Mediation Mediator For mediation in paganism and in the OT See W. F. Adeney’s art. [Note: rt. article.] in HDB [Note: DB Hastings’ Dict. of the Bible (5 vols.).] . For mediation in the Gospels See L. Pullan’s art. [Note: rt. article.] in DCG [Note: CG Dict. of Christ and the Gospels.] . While no formal discussion of these matters occurs here, one cannot ignore the importance of a full knowledge of the OT teaching and the possible influence of the philosophy and religion of the GrAEco-Roman world upon the minds of the apostolic teachers of Christianity. It is easy to go to extremes in either direction. but the study of comparative religion does not dim the glory of Christ. The modern Christian rather claims that all the ‘true light that lighteth every man’ comes from Christ (John 1:9). One can welcome all truth that may be taken up into Christianity (cf. C. Clemen, Primitive Christianity and its Non-Jewish Sources, 1912; H. A. A. Kennedy, St. Paul and the Mystery-Religions, 1913). It is hardly likely, however, that Jesus Himself felt the influence of this non-Jewish teaching. His conception of His own sacrificial death finds its roots in the OT, and appears in the oldest form of the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 10:45, Matthew 20:28; See also Mark 10:38, Matthew 26:28). It may be said at once that the central place here given to the atoning death of Christ for the sins of men, emphasized also in the Fourth Gospel (1:29, 3:16, 12:32, etc.), is just that conception of the relative value of the Cross in the mediatorial work of Christ found in Acts and the rest of the NT. It is embedded in the primitive Christian tradition too deeply to be a mere theological interpretation of the apostles, read back into the thought of Christ (See J. Denney, The Death of Christ, 1902, and Jesus and the Gospel 4, 1913, where the writer powerfully argues that Christianity is justified in the mind of Christ). Mediation lies at the heart of all religion which assumes human sin and a righteous God who will forgive the sinner. The consciousness of sin demands a mediator to plead the cause of man with God; hence the existence of the priesthood in all religions worthy of the name. Paganism has its ‘redeemer gods,’ but Christianity is rooted in the OT. The head of the family was first the priest, then the patriarch of the tribe. Then the Aaronic priesthood, and in particular the high priest, exemplified the mediatorial office. There was also prophetic and angelic mediation (Acts 7:53, Galatians 3:19). Mediation took the form of intercession, of covenant, or of sacrifice. Christ sums up the whole mediatorial office as prophet, priest, and sacrifice. The term ‘mediator’ (μεσίτης) or ‘middleman’ occurs once of Moses (Galatians 3:19 f.) as the mediator between God and the people in the giving of the Law. The other instances all refer to Christ, ‘the one mediator between God and man’ (1 Timothy 2:5), ‘the mediator of a better covenant’ (Hebrews 8:6), ‘the mediator of a new (καιν ῆ ς) covenant’ (9:15; νέας in 12:24). In Hebrews 6:17 God ‘interposed with an oath’ (ἐ μεσίτευσεν ὅ ρκ ῳ; here the notion of ‘middleman’ recedes). but the notion of mediation is far more common in the NT than the use of the word μεσίτης would imply. It is indeed regulative of the thought of the entire NT, as can be easily seen.
1. The Acts. -It is the living Christ, active in leading the disciples (Acts 1:1 f.), who meets us in the Acts. He was received up (v. 2), but He will come again (v. 11), and meanwhile His Name has power (3:6). Jesus is Lord (κύριος, 1:6, 21), and is addressed in prayer (1:24, 7:59) after the Ascension. Peter on the Day of Pentecost boldly interprets Jesus as the Messiah (2:31) of whose resurrection from the dead they were all witnesses (v. 32). He is at (or by) the right hand of the Father, and is actively engaged in His Messianic work, of which the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is one evidence (v. 33). The death of Jesus is not an obstacle to His Messiahship. Peter does not here formulate a doctrine of the Atonement nor specifically mention the mediatorial work of Jesus, but he calls upon all the house of Israel to understand ‘that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified’ (v. 36). On the strength of the claim that Jesus is both Lord and Messiah as shown by His resurrection, Peter urges repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. This address at Pentecost, as reported by Luke, is the first formal interpretation on the part of the disciples of the significance of the work of Christ. It is too early for the full perspective to be drawn, but at heart the message is the same as we find in the later years. Jesus Christ is central in Christianity. The place of the Cross is recognized, though not fully expounded. The Lordship of Jesus the Messiah is accented as the ground for repentance. Already the reproach of the Cross was felt, and Peter justifies the suffering of Christ as part of God’s purpose as shown in the prophets (3:18), though not excusing the sin of Christ’s murderers (v. 13). Peter also calls Jesus God’s ‘servant Jesus’ (v. 13), ‘the Holy and Righteous One’ (v. 14), ‘the Prince of life’ (v. 15), a Prophet like unto Moses (v. 22), the fulfilment of the covenant promise to Abraham for the blessing of all the families of earth (v. 25). The nearest statement to the later interpretation of redemption on the basis of the death of Christ comes in v. 18ff., where he says, ‘Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out.’ Here ‘therefore’ points back to v. 18, which presents the necessity of the sufferings of Christ, in particular His death on the cross. The clearness of Peter’s conception of the power of the living Christ appears in 4:10-12, where he claims that the impotent man is made whole in the name of Jesus, and that Jesus is the Stone, rejected by the Jewish builders, but made the Head of the Corner by God in His Kingdom and the only hope of salvation for men everywhere (cf. 1 P 2:4-8). Here the mediatorial work of Christ comes out sharply, and it is astonishing to note Peter’s courageous boldness before the Sanhedrin. There is thus no doubt as to the immediate interpretation of the Risen Christ as Lord and Saviour from sin. His death was not of a piece with that of Stephen and James, who died as martyrs. The death of Christ was part of God’s foreseen plan (2:23), was predicted by the OT prophets (3:18), was the basis of repentance and forgiveness of sin (v. 19), and, with His resurrection, proved Him to be the sole hope of salvation (4:10-12).
The absence of the later technical terminology in these early addresses is proof of the substantial correctness of Luke’s report. The reference to Isaiah 53 (‘Servant Jesus’) is natural, and has the essence of Christ’s mediation, though the idea is not worked out. In his address to the household of Cornelius Peter pointedly says: ‘That through his name every one that believeth on him shall receive remission of sins’ (Acts 10:43). He is also ‘the Judge of quick and dead’ (v. 42). Peter also says that the Jews ‘shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in like manner as’ Gentiles (15:11). Stephen called Jesus ‘the Righteous One’ (7:52), and died saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’ (v. 59). Immediately on his conversion Saul ‘proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son of God’ (9:20). At Antioch in Pisidia St. Paul announces the heart of his message about Jesus: ‘Through this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins: and by him every one that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses’ (13:38f.). From this position St. Paul never swerved. His collision with the Judaizers (Acts 15) turned on the sufficiency of the work of Christ to save, apart from the Jewish ceremonialism. To the Philippian jailer he preached salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus (16:30f.). On the Areopagus he set forth the Risen Jesus as the Judge of the world, and urged repentance for that reason (17:30f.). At Ephesus he interpreted the preaching of John the Baptist as urging faith in Jesus as the hope of salvation (19:4). The elders of Ephesus he urged ‘to feed the church of God’ (correct text), ‘which he purchased with his own blood’ (20:28), where at once the deity of Jesus is asserted and also the atoning nature of His death. Even Festus understood that St. Paul affirmed Jesus to be alive (25:19). To the Jews in Rome St. Paul spoke ‘concerning Jesus’ (28:23) and called his message ‘this salvation of God’ (v. 28), which the Gentiles at least will hear. The conception of Jesus as Mediator thus runs all through the Acts from the very beginning.
2. The Pauline Epistles
(a) The First Group (1 and 2 Thess.).-At bottom the same conception of Christ appears here as in the later Epistles. The work of Christ comes out incidentally, but very clearly: ‘For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him’ (1 Thessalonians 5:9 f.). St. Paul’s whole gospel of grace is here set forth though in somewhat general terms-το ῦ ἀ ποθανόντος περ ὶ ἡ μ ῶ ν, though WH [Note: H Westcott-Hort’s Greek Testament.] give ὑ πέρ in the margin. These two prepositions (περί and ὑ πέρ) differ in etymology (‘around’ and ‘over’), but in the Koine are sometimes used quite in the same resultant sense (Moulton, Grammar of NT Greek, vol. i., ‘Prolegomena,’ 1908, p. 105). There is no getting away from the idea that the death of Christ lies at the root of the obtaining of salvation on our part, though St. Paul does not here explain the relation of Christ’s mediatorial work to our redemption. Another general phrase appears in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 : ‘Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come,’ τ ὸ ν ῥ υόμενον ἡ μ ᾶ ς ἐ κ, κτλ. Here the historical Jesus is pictured as the present deliverer from the wrath-a complete deliverance (ἐ κ). In 2 Thessalonians 2:14 St. Paul says that we realize God’s purpose ‘through our gospel.’ He does not, of course, mean to put mere creed in the place of Christ. Already we find the mystic term ‘in Christ’ (1 Thessalonians 4:16). No objective work on the part of Christ or man, no ordinance and no creed, can take the place of vital union with God in Christ, ‘in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth’ (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
(b) The Second Group (1 and 2 Cor., Gal., Rom.).-We may still follow Lightfoot’s grouping in spite of the doubt about the date of Galatians. Here the material is very rich. In 1 Corinthians 1:30 St. Paul sums up his idea of the mediation of Christ: ‘But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.’ Thus Christ is shown to be the wisdom of God. St. Paul magnifies ‘the cross of Christ’ (v. 17). His message is ‘the word of the cross’ (v. 18). ‘We preach Christ crucified’ (v. 23). ‘For I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified’ (2:2). The death of Christ occupies the central place in St. Paul’s message about salvation. He is aware that the Jews find it a stumbling-block and the Greeks foolishness, but he claims that it is ‘God’s wisdom in a mystery’ (v. 7), little as the philosophers supposed it to be true. The blood of Christ makes an appeal for holy living. He is our passover sacrifice (5:7), in His name we were washed and justified (6:11), we were bought with a price (6:20, 7:23), and owe a life of holiness to Christ. It is thus no mere mechanical notion with St. Paul, but a vital union with Christ on the basis of His atoning death on the cross. Christ died ‘for the sake of’ (διά) the weak brother, who for that reason deserves consideration (8:11). His death for man has glorified humanity. This intimate bond between the disciple and his Lord, the blood-bond, is set forth by the ordinances of baptism and communion in a far wider sense than was contemplated by the ‘mystery-religions’ and their ‘redeemer-gods’ (1 Corinthians 10:2 ff., 1 Corinthians 10:16-22,11:1 Corinthians 10:24-26). Perhaps by πνευματικόν in 10:3f. St. Paul means ‘supernatural’ (Denney, Death of Christ, p. 134 f.), but he does not teach that the ordinances impart the new life in Christ. They are symbols of the work of Christ made effective in the soul by the Holy Spirit, not the means for procuring the redemptive grace. Jesus Christ, not baptism and not the Lord’s Supper, is the Mediator. St. Paul expressly places baptism on a lower plane than the gospel which he preached (1:15-17), which he could not have done if it had per se saving efficacy or was the means of obtaining the benefit of Christ’s mediatorial work. He interprets the Supper as symbolic, picturing ‘the Lord’s death till he come’ (11:26), which ye thereby ‘proclaim’ (καταγγέλλετε). The ordinances are thus preachers of the death of Christ for sinners and of the new life in Christ. The cup proclaims ‘the new covenant in my blood,’ as St. Paul quotes from Jesus (v. 25), and is to be drunk ‘in remembrance of me.’ The worthy celebration of the ordinance consists in discerning the body of Christ (v. 29) and not making a mere meal of the emblems. All believers are members of the mystical body of Christ the Head (12:12ff.). St. Paul’s gospel, in short, has as its first word that ‘Christ died for sins’ (15:3). The preposition is ὑ πέρ (‘over,’ ‘on behalf of’). This death would have been in vain had He not risen from the dead (v. 17). but the resurrection of Christ is guarantee of His power to save, so that ‘in Christ shall all be made alive’ (v. 22). So then t he Christian, the one in Christ (ὁ ἐ ν Χριστ ῷ), is victorious over sin and death ‘through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (v. 57).
In 2 Cor. St. Paul touches the very heart of his message about salvation in Christ. The challenge of the Judaizing sacramentalism called forth this passionate emphasis on the sufficiency of the redemptive and reconciling work of Christ. ‘The sufferings of Christ abound unto us,’ περισσεύει τ ὰ παθήματα το ῦ Χριστο ῦ ε ἰ ς ἡ μ ᾶ ς (1:5). Here we have the not ion of example rather than of redemption. St. Paul suffers as Jesus did. So as to 4:10, ‘always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus. His ‘sufferings are killing him as they killed his Master’ (Denney, Death of Christ, p. 139). See also 4:8. The face of Jesus Christ gives the knowledge of God’s glory. but the locus classicus Isaiah 5:14-21, where the mediatorial work of Christ receives formal discussion. St. Paul is willing to be considered ‘beside’ himself (v. 13) in this matter (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23). The lo ve which Christ has for St. Paul keeps him in love (συνέχει), holds him intact whatever men think of him. Knowing the love of Christ, he deliberately interprets (κρίνω) His death: ‘One died for all, therefore all died,’ ὅ τι ε ἶ ς ὑ π ὲ ρ πάντων ἀ πέθανεν· ἄ ρα ο ἱ πάντες ἀ πέθανον (5:14). We need not stop to show that ὑ πέρ can be used where the notion of substitution is present. It is common enough in the ostraca and papyri of the Koine (Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, Eng. tr. [Note: r. translated, translation.], 1911, p. 153). but See also John 11:50, where ε ἷ ς ἄ νθριο π ος ἀ ποθάν ῃ ὑ π ὲ ρ το ῦ λαο ῦ is explained by κα ἱ μ ὴ ὅ λον τ ὸ ἔ θνος ἀ πόληται. See further Galatians 3:13, to be discussed later. Suffice it to say that in 2 Corinthians 5:14 the ἄ ρα clause, though parenthetical, clearly means that ο ἱ πάντες died in the death of Christ and do not have to die in that sense again. Jesus therefore died in their stead. It is not here contended that this notion exhausts the meaning of the death of Christ. St. Pa ul himself speaks of the mystic crucifixion with Christ (Galatians 2:20). No theory can set forth the wealth of meaning in the death of Christ, but St. Paul here places the notion of substitution to the fore. Love prompted this wonderful gift. God carries on the work of reconciliation (καταλλαγή). This is done ‘through Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:18) and ‘in Christ’ (v. 19). God offers Christ to the world as supreme proof of His love and as the ground of reconciliation. It is all ‘of God’ (v. 18), and He even made Christ to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ (v. 21). No sin actually touched Christ, but He bore our sins as the sacrifice for sin that we might go free. So then St. Paul bears the message of reconciliation to men as the ambassador of Christ. All that he has said elsewhere is in accord with this central passage. See also 8:9, where the voluntary poverty of Christ in place of His pre-existent s tate of riches in heaven was for our sakes (διά), that we ‘through his poverty (τ ῇ πτωχεί ᾳ, instrumental case) might become rich.’ Here the whole earthly life of Christ is brought into view, and not merely His death, as constituting the mediatorial work of the Saviour. Hence 9:15, where Jesus is the unspeakable gift, ἐ π ὶ τ ῇ ἀ νεκδιηγήτ ῳ α ὐ το ῦ δωρέ ᾳ. St. Paul is positive about his conception of Jesus-so much so that he calls the Jesus of the Judaizers ‘another Jesus,’ ἄ λλον Ἰ ησο ῦ ν, and that gospel ‘a different gospel,’ ε ὐ αγγέλιον ἕ τερον (11:4). Only one historic Jesus in the sense of St. Paul is possible, so that he uses ἄ λλον, not ἕ τερον.
The aim of Galatians is to show that ‘all Christianity is contained in the Cross; the Cross is the generative principle of everything Christian in the life of man’ (Denney, Death of Christ, p. 152). The mediatorial work of Christ is set over against the legalistic bondage of the Judaizing gospel which St. Paul fiercely denounces as not ‘another’ (ἄ λλο) gospel, but a ‘differen t’ (ἕ τερον) gospel (1:7), in reality a complete departure from the grace of God in Christ (5:4). In 1:3f. St. Paul describes ‘our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil world.’ Here we have ὑ πέρ in the text and περί in the margin of WH [Note: H Westcott-Hort’s Greek Testament.] ’s text before τ ῶ ν ἁ μαρτι ῶ ν. Justification before God is obtained by faith in Jesus Christ, not by works of the Law (2:16). This is the truth of the gospel, the l iberty in Christ as opposed to the bondage of the Law (vv. 3-5, 14f.), the weak and beggarly rudiments of the world (4:3, 9ff.). The life of faith which St. Paul now lives in Christ, ‘who loved and gave himself up for me’ (ὑ π ὲ ρ ἐ μο ῦ), means that Christ has charge of his life, and St. Paul is in a mystic sense crucified with Christ (2:20). Christ did an objective work for St. Paul, but it has become effective through the subjective surrender to Christ, even identification with Him. A notable passage Isaiah 3:13, ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.’ The meaning is plain enough. He is speaking not simply for Jews, but for all. The curse that came upon Christ is death. by Christ’s death He ‘brought us out from under (ἐ ξηγόρασεν ἐ κ) the curse of the law.’ We escape spiritual death because Christ received in Himself the curse of the law for sin, though He Himself had no sin. The prepositions give the same picture. Those who rely on the law are ‘under (ὑ πό) a curse.’ Christ steps ‘under’ that curse and ‘over’ (ὑ πέρ) us. Thus we are rescued ‘out from under’ (ἐ κ) the curse and go free. That is the inevitable teaching of St. Paul in this passage. It presents clearly the notion of substitution. It may be remarked that ἀ ντί does not it self mean ‘instead’ any more than ὑ πέρ does; that is a secondary notion with both prepositions. In the Koine it is quite common with ὑ πέρ and is not unknown in the older Greek. In Christ Jesus therefore the blessing of Abraham comes upon the Gentiles (3:14). Christ is the seed promised to Abraham long before the Law (vv. 16-19). Christ is the schoolmaster, while the Law was merely the pAEdagogue to bring us to Christ, ‘that we might be justified by faith’ (v. 24). Through faith in Christ we become sons of God in the full sense of sonship (v. 28). The very incarnation of Christ, God’s Son, ‘born of a woman, born under the law,’ made it possible for Him to redeem us from the Law and for us to receive the adoption of sons and to have the privilege of sons and heirs and say ‘Abba, Father’ (4:4-6). Christ, and Christ alone, set us free and called us for freedom (5:1, 13). but liberty is not licence (v. 24), and the Cross of Christ is the glory of St. Paul (6:14).
Romans gives the same interpretation of the work of Christ as we find in Galatians, though with less passion and vehemence. The wrath of God rests upon both Gentile and Jew because of sin, which consists in violation of what conscience tells one is right (1:18-3:20). The Law brought a keener sense of sin, and all the world comes under the judgment of God. The Gentile is without excuse (1:20), as is the Jew (2:1) who is first in privilege and in penalty (v. 9f.). St. Paul expounds his gospel with care in 3:21-31. The failure of man to obtain righteousness made plain the necessity for a revelation of God’s righteousness, and this is found in the gospel and is mediated through faith in Christ (1:16f.). Real righteousness is thus apart from Law (3:21) and is purely of grace (v. 24). God ‘justifies’ the sinner, d eclares him righteous (δικαιόω) ‘freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,’ δι ὰ τ ῆ ς ἀ πολυτρώσεως τ ῆ ς ἐ ν Χριστ ῷ Ἰ ησο ῦ (v. 24). The repetition of the article removes all ground for speculation as to St. Paul’s meaning. Christ is thu s the Redeemer, the Agent through whom (διά) redemption is secured, and it is a free gift on God’s part, provided the sinner exercises faith in Christ, δι ὰ πίστεως (v. 25). More exactly St. Paul explains how this redemption is made possible in Christ, that we may obtain the righteousness of God (v. 26), ‘that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus.’ On man’s part God requires faith (trust), which involves repentance from sin. This we can understand as proper. but what about the death of Christ as the ground for this free offer of mercy on God’s part? Here we touch the fathomless depths of God’s love and elective grace (11:33-36). It is all ‘of him, and through him, and unto him’ (ἐ ξ, διά, ε ἰ ς). but St. Paul boldly puts fo rth the death of Christ as God’s own solution of the problem: ‘whom God set forth, to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood’ (3:25). The middle voice (προέθετο) accents the will of God in the matter. The word ἱ λαστήριον, as Deissmann has conclusiv ely shown from the inscriptions (Bible Studies, Eng. tr. [Note: r. translated, translation.], 1901, pp. 124-135), means ‘propitiatory sacrifice,’ neuter adjective as substantive, and is not here used in the sense of ‘cover’ for the mercy-seat. He brands the old view as ‘one of the most popular, most pregnant with results, and most baneful’ of all exegetical errors (p. 124). The phrase ἐ ν τ ῷ α ὐ το ῦ α ἵ ματι makes the meaning clear also. It is a propitiation in the blood of Christ, ‘to show his [God’s] righteou sness’ (3:25). As to how the death of Christ met the requirements of God’s righteousness St. Paul gives us no light. We must let it go at that, save that we See the greatest love in it, in that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners (5:6-8). Indeed, while we were yet enemies to God (v. 10), He showed His love to us by not sparing His own Son (8:32), so that ‘we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son’ (5:10). The point here is, not that God needed to be reconciled, though He had to remain just when justifying (3:26), but that we were reconciled to God. Certainly we can understand to some extent the power of the appeal of the death of Christ for us while we were ungodly sinners, enemies of God. There is far more in the great mystery of Christ’s death than this, but we can at least grasp something of that love for sinners that allowed the sinless Christ to be regarded as sin, and die for sinners, that they might become righteous in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). The great passage in Rom. (3:21-31) stands beside that in 2 Cor. (5:14-21), and they concur. The rest of Romans confirms this view. In 4:25 the resurrection of Jesus is associated with His death. If He had not risen, the Death would have been in vain. We enjoy ‘peace with God through (διά) Jesus Christ, through whom (δι ʼ ο ὗ) we have had our access (προσαγωγήν, ‘introduction’) by faith into this grace’ (Romans 5:1 f.). The reconciliation is accomplished through Christ (v. 11). We shall obtain final salvation because Christ ever lives (v. 10). In some sense parallel with the relation of Adam to the race, Christ stands at the head of all who are redeemed, as the channel of life and grace (vv. 12-21). Christ mediates to the believer more grace than Adam did sin and death (v. 20). but this wealth of grace brings obligation to holy living, not to licence (6:1, 7:6). St. Paul uses the figures of death to sin as symbolized by baptism, the new slavery to God, and marriage to Christ, to illustrate the permanence of the bond with Christ. Jesus Christ set St. Paul free from the bondage of sin and the Law (7:25, 8:3). God sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh condemned man’s sin in the flesh of Jesus (8:3). The absence of the article before ἐ ν τ ῇ σαρκί makes this interpretation probable. Christ is not merely the Mediator and Redeemer, but He dwells in the Christian (v. 10). We are in Christ and Christ is in us. We are joint-heirs with Christ (v. 17) and destined to be conformed to the image of the Son of God, the First-born among many brethren (v. 29). More than that, Jesus is now the champion of the elect and makes intercession for us at God’s right hand (v. 34). St. Paul defies the universe to lay a charge against the elect, rescued by the death of Christ and preserved by His unchanging love (vv. 33-39). It is God’s plan, and He declares us righteous. St. Paul seems to call Christ God in 9:5. Christ died and came to life again that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living (14:9). So St. Paul interprets in Romans the mystery of the ages (16:25).
(c) The Third Group (Phil., Philem., Col., Eph.).-We shall treat these Epistles in this order, though the position of Philippians is disputed. These are the Epistles of the first Roman imprisonment. The standpoint of Phil. does not differ essentially from that of Gal. and Romans. St. Paul here emphasizes his notion of life with Christ (1:21). The incarnation and death of Christ are treated as the supreme example of humility (2:5-8). Christ in His pre-incarnate state left a place on an equality with God for the lowliest rank among men and for the shameful death of the Cross. All this brought its consequent exaltation (vv. 9-11), and thus some light is thrown upon the philosophy of the Cross of Christ. St. Paul uses the language of the mystic to express his passionate devotion to Christ and his purpose to realize all that Christ has in store for him (3:7-16), ‘that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death’ (v. 10). The very difficulty of his language shows the wealth of meaning in his conception of his personal relation to Christ. Jesus was Mediator, but in no artificial way; rather He had gripped the whole of St. Paul’s nature. Christ had become the passion of his life (ἐ ν δέ, v. 13). Christ is the great reality of life to him, πάντα ἰ σχύω ἐ ν τ ῷ ἐ νδυναμο ῦ ντί με. Christ brings all good (4:19).
There is nothing distinctive in Philem. on the subject, though St. Paul urges Philemon to receive the converted runaway slave as a ‘brother beloved’ ‘in the Lord’ (v. 16). Thus Christ sets free the slaves of the world.
In Col. and Eph. St. Paul combats the heresies of incipient Gnosticism with perhaps a tinge of the current ‘mystery-religions.’ The horizon is wider than the Roman Empire or even the earth itself. The whole range of the universe of spirit and matter comes into view, so far as the Ancients conceived it (τ ὰ πάντα). Already in Romans 8:19-22 ‘the whole creation’ is represented as being in some sense involved in sin and redemption. The Gnostic philosophy posited matter as essentially evil, and explained the Creation by the existence of subordinate AEons who came in between God and matter. Christ was conceived as one of these AEons. Thus the Person of Christ is forced to the front, and St. Paul interprets Christ in relation to the universe. He places Him on a par with God in nature (Colossians 1:14), and treats Christ as the Agent and Conserver of the material universe (vv. 15-17). Thus he answers the degrading view of the Gnostics. Besides, Christ is also the Head of the spiritual universe (vv. 18-23), ‘that in all things he might have the pre-eminence’ (v. 18). As Creator and Head of all things, as the fullness of God (v. 19, 2:9), Christ is able to reconcile unto God all things, κα ὶ δι ʼ α ὐ το ῦ ἀ ποκαταλλάξαι τ ὰ πάντα ε ἰ ς α ὐ τόν (1:20). This peace of the universe is made possible by the blood of His Cross (1:20). Here the mediatorial work of Christ is lifted to the highest possible plane (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 for an adumbration of this conception). The triumph of the Cross is emphasized further in Colossians 2:14 f. The Docetic Gnostics denied the real humanity of Christ, and so St. Paul mentions ‘blood’ and ‘bodily.’ The Cerinthian Gnostics separated the Christ from Jesus, and so St. Paul identifies them as one ‘Christ Jesus the Lord’ (v. 6). It is essential for the Christian to hold fast the Head (v. 19). The ἐ μβατεύω of v. 18 is now known to be used, in an inscription in the sanctuary of Claros, of the initiate ‘ent ering in’ (cf. The Independent, 1913, p. 376). Some of these initiates in the mystery-religions had apparently dethroned Christ from His place as Head. Christ did not do all His mediatorial work on the Cross. He will keep it up, as we have seen (1 Corinthians 15:25 ff.), till the last enemy is put under His feet, when He shall deliver up the kingdom unto the Father (v. 24). Now He is at the right hand of God, and our life is hid with Christ in God and is doubly safe (Colossians 3:1-3). St. Paul is bold to speak the mystery of Christ (4:3), who is the mystery of God (2:2). In Ephesians 1:3 every spiritual blessing is ‘in Christ.’ God chose us ‘in him’ (v. 4). We become sons ‘through Jesus Christ’ (v. 5). He bestowed His grace ‘in the Beloved’ (v. 6). ‘We have our redemption through his blood’ (v. 7). God purposed His will ‘in him’ (v. 9), ‘to sum up all things in Christ’ (v. 10), ‘in whom also we were made a heritage’ (v. 11), ‘in whom ye also … were sealed’ (v. 13). Christ is Head of the Church, which is His body (v. 22; cf. Colossians 1:18). This mystic body of Christ includes both Jew and Gentile, who have been made one in Christ and are drawn together by the blood of Christ, the middle wall of partition being thus broken down and both being united to God and to each other (Ephesians 2:11-14). This ‘one new man’ is the household of God, the holy temple of the Lord (vv. 15-22). Thus the wisdom of God is shown (3:11) ‘according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ Christ is not a mere official Mediator. He is the vital Head of the living body which is growing up to the fullness of Christ (4:12-16). Christ loved His body, the Church (the Kingdom), and gave Himself up for it that in the end it might be without spot or wrinkle, holy and blameless (5:25-27). This mystery is great (v. 32) in regard to Christ and the Church. It is the whole mystery of redemptive love.
(d) The Fourth Group (1 Tim., Tit., 2 Tim.).-The Pastoral Epistles, which in the present writer’s opinion may be accepted as genuine, do not contain anything essentially new on this theme. In 1 Timothy 1:15 we read that ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.’ In 2:5f. we have the famous passage, ‘one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.’ Here the humanity of Christ is accented in His mediatorial work, and the word μεσίτης is applied directly to Jesus. but His atoning death as ‘ransom for all,’ ἀ ντίλυτρον ὑ π ὲ ρ πάντων, is emphasized (not e both ἀ ντί and ὑ πέρ, to make plain the substitutionary character of Christ’s death; cf. λύτρον ἀ ντ ὶ πολλ ῶ ν in Matthew 20:28). In Titus 2:14 the voluntary giving of Christ is presented to redeem us and purify for Himself a people of His own. The reference is to His death. In Titus 3:4 ff. the Pauline teaching of salvation by mercy and faith, not by works, appears, ‘through Jesus Christ our Saviour.’
3. Epistle of James. -There is nothing in this book specifically on the subject, though the mediatorial work of Christ is assumed and implied in several passages. In 1:1 James terms himself ‘a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ’; here the word κύριος is to be noted an d also the fact that Christ is placed on a level with God in what may possibly be the earliest document in the NT. Still stronger Isaiah 2:1 : ‘Hold not the faith in our Lord Jesus, the glory’; if we accept the interpretation of Mayor and several other commenta tors, Christ is here the object of faith and so of worship, and τ ῆ ς δόξης is in descriptive apposition. ‘The honourable (καλόν) name which is called upon you’ refers to Christ. There may be a reference to the death of Christ in 5:6, though this is not cert ain; but the Second Coming is presented in v. 7. ‘The Judge standeth before the doors’ (v. 9). Though the stress in the Epistle is on the ethical side of Christianity, one notes the same doctrinal conception of Christ and His work at the basis of it all. The new birth is mentioned in 1:18-21.
4. Jude. -There is a positive note in Jude’s Epistle, as the writer describes ‘Our only Master and Lord (τ ὸ ν μόνον δεσ π ότην κα ὶ κύριον ἡ μ ῶ ν), Jesus Christ’ (v. 4). Cf. v. 3, ‘the faith which was once for all delivered u nto the saints,’ clearly having Jesus as ‘only Master and Lord.’ See also ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ in v. 17; ‘the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life’ (v. 21), where ‘eternal life’ is posited in ‘the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ In v. 24f. we are plainly told that we can be set before the presence of God’s glory ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord.’
5. Epistles of Peter. -The genuineness of these Epistles cannot here be discussed, nor their ‘Pauline’ features. They certainly give the same view of Christ’s mediatorial office as we find in St. Paul’s writings. This conception of Christ’s sacrificial death meets us in 1 P 1:2, ‘sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ’ (cf. Exodus 24). The new birth comes to pass ‘by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ (1 P 1:3). The readers of the Epistle receive the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls, ‘through Jesus Christ’ (1:9). ‘The sufferings of Christ’ were prophesied beforehand by the Spirit of Christ (v. 11). Redemption is not with gold, ‘but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ’ (v. 19). Here the point of view of the Epistle to the Hebrews (chs. 9 and 10) is approached. Christ is the Living Stone through whom the living stones in the spiritual house ‘offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God’ (1 P 2:5), a clear picture of the mediatorial work of Christ (cf. Matthew 16:18). In 2:21 we are told expressly that ‘Christ also suffered for you (ὑ π ὲ ρ ὑ μ ῶ ν), leaving you an example (ὑ πολιμ π άνων ὑ πογραμμόν), that you should follow his steps,’ where the death of Christ is given as an example for us in suffering. but that this is not the sole idea in the atoning death of Christ we need only recall (1:18f.), not to mention the rest of the sent ence in 2:21-24, where we read that Jesus ‘did no sin’ and ‘his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.’ There is an evident reference to Isaiah 53, and the substitutionary character of the death of Christ for sins is clear enough. St. Peter’s own interpretation of ἔ παθεν ὑ π ὲ ρ ὑ μ ῶ ν is thus quite pertinent. Hence it is plain what is meant in 3:18: ‘Because Christ also died (ἀ πέθανεν, WH [Note: H Westcott-Hort’s Greek Testament.], but some MSS [Note: SS manuscripts.] ἔ παθεν) for (περί) sins once for all (ἄ παξ), the righteous for (ὑ πέρ) the unrighteous, that he might bring you (or us, ὑ μ ᾶ ς or ἡ μ ᾶ ς) unto God.’ This significant passage pic tures Christ as both Sacrifice and Priest (cf. Hebrews). In 3:21 baptism is given a symbolic interpretation ‘through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,’ and in v. 22 the mediatorial work of Christ continues, ‘who is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven.’ Christ suffered in the flesh (3:18, 4:1). Through Jesus Christ God is to be glorified in all things (4:11). We are to rejoice if we become partakers of Christ’s sufferings, only we must be innocent of wrong and suffer as Christians (v. 13ff.). This imitation of Christ in suffering is ennobled by the fact that Jesus has bought us by His own precious blood (cf. 1:18f., 5:10). St. Peter calls himself a witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker of the glory to be revealed (5:1).
In 2 P 1:1 t he Greek text το ῦ θεο ῦ ἡ μ ῶ ν κα ὶ σωτ ῆ ρος Ἰ ησο ῦ Χριστο ῦ (cf. 1:11: το ῦ κυρίου ἡ μ ῶ ν κα ὶ σωτ ῆ ρος Ἰ ησο ῦ Χριστο ῦ) calls for the translation, ‘Our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ Thus the deity and redemptive work of Christ are presented. Cf. also ‘the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1:11), ‘the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (v. 16). In 2:1 the heretics are described as ‘denying even the Master that bought them.’ In 3:2 Jesus is described again as ‘the Lord and Saviour.’ The Lord Jesus is to return for His people (ch. 3).
6. Epistle to the Hebrews. -The mediatorial work of Jesus is the distinctive note in this wonderful book. Everything turns on the peculiar qualifications of Christ in His humanity and deity to fulfil His mission as Redeemer from sin. The Jews had challenged the worth of Christianity in comparison with Judaism. They claimed the superiority of Judaism in the revelation in the OT, in the fact that this revelation was mediated through angels, in the greatness of Moses, in the glory of the Aaronic priesthood, in the promises to Israel. It was an impressive plea, and Christianity was made to appear barren beside the richness of ritual and worship present in Judaism. The reply is a striking apologetic for Christianity as in all points superior to Judaism by showing that in each of these points the former has the advantage. The revelation in Christianity comes through the Son of God as compared with the OT prophets (1:1-8); Christianity is mediated through the Son of God, who is superior to angels both in His Divine nature as God’s Son (1:4-2:4) and in His human nature as the Son of man (2:5-18); Jesus is superior to Moses since He is God’s Son over God’s house, not a servant in the house (3:1-4:13); the priesthood of Christ is superior to that in Judaism (4:14-12:3) since Jesus Himself is a better High Priest than Aaron (4:14-7:28); He is the minister of a far better covenant (8:1-13); He now ministers in a better sanctuary (9:1-12); He offers a better sacrifice which is His own blood (9:13-10:18), and His work rests on better promises (10:19-12:3). The argument is masterful and complete, and furnishes the richest interpretation of the work of Christ in existence. It is a complement to the teaching of St. Paul in its emphasis (4:14-12:3) on the priestly work of Jesus. but for Hebrews we should have only glimpses of this aspect of Christ’s mission. The wealth of material in the Epistle renders extended comments on important passages impossible. In the very first section (1:1-3) we See the nature of Christ’s Person as the effulgence of God’s glory and the very image of His substance. His work is described as universal in the cosmic relation (creation) and maintenance of the universe (cf. Colossians 1:15 ff.); but He is described at once as the Priest who made purification of sins and as He Who sits on the right hand of the Majesty on high as the Mediator between God and man. Jesus-and the writer loves the human name-is qualified for His work as the Son of God, and is thus superior to angels (1:4, 2:5) by the high inheritance as Son. but His humanity likewise equips Jesus for His task. He is the representative man (2:5-9), fulfilling man’s highest destiny ‘because of the suffering of death,’ which He tasted ‘for every man’ (v. 9). The Incarnation perfected the human experience of Jesus through sufferings (v. 10) and made Him a sympathetic High Priest as He makes propitiation (ἱ λάσκεσθαι) for the sins of the people, equipped by suffering and temptation to succour the tempted (v. 18). Our Mediator thus has power with the Father as His Son and commands our sympathy and confidence as our Elder Brother (v. 11f.). Jesus is ‘the apostle and high priest of our confession’ (3:1). The double nature of Jesus as Son of God and Son of man makes a powerful appeal to Christians to come boldly to the throne of grace, for grace to help in time of need (4:14-16). Jesus, like Aaron, has both human sympathy and Divine appointment (5:1-9). by His obedience and suffering He became the Author of eternal salvation (v. 8f.). but Jesus is far superior to Aaron in that He is like Melchizedek (5:10, 7:28). He has His priesthood unchangeable (7:24), ‘wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them’ (v. 25). Being free from sin He is the kind of Priest that sinners need (vv. 26-28). He is ‘the mediator of a better covenant’ (8:6) in that this covenant is one of grace in the heart and not mere ineffective form. So He is the ‘mediator of a new covenant’ (9:15). His sanctuary is heaven itself, ‘the greater and more perfect tabernacle’ (9:11), into which He entered once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (v. 12). He is both Sacrifice and High Priest (cf. W. P. DuBose, High Priesthood and Sacrifice, 1908). His offering is His own blood, that of the God-man, which was voluntary and so with moral value in the realm of spirit (v. 13f.). This offering was made once for all (ἅ παξ, v. 26) and really accomplishes cleansing from sin (10:12 -18). He will come a second time for salvation alone (9:28). The blood of Jesus has given us boldness to enter into the holy place (10:19ff.). There is no other sacrifice for sin if we reject this (v. 26). The heroes of faith hold on to the promise of the Messiah which has come true in Christ Jesus, who is Himself the best example of faith, the Author and Perfecter of our faith (11:39-12:3). Once more the writer speaks of ‘Jesus the mediator of a new covenant’ (12:24). Christians should be loyal to Christ. He has not changed (13:8). He suffered without the gate that He might sanctify His own people through His own blood, and, if need be, we should be willing to leave the camp of Judaism and take our stand with Jesus, bearing His reproach (v. 12f.). God brought from the dead ‘the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus’ (v. 20).
7. The Johannine Epistles and the Apocalypse. -We can See clear teaching about the mediation of Christ in 1 John: ‘The blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin’ (1:7). Here we have the picture of the continuous sacrificial efficacy of the blood of Christ (cf. Hebrews). ‘And if any man sin, we have an Advocate (παράκλητον) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous’ (2:1). He pleads our cause with the Father (cf. Romans 8:34). ‘And he is the propitiation (ἱ λασμός) for (περί) our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world’ (2:2). Here the universal aspect of the work of Christ is presented. St. John opposes the Cerinthian Gn ostics who distinguished between Jesus and Christ (2:22; cf. 5:1, 5), and shows that confession of the Son brings knowledge of the Father (2:23). He presents also the purifying power of hope in Christ (3:3). The Son of God destroys the work of the devil, who sins from the beginning (v. 5f.). God showed His love for us by sending His only begotten Son into the world as a propitiation for our sins (4:9f.). The Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world (v. 14). God abides in the man who confesses the Son (v. 15). The water and the blood bear witness to Jesus and His work (5:6-8), meaning probably the baptism and the blood. The baptism symbolizes the death and resurrection of Christ for our sins. by the Son of God we come to know the true God and eternal life (v. 20). Confession of the true humanity of Jesus as opposed to the Docetic Gnostics is absolutely essential (4:2f., 2 John 1:7).
The Apocalypse gives a powerful picture of the mediatorial work of Christ. He ‘loosed us from our sins by his blood’ (Revelation 1:5). He will come again for judgment of the wicked (v. 7) and for the blessing of the redeemed (22:20). He was dead and is now alive for evermore, with the keys of death and Hades (1:17f.). Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, victorious and able to open the seals of the book, because He is also as a Lamb standing, as though He had been slain (5:5-7). Here the power of Christ is lodged in His atoning death. With His blood He purchased men of every land and nation (v. 9f.), who worship Jesus as God. Those arrayed in white robes in heaven have been washed in the blood of the Lamb (7:13f.). Thus, as in Hebrews, Jesus is both Sacrifice and Priest. The Lamb is the Shepherd to guide unto fountains of water of life (7:17). The Lord was crucified in spiritual Sodom and Egypt (11:8). Christ is Conqueror at last, for the kingdom of the world is become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (v. 15). Because of the blood of the Lamb the accuser of our brethren is cast down by the authority of Christ (12:10f.). The Lamb that has been slain has a book of life written from the foundation of the world (13:8). The victors sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb (15:2f.). The Lamb shall overcome, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings (17:14). The Lamb will have His marriage supper, and the Bride is the company of those redeemed by His blood (19:7ff., 21:9f.). As Victor His garments are sprinkled with (or dipped in) the blood of His enemies (19:13). In the New Jerusalem the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple (21:22). The Lamb is the lamp, and only those are there whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (21:23, 27). Jesus is the Root and Offspring of David, the bright and morning Star (22:16). He offers the water of life freely to all who will drink (v. 17).
See also artt. [Note: rtt. articles.] Atonement, Priest, Propitiation, Ransom, Reconciliation, Redemption, Sacrifice, Salvation, Saviour.
Literature.-See books on NT Theology by W. F. Adeney (1894), W. Beyschlag (Eng. tr. [Note: r. translated, translation.], 1895), J. Bovon (2 1902-05), D. F. Estes (1900), H. J. Holtzmann (2 1911), G. B. Stevens (1899), B. Weiss (Eng. tr. [Note: r. translated, translation.], 1882-83); A. B. Bruce, St. Paul’s Conception of Christianity, 1894, The Humiliation of Christ, 1876; D. Somerville, St. Paul’s Conception of Christ, 1897; H. A. A. Kennedy, St. Paul and the Mystery-Religions, 1913; W. M. Ramsay, The Teaching of Paul in Terms of the Present Day, 1913; W. P. DuBose, The Gospel according to St. Paul, 1907; works on the Atonement by J. M. Campbell (1907), R. W. Dale (7 1878), J. Denney (1903), J. Stalker (1908); works on Hebrews by A. B. Bruce (1899), F. Delitzsch (Eng. tr. [Note: r. translated, translation.], 1868-70), M. Dods (EGT [Note: GT Expositor’s Greek Testament.] iv. [1910]), W. P. DuBose (High Priesthood and Sacrifice, 1908), G. Milligan (1899), A. Nairne (The Epistle of Priesthood, 1913), B. F. Westcott (1889).
A. T. Robertson.