2. The privilege itself; to be anointed with the oil of gladness. It noteth his solemn exaltation and admission to the exercise of his office. By oil all agree is meant the Spirit, by which Christ was anointed : Luke iv. 18, ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me.'
[1.] Christ was anointed at his conception in his mother's womb, when he was sanctified by the Holy Spirit ; for the work of the Spirit was not only to form his body out of the substance of the virgin, which nature could not do of itself ; but chiefly to preserve it from sin, and endow it with the gift of holiness ; from which time he grew in wisdom and grace, as well as in stature : Luke ii. 52, ' And Jesus in- creased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.'
[2.] Again, Christ may be said to be anointed at his baptism, which was the visible consecration to his office, when the Holy Ghost de- scended upon him ' in the form of a dove,' Mat. iii. 16, 17, and John i. 33. Once more —
[3.] He may be said to be anointed at his ascension, when he received of the Father the promise of the Spirit to pour him forth upon his dis- ciples : Acts ii. 33, ' Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear,' This I take to be the sense here, his glorious exaltation at the right hand of God, where, being possessed of all power, he joyfully expectetli and accomplishetb the fruits of his redemption. I am the more confirmed in this —
(1.) Because the exaltation of Christ is as it were his welcome to neaven ; God doth as it were take him by the hand, and set him upon the throne after all the sorrows of his humiliation. As we welcome a stranger or a guest whose coming is pleasing to us by taking him by the hand and bringing him into our houses, so is Christ exalted by the right hand of God, and welcomed into heaven, as having done his work, and made full provision for the glory of God and the obedience of the creature ; as we are also received into glory after we are guided by his counsel : Ps. Ixxiii. 24, ' Thou shalt guide me by thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory ; ' and then all tears shall be wiped from our eyes.
(2.) The term, ' the oil of gladness,' implieth it ; for that was the entertainment of honourable guests invited to a feast. We see it prac- tised to Christ by one woman : Luke vii. 37, ' And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment.' And by another : Mat. xxvi. 7, ' There came unto him a Avoman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head as he sat at meat.' And the psalmist, spealdng of God's festival entertain- ment : Ps. xxiii. 5, * Thou preparest a table before me i-n the presence-
SERMON UPON HEBREWS I. 9. 415
of mine enemies ; thou anointest my head with oil.' Another mention of this practice is, Ps. civ. 15, ' Wine to make glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine.' All these places, and many more in the scripture, allude to the custom of pouring some fragrant precious ointments on the heads of guests of special eminency, called ' the oil of gladness,' hegause the use of it was to exhilarate and cheer the spirits. Now, because this was an extraordinary respect paid them, this phrase came at length to signify the preferring one above another ; and so it is fitly applied to Christ, whom God hath dignified above all men and angels, in that he hath received power spiritual and divine above what was communicated to any other.
3. The persons anointed.
[1.] One singular in this unction, the Lord Jesus Christ. There are two sorts of privileges — (1.) Some things only given to Christ, not to us ; as the name above all names to be adored, Phil. ii. 9 ; to be the head of the renewed state, Eph. i. 21, the saviour of the body, Eph. v. 23 ; to have power to dispense the Spirit, to administer providences, &c. All this is proper to Christ ; neither men nor angels share with him in these honours. (2.) There are other things given to Christ and his people ; as the sanctifying and comforting Spirit, the heavenly inheritance, victory over our spiritual enemies, the devil, the world, and the flesh ; these are given to us and him ; only God doth grace his Son above his fellows : Rom. viii. 29, ' That he might be the first- born among many brethren.' He must have the honour due to the first-bom. Anciently the first-born was lord of the rest of the family : Gen. xxvii. 37, ' And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants.' And also the first-born gave the rest of the brethren a share of the father's goods, reserving to himself a double portion : Deut. xxi. 17, ' He shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the first-born by giving him a double portion of all that he hath, for he is the beginning of his strength, the right of the first-born is his.' Christ being the first-born, he must in all things have the pre-eminence. In our con- flicts and trials he is ' the captain of our salvation,' Heb. ii. 10. In holiness he is our pattern, or the copy which we must transcribe : 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' Are changed into the same image from glory to glory,' Frimum in unoquoque genere est mensura et regula cceterorum — The first in every kind is the standard for all the rest. In our glory and blessedness he is our forerunner, Heb. vi. 20, having actually taken possession of that felicity and gloiy which he will bestow upon his followers ; so that Christ's honour is reserved, and believers are com- forted whilst they follow their head in every state and condition.