Inspiration and Interpretation / Seven Sermons Preached Before the University of Oxford

by John William Burgon

Now, as for how the principles of Divine Interpretation are to be discovered, it is undeniable that there can be no surer way than by discovering what is the method of the Holy Ghost; by inquiring, what is the method of our Saviour Christ, and of His Evangelists, and of His Apostles?

1. Surely it is needless to remind an audience like the present, what that method is! Turn the first page of St. Matthew's Gospel, and weigh well the three famous cases of Interpretation which there encounter you[454]:—namely, the assurance that Hosea's words, "Out of Egypt have I called my son[455];"—that Jeremiah's declaration concerning the tears of Rachel[456];—and that the many prophetic utterances concerning "the Branch[457];"—found fulfilment, each, in Christ. The first,—when, at Jehovah's bidding, He was carried up out of Egypt into Palestine; the second,—when the bereaved mothers of Bethlehem wept for their murdered offspring; the third,—when Christ, being bred up in Nazareth, was called a "Nazarene,"—the root of which, etymologically, denotes "a branch."—But look further, and your surprise will increase at discovering how extraordinary the Divine method is. When our Saviour cast out evil spirits and healed the sick, St. Matthew declares that He fulfilled that prophecy of Isaiah, "Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses[458];" the language of the prophet in fact being, "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows[459];" which, as far as the words go, is rather a different thing.

2. But it is St. Paul who affords us the largest induction of instances. When he would establish the right of the Clergy to have due provision made for them, he finds his warrant in a most unexpected place of Scripture. "Say I these things as a man? or saith not the Law the same also? For it is written in the Law of Moses, 'Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.' Doth God care for the oxen here alluded to[460]? (μὴ τῶν βοῶν μέλει τῷ Θεῷ;) or saith He it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written[461]." I remind you of the entire passage, because it is so very express.—Elsewhere, St. Paul adduces a few verses from the viiith Psalm, the primary and more obvious meaning of which appears to assert nothing more than the supremacy of Man's present nature over the inferior races of animals; ("all sheep and oxen, yea and all the beasts of the field[462].") The application of it, in a prophetic sense, to the supreme dominion of our Redeemer over all created beings in Heaven and Earth, is certainly not one which would naturally suggest itself to us; yet is it for this purpose, and this only, that St. Paul adduces it; and as confirmatory of the universal sovereignty of Christ, the place in question is three times quoted by the same Apostle[463].—Elsewhere, when he would warn persons who have been partakers of both Sacraments, of the danger of final rejection, he cites the example of the Fathers of Israel in the Wilderness. "The waters of the Red Sea were a wall unto them, on their right hand and on their left[464]," and the watery Cloud covered them above; whereby it came to pass that "all our Fathers were under the Cloud, and all passed through the Sea; and were all therefore baptized unto Moses in the Cloud and in the Sea." Moreover, he declares that they "did all eat the same spiritual meat;" (alluding to the Manna;) "and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ[465]." ... Our Saviour's emphatic application to Himself (in the vith of St. John) of the Manna, "the bread which came down from Heaven,"—none can forget[466].

3. But St. Paul further largely interprets the ordinances of the Mosaic Law. Thus, the provision that the High-priest alone should enter, once a year, into the Holy of Holies, not without blood, he interprets as follows;—"the Holy Ghost this signifying,"—("the Holy Ghost this signifying!)—that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing[467]." He explains further that "Christ being come an High-Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect Tabernacle, ... by His own Blood entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal Redemption for us[468]."—The Veil of the Temple, (he says,) typified Christ's flesh[469]; and St. Paul intimates that he could further have spoken particularly of the Golden Censer, and the Ark of the Covenant, and the Pot of Manna, and Aaron's rod, and the Tables of the Covenant, and the Cherubims of Glory[470].—Again, he says, that "the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the Sanctuary by the High Priest for Sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own Blood, suffered without the gate[471]."—Who is not familiar with the same Apostle's declaration that the words of our father Adam relative to Marriage, are expressive of a great mystery, and set forth symbolically the union of Christ and His Church; "For we are members of His Body,—of His Flesh and of His Bones[472]?"—St. Peter is at least as remarkable in his Interpretations as St. Paul; for he says of the Ark "wherein eight souls were saved by water,"—"The like figure whereunto, even Baptism, doth also now save us[473]."

Now these samples of Inspired Interpretation would be abundantly sufficient for our present purpose. But before I proceed to make any use of them, it is right to draw attention to a phenomenon, even more extraordinary.

4. It is found then, that besides vindicating for the Scriptures of the Old Testament this unsuspected depth and fulness of prophetic and typical meaning, the very Narrative itself teems to overflowing with mysterious purpose. You have but to weigh well what the Holy Spirit hath delivered concerning Abraham and Melchizedek, Hagar and Sarah,—to perceive that the texture of the Historical Narrative itself is of supernatural fabric. All are familiar with what I allude to; but I must remind you of it, in detail. The Apostle is bent on shewing the superiority of our Saviour's Priesthood to that of Aaron. How does he proceed? He lays his finger, unhesitatingly, on a verse in the cxth Psalm, ("Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek;")—declares with authority that it is Christ whom the prophet there alludes to,—or rather, whom God apostrophizes,—(for that is what St. Paul actually says; προσαγορευθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ[474]: although David undeniably wrote the Psalm;)—and proceeds, without more ado, to draw out minutely the characteristics of our Saviour's Priesthood, from the very brief narrative contained in the xivth Chapter of Genesis. Do but hear him!

The compound name "Melchi-zedek," being interpreted, denotes "King of Righteousness:" while "King of Salem" denotes "King of Peace." These titles, (it is implied,) are emphatically appropriate to Christ our King; to Him who "is our Righteousness," and the very "Prince of Peace." It happens that nothing is said in Genesis about the parentage of Melchizedek, nor about the family from which he sprang: not a word as to when he was born, or when he died. From this silence of Scripture, St. Paul collects the typical adumbration of One who, as very God, was without human parentage,—had no earthly lineage;—"was before all things," God from all eternity,—having indeed "neither beginning of days nor end of life."—Did not Abraham give to Melchizedek a tithe of the spoils? Consider then, (St. Paul says,) how great an one Melchizedek must have been! Nay, consider that the descendants of Levi are commanded to take tithe of their brethren, although all are sprung from Abraham alike; but here is one, altogether of a different family, taking tithes of Abraham,—aye and blessing Abraham too;—(δεδεκάτωκε, εὐλόγηκε, "hath tithed," "hath blessed,"—the effect of the act remaining for ever in Christ typified by Melchizedek.)—This mysterious King of Salem and Priest of the Most High God not only tithes but blesses Abraham, who had received from Almighty God the promises, which included all blessedness, earthly and heavenly. Now, this implies Melchizedek's superiority,—for, of course, the less is blessed of the greater.—Men who receive tithe here below are mortal; but the very silence of Scripture respecting Melchizedek's death, symbolically teaches that He whom Melchizedek typified, yet liveth.—And indeed, (so to speak,) the tribe of Levi who take tithes, paid tithes to Melchizedek in the person of their great progenitor; because Levi was as yet in the loins of his father Abraham when Melchizedek met him[475].... I do not ask your pardon for thus leading you in detail over one unusually minute specimen of Divine Interpretation. I know well that there are many persons to whom the Divine method is highly distasteful; and who think their own method of Interpretation infinitely better. But, unfortunately for those persons, the question in hand is not a question of taste, but a dry matter of fact. We have to discover what is the Divine method of Interpretation, and no other thing. Its improbability and its inconvenience,—its difficulty, and its strangeness,—its seeming inconclusiveness, (apart from the authority on which it rests,) and its certain uniqueness, (notwithstanding the many injunctions we have met with that we must interpret the Bible like any other book[476],)—all these considerations are all together irrelevant, and beside the question. St. Paul himself admits that the Discourse now before us is πολὺς καὶ δυσερμήνευτος,—long and of difficult interpretation[477].—Some will perhaps be found to inquire how it happens that while so many remote points of analogy are adduced, so obviously typical a circumstance as Melchizedek's bringing forth "bread and wine[478]" obtains no notice from the Apostle? I answer,—For the same reason that Isaac is nowhere spoken of, nowhere so much as hinted at, in the Bible, as being a type of Christ. A blind man may see it. It requires no Revelation from Heaven to teach such things as that! But the typical foreshadowing of the superiority of our Saviour's Priesthood over that of Aaron, in the story of Melchizedek, would infallibly have escaped mankind altogether, unless it had been thus specially revealed.

Some there may be so utterly wanting in Theological instinct, or so depraved of taste; so utterly unused to the study of God's Word, or so unobservant of the characteristic method of it,—as to imagine that there is something trifling in the specimens of Interpretation before us. I am only concerned to maintain that they are Divine. You may think what you please about them. They are the teaching of the Holy Ghost. Nay, if unfortunately any persons here present should think themselves wiser than God, I would request them to observe that, singularly enough, God has connected with this very exposition a short address to themselves. It runs as follows:—"Concerning Melchizedek, we have to deliver a long and difficult interpretation; difficult, however, only because ye have become dull of hearing[479]." (The fault, you observe, is yours. Whereas God made your spiritual senses sharp and quick, you have blunted their edge, and are become stupid and obtuse. It follows:)—"For when, by reason of the length of time that ye have professed Christianity, ye ought to be Teachers," (pray mark that!)—"ye have need that some one should teach you the first Principles of the Oracles of God; and ye have become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food. For every one that useth milk, is without experience in the Word of Righteousness; for he is an infant. But solid food (στερεὰ τροφή) is for them that are of full age[480]." Where you are requested to observe that a specimen of Interpretation you think trifling, the Holy Ghost calls "solid food;" and yourselves, who in your own conceit represent the World's Manhood[481], He calls νηπίους,—"babes." ... This discrepancy of opinion strikes me as rather curious.

5. The time would fail, were we to enter as particularly into the Divine Interpretation elsewhere given of another story, apparently as little fraught with mystery as any in the Bible. Who would ever have imagined that the brief narrative of Hagar's dismissal from the house of Abraham at Sarah's instance, was the ἀλληγορία of so Divine a thing as St. Paul declares;—the two Mothers setting forth the two Covenants, (one, bearing children unto bondage,—the other, the free Mother of us all: Sinai symbolized by that, the heavenly Jerusalem by this:) and even Ishmael's mockery not being without mysterious meaning?—Such however is the Divine Interpretation.—Elsewhere, when St. Paul desires to contrast the method of the Gospel with the method of the Law,—(this, glorious; that, with the same glorious features concealed;)—and also to illustrate the present unbelief of the Jewish nation;—the Apostle finds a prophetic emblem of their blindness in the veiled countenance of their great Lawgiver, as described in the xxxivth chapter of Exodus. The mystical intention of that veil, (he says,) was to symbolize the nation's inability to look steadfastly to the end of the dispensation, and to recognize Messiah. Nay, to this hour, while they read their Scriptures, that veil (he says) is upon their hearts. And yet, even as Moses, when he returned to God, is related to have taken off the veil from his face, so (St. Paul says) will it fare with the Jews, when they convert and turn themselves to Christ. The veil will be withdrawn[482].—Now, I gather from all this, and many a hint of the like kind,—that the whole of Scripture is of the same marvellous texture, the Old Testament and the New, alike,—whether we have the eyes to see it or not.

6. But I cannot dismiss the typical character of the Scripture narrative, until I have reminded you of one striking intimation of it which you might easily overlook. "O fools and slow of heart," was our Lord's reproof to Cleophas and his companion on the evening of the first Easter: "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His Glory? And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself[483]." In like manner, St. Paul at Rome expounded to the unbelieving Jews, "persuading them concerning Jesus both out of the Law of Moses and out of the Prophets, from morning till evening[484]." The same thing is repeated elsewhere[485]: but the most express declaration is that of our Lord Himself to the Jews:—"Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me[486]," Moses therefore wrote concerning Christ. Christ Himself says so. But where? Shew me the places in the Pentateuch which prove that Christ was "to suffer these things" and then to "enter into glory?" You cannot do it; unless indeed in Isaac's Sacrifice you are content to find the adumbration of the scene on Calvary. You cannot do it; unless in Joseph's betrayal for twenty pieces of silver, (the deed of another Judas!) and his letting down into the pit without water, you recognize the image of the death of One by the blood of whose Covenant the prisoners of hope were set free[487]. You cannot do it; unless in the same Joseph's exaltation to the supreme power of Egypt, (when they "cried before him, Bow the knee!") you behold Messiah's session at the Right Hand of God. You cannot do it; unless you notice how "Joseph, who was ordained to save his Brethren from death, who would have slain him, did represent the Son of God, who was slain by us and yet dying saved us[488]." You cannot do it; unless in the Paschal Lamb, and the wave-sheaf, you discern things Heavenly, and of eternal moment. You cannot do it; unless you remember "that as, in order to consecrate the Harvest by offering to God the first-fruits of it, a sheaf was lifted up and waved; as well as a Lamb offered on that day by the priest to God; so Messiah, that immaculate Lamb which was to die, that Priest which dying was to offer up Himself to God, was upon the same day lifted up and raised from the dead; or rather shook and lifted up, and presented Himself to God, and so was accepted for us all; that so our dust might be sanctified, our corruption hallowed, our mortality consecrated to eternity." Many who hear me will perceive that I have been quoting from Bp. Pearson; and will be constrained to admit that Isaac and Joseph,—the wave-sheaf and the Paschal Lamb,—may well be types of Christ; and that, thus lightly touched, there can be little objection to tracing in such histories and provisions of the Law, the main outlines of the Life and Death and Resurrection of our Redeemer. But remember, we have handled wondrous little of the patriarchal History and of the Law; and that little, wondrous cursorily; more, as it seems to me, in the manner of children in a Sunday-school, than as Divines in the first University of Europe!... Now, St. Paul entertained his audience "from morning until evening." Had he nothing to say about Paradise, think you, and the mysterious parallel between the first and second Adam? nothing to say about the Ark of Noah, and the waters of the Flood? What of the history of the patriarch Jacob, and of Joseph "at the second time made known to his brethren?" What of Moses, and the miracles of the Exode? What of the many minute provisions, (all of them, no doubt, significant!) of the Mosaic Law? What of Esau's posterity and Balaam's prophecies,—the Cloud and the Flame,—the Manna and the Quails,—the riven Rock and Jordan driven back?...