And without controversy great is the mystery of
godliness,
&c.] What follows is so, the incarnation of Christ, his birth
of a virgin, the union of the two natures, divine and human, in
his person; this is a mystery, which though revealed, and so to
be believed, is not to be discerned nor accounted for, nor the
modus of it to be comprehended by reason: and it is a great one,
next, if not equal, to the doctrine of a trinity of persons in
the divine essence; and is a mystery of godliness, which tends to
encourage internal and external religion, powerful and practical
godliness in all the parts and branches of it; and is so beyond
all dispute and doubt.
God was manifest in the flesh;
not God essentially considered, or Deity in the abstract, but
personally; and not the first nor the third Person; for of
neither of them can this or the following things be said; but the
second Person, the Word, or Son of God; see ( 1 John 3:8 ) who existed
as a divine Person, and as a distinct one from the Father and
Spirit, before his incarnation; and which is a proof of his true
and proper deity: the Son of God in his divine nature is equally
invisible as the Father, but became manifest by the assumption of
human nature in a corporeal way, so as to be seen, heard, and
felt: and by "flesh" is meant, not that part of the body only,
which bears that name, nor the whole body only, but the whole
human nature, consisting of a true body and a reasonable soul; so
called, partly to denote the frailty of it, and to show that it
was not a person, but a nature, Christ assumed; and the clause is
added, not so much to distinguish this manifestation of Christ
from a spiritual manifestation of him to his people, as in
distinction from all other manifestations of him in the Old
Testament, in an human form for a time, and in the cloud, both in
the tabernacle and temple. This clause is a very apt and full
interpretation of the word "Moriah", the name of the mount in
which Jehovah would manifest himself, and be seen, ( Genesis 22:2
Genesis
22:14 ) .
Justified in the Spirit;
either by the Spirit of God, making his human nature pure and
holy, and preserving it from original sin and taint; and by
descending on him at his baptism, thereby testifying that he was
the Son of God; and by the miracles wrought by his power, which
proved Jesus to be the Messiah against those that rejected him;
and by his coming down upon the apostles at Pentecost; and who in
their ministry vindicated him from all the aspersions cast upon
him: or else it is to be understood of the divine nature of
Christ, in distinction from his flesh or human nature; in the one
he was manifest and put to death for the sins of his people,
which were put upon him, and bore by him; and by the other he was
quickened and declared to be the Son of God; and being raised
from the dead, he was justified and acquitted from all the sins
of his people, and they were justified in him; he having made
full satisfaction to justice for them.
Seen of angels;
meaning not ministers of the Gospel, and pastors of churches, who
are sometimes so called; but the blessed spirits, the inhabitants
of heaven: by these he was seen at his birth, who then descended
and sung praise to God on that account; and in the wilderness,
after he had been tempted by Satan, when they ministered unto
him; and in the garden upon his agony and sweat there, when one
appeared and strengthened him; and at his resurrection from the
dead, who rolled away the stone from the sepulchre, and told the
women he was risen from the dead; as also at his ascension to
heaven, when they attended him thither in triumph; and now in
heaven, where they wait upon him, and worship him, and are
ministering spirits, sent forth by him to do his pleasure; and he
is seen by them the ministry of the Gospel; into the truths of
which they look with pleasure, and gaze upon with unutterable
delight and admiration; especially those which respect the person
and offices of Christ. Some copies read, "seen of men", but that
is implied in the first clause:
preached unto the Gentiles;
the worst of men, and that by the express orders of Christ
himself; and which was foretold in the prophecies of the Old
Testament, and yet was a mystery, hid from ages and generations
past:
believed on in the world;
among the Jews, and in the nations of the world, so that he was
preached with success; and faith in Christ is the end of
preaching; though this is not of a man's self, but is the gift of
God, and the operation of his power: and it was a marvellous
thing, considering the reproach and ignominy Christ lay under,
through the scandal of the cross, that he should be believed on
as he was. This can be ascribed to nothing else but to the power
of God, which went along with the ministry of the word.
Received up into glory;
he was raised from the dead, and had a glory put upon his risen
body; he ascended in a glorious manner to heaven, in a cloud, and
in chariots of angels, and was received there with a welcome by
his Father; and is set down at his right hand, and crowned with
glory and honour, and glorified with the glory he had with him
before the world was.