A baffling verse
ebrews Five Seven
P e r h a p s one of the most baffling verses of Scripture is found in the Book of Hebrews, chapter five, verse seven. Here we quote it in full, “Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up .prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared.” The Revised Version has it, “ fear.” The writer is quite aware of the difficulty of this verse and likewise of the widespread differences in the ological concepts held by most excel lent Bible scholars. It does seem, however, that there should be an explanation of it that is proper and right. I do not assume the exclusive prerogative of being the one to give the correct interpretation, but if it be permissible, I should like to share with my readers what I sincere ly feel to be the correct interpretation. That Christ, and not Melchisedec, is the one referred to soon becomes ap parent upon close investigation of the text. Many have been confused over the prayer that the Lord Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, namely, “ Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will but thine, be done.” No doubt all of us have heard it said, both by the minister and layman alike, “Jesus did not wish to go to the Cross, and thus He asked God to remove it from Him.” It is understandable why people say this, for if Heb. 5:7 is not linked with this Gethsemane experi ence, there perhaps could be no other explanation. But once we understand our verse in Hebrews, we then find why He prayed such a prayer. It seems incongruous to many peo ple that there could be any likelihood that our Saviour should ever expire this side of the Cross. Was He not God? Could He not direct the time of His departure, etc.? We must recog nize that Christ was here as the repre sentative man and not as God. He was experiencing every curse imposed upon man in the Garden of Eden. Adam was told, “ By the sweat of thy brow.” This was a curse. Jesus our representative was bearing that curse and was “ sweating,” not mere perspir ation, but it was His blood, the very symbol of His life, that He was shed ding. It has been said by medical authorities that this was a form of a hemorrhage, which usually would be fatal. In view of the foregoing it becomes obvious why the Lord prayed as He did. It was merely to say, “ Let me not die short of my goal, namely the Cross.” The Cross was the altar where
Satan was more than aware that Christ’s death on the Cross was for the redemption of humanity. This was not the first occasion to attempt His death. He used Herod when Christ was but an infant, Matt. 2. He used the people of Nazareth to seek his death, Luke 4. This is but another in many at tempts to abort the plans of God for man’s eternal salvation. Our Lord never resisted the Cross. “ For this purpose, came I into the world.” He did resist, however, His death apart from the Cross. We firmly believe that this is why His crying and tears w'ere what they were. It should be carefully kept in mind that this was a place of prayer. It was the place where the will is under sub mission to God. Gethsemane means, “ The Oil Press.” A place where the oil is pressed out. It becomes the place of myrrh. It is best known to us as the place of the olive trees. They are still venerated there today. If one should turn to the use of olive oil in the Old Testament, he would find that the olive trees were flayed or bruised in order to secure the oil necessary to light the lamps in the lampstand in the Tabernacle. Here our Lord is be coming, as it were, the olive tree flayed and beaten that oil may flow. Of course this oil but symbolizes the blessed Holy Spirit that was to descend on the day of Pentecost. The Lord has said, “ If I go not away, the comforter will not come.” Christ’s going in volved His suffering in the Garden. The oil could not be secured without the olive trees suffering. The Holy Spirit could not come until Christ, too, had suffered. There is another lesson we may learn from this and a most important one it is. Since Christ is the repre sentative man, then His life must offer some suggestions for us. I John says, “ As He is in the world, so are we.” I John 4:17. Christ becomes my exam ple. If I would know what my life would be, then I must know what His life was. The Cross is ever the symbol of “ having been heard for His godly complete dedication. It is the ultimate in our devotion to God. It stands be tween us and the true resurrection power of Jesus Christ. There could have been no Easter morning, no empty tomb without this dedication. It is this act of the will that deter mines the extent of our surrender to the Cross. Gethsemane, the place of prayer, was a decisive place in the life of our blessed Lord. Would Satan defeat Him here and thus defeat the ultimate purpose of God for Him!
STRONG CRYING and tears • •
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the sacrifice must be placed. Christ was the fulfillment of the Jewish sac rifices. He could not afford to die off the Cross, for had He done so, He would have failed to be the “ Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.” This last statement usually is the most objectional to people. We believe, however, that proper investi gation of the Scriptures involved will authenticate what has been said. If Christ was to defeat Satan, it must be in the realm of death (Cf. Heb. 2:14). Our Saviour cried with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death. It seems most apparent that He consid ered Himself near death or there would have been no need to cry unto God for such deliverance. • • • •
• • • • • • • • by HERBERT RICHARDSON *
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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