0494. 485. “Jesus Took”
485. “Jesus Took”
Christ not only looked upon humanity and saw its need, but He came in contact with it, that its need might be met.
1. His Incarnation. “He took not on,” or, as American marginal Revised Version: “For verily not of angels doth He take hold, but He taketh hold of the seed of Abraham” (Heb_2:16). Christ’s incarnation was the door which led to the altar of His sacrifice on Calvary, which secures for us the holy place of His salvation. The word epilambanomai means to take on, or upon, and is rendered “caught” in Mat_14:31, “take hold of” in Luk_20:20, and “lay hold on” in 1 Timothy 6.
12, 19. The thought is, His taking upon Himself human nature in order to benefit the humans with whom He is identified. See how the incident of Peter being “caught” by Christ illustrates.
2. His Identification. Christ is the “Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (Joh_1:29). The word airo, rendered “taketh away,” means to take up upon one’s self, as when the healed man was commanded to “take up” his bed (Mat_9:6); but in Christ’s case in being identified with us in our sin, by dying for it, it means also to put away; hence, He was “manifested to take away our sins” (1Jn_3:5). The word is rendered “removed,” in Mar_11:23, “took away” in Joh_11:41, and “put away” in Eph_4:31. How true are the words of Luther: “He is my sin, and I am His righteousness.”
3. His Reception. When reference is made to Christ’s deliberate action in identifying Himself with the woes and wants of humanity, the words are cited, “Himself took our infirmities” (Mat_8:17), as fulfilling them. Lambano means to take, or to receive to one’s self; hence, it is often rendered “receive.” (See its use in Joh_1:12, Joh_1:16; Joh_6:21; Joh_13:20; Joh_16:24; Joh_17:8; Joh_20:22). The hand of ready help was ever moved by the heart of loving sympathy.
4. His Deliberation. Christ’s death was no accident. His star of destiny was His death on Calvary. He knew, too, that death’s grip could not hold Him. His own statements are beyond all question as to these acts. He says: “I lay down My life, that I might take (lambano, to take to Myself) it again.” And He further says: “I have power (or His Father’s authority, as the word means, and the context shows) to take it again” (Joh_10:17-18).
5. His Commemoration. Lambano is used three times in the inception of the Lord’s Supper. “Jesus took bread… and said, Take, eat… He took the cup” (Mar_14:22-23). We are not left in any doubt as to the purpose of that death. The Bread represented, as He Himself declares: “This is My body given to you… This cup is the New Testament in My Blood, which is shed for you” (Luk_22:19-20). How terse and telling are the words, “given… shed for you!” We find a sevenfold fact in that giving. Love is its source, Grace is its act, Blood is its price, Men are its object, Salvation is its end, Christ is its Substance, and Glory is its consummation.
6. His Power. “He took the seven loaves” (Mat_15:36). When we place what we have in His hands, He makes it meet any emergency. His taking is our making, and others’ blessing. There is much in our little when He takes it, for the naught (0) of our insignificance is multiplied by the thousandfold (1000) of His almightiness.
“Little is much, when God is in it.”
7. His Example. “Took upon Him the form of a servant” (Php_2:7). What a contrast between “the form of God” and “the form of a slave.” Yet His greatness is seen in both. The beauty of a violet, in its lowly bed under the hedge, is as magnificent as the brightness of the sun in the sky. The Babe of Bethlehem in a manger is equal to the Creator of Genesis. He is our Example of Lowliness, hence we are exhorted to have the “same mind” of lowliness as was in Him.
8. His Object Lesson. “He took a child and set him in the midst” (Mar_9:36). Christ was continually referring to things around, and reaching out to things at hand, to illustrate Divine principles and truth. A child is simple in trust, humble in spirit, loving in disposition, and responsive to kindness. Christ not only set the “little child (R.V.) in the midst,” but He took it into His arms, and that act He emphasises to point the injunction, that kindness done to a child is a kindness done to Himself; yea, to His Father as well. Here is a law in the Kingdom of grace. He that does a kindness to another does a kindness to Christ.
9. His Prophetic Act. “Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John… and was transfigured before them” (Mat_17:1-2). The word “taketh” has the prefix para added to lambano, hence it means to take alongside of, which expresses the thought of friendship and fellowship. Christ uses it when He says: “I will come again and receive you to Myself.”
By: DR. F. E. MARSH