All things are delivered unto Me of My Father.
All thing delivered unto Christ
I. The important declaration here made.
1. All nations of the earth are delivered to Him.
2. All power in heaven and earth is given to Him.
3. All hearts are His.
4. The gifts and graces of the Spirit are His.
5. Principalities and powers are His.
II. The ground on which this declaration was made. His mediatorial character-“Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him,” etc.
III. To make a practical application of the subject. We may think that if all things are given to Christ, He does not need our puny efforts.
1. That the command of God on this point is imperative and binding upon every one who professes to know His name.
2. God works in and by the use of means.
3. A principle of gratitude will constrain the real Christian to engage, and that heartily, in this glorious work.
4. The Christian will not only be influenced by love to his Saviour, but also by a deep and tender compassion to the souls of his fellow creatures.
5. A dreadful curse is denounced against those who refuse to lend a helping hand to the cause of God.
6. There is encouragement to active exertion in that Christ has promised a reward to every effort made to promote His glory. (W. Bolland, M. A.)
A striking declaration
I. Of our Lord’s personal and mediatorial dignity. His personal dignity-the Son of God. All the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Him. His mediatorial dignity as the Son of Man. All things are delivered unto Him.
II. Of the standing method of the divine dispensations. It is indispensable to the safety and happiness of man that he should become acquainted with God. God, abstractedly considered, is absolutely unintelligible and unapproachable to guilty man, except through a Mediator. Learn: the need of Divine teaching; the importance of humility; the encouragement to the humble seeker. (J. Hirst.)
Christ officially delegated
In times of distress, every man is at liberty to do his best for the public welfare; but the officer commissioned by his sovereign is armed with a supreme right to give counsel or to exercise command. Away there in Bengal, if there are any dying of famine, and I have rice, I may distribute it of my own will at my own charge. But the commissioner of the district has a special warranty which I do not possess; he has a function to discharge; it is his business, his vocation; he is authorized by the government, and responsible to the government to do it. So the Lord Jesus Christ has not only a deep compassion of heart for the necessities of men, but he has God’s authority to support Him. The Father delivered all things into His hands, and appointed Him to be a Saviour. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
I. The inconceivable dignity of His person-“no man knoweth the Son but the Father.”
1. Nor the wisest man in a state of nature.
2. Neither do His own people know Him in the sense of the text. How little is plain because their love is so faint.
3. The glorified saints and holy angels, who behold as much of His glory as creature can bear, do not know Him as He is. A vessel east into the sea can but receive according to its capacity.
4. This proves His Divinity.
II. His authority.
III. His office-“The Son will reveal Him.” (Bishop Newton.)