Jottings

by J. Miller | Category: Jottings | Jan 1953

It has for long centuries been the custom of those who meditated upon the Lord as portrayed in the four Gospels to compare the phases of His character to the faces of the living creatures in Revelation 4.7, which are alike to the faces or the living creatures in Ezekiel 1.10, though in Ezekiel the order is different from that of Revelation. The living creatures of Ezekiel 1. are called Cherubim in Ezekiel 10.20, and it seems a lawful deduction, by a comparison of the vision of Ezekiel with that of John, to call the living creatures of Revelation Cherubim also.

We to-day would follow, generally speaking, the order given in Revelation 4.7 in regard to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In Matthew we have the King, and the lion has been called the king of beasts. In Mark we have the Servant of Jehovah, the calf of Revelation, and the ox of Ezekiel, the patient labouring beast in the service of man. In Luke we have the Man, Christ Jesus, the One who was horn, grew up, and who at about thirty years of age entered on His ministry. Luke is the only one who tells us of these facts. In John we have Him who is as the flying eagle, seeing from the height of Deity and saying, "I know whence I came, and whither I go" (John 8.14).

Early writers have followed different orders, differing from each other, so also have modern interpreters.

We may divide the Gospels into two pairs, Matthew and Mark, the King and the Servant; and Luke and John, the Son of Man and the Son of God. Matthew's Gospel is much more dispensational than any of the others. Many of the things the Lord said have distinct reference to His being sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15.24). when He was sending forth the apostles in Matthew 10., His command was - " Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (verses 7 and 8).

Later in chapter 10. we find Him saying, "But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come" (verse 23); and in verse 22 we have the Lord using identical words to what are found in Matthew 24.13He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." It is evident, I think, from these words that the entire, present dispensation of grace is passed over without any reference to the fact that such a dispensation had been before His mind from eternal ages.

It will be seen, by a comparison of verse 5 with verse 18, that the Lord contemplates a widening of the witness, from that which was at the first to be exclusively to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to the time when there would be testimony borne to the Gentiles. This agrees entirely with Matthew 24.14, that the gospel of the kingdom will yet be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations.

The contrast in the sending forth of the twelve in Matthew 10., and the sending of the eleven in Matthew 28.16-20, has often been pointed out; in the latter the Lord says, "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. "

In no other Gospel is there any reference to the Church both universal and local, save in that of Matthew. This shows a distinct change from the temple and synagogue to Church truth. In Matthew 16.18 the Lord reveals to His disciples that He is about to commence the building of what He calls" My Church," which is identified later in the writings of Paul as the Church which is His Body (Ephesians 1.22, 23), and in Matthew 18.15-20 He speaks of things which are proper to the church, which later is identified as the church of God, a local gathering Of God's saints and we should remember that the Church of God is ever local, that which belongs to a place, such as the church of God in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1. 2).

In Matthew we have the Lord as King, which may be associated with the face of the living creature, in Revelation 4.7, which was like a lion, the king of beasts. In Mark we have the calf, or ox of Ezekiel 1.10, the patient labouring beast in the service of man. Such indeed was the servant character of Him who took the form of a bondservant (Philippians 2.7). He was the Servant of Jehovah, who had sent Him into this world, not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matthew 20.28). In this passage He had just been speaking of His disciples becoming the ministers (deacons) and servants (bondservants) of each other. Then He tells them that He came to minister (to do deacon-service), and then to die for the many. Liddell and Scott say of the Greek word Diakonos (Deacon) that it is commonly derived from Dia (through) Konis (dust), one who is dusty in running, or one who sleeps in dust and ashes, but, they say, that others think that the root of the word is an old verb Diak6 which means to run, hasten. But whether it is the one or the other, a deacon is a servant, a waiting man. Such a servant might be a bondservant or slave. Both thoughts are present in Matthew 20.26, 27.

Such indeed was the Lord in Mark's Gospel. "Immediately" or "straightway" are key words to open the door of the picture-gallery of Mark. The Lord was ever alert and quick to do His Father's will. The Greek word Eutheos, rendered immediately, straightway, etc., is used forty times in Mark, as many times as in all the rest of the New Testament; He was ever ministering to the souls and bodies of men-" Pattern Servant, doing all God's will below"!

In Luke we have the Man, the Seed of the woman. Here we read of the Child Jesus (Paidion, little or young child) who grew, waxed strong; filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him (Luke 2.40); the Boy Jesus of twelve years of age, who advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favour (grace) with God and men (Luke 2.52); and the Man Jesus, when He began to teach, was about thirty years of age (Luke 3.23), the last mention of the Lord's age. This is the Man, the Son of Man, as He delighted to call Himself, bespeaking as it did the infinite love He had for the lost of mankind that He had come to seek and to save.

At a month old He was brought to be presented to the Lord, the firstborn of Mary; at twelve years He came with His parents to keep the Passover, and, no doubt, according to Jewish custom for boys of that age, to become a Son of the Covenant. In consequence, we find Him enquiring of the wise men in the temple the meaning of that law which was ever in His heart (Psalm 37.31; 40.8), for oh how vital it was that He should fulfil the law without fault! Then at about thirty He came to John to be baptized and to enter on His life's work, and these facts stand at the beginning of a genealogy which stretches right across time to Adam. At the age of thirty He was like in age to the Levites when they began their service for God (Leviticus 4.8, etc.).

The Lord as described by John is like the flying eagle. With a swoop that baffles the mind of man, and is only received and understood by faith, He, whose habitation is eternity, arrives in time (Isaiah 57.15). Thus we read, "In the beginning was the Word", "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1.1,14). Though He was on earth He spoke of being in heaven: "No man hath ascended into heaven, but He that descended out of heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven" (John 3.18). When He lay in the bosom of Mary, He was the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father (John 1.18). They said of Him, " Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8.57, 58). Well the Jews knew that when He said of Himself, "I am," that He, though a Man, claimed to be Jehovah God, the Son of God.

J. Miller | Jan 1953
Jottings