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Lesson 6 The Humiliation of Christ Lord's Day 14 - 16 The humiliation of Christ After discussing the names of the Mediator, the instructor now deals with the states. "States" refer to the relationship with God. Lord's Days 14, 15 and 16 deal with the state of humiliation, which is divided into degrees. "Degrees" view the ever-deepening process of Christ's suffering. Over against this progressive humiliation, there is also a progressive exaltation.
Q. 35. What is the meaning of these words "He was conceived by the Holy
Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary"?
(a) 1 John 5:20, John 1:1, 17:3, Romans 1:3, Colossians 1:15; The humble birth The first step of the humiliation of the Son of God was His humble birth. The Lord Jesus took upon Himself the human flesh of the virgin Mary. Paul says: "But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law" (Galatians 4:4). Jesus was born as a human being in Bethlehem. His birth was quite ordinary, but His conception was supernatural. By the operation of the Holy Spirit, the virgin Mary was with child. This happened without the intervention of man. While we are conceived and born in sin through the means of our father (see Lord's Day 3), Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. For that reason He had no sin. His birth of the virgin Mary teaches us that He was truly man. he human nature The catechism teaches us that He is and continues to be true and eternal God. He only took upon Himself the human nature. He took upon Himself that human nature of the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary. He did not bring that human nature out of heaven. It is therefore not true that Christ was without sin because Mary was holy. Mary was, like all others, conceived and born in sin. It was foretold that Christ would come from the lineage of David: "so that He might be the true seed of David." Paul says of Him, "Which was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh" (Romans 1:3). God had promised this. He became like His brothers in all things - a man, like all believers, except without sin. He was perfectly holy.
Q. 36. What profit dost thou receive by Christ's holy conception and
nativity?
(a) Hebrews 7: 26-27; The Mediator What profit do we have from Christ's birth? What blessing does it give us? In the first place, that He is our Mediator. This is in agreement with Lord's Days 5and 6. There it is stated that in order for Him to save us He must be very God and a real righteous man. Jesus Christ fulfils these stipulations. He is the Son of God, who assumed our human nature. After the fall in Paradise we had need of such a Mediator. A mediator is one who stands between two parties in order to reconcile them. Christ is the Mediator who has stood between an angry God and a guilty sinner. Through His incarnation, He can be our Mediator and represent us before God. He is Emmanuel (=God with us). Innocent and holy The second benefit is that Christ, with His innocence and perfect holiness, covers in the sight of God, my sins, wherein I was conceived and brought forth. Our conception and birth, the gate through which we enter into life, is sinful. We are sinners from birth. Jesus began His redemptive work exactly where our wrong begins, by conception and birth. The Mediator did not just become our Mediator at the end of His life, when He suffered and died. He is our Mediator from His conception. With His innocense and holiness He has covered our sins, that is, atoned for them. In one of his penitential psalms, David said, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered" (Psalm 32:1).
Q. 37. What dost thou understand by the words, "He suffered"?
(a) Isaiah 53:4, 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18, 1Timothy 2:6; Body and soul Immediately after Jesus' birth, the Apostle's Creed turns to His suffering. He suffered in body and soul His entire lifetime, such as when He was tempted in the desert by the devil and when He was reviled and mocked by people. Christ came to suffer and to die. He had to suffer in soul and body because we have sinned with soul and body. The heaviest part of His suffering came on the cross, for there He bore the wrath of God against the sin of all mankind. He cried, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46). The wrath of God Although Christ bore the wrath of God which was against all mankind, nevertheless He suffered only in place of His elect. Only those will be saved from this wrath. The wrath of God remains on all others. Christ said of Himself, "I am the good Shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (John 10:11). All-sufficiency Even if Christ had suffered and had satisfied for all people, He would not have had to suffer more. There is power in His sacrifice and an all-sufficiency to save the entire world. Christ had to bear the full wrath of God. This has in view the extent of the wrath against the entire human race, which includes the elect. Isaiah might see and prophesy, "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:4). Christ brought an offering of atonement, for it was His suffering was the sacrifice which brought reconciliation with God. What purpose did He suffering accomplish? In the first place, Christ saves us from the wrath of God, for it was because of sin that we deserved eternal damnation. In the second place, He merited God's grace, righteousness, and life eternal. God's grace is God's favor. Through His obedience and atonement, Christ obtained righteousness, which He bestows upon to His church. It was eternal life which God had promised upon the keeping of the law.
Q. 38 Why did He suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge?
(a) John 18:38, Matthew 27:24, Luke 23:14-15, John 19:4; Pontius Pilate Christ was sentenced by Pilate. That sentence was a sentence by a judge who represented God's authority here on earth. In Pilate, Christ was condemned by a legal authority. That judgment, although sinful, was binding. It was a sentence by God, because God willed that He should die the death. Through this means all those who believe in Him are freed from God's judgment. For Christ was condemned, so that we would be acquitted. Paul said, "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). God and His Church Behind Pilate we must see God the Father, who sentenced Christ. Christ bore the guilt of His people. Behind Christ we must see His elected Church, which He saves in this way. God the Father pronounced the Son guilty, in order that He could acquit the elect.
Q. 39. Is there anything more in His being crucified, than if He had
died some other death?
(a) Galatians 3:3; A cursed death Paul said "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Galatians 3:13). Paul here reminds us of the pronouncement God made in the Old Testament: "For he that is hanged is accursed of God" (Deuteronomy 21:23). The crucifixion was very shameful and dishonorable. The crucified one was undressed, publicly exposed on the cross to everyone's scorn, as one cast off from the earth and also not to be received by heaven. Only slaves who had committed terrible crimes acts were allowed to be crucified by the Romans. The punishment was also very painful, for it was a lingering torture until death came. In the catechism, it is emphasized that the crucifixion was a cursed death which came about by God's direction. It was an anathema, a being cast out by God. The curse deserved Christ is our Mediator and Surety. We have deserved nothing else but the curse by our transgression of the law. Paul wrote, "Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Galatians 3:10). When Christ indeed wanted to be our Savior, He had to endure this curse. And this He has done. He was crucified, and therefore was cursed in order to redeem us from the curse. That curse rests upon us because we have not kept God's law. It is a well-deserved curse. However, on Golgotha Christ was hung on the cross. He was willing to be made a curse.
Q. 40. Why was it necessary for Christ to humble Himself even unto death?
(a) Genesis 2:17; Sin had to be paid for Death had to come upon the Son of God because of God's justice and because of His truth. The justice of God demanded death. To Adam He had said: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2: 17). Hath God said it, and shall He not do it? His truth would then be violated. There was no other way for the sins to be paid for than by the death of the Son of God. Christ became the Surety. Just as a surety pays for the debt of someone who cannot pay himself, so Christ took all the debt of His people for His own account. From eternity Christ was already the Surety from eternity. He had taken all the guilt and punishment of the elect upon Himself. He was born as the Surety and all His life He was the Surety. Therefore Christ had to suffer everything for which His people would have had to suffer. This included death, to its fullest extent - not only physical, but also spiritual and eternal death. Indispensable This answer of the catechism teaches us how indispensable Christ is for each of us. If we die without being converted and outside of Christ, we ourselves will suffer eternally for our sins in hell. A poet once said, "Outside of Christ there is no life, but eternal destruction of the soul."
Q. 41. Why was He also "buried"? (a) Acts 13:29, Matthew 27:59-60, Luke 23:53, John 19:38. In the grave The death of Christ is of great significance. It is only by it that God's justice is satisfied and we reconciled with God. It is therefore of the greatest importance that we know for certain that He died. That He was buried means that He was in the grave and was therefore among the dead. This is convincing proof that He had died. Because of sin It is written of Christ, "And when they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a sepulchre" (Acts 13:29). The burial is not only proof of the death of the Lord Jesus, but also a step of His deep humiliation. Man was once created by God to live and not to die. But because of sin man is one day brought to lie in the grave. In the sentence upon the fall, God spoke to Adam and in him to every person, "For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:19). That is his extreme humiliation. This humiliation has also been Christ's portion. He was also in the grave. Christians follow the example of Christ - for that reason they reject the practice of cremation.
Q. 42. Since then Christ died for us, why must we also die?
(a) Mark 8:37, Psalm 49:8; Payment Christ died for His people. He has borne the punishment. His death was a payment for their sins. He has conquered death. The suffering and death of the Lord Jesus was substitutionary. He suffered and died instead of His people. Why then must His people still have to die? For them, death is no longer a punishment for their sins. The punishment has been completely taken away. It is an abolishing of sin and a passage into eternal life. An abolishing of sin means that at their death they are forever delivered from sin. All their life long they have had to fight against sin. Believers are never perfect here on earth. However, at their death they obtain complete victory over sin. Dying is for them their deliverance. Then God's people become perfect. Everlasting life Death is also a passage into eternal glory; that is everlasting life. In order to enter heaven, God's children must pass through the valley of death. After death God grants to them that life which they by faith already possessed. Christ has said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). They believe in the victory, but they must also yet die. Death brings them in eternal life. It is a life of everlasting communion with God. It is through death unto life. That is the way God keeps with His children.
Q. 43. What further benefit do we receive from the sacrifice and death
of Christ on the cross?
(a) Romans 6:6; Crucifying the old man Until now the catechism has emphasized the satisfaction of Christ. Now we will take notice of the effect of this suffering and death in the life of God's people. What significance does this have in the experiences of the life of faith? The sacrifice and death of Christ have significance. For by His power, our old man is crucified, dead, and buried with Him. It is thus here considering the power of Christ's death on the cross in our lives. The cross of Christ also has a crucifying effect on sin and the old man. Crucifying is sin deadening. This is a painful process. Each person who has learned, under the burden of his sins, to look upon the cross of Christ, will by it also die to sin. Only then will we see how terrifying sin is, and the love to sin will be crucified in us. The purpose of "being crucified, dead, and buried with Him" is that the evil lusts of the flesh and the evil thoughts will no longer reign in us. Evil lusts reign in unregenerate people. They are the plaything of them. They do not reign any longer in God's people, although they are still present in them. But they are not slaves of sin. Paul wrote, "Knowing this, that our old man (that is, the man before regeneration) is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Romans 6:6). Thankfulness God's children are crucified with Christ and live to offer themselves for a sacrifice of thanksgiving. They offer their lives, as it were, unto God. They dedicate their lives unto Him to show thankfulness unto Him for the sacrifice of Christ, by which they are reconciled. Not sin, but Christ reigns in them. Therefore their lives are from that time on a sacrifice of thankfulness. They desire to consecrate their gifts, their talents, indeed, their entire life to the Lord Jesus. He entered into death for them in order that they would live through Him.
Q.44. Why is there added, "He descended into hell"?
(a) Psalm 18:4-5, 116:3, Matthew 26:38, 27:46, Hebrews 5:7; Hellish agonies By the descending into hell the Heidelberg Catechism is speaking of the hellish agonies which Christ suffered before His death. For upon Him as Surety, not only temporal death, but also spiritual and eternal death must come. He had to suffer the hellish pains, which is the eternal punishment. He bore this hellish anguish in all His sufferings, but especially on the cross. Inexpressible anguish, pains, terrors, and hellish agonies came over Him. His suffering in Gethsemane was so severe that His sweat was as it were great drops of blood. On the cross He had to cry out, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46). The temptations were fierce assaults of Satan. Satan disputes our right to heaven. The Lord Jesus knows that His people have temptations. The psalmist says, "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow" (Psalm 116:3). Comfort The Lord Jesus suffered these hellish agonies so that God's children, in all their soul's agonies, should believe that the everlasting punishment would never come upon them. That is their comfort and assurance. The prophet Isaiah spoke in amazement, "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53: 5) Questions to go with Lesson 6. (Lord's Day 14, 15, and 16)
1. What was the first step of the humiliation of the Son of God? (answer 35)
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