For He Hath made him…sin for us, who knew no sin (II Cor. 5:21); it is thus that in a wonderfully compressed comment Paul describes the life of our Lord: Jesus bore the same nature as ourselves, the nature in which sin normally reigns (Rom. 6:12), but in his person, the power of sin was broken. Our Lord was descended from Adam, and as such he was subject to the thralldom of death and needed eventually to be delivered from it by the intervention of his Father (see Heb. 5:7). Yet the circumstances of his resurrection were exceptional. Not only was he the first fruits of those who sleep the sleep of death (cf. I Cor. 15:23), but, as Peter declares so soon after the Lord’s resurrection, the flesh of Jesus suffered no corruption (Acts 2:31). This was in itself a recognition on his Father’s part of the holiness of our Lord (see Acts 2:27).
Opening the way to life
Preeminently the Lord’s task was to undo the work of our forebear. In Adam’s case, the story is one of closing: as the consequence of his sin, the way to the tree of life was closed. Adam was expelled from the garden and no longer had access to the tree. Finally, the grave closed over him. This is a melancholy record. When we turn to the account of our Lord’s ministry, however, it is all fundamentally different, for he is the one who opens.
When he came in response to the call of the Baptist and insisted on being baptized by him, the great process of opening began its critical phase: the heavens were opened, the Spirit of God descended upon our Lord, and a voice pronounced God’s pleasure with His Son. In the power of that Spirit, our Lord opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped the ears of the deaf, opened the graves of the dead and finally himself rose from the dead. He then opened the understanding of the apostles so that they could arrive at a more complete understanding of his mission (Lk. 24:45), for he was now the one who opens and no man can shut (Rev. 3:7; see also Rev. 5:5).
In our previous study (Jan/2000), we saw that the Lord Jesus revealed his humility by insisting that he should fulfil all righteousness by submitting to John’s baptism. This was a public acknowledgement that the Word of God was binding on him, for this Word came to John in the wilderness (Lk. 3:1). While we can rightly stress the public nature of this act, it was the consummation of a long process of preparation for his ministry. When he came to the Jordan, our Lord was well aware that the work of John as his forerunner had been revealed in scripture. A passage in Isaiah 40 had foretold how the way of the Lord (Yahweh) would be prepared: a voice would cry in the wilderness: “Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (lsa. 40:3). This is a tremendously important passage: John himself recognized how it foretold his own ministry as the herald of a greater personality (see John 1:23; 3:30). We do well to point out incidentally the profound humility of John the Baptist, who so unhesitatingly accepted the subordinate role. It is the conflict and rivalry between prominent personalities which so easily generates strife and division.
Jesus knew the prophecies
Both Matthew (3:3) and Mark (1:23) call attention to the great prophecy in Isaiah 40. None in Israel would be more familiar with it than the Lord Jesus himself. When eventually the report of John’s work reached his ears in Nazareth, he knew what this meant: John was to be the one announcing his arrival upon the stage of history. He would abandon his work as a carpenter and the obscurity of his life in a Galilean village.
A great source of his strength was his familiarity with the Word of God and its relevance to himself. We need to take note of this. Too often we see the application of scripture to others. Our primary concern should be to see how it relates to us, and how it can help carry out God’s will in our lives. There is a highly instructive quotation of Psalm 40:6-8 in Hebrews 10:5-7; we here quote the last of these verses: “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God.”
Throughout our Lord’s life, there was the humble acceptance of the Word of God as a lamp to his feet, and a light to his path. His sole concern was to carry out his Father’s will. Finally, in the garden his prayer was that God’s will should be done whatever the price to himself.
Jesus knew early of the cross
It is our conviction that when Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized by John, he had a full understanding of his mission and that he would finally have to surrender his life upon the cross. This does not, however, mean that he could anticipate every single event during his ministry. Nevertheless, we repeat: he had a full understanding he was the lamb of God, destined to take away the sin of the world and this involved the laying down of his life (cf, John 2:4 ed.).
Now, every student of the gospel is aware that at Caesarea Philippi, relatively late in his ministry, our Lord announced clearly to his apostles that he was to go to Jerusalem to suffer at the hands of the authorities, be put to death and be raised the third day (e.g. Matt. 16:21). About this there can be no dispute; but was this, as some critics would argue, a conviction that came to him as a result of the growing opposition he encountered from the Jewish authorities? The answer to this is a resounding “No.” The conversation between our Lord and Nicodemus took place early in the Lord’s ministry. His signs and the challenge to the Jewish establishment by the first cleansing of the Temple rapidly made him a public figure (see John 2:12-16,23).
Who was this man? To seek an answer to this question, the fair-minded Nicodemus was commissioned to interview the Lord. The details of this fascinating episode need not now detain us. In the course of it Jesus said to Nicodemus: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). This figure of “lifting up” is undoubtedly a reference to the Lord’s crucifixion. It recurs in John 8:28 and with great clarity in John 12:32-33. After Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me,” John adds: “This he said, signifying by what death he would die” (John 12:33).
Bronze serpent and the cross
The incident in the wilderness, which is here evoked is, to say the least, a strange and unexpected one. Once more, despite all their previous lapses, the Israelites exhaust God’s patience by their querulous complaints, and He sends “fiery serpents” among them which bite the Israelites and many die (Num. 21:6). A contrite people come to Moses, seeking his intercession. The Lord God responds and instructs Moses to erect “a standard” (Num. 21:8 RV). Upon this a serpent is displayed and those who look upon it in faith are healed. Thus the source of death becomes the source of life.
Who could possibly have understood the meaning of this enigmatic event if our Lord had not seen in it a reference to his own sacrificial death? He authentically bore our nature, the nature in which sin and death prevails. But he overcame both by being the lamb without blemish which takes away the sins of the world (see I Pet. 1:19; John 1:29,36). So it was that in him the source of death became the source of life. The God who commanded Moses to erect the standard in the wilderness was the One who called on His son to die for the sins of the world.
As we have seen in John, we hope in our next study to show Matthew, Mark and Luke also reveal that Jesus knew early in the ministry he would die upon the cross.
We conclude this present study by calling attention to an interesting and enlightening verbal link between the “standard” of Numbers 21:8 and the “ensign” (AV, RV) of Isaiah 11:10,12. In all three passages the Hebrew word is nes. In the case of Isaiah 11:10,12 the Gentiles are brought into view. This enables us to understand that when certain Greeks came to seek Jesus (see John 12:21), he speaks of being lifted up (upon the cross) and drawing all men to him. Because all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, our Lord’s sacrifice concerns all mankind and becomes thus the means of breaking down the barriers which separate the nations. As Paul wrote to the Galatians among whom there were Jews and Gentiles: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One