3. Have all his sayings about the atonement been recorded?
Someone might raise the question of whether Jesus spoke about his atonement more fully and more frequently than is recorded
in the Gospels. We do not have a complete description of all he ever said and did so he may have spoken often of his death and the salvation it brings when he found receptive and sympathetic hearts to whom he could speak of such things. We are dealing here with probabilities. We certainly know that our Lord did not make his sufferings and death the main topic of his teaching. He did not teach it the way the apostles later would. However, this does not exclude the possibility of a
larger number of references to his death, when appropriate and in private, as in the case of Nicodemus. Possibly, the people of
Sychar, who received him so enthusiastically, were taught truths such as those shared with Nicodemus. Perhaps this is what prompted them to hail him as "the Saviour of the world".
Or what about the words Jesus spoke after Mary of Bethany anointed him with perfume? "She
did it for my burial" Jesus says (Matthew 26:12). She seems to have been taught by him about his death and simply
accepted the words in their proper sense. Many want to assume that the woman intended nothing of that sort and Jesus
merely took her words in that way. However, the language used suggests rather that this is a glimpse into her heart, her whole loving nature having been moved. The common view is accepted mainly because she has a simpler and more enlightened faith than the disciples. That should not blind us to the real situation. It is not always the most privileged who show the greatest faith. Jesus seems to
have instructed her in private with regard to the nature and effect of his death,
something she now regards as certain. She believes him with a
simplicity and directness that those who were still dreaming of posts of honour and
distinction did not share. This is almost a proof of his having given more statements about his his death than are recorded in the Gospels.
Certainly after his resurrection our Lord had many conversations about his atoning death that have not been preserved. It seems to have been one of the
principal objects of his forty day sojourn here. He had a great deal to say on that theme that they were not ready to listen to before. No doubt he said a great deal that is not not
recorded when he expounded to them from the Old Testament Scriptures all the things concerning himself there, beginning with Moses and the prophets (Luke 24:27). His words to the two disciples on the Emmaus road were "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" (25, 26). His great design was to unfold the necessity, nature and design of his death in the place of others and to open their minds to understand the Bible (Luke 24:45). We cannot but conclude, when we put all the
hints together, that Jesus must then have said more to the disciples on the subject of his death for
the remission of sins, than in all he had previously said to them. The work was complete and could now be fully understood. They knew
the fact of his death and now he began to help them to get to know the design and purpose of that death in the light of the Old Testament. A complete outline of Bible teaching about the Messiah as it had been fulfilled was now opened to their wondering gaze, as it is contained in the law, the writings an the prophets (Luke 24:44). Who has not often wished to
possess these unrecorded expositions of the Old Testament? They are no doubt embodied in the New Testament but it has not seemed good to the inspiring Spirit to preserve them in a separate form.
The Lord had said, "I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear
them now " (John 16:12) but they could bear them now.
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