Jeremiah 23:5, 6 Behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper… It is in his kingly character that the uprising of the Messiah is here predicted. The shepherds that destroyed and scattered the flock of God were the corrupt rulers of the line of David. God was visiting upon them one after another "the evil of their doings;" and after them he would raise up men of a nobler sort - men like Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Maccabees, who should be true leaders and commanders of the people (ver. 4). But these, again, would but prepare the way for One far greater. Beyond all these changes the eye of the prophet is fixed on the time when out of the seemingly withered root of David a sapling shall arise, "the righteous Branch;" One who shall perfectly realize the Divine idea of "a ruler of men" (2 Samuel 23:3, 4) rather King who shall "reign in righteousness," and of the "increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end" (Isaiah 9:6, 7; Isaiah 11:1-6; Isaiah 32:1; Zechariah 9:9). Towards him the hopes of loyal, hearts, through, every previous age reached forth in him the "desire of all nations finds its glorious fulfillment. "And this is the name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness." In unfolding the full significance of this name, consider (1) the personal righteousness of Christ, (2) the way in which that righteousness becomes ours. I. HIS PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. He is emphatically "Jesus Christ the Righteous," the one only absolutely righteous being ever born into the world. Our human nature, the beauty and harmony of which, in the person of Adam, the father of oar race, the touch of moral evil had defaced and destroyed, appeared again in him, the "second Adam," in all its sinless, faultless perfection, absolutely free from the taint of evil. And this not as a development, but as a new Divine revelation; not as the consummate product of moral forces inherent in our nature, but as a supernatural phenomenon, a miracle, in the sphere of man's moral life. In him the "righteousness of God" appeared, embodied and illustrated in human form. Our faith in this historic fact rests on different grounds. 1. The angelic testimony (Luke 1:35). 2. The direct testimony of the Father (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5). 3. His declarations respecting himself (John 8:29, 46; John 14, 30; 15:10; 17:4). 4. The witness of his enemies (Judas, Herod, Pilate and his wife, the Roman centurion). 5. The apostolic testimony (Acts 3:14; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 2:1; 1 John 3:5). 6. The profound impression left on our spirits by a careful study of the Gospel records. The absolute sinlessness of Jesus is one of the foundation stones in the fabric of Christian doctrine, and to doubt or deny it is to undermine and destroy the whole. But his righteousness means more than faultless personal character. It includes the positive fulfillment of the Father's purposes and of the work the Father had given him to do. "I have glorified thee on the earth," etc. (John 17:4). "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering," etc. (Hebrews 10:5-10). His was a righteousness wrought out through all the patient obedience of a blameless life, consummated in the vicarious shame and sorrow of the cross. As the sunbeam receives no contamination from the foulest thing on which it may chance to fall, so did he pass triumphantly through all the evil of the world and go back to the bosom of the Father with a purity as unsullied as that in which he came. "Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4). II. HOW HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS BECOMES OURS. 1. As the ground of our forgiveness. Faith in him as our righteous "Advocate with the Father" delivers us from condemnation. We believe in no "transference of a moral quality." As a man's sins are his own and not another's, so whatever of virtue there may be in him belongs to himself alone. But is it incredible that God should deal with sinful men in the way of mercy because of the perfect righteousness of "the man Christ Jesus?" "He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). There is an instinctive witness in our souls to the fact that if "grace reigns" towards us it must be through righteousness. This is God's answer to that instruct: "By the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life" (Romans 5:18). 2. As the inspiring cause of our personal sanctification. The gospel is God's method of making men righteous, not a scheme by virtue of which he reckons them to be so when they are not. Faith in Christ's mediatorial work as the ground of forgiveness draws the soul irresistibly into living sympathy with himself. It is impossible to dwell in fellowship with him without sharing his spirit and becoming "righteous even as he is righteous." Not more surely does the prepared surface receive the picture the sun's rays paint upon it, than does the reverent, trustful, loving soul reflect his image. "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass," etc. (2 Corinthians 3:18). Thus does his righteousness become ours. 3. As the rectifying power in the general life of the world. "A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of his kingdom," and wherever he reigns the discords of the world are resolved into a blessed harmony. He is the Creator of "the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." - W. Parallel Verses KJV: Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. |
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