The Substitute

“But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.” Is 53:5

The morning reading of March 31 concludes with Spurgeon planting a seed for the day, “We would fain go to our chambers and weep; but since our business calls us away, we will first pray our Beloved to print the image of his bleeding self upon the tablets of our hearts all the day, and at nightfall we will return to commune with him, and sorrow that our sin should have cost him so dear.” Let us here begin where Spurgeon ends.

See, from His Head, His Hands, His Feet
Sorrow and Love flow, mingled, down.

Overhearing a conversation between two men recently stirred up within me a level of great consternation. Certainly the conversation centered around Christmas, and I was within earshot to hear one confute the practice of some who observe the Lord’s Supper during Christmas services. He was upset with the seeming illogic of mixing the birth of our Savior with His death. He could not reconcile “This do in remembrance of Me” with “You shall call His Name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Understand how my unsettlement grew in the soil that these two men were not laymen of any kind; rather, they were men of leadership and teachers of the faith, and for the sake of small-talk were slaughtering the ramifications of theology over hors d’oeuvres. I nearly choked on my cheese.

What better time to celebrate the Lord’s Supper than at Christmas? If Jesus was not born to die then what does one do with Galatians 4:4, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”?

Perhaps if William Barclay were present the conversation would have touched on the question as to whether Jesus would have known from birth that purpose of His life and what His death would be; however, even Barclay would not have made such a light matter with even lighter conversation. Even Barclay cannot dispute those events in the life of Jesus that plainly point ahead to the cross—Jesus must have known, even as a child; but it would not be a matter of dismissive small-talk.

Some thoughts on the matter of “Substitution.” Defining the word, we quickly discover a wider range of meaning than our common usage remembers. First, “substitute” is a combination of “sub” (meaning “under”, “beneath” or “below”) and “statute” (a law or regulation set forth by government, related to “status”; specifically a position of state). Literally, the word means “under the law.” Second, “substitute” describes a replacement, an alteration whereby one person or thing stands in the place or function of another. This fully agrees with Galatians 4:4 in describing the purpose of the birth and death of our Savior (He was born in a sub-statuatory manner in order that He would stand in the place of those under the law, to make adoption effectual). This fully agrees with Isaiah 53:5. The work of substitution through Christ Jesus was not an afterthought in the plan of God.

In his work “Concerning the Necessity and Reasonableness of the Christian Doctrine of Satisfaction for Sin”, Jonathan Edwards expounds:

“Christ is often represented as bearing our sins for us: Isaiah liii. 4. ‘Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.’ Verse 11. ‘For he shall bear their iniquities.’ Verse 12. ‘He bare the sin of many.’ And with an evident reference to this last place, the apostle says, Heb. ix. 28. ‘So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many: and to them that look for him, he shall appear the second time, without sin unto salvation.’ And with a plain reference to verses 4, 5. of this 53d. chapter of Isaiah., the apostle Peter says, 1 Pet. ii. 24. ‘Who his ownself bare our sins in his own body on the tree.’”

The method of His death came about through those horrendous means: He was punished by whipping, pierced, crushed. We should return to Spurgeon, having this image printed “upon the tablets of our hearts all the day, and at nightfall we will return to commune with him, and sorrow that our sin should have cost him so dear.”

Richard Baxter reminds us of the reason we should keep this picture ever before us: “Consider well of the office, the bloodshed, and the holy life of Christ.—His office is to expiate sin, and to destroy it. His blood was shed for it: his life condemned it. Love Christ, and you will hate that which caused his death. Love him, and you will love to be made like him, and hate that which is so contrary to Christ. These two great lights will show the odiousness of darkness.”

I hold that we observe the Lord’s Supper during Christmas.