office of the Messiah0. Indeed, he was called Messiah, and Christ, from that very circumstance of his being " anointed with the oil of gladness above all that ever had partaken" of that heavenly gift*1.]
By that unction too he was qualified for the dis- charge of the office committed to him.
[Though, as God, our Saviour was incapable of improve- ment, yet, as man, " he grew in wisdom as he grew in stature," and needed to be furnished with those gifts and graces, which were proper for the discharge of his mediatorial office. Ac- cordingly we read, that the " Spirit was given to him, not by measure," as to other prophets, but in all his fulness e; and that it rested on him as a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and of might, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lordf. Thus was he both called and qualified at the same time : for though he was destined for his work from eternity, and prepared for it from his first conception in the virgin's womb, yet were not his qualifications completed till the great seal of heaveu was affixed to his commission, and he was openly consecrated to the service of God.] The prophet proceeds to open at large,
II. The commission given him —
The terms, in which his commission are expressed, have especial reference to the jubilees that were pro- claimed every fiftieth year. He was sent,
1. To offer salvation to all who needed it —
[At the time of jubilee all who had by any means been reduced to sell their estates, and to surrender up themselves and families as slaves to their creditors, were liberated from their bondage, and restored to the full possession of their inhe- ritance, the very instant the trumpet sounded". The Gospel is that trumpet, and it proclaims " liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound ;" and our Lord's office was to sound this trumpet, to announce these glad tidings, to declare that this acceptable year was arrived, and that the "day" was come wherein God would take "ven- geance" on all their enemies and oppressors. These are glad tidings indeed to those who are sensible of their bondage to sin and Satan, and who know that they have sold the inheritance of heaven for the pleasures of sin : but to those who are un- conscious of their guilt and misery, the sound of the trumpet
<= John i. 32—34.
d Tovg fieroxovQ crov. Heb. i. 9. with Ps. xlv. 7.
e John hi. 34. f Isai. xi. 2, 3. s Lev. xxv. 10, 41
1004.] Christ's commission. 561
seems an empty noise, or rather, an insult, as implying a state of degradation, which they do not feel and will not acknow- ledge. Hence our Lord's commission, though extending to all, was more particularly to " the meek .•" for it is to them only, who are humbled under their wretched condition, that the offer of a free salvation contains any welcome news.]
2. To impart salvation to all who desired it —
[To " the broken hearted, and the mourners in Zion" he came to "appoint" and to "give" the blessings they desired. He was expected as " the consolation of Israel ;" and, in that character, he particularly appeared. Were any bowed down with " a spirit of heaviness," and " mourning in" dust and " ashes ? " he came to " bind up their broken hearts," and to exhilarate their souls ; that they might be comforted, and become as persons anointed with oil, and arrayed in gayest apparel for some great festivity11. We may conceive the feel- ings of a man who in one instant has been restored, from the lowest degree of servitude and want, to affluence and honour ; but we must experience the blessedness of salvation, before we can form any adequate idea of the joy and gladness which Christ infuses into the contrite and believing soul.]