If the rite, which the Forerunner of our Lord administered, is not to be considered as a Christian institute, to what dispensation are we to assign it, since it is manifestly no part of the economy of Moses?
The reply is that it was the symbol of a peculiar dispensation, which was neither entirely legal nor Evangelical, but occupied an intermediate station, possessing something of the character and attributes of both; a kind of twilight, equally removed from the obscurity of the first, and the splendour of the last and perfect economy of religion. The light which he emitted, though it greatly surpassed every preceding illumination, was of short duration, being soon eclipsed and extinguished by that ineffable effulgence, before which nothing can retain its splendour. (Robert Hall.)
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One among you
Christ among us
1. As to His human nature, as one of yourselves, as He took upon Him the form of man and became the servant of men, and is among you as once He sat in the midst of the doctors in the Temple.
2. As to the Divine nature He is amongst you, for He filleth all in all, and is very nigh to every one.
3. He is among you as the Light which lighteth every man, and as the Word of Wisdom in the heart of all His people.
4. Among you as the Mediator between man and God, and seeking to draw all men to God.
5. Not as the Baptist in the desert, but in the midst of the cities of men.
6. Among you all, for the benefit of all, as the true tree of life in the midst of the garden of this world for the life and for the healing of all. (W. Denton, M. A.)
The unknown presence
We can imagine the Master visiting various spheres in the modern world with the same result.
I. BUSINESS.
II. PLEASURE.
III. THE CHURCH.
IV. AFFLICTION. (H. J. W. Buxton, M. A.)
Christ near yet unperceived
I. THE WORLD’S CREATOR A STRANGER IN HIS OWN DOMINIONS.
1. In part arising from the intentional obscurity that veiled His appearance among man for purposes of their own earthly sovereigns often travel in disguise; but the world has never witnessed so strange an incognito as this. The King of Glory laid aside His robes of light, and in the simple garb of a suffering man, “hid” Himself from the wise and prudent that He might reveal Himself to the lowly and the meek. From His own disciples at times He purposely veiled His identity (Joh_20:14; Joh_21:4; Luk_24:16; Luk_24:31).
2. Too largely owing to the blinding effect of sin. The other and gentler John affirms the same mysterious but humbling fact, and enumerates the accumulating evidence of its truth. For ages the true Light shined in promise, prophecy, holy law and inward conscience, yet the darkness discovered it not (verse 5). In the fulness of time the Creator came to visit this province of His empire, and was unrecognized upon His own estate (verse 10). More humbling still, when He came to His own possessions His own people received Him not (verse 11). Even those to whom He made Himself known were but imperfectly acquainted with Him.
II. THE IGNORANCE OF MAN CONCERNING THAT WHICH THEY MOST NEED TO KNOW. Ignorance baneful, knowledge beneficial; yet vast numbers are strangers to the source, centre and sum of all wisdom.
1. With some the knowledge of Christ is only indirect; the evidence of vague rumours or the acceptance of testimony; a secondhand knowledge.
2. Personal knowledge exists in varying degrees. Some are only on terms of distant acquaintance; others have occasional communications; others have intimate friendship; with the most loyal and loving Christ sustains confidential relations.
3. To be ignorant of Him is the worst privation man can suffer (2Co_4:8; 2Co_4:4).
4. When He is known He is admired, loved, trusted and obeyed (chap. 4:10).
III. THE SAVIOUR’S KINDNESS AND COMPASSION IN REVEALING HIMSELF TO THEM THAT SEEK HIM.
1. He has no wish to be unrecognized. He stands, waits, knocks Rev_3:20).
2. He awaits our entreaty to remove His disguise (Jer_14:5).
3. Once admitted to His friendship we shall grow in intimacy with Him.
4. In His own home hereafter He will show us more and more of His hidden glory. (R. Lewis.)
Christ unrecognized
I. A STARTLING WONDER. Christ unknown.
1. Not from want of evidence then or previously.
(1) The world manifested its Maker;
(2) Conscience reflected His light;
(3) Prophecy and type shadowed His person and ministry. Abraham saw His day. Moses spoke of Him. To Him gave all the prophets witness.
(4) John proclaimed Him.
2. Not from want of evidence now. In addition to all the above,
(1) The Holy Spirit testifies of Him.
(2) The Christian consciousness of eighteen centuries fulfils the promise of His perpetual presence.
(3) His ambassadors declare Him.
(4) His sacraments embody Him. How strange that He should be amongst the children of His people, the hearers of His gospel, and yet not be known!
II. A STERN NECESSITY. In the knowledge of Him, and in that alone standeth our eternal life. That knowledge is the beginning, the middle and the end of Christianity.
1. The beginning. Christ’s first invitation echoed by His first convert was “Come and see.” Isaiah saw His glory, and was cleansed for service. When Paul saw Christ he became a new man.
2. The continuance. The development of Christian life depends on growing knowledge of Him (2Pe_3:18; Philip 3:10; Heb_12:2; cf. Heb_3:1).
3. Its consummation is in heaven, where we shall see His face, and be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.
III. A BLESSED OPPORTUNITY. “There standeth.”
1. How?
(1) Stationary--not shifting, coming and going.
(2) Patient--not wearied by procrastination, but waiting to be gracious.
(3) Accessible. “Lo, I am with you alway.” “Now is the accepted time.”
2. What as?
(1) A sympathizer.
(2) A Saviour.
(3) A personal friend.
IV. A FEARFUL ALTERNATIVE.
1. To know Christ is to be known of Him. Christ knows His sheep. He recognizes us when our friends have ceased to do so; when it is difficult to do so; in poverty and obloquy; at the last day.
2. Not to know Christ is to be disowned by Him. “I never knew you.” (J. W. Burn.)
He it is, who, coming after me, is preferred before me
The magnanimity of the Baptist
The world recognizes jealousy as the chief weakness of popular leaders and preachers. Such men are spiritual athletes, who cannot bear a rival. The greatest of popular preachers, the darling of Antioch and Constantinople, admits that he who can overcome this is almost like the disembodied spirits, whose lives, pure as the crystal stream, can never be darkened by any shadow of envy or vainglory. But the leader of a great party in a nation; the founder of a sect, which has vitality enough to live on for years; who was regarded by some as probably the Messiah--that he should have bowed down in prostrate humiliation before a younger successor, this is original indeed. (Bp. Alexander.)
The best servant the most humble
As the lark that soars the highest, builds her nest the lowest; the nightingale that sings the sweetest, sings in the shade when all things rest; the branches that are most laden with ripe fruit, bend lowest; the valleys are fruitful in their lowliness; and the ship most laden sinks deepest in the water, so the holiest Christians are the humblest. (J. Mason.)
Humility not contemptible
Humility did not make John the Baptist contemptible; but when he refused the name of a prophet, Christ said that he was more than a prophet. Humility did not make Moses contemptible; but as he was the mildest man upon earth, so he was the greatest upon earth. Humility did not make David contemptible; but when he humbled himself, he said unto Michal, “I will be more humble yet, and lowly in mine own sight, yet thou and thy maids shall honour me.” As Christ ceased not to be a king because He was like a servant, nor to be a lion because He was a lamb, nor to be a judge because He was judged; so man doth not lose his honour by humility; but he shall be honoured for his humility, as the son was honoured when he was humbled (Luk_15:18-25). Thus humility hath found that which pride sought; like little David, which was least accounted of, and yet got the victory, yea, when no man durst encounter with the giant (1Sa_17:28). (Henry Smith.)
