sinner's !>.eart into repentance. Rather, it was demanded by the perfection.s and charac- ter of God himself. The sufferings of Christ " became" God's justice, which could not connive at our guilt; bis truth, which necessitated the infliction of the threatened punishment ; his holiness, which could have no pleasure in the friendship of degraded sinners; his mercy, which yearned for our salvation. Not only so, but the sufferings of Christ, in rendering the salvation of sinners consistent with God's character, have at the same time been the means of gloriously illustrating the Divine attributes, of reveal- ing them in their beautiful harmony (Ps. lxxxv. 10, 11), and thus of covcrin"' 0 them with new splendour to the view of an admiring universe. II. THAT BE MIGHT OBTAIN ms OWN GLORY AS MEDIATOR. Christ, " the Author of our salvation," was "made perfect through sufferings;" i.e. it was through his "obe- dience unto death" that he became fully qualified for his work as Saviour, and was exalted to heaven for its accomplishment. He must needs suffer for the honour of God and for the good of man, before he could put on the lustrous robes of his mediatorial majesty. His glory is the recompense which his Father has given him for his sufferings. Only after ma.king satisfaction on the cross for hnman sin could Jesus ascend to that immeasurable height of supreme authority upon which, as the God-Man, he now sit~ enthroned. Ill THAT BE MIGHT ACCOMPLISH THE GLORY OF GoD's REDEEMED CHILDREN. It was the purpose of God to "bring many sons unto glory." He desired to raise our fallen humanity from the dust, and crown it anew "with glory and honour." But this couhl only be effected through Christ as the" Author of salvation." It is through him alone that a sinner, estranged from God, can be made spiritually a "son" of God, and exchange his career of guilt and enmity for that life of grace which shall at length be consummated in glory. The sufferings of Christ were necessary in order to the pacifica- tion of the human conscience, the restoration of man's sonship, and the recovery of his eternal inheritance. And they shall be effectual for these ends. Christ, God's Servant, "shall justify many ; " he shall bring to glory such multitudes of all nations, au,l kindreds, and peoples, and tongnes, as to entitle him to be called with fullest emphasis the Saviour of men and the Redeemer of the world.
Vers. 11-18.--Jesus our Brother. Here the writer expands the statement of ver. 10, and confirms it by suitable arguments. This closing parograph of the first section of the Epistle emphasizes the fact that Jesus, the Son of God o.nd the King of angels (eh. L), is also as Mediator our brother Man. I. 'l'BE BBOTBERHOOD OF CHRIST. First, stated abstractly (ver. 11). Next, illustrated from Old Testament Scripture (vers. 12, 13), the Messianic passages quotetl being Ps. xxii. 22; Ps. xviii. 2; Isa. viii. 18. Then, verified from the facts antl events of the Saviour's earthly life (vers. 14-18). This endellring brotherhood is: 1. A b,-otherhood of nature. "All of one 11 (ver. 11); of one nature, of one race, of one Father. He "partook of flesh and blood" (ver. 14); i.e. he became man. He took his place as one of "tho children" by being born. He had n human body, subject, like ours, to pleasure and pain, to hunger and thirst, to suffering and deoth. And he had a human soul, which thought and felt, loved nnd hated, was joyful and sad, and which acknowledged its dependence upon the Fntber of spirits. 2. A brotherhood of condition. "In like manner 11 (ver. 14); i.e. in a manner almost similor. Jesus had no nimbus round his head, such as the painters give him. God sent him "in the like- ness of sinful flesh;" for, though his human nature was perfectly pure, it was exposed to those infirmities and sufferings which in all other sons of Adam result from sin. 3. A brotherhood of experience. "It behoved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren" (ver. 17). So he actually passed through a complete course of pain and trial and temptation, which ended only with his death. He travelled over the entire range, and fathomed all the depths, of human sufferin"', " He himself bath suffered, being tempted" (ver. 18). He went through every hu~an experience of poverty, toil, pain, disappointment, insult, persecution; through every sorrow which arises in a pure mind from constant contact with sinners; and through every form of Sataoio temptation. 4 . .A brotherhood of love. "Not of angels doth he take hold 11 (ver. 16), to help and save them: then what a wonder of grace it is that he became the Redeemer of morte.J man I It WIIB from love to us that he "partook " so readily of " flesh and 56 THE EPlS'l'tE '1:0 'l'HE H~BREW8. [t:H. II, 1-18.