himself possesses all that we need, and he will fill us.

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Heb. 9:15.

He concludes that there is no further need for another priest, because Christ himself fulfills this function under the New Testament. Besides, he does not claim the title of Mediator for Christ to let others share it with him; on the contrary, he contends that when this office was attached to Christ, all other mediators were repudiated. . . . He confirms this more fully when he states specifically how Christ discharged the office of the Mediator by the intercession of his death. If this happened only in Christ, and in no one else, it follows that he alone is the true Mediator. . . .

Now, if anyone asks whether the sins of the fathers were forgiven under the law, the answer is the same as I gave before: they were forgiven, but through the benefit of Christ; in terms of the physical acts of expiation, we must always hold and maintain that they remained guilty. For this reason, Paul says that the law is a handwriting against us (Col. 2:14). When a sinner came forward, confessing openly that he had done evil before God and killed an innocent animal, he admitted that he was worthy of eternal death. And what did his victim do for him except that by it he sealed his own death as it were by his own handwriting? In short, only those who looked at Christ found peace in the forgiveness of sins. If looking to Christ only takes away sins, those who remain under the law do not find freedom. David himself declares,Blessed is the man to whom sins are not imputed(Ps. 32:2); but if a man is to share in this blessing, he must, setting aside the law, fix his eyes on Christ; for if he stays with the law, he is not set free from guilt.

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Isa. 53:2.

This statement turns our minds to what we said before: namely, that Christ at the beginning [of his life on earth] is to show neither splendor nor beauty before men, but before God he will nonetheless be highly exalted and beloved. Hence we see that the glory of Christ must not be judged by human eyes. What the holy books teach about him must be understood by faith. Therefore, the phrasebefore himis to be contrasted with the human senses which cannot grasp the wonder of Christ.

The prophet used a similar metaphor in ch. 11:1:a branch will come from the trunk of Jesse. He compared the house of David to a dry trunk with no strength in it and no beauty; and he did not name the royal house, but Jesse whose name by itself was obscure. Here he adds in desert ground, by which he means that Christ's strength will come not like a tree from the humidity of the soil, but from outside the ordinary course of nature.

Those who philosophize from this passage about the Virgin Mary, supposing that she was called desert ground because she conceived from the Holy Spirit and not from man's seed, are beside the point. For the passage deals not with the birth of Christ but with his whole reign. It states that he will be like a branch growing from dry ground, which is not expected to reach the right size.

We should think of the whole history of his planting, of the men whose work he has used, of the small beginnings of the church and of the many adversaries who oppose it. Then we can easily see that all things happened as predicted. What kind of men were the apostles who could subdue so many kings and nations by the sword of the Word? Are they not deservedly compared to branches in a desert? The prophet is describing the ways by which the Kingdom of Christ was founded and established, so that all men may not judge it by human reason.

The ugliness which he next mentions ought also to be understood not only of the person of Christ who was despised by the world and condemned to a shameful death, but of his whole reign. For that reign has had, in men's eyes, neither beauty nor splendor nor magnificence. In fact, it has nothing which could by its appearance attract men or charm their eyes. And although Christ rose from the dead, the Jews think of him always as crucified and dishonored, and look on him with disgust and contempt.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isa. 53:5.

In order to counteract the offense which people might take, the prophet repeats the reason for Christ's great suffering. The sight of the cross of Christ offends many so long as they consider only what their eyes see, and pay no attention to the purpose. But all offense is certainly taken away when we understand that by this death our sins are atoned for, and salvation is won for us.

Chastisement of our peace. Some think this is calledchastisement of our peacebecause men feel so secure and remain so stupefied in their evil ways that Christ's suffering was required to move them. Others applypeaceto conscience. Christ suffered that we might have a quiet conscience; as Paul said (Rom. 5:1),We, justified through Christ by faith, have peace with God.

But I take it simply as reconciliation. Christ paid the price of our chastisement, that is, the chastisement due to us. By him, God's anger, which was inflamed against us, was appeased. The peace in which we are reconciled came from him who is the Mediator. Thus we have the general doctrine that we are freely reconciled to God because Christ paid the price of our peace.

This doctrine, indeed, the papists confess, but then they restrict it to original sin; as if after baptism there were no more place for free reconciliation, and satisfaction were to be made by our merits and works. But the prophet here is not treating of a single aspect of forgiveness; he extends God's forgiving kindness through the whole course of our lives. Therefore the doctrine cannot be attenuated or restricted to any specific time without great sacrilege. . . . Our prophet teaches plainly that the penalty for our sins was transferred to Christ. What then are the papists claiming for themselves but equality with Christ and a share in his authority as his partners?

With his stripes. Again we are recalled to Christ, called to flee to his wounds if we wish to regain life. Here he is set in contrast to us. In us are only destruction and death; in Christ alone is life and safety. He alone brings us a remedy. He provides health for us by his weakness, and wins our life by his death. He alone satisfies the Father; he alone reconciles us to him.

We could say many things here about the fruit of Christ's suffering, but our task is to interpret, not to preach; and we must be content to state the plain meaning [of the verse]. Let each one of you take comfort for himself from this passage and fit its use to his own need. For these words were spoken not only publicly to all, but to each man individually.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isa. 53:6.

In order to impress on our minds the greatness of the blessing given us in Christ's death, he shows us how great is our need for healing. For unless we realize our own helpless misery, we shall never know how much we need the remedy which Christ brings, nor come to him with the fervent love we owe him. But as soon as we know ourselves to be lost and realize our own wretchedness, we rush eagerly to seize the remedy, which otherwise we should hold in contempt. To know the true flavor of Christ, we must each of us carefully examine ourselves, and each must know himself condemned until he is vindicated by Christ. No one is exempt. The prophet includesall. If Christ had not brought help, the whole human race would perish. . . .

The prophet makes the comparison with sheep, not to lighten our guilt, as if straying were a minor misdemeanor; but to teach more plainly that it was the work of Christ to gather those who were scattered like foolish animals.

By addingeachto the general statement including all men, he appeals to every individual to ponder whether this is not true of himself. For we are little moved by a generalization unless each one of us separately feels that it applies to him. Therefore let every one of us rouse his own conscience and take his place before God's tribunal. Then will each one of us know his own bankruptcy.

Next the prophet declares more plainly what this wandering is: every one has followed the way of his own choice; he has chosen to live as it pleased him. This means that there is only one way of living rightly; and if any man turn away from it, he can find nothing but ways which send him in the wrong direction. He is not speaking so much of actions as of our nature itself, which always sends us wandering. For if by natural instinct or wisdom we could bring ourselves back to the road and escape from error, we would have no need for Christ. But we all by ourselves perish unless we are freed by Christ our Savior. The more we trust our own wisdom and industry, the more quickly we rush to ruin. Here the prophet has shown us what sort of creatures we should be if Christ had not redeemed us. And all are included in the same condemnation. There is no one who is righteous; no one who understands; no one who inquires of God. All have gone astray and become unprofitable. There is none who does well, not one, as Paul said more at length (Rom. 3:10).

And the Lord hath laid on him. Here we have a beautiful antithesis. In ourselves we are scattered, in Christ we are collected; by nature we go astray and are driven headlong to destruction, in Christ we find the road by which we are led to the gate of salvation. Our sins overwhelm us; but they are transferred to Christ, in whom we are acquitted. When we were perishing, separated from God and hastening to hell, Christ took upon himself the filth of our iniquities and rescued us from eternal destruction. (This refers of course only to the punishment of sin, for he was free from all guilt.) Let each one of us weigh his own sins carefully, that he may truly taste the grace [of Christ] and begin to see the fruit of his death.

He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Isa. 53:11.

Isaiah continues the same theme. Now he declares that Christ, after he has suffered, will see the reward of his death in the salvation of men. For, toHe will see, we must add the " fruit" or the " result" [of his labor]. These words are full of comfort. For Isaiah could not have expressed better the greatness of Christ's love for us than by saying that his delight will be in our safety; that he will be content with the fruit of his labor, like a man whose one wish and longing has been fulfilled. No man issatisfiedexcept when he obtains the one thing he has most desired; then he disregards all else and is content with it alone.

Afterwards the prophet shows the way or method by which we may rightly appreciate the force and efficiency of Christ's death and realize its fruit. The way he shows isthe knowledge of him. I admit that the wordda'athcan be read passively or actively, asknowledge of himorhis knowledge. Whichever way we take it, it is easy to see what the prophet means. However insolently the Jews may quibble and in spite of their objections, we need not twist the meaning of what is here said plainly: that Christ alone is both master and author of man's justification.

The work of Christ is stated in the wordsHe will justify many; which mean that in the school of Christ, men are not merely taught about justification; they are made just by what he has done for them. And this is the difference between justification by law and justification by faith. For although the law shows what it is to be righteous, as Paul says, it cannot produce righteousness; and experience shows the same thing. The law is for us a mirror showing us our own unrighteousness. But the way to obtain righteousness, as taught by Christ, is simply to know him; and this is faith. In faith we lay hold on the benefit of his death and find full rest in him.

The philosophers have given many excellent rules by which they think righteousness may be established; but they cannot give righteousness to anyone. For who by their rules has achieved the good life? And it is of little help to know what righteousness is, if we remain without it.

But let us leave the philosophers aside. The law itself, which contains the most perfect rule of life, could not, as we said, confer righteousness. Not that there was anything lacking in the law; Moses declared that he set before the people good and evil, life and death. But because of the corruption of our nature the law was not enough to insure righteousness. Even as Paul taught (Rom. 8:3), the defect was in our flesh, not in the law. When the law speaks, nature drives us in the opposite direction, and our desires break out with the greater force, like untamed wild elephants, against God's command. Thus the lawworks wrathrather than righteousness. The law holds all guilty, and by exposing sin takes away from men every excuse. Therefore we must seek another way to righteousness: the way which is in Christ, whom the law itself set forth as its fulfillment.

The righteousness of the law said,Who does these commandments, shall live in them(Lev. 18:5). But none did them. Therefore there had to be another righteousness; one that Paul taught, from Moses himself:The word is near, in your mouth and in your heart; this is the word of faith which we preach(Rom. 10:8). It is this doctrine that justifies us -- not the bare doctrine, but because it offers us the fruit of Christ's death, by which our sins are forgiven and we are reconciled to God. For if by faith we grasp this gift, we are counted as righteous before God.

The prophet expresses this teaching clearly and shows its meaning. For these two clauses belong together:He will justify by his doctrineorby the knowledge of him, andHe will bear our iniquities. He made atonement for us once for all; but now, by the teaching of the gospel, he is inviting us to accept the fruit of his death. Therefore the death of Christ is the substance of the doctrine that he justifies us. Paul adhered closely to the prophet's word when he taught that Christ was offered as sacrifice for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God; to which he added that Christ is our advocate, and urged us to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20).

My righteous servant. The prophet teaches that Christ justifies us not only as God, but also as man, since he won righteousness for us in his flesh. For the words are notmy sonbutmy servant. Therefore, let us not think of Christ only as God, but let us study his human nature in which he practiced the obedience by which we are forgiven before God. For this, the sacrifice of himself which he offered, is the foundation of our salvation. As he himself said,I consecrated myself for them that they themselves might be holy(John 17:19).

Therefore will I divide for him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressor. Isa. 53:12.

Here the figure is changed to one drawn from the customary celebration of military triumphs, where the leaders are generally received and honored with a magnificent exhibition of the spoils of victory. So Christ like a strong and noble general triumphs over his conquered enemies. The second clause has the same meaning as the first, for such repetition is usual in Hebrew. Those whom he first callsgreathe next calls powerful orstrong. Those who translaterabbimas " many" in my opinion misinterpret the prophet's meaning. There is only this difference between the two clauses: in the first, God states what he will give to Christ; the second adds that Christ will rejoice in the gift. Christ rejoices not for his own sake but for ours, since he gives the fruits of his victory to us. For us, Christ conquered death, the world, and the devil.

He prayed for the transgressors. It is Christ's prayer to the Father in our behalf which ratifies the forgiveness won for us by his death. Therefore this addition is essential. In the old law the priest, who did not come to the altar without the blood of sacrifice, prayed there for the people; and so he foreshadowed what was fulfilled in Christ. For first Christ offered the sacrifice of his body, and poured out his blood to pay the penalty which we owed. Then to make the atonement effective, he performed the work of advocate and made intercession for all who in faith accepted for themselves his sacrifice. To this he testified in the words written for us by the hand of John:I pray not for these only, but for all who believe in me by their word(John 17:20). If we are to be numbered with the faithful, let us not doubt that Christ suffered for us and that even now we receive the fruits of his death.

[81]Notice the contrast with the King James Version.

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