The conception of the final Affliction contains [pg 235] the thought of atonement and purification. All they who are destined for the Kingdom must win forgiveness for the guilt contracted in the earthly æon by encountering stedfastly the world-power as it collects itself for a last attack. For through this guilt they were still subject to the power of ungodliness. This guilt constitutes a counter weight which holds back the coming of the Kingdom. But now God does not bring the Affliction to pass. And yet the atonement must be made. Then it occurred to Jesus that he as the coming Son of Man must accomplish the atonement in his own person. He who one day shall reign over the believers as Messiah now humbles himself under them and serves them by giving his life a ransom for many, in order that the Kingdom may dawn upon them. That is his mission in the estate which precedes his celestial glory. “For this he is come” (Mk 10:45). He must suffer for the sins of those who are ordained for his Kingdom. In order to carry this out, he journeys up to Jerusalem, that there he may be put to death by the secular authority, just as Elijah who went before him suffered at the hand of Herod. That is the secret of the Passion. Jesus did actually die for the sins of men, [pg 236] even though it was in another sense than that which Anselm’s theory assumes. 5. Isaiah 40[-66]: The Secret of the Passion Foretold in the Scripture. “How is it written of the Son of Man? That he must suffer many things and be set at naught” (Mk 9:12). The new form of the secret of the Passion is derived from the Scripture. In the picture of the suffering servant of God Jesus recognised himself. There he found his vocation of suffering depicted in advance. In order, however, to understand how his secret came to him from out the Scripture, the picture of the suffering servant of God must be set in the great framework in which it belongs. The modern-historical solution cannot do this. It confines itself to the notion of a meek self-surrender. As soon, however, as it is once perceived that Jesus’ idea of the Passion was eschatological, it is evident also in what a great context he must view the figure of the suffering servant of God. Accordingly, Isa. 40-66 was nothing else but the prophetic representation of the events of the last time in the midst of which he knew himself to be. The passage commences with the proclamation [pg 237] that God’s reign is about to begin. The preparer of the way comes upon the scene. He cries that the earthly passes away when the Lord, dealing reward and recompense, appears in his glory. The hour dawns in which he gathers his flock and brings in the era of peace.