sitting in the midst of the doctors, and his mother saying to him-"Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing," he made that remarkable answer, "How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about MY FATHER'S business1?" Now, whether we understand this declaration of our Lord in the sense in which the original words are translated in the authorised Version, or as they are translated by some Commentators, "Wist ye not that I must be in my Father's house?" it equally refers to the divine nature of our Saviour as the Son of God: and the distinction is very remarkable, which he here draws between Joseph his reputed father, and that Father, whose Son he was by an eternal generation. The same doctrine is implied in what he said on another occasion, when, upon his driving the buyers and sellers out of the Temple, he said to them, "make not my Father's house an house of merchandise;" where he expressly declared, that God was his Father. Now although, on many different occasions during his ministry, he openly called God his Father, "thereby," as the Jews charged him, "making himself equal with God," yet the declarations, which he made on these different occasions, are very remarkable; because they were made quite at the beginning of his ministry; and though his parents "did not understand the saying which he spake 1 Luke ii. 48, 49. 2 Vid. Whitby and Middleton ad locum. 3 Joh. ii. 16. 4 Joh. v. 18. unto them3," (a proof perhaps of the indistinct knowledge which the Jews had of the promised Messiah,) yet they were made in a full consciousness of his own Divinity, of which, on so many successive occasions, he not only made so many clear declarations, but also gave so many convincing proofs. 2. Another expression of our Saviour, implying his Divinity, is contained in those passages in which he speaks of himself as "the Son of God," and "the only begotten Son of God." The term sons of God is applied generally to all intelligent beings: but in its application to Jesus Christ, it is used in a very different meaning; and is applied to him with reference to his miraculous birth, and to his resurrection from the dead. But it is also used in a higher sense, to denote his divine origin from the eternal Father; as when he was called by the angel THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH; when he was declared to be the Son of God by the voice of God himself, "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED; when Peter made that remarkable confession, "THOU ART THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD";" and such as was implied in the question of the High-Priest, when he asked him, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD 12:" these expressions have 5 Luke ii, 49. 7 Luke i. 35. 66 6 Mal. ii. 10. Acts xvii. 29. 8 Acts xiii. 33. Psal. ii. 7. 10 Math. iii. 17. xvii. 5. Joh. xxxviii. 7. 1. 6. 9 Luke i. 32. all of them reference to his Divine nature: because they were made use of by those who were entirely ignorant both of our Saviour's miraculous birth, and of his intended resurrection from the dead; and who therefore could not apply the expressions to him with reference to these events. In perfect conformity with the doctrine contained in these passages are our Saviour's own declarations, and his reception of the homage and adoration which were offered to him as to the Son of God. But the most conclusive of all are those passages in which he speaks of himself as "THE ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD." For instance: "God so loved the world, that he gave his ONLYBEGOTTEN SON, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life;" and again, "He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON of God." But if there is any doubt with regard to the meaning of the term only-begotten in these passages, it appears to be confirmed by the manner in which it is used by St John himself; as for instance, when he says, that "THE WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, the glory as of THE ONLY-BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER;" and again, "No man hath seen God at any time: the ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared 1 John iii. 16. 18. him," in which passages, the expression is evidently applied to our Saviour with reference to his pre-existent state. It was in the glory of this state that he appeared at his Transfiguration, in his miracles, and on other occasions; and it was by virtue of his pre-existence in this state that he made his revelations of the Father. The expression, whatever may be the difficulties attending it, is one, which is most of all calculated to express our Saviour's divine origin and intimate union with the Father: and nothing is more remarkable than the manner in which it is used by Him. 3. Another title by which our Lord is mentioned in Scripture, is THE SON OF MAN. Such he is described by the Prophet Daniel, when he appeared to him in heavenly vision with all the attributes of Divinity and Almighty Power3. Such he appeared to St John in the Apocalypse, when he described himself as "THE FIRST AND THE LAST, as He that liveth and was dead, and behold, he is alive for evermore, and hath the keys of hell and of death;" and such he also appeared to the martyr Stephen, when, "being full of the Holy Ghost, he looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right-hand of God. And said, Behold I see the heavens opened, and THE SON OF MAN standing on the right-hand of God." 2 John i. 14-18. On the force of these expressions, compare Smith's Scripture Testimony, Vol. 1. pp. 110–115. 3 Dan. vii. 13, 14. 4 Rev. i. 17, 18. 5 Acts vii. 56. This expression, as has been observed, was evidently the title which Jesus evidently preferred to any other, and is never applied to our Lord by any other person, except by St Stephen, and St John in the Apocalypse; and "on an examination of all the passages, in which it occurs, it appears, that when this appellation is used, it is always with reference to some acknowledged character, function, or work of the Messiah;" and though "it is applied to designate the Messiah, in the whole comprehension of his person and character, yet it is used with an especial view to his state of humiliation'." It is used in this sense by our Saviour himself in that sublime passage, in which, having expressly asserted his divine character, as THE SON OF GOD, he speaks of himself as THE SON OF MAN with reference to his office as the Judge of the world: "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. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is THE SON OF MAN;" that is, as it has been eloquently explained by Bishop Pearson, "because he is, not only the Son of God, and so truly God; but also the Son of Man, and so truly Man; because he is that Son of Man, who suffered so much for the Sons of Men:" and, in 1 Smith's Scripture Testimony. Vol. 11. pp. 112, 113. |