The Apostle Peter testifies of the anointing of the Son of God as a prophet, a sacrificer, and a king, saying, 'For of a truth against thy holy servant, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the nations, and the people of Israel are gathered together.' (Acts, 4. 27.) And again, 'God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, (that is, set him apart to be a prophet, mighty in deed and word,) who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him.' (Acts, 10. 38. Comp. Isa. 61. 11, 12.) And, of the Son of God, as the prophet it is written also, ‘Behold my slave whom I uphold: mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the nations. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.' (Isa. 42. 1-4.)

It was at his baptism that Jesus was anointed when the Spirit of God descending like a dove lit upon him, and a voice came from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' (Matt. 3. 16, 17), to which anointing John the Baptiser refers, saying, 'He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.' (John, 3. 34.)

Shortly after Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit and sealed as the Son of God, he was manifested to Israel as the prophet, and the mediator of the new covenant, the antitype of Moses; for the time had come when, according to the prophet Daniel, the Messiah should appear to deliver Israel, his chosen people (Rom. 15. 8), for it is written that 'when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, who was begotten of a woman, begotten under the law,

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to deliver them that were under the law.' (Gal. 4. 4, 5.) He who was to be the founder of a kingdom that was to last for ever, began accordingly to exhort the lost sheep of the house of Israel to be converted, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand' (Matt. 4. 17), and having made and baptised many disciples of those who were waiting for the consolation of Israel, he sanctified them by teaching them the spiritual meaning of the law of Moses; while at the same time, he openly denounced the iniquity of the Scribes and Pharisees, who had corrupted it by their traditions; showing that he himself was the rock upon which they should build their faith, in order to be delivered from the curse of the law, and to have everlasting life (Matt. 5. 6, 7). Thus in the synagogue of Nazareth he preached, saying, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to announce the good news to the poor [in spirit], he hath sent me to preach deliverance to the captives, and the receiving of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.' (Luke, 4. 18, 19. Comp. Isa. 61. 1, 2.) We learn also from the Word of God that Jesus was led in the Spirit in the wilderness, and that he returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee (Luke, 4. 1, 14), and that as a prophet he prayed to the Father (John, 17. 1; 11. 41, 42), and performed miracles by faith in the power of God, for in his Spirit, or power, he cast out demons (Matt. 12. 28). John the Baptiser, though he was the greatest prophet under the law, performed no miracles; for he was not anointed in power like Jesus, and he confessed that he was not the Christ, for when asked by his disciples, 'Art thou Elias? [that is, Elijah], he said, I am not; and when they asked him, Art thou that prophet? he said no.' (John, 1. 21.)

As the prophet whom God promised to raise up from among his brethren of the house of Israel, Jesus is the Word of God, for he spoke not only by inspiration, but as

God spoke by his angel to Moses: for never man spoke as he did. (Exod. 3. 4.) And accordingly we find that Moses was reproved for speaking to Israel as Jesus spoke (Num. 20. 10), who said, My word shall not pass away' (Matt. 24. 35); for Jesus was the Word of God, as it is written, 'I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him' (Deut. 18. 18), 'For no one hath seen God at any time: the only Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath made him known.' (John, 1. 18.) As the Spirit testifies, saying, that God at the end of these days hath spoken unto us by his Son.' (Heb. 1. 2. Comp. 13. 8.) 'The word which ye hear,' said Jesus, 'is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.' (John. 14. 24. Comp. 5. 24; 17. 8.) And he that sent him was with him (John, 8. 29. Comp. John, 1. 18; 3. 13), and hence his name is the Word of God. (John, 1. 1. Rev. 19. 13.)

The Son of God came not as the prophet of himself, but he was sent into the world by God. (John, 8. 42; 7. 28.) 'Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his palace, even the Messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in; behold he shall come, saith the Eternal of hosts.' (Mal. 3. 1. Comp. Deut. 18. 15-18.) 'I came forth from the Father,' said he, 'and am come into the world, and again I leave the world and go to the Father.' (John, 16. 28; 20. 17. Gal. 4. 4.) And speaking of the unjust treatment which he suffered at Nazareth for telling his rebellious brethren the truth, he said, 'A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.' (Matt. 13. 57.) At the same time he reveals his mysterious union with the Father, saying, 'I and the Father are one' (John, 10. 30. Comp. John, 5. 17, 19, 20); and he said to Philip, 'Believest thou that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?'

(John, 14. 10.) By virtue of which union he could say also, 'No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven.' (John, 3. 13.) Paul tells us that he saw the third heaven in a vision, and heard things that he was not permitted to speak; but he who received the Spirit without measure was present in heaven, even while in the flesh by virtue of his union with the Father, by which also he knew the hearts of all men, because God was in him. (John, 2. 25; 4. 18. Matt. 9. 4.) And yet, though the Father and the Son are one, they are nevertheless distinct persons, God and man, for Jesus said, 'If I judge my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but [there is] I and the Father that sent me' (John. 8. 16); and he assured the Jew who called him Good Master that there is only one good master, that is, God' (Matt. 19. 17); and to the scribes and pharisees, who sought to take his life, he said, 'Ye seek to kill me, a man who hath told you the truth.' (John, 8. 40.) And he testified also of his human nature, saying, 'My Father is greater than I' (John, 14. 28), that is, than the greatest of all created beings. (1 Cor. 11. 3; 15. 23-28.) Finally, as the prophet to whom Jehovah gave the Spirit without measure, Jesus on certain occasions spoke not as a man inspired by God to make known his decrees to his people; but as Jehovah himself who was in him and with him, for in announcing the impending judgment of the ancient people, he uttered these words, 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets, and stonest them who are sent to thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.' (Matt. 23. 37.) And in speaking of his own death and resurrection, he said to the unbelieving Jews, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' (John, 2. 19. Comp. Matt. 9. 6; Rom. 1. 4.) And in like manner he

said, 'Before Abraham was, I am' (John, 8. 58. Comp. Exod. 3. 14; Isa. 43. 13), which are the words of Jehovah, who spoke by his Son, for he said, 'I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.' (Deut. 18 18.)

But although God dwelt in his Son, and spoke by him, yet he did not confer his attributes to him while in the flesh; for during his ministry he only knew those things which the Father revealed to him (Luke, 8. 45-48), and he was then ignorant of the end of the world (Mark, 8. 32), and he could do no work but by his power (Luke, 5. 17. John, 11. 40-42), for he prayed to the Father for his disciples, and he also prayed for himself that he might be glorified. (John, 17. 1.) Bearing in mind then that Jesus is the Word of God, and that by virtue of his union with the Father he is Emmanuel, or God with us, we have a clue to explain the prologue of the book of John, which was written, that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

The apostle commences his testimony to the Son of God like Mark by speaking of Jesus Christ as the prophet, whom he calls 'ho Logos,' 'the Word;' that is, the Word of God, saying, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' (John, 1. 1.)

That is to say, in the beginning Jesus Christ was manifested as the Word of God; and he was with God, and he was God. In this sentence John briefly testifies that Jesus was the prophet announced by Moses; and that he was with God, for his only Son was in his bosom (John, 1. 18), and that he was God, that is Emmanuel, for God was in him when in the flesh (John, 2. 19; 8. 58); though he was not manifested in him till he rose from the dead; for it is written that 'God was in the Christ reconciling the world to himself' (2 Cor. 5. 19); and hence Jesus Christ is 'Emmanuel,' that is, God with us. (Matt. 1. 23. John, 20. 28.)