Second. I come now to his being received—' He was received up into heaven.' The high priest under the law, when he ascended into the holiest, was there to offer the blood, which most sacred was the type of heaven (Exo 19:10,11; Heb 9:24). But because the sacrifices under the law could not make them that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience, therefore they were to stand, not to sit; to come out again, not tarry there. 'For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou would not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me), to do thy will, O God (Heb 10:4-6).
Christ, therefore, in his entering into heaven, did it as high priest of the church of God; therefore, neither did he go in without blood. Wherefore, when he came to be a high-priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood; he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us (Heb 9:12-14). He entered in, having obtained, or because he received, eternal redemption for us. But to pass that.
[Glorious circumstances attending his entrance into heaven.]
Consider now also those glorious circumstances accompanying his approach to the gates of the everlasting habitation.
First. The everlasting gates are set, yea, bid stands open—Be ye open, 'ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.' This King of Glory is Jesus Christ, and the words are a prophecy of his glorious ascending into the heavens when he went up as the church's high priest to carry the price of his blood into the holiest of all. 'Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in' (Psa 24:7,9).
Second. At his entrance, he was received, and the price accepted which he paid for our souls. Hence, it is said he entered in by his blood—that is, by its merit. 'To receive' is an act of complacency and delight and includes well-pleasedness in the person receiving, who is God the Father, and considering that this Jesus now received is to be received upon our account, or as undertaking the salvation of sinners—for he entered into the heavens for us—it is apparent that he entered thither by virtue of his infinite righteousness, which he accomplished for us upon the earth.
Third. At his reception, he received glory, and that also for our encouragement—' God raised him up and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God' (1 Peter 1:19-21). He gave him glory as a testimony that he accepted his undertaking of the work of our redemption.
1. He gave glory to his person in granting him to sit at his own right hand, and this he had, I say, for or upon the account of the work he accomplished for us in the world. When he had offered up one sacrifice for sins forever, he sat down on the right hand of God, and this by God's appointment—' Sit thou at my right hand' (Heb 10:12,13). This glory is the highest; it is above all kings, princes, and potentates in this world; it is above all angels, principalities, and powers in heaven. 'He is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being subject unto him' (1 Peter 3:32).
2. He gave glory to his name, to his name Jesus, that name is exalted above every name—' He hath given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the world; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:9-11).
This name is said, in another place, to be a name above every name that is named, 'not only in this world but also in that which is to come' (Eph 1:21).
But should JESUS have been such a name since he undertook for sinners? Had this undertaker failed in his work if his work had not been accepted by God, even the work of our redemption by his blood? No, verily; it would have stunk in the nostrils both of God and man; it would have been the most abhorred name. But Jesus is the name; Jesus he was called, to his work—' His name shall be called JESUS, for he shall save'; he was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb; and he goes by that name now he is in heaven; by the name Jesus—' Jesus of Nazareth,' because he once dwelt there. This name, I say, is the highest, the everlasting name, the name that he is to go by, to be known by, to be worshipped by, and to be glorified by; yea, the name by which also most glory shall redound to God the Father. Now, what is the signification of this name but SAVIOUR? This name he hath, therefore, for his work's sake; and because God delighted in his undertaking, and was pleased with the price he had paid for us, thus the Divine Majesty hath given it to him, hath made it high, and hath commanded all angels to bow unto it; yea, it is the name in which he rested, and by which he hath magnified all his attributes.
