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Precious Jesus
He Is Precious Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious.—1 Peter 2:7 Thomas Holmes{FOOTNOTE: Excerpted from “He Is Precious,” The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom, October, 1953, pp. 136-139.} Among much that eventually will be precious to God and honorable before ..men, Jesus will stand out pre-eminent and incomparable. His presence in the structure is absolutely essential and indispensable. Without him the remainder could be nothing, could form nothing, could accomplish nothing. “With him” and “in him” they can be built up a spiritual house for the Lord God of Israel to dwell in through age-lasting years.
From the standpoint of the stones alone, he has a
place and preciousness, a value and uniqueness surpassing all the rest, a
superiority and excellence which it is our joy and delight to own and declare.
Thank God for that corner-stone, elect and precious, on which so much has
depended and will forever depend—a stone precious beyond price to the builder,
and precious beyond comparison to those built upon him. Comparing Earthly and Heavenly Values The dictionary defines the word precious to mean “of great price or worth; costly, highly esteemed, valuable because rare.” On the material plane one thinks immediately of various minerals of the earth—gold, platinum, silver, and other rare ores and metals; of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and other rare gems of the mine. These are things of extrinsic worth, precious because of higher value than most other things, precious because of their scarcity. Then there are also the precious things of art, the great pictures of the masters; the great compositions of the musicians; the great statues of the great sculptors—all precious because few exist. These are also of extrinsic worth; precious because they excel in beauty and design. But there are other things in which the preciousness is intrinsic, being accounted precious because worthy of great esteem. The love of a near companion, the trust of a friend, the sympathy of a co-sufferer, the inspiration of a helping hand—these and other like qualities are of inestimable worth and precious beyond rubies. The love of a Jonathan and a David, who can assess its worth? These are the most precious things of the human life, and happy indeed is that heart in which they abound! But while these things are the best products of the human heart, they pale as the stars before the rising sun when placed alongside the precious things of the worthy Lamb. Let us note how Peter assesses the preciousness of his Lord by the nature of his brethren’s needs: “You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18,19, RSV). “Not with perishable things,” not with silver and gold! Oh, let us mark this comparison, for even silver and gold perish with age and usage. So do precious stones and marble. But that precious thing by which redemption was wrought for them (and us) has stood the tests and changes of successive centuries and still stands an undiminished thing of value. Let us take Peter’s illustration and think back to that tragic night in Hebrew history when a lamb, without spot or blemish, was thrust into the breach, when the angel of death swept through the land, and let us, for a moment, suppose that a wedge of gold or a cluster of gems had been fixed to the lintel and doorpost of the house, and then ask what would have ensued? Without doubt the sword of destruction would have entered that dwelling place and the firstborn of the family (albeit an Israelite), would have been the tragic forfeit of that fateful visitation. Neither silver nor gold, nor other precious thing had any value compared with the shed blood, but the blood of a lamb was enough to protect and redeem in that eventful hour.
How forceful and beautiful is Peter’s adaptation of that night’s redemption to his kinsmen in the flesh: “You were ransomed [redeemed] not with silver and gold or other like things, but by the precious blood of Christ.” Not all the wealth of the Indies could have done for them what that sacrifice of Christ had done. In all the wide world there was nothing else that could accomplish what that precious blood had done. “No one in heaven or on earth was able” (Revelation 5:3-5, RSV) to do what the Lamb that was slain accomplished. Rare, peerless, unique was the value and worth of that sacrifice, for it succeeded when all else had failed!
Precious beyond comparison, therefore, was the worthy
Lamb to these needy souls, and precious is he to us also today, for our need is
not one whit less than theirs. If so much was needed to effect reinstatement of
the natural branches of the good olive tree (Romans 11:17-24) into their parent
stock, is anything less required to engraft us of the “wild olive tree” into the
good olive stock? Nay verily! We too were redeemed from the stocks and stones of
our Gentile progenitors by that same precious blood, and enabled, like them, to
become believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so
that with them, our faith and hope might be in God (1 Peter 1:21,
RSV). “Call to Remembrance the Former Days” Let us forget not, in this our busy day, how we, the unjust, were brought near to God (1 Peter 3:18), for in the tumult and turmoil of life it is not beyond the range of possibility to have these primary things of our Christian life crowded out or thrust back on the stage of our common experience. We can so easily forget (or fail to recall) these early steps of our Christian life. Precious indeed in those early days was the worthy Lamb to our rejoicing souls, and woe betide us indeed if he is less precious today. Shame be to any one of us if the Shepherd-care of the intervening years has not multiplied his preciousness and dearness ten thousand-fold!
Repeating the same truth in other searching words,
Peter reminds his brethren that Jesus had borne their sins in his body on the
tree, that they might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by his wounds
they had been healed (1 Peter 2:24). Continuing, he further reminded them that
they had been as sheep going astray, but had now returned to the shepherd and
guardian (or Overseer) of their souls. One Fold and One Shepherd Here we catch many echoes from Isaiah’s Messianic refrain. Surely those dear dispersion brethren would know whence Peter culled his thoughts, and would recognize Jesus as the subject of the prophetic outline—wounded for their transgressions, bruised for their iniquities, his chastisement had made them whole, and with his stripes they had been healed. All they like sheep had gone astray and had turned every one to his own way, and the Lord had laid upon him the iniquity of them all. Now in God’s due time, and by God’s grace, they had “returned” to the shepherd and caretaker of their souls. Peter’s application gives the keynote to the right understanding of Isaiah’s pathetic words. They have reference, primarily and precisely, to the wandering sheep of the Hebrew fold, and put into speech the innermost feelings of the remnant that would “return” to the warmth and comfort of the divine care. Of course, Gentiles too, may, in a way, appropriate these passages and introduce themselves into their meaning and intent, but strictly speaking (and Scripturally speaking too), the prophet spake them only of Israel, and in particular of this believing remnant of Israel, which truly could say, “He was wounded for our transgressions,” etc. It is quite true that we, or our ancestors as Gentiles, “turned” to God from idols (or a demon-ridden way of life) to serve a living and true God, and that means we turned to Jesus also for deliverance from our sins. But it is not correct to say that, as the other ethnic unit of the world’s population, the Gentile convert “returned” to God (or Jesus) and to the shelter of the divine fold. Formerly he had been without God and without hope in the world. But the Israelite had been the exclusive people of God—the exclusive sheep of his pasture, and hence could both “stray” and “return” to the fold.
To these dear souls, therefore, the words of Peter
would surely make the prophetic statements of Isaiah precious indeed, and lead
them to hold the suffering servant of whom he spake precious and estimable
beyond all comparison. And so along with their brethren of the house
of Judah—the Jew—these dispersion Israelites formed the nucleus of the divine
flock, to which, in due course, the sincere believer from the Gentile world was
brought, and thereafter there came to be one fold—a new fold—and one
comprehensive flock with one Shepherd and Caretaker, whose pastoral charge
extended to all the flock. Grateful for the Tender Shepherd’s Care If Jesus, therefore, was precious to us as believers in the redemption phase of our turning to the Living God, surely in his capacity as shepherd of the flock, he is infinitely more precious to all who now lie beneath his tender care. Men who have traveled in oriental lands speak, at times, with wonderment of the obvious affection of the sheep for their watchful caretaker and shepherd as he stretched himself protectingly across the entrance to the fold for the night. Nosing its way through the flock, some particularly affectionate sheep has been seen to walk right close to the shepherd’s knee and lay its head across it while it looked up into his face, as if in this dumb and docile way, it would thank him for his care, and assure him of its own affection and love. Usually all of them would come at his call and stand or kneel before him at his bidding, expectant and unafraid, a sure token of the trust and confidence his kindly care had gendered in their hearts. Could a dumb and trustful creature of the sub-human species give expression to its sense of preciousness and esteem in a better way than this?
Peter’s exhortation and appeal, savors greatly of the
oriental fold and of the reciprocal situation that would ensue when wandering
sheep were once more safely housed in the fold. He had long retained sweet
remembrances of some of his dear Master’s pastoral utterances, and in this hour
of his brethren’s need worked them into his own appeal. Serving a Threefold Purpose Peter also carried precious recollections of a “Good Shepherd’s” claims. “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus had said; “I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:14,15, RSV). Passing thus the memories of his Master’s precious words through the prism of his own pastoral mind, Peter begins his appeal with the thought of a lamb and the redemption it wrought. Next—and retaining still a pastoral setting for his thought—he reminds his beloved brethren that they were as sheep, once astray, now returned to the fold, and, as if unwilling to leave the pastoral field of thought, he exhorts the elders among them, in conclusion, to “tend the flock of God that is in your charge … as … examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:2-4, RSV). Thus he reminds them that Jesus is their chief shepherd as well as the bishop of their souls. He who in his earthly day claimed the honor of being the “good shepherd” of the flock now stood before them as its “chief shepherd” too. Another pen adds another title to the shepherd’s dignities when it describes him as the “great shepherd” of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20). How beautiful and inspiring is this threefold designation of the dear Lord to every member of his flock: a “good” shepherd, a “great” shepherd, and a “chief” shepherd too! We also may claim and receive that same Shepherd’s care, for we too have been accepted into the “one flock,” and we also have just the same standing and need for the green pastures of truth. Faith-lacking members of that old Jewish fold have been cut off from grace that we might come in. Branches of the good olive tree (to vary the figure a while) were cut off, and grafts from a wild olive tree were grafted in, and now share with the natural branches the sap and vitality of the good olive tree (Romans 11:17-24). Some who once were “far-off” have been joined with some who were “near,” and now through one spirit they have joint access to, the one Father in heaven (Ephesians 2:17,18) and to the same Savior who is made “Lord of all” (Romans 10:12). Thus we come to the shelter of the fold, and share with the remnant of the natural seed the good shepherd’s care. For us, as for them, the rod and staff of the good shepherd become the instruments of providence, the tokens of heavenly guardianship.
Each member of the heavenly flock can say, “My
shepherd is precious, so precious to me.” Beneath his care I shall not want, for
he will make me to lie down in green pastures, he will lead me beside still
waters, he will restore me if wandering; he will lead me in the path of
righteousness for his name’s sake. Even in the valley of the shadows he will
attend me, and as for his rod and staff, they shall comfort me! Only One Fountain of Living Water Is my soul parched and thirsty for heavenly drink, or weak and languid from lack of spiritual food? He is the one to make provision for my need! Or I may have been drifting or wandering away from my covenant vows and a sense of deep loneliness has come over my soul. My need is for some one to restore me when wandering—but who of my friends is competent for that? Mayhap they also are wanderers and drifters too; how then can they lead me in the right way back to the fold? Or the shadows of a great sorrow may be darkening my skies, and I need one who can carry both my sorrow and me! Is there an earthly friend who can enter my soul and give me the strength to endure and to bear? Experience must teach me that no arm of flesh, subject like myself to life’s frailties and sorrows can meet my deep need and that he only can help me and keep me in the paths of righteousness even till death. Experience must teach me to lift my heart up to him; to expect him to hear my prayer, and supply my need. I, as his sheep, must go to him as my shepherd, immediate and direct, and to learn that no fellow-member of the flock can take his place or do for me what he has been charged of God to do. That means that my life and his are ringed around by a little circle of providential care, and that it is not a case that there is none, to me, like him, but that there is none but him. When I have learned that, I can truly say, “My savior and shepherd is precious to me.” When, then, in these troublous days the ranks of the Fellowship seem broken and scattered, and the love that should bind us grows cool, and the voices that speak are divided and contentious, and we feel that the things of the Lord are not what they might be, what can we do? What ought we to do? One thing and one thing alone! Put the great shepherd back in the place which to him rightly belongs. Let him be the one good shepherd to me. Then if every sheep in the flock—every brother and sister in the Fellowship—does this same thing, things must come right. His providence is competent for that. Permitting the Lord to have his rightful place in the heart and life is the sure corrective for all the ills and ailments both of the individual and the congregation. To know and accept him as the shepherd and bishop of souls individually and collectively is the unfailing token of peace both for the ecclesia and its members. And who knowing this truth and experiencing it in his own soul, can fail to say that he who can accomplish this for a church as well as for its members, is indeed precious beyond price. God grant us to see and appreciate the honor of our present standing before him so that his work in our hearts be not hindered or frustrated. We are being “kept” and guarded through faith, for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. As such, our Shepherd is precious to each and every sheep of his fold, as redeemer and provider, and worthy of all appreciation and love from all who call on his dear name. Surely each child can sing:
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