01;1t Satan. When reviled as n. blnRphemer, ho simply vindicated himself by pointing to his worke. \Vhen ho was brought before the Sanhedrin on charo-es which were clearly 0 unfounded and prompted by malice, ho was silent under the:n; and it w,1s only when he wn.s appealed to by oath thn.t he lifted his eyes to his judges, an,l saiu "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right band of power, an<l co;Jin"' in the clouds of heaven." \Vhen, again, he was brought before Pilate on a charge or" sedition which his judge knew to be unfounded and malicious, he maintained the same silent demeanour; and it was only when he was appealed to that he fearlessly asserted his claim of Kinii;sbip. He silently snbmllted to the rudest mockings, to the most crnel scourgings. He silently carried hi~ cross, and when, nailed to it, he looked round on Li~ murderers, the prayer which rose to his lips was," Father, forgive them; for they kno1v not what they do." He was able to endure all this unjust treatment without being burrit·d into a wrong; word, without any disturbing influence on hi~ mind, because he committed himse1f to him that y"udgeth righteously, i.e. in the consciousness of bis rectitude be left himself and all his interests to him whose judgment was different from and of a higher order than the juclgment of the Sanhedrin anu the jurlgment of the Roman governor. And what a powerful argument (how touching, too, to be bronght in for the sake of the slaves!) to induce them to bear patiently all their wrongs shich, however great, were small in comparison with the wrongs which wtre heaped on Christ! 2. Their vicarious character. (1) Punishment for our sins. "'Who his own self bare our sins in bis body upon the tree." 'l'he language is still suggested by Is:\, !iii. "Tree" is the word which Peter uses in his s~rmons for the crnss. '!'he simple statement here is that Christ ca1Tied the burden of sin~. An expansion of it is that he carried the burden of sins to whom they did not belong. A further cxpamion of it is thac he carried the burden of .our sins in his body, i.e. on the gronn,i of h11man naturn iu its completeness (body as well as soul). The statement fully expanded is tho t he carried the burden of our sins in bis body on to the tree, i.e. to the place where ci.e,1th was inOictecl on him for them. He carried the burden of the Divine displeasure against our sins so as to carry them away into forgetfulness. (2) Salvation intended by them. "That we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness." This death unto sin~ is death not merely unto their condemnation, but unto their power. The life ui.t,J righteousness is life not merely in the possession of the favour of God, but in the possession of power to do the will of God. In the state in which Christ founcl us it was natural for us to seek to revenge ourselves for injuries. In the state which Christ intends for us it becomes natural for us to be placable, to be silent under injuries, auu to seek by our gentleness to overcome the evil that is manifested agaiust us. And that is part, only part, of tho Divine life which Christ died to sec11re for us. (3) Salvation experienced through them. (a) Restorcition to health. "By whose stripes )tl were healed." 'l'ha language is from Isa. liii. 5. Having changed to " we" i11 the previous parts of this verse, he now returns to" ye." It is implied that in their former state they were siclc. "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From tlie sole of the foot ever. unto the bead, there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointn,ent." There was an irregular action of their powers, with lauguor, foveri~h- ness, loss of appetite, and other distressing symptoms. But the time camo when heal- ing was experienced, giving the powers their regular action and bringing bad: tone, endurance, keenness, and all healthful symptoms. The remarkable thiug is that tlw healin3 is ascribed to the Saviour's st1·ipe.~. The word is literally weal (i11 the singular number), i.e. the mark of a stripe. It is a word with which slaves were familiar, as they were also with buffeting formerly use,l (to which, as well as to stripes, ( hri,t w.is 1n1bjectcd). Weal is taken here as the symbol of Christ's atoning death; aml the efaves ar.i told, iu a way that was fitted to go home to them iu the remernbrauco of bitter experiences, that from the mark of tho lash on our Lord healing hau gone furth on them. (b) Return to tltefvld. "For yo were going astrny like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." The language is based on Isa. !iii. G, "All we like sheep bnvo gone astray," the metaphor being nbruptly change,1, as in Isaiah. In their former state they were like sheep without any ouo to care for them, or keep his eye on them. Sheep, left to themselves, wander from the fol,\,- i:::iu we, M't to ourselves, wander fruiu GoJ. who is our Home, our Fold, where we have suelter 12, THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PE'l'Ell. [ou. m.1-22,
and 11bundnnc~. They were now in the happy condition of having a Sl1epl1erd and Bi~<hop for then sou.ls. The words refer to Christ. 'l'he first points rather to the actual l,estownl of C11re; the second points rather to observation thnt leads to care bcin~ bestowed. Christ leads us to rich thoughts; and he does not lead us to rich thoughts without keenly observing our condition. If we would have this Shepherd and Bishop for our souls, we must, like those whom Peter addresses, be turned toward him. Tho words would seem to indicate the action that i1.1 needed on our part. We have nothing to do but to turn ourselves toward Christ.. We are to turn ourselves from o\ll' sins which have been atoned for, and no longer constitute a hindrance; and we are to turn ourselves toward Christ to have his affection in the form of care aud oversioht, with which our souls can lack uothing.-R. 1", b