Article 21 is a beautiful article. It is a long article, full of Scripture and full of the language of God Himself.

We read in Isaiah 53, "He was wounded for our transgressions … brought as a Lamb to the slaughter … numbered with the transgressors." We find here what the poet said in Psalm 69, "He restored that which He took not away." One hears the language of Paul, "The Just One suffering for the unjust." Scripture is heard throughout this article; there­fore we will be able to touch on only a few points.

We have heard and seen that God manifested His justice and mercy in Christ so that the work of Christ, or the coming of Christ, would be to the glorification of the virtues (specifically, the justice and mercy) of a Triune God, so that Psalm 85 becomes reality. In Article 21 we hope to see how He did this; that is by His satisfaction, by His being our only High Priest.

You know that the name Christ, or Messiah, means Anointed One. Office bearers were anointed for two reasons:

1. Anointing indicates appointment to an office. In 1 Samuel 16:12b we read, "And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he." Christ was appointed by the Father from eternity to be Prophet, High Priest, and King for His church.
2. Anointing also means qualification for the office. We think of David: after he was anointed, the Lord qualified him even to overcome Goliath and to lead the armies of the Israelites to victory. We even see it in Saul: although he was an unregenerate king, yet he was not without qualification, for we read in 1 Samuel 11:6 how the Lord qualified him to lead the Israelites to slay the Ammonites.

Christ was appointed and quali­fied as the Anointed One, as Office-bearer, as Prophet, Priest, and King.

In John 1 we read that "The Word (the Logos) was made flesh." He is the Word, which indicates His prophetical office. In that same chapter John spoke, "Behold the Lamb of God." This indicates that He is a Priest. He is also called the Lord of lords in the New Testament, which identifies Him as a King.

Not only the New Testament, but also the Old Testament prophesied of Him. In Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses said, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me." This speaks of Christ as the Prophet. In Psalm 110:4 we read, "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." He is the Priest whom the Lord would give in Israel. In Psalm 2:6 we read about the King: "Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion." It is manifest therefore that also in the Old Testament the three offices are clearly indicated.

In the days that Christ was on earth, the Jews, and even the dis­ciples, thought that He would be their King, a king who would deliver them from their enemies. They expected that He would free them from their oppressors and that He would sit upon the throne.

The Old Testament did not only speak of Him as a King, however. Isaiah said in chapter 53:7, "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter." Here He is pictured as a priest, for the priest presented the sacrifice. It is just as it is stated in the New Testa­ment, "Behold the Lamb."

He is also clearly foreshadowed in the Old Testament as a prophet. He is the Greater Elijah. And the prophets of old have spoken by His anointing, and have revealed mysteries, and have spoken of His Kingdom. All three offices are necessary in order to save sinners, for we of ourselves have no knowledge any more. We are ignorant and blind, walking in thick darkness. When it is dark outside, we need light to find our way home. That is the work of the Prophet. We have also lost our righteousness, for we are guilty and contemptible before a holy and righteous God, and our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We need atonement, we need a Priest. Do you need Him? We do not serve God anymore, although we were created for that purpose. We are not holy anymore, for we have lost our holiness. We need someone to restore us so that we may serve Him again, and to bring us back to the service of God. That is the work of a King. All three of these offices are absolutely necessary, and they correspond with the three aspects of the image of God, namely, knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. We need three offices. These offices were not only spoken of in the Old Testament, but they were also foreshadowed. The priest foreshad­owed the work of Christ as he brought his sacrifice or offering to the brazen altar of burnt offering. We can see particularly the work of the priest in the sanctuary, for there he went to intercede for the people and to stand between God and the people, and when he returned he laid a blessing upon them. This is the work of a priest, to sacrifice, to pray, and to bless.

This article speaks of Christ's priestly atoning work. That priestly work is the basis, the foundation, of His entire Mediatorial work. It is necessary and foundational, for without it He cannot be a teacher or a King. How can He teach in the way of salvation if He has not merited it? How could He apply salvation, and protect, keep, and preserve in that salvation, if He had not first merited it Himself? Therefore it is absolutely necessary that Christ is a Priest.

When God teaches His children and gives them some knowledge of Christ, they first see Him as the One of whom we read in Psalm 45:2, "Grace is poured into Thy lips: therefore God hath blessed Thee forever." He is the One who has the words of eternal life. They follow Him and they listen to Him, for He is the Prophet. By His prophetical office He makes room for His priestly office. They learn to know the necessity of the shedding of blood, for without this there is no remission of sins. That blood must be applied to the doorposts of their hearts as it was once applied to the doorposts in Egypt. They will also need Him more and more as King to break down the power of sin, to deliver them time and again, in the spiritual warfare, from the power of their adversaries, and to bring them back to God.

This priestly work is, as it were, foundational, because without this sacrifice the Prophet has nothing to teach. Without the priestly office there would be no way of salvation. Without the priestly office, without the shedding of blood, no prison could be opened and no lost child of Adam could ever be taken out of the house of the strong man armed. Jesus Christ is the Priest, the only Priest. I hope you may learn this in your own life: that He is the only One. He is an eternal King, but He is also Priest forever.

This article clearly states, "ordained with an oath to be an ecclesiastical High Priest after the order of Melchizedek." "The Lord hath sworn … Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." Why is He called a priest after the order of Melchizedek? Melchizedek had beautiful names. His name means King of Righteousness. Is he therefore not a type of Christ, "the Lord our Righteousness"? (Jeremiah 23:6). He was the King of Salem, or king of peace. Isn't Christ called "the Prince of Peace"? (Isaiah 9:6). Melchizedek was not only king, but he was also priest of the Most High God. He was both priest and king, without father or mother. This means that his father was not a priest and his mother did not come from a priestly family, nor was Melchizedek a descendant of a kingly family. David was a king who would be succeeded by many, for his was a royal house. There was no royal house of Melchizedek. He was king and priest, but there was no one before him, and no one after him. Dear reader, is not Christ the Lord our Righteousness? Is He not the King of Peace? Did He not say, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you"? (John 14:27). Is He not also the Priest of the Most High, the eternal High Priest? There was not one priest before Him, and there will not be one after Him. He is an everlasting High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.

We read that when Abram met Melchizedek, he gave tithes unto him, which indicates the respect that Abram had for him. Abram was subject unto Melchizedek, and in the loins of Abram was Levi. Here Levi bowed before Melchizedek. Does this not beautifully signify that Christ was the High Priest above the high priest of the house of Aaron? Is He not more than any Levite? We also read that Melchizedek blessed Abram. We do not read that Abram blessed Melchizedek. Is not Christ the blessing High Priest? Is He not the only One who can give spiritual, temporal, and eternal blessings?

We also read that Melchizedek provided bread and wine. This was not done by Abram. Is Melchizedek then not again a type of the Greater High Priest, Jesus Christ, who gives bread and wine as He feeds and nourishes His weary people at His table?

Jesus Christ is a Priest after the order of Melchizedek. He is a very special Priest. When the priest brought a sacrifice, three things were present, namely, the priest, the altar, and the sacrifice. This Christ is the Priest, He is the Altar, which sancti­fies the gift, and He is also the Sacrifice – all in One. Everything is provided for. Isaac asked, "My father, where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham said, "My son, God will provide Himself a burnt ­offering" (Genesis 22). Here He is. Did you ever see Him, who is the chiefest among ten thousand? Have your hands been emptied? Did you have nothing to present to Him anymore? Did you lose the battle before Him?

We read that He is an everlasting High Priest. Socinius, the heretic, said that Christ was not a priest while He was upon the earth, but that He became Priest at His ascension, and then He began to intercede and pray. If that were true, we would have to say, "Poor Peter." But the Lord did not say to him, "Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat; and I will later on pray for you when I get to heaven." No, Jesus said, "I have prayed for you that your faith fail not." Jesus was a High Priest from eternity, also for Peter. He did not begin His high priestly work after His ascension, but He has performed it from all eternity. He is the blood Bridegroom.

Of this High Priest who is Priest, Altar, and Sacrifice in One, we read much in this article. We read that "He hath presented Himself in our behalf," (that is, in behalf of His church, in behalf of His sheep, in behalf of those for whom He prayed in that high-priestly prayer, and for those for whom He shed His blood). "In our behalf," of whom He said, "Thine they were, but Thou hast given them Me." "In our behalf." Can you say that, my friend? There is a people who cannot have rest before they can say, "He presented Himself on my behalf to the Father. There He stands, holy and righteous before God, and I in Him."

We read in Daniel of the One who approached the throne where the Ancient of Days was sitting. There was but One who could approach unto Him. Here He is on behalf of His people before the Father, and He says, as it were, to Him, "Here it is. It is accomplished. Here is the price. Here is the blood." He continually presents that unto the Father, and the price is accepted by the Father. In Him, the great High Priest, the apostle could say that the church of God is accepted in the Beloved. He is this High Priest who presents Himself in our behalf before the Father to appease His wrath by His full satisfaction. There was nothing or no one else who could quench the fire of God's anger, but He did it by offering Himself on the tree of the cross. He did it by His passive and active obedience, suffering the wrath of God and keeping the law. By His passive obedience He delivered them from punishment, hell, and death. By His active obedience He merited for them the right to eternal life.

By His sacrifice Zion is redeemed with judgment. Therefore He was sentenced by Pilate, an earthly judge, although this judge had to testify, "I find no fault in this Man." Christ's innocence was testified of by Pilate's wife, the thief on the cross, the centurion, and by Judas, who said, "I have betrayed innocent blood." There were many testimonies at that time confirming His innocence. There was no blame in Him. Yet He was sentenced to the death of a criminal, the accursed death on the cross. At this judicial sentence, however, the Father, the Judge, spoke. Christ stood there not only before Pilate, but He also stood before His Father. He had promised, "I will be surety for them. Of Mine hand Thou wilt require it." Now here, on Golgotha, it was required, for there He shed His blood.

What was now the fruit of this suffering, my friends? We can never say too much of the preciousness and all-sufficiency of this perfect Sacrifice. But is there place for it in your life? We have broken the communion with God, and when the Lord begins in the life of a sinner, the first thing he sees is the breach, and that communion with God is broken, and he will try to restore it. Here, however, is the High Priest for those who themselves can never make that restora­tion. By His sacrifice He restores communion with God. He not only restores it, but He also maintains it and preserves it. Therefore He intercedes continually (John 17:9).

He also gives us to experience that communion, for He also blesses. Do you see the three works? sacrificing to restore communion; praying in order to maintain communion; but also blessing so that God's people may taste and experience this communion again. He was numbered with the transgressors by Pilate's unjust sentence and by the chief priests with their cry, "He has blasphemed God," but also by His Father, by the heavenly Judge. He was condemned for the remission of sins; not of His sins, for He was without spot, without blemish, for He was the perfect Lamb, but for our sins. Paul therefore states, "We know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified; and we count all things but loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord."

Guido de Brès then says so beautifully, "In whose wounds we find all manner of consolation." We should remember that these articles were written in a time of bloody persecutions, when men and women were burned at the stake, when their lives were endangered and there was no rest. They were as sheep among the wolves, devouring wolves. Oh, what pain and suffering took place, what wounds were caused, but here is that comfort. The church is still among wolves, and God's children are still attacked by the devil, but in those wounds there is comfort. Here they find all manner of consolation. They find the consolation that He went before them, and in that He said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. They have hated Me, they will hate you also. But where I am, there also (and the devil and hell cannot stop it) My church shall be." "All manner of consolation." Oh, here is balm for the wounds of an afflicted, a poor, an oppressed people. For also today, in the world, in the church, you will have tribulation. Here it is but a howling wilderness, but if you have tasted this comfort, then you have to be close to Him, then you have to cling unto Him. Then He has to be your only hope and only source of comfort.

Our Confession states, "Neither is it necessary to seek or invent any other means of being reconciled to God, than this only sacrifice, once offered, by which believers are made perfect forever." Then, if the eye of faith were enlightened, and you could see Him and hear His voice, saying, "I instead of you; otherwise you would have to die, to suffer, to be bound, and to be under God's wrath forever," there would be true hope and sweet comfort. He is Jesus, Savior, because He saves His people from their sins and iniquities. He is the One who died, but who also arose. He blessed His church, saying, "Because I live, ye shall live also." Blessed are they who may find all their hope, joy, strength, and comfort in Him.