Christ's INTERCESSION
Christ's INTERCESSION.
"Who also makes intercession for us." Rom 8:34. When Aaron entered into the holy place, his bells gave a sound; so Christ having entered into heaven, his intercession makes a melodious sound in the ears of God. Though Christ is exalted to glory, he has not laid aside his affections of compassion but is still mindful of his mystic body, as Joseph was mindful of his father and brethren, when he was exalted to the court. "Who also makes intercession for us." To intercede is to make request in behalf of another. Christ is the great Master of requests in heaven.
What are the QUALIFICATIONS of our intercessor?
(1.) He is holy. "For this is the kind of high priest we need:holy , innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens." Heb 7:26. "Christ knew no sin." He knew sin in its weight , not in the act . It was requisite, that he, who was to do away the sins of others, should himself be without sin. Holiness is one of the precious stones which shine on the breast-plate of our high priest!
(2.) He is faithful. "For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful andfaithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people." Heb 2:17. Moses was faithful as a servant, Christ as a Son. He does not forget any cause he has to plead, nor does he use any deceit in pleading. An ordinary attorney may leave out some word which might help the client; or put in a word against him, having received a fee on both sides; but Christ is true to the cause he pleads. We may leave our matters with him, we may trust our lives and souls in his hand.
(3.) He never dies. While the office of the priests under the law lived, they themselves died. "They were not allowed to continue, by reason of death." But "Christ ever lives to make intercession." He has no succession in his priesthood.
Whom does Christ intercede for? Not for all people but only for the elect. "I pray for them . I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours." John 17:9. The efficacy of Christ's prayer , reaches no further than the efficacy of his blood ; his blood was shed only for the elect, therefore his prayers reach them only. The high priest went into the sanctuary with the names of the twelve tribes only upon his breast; so Christ goes into heaven with the names of the elect only upon his breast. Christ intercedes for the weakest believers, and for all the sins of believers. John 17:20. In the law, there were some sins for which the high priest was neither to offer sacrifice, nor prayer. "Anyone who sins defiantly , whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people." Numb 15:30. The priest might offer up prayers for sins of ignorance but not of defiance; but Christ's intercession extends to all the sins of the elect. Of what a bloody color was David's sin; yet it did not exclude him from Christ's intercession!
What does Christ do in the work of intercession?
Three things.
(1.) He presents the merit of his blood to his Father; and, in the virtue of that price paid, pleads for mercy. The high priest was herein a lively type of Christ. Aaron was to do four things:
Kill the animals. Enter with the blood into the holy of holies. Sprinkle the mercy-seat with the blood. Kindle the incense, and with the smoke of it cause a cloud to arise over the mercy-seat. Thus atonement was made. Lev 16:11-16. Christ our high priest exactly answered to this type. He was offered up in sacrifice, which answers to the priest's killing the bullock; and he is gone up into heaven, which answers to the priest's going into the holy of holies; and he spreads his blood before his Father which answers to the priest's sprinkling the blood upon the mercy-seat; and he prays to his Father, that for his blood's sake, he would be propitious to sinners, which answers to the cloud of incense going up; and through his intercessions God is pacified, which answers to the priest's making atonement.
(2.) Christ by his intercession answers all bills of indictment brought in against the elect. Do what they can, sin, and then Satan accuses believers to God, and conscience accuses them to themselves. But Christ, by his intercession, answers all these accusations. "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? it is Christ who makes intercession for us!" When Esculus was accused for some rebellion, his brother stood up for him, and showed the magistrates how he had lost his hand in the service of the state, and so obtained his pardon. Thus, when Satan accuses the saints, or when the justice of God lays anything to their charge, Christ shows his own wounds, and by virtue of his bloody sufferings answers all the demands and challenges of the law, and counterworks Satan's accusations!
(3.) Christ, by his intercession, calls for acquittance. "Father," he says, "let the sinner be absolved from guilt!" In this sense he is called an advocate. 1 John 2:1. He requires that the sinner be set free in the court. An advocate differs much from an orator ; an orator uses rhetoric to persuade and entreat the judge to show mercy to another; but an advocate tells the judge what is law. Thus Christ appears in heaven as an advocate, he represents what is law. When God's justice opens the debt-book, Christ opens the law-book. "Father," says he, "You are a just God, and will not be pacified without payment; lo, here my blood is shed, therefore in justice, give me a discharge for these distressed creatures!" The law being satisfied, the sinner must be acquitted. Upon Christ's plea, God sets his hand to seal the sinner's pardon!
In what manner does Christ intercede?
(1.) Freely. He pleads our cause in heaven, and takes no fee. Any lawyer will have his fee, and sometimes a bribe too; but Christ is not mercenary. How many causes does he plead every day in heaven and will take nothing! As Christ laid down his life freely so he intercedes freely. John 10:15, 18.
(2.) Feelingly. He is as sensible of our condition as his own. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin." Heb 4:15. Jesus pleads for us as a tender-hearted mother would plead with a judge for a child ready to be condemned! Oh, how would her affections work! How would her tears trickle down! What weeping rhetoric would she plead to the judge, for mercy! So the Lord Jesus is full of sympathy and tenderness, that he might be a merciful high priest. "For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people." Hebrews 2:17. Though he has left his passion yet not his compassion . An ordinary lawyer is not affected with the cause he pleads, nor does he care which way it goes; it is profit which alone makes him plead, not affection . But Christ intercedes feelingly; and that which makes him intercede with affection is it is his own cause which he pleads. He has shed his blood to purchase life and salvation for the elect; and if they should not be saved, he would lose his purchase!
(3.) Efficaciously. It is a prevailing intercession. Christ never lost any cause he pleaded. Christ's intercession must needs be effectual, if we consider,
(1.) The excellency of his person. If the prayer of a saint is so prevalent with God, as Moses' prayer bound God's hand, "Now leave me alone so my anger can blaze against them and destroy them all. But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God not to do it. Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you are planning against your people! So the Lord withdrew his threat and didn't bring against his people the disaster he had threatened." Exodus 32:10-14.
Jacob , as a prince, prevailed with God, Gen 32:28. Elijah by prayer opened and shut heaven, James 5:17. Then what prevalence has Christ's prayer! He is the Son of God, the Son in whom he is well pleased. Matt 3:17. What will not a father grant a son! "I know that you hear me always." If God could forget that Christ were a Priest , he could not forget that he is a Son!
(2:) Christ prays for nothing but what his Father has a mind to grant. There is but one will between Christ and his Father. Christ prays, "Sanctify them through your truth;" and "This is the will of God, even your sanctification." So then, if Christ prays for nothing but what God the Father has a mind to grant, then he is sure to succeed.
(3:) Christ prays for nothing but what he has power to give. What he prays for as he is man , that he has power to give as he is God . "Father, I will." John 17:24. "Father," there he prays as a man; "I will," there he gives as God. It is a great comfort to a believer, when his prayer is weak, and he can hardly pray for himself, that Christ's prayer in heaven is mighty and powerful. Though God may refuse prayer as it comes from us yet he will not as it comes from Christ!
(4:) Christ's intercession is always ready at hand. The people of God have sins of daily occurrence; and, besides these, they sometimes lapse into great sins, and God is provoked, and his justice is ready to break forth upon them. But Christ's intercession is ready at hand, he daily makes up the breaches between God and them; he presents the merits of his blood to his Father, to pacify him. When the wrath of God began to break out upon Israel, Aaron presently stepped in with his censer, and offered incense and so the plague was stayed. Numb 16:47. Just so, no sooner does a child of God sin, and God begins to be angry but immediately Christ steps in and intercedes! "Father," he says, "it is my child who has sinned; though he has forgotten his duty, you have not lost your affections. Oh, pity him, and let your anger be turned away from him!" Christ's intercession is ready at hand, and, upon the least failings of the godly he stands up and makes request for them in heaven!