February 4 – LD 5, Day 7: The Qualifications of a Mediator
by Rev J. Kortering
Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore
the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and
bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
We saw how our hope is
concentrated in a possible mediator. Sinful man cannot do what it takes to be
right with God. We need a mediator.
Now the catechism focuses
on what sort of a mediator we need. The answer given is that he must be, “one
who is very man and perfectly righteous; and yet more powerful than all
creatures; that is, one who is also very God”.
No wonder we conclude
that such a mediator can never be produced by the fallen human race, only God
can bring forth such a mediator.
Let’s meditate briefly on
the qualifications presented here.
He must be a righteous
man. We will not now go into all the reasons why this is so, rather, let’s
simply look at such a qualification in itself. The mediator must be a righteous
man. Where will we ever find such a person? There are plenty of men around. The
human race has continued to produce children; one of the interesting activities
is to trace genealogies. You probably do this from time to time. Yes, indeed,
we have parents, siblings, grandparents, great grandparents, some may be able
to look back and count five generations. The remarkable thing about all of them
is, they are all sinners; they were conceived and born
in sin. Not one of our immediate relatives, much less our distant past
relatives, are qualified to be a mediator, for none are righteous, no not one.
He must also be powerful,
that is, one who is very God. There may be many people who are so proud that
they like to think they are as great as a god; some have delusions of imagining
themselves to be god. Sometimes, proud man is so delusional, but it can never
be factual. Man can only bring forth man, not God and man.
The word of the Lord came
through Isaiah when he prophesied the coming of the mediator, THE LORD Himself
shall give you a sign; a VIRGIN shall conceive and bear a son. HIS name shall
be called Immanuel, God with us. These are the qualifications of the needed
mediator. Only THE LORD can give him, not only as a sign, but in reality.