3. Redemption in the Gospels.— With respect to the sources, it is acknowledged that a distinc- tion is to be made between the Synoptics and the Fourth Gospel. The last, however, is accepted in the present article as a genuine work of the Apostle John, embodying, if with a certain colouring from his own personality and interpretative comment, that Apostle's reminiscences of the sayings and doings of Jesus, especially those of the Judseau ministry. Comparison will show that, funda- mentally, the teachings of the four Gospels on our immediate subject coincide.
St. Luke's Gospel begins by introducing us to the circle of those who ' were looking for the redemption {XvTpwcns) of Jerusalem' (238), or, as an earlier verse has it, were 'looking for the consola- tion of Israel' (v.^^). Of these there were not a few. Zacharias and Elizabeth, Simeon and the prophetess Anna, were among the number. From the hymn of Zacharias in 1^^- we see how far the idea of ' redemption ' was from being confined to temporal deliverance from enemies. Stich deliver- ance was only a means towards serving the God who had redeemed His people in holiness and right- eousness (P^). Redemption included the know- ledge of (spiritual) salvation by the remission of sins (v.''''). This salvation was to be brought in by one from the house of David, in fulfilment of the promises made to the fathers {vy.'-^-''^). John the Baptist was to prepare the way for the Redeemer's coming (v.™, cf. .3^*-). We are here, in short, on the threshold of the introduction of the Messianic salvation. In three of the Gospels, accordingly, we have preparatory notes struck, which show in what sense we are to understand this wonderful redemption of the Christ. The shepherds in Lk. are apprised of the birth in the city of David of 'a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord ' (2"). In Mt. the child is called Jesus, 'for it is he that shall save his people from their sins ' (l-^). In St. John's Gospel the Baptist points out Jesus to his disciples as ' the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world ' (l-^- ^). All the Gospels give prominence to the Baptism of Jesus, with its consecration of Himself 'to fulfil all righteousness' (in Mt.), its acknowledgment of Him as 'the Son of God,' and the descent upon Him of the Holy Spirit (Mt S^s-i-^ Mk I'J-ii, Lk 321- 22, Jn 131-34) ; and the Synoptics relate His Temptation, in which false ideals of Messiahship were rejected, and His true vocation was definitely grasped and chosen (Mt 4^-" ||).
The important question now arises. How did
EEDEMPTION
KEDEMPTION
477
Jesus Himself conceive of the work of redemption which belonged to Him as Messiah ? The word itself is only once attributed to Him, and that in an eschatological connexion (Lk 2l->^) ; it affords us, therefore, little help. His conception must be sought in a less direct way, by consideration of the aspects in which His saving activity is presented in the Gospels, and of the sayings and doings in which He connects the salvation of men with Him- self. An error to be sedulously guarded against here is that of fastening on one or two isolated sayings of Jesus, for instance, on the jDassages about His death, and giving tliese an interpreta- tion as if they were without any context in Jesus' own thouglit, or in His general Messianic claim, or in earlier Prophetic revelation, or in the events which succeeded them, and threw light on thein. A broader method must be followed if Christ's idea of redemption is to be satisfactorily grasped.
It must impress us, then, that, in the idea of redemption, or what corresponds to it, in the Gospels, the spiritual elements are prominent as they were not in tlie OT. This was to be ex- pected from the spiritual nature of the teaching of Jesus, and from the larger place given to the hope of the future life. The political aspect of redemp- tion disappears altogether. The Kingdom Jesus came to found was not of this world (cf. Mt IS^-^ 1927-30 2025-28 2631-*'', Lk 17^1, Jn (jis 1 83« etc. ) . Salva- tion from bodily ills, indeed, appears as an im- portant part of Christ's ministry, as in the healing of disease, the casting out of demons, the raising of the dead, the feeding of the multitudes (Mt 4-'3-'4 W-^ etc.). In these works of mercy Jesus revealed Himself as the Saviour of the body as well as of the soul. But the physical benefit was never an end in itself ; it pointed up to, and prepared the way for the reception of, the spiritual blessing (Mt 92-«. Jn G2«»). It was conditioned by faith (Mt 8^0 92. 22. 2s etc.). The real evils from which Jesus came to redeem were spiritual evils ; the priceless good He came to bestow was a spiritual good. Spiritual evil had its root and origin in sin ; salva- tion takes its spring in the gi'ace and mercy of God, and begins with forgiveness.
(1) We have fir.st, then, to look at sin and its consequences as the evil to be redeemed from. The teaching of Jesus on the love and mercy of the Father should not blind us to the depth of His realization of the awful evil of sin, of the wrath of God against it, and of the peril of eternal death which overhung the sinner. Rather, in His view, is the Father's mercy to be measured by the depth of the sinner's lostness, the heinousness of his state in the light of the Divine holiness, and his inability to deliver himself from that state or its consequences. The .sternness of Christ's teaching in this relation is sometimes very terrible. As the Baptist warned his hearers to flee from ' the wrath to come,' so Jesus has ever in the background of His most gracious teaching the thought of an awful Divine judgment, which surely one day will descend on the impenitent. He does not hesitate to speak of the fire of Gehenna (Mt 522. 20. .toj^ and of God, who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna (lO^'*); of the worm that dieth not, aud the fire that is not quenched ( M k ()■"■ -wi- **) ; of the judgment, less tolerable than that upon Tyre and Sidon, or even Sodom, which awaits cities like Capernaum (Mt 112"-2'); of a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which shall not be forgiven, cither in this world, or in that to come (12''*'-''2 1|). His denunciations of the Pharisees are merciless in their severity (23i'*- 1^. 32. ss') . the language of judg- ment in many of the parables is hardly less strong ( 13^2- ^>18«21«22'-i'5 etc.). Those who .speak of supposed judgments on others are warned : ' Nay, but. except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish '