The Epistle to the Hebrews (especially 9^^-28 10) develops the conception of the High-Priesthood of Christ and demonstrates that He is the High Priest of good things to come, having through His blood obtained eternal redemption for us, and thus He becomes the Mediator of the new Covenant. By His redemptive work once for all we are sancti- fied and perfected for ever through the offering of His body.
The hope of the race for the future is based upon the atonement, and the consummation of the dispensation is associated with the sacrifice of Christ as the Lamb which hath been slain. The Lord of the Churches is to receive the adoration of the Church throughout all ages because He hath loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and hath made us a kingdom and priests unto God the Father (Rev 1'- ^), ' Because of the suffering of death' He is 'crowned with glory and honour' (He 2^). Throughout the eschatological references of the Apocalypse, the power and dig- nity of the Lamb upon the throne culminate in the ascription of all praise and glory to Him who is worthy because He has been slain.
From the refei ences in the NT we gather that the cross and the crucifixion of Christ became the symbol of human redemption and of the doctrine of the atonement. The doctrine of the cross was the central truth in the early Church, confirmed and completed in the fact of the resurrection. Though a symbol of humiliation, disgrace, and shame, it came to stand for the most glorious truths of the salvation wrought for us by Jesus Christ and as synonymous with the gospel itself.
That this was the doctrine of the cross amongst the churches of the 1st cent, is evidenced by the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. Polycarp refers to the blood of Christ as demanding vengeance upon His persecutors (PMl. ii.) ; he also alludes to the cross, when he affirms that he who rejects the testimony is of the devil (vii. ), and enjoins prayer for the enemies of the gospel (xii.). The doctrine of the cross is with Ignatius the central teaching of his faith, and he lays great stress upon the ' blood,' the ' passion,' and the ' cross ' of Christ, so much so that he vividly recalls the words of St. Paul. The cross means to him salvation and is the pledge of eternal life, but it is a scandal to the unbeliever [Eph. xviii.). Thewords to 7rd(9os are very frequently used by Ignatius, for in our Lord's passion all men must die ; through Christ's sufferings the penitent is to return to God ; Christ's passion the saint must strive to imitate ; and it is the joy and peace of the Church. The main endeavour of Ignatius in com- bating the Docetic heresy was to prove that the sufferings of Christ were real experiences, especi- ally in Trail, ix. (see also Trail. Inscr. xi., Smyrn. i. iii. vii., Philadel. Inscr. iv. viii.).
(1) The death of Christ upon the cross is th-: sacrifice for human guilt and sin. — The immediate cause of Christ's death was the animosity of the
268
CEOSS, CRUCIFIXIOIT
CROSS, CRUCIFIXION
Jews with whom our Lord was brought into colli- sion through His teachings, His ministry, and His claims. In the condemnation and death of Jesus all human sin was epitomized and focused. It was the rejection of the Messiah by God's chosen people who represented the race in its treatment of the Son of God. The death of Christ was, however, voluntarily borne by Him, who was will- ing to sacrifice Himself and become the victim of the sins and wrongs of humanity. It is plainly and repeatedly taught by Christ and His disciples that He gave Himself on our behalf and for our sakes. The Greek prepositions dvrl, iiwip, did, irepL are used with respect to this transaction as well as such terms as propitiation, reconciliation, mediator, and ransom. The propitiatory rites of the Mosaic economy are freely emploj'ed by the NT ^vriters, not merely by way of illustration but also as types of Christ, who has in His death ful- filled and consummated them all.
The whole scheme of human redemption must be viewed in the light of Divine and perfectly holy love. Love transfers to itself every aspect of suffering that its object has to bear. Even the sense of isolation and ' the dereliction ' of our Lord, as it is termed, must be regarded as the transfer that love alone is capable of making. Perfect love is perfect sympathy and perfect interest, and the mj'stery of the cross is the mystery of love at its highest power and value. When love sacrifices itself for sin it must entail suflering. Although love is regarded as identifying itself with its object in the sense of shame, disgrace, and degradation, there is no confusion of moral issues. Christ knew no sin although He was made sin for us. He was pure, harmless, and undefiled, without spot or blemish. Nevertheless He experienced sin as God experiences it, whilst He experienced its effects as man does (Forsyth, The Cr^iciality of the Cross, p. 212). As there is in the identification of love the act of putting oneself in the place of another, an element of identification, which in some sense amounts to substitution, is always involved.