2. Come we now to the particular offices by which he performeth the work of a mediator, and they all show the necessity of both natures : these offices and functions are those of prophet, priest, and king.
[1.] Our mediator hath a prophetical office belonging to his admin- istration, that he may be made wisdom to us, and therefore he must be both God and man. God, that he may not only teach us outwardly, as an ordinary messenger or minister, but inwardly, putting his law into our minds, and writing it upon our hearts : Heb. viii. 10, and 2 Cor. iii. 3, ' Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God ; not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart.' ]\len may be the instruments, but Christ is the author of this grace, and therefore he must be God. To convince men's understand- ings of their duty, and to incline their hearts to perform it, requireth no less than a divine power. If such an infinite virtue be necessary to cure the blindness of the body ; how much more to cure the natural blindness and darkness of the mind ! A man he must also be ; for the great prophet of the church was to be raised up among his brethren like unto Moses, Deut. xviii. 15. Till such an one came into the world, they were to hear Moses ; but then they were to hearken to him. He that was to come was to be a lawgiver as Moses was, but of a far more absolute and perfect law — a lawgiver that must match and overmatch Moses every way. He was to be a man as Moses was in respect of our infirmities, such an one as Moses was whom the Lord had known face to face ; but of a far more divine nature, and approved to the world by miracles, signs, and wonders, as Moses w-as. Again, it was prophesied of him that, as the great prophet of the world, he should be anointed, that he might come and preach the gospel to the poor, Isa. Ixii. 1 ; which could not be if he had spoken from heaven in thunder, and not as a man conversed with men. Again, he was to approve himself as one who had grace poured into his lips, Ps. xlv. 2 ; that all might wonder at the gracious speeches that came from his mouth, as they did at Christ's. In short, that Wisdom of the Father, which was wont
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to assume some visible shape for a time, when he would instruct the patriarchs concerning his will, that he might hide his majesty and put a veil upon his glory, was now to assume our nature into the unity of his person, not a temporary and vanishing appearance ; that ' God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, might in these last days speak to us by his Son,' Heb. i. 1,2. Then God delivered his will by parcels, now by him he would settle the whole frame of the gospel.
[2.] Jesus Christ, as he is the apostle of our profession, so also he is the high priest, Heb. iii. 1, and so must be both God and man. Man, that he might be made sin for us ; God, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, 2 Cor. v. 21. Man, to undertake our redemption ; God, to perform it. Man, that he might suffer ; God, that he might satisfy by suffering and make our atonement full — we are purchased by the blood of God. Man, that he might have a sacrifice to offer ; God, that the offering might be of an infinite price and value, Heb. ix. 14. Man, that he might have a life to lay down for us ; God, that the power of laying it down and taking it up again might be in his own hands : John x. 17, 18, ' I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.' This was fit that his suffering should be a pure volun- tary act, required, indeed, by God, but not enforced by man. He had a liberty, at his own pleasure, as to anything men could do, and thereby commendeth his love to sinners. What shall I say ? He was man that he might die ; he was God that by death he might destroy him that had the power of death. He was man, that by his death he might ratify the new covenant ; God, that he might convey to the heirs of promise these precious legacies of pardqn and life. Man, that he might be a merciful high priest, touched with the feel- ing of our infirmities ; God, that we, coming boldly to the throne of grace, might find mercy and grace to help in every time of need, Heb. iv. 15, 16.