Johann
Active Member
Letter 17. Crucifixion of Christ
Dear Benjamin,
We will now consider the evidence of the Messiahship of Jesus, arising from the predictions fulfilled at his crucifixion. The death of Christ is an event most singular, as well as most important. We have already seen, from the Scriptures of the Old Testament, that the Messiah was to die a peculiar death, the death of an expiatory sacrifice; and that Jesus Christ died such a death. We shall now point out the predictions which relate to the peculiar circumstances of the suffering, death and burial of the Messiah, and their fulfillment in Jesus Christ our Savior.
1. That he was to suffer from the multitude, was particularly foretold by the royal Psalmist, and the princely prophet Isaiah. By the former the Messiah is introduced saying, "I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me, laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him; let him deliver him. Many bulls have compassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me" (Psa 22:6-8,12,13,16).
Isaiah having foretold the wonderful success the Gospel would have amongst the Gentiles, bitterly complains of the unbelief of our nation, and mentions the cause of their conduct, saying, "Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (53:1-3). Now all this has been literally fulfilled in Jesus Christ. During the whole of his public ministry he was slighted and disesteemed on account of his mean parentage and education, his outward poverty, and the meanness of his disciples and followers; and when hanging on the cross, "bearing our sin in his own body on the tree," the mob mocked him in the very words mentioned by the Psalmist.
2. The soldiers' conduct was not more cruel than agreeable to prophecy. The judge of Israel was to be smitten with a rod upon the cheek (Micah 5:1). The declaration of the Messiah by the prophet, Jesus fulfilled, viz. "The Lord God has opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away my back. I gave my hack to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spittings" (Isa 50:5,6).
3. The conduct of Messiah's professed friends, during his sufferings, as well as that of his enemies, was predicted by the prophets, and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
By one of his disciples he was to be betrayed, and sold into the hands of his enemies. Of this treachery the Lord Jesus informed his disciples beforehand, to confirm them in their faith of the Messiahship. "I speak not of you all; I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye, may believe that I am he" (John 13:18,19). This prediction is evidently taken from Psalm 41:9, "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me." I am aware, my dear Benjamin, that it has been objected that this Psalm is inapplicable to the Messiah, because it is said in the 4th verse, "Lord, be merciful unto me, and heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee." But it may be answered, that in many cases two original Psalms have been joined into one; and it is more than probable that verse the 5th commenced a new Psalm.
Beside, it may well be considered as the language of the Messiah, expressing his confidence in his Father's promise, to uphold him in his sufferings and death and to raise him again from the dead, because he had, in obedience to his will, died as a sin-offering; for the last clause of the verse, "Ki chatathi lach," may be read thus: "For I have made an atonement for sin unto thee." For you well know, my brother, that the word chata frequently, especially in Piail, signifies to expiate, atone, or make an offering for sin. See Leviticus 5:7,11, 6:26, 9:15; Exodus 29:36; Psalm 51:7. Hence the noun chattath is frequently used for a sin-offering. See Exodus 29:14; Leviticus 4:3, 8, 21, 24, 29, 33, 34, particularly Isaiah 53:10. Hence Jesus is said to be made sin for us, i. e. a sin-offering. 2 Cor 5:21. Now, that Jesus was betrayed by Judas, one of his disciples, is not only mentioned by the evangelists, but also in the history of our Lord compiled by the Jews, called Tol-doth Yeshu.(101)
4. The conduct of this disciple was more clearly described by the prophet Zechariah 11:12, 13, "And I said unto them, if ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, cast it unto the potter; a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." Now this prediction was literally fulfilled with respect to Jesus. For Judas having agreed with the chief priests to deliver Jesus into their hands for thirty pieces of silver, and having fulfilled his engagement, he received his wages. But his conscience afterward accusing him, he returned them the money, acknowledging his guilt; but they not judging it lawful to put the money into the treasury, because It was the price of blood, bought the potter's field with it, as a burying-place for strangers. See Matthew 27:3-10.
5. Another prediction, fulfilled during the sufferings of Messiah Jesus, relates to the conduct of his disciples. He was not only to be mocked by the multitude, and betrayed and sold by one of his disciples, but all the rest were to forsake him at that time. This was foretold by the prophet Zechariah 13:7, "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts, smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." Many of our Rabbins refer this prediction to the days of the Messiah, yea, to the Messiah himself.(102) And in that awful but all-memorable night in which Jesus was betrayed, he told his disciples that in that very night they would all forsake him, reminding them of this prediction, and it was verified by their conduct (Matt 26:31,56).
6. We next consider the predictions which relate to the sufferings which Messiah was to endure from the hands of his own Father. I acknowledge, my dear Benjamin, that there is something inexpressibly awful and deeply mysterious in the idea that the Father should put his best beloved Son to any sufferings or pain; yet it was nevertheless foretold, and literally fulfilled in the immaculate Jesus, of whom the Father testified again and again, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The royal Psalmist introduced the Messiah saying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Psa 22:1). The prophet Isaiah not only declared repeatedly "that the Lord laid upon him our iniquities," i. e. dealt with him as we sinners deserved to be dealt with, but expressly declared, "It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief" (Isa 53:10). And Zechariah introduces Jehovah as giving the awful commission, "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd," &c. (Zech 13:7). That these predictions had a reference to the Messiah, is acknowledged by our ancient Rabbins, as we have shown already; and that they have been literally fulfilled in Jesus Christ, is abundantly evident from the history of his sufferings related by the evangelists who were eye witnesses. John, the beloved disciple, stood beneath the cross when Jesus exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Peter, James, and John witnessed his agonies in the garden of Gethsemane, where the Son of God lay prostrated on the ground, "like a worm, and no man," groaning, sighing, weeping, praying, and being in an agony, sweating as it were great drops of blood, and exclaiming, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death!" Here another prediction was fulfilled, which says, "when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin," or, according to the original, "when his soul shall make an offering for sin."
These sufferings may well be styled the soul of all his other sufferings. As they infinitely exceeded in degree, so likewise, in the motive and design of the immediate agent. Whatever were the motives of our people that falsely accused him, of the judge that unjustly condemned him, of the soldiers that cruelly treated him, of his disciples, that either treacherously betrayed him, or unfaithfully denied him, or timorously forsook him; yet we are sure, from the unerring word of God, (as has been shown in the letter on the covenant between the Father and Son) that the motive and design, both of the agent and the patient, in all these mysterious transactions, was, as declared by the multitude of the heavenly host, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men" (Luke 2:13,14). And O, my beloved Benjamin, my heart leaps for joy at the prospect of the time when the spirit of grace and supplication shall be poured upon our dear people, and they shall look unto him whom they have pierced; then will they adopt the language recorded in this most remarkable prediction of the Messiah's sufferings, saying: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But 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" (Isa 53:4,5). Oh! Lord, hasten it, for thy name's sake. Amen.
7. From the sufferings of Christ we proceed to notice the predictions which relate to his death. That he was to die a judicial death, we have already seen and considered on the prediction of Daniel 9:24, where it is said, "Messiah shall be cut off"; Carath, which relates to a judicial sentence. The same was declared by the prophet Isaiah, saying, "He was cut off out of the land of the living" (53:8). This was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who was tried and condemned at Pilate's bar. In the same prediction the prophet Isaiah foretold the cruel and unjust treatment the Messiah was to meet with in withholding from him the privilege granted to every criminal. "He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation?" (Isa 53:8); or rather, as translated by the learned bishop Lowth, "By an oppressive judgment he was taken off; and his manner of life, who would declare?" The word "generation" frequently means manner of life. Hence, said our Lord, when speaking of the conduct of the unjust steward, "the children of this world are in their generation," i. e. manner of transacting business, "wiser than the children of light."
Now you know, my dear Benjamin, that it was a custom in Israel, that when a criminal was condemned to die, a crier was sent round the city, saying, "if any one knoweth any thing in favor of this person, let him come forward"(103) This privilege was denied to Jesus; and no doubt, if, according to custom, the usual proclamation had been made, thousands and tens of thousands of the blind, the lame, the deaf, the dumb, and the sick, whom he had cured, the dead whom he raised to life, and the multitude whom he fed, all would have come forward and spoken in his favor, and interceded for his life; and no doubt the majority would have prevailed. And it is more than probable that our Lord complained of this partial and unfair treatment, in his answer to the high priest, when he asked him of his disciples and doctrines, saying, "I spake openly in the world; I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said" (John 18:20,21). I am aware, my dear Benjamin, that our Rabbins tell us that the usual proclamation had been made for 40 days, but no defence could be found. But this is only one of their falsities, contrary to facts.
8. We next observe the manner of Messiah's death, as foretold. This was to be crucifixion, the last we should have expected. No such death was appointed by the God of Israel. It was inflicted only among the Romans, and never inflicted on one free born, but only on slaves, and that only for the worst of crimes. Who should have expected that our people, notwithstanding their rooted hatred of a foreign yoke, would voluntarily acknowledge their subjection to the Romans, merely to be gratified with seeing the blessed Jesus die the most lingering, painful, and ignominious of all deaths?
But the Scriptures cannot be broken. For "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14,15). That the brazen serpent was not a mere remedy for our wounded forefathers, but an emblem of spiritual things, and a type of the Messiah, is acknowledged by our Rabbins. Philo makes it a symbol of fortitude and temperance, and the author of the apocryphal Book of Wisdom, calls it a sign of salvation. In Mish. Rosh Hashshuna,(104) it is asked,
"Could the serpent kill or make alive? But at the time that Israel looked up, and served with their hearts their Father which is in heaven, they were healed; but if not, they were brought low."(105)
Jonathan Ben Uziel saith,
"And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it on a high place; and it was, when a serpent had bitten any man, and he looked to the serpent of brass, and directed his heart to the name of the (Memrah) word of the Lord, he lived."
The word of the Lord is used in the place of Messiah. This healing is understood of the spiritual healing of the soul.
"As soon as they said, we have sinned, immediately their iniquity was expiated; and they had the good news brought them of the healing of the soul; as it is written, make thee a seraph, and he does not say a serpent; and this is it: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live, through the healing of the soul."(106)
Hence they compare the Messiah to a serpent;
"The Messiah shall come forth from Jesse's children's children, and his works shall be among you as a flying serpent."(107)
Hence we read of "the other serpent of life," and "the holy serpent."(108)
9. You will further observe, my dear Benjamin, that it was predicted as well as typified that Messiah was to die the death of crucifixion. David, in the 22d Psalm, saith, in the name of the Messiah: " I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones; they look and stare upon me" (vv 14-17). How striking the description of the nature and effects of crucifixion, and how remarkably fulfilled, in the death of Jesus! By his hands and feet he was nailed to the cross, his bones were distended and dislocated, and became visible, so that they might be counted. The intenseness of his sufferings dried up all the fluids, and brought on a thirst tormenting beyond description. In addition to these outward sufferings, there was a fire from above, to the burning heat of which Christ, our paschal lamb, was exposed, as it is written by the prophet: "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them" (Lam 1:12,13). Thus forsaken and stripped, naked and bleeding, the adorable Jesus was a spectacle to heaven and earth; the object of foolishness to the Greeks, and a stumbling-block to the Jews; but, blessed be God, the wisdom and power of God to all them that believe. Surely nothing is half so attracting and lovely as a believing view of Christ crucified. Multitudes, who, like Saul of Tarsus, before their conversion, did wish themselves accursed from Christ, i. e. would have nothing to do with him, did, after their conversion, like Paul, the apostle, exclaim, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal 6:14). Thus the prediction of our blessed Savior which was fulfilled in the nature of his death, is also constantly fulfilling in reference to its happy effects. "And I," said he, "if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (This he said, signifying what death he should die.") (John 12:32,33).
10. The time of Messiah's death is the next part of our subject. We learn from the unerring word of God, that there is an appointed time to man upon the earth; that his days are determined, and his bounds appointed that he cannot pass (Job 7:1, 14:5). This, my dear Benjamin, is equally true of the Messiah. The time of his death was appointed, as well as that for his birth. That the time of his birth was predicted, and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, has been proved in former letters. With respect to the time of his death, I do indeed not recollect any express prediction; but it was eminently typified in the death of the paschal lamb, and fulfilled in a remarkable manner in Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. As the passover lamb was to be slain on the 14th day of the first month, between the evenings, i. e. about 3 o'clock P. M. so did Christ die on the 14th day of the first month, about the 9th hour, i. e. 3 o'clock P. M. This is evident from the testimony of the four evangelists. I am aware that the subject has occasioned considerable controversy, and it would exceed the limits of this letter to remove the difficulties; I must therefore refer my dear Benjamin to my Essays on the Passover. I would only remark, that the Lord Jesus well knew the time of his death, and repeatedly told his disciples of it; and just before his death he said, "Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son" (John 17:1). All the envy, malice, and stratagems of our nation could not take away his life. Often they sought to apprehend him, but he either passed through the midst of them unobserved, or the officers, struck with wonder and astonishment, instead of executing their commission, returned, and said, "Never man spake like this man" (John 7:46). Nor could all the persuasions and intreaties of his disciples keep him from going up to Jerusalem, to deliver himself up to be crucified, when the hour had arrived.
11. I will close this letter by noticing the place of the Messiah's death. As the first sin was committed in the garden, so in the garden the Messiah suffered, to atone for sin; and as the sin-offering on the day of atonement was carried without the camp, and burned to ashes, so did Christ bear his cross without the gates of Jerusalem, to suffer the most painful, ignominious, lingering, and accursed death. May you and I, my dear Benjamin, never be ashamed to go forth unto him, without the camp, bearing his reproach, to whom be glory and praise for ever. Amen. Farewell.
I would urge readers to read these letters-one for expiation-the other for propitiation AND expatiation-and notice how they interact with each other, prayerfully and with much patience.
Dear Benjamin,
We will now consider the evidence of the Messiahship of Jesus, arising from the predictions fulfilled at his crucifixion. The death of Christ is an event most singular, as well as most important. We have already seen, from the Scriptures of the Old Testament, that the Messiah was to die a peculiar death, the death of an expiatory sacrifice; and that Jesus Christ died such a death. We shall now point out the predictions which relate to the peculiar circumstances of the suffering, death and burial of the Messiah, and their fulfillment in Jesus Christ our Savior.
1. That he was to suffer from the multitude, was particularly foretold by the royal Psalmist, and the princely prophet Isaiah. By the former the Messiah is introduced saying, "I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me, laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him; let him deliver him. Many bulls have compassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me" (Psa 22:6-8,12,13,16).
Isaiah having foretold the wonderful success the Gospel would have amongst the Gentiles, bitterly complains of the unbelief of our nation, and mentions the cause of their conduct, saying, "Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (53:1-3). Now all this has been literally fulfilled in Jesus Christ. During the whole of his public ministry he was slighted and disesteemed on account of his mean parentage and education, his outward poverty, and the meanness of his disciples and followers; and when hanging on the cross, "bearing our sin in his own body on the tree," the mob mocked him in the very words mentioned by the Psalmist.
2. The soldiers' conduct was not more cruel than agreeable to prophecy. The judge of Israel was to be smitten with a rod upon the cheek (Micah 5:1). The declaration of the Messiah by the prophet, Jesus fulfilled, viz. "The Lord God has opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away my back. I gave my hack to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spittings" (Isa 50:5,6).
3. The conduct of Messiah's professed friends, during his sufferings, as well as that of his enemies, was predicted by the prophets, and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
By one of his disciples he was to be betrayed, and sold into the hands of his enemies. Of this treachery the Lord Jesus informed his disciples beforehand, to confirm them in their faith of the Messiahship. "I speak not of you all; I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye, may believe that I am he" (John 13:18,19). This prediction is evidently taken from Psalm 41:9, "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me." I am aware, my dear Benjamin, that it has been objected that this Psalm is inapplicable to the Messiah, because it is said in the 4th verse, "Lord, be merciful unto me, and heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee." But it may be answered, that in many cases two original Psalms have been joined into one; and it is more than probable that verse the 5th commenced a new Psalm.
Beside, it may well be considered as the language of the Messiah, expressing his confidence in his Father's promise, to uphold him in his sufferings and death and to raise him again from the dead, because he had, in obedience to his will, died as a sin-offering; for the last clause of the verse, "Ki chatathi lach," may be read thus: "For I have made an atonement for sin unto thee." For you well know, my brother, that the word chata frequently, especially in Piail, signifies to expiate, atone, or make an offering for sin. See Leviticus 5:7,11, 6:26, 9:15; Exodus 29:36; Psalm 51:7. Hence the noun chattath is frequently used for a sin-offering. See Exodus 29:14; Leviticus 4:3, 8, 21, 24, 29, 33, 34, particularly Isaiah 53:10. Hence Jesus is said to be made sin for us, i. e. a sin-offering. 2 Cor 5:21. Now, that Jesus was betrayed by Judas, one of his disciples, is not only mentioned by the evangelists, but also in the history of our Lord compiled by the Jews, called Tol-doth Yeshu.(101)
4. The conduct of this disciple was more clearly described by the prophet Zechariah 11:12, 13, "And I said unto them, if ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, cast it unto the potter; a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." Now this prediction was literally fulfilled with respect to Jesus. For Judas having agreed with the chief priests to deliver Jesus into their hands for thirty pieces of silver, and having fulfilled his engagement, he received his wages. But his conscience afterward accusing him, he returned them the money, acknowledging his guilt; but they not judging it lawful to put the money into the treasury, because It was the price of blood, bought the potter's field with it, as a burying-place for strangers. See Matthew 27:3-10.
5. Another prediction, fulfilled during the sufferings of Messiah Jesus, relates to the conduct of his disciples. He was not only to be mocked by the multitude, and betrayed and sold by one of his disciples, but all the rest were to forsake him at that time. This was foretold by the prophet Zechariah 13:7, "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts, smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." Many of our Rabbins refer this prediction to the days of the Messiah, yea, to the Messiah himself.(102) And in that awful but all-memorable night in which Jesus was betrayed, he told his disciples that in that very night they would all forsake him, reminding them of this prediction, and it was verified by their conduct (Matt 26:31,56).
6. We next consider the predictions which relate to the sufferings which Messiah was to endure from the hands of his own Father. I acknowledge, my dear Benjamin, that there is something inexpressibly awful and deeply mysterious in the idea that the Father should put his best beloved Son to any sufferings or pain; yet it was nevertheless foretold, and literally fulfilled in the immaculate Jesus, of whom the Father testified again and again, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The royal Psalmist introduced the Messiah saying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Psa 22:1). The prophet Isaiah not only declared repeatedly "that the Lord laid upon him our iniquities," i. e. dealt with him as we sinners deserved to be dealt with, but expressly declared, "It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief" (Isa 53:10). And Zechariah introduces Jehovah as giving the awful commission, "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd," &c. (Zech 13:7). That these predictions had a reference to the Messiah, is acknowledged by our ancient Rabbins, as we have shown already; and that they have been literally fulfilled in Jesus Christ, is abundantly evident from the history of his sufferings related by the evangelists who were eye witnesses. John, the beloved disciple, stood beneath the cross when Jesus exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Peter, James, and John witnessed his agonies in the garden of Gethsemane, where the Son of God lay prostrated on the ground, "like a worm, and no man," groaning, sighing, weeping, praying, and being in an agony, sweating as it were great drops of blood, and exclaiming, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death!" Here another prediction was fulfilled, which says, "when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin," or, according to the original, "when his soul shall make an offering for sin."
These sufferings may well be styled the soul of all his other sufferings. As they infinitely exceeded in degree, so likewise, in the motive and design of the immediate agent. Whatever were the motives of our people that falsely accused him, of the judge that unjustly condemned him, of the soldiers that cruelly treated him, of his disciples, that either treacherously betrayed him, or unfaithfully denied him, or timorously forsook him; yet we are sure, from the unerring word of God, (as has been shown in the letter on the covenant between the Father and Son) that the motive and design, both of the agent and the patient, in all these mysterious transactions, was, as declared by the multitude of the heavenly host, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men" (Luke 2:13,14). And O, my beloved Benjamin, my heart leaps for joy at the prospect of the time when the spirit of grace and supplication shall be poured upon our dear people, and they shall look unto him whom they have pierced; then will they adopt the language recorded in this most remarkable prediction of the Messiah's sufferings, saying: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But 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" (Isa 53:4,5). Oh! Lord, hasten it, for thy name's sake. Amen.
7. From the sufferings of Christ we proceed to notice the predictions which relate to his death. That he was to die a judicial death, we have already seen and considered on the prediction of Daniel 9:24, where it is said, "Messiah shall be cut off"; Carath, which relates to a judicial sentence. The same was declared by the prophet Isaiah, saying, "He was cut off out of the land of the living" (53:8). This was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who was tried and condemned at Pilate's bar. In the same prediction the prophet Isaiah foretold the cruel and unjust treatment the Messiah was to meet with in withholding from him the privilege granted to every criminal. "He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation?" (Isa 53:8); or rather, as translated by the learned bishop Lowth, "By an oppressive judgment he was taken off; and his manner of life, who would declare?" The word "generation" frequently means manner of life. Hence, said our Lord, when speaking of the conduct of the unjust steward, "the children of this world are in their generation," i. e. manner of transacting business, "wiser than the children of light."
Now you know, my dear Benjamin, that it was a custom in Israel, that when a criminal was condemned to die, a crier was sent round the city, saying, "if any one knoweth any thing in favor of this person, let him come forward"(103) This privilege was denied to Jesus; and no doubt, if, according to custom, the usual proclamation had been made, thousands and tens of thousands of the blind, the lame, the deaf, the dumb, and the sick, whom he had cured, the dead whom he raised to life, and the multitude whom he fed, all would have come forward and spoken in his favor, and interceded for his life; and no doubt the majority would have prevailed. And it is more than probable that our Lord complained of this partial and unfair treatment, in his answer to the high priest, when he asked him of his disciples and doctrines, saying, "I spake openly in the world; I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said" (John 18:20,21). I am aware, my dear Benjamin, that our Rabbins tell us that the usual proclamation had been made for 40 days, but no defence could be found. But this is only one of their falsities, contrary to facts.
8. We next observe the manner of Messiah's death, as foretold. This was to be crucifixion, the last we should have expected. No such death was appointed by the God of Israel. It was inflicted only among the Romans, and never inflicted on one free born, but only on slaves, and that only for the worst of crimes. Who should have expected that our people, notwithstanding their rooted hatred of a foreign yoke, would voluntarily acknowledge their subjection to the Romans, merely to be gratified with seeing the blessed Jesus die the most lingering, painful, and ignominious of all deaths?
But the Scriptures cannot be broken. For "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14,15). That the brazen serpent was not a mere remedy for our wounded forefathers, but an emblem of spiritual things, and a type of the Messiah, is acknowledged by our Rabbins. Philo makes it a symbol of fortitude and temperance, and the author of the apocryphal Book of Wisdom, calls it a sign of salvation. In Mish. Rosh Hashshuna,(104) it is asked,
"Could the serpent kill or make alive? But at the time that Israel looked up, and served with their hearts their Father which is in heaven, they were healed; but if not, they were brought low."(105)
Jonathan Ben Uziel saith,
"And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it on a high place; and it was, when a serpent had bitten any man, and he looked to the serpent of brass, and directed his heart to the name of the (Memrah) word of the Lord, he lived."
The word of the Lord is used in the place of Messiah. This healing is understood of the spiritual healing of the soul.
"As soon as they said, we have sinned, immediately their iniquity was expiated; and they had the good news brought them of the healing of the soul; as it is written, make thee a seraph, and he does not say a serpent; and this is it: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live, through the healing of the soul."(106)
Hence they compare the Messiah to a serpent;
"The Messiah shall come forth from Jesse's children's children, and his works shall be among you as a flying serpent."(107)
Hence we read of "the other serpent of life," and "the holy serpent."(108)
9. You will further observe, my dear Benjamin, that it was predicted as well as typified that Messiah was to die the death of crucifixion. David, in the 22d Psalm, saith, in the name of the Messiah: " I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones; they look and stare upon me" (vv 14-17). How striking the description of the nature and effects of crucifixion, and how remarkably fulfilled, in the death of Jesus! By his hands and feet he was nailed to the cross, his bones were distended and dislocated, and became visible, so that they might be counted. The intenseness of his sufferings dried up all the fluids, and brought on a thirst tormenting beyond description. In addition to these outward sufferings, there was a fire from above, to the burning heat of which Christ, our paschal lamb, was exposed, as it is written by the prophet: "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them" (Lam 1:12,13). Thus forsaken and stripped, naked and bleeding, the adorable Jesus was a spectacle to heaven and earth; the object of foolishness to the Greeks, and a stumbling-block to the Jews; but, blessed be God, the wisdom and power of God to all them that believe. Surely nothing is half so attracting and lovely as a believing view of Christ crucified. Multitudes, who, like Saul of Tarsus, before their conversion, did wish themselves accursed from Christ, i. e. would have nothing to do with him, did, after their conversion, like Paul, the apostle, exclaim, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal 6:14). Thus the prediction of our blessed Savior which was fulfilled in the nature of his death, is also constantly fulfilling in reference to its happy effects. "And I," said he, "if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (This he said, signifying what death he should die.") (John 12:32,33).
10. The time of Messiah's death is the next part of our subject. We learn from the unerring word of God, that there is an appointed time to man upon the earth; that his days are determined, and his bounds appointed that he cannot pass (Job 7:1, 14:5). This, my dear Benjamin, is equally true of the Messiah. The time of his death was appointed, as well as that for his birth. That the time of his birth was predicted, and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, has been proved in former letters. With respect to the time of his death, I do indeed not recollect any express prediction; but it was eminently typified in the death of the paschal lamb, and fulfilled in a remarkable manner in Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. As the passover lamb was to be slain on the 14th day of the first month, between the evenings, i. e. about 3 o'clock P. M. so did Christ die on the 14th day of the first month, about the 9th hour, i. e. 3 o'clock P. M. This is evident from the testimony of the four evangelists. I am aware that the subject has occasioned considerable controversy, and it would exceed the limits of this letter to remove the difficulties; I must therefore refer my dear Benjamin to my Essays on the Passover. I would only remark, that the Lord Jesus well knew the time of his death, and repeatedly told his disciples of it; and just before his death he said, "Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son" (John 17:1). All the envy, malice, and stratagems of our nation could not take away his life. Often they sought to apprehend him, but he either passed through the midst of them unobserved, or the officers, struck with wonder and astonishment, instead of executing their commission, returned, and said, "Never man spake like this man" (John 7:46). Nor could all the persuasions and intreaties of his disciples keep him from going up to Jerusalem, to deliver himself up to be crucified, when the hour had arrived.
11. I will close this letter by noticing the place of the Messiah's death. As the first sin was committed in the garden, so in the garden the Messiah suffered, to atone for sin; and as the sin-offering on the day of atonement was carried without the camp, and burned to ashes, so did Christ bear his cross without the gates of Jerusalem, to suffer the most painful, ignominious, lingering, and accursed death. May you and I, my dear Benjamin, never be ashamed to go forth unto him, without the camp, bearing his reproach, to whom be glory and praise for ever. Amen. Farewell.
JCR - The Controversy Between Jews and Christians, Part 4, Joseph Samuel C. F. Frey
JCR: The Controversy Between Jews and Christians
juchre.org
I would urge readers to read these letters-one for expiation-the other for propitiation AND expatiation-and notice how they interact with each other, prayerfully and with much patience.
