When that inglorious confederacy which had marshalled all their hosts against Him had done all that they were permitted to do, we see one of them approaching nearer and laying his chilling hand upon Him. This also was done, be it remembered, by permission, but O the significance both of the act and of the permission. As He said to Pilate so He could say to Death, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.” But there was something unusual in connection with this act of Death, and something which ought to draw our attention and awaken in us inquiring thoughts. Death had touched millions of our race before, and at his very touch they showed signs that the strength of nature was declining, but not so in this case. We read that “When Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thine hands I commend my spirit; and having said thus, he gave up the ghost” (Luke xxiii. 46). That loud voice was not the voice of defeat but of triumph. It spoke of a work that was finished by His active and passive obedience whereby Justice was satisfied, the ransom for His people fully paid, and the law magnified and made honourable. It was in order that the Law would be satisfied to the uttermost, and magnified as only the Lawgiver, as the Substitute of His people, could magnify it, that Death was permitted to lay his hand upon Him, but in laying his hand upon Him by that mysterious permission already referred to he brought Him to the dust of death.
Our text, however, represents the Person spoken of, not as a fugitive from His enemies, but as returning from Edom and Bozrah as from a crowning victory. Death’s triumph was but short-lived. We remember hearing the late Rev. Neil Cameron, on one occasion in Edinburgh, using an illustration in connection with this matter. He said that, sometimes, when two champions are engaged in wrestling, the stronger is put down first. It was so in this case. Christ was put down and Death was on top of Him in the grave, but when the time appointed came we find Christ turning in the grave and putting Death under Him, rising victoriously and putting that song of triumph in the mouth and in the heart of His own, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Never again was death to have the mastery over Him, which, in itself, is an unspeakable comfort to His people. “Knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God” (Rom. vi. 9, 10).
In returning from this victory he brings His captives with Him. It was the custom in ancient times for the victor to bring back his captives in chains, not only to show their bondage but to show their inability to do further harm. Christ returned from this great victory bringing the devil, sin and death in His train. We read that one reason for His incarnation was “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” The weakness of Christ, in His death, was stronger than all the powers of the devil and hell. What has now become of all the plots hatched in hell to rob God of His glory and to frustrate His design to save sinners of Adam’s race? They have all miscarried and Satan given a wound from which he shall never recover in time or eternity. Sin, that mighty power which had made captives of the whole human race, has been made an end of as far as the elect of God is concerned, for, by this victory, transgression was finished, an end made of sins, reconciliation was made for iniquities and an everlasting righteousness was brought in. Death is seen in that train, not as a mighty conqueror, but as one deprived of his sting, and made now to serve Him who leads him captive. His office as King of Terrors is done away with as far as the Lord’s people are concerned, and they have before them their “Saviour, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (II Tim. i. 10). Thus we see fulfilled what we had been endeavouring to sing, “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men: yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them” (Psalm lxxiii. 18).
He also brings His people in His train, freed from all their enemies. The question was asked of old, “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?” and the answer was supplied, “But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children” (Isaiah xlix. 24, 25). This may have an immediate reference to the captivity of Israel in Babylon and their deliverance, but it has a prophetic meaning with reference to the work accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary when He paid the ransom for His people and spoiled principalities and powers. When He overcame death and broke the bands of the grave it was not alone that He rose, for His people rose with Him. The Apostle had an eye to this when he says, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God” (Col. iii. 1). He could not be said to have “spoiled principalities and powers,” if He had not taken with Him those who were captivated by those principalities and powers.
He is a crowned Victor. It was the custom in olden days to crown a victor on his return from a battle in order to give him a kingly appearance, and Christ, in prospect of the victories He was to obtain has been crowned King by the Eternal Father. “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion, I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (Psalm ii.). He is also crowned by His people whom He has delivered. As each of them come, through the saving work of the Holy Spirit, to know of their deliverance they put the crown of their salvation upon Christ. “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake” (Psalm cxv. 1). It is thus that He is seen by the prophet coming from Edom and Bozrah, and his question is put, in order to draw the attention of gospel-hearers to Him to the end of time. This is in accordance with the exhortation in the Song of Solomon, “Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart” (Song of Solomon iii. 2).
III. We now come to the third thing to be noticed from our text at this time, that is, Christ’s own answer to the inquiry. In that answer He gives a two-fold description of Himself (1) “I that speak in righteousness,” and (2) “Mighty to save.”
His use of the personal pronoun “I” is not without significance. It is the name by which He revealed Himself to Moses when we read, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exod. iii. 14). It signifies that He is self-existent, eternal and immutable, and in that passage has special reference to God as a covenant-keeping God. The One brought before us in our text, being none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, all these attributes are applicable to Him, yea, in His contention with the Jews, He says, “Before Abraham was, I am,” to signify His eternal existence. Well did the Jews understand His words in that sense for we read, “Then took they up stones to cast at him” (John viii. 59).
There is a difference of opinion among interpreters as to the meaning of the words, “that speak in righteousness,” but the words convey the meaning, “I that speak out of the very midst of righteousness.” This righteousness out of which He speaks can be no other righteousness but His own as the God-man. As such it is a completed righteousness. You remember that when He tells His disciples of the work that the Holy Spirit, that Comforter who was to be sent to them by Him, was to do, He says that He was to reprove the world “of righteousness,” and explains that by saying, “Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more” (John xvi. 10). Here He indicates that the righteousness of which the Holy Ghost was to reprove the world was of such a nature that it was not necessary for Christ to come back to this world to add anything to it. It was a completed righteousness, and all to whom it is applied by the Holy Spirit, and by whom it is received by a Spirit-wrought faith, are perfectly and eternally righteous before God.
It is a righteousness that is suitable and sufficient for every one of the Lord’s people. They are lost, ruined and undone, as they are by nature, having nothing with which they may come before the Lord, and may well make the Scriptural confession, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah lxiv. 6). The righteousness of the Lord Jesus is a righteousness that was expressly worked out in the room and stead of creatures in that condition. It is sufficient to cover the guiltiest sinner found in this world, and those who have been clothed with it can say with the Apostle Paul, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” It does not matter how many have already been clothed with this righteousness: it is sufficient to cover all who come to Christ in their need, for it will cover a number which no man can number. O friends, this is a righteousness which is suitable and sufficient for you, and if you but come you will not be cast away, for Christ says, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
This righteousness is freely made over to sinners who feel themselves self-lost, and here we see the wonderful condescension of God in providing so freely such a righteousness. The Justice of God could accept of nothing short of a perfect righteousness, and such a righteousness no sinner of our race could bring forward, but when none could show such a righteousness God Himself, in the Person of the Son, brought forward a perfect righteousness, saying, “Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.” This righteousness is without money and without price, as are all the gifts received by Christ for the rebellious. It was purchased by Christ at the high price of his heart’s blood and freely made over to the vilest sinner. It is out of the very midst of this righteousness that Christ is speaking as He comes from Edom and Bozrah.
The second thing we have in the description which Christ gives of Himself, is that He is “mighty to save.” This leads us into the unspeakably large field of the work of the Holy Spirit, of whom Christ says, “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” It is by the work of the Spirit that sinners are called effectually out of a state of nature into a state of grace, and in connection with this effectual calling they are justified, adopted and sanctified, and by the same Spirit they are assured of God’s love, have peace of conscience, joy, increase of grace and perseverance unto the end. As it is the salvation wrought by Christ which is applied to sinners by the Holy Spirit it is clearly demonstrated that Christ is mighty to save. No matter how joined a sinner is to his sins Christ is able to save him from them. No power is able to take him out of the condition of spiritual death in which he is by nature but the power of Christ, but Christ is “mighty to save” from that condition, as He Himself says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”
Many instances of His power to save are given in the Scriptures. We read of Manasseh who “shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord” (II Kings xxi. 16). Christ, in his case, revealed that He is “mighty to save,” for we read of Manasseh, “When he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him: and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God” (II Chron. xxiii. 12, 13).
Another notable instance of His power to save we have in the case of Saul of Tarsus. He himself says concerning his dealings with the servants of Christ, “And I punished them oft in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities” (Acts xxvi. 2). Yet he has to record that the fame of his conversion went abroad to the churches of Judea, when he says, “But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past, now preaches the faith which once he destroyed” (Gal. i. 23).
A third instance of His power to save may be given in the case of Mary Magdalene out of whom He cast seven devils. We have no record in Scripture of the particular manner in which she spent her life before Jesus met her but, by the statement that He cast seven devils out of her, we can well understand that her life was a notoriously wicked one, and that those who knew her then would look upon her as a particularly hardened sinner, yet the power of Christ to save is wonderfully brought out in her life, and in her attachment to Him when few cared to acknowledge Him. We find her among the women who witnessed His crucifixion afar off; she attended His burial with Mary the mother of James and Jesus, and brought spices to embalm His body, and was the first to see Him after His resurrection. When, under these circumstances, she kept close to Him, we may well see that He touched her heart with a power which no creature could exercise.
From these instances of His power to save we may see what is of great encouragement to the Lord’s people in all the circumstances in which they may be placed in the world. Of Him who saved Manasseh, Saul of Tarsus and Mary Magdalene it can be said, “Behold the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” The experiences of His people in all ages have been that He was both able and willing to save them, and that they could rely on Him for the future. The Apostle records to the glory of God and the encouragement of believers what happened to himself and others, when in Asia they were pressed out of measure, above strength, inasmuch that they had despaired even of life, and yet in these circumstances he says, “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us” (II Cor. ix, 10).
Thus, child of God, there is set before you in our text, One who can fight your battles and shall never experience a defeat; One who will carry you through all the trials that may be in your lot in the world, for He overcame all your enemies and has, on your behalf, entered Heaven, whose gates have opened to Him amidst the acclamations of the heavenly host proclaiming Him “The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.”
May the Lord bless anything said that was consistent with His Word.