Johannes Marck’s Marrow of Christian Theology, Didactic-Elenctic XXI
James Dodson
Chapter XXI
Of the State of Jesus Christ
I. The state of Christ, necessary for the function of his office, is twofold: of exinanition [emptying, making void] and of exaltation.
II. Scripture mentions the twofold state together, in the New Testament, Rom. 4:24, 25, “who was delivered for our falls, and was raised again for our justification.” Phil. 2:7–11, “he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,” etc.; “wherefore God also hath highly exalted him,” etc.; and in the Old Testament, Gen. 3:15, “he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Ps. 16:10, 11, “for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life,” etc. Ps. 118:22, “the stone which the builders refused is become the head of the corner.” Isa. 52:13, 14, “he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at thee, so his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men,” etc.; also proposing various types of each state, so that the Jews from this devised a double Messiah. And each state was plainly necessary to our salvation.
III. Many consider the exaltation of Christ implicitly, as a consequence of exinanition [emptying, making void]; others also, not undeservedly, as the promised reward,
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according to Isa. 49:4, “surely my judgment is with Jehovah, and my work with my God.” Isa. 53:11, 12, “he shall see of the travail of his soul,” etc.; “therefore will I divide him a portion with the great,” etc.; because הערה למות נפשו [he poured out his soul unto death], etc. Phil. 2:9, διὸ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσε [wherefore God also hath highly exalted him], etc.; with respect to the pact between the Father and the Son, and to the intrinsic dignity of the labor rendered. But since the exaltation of Christ was for himself the reward of labor, for his Church nothing thereby is subtracted from his merit for us.
IV. Exinanition [emptying, making void] and exaltation properly regard the human nature, which is capable of change. Yet the divine is not hence fully excluded, insofar as economically the person of the Son subjected himself to the Father, and the glory of the deity was either hidden or more abundantly demonstrated, according to John 17:5, νῦν δόξασόν με σὺ πάτερ παρὰ σεαυτῷ τῇ δόξῃ ᾗ εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί [and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was]. Phil. 2:6–10, “who, subsisting in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself,” etc.; “wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name,” etc.
V. Exinanition [emptying, making void] preceded, or κένωσις [emptying], which is otherwise called humiliation, ταπείνωσις [humbling], without great difference of the terms. And this is the antecedent state of the Mediator, in which, the glory of the divine majesty being veiled, he undertook our infirmities and punishments, with subjection under the divine law, unto the glory of the Father, the salvation of the elect, and their acquisition as his own peculiar possession.
VI. We establish six degrees rather than three. The first is the humble and servile incarnation, according to 2 Cor. 8:9, δι’ ὑμᾶς ἐπτώχευσε πλούσιος ὤν [for your sakes he became poor, though he was rich];
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Eph. 4:9, “he first descended,” εἰς τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς [into the lower parts of the earth]; Phil. 2:7, ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος [he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men]; and according to the misery found in it.
Objection 1. Christ is still man.
Reply But declared glorious and Lord.
Objection 2. Various signs of majesty were seen in the incarnation.
Reply Yet they did not remove the misery and poverty of the nativity.
Objection 3. Exinanition [emptying, making void] requires a subject.
Reply This is the Son of God, and the human nature in the very moment of assumption.
VII. The second degree is the toilsome life, both public and private. This, in which he did not publicly preach, lasted about thirty years, Luke 3:23, αὐτὸς ἦν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὡσεὶ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα ἀρχόμενος [Jesus himself was about thirty years old when beginning], etc. And in it he experienced both common and special evils, such as persecution and the most difficult flight into Egypt. Concerning the progress of this life is narrated:
α. growth of stature and grace, Luke 2:40, 52, “the little child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him,” etc.; “and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
β. Obedience rendered to his parents, Luke 2:51, “and he was subject unto them.”
γ. And a notable proof of wisdom which, at twelve years old, he gave when returning from Jerusalem, Luke 2:46, 47, “and it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions; and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.” Nor is it improbable that Christ, educated outside the schools, also practiced the carpenter’s craft with Joseph, from John 7:15, “How knoweth this man letters,” μὴ μεμαθηκώς [having never learned]? Mark 6:3, “Is not this the carpenter, the son
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of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon?” etc.
VIII. The public life of Christ began with baptism received, and with a grave temptation in the wilderness, Matt. 3–4; and it seems to have lasted almost into the fourth year, according to the number of passovers celebrated in John, and the places, Dan. 9:27, “in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease”; Luke 13:7, 8, “behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree,” etc.; κύριε ἄφες αὐτὴν καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔτος [Lord, let it alone this year also], etc. And the calamities, both common and special, of Christ in this course are abundantly noted by the evangelists.
IX. The third degree of exinanition [emptying, making void] is the final bodily passion of Christ under Pontius Pilate as judge, declaring at once the injustice of the people and his own. This was:
1. Most grievous, with respect to the persons inflicting it, the multitude of evils, and the species of evil, especially in the bitter, vile, and accursed crucifixion.
2. Necessary, because of the justice of God; for if one single drop of blood could have satisfied it, the Father’s love toward the Son would not have admitted so grievous a passion; and because of his truth in fulfilling types and prophecies, Luke 24:26, “ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” 1 Pet. 1:11, “searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings in Christ, and the glories after these,” etc.
3. Voluntary, according to Ps. 40:9, “I delight to do thy will, O my God,” etc. Isa. 53:7, “he shall not open his mouth; as a lamb he shall be led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he shall not open his mouth.” John 18:7, 8, “Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he; if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.” Gal.
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2:20, “and gave himself for me,” etc. This is not hindered by the prayers, Matt. 26:39, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” Heb. 5:7, “who in the days of his flesh offered up prayers and supplications unto him that was able to save him from death, with strong crying and tears,” etc.; since these were partly conditional, partly looking to a seasonable deliverance from evils.
4. Leading equally to our consolation and sanctification, Rom. 6:6, “knowing this,” ὅτι ὁ παλαιὸς ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος συνεσταυρώθη, ἵνα καταργηθῇ τὸ σῶμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας, τὸ μηκέτι δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ [that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin]. Gal. 5:24, οἱ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν σάρκα ἐσταύρωσαν σὺν τοῖς παθήμασι καὶ ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις [and they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts], etc.
X. Here there are many philological and historical matters, especially concerning the cross and the manner of crucifixion, that are little certain. And the old narrative about the cross found by Helena should be numbered among fables; not even Eusebius himself mentions it.
XI. The fourth degree of exinanition [emptying, making void], further, is bodily death; which Christ truly underwent, John 19:34, 35, “one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water,” etc. Mark 15:44, 45, “and Pilate marvelled if he were already dead; and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead; and when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph,” etc.; and necessarily, because of the justice of God and the truth of the types and prophecies, Heb. 9:22, χωρὶς αἱματεκχυσίας οὐ γίνεται ἄφεσις [without shedding of blood there is no remission]. Ps. 22:15, “thou hast brought me into the dust of death.” Isa. 53:10, “if his soul shall make an expiation, he shall see his seed,” etc.; and willingly, John 10:17, 18, “because I lay down my life, that I might take it again; no man taketh it from me,” etc.; and
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most suitably also, both with respect to the time of Passover and with respect to the place, Heb. 13:11, 12, 13, “wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate; let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp,” etc.; and finally for our greatest consolation and stirring up, 2 Cor. 5:15, “judging this, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.”
XII. The fifth degree is burial: necessary, that it might be evident he was truly dead, and that the prophecies might be fulfilled, Ps. 16:9, 10, “my flesh also shall dwell in hope; for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,” etc. Isa. 53:9, “and he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his deaths,” etc. In this, these things especially deserve to be observed: the author who cared for it, Joseph with Nicodemus; the wrapping and anointing joined with it; the foreign sepulcher, hewn out of rock, new, in a garden, not far from the place of crucifixion; finally the time in which he was buried, and through which the burial lasted, namely, three days, Matt. 12:40, “for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights,” not complete, but begun, as we find here parts of three νυχθημέρων [day-and-night periods], coll. Matt. 16:21, ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν ἀπελθεῖν καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐγερθῆναι [that he must depart and be raised again the third day]. John 2:19, “destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Nor is the burial of Christ without manifold use.
XIII. The sixth and final degree is the spiritual death of Christ, or the infernal pain of soul from the sense of divine wrath. This, against the Papists, we prove—
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—from express places, John 12:27, νῦν ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται [now is my soul troubled]. Matt. 26:37, 38, ἤρξατο λυπεῖσθαι καὶ ἀδημονεῖν· τότε λέγει αὐτοῖς, περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως θανάτου [he began to be sorrowful and very heavy; then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death], etc.; from the bloody sweat also, Luke 22:44, καὶ γενόμενος ἐν ἀγωνίᾳ ἐκτενέστερον προσηύχετο· ἐγένετο δὲ ὁ ἱδρὼς αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ θρόμβοι αἵματος καταβαίνοντες ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν [and being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground], etc.; and from the loud cry, Matt. 27:46, ἀνεβόησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, λέγων, ἠλί, ἠλί, λαμὰ σαβαχθανί, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστι, θεέ μου, θεέ μου, ἵνα τί με ἐγκατέλιπες [Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?]; finally also from our debt, upon which every divine curse lay, Gal. 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us,” etc.
But when they wish that all this pain arose from συμπαθείᾳ [sympathy] with the body, they object:
1. Everywhere mention is made of body and blood.
Reply This passion is more frequently set forth as visible, but synecdochically, while elsewhere it is remembered of the soul.
2. In the old types and sacraments no passion of the soul is expressed.
Reply It could not be expressed visibly; and Christ exceeded all signs.
3. Christ thus ought to have suffered eternally, and with despair.
Reply Neither can the former be granted, because of the infinite dignity of the person; nor the latter, because of his holiness.
XIV. Here we must treat of Christ’s descent into hell. This article of the Apostles’ Creed is not read in Scripture in these terms, nor was it read equally in all ancient creeds. But as the Lutherans most improperly wish to refer it to exaltation, so the Pontificians and Lutherans commonly understand it of Christ’s local descent into hell, or of the liberation of the fathers from limbo, or of triumphing
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over conquered enemies; while many of our writers find in it either the state of death and burial, or infernal pains. And it seems here especially to be asked, not what the first authors of this article in the Creed understood by these words, since that is uncertain, and since they almost passed over burial also; but what this article now can, according to the larger perfection of Scripture and of the Creed itself, most suitably denote, when it is placed after death and burial.
XV. We cannot admit a local descent, because Christ’s body was buried, and his soul was in heaven, Luke 23:43, “today shalt thou be with me in paradise,” etc.; “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” etc.; nor were the fathers in limbo, and his triumph was instituted elsewhere than in hell.
Objection 1. Christ was to be “in the heart of the earth,” Matt. 12:40.
Reply Heart denotes only the inner bosom, not precisely the middle, coll. Ezek. 27:4, “in the heart of the seas,” etc.
Objection 2. Christ’s soul was not left in hell, Acts 2:26.
Reply This is understood synecdochically of Christ not being left in the sepulcher, since mention of not seeing corruption is added.
Objection 3. Christ descended “into the lower parts of the earth,” Eph. 4:8, 9.
Reply This is understood either of burial, or of incarnation, coll. Ps. 139:15, “my substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth,” etc.
Objection 4. Christ went in spirit to preach to the spirits in prison, 1 Pet. 3:19.
Reply This is understood of his deity, according to which he inculcated repentance to men
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now damned, formerly when they lived in the days of Noah. Further, we judge that death and burial were already mentioned clearly enough, so that, under a more obscure phrase in a brief creed, they ought not to be repeated; although these words, considered in themselves, could otherwise be conveniently understood this way. Therefore we chiefly prove this exposition of the article concerning infernal pains, from the suitable phrase of Scripture: Ps. 18:6, “the sorrows of hell compassed me about.” Ps. 116:3, “the sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me.” 1 Sam. 2:6, “Jehovah killeth and maketh alive; he bringeth down to hell and bringeth up,” etc.; and at the same time from truth and necessity.
Objection 1. These pains did not follow death, where they are placed in the Creed.
Reply Yet they are rightly mentioned after bodily death, because from lighter and bodily evils the transition is thus made to heavier and spiritual ones.
XVI. From the final degrees of exinanition it is plain that the deity suffered nothing; as the Lutherans defend the old Theopaschite phrase badly and ineptly, from places in which Christ is treated as God and God’s Son in the concrete, Acts 20:28, “the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” 1 John 1:7, “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son,” etc.; not, however, of deity in the abstract.
XVII. Exaltation, otherwise also called glorification, John 7:39, “the Holy Ghost was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified,” etc., is defined: the consequent state of the Mediator, in which, the humble conditions of his human nature being disclosed, it was changed
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with the highest finite degree of glory, unto the praise of the Father, the salvation to be applied to the elect, and the sweet fruition of the labor undergone.
XVIII. Again, there are various degrees of Christ’s exaltation, either three, or four, if the last judgment is distinguished from the session at the right hand.
XIX. The first degree is resurrection. This is called resuscitation, chiefly with respect to the Father, that it may be ascribed to him, Eph. 1:20, ἣν ἐνήργησεν ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ ἐγείρας αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν [which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead]. Acts 2:24, 32, ὃν ὁ Θεὸς ἀνέστησε [whom God raised up], etc.; τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀνέστησεν ὁ Θεός [this Jesus hath God raised up], etc.; so the name of resurrection, emphatically placed, expresses Christ’s own power, by which he escaped from death, John 2:19, λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον, καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν [destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up]. John 10:17, 18, ὅτι ἐγὼ τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν μου, ἵνα πάλιν λάβω αὐτήν [because I lay down my life, that I might take it again], etc.; ἐξουσίαν ἔχω θεῖναι αὐτήν, καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔχω πάλιν λαβεῖν αὐτήν [I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again]. Rom. 1:4, τοῦ ὁρισθέντος υἱοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν δυνάμει κατὰ πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης ἐξ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν [declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead]. The Socinians impiously ridicule this, bringing forward Christ’s prayers “to him that was able to save him from death,” from Heb. 5:7, which he plainly poured out according to his humanity.
XX. Christ had to rise from the dead, for our justification and salvation, according to various prophecies, Ps. 16:10, “thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” Ps. 110:7, “he shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall he lift up the head.” Isa. 53:10, “if his soul shall make an expiation, he shall see his seed; he shall prolong his days.” Isa. 55:3, “I will give you the sure mercies of David,” coll. Acts 13:34, ὅτι δὲ ἀνέστησεν αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν [and as concerning that he raised him up from the dead], etc.; δώσω ὑμῖν τὰ ὅσια Δαβὶδ τὰ πιστά [I will give you the sure mercies of David], etc. To these were added
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many types, among which we do not badly think the goat Azazel should be numbered, dismissed on the day of expiation, Lev. 16; by which many at this day, not correctly, wish the unbelieving people of Israel, wandering among the nations under the New Testament, to be denoted.
XXI. That Christ truly rose is plain both from all the historical circumstances, and from the testimony of angels and men, even of enemies, Matt. 28:11, 12, “behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done; and when they had assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,” etc.; and from the appearances of the revived Christ, which happened to many, 1 Cor. 15:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, “that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve; after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once,” etc.; and afterward to the most familiar disciples, Luke 24:30, 39, “and it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them,” etc.; “behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see,” etc. Acts 10:40, 41, “him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead,” etc.; and more than once, even after the ascension, Acts 7:55, 56, “he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,” etc. Acts 22:17, “Jesus said unto thee in the way by which thou camest,” etc. Rev. 1:12, καὶ ἐπέστρεψα βλέπειν τὴν φωνὴν ἥτις ἐλάλει μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, καὶ ἐπιστρέψας εἶδον ἑπτὰ λυχνίας χρυσᾶς [and I turned to see the voice that spake with me; and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks], etc. To all these may be added the magnificent works of Christ, by which he showed himself alive to us, Matt. 27:52, 53, “many bodies of saints
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which slept arose, and went out of the tombs after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many,” etc.
XXII. In the resurrection Christ received the same body in species and in number, Luke 24:39, ἴδετε τὰς χεῖράς μου καὶ τοὺς πόδας μου, ὅτι αὐτός ἐγώ εἰμι· ψηλαφήσατέ με καὶ ἴδετε· ὅτι πνεῦμα σάρκα καὶ ὀστέα οὐκ ἔχει καθὼς ἐμὲ θεωρεῖτε ἔχοντα [behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have]. John 20:26, 27, “show thy finger hither, and behold my hands; and show thy hand hither, and thrust it into my side,” etc.; whence also it is wrongly imagined that he passed through the stone, or through closed doors, and that the disciples’ sight could quickly be deceived. Yet it was also glorious and immortal, according to Acts 13:34, “because he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption,” etc. Rom. 6:9, “knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him,” etc.; although this glory was finally consummated in heaven, Eph. 1:20, 21, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, ὑπεράνω πάσης ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐξουσίας [and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power], etc.; and by συγκατάβασιν [condescension] Christ both ate on earth and retained the signs of the wounds. These are therefore vainly opposed by the Socinians, who derive immortality from the ascension.
XXIII. The time of the resurrection was the third day from death, according to the prediction, Matt. 27:63, κύριε, ἐμνήσθημεν ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ὁ πλάνος εἶπεν ἔτι ζῶν· μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἐγείρομαι [Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again], etc.; and according to the type of Jonah. The day also was the first of the week, which thereafter was to be sanctified for the seventh, and was indeed the dawning of that day, than which none can be considered, and many observations have anticipated.
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XXIV. The use of Christ’s resurrection is:
α. For the fullness and certainty of our justification, Rom. 4:25, “he was raised again for our justification.”
β. For teaching and promoting sanctification in us, Col. 2:12, ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε [wherein also ye are risen with him]. Col. 3:1, εἰ οὖν συνηγέρθητε τῷ Χριστῷ [if ye then be risen with Christ], etc.
γ. Finally, for obliging us to resurrection and glorification, John 14:19, “because I live, ye shall live also.” 1 Cor. 15:12, 13, “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen,” etc.
XXV. The other degree is the ascension into heaven, which again, with respect to the Father exalting him, is called assumption, Acts 2:33, τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑψωθείς [being exalted by the right hand of God]. 1 Tim. 3:16, ἀνελήφθη ἐν δόξῃ [received up into glory], etc.; but with respect to Christ’s own right and power, it is emphatically called ascension, Eph. 4:8, 9, 10, ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος [when he ascended up on high], etc.; τὸ δὲ ἀνέβη [now that he ascended], etc.; ὁ καταβὰς αὐτός ἐστι καὶ ὁ ἀναβὰς [he that descended is the same also that ascended], etc.; and entrance, Heb. 6:20, ὅπου πρόδρομος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν Ἰησοῦς [whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus].
XXVI. Christ had thus to ascend, also according to prophecies, Ps. 24:7, 8, 9, “lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in,” etc.; Ps. 68:19, “thou hast ascended on high,” etc.; and according to various types, among which the high priest entered every year into the sanctuary, Heb. 9:11, 12, “but Christ, by his own blood, entered in once into the holy places, having obtained eternal redemption,” Χριστὸς δὲ παραγενόμενος ἀρχιερεὺς τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν, διὰ τῆς μείζονος καὶ τελειοτέρας σκηνῆς, οὐ χειροποιήτου, τουτέστιν οὐ ταύτης τῆς κτίσεως, οὐδὲ δι᾽ αἵματος τράγων καὶ μόσχων, διὰ δὲ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὰ ἅγια [but Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered into the holy places], etc.; also Enoch and Elijah, taken alive into heaven, Gen. 5:24, “God took Enoch, and he was not, because God had taken
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him,” 2 Kings 2:11, “and Elijah ascended by a whirlwind into heaven.”
XXVII. That Christ truly ascended is also taught by his heavenly works, and by the testimony of angels and men, αὐτοπτῶν [eyewitnesses], Acts 1:9, 10, 11, “and when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up,” etc.; “while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up,” etc.; “this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him going into heaven,” etc.
XXVIII. In the ascension the deity was not transferred, since it is omnipresent; nor was the corruptible body changed into an incorruptible one; nor by disappearing was the humanity made omnipresent; but the same humanity was transferred from a lower place to a higher. For this is properly ascension and assumption; and we have here the term from which, John 16:28, “I leave the world.” Matt. 26:11, “me ye have not always,” etc.; then the term to which, namely heaven, Mark 16:19, ἀνελήφθη εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν [he was received up into heaven]. Acts 3:21, ὃν δεῖ οὐρανὸν μὲν δέξασθαι ἄχρι χρόνων ἀποκαταστάσεως πάντων [whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things]. Eph. 1:20, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις [and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places], etc.; then the middle, the visible heavens, Heb. 4:14, ἔχοντες οὖν ἀρχιερέα μέγαν διεληλυθότα τοὺς οὐρανούς [seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed through the heavens], etc.; then the vehicle, a cloud, Acts 1:9, “a cloud received him out of their eyes,” etc.; nor otherwise could the apostles have seen him ascending. The Lutherans object, maintaining the omnipresence of Christ’s human nature:
1. Christ is still on earth, Matt. 28:20.
Reply Not in humanity, but in deity and grace.
2. He ascended “above the heavens,” Heb. 4:14.
Reply Not all, but the visible heavens, through which he passed.
3. He ascended, that he might fill all things, Eph. 4:10.
Reply Either the offices and
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prophecies concerning himself, or the members of the Church with his gifts; but not all places with his humanity, by which he ascended, on the contrary, into heaven.
XXIX. Christ ascended forty days after the resurrection, in which days he confirmed and instructed his disciples; and indeed from the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem, Acts 1:12, though at an uncertain point of that mountain. What ancient fable says about a footprint impressed on the mountain at his departure, Eusebius himself does not mention.
XXX. This ascension is most useful: for our instruction and exhortation alike, that we should seek heavenly things; and for our consolation, since he is our advocate in heaven and will receive us to himself in due time.
XXXI. The third degree is the session at the right hand of God, where the Son is again placed by the Father, Eph. 1:20, and he himself is said to have sat down, Heb. 1:3, because of the words previously given concerning resurrection and ascension.
XXXII. Christ had to sit there, both to procure our salvation certainly, and also according to prophecies, Ps. 110:1, “Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand,” etc. Matt. 26:64, ἀπ᾽ ἄρτι ὄψεσθε τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καθήμενον ἐκ δεξιῶν τῆς δυνάμεως [henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power], etc.; and according to the highest types in Joseph and David.
XXXIII. Christ truly sits there, according to the perpetual preaching of the apostles, Rom. 8:34, “who also is at the right hand of God.” Col. 3:1, “where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God,” etc.; and where Christ is at the right hand of God, etc. Acts 7:55, 56, ἀτενίσας εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, εἶδε δόξαν Θεοῦ, καὶ Ἰησοῦν ἑστῶτα ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ [looking steadfastly into heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God]; also of the impious on the last day, Matt.
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26:64, “from henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”
XXXIV. This session does not consist in the omnipresence of the human nature, as the Lutherans will have it; since it belongs to the person of Christ, and the omnipresence of God’s right hand no more infers the ubiquity of the one sitting than the flow and circuit of the sea attributes the same thing to the city adjacent to it. Nor does it consist simply in the participation of divine favor and heavenly glory, as the Socinians wish; because these are common to the godly. Nor even in a greater rather than divine dignity, as the Socinians and Pontificians commonly wish; since divine glory is the highest, nor is one sitting at the right hand of a king on a throne, as God is viewed here, therefore honored before the king, but before others at the left, coll. 1 Kings 1:19, “he sitteth upon his throne, and hath made the king his son to sit on his right hand.” 1 Kings 22:19, “I saw Jehovah sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.” Matt. 25:33, “and he shall set the sheep on his right hand,” etc. Nor, finally, is it an equal glory and government with the Father, as certain scholastics wish, since this belonged to the Spirit in common, and to Christ from all eternity.
XXXV. Positively, therefore, this session denotes the supreme majesty of Christ, θεανθρώπου [the God-man], in the most glorious state of his person, and the most illustrious and most widely extended administrative manifestation of his kingdom. This is taught both by the similarity derived from the nature of kings, and by the fuller explanation found elsewhere, Ps. 110:1, 2, “Sit
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thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Jehovah shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.” 1 Cor. 15:25, “he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet,” etc. Phil. 2:9, 10, “God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,” etc. Eph. 1:20, 21, “above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come,” etc.
XXXVI. This session is not to be extended to all eternity, although it is no less the glory of the divine Son, as John 17:5, νῦν δόξασόν με σὺ πάτερ παρὰ σεαυτῷ τῇ δόξῃ ᾗ εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί [now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was], manifested again in exaltation; nor from the incarnation, when the divine majesty was veiled; but from the ascension, after the passion, Luke 24:26, “ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” Indeed, it will last until eternity, Heb. 7:16, “according to the power of an endless life.” Heb. 10:22, εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ [he sat down forever on the right hand of God], etc.; since, after all enemies have been conquered, there is no danger of the glory of the kingdom being removed, coll. Ps. 110:1, “Sit,” etc.; “until I make,” etc.
XXXVII. Again, this session is useful for us: to our expectation in love and duty rendered to our glorious King, and for sure consolation in all most adverse cases.
XXXVIII. Finally, the last degree of Christ’s glory will be in the last judgment, Matt. 26:64, “sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” This he received, John 5:22,
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“for the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” Acts 17:31, “he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness,” ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισε [by that man whom he hath ordained], etc. And indeed, as θεάνθρωπος [God-man], with something contributed from each nature; and as the reward of the preceding exinanition, John 5:27, “and hath given him authority to execute judgment also,” ὅτι υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐστί [because he is the Son of man]. It will be glorious in the highest degree, John 5:28, 29, “marvel not at this, for the hour is coming,” etc. Matt. 24:30, “they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” etc.