Ezra 7:28

REFLECTIONS

How truly lovely doth Ezra the scribe appear in the view here given of him! a scribe indeed well instructed in the law of God. Trained in a foreign land, and under captivity, yet still his attachment to his beloved Jerusalem, and the people of his fathers, and yet above all to the God of his fathers, how near at heart had Ezra an interest in all that concerned the welfare of Zion. Truly might he say, If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning: If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I do not prefer Jerusalem before my chief joy.

But while we pay all due respect to a character of such eminency as Ezra, how is the mind directed in the view of him to the recollection of one, to whom Ezra was but as the faint shadow to the sub stance. Jesus came to his beloved Jerusalem with full commission from the King of kings, even God his father, and had all power given to him in heaven and in earth. And as many as were minded of their own will, when by his grace the Lord had made them willing in the day of his power, the Father gave to be his companions, that Jesus might give eternal life, to as many as the Father had given to him. And the Lord Jesus declared the decree which Jehovah had made for this express purpose. But with what power was Jesus vested; to what extent his commission; to receive all honor, that as the Father was honored, so also should be the Son! All his ministers and servants freed from tribute; for if the Son had made them free, they then are free indeed. And all who refuse to bow the knee to the sovereignty of his grace, must bend before the iron rod of his justice. Hail! thou Almighty Jesus! who camest to us in thy Father's name, and by his authority. All power, grace, and salvation be thine. May every knee bow before thee, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.