Chp.38 - Christ Observed Equal To God Annoys The Jews
"And Trypho said, “Sir, it were good for us if we obeyed our teachers, who laid down a law that we should have no intercourse with any of you, and that we should not have even any communication with you on these questions. For you utter many blasphemies, in that you seek to persuade us that this crucified man was with Moses and Aaron, and spoke to them in the pillar of the cloud; then that he became man, was crucified, and ascended up to heaven, and comes again to earth, and ought to be worshipped.”" Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 213). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Trypho out of confusion and unbelief falls back on his teachers. His ears are weary of hearing the truth and desires to return to the traditions of his fathers and the elementary principles of the order of Israel. But in the blindness of His teachers he is led away from the life giving nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of being exalted to heaven through the power of the cross Trypho and his teachers lower God to human standards and forfeit the divine nature. By listening to these teachers Trypho continues to stumble over the external nature of the Law. Because of this, the teachers of Israel, as did Nicodemus, could not observe Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures (Jn.3). "Then I answered, “I know that, as the word of God says, this great wisdom of God, the Maker of all things, and the Almighty, is hid from you. Wherefore, in sympathy with you, I am striving to the utmost that you may understand these matters which to you are paradoxical; but if not, that I myself may be innocent in the day of judgment. For you shall hear other words which appear still more paradoxical; but be not confounded, nay, rather remain still more zealous hearers and investigators, despising the tradition of your teachers, since they are convicted by the Holy Spirit of inability to perceive the truths taught by God, and of preferring to teach their own doctrines." Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 213). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.
Justin calls Trypho to be patient and listen carefully. We all would do well to check our own understanding at the door and be teachable. Justin knows this, and intercedes for this Jew of the highest circumcision. Justin explains, that his teachers forbid him to hear further, because they are under the conviction of the truth, but suppress this conviction in their unrighteousness, turning their hears from the whole counsel of God and exalting their own understanding. Therefore, Justin pleads with Trypho to stay, to be zealous to hear, and to labor to dig further into this noble investigation, not as we define despising, but despite the traditions of the fathers. Justin is calling us all here to be noble, like the Bereans (Acts 17:11). So therefore, Justin presses Christ further using the 45th Psalm: Psalm 45:title–17 (NKJV) To the Chief Musician. Set to Contemplation of the Sons of Korah. A Song of Love. 1 My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. 2 You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever. 3 Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, With Your glory and Your majesty. 4 And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things. 5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies; The peoples fall under You. 6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions. 8 All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia, Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad. 9 Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women; At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir. 10 Listen, O daughter, Consider and incline your ear; Forget your own people also, and your father’s house; 11 So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him. 12 And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; The rich among the people will seek your favor. 13 The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; Her clothing is woven with gold. 14 She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You. 15 With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; They shall enter the King’s palace. 16 Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons, Whom You shall make princes in all the earth. 17 I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations; Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever. Justin's intention for using this Psalm is to draw Trypho's attention to verse 11 where Christ is observed by the King as Lord with the same level of authority as himself. Sparing you the boring detail, here is my rendering of verse 11: Psalm 45:11 The King, therefore, will greatly desire your beauty because together in the Adonai, you worship the Lord. (MAST) This is a Trinitarian statement. Those who leave the traditions/idols of men for the worship of Yahweh are caught up in the adoration that God has for his own glory. God will see us as eternally beautiful when Christ is the Lord of us. The title Adonai is the plural form of Yahweh, which means self-existent. This is a clear reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit self-existing as one. This is equivalent to the New Testament understanding of being "in Christ" (Rom.6:11;8:1). The Psalmist here is calling Israel and her neighbors into the fellowship that God has within the three interpersonal relationship of their interlocking essence. Each are distinct in person, but unchangeable and undivided in substance. To fellowship with God we must be made of the same undivided substance; and the role of the Holy Spirit is to bring us into this fellowship. Therefore the Holy Spirit is not worshiped as the Christ but is adorned with the Lord's beauty.
The King is the Father who adorns the Son, who is observed as the Lord of hosts. Therefore, together with the hosts who worship the name of the Lord, the Father observes the hosts after the beauty of the Son. The hosts worship by the Holy Spirit who has the power to observe and host the Son as the preeminent of the sons of men, for he is to be worshiped on the same level as God above all men, even men filled with nature of the Spirit. Therefore David, nor Solomon, is to be worshiped, but rather adorned with the grace of the Son. It is the Lord of hosts who makes these men beautiful and all those who have this fellowship. Justin also wants to use this Psalm to bring out the fact that only by the Lord of hosts will the names of the rulers of the earth be remembered in heaven. It is directly related to how they treat the name of the Lord of hosts in what manner they will be remembered by the King. Justin is quoting from the Septuagint which gives us a little more understanding how the early translators understood this text. The Septuagint (Justin's version) renders it: O daughter, and behold, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people and the house of thy father: and the King shall desire thy beauty; because He is thy Lord, they shall worship Him also. From this version we can clearly see that this is a three-fold fellowship, and that the translators of the Hebrew should have understood this, but they apply this on a human level, equating this to a man. So Justin is basically saying, "What you accuse of us Christians, you yourselves practice by applying verses, like these, to mere men." As Justin previously said, "David nor Solomon rose from the grave nor avoided corruption." It was Christ alone who rose from death and did not see corruption. Justin is calling Trypho to look at the facts and come to know this resurrection power, to leave the elementary order of this world, and to know the nature of the living God in Christ Jesus the Lord. To obtain this Holy Spirit one must come to the Father through the Son (Ps.2:12;Jn.6:44;14:6). David understood this, and sought for the Lord's mercy to seek his face; for it was through David that the Lord said to David's Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool." Luke 20:39–47 (NKJV) 39 Then some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” 40 But after that they dared not question Him anymore. 41 And He said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? 42 Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, 43 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’ 44 Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?” 45 Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 47 who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” Now Luke records this because the beauty of the Temple was adorned on the back of the poverty of the widows who were tricked into believing they would receive an eternal reward for giving to the adornment of an external temple that Jesus prophesied would crumble and fall. Luke 21:5–6 (NKJV) 5 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, 6 “These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.” Jesus came that we would be adorned with the beauty of the nature of his fellowship with the Father in the grace of the Adonai. He did not come to glorify the flesh in the appearance of the rich, but that his name would be glorified in those poor of spirit and broken over the miseries of this life; to those who call on his name out of a pure heart, thirsting for the water of life. This is what Jesus gave his flesh for; in his death and suffering. But his resurrection life is for those who follow him into his death, which was the death of the fellowship of darkness and sin. Therefore, Justin is continually pleading with Trypho to persist and to endure to know this fellowship; and to put away the understanding of his teachers and listen to the prophetic voice of the Word!
Chp.39 - Taking Captivity Captive
To this Trypho said to me, “I wish you knew that you are beside yourself, talking these sentiments.” And I said to him, “Listen, O friend,6 for I am not mad or beside myself; but it was prophesied that, after the ascent of Christ to heaven, He would deliver7 us from error and give us gifts. The words are these: ‘He ascended up on high; He led captivity captive; He gave gifts to men.’8 Accordingly, we who have received gifts from Christ, who has ascended up on high, prove from the words of prophecy that you, ‘the wise in yourselves, and the men of understanding in your own eyes,’9 are foolish, and honour God and His Christ by lip only. But we, who are instructed in the whole truth,10 honour Them both in acts, and in knowledge, and in heart, even unto death. But you hesitate to confess that He is Christ, as the Scriptures and the events witnessed and done in His name prove, perhaps for this reason, lest you be persecuted by the rulers, who, under the influence of the wicked and deceitful spirit, the serpent, will not cease putting to death and persecuting those who confess the name of Christ until He come again, and destroy them all, and render to each his deserts.” Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 214). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Trypho continues to be like a doubting Thomas, who now sees the Scriptures as the authority but will not believe until he sees the scars of the Christ.
And Trypho replied, “Now, then, render us the proof that this man who you say was crucified and ascended into heaven is the Christ of God. For you have sufficiently proved by means of the Scriptures previously quoted by you, that it is declared in the Scriptures that Christ must suffer, and come again with glory, and receive the eternal kingdom over all the nations, every kingdom being made subject to Him: now show us that this man is He.” Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 214). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. To know, now, this person, this man, who has ascended into heaven and sits as the mighty right hand of the Father, is to know the witness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can only be found among the saints in whom His witness dwells. Justin can quote the Law and the Prophets all day long, but until Trypho dwells in the Adonai, he has no fellowship. Trypho must dwell among the brethren and hear of their testimonies concerning the Lord of glory and experience the love they have for this glory in one another. In other words, he needs to be as near to the kingdom as the Fellowship is to the Christ. Justin has done the act of love in bringing the kingdom near to Trypho, risking persecution as noted above, but now Trypho must enter in like a child and be taught the oracles of God all over again, after the likeness of Christ, to receive assurance of this blessing and manifold witness of God. Nevertheless, Justin continues to disciple Trypho in the Scriptures in the strength of the Spirit.
