in that day as "him whom his mother comforteth," and they "shall be comforted in Jerusalem." When once this great but godly sorrow shall have accomplished its blessed end in working a repentance never to be repented of, He shall pour His consolations into their broken hearts, and give unto them the "oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Like Joseph to his brethren (in whom the history of Christ and Israel is depicted), He will say unto them: "As for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive: now, therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves." 1 We are done with the exposition of this great Messianic prediction. The ultimate literal fulfilment of it lies yet in the future, in the day for which we watch and pray, when our Lord Jesus shall, according to His promise, appear in His glory, and the Jewish nation shall literally look upon Him whom they have pierced, and be, as it were, "born in a day." But there is a forestalment, so to say, in the fulfilment of this prophecy in the case of the individual even now. "And thus," to quote the words of an honoured Hebrew Christian brother and true master of Israel, "every Jew who, by the grace of God since the Day of Pentecost, has been brought to Christ, fulfils this prediction; he looks unto Him whom he has pierced. It is the look of repentance; for only a sight of the crucified Jesus shows us our sin and grief. It is the look of supplication and faith; for He only can bless and save, and He saves all who believe. It is the look of peace and adoration; for His love is infinite, unchanging, and omnipotent. It is the look which never ceases and never ends; for now the veil is taken away, and we with open face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory." 2 And as it is with the individual Jew, so it is with the individual Gentile. Yes, thanks be to God, as we all, 1 Gen. xlv. 5, 1. 20. 2 Adolph Saphir. whether Jew or Gentile, had our share in the guilt of Christ's crucifixion because of our common sin, so also may all have their share in the salvation which comes through a penitent look of faith on Him whom we have pierced. The Cross has been from the beginning, and must continue to be, the centre of all true Christian devotion, "the security against passion, the impulse to self-denial, the parent of zeal for souls, the incentive to love. This has struck the rock, that it gushed forth in tears of penitence; this, the strength and vigour of hatred of sin—to look to Him whom our sins have pierced." Let us all then look to Him for our salvation, and have our gaze fixed upon Him for our sanctification, and so have no occasion to dread that awful day when "He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they which pierced Him: and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen" (Rev. i. 7). In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of Jehovah : and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he prophesieth; neither shall they wear a hairy mantle to deceive: but he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been a bondman from my youth. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds between thine arms? Then shall he answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. |