by

A. J. Gardiner (1884 - c. 1972)

MR. DARBY’S TEACHING AS TO THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST

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ATTENTION having been called to the subject of the sufferings of Christ by the erroneous teaching of Mr. Newton, Mr. Darby issued a paper in 1858 in which he pointed out that the sufferings of Christ fell into three categories

1. Atoning sufferings which came upon Him from God, when He offered Himself without spot to God to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and was forsaken by God. In these, of course, He was entirely alone.

2. Sufferings which He endured at the hands of men for righteousness’ sake, in which character of sufferings the saints may have part. (See Matthew 5:10; 1 Peter 4:14-16, 19.)

3. A wide field of suffering, not covered by the first two categories, which included (a) the suffering in spirit necessarily felt by the Holy One of God in passing through a world of evil (see, for example, Mark 7:34; 8:12; 9:19), (b) the deep anguish occasioned by the anticipation of, and the holy shrinking from, being made sin, and in that position sustaining God’s unmitigated judgment of it (see John 12:27; Matthew 26:36-44; Mark 14:32-40; Luke 22:39-46; Hebrews 5:7, 8), and (c) the suffering in spirit resulting from His voluntarily entering, in the sympathy of love, into the deep exercises of soul which the godly remnant of Israel will yet pass through as they realise, in the days of the great tribulation, God’s governmental dealings with them in respect of their rejection of the Messiah. This character of suffering, as well as that referred to under (b), entered into the sorrows of Gethsemane. The feelings of the heart of Christ, caused by these

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sufferings, have been expressed by the Spirit of Christ through David and others in many of the psalms, which thus provide godly utterances suitable to be taken up by the remnant in the time of their dire distress.

On the publication of these papers, certain brethren charged Mr. Darby with holding similar views to those which had been put forth by Mr. Newton, and a certain number, though not many, separated on that ground. In fact, Mr. Darby’s teaching was the exact opposite of Mr. Newton’s as will be seen from the following statement by Mr. Darby himself.

Extract from “The Sufferings of Christ,” by J.N.D.

Since I sent my reply to some previous questions on the paper on the “Sufferings of Christ,” two further questions have been sent to me. After the explanation I have given in reply to the former, a short answer will suffice. The inquiry made is, What is the difference between the doctrine of the paper and Mr. Newton’s? The question shews the need of making the matter clear to those who have been occupied with it. The answer is very simple. The doctrine of the paper is exactly the opposite of Mr. Newton’s. Mr. Newton taught that Christ, as born an Israelite and a man, was at the same distance from God as Israel and man, because He was one of them, was exposed to the consequences of it, and passed through the experiences an unconverted elect man ought, escaped much of what He was exposed to by being in their position, by prayer, obedience, and piety; but still had the fierce displeasure of God resting on Him as born one of the people. Hence He listened with glad attention to the gospel under John the Baptist, and passed then for Himself as from the law to the gospel. Most of this terrible anguish to which He was exposed, as born one of the Jews and of the children of Adam, was before His baptism by John.

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I believe, on the contrary, that—though suffering from man and feeling for all the sufferings of man, and Israel, and the sorrow of love resting continually upon His heart—the sunshine of God’s favour was on Him and was His delight and His joy continually, and thus there was no divine displeasure resting on that Holy One, nor was His frame wasted by the anguish of it. I detest it as a false abomination. But I believe that in grace, at the close of His history, when His life-work, as presented to Israel according to promise and gracious service towards man, was brought to a close, He, the object of divine favour, entered into the sorrows of His people.

Your correspondent has said in a short parenthesis (“unless anticipatively”); but what is Israel’s sorrow in the last day unless anticipative? They will not undergo wrath at the close. Christ felt it in Gethsemane anticipatively, because He was about to undergo it. But He did it anticipatively; that is, He did feel what Israel will feel, only far more deeply. And He felt it in grace, because He was not under it personally; whereas Israel as to his own position will be; and if Christ had been under it personally, because born a Jew, He could not have entered into it in grace....

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