7. The Johannine Epistles and the Apoca- lypse.— We can see clear teaching about the media- tion of Christ in 1 John : ' The blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin' (1'). Here we have the picture of the continuous sacrificial efficacy of the blood of Christ (cf. Hebrews). ' And if any man sin, we have an Advocate (irapaKXriTov) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous' (2'). He pleads our cause with the Father (cf. Ro 8^). ' And he is the propitiation {IXaai^d^) for (irepi) our sins ; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world '
(2'). Here the universal aspect of the work of Christ is presented. St. John opposes the Cer- inthian Gnostics who distinguished between Jesus and Christ (2'" ; cf. 5'- '), and shows that confession of the Son brings knowledge of the Father (2**). He presents also the purifying power of hope in Christ (3^). The Son of God destroys the work of the devil, who sins from the beginning (v."'). God showed His love for us by sending His only be- gotten Son into the world as a propitiation for our sins (4"'-). The Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world (v.'*). God abides in the man who confesses the Son (v."). The water and the blood bear witness to Jesus and His work (5"-*), meaning probably the baptism and the blood. The baptism symbolizes the death and resurrection of Christ for our sins. By the Son of God we come to know the true God and eternal life (v.'°). Con- fession of the true humanity of Jesus as opposed to the Docetic Gnostics is absolutely essential (4-'-, 2 Jn').
The Apocalypse gives a powerful picture of the mediatorial work of Christ. He ' loosed us from our sins by his blood ' (Rev 1'). He will come again for judgment of the wicked (v.') and for the blessing of the redeemed (22™). He was dead and is now alive for evermore, with the keys of death and Hades (!'"■). Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, victorious and able to open the seals of the book, because He is also as a Lamb standing, as though He had been slain (5°''). Here the power of Christ is lodged in His atoning death. With His blood He purchased men of every land and nation (v."-), who worship Jesus as God. Those arrayed in white robes in heaven have been washed in the blood of the Lamb (7'"'). Thus, as in Hebrews, Jesus is both Sacrifice and Priest. The Lamb is the Shepherd to guide unto fountains of water of life (7"). The Lord was crucified in spiritual Sodom and Egypt ( 1 1"). Christ is Conqueror at last, for the kingdom of the world is become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (v."). Because of the blood of the Lamb the accuser of our brethren is cast down by the authority of Christ (12'<"-)- The Lamb that has been slain has a book of life written from the foundation of the world (13*). The victors sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb (15^'-). The Lamb shall overcome, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings (17"). The Lamb will have His marriage supper, and the Bride is the company of those redeemed by His blood (19'^- 21i"-). As Victor His garments are sprinkled with (or dipped in) the blood of Hisenemies (19"). In the New Jerusalem the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple (21*^). |The Lamb is the lamp, and only those are there whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life (21=^ -'). Jesus is the Root and Off- spring of David, the bright and morning Star (22'^). He otters the water of life freely to all who will drink (v.").
See also artt. Atonement, Priest, Propitia- tion, Ransom, Reconciliation, Redemption, Sacrifice, Salvation, Saviour.
LrrKRATCRK. — See books on NT Theology bv W. F. Adeney (1894), W. Beyschlag (Eng. tr., 1895), J. Bovon (21902-05), D. F. Estes (1900), H. J. Holtzmann (21911), G. B. Stevens (1899), B. Weiss (Eng. tr., 1882-83) ; A. B. Bruce, St. Paul's Conception of Christianity, 1894, The Humiliation of Christ, 1876 ; D. Somerville, St. Paul's Conception of Christ, 1897 ; H. A. A. Kennedy, St. Paul and the llysterp-Religions, 1913; W. M. Ramsay, The Teachinq of Paul in Terms of the Present Day, 1913 : W. P. DuBose, The Gospel according to St. Paul, 1907 ; works on the Atonement bv J. M. Campbell (1907), R. W. Dale C187S), J. Denney (1903), J. Stalker (1908); works on Hebrews bv A. B. Bruce (1899), F. Delitzsch (Eng. tr., 1868-70), M. Dods (^GT" iv. [1910]), W. P. DaBose (High Priesthood and Sacri/ice, 1908), G. Milliean (1899), A. Nairne (TAe Epistle of Priesthood, 1913), B. F. Westcott (1SS9).
A. T. Robertson.
MEEKNESS
MELCHIZEDEK
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MEEKNESS. — Meekness was hallowed as a Christian virtue by the beatitude of Mt 5', thouKli it is not improbable that our Lord's use of the phrase ' the meek ' implied the semi-technical con- notation of the OT, where they are the godly remnant, often oppressed and nearly always obscure, in opposition to ' the rich,' the men of violence and pride, who dominated the society of Israel in the ages of warfare, defensive and oli'ensive. Christ's own character (Mt ll'*) was the immortal witness of His sympathy with the saint, who was down- trodden, misunderstood, and persecuted, and who endured contradiction with courage and patience. ' Christ Himself is the Christian law,' and His moral pre-eminence was the ground of His claim to human obedience ; but in calling upon the race to take His yoke. He speaks as One ' meek and lowly of heart,' i.e. as One who had Himself mastered self-will, especially in the form of ' the restless desire for distinction and eminence,' and had subordinated His nature to the love which seeketh not its own, but the things of others (cf. J. R. Seeley, Ecce Homo", 1813, ch. xv.). Thus, the meekness which He blessed and taught by His own conduct was the self-conquest which rendered Him indifferent to the glamour of external condi- tions such as wealth, ease, fame, and sovereignty, by which even the greatest minds have been dazzled ; and further, it was opposed to the spirit of resentment, hatred, and pride, which is often the product of contumely, pain, unjust suffering, and obscurity. For the application of this prin- ciple to slavery in the Christian economy of life, see art. Slave, Slavery.