Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
1 Peter 1:10-12
Have you ever strained your eyes trying to gaze at something in the distance? You rise up on your tiptoes, shade your eyes from the glare, and crane your neck hoping to get as clear a glimpse as you can. But even if you have 20/20 vision, if the object you’re peering at is too far off, it will remain fuzzy and unclear. Take it a step further and consider the difficulty of describing that far off object with precision to someone in a letter. The Apostle Peter describes the foresight of the prophets of old and the ministry of angel armies along these lines. The Spirit of Christ was in the prophets, inspiring them to do as they did and write as they wrote. But they, in a manner of speaking, were standing on their tiptoes trying to grasp and understand what exactly they were looking at. But what could they see?
Adam, fleeing out of Eden, clothed in leather crafted by God’s own hand, had no Bible in his hand. There was no hymnal or choir. Just him and his wife and their shame. But he had a promise from God, that although the serpent had overcome Adam, that from his wife, Eve, would come a dragon-slayer. Adam saw that fig leaves could not cover his sin, only the bloody death of a lamb could produce robes to cover his shame. That’s what he could see, and what he passed on to his sons and their sons.
Noah beheld the flood of God’s justice upon man’s corruption, and the only thing that could save was a vessel designed by God’s own specifications; the Ark tossed by the waves of wrath came to rest upon a mountain and then God showed Noah that His divine war-bow, shimmering with all its glorious colors, was no longer aimed at earth but at heaven. In the darkness of a flooded world, this was all the light which Noah could see and ponder.
Abraham was promised a seed, a son, who would be a blessing to all nations. But all God had given him was a barren wife and tents to set up in enemy occupied territory. So to confirm that He really meant this promise, God commanded Abraham to cut several animals in two and make a path between the bloody carcasses in order to establish this covenant. What did God show Abraham in that vision? A blazing furnace belching forth dark smoke, and glimmering torch. Here is what God showed Abraham to confirm to that sonless man that he would one day have descendants that outnumber the stars in the heavens: a gruesome rending of innocent creatures, and a shadowy sign that God Himself would pass through the furnace of affliction. Abraham looked at that promise which God made, and gazing down the corridors of time, the writer of Hebrews says that Abraham saw in all this that God was building a glorious city.
After the Hebrews had been marvelously delivered from bondage in Egypt, Moses led them to Mount Sinai in order for God to give unto them His covenant law. But of course, they fall into beastly idolatry, acting like the calf they worshipped. As Moses, upon Sinai’s height, pled before God for mercy, he plucked up the courage to also ask God to reveal His glory. What did God show Him? Amidst all the thundering and darkness of God’s descent to give His covenant Law, God allowed Moses to see the back parts of His glory, while proclaiming as He passed by: The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation (Ex. 34:6-7). Despite the Hebrews’ rebellion, God let’s Moses see that He is a God who will judge iniquity, but will also extend mercy to a thousand generations.
Later David, having been anointed as King of Israel, is chased like an outlaw by the insane King Saul. In the midst of those wanderings David cried out, “My God my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The Psalms are full of such meditations of how our human sufferings can only be relieved by the sufferings of an Anointed One. And God revealed to David that this Anointed One, this Messiah, this Christ would be David’s heir, and would sit upon his throne forever; but this glory would come only after Messiah had been brought into the dust of death. David saw his heir enthroned in everlasting glory, but only after sufferings that made David’s own sufferings pale by comparison.
Isaiah, the great eagle-eyed prophet, saw that because her many sins and idolatries, Israel had been an unfaithful servant of Jehovah. Thus, a true Israel must arise, a true servant. But though this servant would be born of a virgin, and would spring from the severed stump of Jesse and one day all the nations would stream to worship before Him, He must first be stricken, smitten, and afflicted, bruised for our transgressions, wounded for our sins, abandoned by all.
These all, and other faithful saints of old, peered through time gazing afar at this seed that must die in the planting, this anointed one who would be accursed, this king without comeliness. They stared in wonder, unable to fully comprehend what all this could mean and when God would reveal the answer to all these riddles. Peter, in our text, describes the angels desiring to look into these mysteries. The Greek in this text paints a stupendous picture of the angels bending over to peer into a dark place.
But Peter is teaching here that when you hear the story of Jesus Christ crucified you are seeing clearly what the prophets and patriarchs and psalmists and priests and even the angels could only see dimly.
When you look at the cross do you know what you are seeing? You are seeing the mystery clearly. That mystery is now heralded to you. As Jonathan Edwards wonderfully put it, “Under these sufferings, Christ, having cried out once and again with a loud voice, at last said, IT IS FINISHED, (John xix. 30.) “and bowed the head, and gave up the ghost.” And thus was finished the greatest and most wonderful thing that ever was done. Now the angels beheld the most wonderful sight that ever they saw. Now was accomplished the main thing that had been pointed at by the various institutions of the ceremonial law, by all the typical dispensations, and by all the sacrifices from the beginning of the world.”
The means that God chose for showing you this mystery is through words. Word spoken, words written down by the inspiring light of the Holy Spirit, words in the signs of water, bread and wine, the Word made flesh. That Word of Salvation is this: the only-begotten Son, beloved of the Father, became a true man, lived amongst us, and then suffered the just wrath of a holy God on behalf of unholy sinners. The prophets knew faintly that that the promised Christ would suffer, and they hung all their hope upon this. But while they could only see it from afar, now, in the Gospel of Jesus, you can see clearly. And so, as Isaiah from his ancient vantage point instructed: Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else (Isa 45:22).”
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.
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