SURELY the Pharisees were never put to a more heart-searching test than when the despised Nazarene asked them that deeply solemn question, “What think ye of Christ? whose son is He?” Their ready answer was, “The Son of David.” “Then saith he unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord? saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. If David then calleth him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word; neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.” No wonder they were silent, for on a right answer to that all-important question depends the whole truth as to His glorious Person; not only as regards Israel and the kingdom, but, in its still wider application, to every child of Adam, to the church, and to the world. The very ones who but just before had artfully sought to “entangle him in his talk” were now themselves put to silence; and that very silence was the most striking proof of the blinding power of Satan, and the dark unbelief of their own hearts.
Let us then face this question seriously, dear reader, “What think ye of Christ?” and gather up from scripture some striking instances as to what one and another thought of “the man Christ Jesus”! When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?” And they said, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets.” Here then, was great divergence of thought among those with whom the Lord came in contact; and Jesus adds, “But who say ye that I am?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered and said unto him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but nay Father which is in heaven.” This was a true confession to Christ’s person, divinely revealed; and on that solid rock, Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
John the Baptist bare a similar record when he announced that the One upon whom he saw the Spirit descending was the Son of God; but he further testified, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” The guileless Nathanael, when assured that the omniscient eyes of Jesus had seen him under the fig-tree, gladly adds his own testimony to that of Peter and the Baptist: “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel”; and a fourth witness is found in the Roman centurion, who exclaims. as the dying Christ yields up His spirit, with a loud voice at Calvary, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
Come with me now, dear reader, and let us listen to what the women have to say about this precious Christ of God. Before the birth of that holy babe, whose name is “Jesus,” what does His virgin mother declare with sacred joy? “My soul doth magnify the Lord; and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”
Follow me also in spirit to Sychar’s lonely well, where Jacob’s erring daughter was astonished that a Jew should ask drink of her, who was a woman of Samaria. What does she think of Christ, as the secrets of her heart are laid bare in those searching words, “Thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband; in that saidst thou truly?” “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet” is her answer. Then, having drunk of the living water which Jesus gave her, she goes her way into the city, and saith to the men, “Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ?” Later on, when on His way to Bethany’s grave, the voice of Martha rings in our ears, “Yea, Lord; I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” Nor was Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons, slow to add her testimony to the rest; as, in response to the angels’ question, “Woman, why weepest thou?” she saith unto them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” Truly Christ was everything to that weeping woman; and the moment His holy lips breathed her name she saith unto Him, “Rabboni; which is to say, Master.”
But not alone from men and women’s lips was witness borne as to the person of Christ; for angels and demons have alike declared that Jesus was, and is, the Son of God. What, alas! had His enemies to say in their blind hatred and religious malice? The chief priests and elders, moved with envy, give full expression to their thoughts when, with one consent, they cried aloud, “Let him be crucified!” and persuaded the multitude to choose Barabbas, the robber and murderer, and destroy Jesus; and a howling mob, in their frenzy, shouted in the ears of the vacillating Pilate, “His blood be on us and on our children.” Only a little while before the high priest had impiously declared his thoughts of Christ, when he dared to charge God’s Holy One with “blasphemy” because He had told him the simple truth that He was both Son of God and Son of man.
Having thus briefly reviewed the thoughts of Christ’s enemies as well as His friends, let us gaze upwards and listen to what God thinks of His dear Son and His anointed Servant. The heavens are opened as the baptized Jesus comes out of the water; and as the Spirit of God, descending like a dove, abides on that obedient Man, the Father’s voice declares from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”; thus confirming the previous testimony of Isaiah, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.”
Yet again, on the mount of Transfiguration, the same voice comes from the excellent glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” Let me ask you then, dear reader, “Have you yet heard Him; or are you preferring your own thoughts of Christ?” The same test applies to you as it did to Pilate when Jesus told him that He had come into the world to bear witness unto the truth, and added, “Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” “Hear, and your soul shall live.” “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life.” “My sheep hear my voice; and I know them, and they follow me.” And “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my hand.”
Having perfectly glorified God both in life and in death, and having, as the Lamb of God, put away sins by the sacrifice of Himself, God has shewn to all the world His thoughts of Christ, in that, as the God of peace, He has raised Him from the dead, and crowned Him with honour and glory at His own right hand. Up yonder, in the heavenly places, yea, in the very highest heights of glory, sits the lowly Nazarene, whom the world mocked, rejected and crucified. God Himself has reversed all that man has done, and has raised His own beloved Son, the Man Christ Jesus, from among the dead, and set Him at His own right hand, “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.”
Let me ask you then, dear reader, as you meditate on these things, “What think you of Christ?” Is He anything to you, or nothing? Is He to be your Saviour now, or your Judge by-and-bye? Will you come to Him now just as you are, with the burden of your sins, telling Him how lost and guilty you are, or will you put it off till another day? Will you trust His precious blood which “cleanseth from all sin,” or will you still go on unsaved and unrepentant, till death overtake you, and you meet Him at the Great White Throne? The issue lies entirely with yourself, for “as the tree falls so it lies.” Mercy now, judgment then; grace now, but eternal punishment then, from which there is no escape. Make your choice today I implore you, lest your eyes should never see tomorrow’s sun. What think you of Christ?
If He has fully and eternally satisfied all God’s righteous claims of justice, and fully met every demand of holiness, what more do you want? Why not rest then now upon His glorious person and His finished work, and you will be able to say, like His servant Paul, He is “the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Once more I ask you, in the light of eternity, “What think you of Christ?”
S. T.