Christ had finished the work He had undertaken to do in this world. He had done all that was necessary for the salvation of those sinners whose substitute He had become. He had suffered for them, unto death, that He might bear the full punishment that their sins deserved; He had kept God’s entire law perfectly, in their place, throughout every moment of His life on earth. He had risen from the grave on the third day, demonstrating that God the Father had accepted His sacrifice of Himself, and during the following 40 days He had been teaching His disciples, preparing them for the work of establishing the Christian Church.
Then He led them out to Bethany and blessed them. What was He doing? He was not merely wishing them well, as one of us might have done. There was more than that involved. Matthew Henry comments, “He blessed as one having authority, [He] commanded the blessing which He had purchased”. He had power and authority to bring about whatever He said by way of blessing His disciples. Though He was indeed man, He was also God. And it is significant that, when He ascended to heaven, the disciples worshipped Him. With renewed faith in their Master, they well knew what they were doing; they were recognising Him as God and acting accordingly.
It was as He blessed them that He went up to heaven. It seems as if He continued to bless His disciples as He ascended. Ever since, He has gone on blessing His followers from His throne in glory, and He will never cease from that glorious activity. He has unlimited power to do them good, not only when He brings them to heaven, but while they are spared in this world.
But what are sinners to do who become conscious that they are far from God and are in danger of eternal destruction because of their transgressions? Let them remember that the One who, as exalted, sits on His throne in glory is the Mediator whom God has appointed; thus sinners may safely approach Him through this Mediator. Let them also remember the encouragement which the Apostle John gives: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 Jn 2:1). And sinners need to engage this Advocate to represent them before God.
Many people who consider engaging a lawyer may be afraid of the cost. But this Advocate offers to represent sinners “without money and without price”. Lawyers representing clients in a court will hope to be able to say something good about them. But this Advocate, faithful as He is to the absolute truth, has nothing good whatever to say in favour of any sinner; they have no merit whatever, and they never will.
What this Advocate will plead is His own merits, His infinite merits. And John adds, “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world”. He is the propitiation, for He has offered a sacrifice to turn away the anger of God from sinners. John thinks of Him as a propitiation, not only for the sins of Jews like himself, but also of sinners of every other race, whatever part of the world they live in. Sinners are to trust in Christ; they are to receive the testimony they find in the Word of God – in particular the testimony about Christ as a propitiation and as an advocate. Thus they are to obey the call, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”.
What a mercy when the great High Priest, acting as Advocate, presents the merits of His propitiatory sacrifice before the Father! His advocacy is never rejected; He could say in prayer to His Father while on earth: “Thou hearest Me always” (Jn 11:42), which clearly applies also to His intercession in heaven. From the time when the sinner first looks to Christ, a stream of blessing flows towards that sinner and it will never cease. Indeed the first look of faith to Christ is itself the result of the Saviour looking down from heaven on that guilty, sin-polluted sinner and beginning to pour down blessings. These blessings include forgiveness, new life, holiness, growth in grace, God’s care and protection, and eternal happiness. And that stream of blessing will never come to an end. Yet God’s children must remember their own responsibility to forsake sin and seek holiness, to “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Th 5:22). At the same time, let them remember that the grace to exercise that responsibility is itself a blessing from Christ.
Yet believers, blessed as they have already been, still have many serious needs. In particular, there is sin in their heart and life. Where are they to go? Still they have no merit of their own, no more than in their unconverted days. So they must call again, and repeatedly, on the One who is now their Advocate before the throne of God. They need Christ to make intercession for them, on the basis of His propitiation. They have every encouragement to pray, for the Lord says, “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” (Jer 33:3). How great a matter it will be for God’s children to be delivered completely from the power of sin and to enter heaven! Then all their sins will have been washed away and no guilt will remain on their conscience. These great benefits are all for the sake of Christ, who died for them and who continues to bless them and at last will bring them to glory.
When the Saviour will return to this world at the end of time, there will be further blessing: their bodies will be raised from the grave to be reunited to their souls, and He will present them to Himself, as complete persons. Then they will be without “spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but . . . holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:27). Further, at the judgement seat, He will say to all whom He drew to Himself in this world, whom He blessed with all spiritual blessings – those for whom He acted as Advocate – “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Mt 25:34).
But where may we meet this Advocate? He has promised, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20), which certainly applies to public worship. There the gospel is proclaimed; the good news is made known by preaching – in particular concerning Christ Jesus, and the provision that He made for sinners through His work in this world.
In spite of the many blessings that believers have received from the exalted Saviour, they continue to be afflicted by many of the consequences of the curse, which they inherited from their first father Adam. The gospel encourages them to continue making use of their Advocate; it encourages them to come boldly in prayer to the throne of grace, where their Advocate, the High-Priestly King, sits. They are to come so that they “may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16) – to obtain further blessings. Their Advocate will meet with them also in their private reading of the Word of God, as that is applied to their hearts by the Holy Spirit. How many promises are to be found in the Word, and what a benefit it is when even one promise is applied to their soul! It is another blessing from Christ.
When believers bring their needs to their Advocate, His response may be to give them faith to take, for instance, the words of Paul to themselves: “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19) – an endless supply of blessing. He assures them further: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb 13:5); in other words, He will be with them always; He will never cast them off; He will never leave them entirely to their own devices. The source of these blessings can never run dry; the goodwill of God towards His children can never be exhausted. Let them then conclude: Christ will indeed continue to bless each of them throughout their time in this world, and throughout eternity. Let them trust in Him always, without wavering, for His grace is sufficient for them!