Reference: Mediator
American
One who stands between two parties or persons as the organ of communication or the agent of reconciliation. So far as man is sensible of his own guilt and of the holiness and justice of God, he shrinks from any direct communication with a being he has so much reason to fear. Hence the disposition more or less prevalent in all ages and in all parts of the world, to interpose between the soul and its judge some person or thing most adapted to propitiate his favor - as a priestly order, an upright and devout man, or the smoke of sacrifices and the sweet savor of incense, Job 9:33. The Israelites evinced this feeling at the Mount Sinai, De 5:23-31; and God was pleased to constitute Moses a mediator between himself and them, to receive and transmit the law on the one had, and their vows of obedience on the other. In this capacity he acted on various other occasions, Ex 32:30-32; Nu 14; Ps 106:23; and was thus an agent and a type of Christ, Ga 3:19. The Messiah has been in all ages the only true Mediator between God and man; and without Him, God is inaccessible and a consuming fire, Joh 14:6; Ac 4:12. As the Angel of the covenant, Christ was the channel of all communications between heaven and earth in Old Testament days; and as the Mediator of the new covenant, he does all that is needful to provide for a perfect reconciliation between God and man. He consults the honor of God by appearing as our Advocate with the blood of atonement; and through his sympathizing love and the agency of the Holy Spirit, he disposes and enables us to return to God. The believing penitent is "accepted in the Beloved" - his person, his praises, and his prayers; and through the same Mediator alone he receives pardon, grace, and eternal life. In this high office Christ stands alone, because he alone is both God and man, 1Ti 2:5. To join Mary and the saints to him in his mediatorship, as the antichristian church of Rome does, implies that he is unable to accomplish his own peculiar work, Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24.
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Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.
And there is salvation in no other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we can be saved.
What then availeth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made; and it was delivered by angels in the hand of a mediator.
For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus:
But now He hath obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which is established upon better promises.
And on this account He is the mediator of a new covenant, that undergoing death for the redemption of transgressions against the first covenant, they that are called might receive the promise of an eternal inheritance.
and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than Abel.
Easton
one who intervenes between two persons who are at variance, with a view to reconcile them. This word is not found in the Old Testament; but the idea it expresses is found in Job 9:33, in the word "daysman" (q.v.), marg., "umpire."
This word is used in the New Testament to denote simply an internuncius, an ambassador, one who acts as a medium of communication between two contracting parties. In this sense Moses is called a mediator in Ga 3:19.
Christ is the one and only mediator between God and man (1Ti 2:5; Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). He makes reconciliation between God and man by his all-perfect atoning sacrifice. Such a mediator must be at once divine and human, divine, that his obedience and his sufferings might possess infinite worth, and that he might possess infinite wisdom and knowlege and power to direct all things in the kingdoms of providence and grace which are committed to his hands (Mt 28:18; Joh 5:22,25-26,27); and human, that in his work he might represent man, and be capable of rendering obedience to the law and satisfying the claims of justice (Heb 2:17-18; 4:15-16), and that in his glorified humanity he might be the head of a glorified Church (Ro 8:29).
This office involves the three functions of prophet, priest, and king, all of which are discharged by Christ both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation. These functions are so inherent in the one office that the quality appertaining to each gives character to every mediatorial act. They are never separated in the exercise of the office of mediator.
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And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me both in heaven and on earth.
For neither doth the Father judge any one, but hath committed all judgement to the Son;
Verily, verily I tell you, that the time is coming, and even now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given also to the Son to have life in Himself. read more. And hath given Him authority also to execute judgement, because He is the Son of man.
for those whom he foreknew, He also predetermined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be as the first-born among many brethren: and whom He before ordained, these He also called;
What then availeth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made; and it was delivered by angels in the hand of a mediator.
For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus:
Whence it behoved Him to be made in all things like unto his brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high-priest in the things concerning God, to make atonement for the sins of the people: for as He himself hath suffered, in being tempted, He is able to succour those that are tempted.
for we have not an high-priest who cannot sympathize with our infirmities, but was in all respects tempted in like manner with us, yet without sin. Let us therefore come with freedom to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace for our seasonable help.
But now He hath obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which is established upon better promises.
And on this account He is the mediator of a new covenant, that undergoing death for the redemption of transgressions against the first covenant, they that are called might receive the promise of an eternal inheritance.
and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than Abel.
Fausets
Six times in New Testament (Ga 3:19-20; Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24; also the verb, Heb 6:17, Greek "mediated," emesiteusen, "by an oath," "interposed as mediator between Himself and us with an oath"; Jesus is the embodiment of God's mediating oath: Ps 110:4). One coming between two parties to remove their differences. The "daysman" (Job 9:33) who "lays his hand upon both" the litigants, in token of his power to adjudicate between them; mokiach, from yakach, "to manifest or reprove"; there is no umpire to whose authoritative decision both God and I are equally amenable. We Christians know of such a Mediator on a level with both, the God-man Christ Jesus (1Ti 2:5). In Ga 3:20 the argument is, the law had angels and Moses (De 5:5) as its mediators; now "a mediator" in its essential idea (ho mesitees, the article is generic) must be of two parties, and cannot be "of one" only; "but God is one," not two.
As His own representative He gives the blessing directly, without mediator such as the law had, first by promise to Abraham, then to Christ by actual fulfillment. The conclusion understood is, therefore a mediator cannot pertain to God; the law, with its mediator, therefore cannot be God's normal way of dealing. He acts singly and directly; He would bring man into immediate communion, and not have man separated from Him by a mediator as Israel was by Moses and the legal priesthood (Ex 19:12-24; Heb 12:19-24).
It is no objection to this explanation that the gospel too has a Mediator, for Jesus is not a mediator separating the two parties as Moses did, but at once God having "in Him dwelling all the fullness of the Godhead," and man representing the universal manhood (1Co 8:6; 15:22,28,45,47,24; 2Co 5:19; Col 2:14); even this mediatorial office shall cease, when its purpose of reconciling all things to God shall have been accomplished, and God's ONENESS as "all in all" shall be manifested (Zec 14:9). In 1Ti 2:4-5, Paul proves that "God will have all men to be saved and (for that purpose) to come to the knowledge of the truth," because "there is one God" common to all (Isa 45:22; Ac 17:26).
Ro 3:29, "there is one Mediator also between God and man (all mankind whom He mediates for potentially), the man (rather 'man' generically) Christ Jesus," at once appointed by God and sympathizing with the sinner, while untainted by and hating sin. Such a combination could only come from infinite wisdom and love (Hebrews 1; 2; Heb 4:15; Eph 1:8); a Mediator whose mediation could only be effected by His propitiatory sacrifice, as 1Ti 2:5-6 adds, "who gave Himself a vicarious ransom (antilutron) for all." Not only the Father gave Him (Joh 3:16), but He voluntarily gave Himself for us (Php 2:5-8; Joh 10:15,17-18). This is what imparts in the Father's eyes such a value to it (Ps 40:6-8; Heb 10:5). (See PROPITIATION; RANSOM; ATONEMENT; RECONCILIATION.)
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For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish, but have everlasting life:
Even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
For this doth the Father love me; because I lay down my life: that I may take it again. None taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment I have received from my Father.
and hath made of one blood every nation of men to dwell upon all the face of the earth, having determined the seasons before-appointed them, and the bounds of their habitation;
or is He the God of the Jews only, and not also of the Gentiles?
and lords many,) yet to us there is but one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Then will be the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father; when He shall have abolished all rule, and all authority, and power.
And when all things shall be subjected to Him, then shall the Son also himself be subject to Him, that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
And so it is written, "The first man Adam was made a living soul." But the last Adam is an enlivening spirit.
The first man being made out of the earth, was earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
What then availeth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made; and it was delivered by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not the mediator of one only; and God is but one.
Now a mediator is not the mediator of one only; and God is but one.
Let the same mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be as God. read more. Yet He emptied himself, assuming the form of a servant, when made in the likeness of men: and being in the human state, He humbled himself, and was obedient even unto death, and that the death of the cross.
and cancelled the obligation we were under by ritual decrees, which was grievous to us, and hath taken it quite away, even nailing it to his cross.
who is willing that all men should be saved, and therefore come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus:
For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus:
For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus: who gave himself a ransom for all, a testimony to be published in due time,
for we have not an high-priest who cannot sympathize with our infirmities, but was in all respects tempted in like manner with us, yet without sin.
Wherefore God being willing more abundantly to manifest unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it with an oath:
But now He hath obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which is established upon better promises.
And on this account He is the mediator of a new covenant, that undergoing death for the redemption of transgressions against the first covenant, they that are called might receive the promise of an eternal inheritance.
Wherefore upon his coming into the world He saith, "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, but a body hast thou prepared me:
and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which they that heard, intreated that the word might not any more be thus delivered to them: (for they could not bear the strict command, if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or shot through with a dart; read more. and so terrible was the appearance that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and tremble:) but ye are come to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than Abel.
and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than Abel.
Morish
Middle man, one who can stand between two and have intercourse with both. Such was Moses: he conveyed to the people the words of Jehovah, and carried to Jehovah the replies of the people. Again and again he pleaded their cause. The very fact of a mediator acting between two, is used by the apostle to show that God's acting with Abraham was on a different principle. "A mediator is not of one, but God is one," and He made to Abraham personally an unconditional promise. Ga 3:19-20. The Lord Jesus is the Mediator
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What then availeth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made; and it was delivered by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not the mediator of one only; and God is but one.
For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus:
But now He hath obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which is established upon better promises.
And on this account He is the mediator of a new covenant, that undergoing death for the redemption of transgressions against the first covenant, they that are called might receive the promise of an eternal inheritance.
and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than Abel.
Watsons
MEDIATOR, one who stands in a middle office or capacity between two differing parties, and has a power of transacting every thing between them, and of reconciling them to each other. Hence a mediator between God and man is one whose office properly is to mediate and transact affairs between them relating to the favour of almighty God, and the duty and happiness of man. No sooner had Adam transgressed the law of God in paradise, and become a sinful creature, than the Almighty was pleased in mercy to appoint a Mediator or Redeemer, who, in due time, should be born into the world, to make an atonement both for his transgression, and for all the sins of men. This is what is justly thought to be implied in the promise, that "the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head;" that is, that there should some time or other be born, of the posterity of Eve, a Redeemer, who, by making satisfaction for the sins of men, and reconciling them to the mercy of almighty God, should by that means bruise the head of that old serpent, the devil, who had beguiled our first parents into sin, and destroy his empire and dominion among men. Thus it became a necessary part of Adam's religion after the fall, as well as that of his posterity after him, to worship God through hope in this Mediator. To keep up the remembrance of it God was pleased, at this time, to appoint sacrifices of expiation or atonement for sin, to be observed through all succeeding generations, till the Redeemer himself should come, who was to make the true and only proper satisfaction and atonement.
The particular manner in which Christ interposed in the redemption of the world, or his office as Mediator between God and man, is thus represented to us in the Scripture. He is the light of the world, Joh 1; 8:12; the revealer of the will of God in the most eminent sense. He is a propitiatory sacrifice, Ro 3:25; 5:11; 1Co 5:7; Eph 5:2; 1Jo 2:2; Mt 26:28; Joh 1:29,36; and, as because of his peculiar offering, of a merit transcending all others, he is styled our High Priest. He was also described beforehand in the Old Testament, under the same character of a priest, and an expiatory victim, Isa 53; Da 9:24; Ps 110:4. And whereas it is objected, that all this is merely by way of allusion to the sacrifices of the Mosaic law, the Apostle on the contrary affirms, that "the law was a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things," Heb 10:1; and that the "priests that offer gifts according to the law, serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount," Heb 8:4-5; that is, the Levitical priesthood was a shadow of the priesthood of Christ; in like manner as the tabernacle made by Moses was according to that showed him in the mount. The priesthood of Christ, and the tabernacle in the mount, were the originals; of the former of which, the Levitical priesthood was a type; and of the latter, the tabernacle made by Moses was a copy. The doctrine of this epistle, then, plainly is, that the legal sacrifices were allusions to the great atonement to be made by the blood of Christ; and not that it was an allusion to those. Nor can any thing be more express or determinate than the following passage: "It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. Wherefore when he [Christ] cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering," that is, of bulls and of goats, "thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. Lo, I come to do thy will, O God! By which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all," Heb 10:4-5,7,9-10. And to add one passage more of the like kind: "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin;" that is, without bearing sin, as he did at his first coming, by being an offering for it; without having our iniquities again laid upon him; without being any more a sin-offering:
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as the Son of man came not to be ministred unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.
for this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant, which is to be shed for many for the remission of sins:
The next day John seeth Jesus coming towards him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.
and looking upon Jesus as He was walking, he saith, "Behold the lamb of God."
The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all into his hand:
For neither doth the Father judge any one, but hath committed all judgement to the Son; that all men may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father: he, that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father that sent Him.
whom God hath appointed to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness, in the remission of past sins, according to the forbearance of God;
For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more being reconciled shall we be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received reconciliation.
to declare, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing to them their trespasses, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for us: for it is written, "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:"
and that He might reconcile both in one body unto God, by the cross, having thereby slain the enmity:
even as Christ hath loved us, and given Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweet perfume.
and being in the human state, He humbled himself, and was obedient even unto death, and that the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name above every name: read more. that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of celestial beings, as well as of those on earth, and of those under the earth;
Exhort the young men in like manner to be temperate:
For it became Him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect by sufferings:
Seeing then the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself in like manner partook of them; that by death He might destroy him that had the empire of death, that is, the devil:
He became the author of eternal salvation to all that obey Him:
by so much is Jesus become the surety of a better covenant.
wherefore also He is able to save to the uttermost, those that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.
For if He were on earth, He could not be a priest, seeing there are priests already that offer gifts according to the law: who worship under the representation and shadow of heavenly things; as Moses was ordered by God, when he was about to finish the tabernacle. For see, saith He, that thou make all according to the model shewn thee in the mount.
so Christ, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear the second time without sin, to those who are waiting for Him, unto salvation.
For the law having but a faint shadow of good things to come, and not the full image of the things, can never, even by the great annual sacrifices which they offer statedly, make the comers thereunto perfect.
For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore upon his coming into the world He saith, "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, but a body hast thou prepared me:
then said I, Lo I come, as in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God."
"Lo I come to do thy will, O God." (He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second.) By which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
As Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust (that He might introduce us to God) being indeed put to death in the flesh, but raised to life by the Spirit:
But there were indeed false prophets among the people of old, as there will be also among you false teachers, who will privately introduce pernicious heresies, denying even the Lord that bought them, and bringing upon themselves swift destruction,
And they sung a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open its seals; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation;
These are they who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins: these are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth: these were redeemed from among men, as the first-fruits unto God and the Lamb.