Such faith may be represented by the eleventh hour laborers who receive as much reward as do those who have labored for many hours. The thief asked in faith, in penitence, in contrition. He asked in earnestness, as if he fully realized that Jesus could save him if He would. And the hope in his voice was mingled with anguish as he realized that if He did not, he would be lost, eternally lost. He cast his helpless, dying soul and body on Jesus Christ (Manuscript 52, 1897).
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13-15 (Matthew 27:42; Mark 15:31). Grief, Fear, and Wonder Mingled—Those strong men were so burdened with grief that they wept as they traveled on. Christ′s pitying heart of love saw here a sorrow which He could relieve. The disciples were reasoning with each other concerning the events of the past few days, and marveling how the fact of Jesus yielding Himself up to a shameful death could be reconciled with His claims as the Son of God.
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One maintained that He could be no pretender, but had been Himself deceived in regard to His mission and His future glory. They both feared that what His enemies had flung in His teeth was too true—“He saved others; himself he cannot save.”Matthew 27:42; Mark 15:31. Yet they wondered how He could be so mistaken in Himself, when He had given them such repeated evidence that He could read the hearts of others. And the strange reports of the women threw them into still greater uncertainty (The Spirit of Prophecy 3:207).
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13-31. Understanding Bible of First Importance—Jesus did not first reveal Himself in His true character to them, and then open the Scriptures to their minds; for He knew that they would be so overjoyed to see Him again, risen from the dead, that their souls would be satisfied. They would not hunger for the sacred truths which He wished to impress indelibly upon their minds, that they might impart them to others, who should in their turn spread the precious knowledge, until thousands of people should receive the light given that day to the despairing disciples as they journeyed to Emmaus.
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He maintained His disguise till He had interpreted the Scriptures, and had led them to an intelligent faith in His life, His character, His mission to earth, and His death and resurrection. He wished the truth to take firm root in their minds, not because it was supported by His personal testimony, but because the typical law, and the prophets of the Old Testament, agreeing with the facts of His life and death, presented unquestionable evidence of that truth. When the object of His labors with the two disciples was gained, He revealed Himself to them, that their joy might be full, and then vanished from their sight (The Signs of the Times, October 6, 1909).
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15, 16. Jesus Smooths Hard Paths—This mighty conqueror of death, who had reached to the very depths of human misery to rescue a lost world, assumed the humble task of walking with the two disciples to Emmaus, to teach and comfort them. Thus He ever identifies Himself with His suffering and perplexed people. In our hardest and most trying paths, lo, Jesus is with us to smooth the way. He is the same Son of man, with the same sympathies and love which He had before He passed through the tomb and ascended to His Father (The Spirit of Prophecy 3:212).
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39 (Acts 1:9-11). Christ Took Humanity With Him—Christ ascended to heaven, bearing a sanctified, holy humanity. He took this humanity with Him into the heavenly courts, and through the eternal ages He will bear it, as the One who has redeemed every human being in the city of God, the One who has pleaded before the Father, “I have graven them upon the palms of my hands.” The palms of His hands bear the marks of the wounds that He received. If we are wounded and bruised, if we meet with difficulties that are hard to manage, let us remember how much Christ suffered for us. Let us sit together with our brethren in heavenly places in Christ. Let us bring heaven’s blessing into our hearts (The Review and Herald, March 9, 1905).
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Jesus took the nature of humanity, in order to reveal to man a pure, unselfish love, to teach us how to love one another.
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As a man Christ ascended to heaven. As a man He is the substitute and surety for humanity. As a man He liveth to make intercession for us. He is preparing a place for all who love Him. As a man He will come again with power and glory, to receive His children. And that which should cause us joy and thanksgiving is, that God “hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.”Acts 17:31. Then we may have the assurance forever that the whole unfallen universe is interested in the grand work Jesus came to our world to accomplish, even the salvation of man (Manuscript 16, 1890).
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1-3 (Proverbs 8:22-27; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:8). The Eternity of Christ—If Christ made all things, He existed before all things. The words spoken in regard to this are so decisive that no one need be left in doubt. Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity. God over all, blessed forevermore.
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The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. He was the surpassing glory of heaven. He was the commander of the heavenly intelligences, and the adoring homage of the angels was received by Him as His right. This was no robbery of God [Proverbs 8:22-27 quoted].
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There are light and glory in the truth that Christ was One with the Father before the foundation of the world was laid. This is the light shining in a dark place, making it resplendent with divine, original glory. This truth, infinitely mysterious in itself, explains other mysterious and otherwise unexplainable truths, while it is enshrined in light unapproachable and incomprehensible (The Review and Herald, April 5, 1906).
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1-3, 14 (Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:6, 8; 2:14-17; see EGW comment on Mark 16:6). Divine-Human Saviour—The apostle would call our attention from ourselves to the Author of our salvation. He presents before us His two natures, divine and human. Here is the description of the divine: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.”Philippians 2:6. He was “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.”Hebrews 1:3.
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Now, of the human: He “was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death.”Philippians 2:7, 8. He voluntarily assumed human nature. It was His own act, and by His own consent. He clothed His divinity with humanity. He was all the while as God, but He did not appear as God. He veiled the demonstrations of Deity, which had commanded the homage, and called forth the admiration, of the universe of God. He was God while upon earth, but He divested Himself of the form of God, and in its stead took the form and fashion of a man. He walked the earth as a man. For our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. He laid aside His glory and His majesty. He was God, but the glories of the form of God He for a while relinquished. Though He walked among men in poverty, scattering His blessings wherever He went, at His word legions of angels would surround their Redeemer, and do Him homage. But He walked the earth unrecognized, unconfessed, with but few exceptions, by His creatures. The atmosphere was polluted with sin and curses, in place of the anthem of praise. His lot was poverty and humiliation. As He passed to and fro upon His mission of mercy to relieve the sick, to lift up the depressed, scarce a solitary voice called Him blessed, and the very greatest of the nation passed Him by with disdain.
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4-10. Glorified in Those Who Believe—In the intercessory prayer of Jesus with His Father, He claimed that He had fulfilled the conditions which made it obligatory upon the Father to fulfill His part of the contract made in heaven, with regard to fallen man. He prayed: “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. [That is, He had wrought out a righteous character on earth as an example for men to follow.] And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”John 17:4, 5. In this prayer He further goes on to state what is comprehended by the work which He has accomplished, and which has given Him all those who believe on His name. He values this recompense so highly that He forgets the anguish it has cost Him to redeem fallen man. He declares Himself glorified in those who believe on Him. The church, in His name, is to carry to glorious perfection the work which He has commenced; and when that church shall be finally ransomed in the Paradise of God, He will look upon the travail of His soul and be satisfied. Through all eternity the ransomed host will be His chief glory (The Spirit of Prophecy 3:260, 261).
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5. Let the Veil Be Removed—[John 17:1-5 quoted.] Christ is not praying for the manifestation of the glory of human nature; for that human nature never had an existence in His pre-existence. He is praying to His Father in regard to a glory possessed in His oneness with God. His prayer is that of a mediator; the favor He entreats in the manifestation of that divine glory which was possessed by Him when He was one with God. “Let the veil be removed”, He says, “and let My glory shine forth—the glory which I had with Thee before the world was” (The Signs of the Times, May 10, 1899).
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5, 24 (Hebrews 1:6; 1 John 2:1; see EGW comment on John 20:16, 17; Hebrews 3:1-3). Public Reinstatement of Christ in Heaven—The prayer of Christ was answered. He was glorified with the glory which He had with His Father before the world was. But amid this glory, Christ does not lose sight of His toiling, struggling ones upon earth. He has a request to make of His Father. He waves back the heavenly host until He is in the direct presence of Jehovah, and then He presents His petition in behalf of His chosen ones.
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“Father,” He says, “I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me, where I am.”John 17:24. And then the Father declares, “Let all the angels of God worship him.”Hebrews 1:6. The heavenly host prostrate themselves before Him, and raise their song of triumph and joy. Glory encircles the King of heaven, and was beheld by all the heavenly intelligences. No words can describe the scene which took place as the Son of God was publicly reinstated in the place of honor and glory which He voluntarily left when He became a man.
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And today Christ, glorified, and yet our brother, is our Advocate in the courts of heaven (The Signs of the Times, May 10, 1899).
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6. A Great Honor—What a glorious commendation—“They have kept thy word.”John 17:6. To have these words said of us would be a great honor. But too often self comes in; self strives for the mastery (Manuscript 52, 1904).
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17. Self-satisfaction Is Not Sanctification—“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”John 17:17. A pleasant, self-satisfied feeling is not an evidence of sanctification. A faithful record is kept of all the acts of the children of men. Nothing can be concealed from the eye of the High and Holy One, who inhabiteth eternity. Some make Christ ashamed by their course of devising, planning, scheming. God does not approve of their conduct; for the Lord Jesus is not honored by their spirit and their works. They forget the words of the apostle: “We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men”(1 Corinthians 4:9) (Manuscript 159, 1903).
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Adam′s Test Brought to All—The law of God is the one great standard that will measure every man′s character in the day of God. The prayer of Christ was, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”John 17:17. Therefore the sanctification of the Spirit of God upon the heart, leads men to walk in the way of God′s commandments. The very test that God brought upon Adam in Eden, will be brought upon every member of the human family. Obedience to God was required of Adam, and we stand in the same position that he did to have a second trial, to see whether we will listen to the voice of Satan and disobey God, or to the Word of God and obey (The Review and Herald, June 10, 1890).
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