Once more, see Him at the grave of Lazarus. (John xi.) He groans and weeps, and those groans and tears issue from the profound depths of a perfect manhood--from that perfect human heart which felt, as no other heart could feel, what it was to stand in the midst of a scene in which sin had produced such terrible fruits. But then, as the Resurrection and the Life, as the One who held in His omnipotent grasp "the keys of hell and of death," He cries, "Lazarus, come forth!" and death and the grave, responsive to His authoritative voice, throw open their massy doors and let go their captive.
My reader's mind will easily recur to other scenes, in the gospels, illustrative of the beautiful combination of the wire of gold with "the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine-twined linen;" that is to say, the union of the Godhead with the manhood, in the mysterious Person of the Son of God. There is nothing new in the thought; it has often been noticed by those who have studied, with any amount of care, the Scriptures of the Old Testament.
It is, however, always edifying to have the blessed Lord Jesus introduced to our thoughts as "very God and very man." The Holy Ghost has, with "cunning workmanship," wrought the two together and presented them to the renewed mind of the believer to be enjoyed and admired. May we have hearts to appreciate such teaching!
Let us now, ere we close this section, look for a moment at chapter xxix.
It has been already remarked that Aaron and his sons represent Christ and the Church, but in the opening verses of this chapter Aaron gets the precedency.--"And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water." The washing of water rendered Aaron typically what Christ is intrinsically--holy. The Church is holy in virtue of her being linked with Christ in resurrection life. He is the perfect definition of what she is before God. The ceremonial act of washing with water expresses the action of the Word of God. (See Eph. v. 26.)
"Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon _his_ head, and anoint _him_." (Ver. 7.) Here we have the Spirit; but let it be noted that Aaron was anointed _before the blood was shed_, because he stands before us as the type of Christ, who, in virtue of what He was in His own Person, was anointed with the Holy Ghost, long before the work of the cross was accomplished. The sons of Aaron, on the other hand, were not anointed until after the blood was shed.--"Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.[14] And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of _the anointing oil_, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him." (Ver. 20, 21.) As regards the Church, the blood of the cross lies at the foundation of every thing. She could not be anointed with the Holy Ghost until her risen Head had gone into heaven, and laid upon the throne of the divine Majesty the record of His accomplished sacrifice. "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." (Acts ii. 32, 33. Comp. also John vii. 39; Acts xix. 1-6.) From the days of Abel downward, souls had been regenerated, influenced, acted upon, and qualified for office by the Holy Ghost; but the Church could not be anointed with the Holy Ghost until her victorious Lord had entered heaven and received, on her behalf, the promise of the Father. The truth of this doctrine is taught, in the most direct and absolute manner, throughout the New Testament; and its strict integrity is maintained, in the type before us, by the obvious fact that though Aaron was anointed before the blood was shed (ver. 7.), yet his sons were not, and could not be, anointed till after (ver. 21.).
[14] The ear, the hand, and the foot, are all consecrated to God in the power of accomplished atonement, and by the energy of the Holy Ghost.