tempter overcome, but by being despised. And when He had overcome the devil’s temptation,
“Angels came and ministered to Him.”3671 He then who had so great power, why did He
not do the one, and do the other? Read, yea, recollect what thou hast just heard, when He
did this, when, that is, He made of the water wine; what did the Evangelist add? “And His
disciples believed on Him.”3672 Would the devil on the other occasion have believed on
Him?
3. He then who could do so great things, was hungry, and athirst, was wearied, slept,
was apprehended, beaten, crucified, slain. This is the way; walk by humility, that thou
mayest come to eternity. Christ-God is the Country whither we go; Christ-Man is the Way
whereby we go. To Him we go, by Him we go; why fear we lest we go astray? He departed
not from the Father; and came to us. He sucked the breasts, and He contained the world.
He lay in the manger, and He fed the Angels. God and Man, the same God who is Man, the
same Man who is God. But not God in that wherein He is Man, God, in that He is the Word;
Man, in that the Word was made Flesh; by at once continuing to be God, and by assuming
man’s Flesh; by adding what He was not, not losing what He was. Therefore henceforward,
having now suffered in this His humiliation, dead, and buried, He has now risen again, and
ascended into heaven, there He is, and sitteth at the right Hand of the Father: and here He
is needy in His poor. Yesterday too I set this forth to your Affection by occasion of what He
said to Nathanael, “Thou shalt see a greater thing than this. For I say unto you, Ye shall see
Heaven open, and the Angels of God ascending and descending unto the Son of Man.”3673
We searched out what this meant, and spake at some length; must we recapitulate the same
to-day? Let those who were present remember; yet I will briefly run over it.
4. He would not say, “ascending unto the Son of Man,” unless He were above; He would
not say, “descending unto the Son of Man,” unless He were also below. He is at once above,
and below; above in Himself, below in His; above with the Father, below in us. Whence also
was that Voice to Saul, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?”3674 He would not say, “Saul,
Saul,” unless that He was above. But Saul was not persecuting Him above. He then who was
above would not have said, “Why persecutest thou me?” unless He were below also. Fear
Christ above; recognise Him below. Have Christ above bestowing His bounty, recognise
Him here in need. Here He is poor, there He is rich. That Christ is poor here, He tells us
Himself for me, “I was an hungred, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was a stranger, I was in
3671 Matt. iv. 11.
3672 John ii. 11.
3673 John i. 50, 51.
3674 Acts ix. 4.
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On the words of the Gospel, John ii. 2, ‘and Jesus also was bidden, and…