form of God, He emptied Himself, and took the form of a servant. He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many. He stooped to lift us up from our fallen and lost condition. He was rich, and yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich. He applied to Himself the words spoken by the prophet, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." He proposes to supply every need of ours according to His own riches in glory. In His healing and helpful ministry He left us an example, that we should walk in His steps.

VIII

THE GREAT COMMISSION ACCORDING TO LUKE

And He said unto them, These are My words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the Psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their mind, that they might understand the scriptures; and He said unto them, Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send forth the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high.-LUKE 24: 44–49.

I

N the death and resurrection of Christ the words that He had spoken to His disciples, while He was yet with them,

were realized. At Cæsarea Philippi Peter confessed for himself and his associates that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. That was the great truth our Lord sought to reveal to them in the first part of His ministry. As soon as they grasped it He began to teach them another. That incident at Cæsarea Philippi marked an epoch in the training of the Twelve. "From that time," we are told, "began Jesus to show unto His disciples, that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and the third day be raised up." Peter objected to the thought of a suffering Messiah. His protest voiced the feelings of the nation. They wanted a triumphant Messiah, one who would ride prosperously and gloriously and rejoicingly. It was

this protest that called forth the stern rebuke, "Get thee behind Me, Satan, thou art a stumbling-block unto Me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men." We are told later that while they abode in Galilee Jesus said to them, "The Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men; and they shall kill Him; and the third day He shall be raised up." Later still as they were in the way to Jerusalem He took the twelve disciples apart, and said to them, "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him unto the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day He shall be raised up." On the Mount of Transfiguration, when Moses and Elijah appeared to Him, the topic of conversation was the decease that He should accomplish at Jerusalem. It would seem that from the time of Peter's confession of Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, these events formed the substance of most of his teaching. He was endeavouring to prepare them for what was in store for himself and for them, so that being forewarned they might be forearmed.

Not only so, but in the death and resurrection of Christ all things which were written concerning Him in the law of Moses, and in the prophets and the psalms, were fulfilled. From the time when the first promise of a Redeemer was given in Eden till the angel announced the wondrous birth in Bethlehem there were those who looked forward to the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Christ the incarnate Son of God, crucified, risen and glorified, is the essence of all Scripture. He is set forth as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Every animal offered in sacrifice was a mute prophecy of the one offering by which He should perfect forever them that are sanctified. Every goat on whose head the sins of the people were laid before being led out into the wilderness was a type of Him upon whom our sins were laid and who suffered without the camp. The entire sacrificial system of the temple derived

its significance from the Christ who should come and by the sacrifice of Himself become the author of eternal redemption to as many as should believe on His name. The Old Testament has little meaning and little value except as it tells of Him who was to satisfy the hopes and desires and aspirations of all nations.

The disciples were sad when they thought of the death of their Lord and of His burial. One of the two on the way to Emmaus spoke of Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; and how the chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. "But we hoped that it was He that should redeem Israel. Yea and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things came to pass. Moreover, certain women of our company amazed us, having been early at the tomb; and when they found not His body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive." The crucifixion crushed their hearts; the story of the resurrection was too good to be true. Our Lord told them that what had taken place was in fulfillment of what had been foretold in their own Scriptures and what He had said to them. He said to these two, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Behoved it not that the Christ should suffer these things, and to enter into His glory?" And beginning from Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. To a larger company the same evening, referring to what had taken place, He said, "These are My words which I have spoken unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms concerning Me." The disciples were expecting to see Him slay the wicked with the rod of His mouth, and restore the kingdom to Israel. They were astonished beyond measure and distressed when they saw Him put to death. All their most

fondly-cherished hopes were cut off like a spider's web. He sought to comfort them by showing that in the events they were lamenting God's gracious purpose was being fulfilled.

Then opened He their mind that they might apprehend the true intent and meaning of the Old Testament Scriptures. John says He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit." Both writers refer to the same event. Luke spoke of the effect of their illumination; John spoke of its efficient cause. Having opened their minds that they might understand the Scriptures He said, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name unto all the nations." This is the gist of the Old Testament as interpreted by our Lord.

In His summary of the law and the prophecies and the psalms there are three things: The death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and missions. His sufferings and death were foretold. 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. He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. And they made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich man in his death. He poured out His soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. But His soul was not left in Sheol; His flesh did not see corruption. The gospel is grounded on these two historical facts: the death and the resurrection of Jesus the Christ. These facts formed the substance of all apostolic preaching. On Pentecost Peter stated that Christ was crucified and slain by lawless men. He adds that God raised Him up, having loosed the pangs of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it. Referring to the patriarch David, He said, "Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins He would set one upon the throne; He foreseeing this