(4thly.) The disposal of his enemies is also declared, Ps. xviii. 18: “He ascended on high, he led captivity captive ;” that i is, the authors of all bondage, of all captivity in sin and misery. See the phrase explained, Judges v. 12. And this our apostle expresseth, Col. ii. 15, “ He spoiled principalities and powers,’—all the fallen, apostate angels; “making a show of them openly” in his triumph. He took them along with him in chains, tied, as it were, to his cha- riot wheels; making a show of them to the citizens of heaven. So dealt the old Roman conquerors with their enemies: they led them in chains, bound to their triumphal chariots, making them a spec- tacle to the people, and then returned them to prison, unto the time appointed for their execution. So dealt he with these implacable enemies of the glory of God and the salvation of the souls of the elect: he showed them openly, as judged, conquered, and fully subdued, remanding them to their prisons, until the time of their
410 AN EXPOSITION OF THE — [oAap. rv.
final doom should come. Thus did he pass through the heavens; and all the glory of God was laid open for his reception, all his saints and angels coming forth to meet him, to congratulate that success the fruits whereof they had before enjoyed.
2dly. His actual reception into the especial presence of God, as the end of his passage, adds to the manifestation of his greatness and glory. This our apostle declares, 1 Tim. iii. 16, *AveAggen ev éé£n,—He was “received up into glory.” This himself calls his “entering into his glory,” Luke xxiv. 26. See Heb. xii. 22-24. He was received gloriously into the highest heaven, the habitation of the blessed. Then and there had he his entertainment and refresh- ment, after all the travail of his soul. Then was the time of the espousals of his church, “the day of the gladness of his heart.” There is joy in heaven upon the returning and repentance of one sinner ; and what was there when He that causes them to return, and saves all that do so, was received into his glory? No heart can conceive, much less can any tongue express, the glorious recep- tion of the human nature of Christ in heaven.
3dly. His exaltation, which ensued upon his reception. And this respects first God himself, and then the creation.
In respect of God the Father two things are spoken of him :— (1st.) That he sat down in his throne. He “overcame, and sat down with his Father in his throne,” Rev. iii. 21. The throne is the place and ensign of rule and judgment. And the Father did not forego his throne, but he sits down with him in it, inasmuch as the actual administration of all rule and judgment is committed unto him, John v. 22. (2dly.) As he sat down in the throne, so it was “on the right hand of God,” or “at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” This God promised him of old, and now gave him the actual possession of it. Of these things, see our exposition on chap, 1, 2-4.
In respect of others; so he had power over the whole creation given into his hand,—“ all power in heaven and in earth;” con- cerning which, see also the digression about his kingdom and power, on chap. i. 3. i
These things, as they were openly glorious, belonged unto his passing through the heavens as the king of his church and the cap- tain of our salvation; but there was in the thing itself a respect unto his priestly office and the exercise thereof. So in his dying, the principal thing intended was the offering up of himself, through the eternal Spirit, an offering for sin and a sacrifice of atonement as a priest; but yet withal he died as a prophet also, “to bear witness unto the truth,” for which cause he came into the world, John xvill. 37. So, although he thus passed through the heavens tri- umphantly as a king, he at the same time, and by the same action,
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passed through as our high priest, as they were the veil through which he entered imto the holy place: which shall, God willing, be explained on chap. ix. 23, 24.
And these things belong to the greatness of our high priest upon the account of his exaltation, or his passing through the heavens; and,—
[2.] The second consideration of our high priest evincing his great- ness, is taken from his name and person, or who he is. He is “Jesus the Son of God.” Sundry things must be observed to manifest the necessity and usefulness hereof, namely, that our high priest is and was to be “Jesus the Son of God;”—first, absolutely “ the Son of God,” and then “Jesus the Son of God.” But the things of the priesthood of the Son of God being handled at large in our Exerci- tations, I shall only here give a brief summary of them:—
Ist. Before the entrance of sin, there was no need of the office of priesthood between God and man. Every one in his own name was to go to God with his worship; which would have been accepted according unto the law of the creation. If man, therefore, had con- tinued in that state wherein he was made, there would have been no such office in the church of God; for it is the office of a priest to represent them acceptably unto God who in their own persons might not appear before him. This was manifest in the after solemn institution of that office, wherein the nature and work of it were de- clared, On all occasions that interdiction is severely repeated and inculeated, ‘None shall come near but he who is of the seed of Aaron; and if any one do so, he shall be cut off’ And this God afterwards confirmed in sundry instances, especially that of Uzziah the king, who was smitten with leprosy for attempting to approach unto the altar of incense, 2 Chron. xxvi. 16-21. And, by the way, God will much more sorely revenge the sin of them who take the priestly office of the Lord Christ out of his hand; as by their false, pretended sacrifices and oblations the Papists attempt to do. Now this was needless before the entrance of sin, and therefore so was the office also; for every one had acceptance with God upon the account of his own personal interest in the covenant, as hath been showed elsewhere.