76
The T abmucle interpreted is, God with us," the virgin-born Son of God He ~as able to be our sinless Substitute on the cross and our risen Lord ~esus. But God can not die; therefore, He beca~e a Man, m order that He might "taste death" for the _smner. In the scarlet color we see the symbol of His sacrifice; for does it not remind us of His shed blood? He could purchase us with His atoning blood only because He was Man, as well as God. Now purple is a mixture of blue and red; and the purple in the fine twined linen that made the gate, the door, the veil, and the curtain of the tabernacle speaks to us of our Lord's deity manifest in the flesh; for truly He was the God-Man. Purple is the sym- bol of royalty; and one of His beautiful names is that of King of kings and Lord of lords. The :fine twined linen in these hangings reminds us of His sinless, holy life. There was not a coarse thread, not a flaw, in His whole Person. He was "holy, harmless, unde- filed, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens" (Heb. 7: 26). Little children were drawn to Him. His enemies had to bring in false witnesses to accuse Him. Pilate had to admit that he found "no fault" in Him. The centurion at the cross testified, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God" (Matt. 27:54). Every step of His earthly life, from Bethlehem's manger to the cruel cross verified the words which His Father in heaven spoke on two occasions, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 2. The Four Pillars. The beautiful hanging that formed the gate was upheld by four pillars set up in sockets of brass, and was fastened to the pillars with hooks of silver. Again, we are reminded of the lessons we learned from the pillars and sockets that upheld the white linen
77
curtain which formed the court; for here also the brass speaks of judgment of sin at the cross; the silver, of re- demption in Christ Jesus. The fact that there were four, and only four, pillars which upheld the gate reminds us of the four Gospel rec- ords of the life of Christ on earth, His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John gave us the story of Him who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). My friend, had you ever wondered why there are four Gospels? Why not just one? They tell the same story of our crucified and risen Lord. It is a wonderful four- fold portrait of Christ that the Holy Spirit has given us in the four records of the evangelists; and, while all tell the same story, yet each has a particular purpose in mind, presenting Christ in a way that fits that purpose. We can not dwell long here upon this comparison of the four Gospels, but a brief glimpse at each should help us to understand better how to study these much loved books. Matthew wrote particularly for the Jews, presenting Christ as their King. He quoted more freely from the Old Testament than any of the other three, because he was proving that Jesus was Israel's promised Messiah. Matthew traced Christ's genealogy from Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel, and through David, the king. He told of the visit of the wise men and their gifts to the Child Jesus, the King of the Jews. Matthew set forth the laws of the kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount; the mysteries of the kingdom in the thirteenth chapter; the Olivet Dis- course, pointing on to the end of the age and the second coming of the King in glory. These are just a few of the facts about this first Gospel record that may well have been
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online