of justice? What would become of his truth and faithfulness? How could " mercy and truth meet together, and righteous- ness and peace kiss each other ? " The perfections of God would be set at variance, and some would triumph at the ex- pense of others : but this would be directly contrary to the ends of Christ's mission : and therefore our Divine Surety must suffer death, in order to answer the ends for which he became incarnate.]
With the death of Christ is connected —
II. The necessity of his exaltation to glory —
The two cannot be separated : there was a neces- sity that the latter should take place,
1. To complete his work —
[The work of the high-priest was not finished, when he had shed the blood of his sacrifice : he must carry that blood within the vail, and sprinkle it upon, and before, the mercy- seat : and he must then burn incense before the mercy-seat : nor, till this was accomplished, could he come out to bless the people. Thus must our great High-Priest not only offer him- self a Sacrifice, but " enter into heaven with his own blood e," and, together with that, present also the incense of his own intercession. If he should not do this, he would leave his work unfinished, and consequently of no avail. But how should he do this, if he should not " enter into his glory ?" Nor is it his priestly office only that would be made void ; his prophetic and kingly offices also would be incomplete : he teaches men by his Spirit; but "the Holy Ghost would not have been given, if Jesus had not been glorified f:" it was necessary that he should go into heaven, that he might send the Spirit down from thence g. Nor could he exercise his kingly government unless he were enthroned on high, and invested with power to subdue all things unto himself11. Hence, then, his exaltation was as necessary to the completion of his work, as his humiliation was to its commencement.]
2. To give to his people a solid ground of hope —
[If our surety, who had been carried to prison for our debt, were kept immured in it, we should have reason to fear that he was unable to fulfil his engagements : but if we saw him liberated, we should conclude that he had fully discharged our debt. Thus if our blessed Lord had never been exalted to heaven to enjoy " his glory," which he possessed previous
e Heb. ix. 12, 24. f John vii. 39. e John xvi. 7.
h Phil. ii. 9 — 11. "God exalted Him, that every knee should bow," &c.