false friend to betray him and therefore hee goes out unto them without either counsell or advise of any other save of his owne lewde heart and sayes What will yee give me c. answerable to that of David When thou sawest a Theefe thou didst runne with him Psal 50.18 yea Thy feet are swift to evill and thou makest haste to shed innocent bloud thy thoughts are wicked thoughts desolation and destruction are in thy wayes saith the Prophet Isaiah 59.7 That is thou intendest such things to others but the truth is they in the end will light upon thine own pate and the pit thou diggest for another thou wilt fall into thy selfe as the Wise man affirmeth Prov. 26.27 And therefore let not men be too forward and hasty in wicked and sinfull courses especially in treasons and treacherous designes either against Christ himselfe or any others that are in any kinde annoynted of the Lord as are Kings Priests and Prophets but let them advise warily and looke charily to themselves before they goe on For howsoever the title of a volunteere be honourable in a good cause shewing mens freenesse and forwardnesse thereunto yet in such trayterous and treasonable practises as this of Judas and all other base and bad actions and expeditions whatsoever it is ignoble and inglorious But Judas sinne and our Saviours suffering stayes not stints not here for the truth is the Traytor hath a bagge and if that be empty it is little worth and therefore his Master must be sold that so he may have something wherewithall to fill it For Ser. 15. Anima ejus febricitat curis ut sacellus iste impleatur nummis as Saint Austin speaks of the covetous in generall His soule is even sicke with care untill his satchell be filled with coyne And rather then it shall continue so long he will Perdere fidem ut acquirat aurum He will get and acquire gold though he let slip and lose his faith and therefore cryes out unto the Priests Quid mihi dabitis What will you give me and I will deliver him unto you Oh the wickednesse the wretchednesse of this base sinne of covetousnesse which makes those that are possessed with it not to startle at the most horrid acts that either the malice of an enraged and infernall Devill can invent or the sinfulnesse of mans corrupted and depraved nature perpetrate and commit the least hope of gaine being thought title just enough and armour strong enough for all either injurious trayterous or murtherous assaults and the fruition thereof held a sufficient recompence and reward of all such impious and diabolicall designes And therefore no marvaile if the Holy Ghost have taught us by the pen of the Apostle That covetousnesse is the roote of all evill 1 Timothy 6.10 Ser. 11. in Cap. 6. ad Rom. Mor. Propter hanc enim saith Chrysostome naturae leges invertuntur cognationis jura pelluntur atque ipsius humanae suâ—stantiae justa debita corrumpuntur That is For this the Lawes of nature are inverted the rights of allyance and friendship perverted and the just dues of our humane substances and beings corrupted The tyranny of money urging and constraining us to lift up our violent hands not onely against the living but the dead too as he further insisteth and proveth in the same place Yea and for this not onely Cities and Countries but Highwayes Mountaines Hils and Woods Orbis etiam inhabitabilis sanguine seatent caedibus Yea the very inhabitable World it selfe doe abound with murthers and bloodshed Because indeed as the Poet saith Rem faciâ—as remsi possis recte si non quocunque modo rem Meanes and moneys must be be had Legally if it may be but if not by any meanes whatsoever Jure vel injuria be it by right or wrong So fearefull a sinne is Covetousnesse making a man to become Iniquum in deum in proximum in seipsum injurious and unjust not onely against his neighbour and himselfe but against his God too For usque ad mortem domini amor lucri se ingerit nec vitae salvatoris quaestus desiderium pareit That is the love of profit puts forth it selfe even to the death of the Lord neither doth the desire of gaine spare the life of the very Saviour of the World And therefore our Saviours advise and charge to his followers is Cavete ab avaritia beware of Covetousnesse Luke 12.25 Which counsell if his Apostle Judas had well heeded and followed hee never would have come here with his Quid dabitis What will yee give me and I will deliver him unto you Vâ—ncent Brâ—mi medit But O scelerate negotiator as one styles him what a wicked Merchant is this Qui aestimas illum nummis qui aestimari non potest To set a price a value of mony upon him whose excellency is unvaluable as it is said of a faithfull friend such as he was Eccles 6.15 in the last Translation or if you desire it rather in the vulgar Latine which is as well to our present purpose Cui non est digna ponderatio auri argonti The weight of Gold and Silver is not to be compared to him the same place in the Genevah Nay to esteeme so vilely and so basely of him as to set no rate no value upon him at all but to referre the price to the pleasure of the purchasers Quid dabitis What will you give which is all one if you transpose the words you shall finde it so as to say Give what you will so as you give something and I will deliver him unto you Oh! it was never heard before that he that was a seller although never so petty a chapman would give the buyer leave to set the price upon his wares Nisi de re nullius pretii agatur saith mine Author unlesse it were of such wares as were not worth the buying And so surely Judas did estâ—eme of Christ or else he would never have been thus base to have exposed him to sale as at an outcry Quid dabitis What will you give What is this but as the Prophet speaketh To sell the righteous for silver and the poore for shooes Amos 2.6 Nay which is worse to sell a Saviour at a lower price than a payre of shooes if both the shooes and the penny too were rated as in these dayes a goodly price to have him valued at as another Prophet exclaimes Zachariah 10.13 But O Judas thou dost little consider that one drop of his blood that thou sellest at so low a rate is sufficient to redeeme and purchase infinite Worlds yea and thine own soule too if thou wert not worse than an Infidell a revolting despairing Apostata and backslider from thy first faith But I have undertaken to expresse and aggravate rather the sufferings of Jesus than the sinnes of Judas and therefore I must not dwell here onely a few words more for use and application and so I will finish this
sinnes also of all his posterity throughout all ages Zacha. 5.7 Which lying like Zacharies talent of lead upon Christ his shoulders his person alone must needs presse downe that scale lower then the other that bore the sinnes onely of one man though never so great a murtherer and malefactour Brunus In regard whereof I doe not wonder to find some writers comparing Barabbas to the live sparrow spoken of Levit. 14.7 Qui dimittitur ut in agrum avolet as the vulgar Latine there reades it Which is let loose to fly in the open field because his single burthen of sinne alone was not so great a let and hinderance unto him as the burthen of the sinnes of the whole World layd upon the back of Christ the other sparrow there also spoken of whose wings were thereby clipped and himselfe indeed killed for the cleansing of the leaper For though Christs burthen laid upon our shoulders be Onus allevians but a light burthen lifting up and making fresh according to his owne saying My yoke is easie and my burthen light Mat. 11.30 yet our burthen layd upon him is onus onerans a burthen pressing downe and making faint pressing downe indeed his body to no lesse then the bottom of the grave and his soule to hell In regard whereof in the second place he is stiled by others The Lords lot chosen by Aarons successour though much degenerated the high Priest to be offered for a sinne-offering as was appointed by Moses Law where if we take the paines to search we shall find as two sparrowes spoken of before in Levit. 14. So two Goates Levit. 16. presentable before the Lord at the doore of the Tabernacle of the Congregation whereof one should be for a scape-goate and the other for an offering to the Lord as it is there said By which some of the Ancients as B. Bilson tels me understood Jesus and Barabbas Jesus to be slaine as an offering to the Lord and Barabbas to be sent to the Jewes desart or wildernesse bearing the sinnes of the people that cryed Let him be crucified let him be crucified Which if it be so then once more nay evermore let us meditate of the mercy and love of Christ towards us and muse upon his lowlinesse and humility that was content not onely to take our nature upon him and therein to suffer death upon the Crosse for our sinnes and so as I have sayd to become our sin-offering but also to be compared with the greatest malefactour of those times And by publike sentence yea votes and voyces of the people to be pronounced a greater delinquent and more worthy of death then he And let us beseech his infinite goodnesse by that great dejection and submission of his whereby he was contented thus to be rejected by these Jewes neither did disdaine to be adjudged worthy of death and to have Barabbas a wicked robber to be preferred to life before him that he would give us such grace that by how much we are inferiour unto himselfe by so much he would inflame our desires the more ardently to be willing to bear the contempt and rejection of this World and as cast downe through the sense of our sins and infirmities and unworthines every way account no otherwise of our selves then as of the scorn scum thereof the basest meanest among the sons of men For Quare superbit homo cujus generatio culpa Vita labor nasci paena necesse mori Why should man have any high thoughts or be proud in any thing whose very conception is sinneful his birth paineful his life laborious and his death unavoydable As also in the second place let us continually pray unto him that he would not permit and suffer us for any respect whatsoever whether of feare or favor to forsake our obedience and respect towards him but still prefer his honor and worship and love and friendship before all earthly advantages whatsoever yea and before our lives too And for further use application let us be content with patience and silence to bear it if at any time we see the wicked lewd and those that we know to be worse then our selves to be prefer'd before us either to the honours or in the favors of the world seeing Christ was contented to let sinfull and wicked Barabbas to be preferred before him in these Jewes esteeme Secondly let us take heed of preferring vice before vertue the flesh before the spirit the honours and profits and pleasures of the world before the honour and worship and service of God for in doing all or any of these we doe but preferre Barabbas before Christ Neither let us upon any occasion connive and give way to any unbeseeming or unfitting practises and imperfections contrary to our owne consciences either to please our selves or for feare to displease others lest we be like Pilate who because he would not offend and displease the Jewes he appointed Christ to be scourged and Barabbas to be loosed Nor yet farther let us upon any termes whatsoever be we Magistrates or inferiours justifie the wicked and condemne the innocent for in so doing we do justifie Barabbas and condemne Christ And for the last use let us all know that how often soever it pleaseth God to put good motions into our mindes of setting Christ at liberty either in his poore members that are in durance or in any other pressures and oppressions whatsoever or in our owne soules where hee is imprisoned by our sinnes and wee neglect the opportunity either through some pretended difficulty or remisnesse and weakenesse of our owne resolutions and resistance in both these cases and diverse others like these we cry with these Jewes Vivat Barabbas crucifigatur Christus Let Barabbas live and Christ be crucified which how fearefull a sinne it is you have heard before But I must proceed Pilate prevailing nothing more towards Christs discharge by this second meanes then he had done by the former He resolves yet further to try the third as hoping though their malice bee never so great and mindes never so violent and outragious against him for the present yet partly by respite of time and partly by the severity of some corporall punishment the heat of their hate might at last be appeased and so his life spared for he was desirous and willing to release him as it is said Luke 23.20 And therefore for this purpose he determined to lay so sharpe a punishment upon him as might suffice as hee had reason to thinke to asswage their fury and satisfie their bloudy and cruell desires So that hereupon in the third place as I say he gave commandement that he should be scourged Quod non ob aliud fecisse Tract 116. in Ioh. init credendus est Pilatus as Saint Austin speakes nisi ut ejus injuriis Judaei satiati sufficere sibi existimarent usque ad ejus mortem saevire dâ—sisterent which we cannot imagine to be
garment of ours Therefore hee would never make any defence or excuse for himselfe how often and before how many severall Judges soever he were accused as professing to be desirous and most willing if not found yet at least to be accounted guilty that so though not such in his owne person yet in ours he might suffer death and torments as a delinquent to free us from them that have deserv'd them and to whom they are truly and indeed due and doe properly belong Which if it be so why then surely we can never sufficiently magnify and extoll this his great goodnesse and inutterable love and charity towards us thus to cloathe himselfe with the rags of our wickednesse that so he might invest and adorne us with the robes of his owne righteousnesse to expose themselves to the danger of the Lawes curse to make us heires of the eternall and everlasting blessing insomuch as he cryes out unto his heavenly father in the Prophet Thine indignation lyeth hard upon mee and thou hast vexed mee with all thy stormes Psal 88.7 because indeed the just wrath of his eternall father and other punishments due onely to us for our sinnes hee would they should bee laid upon his owne shoulders and therefore is hee silent and stands mute before the Judge when they cry out against him If hee were not a malefactor we would not have delivered c. And they to make their accusation good and that so withall they might be sure as they thinke to leave some aspersion upon him having learn'd one of the Devils lessons Calumniare fortiter aliquid haerebit To calumniate strongly that so if not all that is said yet something at the least may stick fast and remaine behinde therefore they lay to his charge and pretend to accuse him of a three-fold crime or transgression saying First that hee went about to pervert the people yea subvert and overthrow their Nation Secondly that he denyed to give tribute unto Caesar And lastly that hee made himselfe a King as it is to be seene Luke 23.2 Sic tria excogitantes quemadmodum facerent crimina ubi nullum invenerant as it is said of Gn. Piso in Seneca seeking how to make three faults there where indeed they found not one But all this doth but the more proclaime them to be the true children of their father the Devill as Christ himselfe called them John 8.44 For he was a lyer from the beginning and so will continue to be the father of lyes unto the end For for the first Christ was so far from stirring up seditions or raysing tumults and dissentions among the people as that on the other side he strived and indeavoured what hee might to congregate and gather them together in one even as the Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings as he professeth himselfe Matth. 23.37 Secondly instead of denying Tribute unto Caesar he paid it in his owne particular when he bade Peter to take twenty pence out of the Fishes mouth and give it for them two Matth. 17.27 as also he preach't it to the people saying Give unto Caesar those things that are Caesars Luke 20.25 And lastly hee was so farre from seeking to un-king Herod or dis-throne Caesar as that hee professes his Kingdome not to bee of this world John 18.36 And therefore as Seduliuâ— well sings Hostis Herodes impiè Christum venire quid times Non eripit mortalia Qui regna dat coelestia That is O thou wicked Herod and enemy to all goodnesse Why fearest thou the birth of the Messias who although hee give Kingdomes that are eternall yet will take away none that are temporall But seeing he found them setled and established at his comming will onely adde this new honour and blessing unto them Vt etiam Ecclesiae Dei fiâ—nt That they may become so many Churches of God but for any of their former Rites Priviledges or prerogatives Nulla parte imminuere aut labefactare vult saith mine Author hee will not diminish or lessen them in the least degree either by himselfe or Ministers which shewes those Popes who have undertaken to dispose of Princes Diadems to be no Vicars of Christ but of the Devill rather who offered to give away all their Kingdomes at a clappe Matth. 4.9 Let us then for Vse and application of this point beseech our mercifull Redeemer that through that great and unimitable humility and patience of his whereby he being the Judge of quick and dead would yet permit himselfe to stand in our stead as guilty before the Barre and Bench of a corrupt and unrighteous Judge and there to heare and beare so many calumnies and false crimes as were obâ—ected against him by his enemies without the least reply in his owne justification or defence he would vouchsafe to grant unto us such a measure of the same graces of his as whereby wee may be enabled patiently to suffer and endure all injuries and opprobries contumelies and reproaches whatsoever inflicted and raised against us by the men of this world And that further hee would take away from us that propensity and readinesse whereby wee are all prone and forward to cover our weakenesses and imperfections yea our very foulest sinnes and transgressions with the figge-leaves of vaine and idle excuses that so condemning our selves in all things we may not be condemned at the day of judgement but be thought fit to be made partakers of grace in this life and glory in the life to come For he that covereth his sins shall not prosper but who so confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy Prov. 28.13 As also yet further let us herehence learne to bee obedient to those that have the oveâ—sight over us be they good or bad doe they right or wrong For seâ—ing the Sonne of God was so submissive before Pilate surely it behoves not any man that challenges an interest in his sufferings to bee refractary and disobedient to his superiours and lawfull deputed Judges but rather to yeeld and give way to his very equals if not inferiours since hee being God submitted himselfe to the power and ordinance of man Secondly let us hence also learne to be patient if at any time we receive ill at their hands of whom we have deserved well seeing Christ doth the like not onely from these Jewes but also from our selves who notwithstanding we be so many wayes obliged and bound unto him yet we doe both negligently serve him and daily and hourely offend him by our foule transgressions Thirdly when at any time our well doings are ill construed and our good intentions ill taken yet let us therewithall be contâ—nt seeing our Saviour that is the onely Truth of the world was accounted no other no better then a very Impostor and Seducer a Malefactour and Deceiver it being indeed a maine property of all envious and malitious men Vt etiam per ornamenta feriant To wound and strike those they hate and oppose even through their
and observations as well of mine owne as other mens The very heathen saith he for the most part in their execution of justice did observe this rule to doe it with all outward gravity and griefe and not with any light either gestures or jests whereby they might be suspected of taking pleasure in taking punishment nor with any extraordinary severity excepting some few Tyrants which might make a shew of private revenge But as he goes on it was not sufficient for these savages to crucifie Christ except they did it both with derision and despight Their malicious mindes must of necessity be satisfied as well with his shame as with his blood and that after an unusuall manner For when was purple before that time used for dishonour And who ever before that day had beene crowned with thornes The purple reached but to a scorne but the thornes went further For looke how many thornes did pierce his flesh so many streames of blood could not choose but issue from him so that as another saith Purpuratus jam Christus totus intus ac foris corpore sanguinolento veste purpurea Christ is become purple all over as well within as without having a deepe died sanguine body as well as a purple garment But it was not by chance and at adventure that hee was clothed in purple and therein mocked but as the holy Ghost made Caiaphas to say It is expedient that one should dye for the people John 11.50 and likewise Pilate What I have written I have written Joh. 19.22 So it made the souldiers to scorne him in a purple garment in token that whatsover they did to his reproach should follow afterward to his greater honour and renowne For Livy tells us that Romae vestis longa purpurea Imperatorum Triumphantium i. e. At Rome a long purple garment was the habite of the Emperors and such as had triumphed after some great victories and conquests And not onely at Rome but ubique ea in pretio fuit saith another author it was in high esteeme also in other places which doth evidently appeare to be so by sundry passages in sacred history For the curtaines and hangings of the Tabernacle were appointed by God himselfe to be of purple as yee may see Exod. 26.1.36 verses And Daniel the Prophet of God was promised by Belshazzar as a great reward of honour unto him that if he would reade the writing and shew the interpretation thereof he should be cloathed in purple and have a chaine of gold about his necke and be the third ruler in the Kingdome Dan. 5.16 as also Holophernes canopie of his bed on which hee rested when Judith came unto him was woven with purple Jud. 10.21 And therefore howsoever these Jewes array Christ in purple onely in scorne of his Kingship because he was usually stiled King of the Jewes yet his heavenly Father and the whole Court and Councell of Heaven had an honourable purpose towards him in permitting it Neither was it without a mysterie that they set upon his head a crowne of thornes For God having cursed the earth because of Adams sinne to bâ—ing forth thornes and bryars unto us This curse hath our Saviour now taken upon himselfe so that the points of these thornes are broken in his flesh and all things are now blessed all things reconciled all curses and crosses both healed and hallowed with his blood insomuch as all true Christians may now gather grapes of thornes which before this time could not be done as the holy Scripture doth intimate unto us Goe forth therefore O yee daughters of Sion and behold King Salomon with the crowne wherewith his mother crowned him saith the Spouse in the Canticles chap. 3.11 For vere spectaculum dignum visu Deus spinis coronatus It is a spectacle worthy your viewing to see God crowned with thornes I will now turne aside and see this great sight saith Moses Exod. 3.3 which was God himselfe in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush the bush burning yet not consumed unto which sight notwithstanding he could not draw neere untill he had pulled off the shooes of his feet as there is to be seene vers 5. Let us therefore pull off the shooes of profanenesse from the feet of our affections that so we may goe with him and behold this great fire of love wherewith the Lord burneth and this bush in the midst whereof he standeth and is inclosed which if we doe we shall see before us the unextinguishable and inconsumptible love of a kind and tender-hearted Father offering to sacrifice his Sonne yea his onely Sonne for our sinnes and behind us wee shall find Arietem haerentem cornibus inter vepres the Ramme or rather the Sonne himselfe as willing to be caught by the hornes in the midst of the bushes that so he may be offered And therefore as every bird fitteth upon the thornes in the orchard as it is said Baruch 6.70 so let us draw neere and make our nest in these bushes that we may find shelter against the stormy winds of affliction and parching yea scorching heat of temptation and all adversaries as well spirituall as corporall hunting our soules to destruction And abandoning the colours of all other Captaines and Commanders as the world the flesh divell and the like let us keeepe our selves fast and close in firme fidelity and sincere loyalty under the royall standard only of this our King although by these his enemies in derision and scorne he be crowned with thornes For the points of these thornes pierce not at this time so deepe into our Saviours head as in after time they shall pierce into the sides and soules of all adverse and opposing powers whatsoever especially such as thus deride and scorne him in his miseries and affliction For etiamsi Tale diadema non honorem sed horrorem adducit Horret tamen Christus magis asperitatem morum linguae stimulos quà m spinarum aculeos saith our country-man Gillebert In Cantica Although such a Diademe as this bring not honour but horror rather to him that weares it yet Christ doth more abhorre and disdaine the bitternesse of their malice and asperity of their manners yea the stings of their tongues than points or prickles of their thornes by which they thus thinke to torture and torment him But to proceed and grow towards an end of his sufferings under Pontius Pilate when hee saw that Jesus was in so pittifull a plight that he supposed the sight of his goared body and gashed head sufficient to breake the bloody purposes of his enemies He tooke him and led him forth to the people and sayd unto them Behold the man John 19.5 what would you have more if it be for malice that you are so violent against him behold how miserable he is If for feare behold how contemptible But as for fault whereby he should deserve death I can finde none but hee seemes to bee a man without
instructions to the Judges of our times And I will begin with that Quaere of the Holy Ghost Are your mindes set upon righteousnesse O yee Congregation and doe yee judge the things that are right O yee sonnes of men Ps 58.1 that is according to the order rightnesse straightnes of that Law of God which he set and appointed you to judge by when he sayd unto Moses that Judges and Officers he should make in all the Gates throughout the tribes of Israel and they should judge the people with just judgement Deut. 16.18 quasi dicat as an expositor upon the place non tantum in ore habeatis justitiam sed in opere as if he should say it is not enough to talke of righteousnesse with your mouthes and in your words but you must practise it also with your hands and in your works Now then let us take notice that there are many things requisite to this right and just judgement which ought therefore to concurre and be found in all Judges whatsoever whether Ecclesiasticall or civill The first whereof is this that what they require of others they practise and performe themselves because as S. Peter saith It is but just that judgement should begin at the house of God 1. Pet. 4.17 and therefore they ought not to doe as the Scribes and Pharises which our Saviour speakes of which binde heavy burthens and such as are grievous to bee borne and lay on other mens shoulders when as they themselves will not moove them with one of their fingers Matth. 23.4 but they that are Judges of the Earth ought themselves to love righteousnesse as the wiseman exhorteth them Sap. 1.1 The second is that they keepe themselves close to the prescript and order of the Law and not presume to passe the bounds of that which is to be their directour and their guide according as it is commanded them by Gods Law saying when the King sitteth upon the throne of his Kingdome he shall write him a copy of this Law in a booke which shall bee with him and hee shall reade therein all the dayes of his life that so hee may not turne aside from the Commandement to the right hand or the left Deut. 17 18 19.20 verses That they doe throughly fift the truth and depth of the matter which they have in hand as Iob professeth that hee did saying Caussam quam nesciebam diligenter investigabam I was diligent to search out the cause which I knew not Iob. 29.16 That they be no accepters of persons For qui cognoscit in judicio faciem non bene facit saith the Wise man as the vulgar Latine reads it Prov. 28.21 He that in the time of judgement knowes a difference of faces does not well for such a one will transgresse for a piece of bread as there followes in the latter part of the verse and therefore elsewhere hee saith It is not good to accept the person of the wicked to overthrow the righteous in judgement Chap. 18.5 That they give not place to the clamors or favour of the multitude to doe contrary to law and their owne conscience as our Pilate here did for the crucifying of Christ for this likewise is flatly forbidden in Gods Law as you heard before where it sayes Thou shalt not follow the multitude to doe evill neither shalt thou speake in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgement Exod. 23.2 That they be not driven from the streightnesse and rectitude of their course of justice for feare of the mighty as another Wise man adviseth saying Seeke not to be made a Judge being not able to take away iniquity lest at any time thou feare the person of the mighty and lay a stumbling blocke in the way of thy uprightnesse Ecclus 7.6 That they be not too pitifull beyond that which is meet and fit according to that other precept of the Law Thou shalt not countenance a poore man in his cause Exod. 23. 3. i. e. in a bad cause For otherwise it is said but three verses after Thou shalt not wrest the judgement of the poore in his cause verse 6. That they be no bribe-takers as the same Law still goes on Thou shalt take no gift for the gift blindeth the wise and perverteth the words of the righteous verse 8. And lastly That they admit of no intreaties and perswasions to the prejudice or dammage of any other for justice is to be executed and judgement given consilio non prece by counsell and deepe consideration in a mans selfe not by request of other men For as Bernard saith well Vbi non licet facere quod volo quis locus rogandi Where it is not lawfull for a Judge to doe what he may have a desire it may be to doe himselfe there surely can be no place left for the sutes and requests of others And these are the nine things requisite to the performance and execution of right and just judgement which whatsoever Judge shall faithfully fulfill and keepe hee need not feare the censure of any Court here or the face of an angry Judge hereafter There might much more have beene added concerning these particulars but that I am not ignorant that Verbum sapientibus sat est A word to such wise men is enough in regard whereof I have chosen rather to leave this short caution and remembrance onely to our Honourable Judges and other subordinate Magistrates than to presume to give them either larger instructions or the least reproofes And this sufficeth for Christs sufferings under Pontius Pilate John 19. vers 16.17 18. Then delivered he him unto them to be crucified And they tooke Iesus and led him away And he bearing his crosse went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in Hebrew Golgotha where they crucified him and two other with him on either side one and Jesus in the midst c. WHen the sentence of death against our Saviour Christ was once given Curcified then presently in all haste the crosse was prepared and the condemned person brought out and the heavie tree as it appeareth by Saint Iohns Gospel in our Text verse 17. was at the first laid upon his owne shoulders which had beene unmercifully battered with whips before whereby they tormented him not onely with the sight but with the weight also of that which was appointed to bee the instrument of his death which painfull burthen notwithstanding together with the weight of all our sinnes he refused not for our sakes to take upon him but proceeded on his way with incredible alacrity both in love towards us and in obedience to satisfie his fathers justice as a true Isaack bearing the wood for the sacrificing of himselfe For mortem non coactus sed ultro subiit Christus ut voluntarium esset sacrificium nam sine obedientia nobis expiatio parta non esset In Iob. c. 18. saith Calvin Christ suffered death willingly and not by constraint that so his
passion not mixt with any comfort to mitigate and ease it Our cup of sorrowes is never in that extremity of bitternesse but that there is still some sugar mingled with our gall some sweet cast upon our sower some consolation tempered with our affliction As for instance it is deemed one great comfort in adversity to have some of our friends about us to condole and lament with us in our sorrowes But alas in the very entrance of his troubles Christ is abandoned of all His Disciples as you have heard when this heavie storme begins to fall upon him forsake and leave him one of them forswears him another runs away naked rather than he will stay and confesse him who then shall comfort him Himselfe Sometimes indeed our owne thoughts find a way to succour us unknowne to others as my Lord Bishop of Exeter well observes but alas with him at this time it is not so For his soule is filled with evill as the Psalmist speaketh in his person Psal 88.3 who then shall doe it His Father Here here was his hope sed proh dolor but out alas no comfort as yet appeares from him For hee delivers him into the hands of his enemies and when he hath done turnes his backe upon him as a stranger shewing no compassion on his passion but rather wounds him as an enemy Because indeed the Lord would breake or bruise him as it is said of him Esay 53.10 B. Andrews non sicut It is strange yea very strange saith one that of none of the Martyrs the like can be read to this of our Saviour when he sayes My God my God why hast thou forsaken me who yet indured most exquisite paines in their martyrdomes yet we see with what courage with what cheerefulnesse joy and singing they are reported to have passed through their torments Videor mihimetipsi super rosas incedere saith Tiburcius I seeme to my selfe to walke upon beds of roses when he was forced to walke upon hot burning coals bare-foot will you know the reason Saint Austin sets it downe Martyres non eripuit sed nunquam descruit He delivered not his martyrs indeed neither did he forsake them but as he delivered not their bodies so he forsooke not their soules but conveyed into them the dew of his Heavenly comfort which was an abundant supply for all they could indure otheâ—wise Not so heere but Vindemiavit me saith he in the Prophet as the vulgar Latine reads it Lament 1.12 that is he hath left me bare and naked as the vintager leaves his Vines when he hath gathered and plucked off the Grapes It is fathered upon Leo to be the first that sayd it and all antiquity allowes of it Non solvit unionâ—m sed substraxit visionem The Union was not dissolved but the beames and influence of comfort were for this time restrained so that his soule was as a dry thirsty parched heath ground without any the least moysture or refreshing of Divine consolation Lib. 5. de Eccl. c. 17. p. 16. yea he was destitutusomni solatio as it is in Doctor Field destitute and voyd of all that solace hee was wont to finde in God in this fearefull houre of darknesse and time of this his dolefull Passion The Wrath of God and his indignation furiously marching against him to require of him as who had undertaken it The full recompense and satisfaction for our sins as saith Doctor Robert Abbot that learned and painefull preaching Bishop of Salisbury L. 3. Contra Bishop p. 114. And now by this time I doubt not but that you plainly perceive how that Christs paine and crosse was the deeper and wider by all these crosses and torments thus considered And therefore behold and see all yee that passe by sayth he himselfe if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me Lam. 1.12 the very Chapter and Verse cited last before For I am like unto water powred out all my bones are out of joynt my heart like Wax is molten in the midst of my bowells My strength is dried up like a potsheard and my tongue cleaveth unto my jawes so that thou hast brought me even to the dust of death For Dogs have compassed me and the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me yea they have peirced my very Hands and my Feete saith the kingly Prophet in his person Psal 22.14 15. verses c. And yet for all this Amor tenebat in cruce quem mors non potuit tenere in Sepulchro His love still held him on the Crosse as you have heard already whom the violence and strength of death could not hold in his grave as you shall heare hereafter And thus you see not onely how but why also Christ was crucified aswell in his adversaries as his owne counsell and decree They out of malice and hatred towards him Hee out of love and pity to us suffered under Pontius Pilate and was crucified upon the Crosse A word or two for use and application and so we will conclude these two circumstances of this Article Did Christ then suffer such things yea and farre greater then those that you have heard related unto you The afflictions and anguishes of the soule being much worse then those of the body These being but love trickes sayth one to what his soule indued which notwithstanding wee have but slightly toucht upon as not altogether in my judgement so properly appertaining and belonging to the Creed why then we shall doe well a little to examine and consider the end and causes why he did so which if wee doe we shall finde that it was not his owne but our sinne that brought all this evill upon him according to that of S. Peter Christ suffered for us leaving us an example to doe the like who did no sinne himselfe neither was there guile found in his mouth but they were our sinnes which he bore in his body on the tree 1 Peter 2.21 22. verses as the Prophet likewise had foretold saying he hath taken upon him our infirmities and he hath caried our sorrowes Esay 53.4 We have an usuall saying amongst us that Charitas à semetipsa incipit charity begins at home but Christs charity yee see did not for it began proceeded and ended all in us so that whatsoever our Saviour either Ferebat or gerebat as one sayth either did or abid it was for us both Natus nobis datus nobis Esay 9.6 Doctor Clarke Hee was delivered out of the wombe for us and he was delivered up to the Crosse for us For for us men and for our salvation Incarnatus est saith the Nicene Creed hee was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and was made man and for us men also Condemnatus est he was condemned to die upon the Crosse so that he was bred for us and shall be dead for us all that he suffered being for our sins The Iewes then are not the onely actors in this tragick story of
Christs suffering under Pontius Pilate and crucifying on the crosse But we are as deepe in as they nay deeper in then they as being the principalls and they onely but accessaries thereunto Because we were Causa sine qua non The cause without which it had not beene done but they were our sins for which hee was wounded and our selves for whom he was crucified So that Peccata mea peccata tua peccata Adami ac omnium filiorum ejus caussa fuerunt passionis mortis silii Dei sayth one they were our evill motions our vile thoughts our corrupt words our ungodly works that set Pilate Herod Annas Caiaphas Judas and the Jewes a worke what they did they did it but as our instruments and agents so that to say the truth Not Satan the tempter nor Iudas the traytour not Caiaphas the high Priest nor Pilate the judge not the Jewes that conspired against him nor the false witnesses that accused him not the band of men that tooke him first and derided him after nor the Souldiers that pierced him no nor yet the very executioners that nayled him on the Crosse are so much to be accused and condemned for his sufferings as we we I say even our selves and sinnes which notwithstanding is not spoken in favour or excuse of these or any of these For for such clients I believe never any man was so leud as to become an advocate but onely to let men see and know yea and acknowledge too the greatnesse and grievousnesse of their sinnes the cure whereof occasioned all these fearefull evills upon our blessed Saviour before it could be throughly accomplished and effected For hoc fonte derivata clades all the fore spoken of and last expressed afflictions and troubles of his proceed onely from this fountaine and originall So that we sinfull we bound him with cords beate him with rods buffeted him with fists crown'd him with Thornes yea wee reviled him and railed on him with our tongues we nodded at him with our heads we thrust him through with speares we betrayed him with a kisse We peirced his Hands and Feete with nailes we condemned him with false witnesses we powred shame and contempt upon his person we judged him as plagued and smitten of God For in asmuch as our faults and offences procured these things to be done unto him we are the doers of them and the dealers in them as himselfe is sayd to complaine in the Poet. Huc me sidereo descendere fecit Olympo Hic me crudeli peccatum vulnere fixit Hither have your sins brought me downe to live a poore and contemptible life and heere have your faults fastened me upon the Crosse to die an ignominious and shamefull yea bloody death Vse What an hatred then should this beget and kindle in us against our sins that were thus the spoylers of our Saviours life and the spillers of his blood How should wee in an holy revenge pursue them to death that were the authors of his death kill them that killed him But woe woe unto us so far are we from this that instead of mortifying and crucifying them we crucify him as if to have done it once had not beene sufficient but that as the Apostle speakes wee must crucify againe the Sonne of God and make a mocke of him Heb. 6.6 so that we may use S. Pauls words to the Galatians though in another sense Jesus Christ is evidently set forth before our eyes and crucified amongst us Gal. 3.1 Thus hypocrisie bends the knee with ludibrious devotion and bids Hayle King of the Jewes Presumption puts a reed a rod and scepter into his hands The children of darknesse buffet and beat him yea and bid him prophesie who smote him The prophane spit in his face The sacrilegious cast lots for his garment the Schismaticall divide his seamelesse Coat which the rude soldiers did not Popularity washes her hands as innocent yea to please men condemnes Christ The drunkards in their carowses and unhallowed healths give him a potion of Gall. Bribery extortion covetousnesse uncleannesse and all other kinds of common and ordinary sinnes preferre Barabbas before him Simony crucifies him betweene two Theeves Heresy rackes his bones and disjoynts him Superstition betrayes him with a kisse and despights him with seeming honours Apostacy denies him with his Apostle Peter yea and forsweares him too The roarers with laughs and scoffes crucify him afresh and with their blasphemy and outragious oathes teare O cause of teares his Nayles his Sides his Flesh his Hands his Armes his Bones and all his Joynts and Members a sunder These are our offerings for Christ his sufferings But Oh beloved was it not enough that hee died once for us but that wee through these our sinnes must put him to death still Were those paines of his so little and so light that wee should every day redouble them Is this the entertainement that so gracious a Saviour hath deserved by dying for us Is this the recompense of that infinite love of his that we should thus cruelly vex and wound him with our sinnes If compassion of his smart cannot moove us yet let compassion of our owne soules prevaile with us For how can we hope or expect to finde redemption by his Blood while wee continue by our horrid and heynous sinnes to make new gashes in his Sides to rub his Wounds afresh and cause them streame a new that were even closed up before An act more Iewish then that of the Jewes themselves Let us then at the last for shame by our true and unfeyned Repentance forsake that tyrant sinne which detaineth us in servitude shake off his Chaines cut asunder his Bands and by a lively faith run strongly violently and speedily unto Christ who hangeth on the Crosse as you have heard and seene Habens ibi caput inclinatum ad osculandum cor apertum ad diligendum manus exteasas ad amplexandum Having not onely his Head bowed downe there to kisse us and his Heart open to love us but his Hands also stretched out wide to imbrace us and receive us upon our first returne And therefore returne O Shulamite returne returne as it is said Can. 6.12 and this sufficeth for the first use Secondly hath Christ suffered all these things under Pontius Pilate and beene content to have beene crucified on the Crosse also onely out of love to us Why then surely this requireth a returne of our love likewise backe againe unto him For nimis durus est animus qui si dilectionem nolit impendere nolit rependere It is too bad a disposition that will neither offer love nor requite it being offered as S. Bernard speakes If then there be any sparke of ingenuity or dramme of good nature in us let us not deny him the affection of our love that spared not the effusion of his owne blood for us but from so many springs as he had members dranke salvation unto us in a full cup thereof And as a
aperiuntur applicautur voluntatem incendit saith one For as the mysteries of faith simply preached and propounded doe illustrate and informe the understanding onely So being opened and applyed they stirre up the will and affections also by kindling in them an holy zeale and heavenly devotion towards those objects their sayd faith apprehends and layes hold upon especially in this mystery of the suffering and death of Christ Vbi maxime amore charitate nobiscum certasse Deus videtur as my Author goes on Wherein above all God seemes to provoke man by the excessivenesse and superabundance of his love first shewne to make a returne of his love and thankfulnesse backe againe unto him Well then for our better proceeding in this kind let us take notice with Aquinas that In Christi passione morte quatuor consideranda sunt in the death and suffering of Christ there are these four things to be considered viz. Dilectio ejus reamando amaritudo ejus compatiendo Fortitudo ejus adversa patienter sustinendo utilitas ejus gratias agendo that is His love first which as I have already said and shewne should provoke us to love him againe His bitter griefe and sorrow next which should move our pity and stir up compassion in us towards him Thirdly his fortitude in undergoing all things so potently and powerfully for us which ought to be as a motive and incentive to the like valour and fortitude in us in induring tryalls and troubles for his names sake and lastly the benefits and profits that we reape thereby to worke gratitude and thankfulnesse in us for such his inestimable mercies extended towards us Of the former of which uses I spake sufficiently the last day so that the second onely shall be that which I will insist upon at this time And that is this Vse That because Christ hath suffered such a passion for us that we be willing and ready to have compassion towards him againe for the same especially seeing as Gregory saith Moral 19. Tanto quisque est perfectior quanto perfectius sentit dolores alienos that is Every Christian is by so much the nearer to perfection by how much he is more perfectly and truely sensible of anothers miseries and afflictions and then surely much more when it is of the miseries and afflictions of his blessed Saviour himselfe And therefore as he hath had compassion on us for the miseries which we by our sinnes have procured to our selves so let us have compassion on him for the sufferings which our miseries likewise have procured unto him For there is no reason that seeing he out of his love did vouchsafe to suffer and dye for us that we should be so ingratefull and unthankfull as not to be willing to suffer with him It is Saint Austins just complaint against the mercilesse and hard-hearted Jewes that whereas all the elements were disturbed and out of course at the death of Christ Sola corda Judaeorum non moventur onely the hearts of these his persecutors could not be mollifyed and broken no nor brought to shed a teare for him that shed his blood and lost his life too for them Which is a grievous complaint indeed that seeing at the Passion of Christ the vaile of the Temple was rent the rocks did cleave the earth was moved the graves were opened and the whole World was overcast with the mournfull darknesse of sorrow and lamentation as you have heard before as if it did all suffer with him solus homo non compateretur pro quo solo Christus patitur These should suffer for whom Christ suffered not and only man be found void of compassion for whom alone he suffered this passion O let us then beloved imitate and follow his example and not theirs For his words towards them are as smooth and soft as oyle when as their both words and workes towards him are no other no better then very swords crying out against him Let him be crucyfied let him be crucified when as he prayes for them Father forgive them they know not what they doe So that although these Jewes may seeme to be composed even of Iron and flint Ser. de Pass Dom. having hearts harder then the neather Milstone LapideÌ„ tamen percutiunt molliorem de quo resonat tinnitus pietatis ebullit oleum charitatis as Bernard speakes yet the rock against whom they smite is of a milder and gentler temper from whence proceed onely the noyse of water pipes running through the streames of piety and boyling up and over with the oyle of charity Quomodo potabis Domine desiderantes te torrente voluptatis tuae qui sic perfundis Crucifigentes te oleo misericordiae tuae as the Father goes on How wilt thou then O Lord drench those that hunger and thirst after thee with the full torrent and current of thy everlasting pleasures that doest thus besprinkle those that crucifie thee with the oyle of thy mercies O let us let us then follow not them but him in our tender-heartednesse and compassion towards him that as he hath had and still hath compassion on us so we may not be like these Jewes pitilesse and uncompassionate of him For non potestâ—sse in corpore qui non vult pati cum capite Christ suffered for none but such as suffer with him For howsoever to himselfe he be now in Heaven and suffer no longer yet to us he ought to be still on earth hanging in our sight upon the Crosse as being crucified amongst us as Saint Paul saith Gal. 3.1 And therefore it becommeth us by compassion to carry about in our bodyes the sufferings and dying of our Lord Jesus Christ that his life also may be made manifest in our body as he againe 2 Cor. 4.10 When David willed Vriab to rest him and take his ease 2 Sam. 11.11 Vriah answered Shall the Arke of God and Joab my Generall with it be skirmishing in the field and shall I take my ease So say I beloved shall we see our Captaine and noble Generall Jesus Christ fervently fighting in bloody conflcts for us and our sakes in our defence and quarrell and shall we take our pleasure and passe on securely Shall he be crowned with thornes and we with roses Shall he spend his dayes in dangers and distresse and we passe our time in dalliance and delights Oh no beloved no but let us by true repentance and sorrow for our sinnes have some feeling and compassion of those things which Christ suffered for us by the sense of that sorrow which we feele for sinne in our selves and if we will be partakers of his passion let us pray I say for compassion that we may not onely looke upon the Crosse and see him dead as they that looked upon him whom they had pierced John 19.37 but also that we may be crucified with him and feele him dye as she that was pierced when she looked upon him as it was foretold of Mary Luke 2.35