# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1928_S23
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1928. 23

How little justified the objection is that Jesus, in a suffering that lasted
only six hours, did not exhaust the full measure of the punishments imposed on
mankind becomes clear when one considers who it is that sheds his blood there
on the cross. It is not a mere man who cried there: "My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me?" but the Son of God, the great God himself. A passage that I
have not yet cited is Acts 20:28: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to
all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed
the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." "With his own
blood." It is not enough for the apostle to say "with his," that is, with
Christ's blood. He adds the adjective "own." Yes, it was his blood that he
offered, as it were, as the purchase price. And he is God; "his blood, the noble
juice, has such strength and power that even one little drop can cleanse the
whole world, yes, can make it free, loose and clear from the devil's jaws."

Philippi goes into all the details of the objection just discussed with great
acuteness. The Socinians had said it was not acceptable that God's Son should
suffer in a few hours what men actually ought to endure for all eternity. With
God, they said, there is simply no respect of persons. Philippi answers to that
that this Scripture word is quite unsuitably cited here. It has a quite
different reference in its context. No one could further deny that the freely
undertaken death of the Prince of Life has a higher significance than the equal
or even greater self-incurred and dutifully endured suffering of the
born servant. — The Socinians had further objected that between the suffering
of one of higher and of lower standing, if they were to count as equivalents,
some proportion must obtain. To this Philippi answers that Christ endured the
same wrath of God in momentary intensity that we were to bear in successive
extension. — The Socinians had also asserted that Christ had endured at most
one eternal death for the redemption of men, but that many eternal deaths would
have had to be endured. Philippi answers: Yes, but Christ endured the eternal
death not as an individual, ordinary man, as one among many, but as the God-man,
who weighs more than all. — Finally the Socinians had asserted that if the
person of Jesus weighs so heavily in the scale, then a lesser suffering on his
part would have sufficed, and his terrible death would have been unnecessary.
Philippi replies to this: According to the inviolable righteousness of God, the
eternal death had to be endured for the cancellation of the eternal or infinite
debt of sin, and this work Jesus, the God-man, accomplished. Thus he
excellently refutes all the arguments of the opponents. By the way, let us
again say to ourselves here that our chief weapon must be and remain the "It is
written."

V.

Every reader of the Bible knows that the children of God in the Old Covenant
had high priests and that under their supervision or by themselves many, many
sacrifices were offered. That among these sacrifices there were also atoning
sacrifices has already been mentioned. Further we know from Scripture that it
was God himself who had ordained this office and this service, and that he
promised his children, who with sacrifices