Ver. 8. Christ’s Crucifixion.—

  1. As an historical fact.—It is quite certain.
  2. As displaying in its circumstances every variety of human character.
  3. As accompanied by striking prodigies.—The darkened sun, the quaking earth, the cleft rocks, the rent veil, the opened graves.
  4. As furnishing an illustrious example of the passive virtues.—Taught us how to suffer and to die.
  5. As being the brightest manifestation of self-denying and self-devoting love.
  6. As constituting the sole meritorious cause of human salvation.—Who is the sufferer? The Son of God. Why does He suffer? As a prophet, as a martyr, as an example? Yes; but chiefly as a sacrifice for sin.
  7. As producing the most wonderful moral transformations.—On individuals, on communities, and on Christendom.—G. Brooks.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 9–11.

The Exaltation of Christ—

I. Was a Divine act.—“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him” (ver. 9). As a recognition of the humiliation and obedience of Christ, God exalted Him to the throne of mediatorial sovereignty. As Bengel puts it, “Christ emptied Christ; God exalted Christ as man to equality with God” (Compare Ps. viii. 5, 6, cx. 1, 7; Matt. xxviii. 18; Luke xxiv. 26; John v. 27, x. 17; Rom. xiv. 9; Eph. i. 20–22; Heb. ii. 9).

II. Was the acquisition of a name of pre-eminent dignity and significance.—“And given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus” (vers. 9, 10). Jesus is the same as Joshua, or Jehoshua, only framed to the Greek pronunciation and termination. Joshua, who brought the hosts of Israel into the rest of Canaan, was originally called Hoshea, but it was changed into Joshua or Jehoshua, by an addition of the first syllable in the Divine name Jehovah, perhaps to intimate that not Joshua of himself, but Jehovah by Him, would complete the deliverance and rest of Israel. The name Jesus means Jehovah-Saviour, or Jehovah-Salvation, and Jesus is so called because He saves His people from their sins. The name cannot be given to any other being; it belongs solely and absolutely to the one Jesus. “Here we should probably look,” says Lightfoot, “to a common Hebrew sense of name, not meaning a definite appellation, but denoting office, rank, dignity. In this case the use of the name of God in the Old Testament to denote the Divine Presence or the Divine Majesty, more especially as the object of adoration and praise, will suggest the true meaning; since the context dwells on the honour and worship henceforth offered to Him on whom the name has been conferred. To praise the name, to bless the name, to fear the name of God, are frequent expressions in the Old Testament.” The name of Jesus marks the pre-eminence of Jesus—it is the “name above every name.” That name wields the mightiest power in the world to-day. A modern writer of reputation has said: “There is a wave—I believe it is only a wave—passing over the cultivated thought of Europe at present, which will make short work of all belief in a God that does not grip fast to Jesus Christ. As far as I can read the signs of the times and the tendency of modern thinking, it is this—either an absolute silence, a heaven stretching above us, blue and clear and cold, and far away and dumb; or else a Christ that speaks—He or none. The theism that has shaken itself loose from Him will be crushed, I am sure, in the encounter with the agnosticism and materialism of this day.” The name of the exalted Jesus is the salvation of the world in more senses than one.

III. Entitles Him to universal homage.—“Every knee shall bow . . . and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (vers. 10, 11). Beings above, below, and on the earth shall acknowledge the supremacy and deity of Jesus, and unite in a universal and consentaneous act of praise and worship of His Divine majesty. On the door of the old mosque in Damascus, once a Christian church, but now ranked among the holiest of Mahometan sanctuaries, are inscribed these remarkable words: “Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.” For more than twelve hundred years the inscription has remained unimpaired by time and undisturbed by man. What is it waiting for? Already a Christian Church has been founded in that ancient city, and the Gospel is preached there every Sabbath. The world’s submission to Jesus is drawing near.

Lessons.—The name of Jesus—1. Is unique in its reputation. 2. In its moral influence among the nations. 3. In its saving power. 4. In the homage paid to it.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.

Vers. 9–11. The Name of Jesus: its Exaltation and Power.