| Author | Message | ||
| Martinc Registered user Username: Martinc Post Number: 103 Registered: 9-2006 |
Those of us who were raised on Desire of Ages remember Ellen White's words about Jesus' nature and obedience, "As one of us He was to give an example of obedience. For this He took upon Himself our nature...And He exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely offered to us. As man, He met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him from God...His life testifies that it is possible for us also to obey the law of God." DA 24 We were to understand that Christ was given a nature just like ours, came to earth and kept the law perfectly as an example, "exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely offered to us," showing that perfect obedience can also be ours. She uses Hebrews 10:5-7, "Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me. . . . Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me,) to do Thy will, O God." KJV After studying this text and Psalms 40, the meaning jumped out here, so it's worth sharing this little study. I was helped by the ESV notes and an essay by AW Pink, "The Divine Incarnation." The first clue is in the words, "In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted..." The body given to Christ was the answer to God's lack of delight in the old sacrificial system. Second, notice that the Hebrews text and the Psalm text use different words. In Psalms 40:6, instead of "but a body have you prepared for me", it says, "but you have given me an open ear." To make things more difficult, the original Hebrew says literally, "ears you have dug for me." ESV (Reformation Study Bible note) It turns out that the Hebrews author uses the Septuagint Greek which speaks of a body instead of ears or hearing. Why the discrepancy? We are given a glimpse into the infinite depths of the Incarnation. "Ears you have dug for me" is rich with OT meaning. He says in Isaiah, "The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to the smiters..." (Isa. 50:4, 5). To have an open ear is to be obedient. Then in Exodus we see the meaning of digging ears. "But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever." Ex. 21:6 By boring a hole in the ear, the slave accepted his lot as forever serving his master, and for his family, because he loved them. In the case of Jesus, the word is plural, both ears are "digged". His servitude is more than the usual required; it is absolute. So we can see how both renditions, "ears," and "body," give the total picture. Jesus was given a body prepared as a complete sacrifice for sin that will lack nothing in delighting God. He took the form of a servant and became obedient, "I delight to do your will," even unto death. So to say that Jesus "exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely offered to us" misses the whole story. His sacrifice and obedience are not mere examples for us to emulate and prove something to all the little unfallen green men. He was pierced for sinners once for all because He loved them, and was willing and delighting from his first second on earth. Jesus' body was prepared for such an unequaled sacrifice from all eternity. | ||
| Philharris Registered user Username: Philharris Post Number: 1923 Registered: 5-2007  |
Martin, Great insight. I have always wondered about the meaning of the piercing of the ear of the slave who loved his master. Fearless Phil | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 10733 Registered: 12-2003  |
Martin, great insight. I have also wondered about that passage. If Jesus had no advantage we don't, He couldn't have been our savior. What were we thinking, anyway? I know...we had a great controversy worldview... Colleen |
