THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS among men, yet He was at the same time, GOD. So as the disciples watched Him, this knowledge grew upon them, and one of them says: “ We beheld His glory, the glory as the Only-Begotten of the Father.” “No man hath seen God at any time. The Only Begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath revealed Him.” (John 1:18).' This means that God has spoken His last word to man, and by Jesus of Naz areth. Not man reaching up, but God reaching down. The test of Christianity is God manifest in the flesh,— the last aid perfect revelation. Put this test to all so-called “ fresh revelations.” There is the Man standing in the/ midst of the crowds, crying: ; “ Come unto Me,” all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Again He says:— “ If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.” “ I am the Bread of Life,”— “ the Light of the world,” “ the Life.” Yes, God has come to the world, He has been among men, and we have heard His Voice. John wrote his epistle towards the end of his life, but he never got over the awe of having seen Jesus . . . (read 1 John 1:1-3). So we gather round the one Prophet, and know there is no other Voice than His. Christ as Priest The priesthood of Jesus was the nec essary correlative to His office as Pro phet. The Prophet represented God to man, and the Priest stood for man to God. His twofold work is outlined in Hebrews 3:1. It was His function to go from God to man and from man to God. His priestly qualifications are two fold, (1)' chosen from among men, and (2) representative of men. He is God, but He also is most truly Man, and the most representative of all men. He comes home to men’s hearts as the Man that represents the whole
649 wide world. He gathers into Himself all nations, all humanity, before God! In Hebrews that thought is dwelt upon. See Heb. 4:14, 15 and 5:1-10. He not only learnt what it was to be a man by being a Man, but also by suffer ing as a man. (Heb. 5 :7). His priesthood is unchangeable. Aarpn and his sons and all the old priests died. But now came Jesus, not after the order of Aaron only, but after the order of Melchizedek. (5 :6 ). He is not different, but the one and the other set forth His priesthood—Aaron sets forth His func tions, and Melchizedek His timeless ness.— Melchizedek comes (out of etern ity and goes into eternity; so Christ comes into our human experience, and gqes out into eternity, where He repre sents humanity forever and ever.. His is perfect humanity, and endless life,— our Great perfect Representative! And as His qualifications are twofold, so His work was twofold. It was all gathered up and consummated on the Day of Atonement. (1) Making'expiation. (2) Making intercession. (1) Remember that the tdtoernacle' was planned to keep in mind the separ ation of man from God. Stage after stage the priest had to go from the peo ple to God— to the Holy place, and then to the Holy of Holies. There had to be two goats to repre sent one offering. One was slain and the blood was taken to the Holy of Holies, showing that atonement had been made, and death had been given ■ in the stead of the man. Then the priest lays his hand on the head of the other goat, and confesses the sins. Then it is taken out into the wilderness, the land of forgetfulness and loss. This is a type of the complete removal of sin. The High Priest alone did this. With that picture in mind let us turn to our great High Priest. When after the Last Supper they went out to Geth- semane, He and the disciples. He seemed
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