Question 28 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “In what does Christ’s exaltation consist?“

The answer given is, “Christ’s exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day; in ascending into heaven; in sitting at the right hand of God the Father; and in coming to judge the world at the last day.“

The previous question asked about Christ’s humiliation and in this question, we move in the opposite direction. The basic meaning of exaltation is to be raised up from a lower position to a higher one. Philippians 2:8-9 tells us that Jesus’ exaltation was a result of his obedience in going to the cross.

I recently watched the movie “Risen” again and was struck by one of the disciples’ reaction to the resurrection. While being interrogated by the tribune, the disciple made the statement, “this changes everything.” And so it does.

If Jesus did not ascend, thus proving that he was who he claimed to be (See Romans 1:4), then we have no firm basis for hope. We have nothing of substance to offer.

The catechism also reminds us that Jesus sits at the right hand of the father, meaning that He has taken up a position of Power. It further tells us that Jesus will return one day to finally set things right.

Our hope lies not only in the possibility of being with Jesus when we die, but that at some point, He will return to fix the mess we’ve made of this world.

Question 27 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “In what did Christ’s humiliation consist?“

The answer given is, “Christ’s humiliation consisted in being born, and that in a poor circumstance; in being subject to God’s law; in undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God and the curse of death on the cross; in being buried; and in continuing under the power of death for a time.“

The first question that needs to be asked is, “what is meant by the word humiliation?”

The basic meaning of the word is to be brought down to a lower position. In the case of Jesus Christ, he moved from Heaven to earth and took on the limitations of being human.

Isaiah tells us:

“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6, CSB

The eternal son was given to us, born as a child. Not only was he born as a human child; he was born into a poor family. Amazingly, the creator of the universe grew up in a family with limited resources. The king of kings experienced poverty instead of privilege.

On top of this, there would always be questions surrounding his legitimacy. After all, Joseph didn’t marry Mary until after she was pregnant. People in that day could count the months just as well as we can today. I’m sure that many a gossip had some fun with the story of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.

During his years of ministry, Jesus had a great impact. Many miracles are recorded in the Gospels and many more were done that remain unrecorded. But still, Jesus didn’t fix all that is wrong with the world.

I listen to the news and sometimes get overwhelmed with how much of a mess humanity has made of this world. Injustice, oppression, and murder can be found on the pages of any newspaper or on the evening news broadcast.

But the thought, which is strangely encouraging, is that all of these things were present in the world when Jesus walked the earth. The Pax Romana was maintained with cruelty and injustice. In the midst of this, Jesus showed us an example of how to stay on mission despite the circumstances around him.

We can also be encouraged by the thought that through his death on our behalf, Jesus also secured the ultimate defeat of our enemy. He will one day return to complete the victory over evil and make everything right.

Question 25 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, How does Christ fill the office of a priest?

The answer given is, Christ fills the office of a priest in his once offering up of himself to God as a sacrifice, to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God; and in making constant intercession for us.

I notice first the word “once” which is used to modify the verb offering. Christ does not continually offer himself up as a sacrifice, nor does the sacrifice need to be repeated on a daily or weekly basis. It was completed once and is effective for all time.

The answer also provides the purpose of Christ’s sacrifice. It was done to satisfy divine justice and provide the means were we can be reconciled to God. In other words our relationship with God was broken and we needed Jesus to intervene to restore the relationship. We bring sin and failure to the table and Jesus takes it and gives us his righteousness in return.

But perhaps the most comfort of all can be obtained from the last part of this answer. Jesus functions as a priest by continually interceding on our behalf.

This really hits home with me right now. I have gone through a period of time when I wasn’t really sure who was fully in my corner supporting me. When life is difficult and nothing seems to be going right, it makes all the difference in the world to know that Jesus has not given up and has not abandoned me. The reminder that Jesus is making the effort to intercede on my behalf makes it possible to persevere and avoid despair.

If you are in need of encouragement right now, may I suggest that you take a few moments and read the prayer In John 17 and spend some time letting it marinate? By reading this prayer, we get a deep view into how Jesus intercedes for us.

Question 24 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, How does Christ fill the office of a prophet?

The answer given is, Christ fills the office of a prophet in revealing to us by his Word and Spirit the will of God for our
complete salvation.

The purpose of a prophet is to speak the words of the one who sent him. Many of the prophets ended their declaration with the words “says the LORD” or “declares the LORD.” The Old Testament prophets came on the scene with a message to the nation of Israel that was given to each prophet by God.

In John 14:9, Jesus made an astounding claim when he said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”

In Jesus, we have the ultimate prophet who reveals the words, actions and character of God the Father. Because Jesus is the eternal Son of God, he can perfectly reveal God the Father to us.

It is never a bad thing to point out that Jesus did not come with a message of judgement. As Jesus said to Nicodemus:

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.

John 3:17–19 (CSB)

Jesus is the prophet who came to bring the light of God’s love and show us a way out of the darkness.