Ques. 54. Kindly explain 2 Cor. 12:16. J. H. M.
Ans. There were many things said against Paul. (See 2 Cor. 10:2, 10; 11:4,12-15, 23-26; 12:11; etc.)
In 2 Cor. 12:16 he is going over what others said about him. He did not burden them himself, but, being crafty, he caught them with guile. 2 Cor. 12:17-18 show that neither he nor any he had sent, had done this. In 2 Cor. 4:1-2, he flatly contradicts such an allegation. "We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.”
Ques. 55
Please explain how the time is reckoned during which the Lord Jesus remained in the grave. Matt. 12:40.
Some one has said the Lord must have been crucified on Wednesday, to make three days and three nights; but according to Mark 15:42, it was on Friday, the preparation day. M. W. S.
Ans. "And the evening and the morning were the first day". (Gen. 1:5.) From sunset to sunset is the Jewish day. The Lord Jesus was crucified and buried on the sixth day of the week; this is counted one. The seventh day, on which the disciples rested, is another. Mary went and viewed the grave at night when the sabbath was past (Matt. 28:1, read "dusk" instead of "dawn"); the sepulcher was still closed; but early in the morning she pays another visit, and finds it open and empty this is the third day.
Luke 23:56 and 24:1 show that only the Sabbath intervened between buying and bringing the spices by the women.
You will find a sample of this kind of reckoning in 1 Kings 6:37, 38.
Ques. 56
Does Heb. 5:7 refer to Christ or to Melchizedec?
Ans. It refers to Christ. "Thou art My Son, today have I begotten Thee" (Heb. 5:5), is His personal glory. "Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedec", is His official glory.
It is His history here on earth that makes us feel how truly able He is to take part in the sorrows of redeemed men. Here below He went into all the anguish of death, in dependence on God, praying to Him who was able to save Him out of death. Being here only to obey and to suffer, He did not save Himself. He submitted to God's will, obeyed Him implicitly, depended on Him for all He needed.
He took death on Himself, and felt its weight upon His soul. He suffered the consequences of what He had undertaken to do, and felt what it was to be under God's hand in judgment.
His godly fear was in understanding aright man's sinful condition and what it deserved from God. But He was obedient unto death, perfect in it all. He learned obedience by the things He suffered, then perfected-glorified as man- He became author of eternal salvation to all them that obey Him.
Heb. 5:7 is the Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane.