The first chapter of John's Gospel is a magnificent epitome of the person and titles of Christ, from His existence as the Word of God-the eternal Son-till His millennial glory as Son of Man; His heavenly characters, in the present 'interval, of High Priest and Head of His Body, being omitted. It begins by showing that He was God, then that He became flesh, and concludes by showing Him the Son of Man-God and Man. Nathaniel, at the close of the chapter, gives us a striking figure of the faithful ones of the Jewish nation at the end of this age, before the introduction of the Millennium, who own the Lord Jesus when he appears as the Son of God and King of Israel, according to His titles and person in the second Psalm, " Thou art my Son," &c. "I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion." The Lord Jesus then says, in view of that time, which will be the introduction of the Kingdom, that "henceforth (this is more correctly the force of the word than hereafter') ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." In other words, when the Kingdom comes the once slain, and rejected Son of Man will be the connecting link between the heavens and the earth; He will reign in His full Melchisedec character,-" a Priest upon His throne;" and the Lord "will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel." (Hos. 2:21-2221And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; 22And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. (Hosea 2:21‑22).)
It is worthy of note that Jacob saw the bottom of the ladder, and heard the voice of the Lord above it, while the angels ascended and descended upon it. (Gen. 28.) While Peter, James, and John saw the top of it, as it were, (Matt. 17.,) when they were on the Mount of Transfiguration, beholding a fore-shadowing of Christ's coming glory as Son of. Man. In the passage before us, He is seen as the connecting link between the heavens and the earth, when all things in heaven and earth shall be gathered together in Him. (Eph. 1:1010That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:10).)
Q.-" In what sense did Christ learn obedience to the things which he suffered?' (Heb. 5:88Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; (Hebrews 5:8).) How is this to be taken?"
A.-It was an entirely new thing for the glorious Son of God to learn obedience. He who commanded all things from all eternity came into this world of sin, and took the place of obedience, and in a pathway of suffering in which he never yielded to temptation,-"He suffered being tempted"—-never yielded-He learned what it was in this world to obey. We learn obedience by the subjection of our wicked hearts and wills to God. He learned it as one with whom it was a new thing, and who had a perfect will, but who laid it aside-("not my will but thine be done")-who submitted to everything, obeyed in everything, and depended on God for everything. His obedience ended in death rather than fail in faithfulness or obedience to His Father.—How contrary to the first Adam was the second in all this! And the Christian is "sanctified unto the obedience.... of Jesus Christ." May we have grace to be conformed to Him and to obey!