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
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
of Sampson he lost his former unconquerable strength so that he might be held with cordes and bound with withes so when the sinne of Adam whereby he swarved from the will and deviated from the wayes of God came once upon the head of Christ Teneri potuit ligari His enemies had power to hold and binde him so that he may complaine as in the Prophet He hath hedged me about so that I cannot get out and he hath made my chayne heavy Lament 3.70 The false hands and the foule fingers of the first Adam were lift up after a theevish manner wrongfully to take and cause the mouth to taste of Gods forbidden fruit without the good leave and liking of him the lawfull owner which gave occasion to our second Adam willingly and readily to permit and suffer his holy and righteous hands to be bound as a Theefe that so he might make full satisfaction for that so foule transgression of the first and loosen the hands of him and his posterity in which by reason of the former offence they were fast tyed and bound before according to that of the Poet Adae primi vincla se quatiunt Adam novum cum nexus ambiunt That is The first Adams bands begin to loose When to the second they knit the noose c. Sed proh regem vinctum pro furum seelere What a thing is this nay what a strange thing to see the King bound for the Theeves offence strange indeed but that we are taught and told that the love of Christ does stranger things for the love of us then this and all that he might draw sinfull mankinde to the love of him againe as one saith Ligari voluit pro nobis ut nos sibi alligaret vinculis charitatis He would be bound for us that so he might binde us unto himselfe in the chaynes of charity yea as the holy Scripture saith In funiculis Adam traham eos in vinculis charitatis I drew them with the cordes of a man and in the bands of love Hosea 11.4 To draw then towards an end of this point Tu vinciris ut vinctos liberes Vincla mea tu fers in manibus Tuis rogo me liges funibus Since thou art bound the bond to free And that my chaynes are borne by thee With these thy cordes Lord tye thou me Yea knit not onely me but all thy whole Church so fast unto thy selfe in thy faith and feare and love unfeigned that neither height above nor depth beneath nor death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor any other creature as Saint Paul saith be able to make a separation or to dissolve the union And let these thy cords and chaynes so farre loosen the bands of mine and of all our sinnes as that they may never rise up against us to condemne us either in this world or that which is to come Yea so strengthen us with thy heavenly grace and powerfull assistance of thy holy Spirit that we doe not conspire with these thine enemies to binde thee againe our selves by resisting of thy gratious motions and most holy instincts or disobeying of thy will in any thing but enable us in all things to doe as we say when we pray as thou hast taught us Lord let thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Da quod jubes jube quid vis Enable us to performe and then command what thou wilt Draw us with these the everlasting chaynes and cords of thy love and then wee will runne after thee in the savour of these thy sweet oyntments and perfumes as thy Spouse professeth on our behalfe to doe Cant. 1.3 4. And once more let us pray in our mother tongue I meane our mothers the Churches language Thou O gratious Father whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive receive our humble petitions and though we be tyed and bound with the chayne of our sinnes yet let the pitifulnesse of thy great mercy loose us by the meanes and merit of these bonds and chaynes and other the sufferings of our blessed Saviour and for the farther honour of him the said Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer Amen And this sufficeth to have beene spoken of the apprehension and binding of Christ as the first part and parcell of those corporall indignities which for our sakes He suffered under Pontius Pilate In the next place he is carried to the seate of Judgement and before an whole Bench and Court of Judges which are foure in number two spirituall and two temporall All wicked and very unjust as by the sequell of this discourse it will plainly and manifestly appeare especially the two spirituall ones Annas and Caiâ—phas which were so farre from upright Judges in this cause as that they were indeed most violent and partiall adversaries malitiously affected towards him that was here brought before them to bee judged according to the Law For who ever heard before that Judges did act the parts either of pleaders or accusers or went about to enquire for false witnesses and suborne them to come in against a prisoner at the Barre or one that stood before them to answer for his life as these Judges did For Saint Matthew and Saint Marke both tell us that aswell the chiefe Priests and Elders as the rest of the Counsell sought for false witnesses to put him to death Matth. 26.59 and Marke 14.55 whereby it appeares that they were very enemies unto him upon whose life they meant to sit as Judges which was a most wicked and unlawfull act in them and such as made Saint Chrysostome upon a like occasion to refuse to stand to Eccl. Hist lib. 8. c. 17. saying Se nolle temerarium aliquid subire manifestos inimicos ferre judices as Sozomen relates That he would not abide by any judgement or censure that should be given by his enemies And it is an ordinary and usuall practise in the Courts of Justice amongst our selves for a prisoner if he know or but suspect any of the Jury to be his enemies to challenge them and they shall be put by from passing upon his life or cause And in some cases if a man doubt of the integrity or uprightnesse of any Court whether Spirituall or Temporall he may remove his action and cry with Saint Paul Appello Caesarem I appeale unto Caesar or some higher Bench whereas our Saviour ye see here does none of these things but is content to let them take their course against him though his own innocency be never so eminent and evident and their injustice and iniquity never so great But indeed the truth is these were the supreamest Courts of that place and time in which his cause was to be tryed aswell Ecclesiasticall as Imperiall of Caesar as the Synagogue so that from these except to the Throne of Heaven there lay no appeale Now if this be not a great degree of suffering
that he might justly complaine as in the Prophet Torcular calcavi solus I have trodden the wine-presse alone and of all the people there was none with me Esay 63.3 But I was a reproach not onely among mine enemies but especially also among my neighbours so that feare came among â—ine acquaintance and they that did see me without conveyed themselves from me c. Psal 31.11 12. O let us contemplate and admire then that so our thankefulnesse may be increased and our pride abated the infinitenesse and immensity of the love of Christ unto us that being the wisedome of his heavenly father would yet thus become the foolishnesse and scorne and ignominy and contempt of the world for our sakes and sinnes Taking upon him I say our foolishnesse tâ—at so he might make us wise unto salvation our scorne and contempt that so he might make us partakers of his glory as also our curse that so he might make us heyres of the eternall blessing and inheritance with the Saints of light Yea he would have his hands bound and his eyes blinded that he might neither take notice of nor see our sinnes no nor yet inflict vengeance upon us for the same but with great mercy and patience connive and winke at them expecting our repentance and returne from them beholding and punishing only in himselfe those great offences which we have perpetrated and committed O inaudita bonitas O verè paterna viscera O unheard of kindnesse and truly paternall bowels of pity and compassion who ever heard before of any one that would be content to be made a scorne to save them from scorne that scorned him or to be derided and flowted to keepe them from contemptand shame that jeat'd him or that would dye to save those alive that killed him Surely as there can be no more horrible and haynous offence imagined then for reasonable creatures to proceed so farre in irrationality and impiety as to lay violent and brutish hands upon their Creator and their God as these Jewes upon Christ so on the other side nothing can be conceived to be so excellent and eminent as the goodnesse and charity of that Creator which is contented to beare the punishments and scornes and scoffes of those his creatures by whom he is so assayled and assaulted vilifyed and abused as our Saviour Christ of these Jewes Let us then for use and application of this point be ashamed to be proud of any thing which we either have or doe whether it be wealth or wit learning or living greatnesse or goodnesse seeing the Sonne of God and glory of Heaven did not disdaine to become thus humbled for us and for our sakes And let us beseech his infinite goodnesse and mercy that although hee have permitted and suffered himselfe to be brought to such a low degree of humiliation as to have his divine and heavenly face to be thus sullyed and soyled by the foule and filthy impure and uncleane spawling and spitting of the Jewes and his holy eyes to be vayled and hiâ—selfe to be derided and scorned in such a contemptuous and disgracefull manner that yet he would be pleasâ—d to prâ—serve us from being accessaries to these their fearefull evils by giving unto us such a measure of his sâ—ving and sanctifying graces as whereby our soules made after his own image and likenesse may be kept so pure and cleane from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit as that they may not be contamined or defiled with any the least foule or sinfull either thoughts words or workes And that he would also vouchsafe farther to remove and put away from our hard hearts that vaile of ignorance and ingratitude wherewith by reason of our sinnes and transgressions they have deservedly a long time been vayled and covered that so from henceforth we may carefully endeavour our selves to serve him with all love and diligence in righteousnesse and true holinesse all the daies of our lives For they first spit and spawle in the face of Christ which defile his image and similitude in their owne soules with impure and uncleane lusts and desires As also they doe the like secondly That reject and set light by his holy and heavenly motions and inspirations prâ—senting themselves oftentimes to assist and helpe them in the purging and purifying of their said soules from such uncleannesses And they likewise in the third place which with unhallowed hearts and hands doe offer to receive the most holy and sanctified body and blood of Christ in the Sacrament Comming thereunto without reverence or sense of piety and true godlinesse before they have throughly cleansed their soules from the sullage and filth of their sinnes by hearty sorrow and unfeined repentance for the same Secondly They veile and cover the eyes of Christ that doe not readily and willingly lay open their sinnes before him by confession but extenuate and lessen their weakenesses and imperfections with counterfeit pretexts and vaine and idle excuses as if they could dissemble and cloake them before the face of Almighty God our heavenly Father As also they that are so audacious and daring in their sinnes as to commit them with an high hand without either fear of God or shame of men ac si non videret Deus as if God either could not or would not or did not see them Thirdly They speake slanderously and scandalously of Christ which speak irreverently of holy things or when professing to be religious yet they speake like worldlings without either edification or profit to such as heare them And lastly they mocke and scoffe at Christ with scorne and contemne his messengers and Ministers or indeed any other his poore Saints and Servants whatsoever For he that despiseth you despiseth me saith he himselfe Luke 10.16 And therefore for conclusion let us pray From these and such like fearefull sinnes as were thus committed by these wicked Jewes against our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Good Lord deliver us Amen John 18.28 29 30. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the Hall of judgement or Pilates House and it was early And they themselves went not into the judgement Hall lest they should bee defiled but that they might eate the Passeover Pilate therefore went out unto him and said What accusation bring you against this man They answered and said unto him If he were not a malefactor we would not have delivered him unto thee WHat passed upon our blessed Saviour in the house of Caiaphas and Ecclesiasticall Conventicle rather then Councell of the Jewes you heard the last day So that now in the next place we are to see how he was handled before Pilate and the Temporall Judges unto whose Court and custody he was delivered and turned over after they had wrought their will and fill of mischiefe upon him among themselves where first we shall not doe amisse to observe the fulfilling of Christs owne prophesie and fore-telling of this very passage himselfe For in the 18. of Saint Lukes
Gospell 31 32. verses we finde him thus saying unto his Disciples Behold we goe up to Jerusalem and all things shall be fulfilled to the Sonne of man that are written by the Prophets For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles c. Which prophesie I say is now accomplished in his being turned over from Caiaphas the high Priest of the Jewish Synagogue unto Pontius Pilate the Roman Deputy or President who was not onely a Gentile himselfe but his jurisdiction also was from the Gentiles as the Romans and all Nations except the Jewes were accounted in those dayes And this was pre-ordained by the fore-determined Counsell of God to be done accordingly for these two ends or reasons The first that hee might bee put to death which by the Jewes Law as they will seeme to affirme he could not For themselves tell Pilate in the very next words after our Text That it is not lawfull for them to put any man to death Verse 31. The second for the manner of his death that he might be crucified For so is it farther specified in the 32. verse viz That it was done that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spake signifying what death he should dye which is expressed to be crucifying Matth. 20.9 To which place this passage in Saint John doth allude Now the fulfilling of this prophesie of Christs owne selfe concerning himselfe shall afford us onely this Vse at this time because as I told you at the beginning I must point and passe my discourse upon this subject increasing to a bigger bulke then I aymed at or intended at the first To let us see and know That there was not the least circumstance of his passion which hee did not fore-see and fore-tell himselfe so that none of these things came unwittingly or unwillingly upon him or by chance as upon a meere man but all by the fore-determined Counsell of God as I say and his owne consent And therefore having so much fore-knowledge of his owne afflictions hee might have avoyded and shunned them many wayes if he would but to let us understand the greatnesse of his love unto us he would not refuse any torture or any trouble to doe us good but willingly and readily performe all things requisite for our salvation giving his soule as an offering for our sinnes as the Prophet fore-told Esay 53.10 So that without any tergiversation or regret he suffered himselfe freely to be presented before Pontius Pilate and the judgement seat of the Gentiles although he knew that he went but to his owne death and condemnation as Pilate told him That hee had power to crucifie him or to loose him John 19.10 unto whom notwithstanding Christ gave this answer viz. That hee could have had no power against him except it had beene given him from above Verse 11. of the same Chapter that is from the Court and Councell of Heaven of which himselfe was a principall member Secondly we may consider also a little of the season which they tooke to carry Christ unto Pilate in which is expressed to be the morning or as our text saith while it was early So that as it should seeme when the fatall night was once over they neglected no time but made haste to shed his innocent bloud and to deliver him over unto the sword not of justice but injustice as it is evident and apparent enough to all the world even to the very Judges themselves as will be shewne hereafter David in one place saith That howsoever heavinesse or sorrow may endure for a night yet joy commeth in the morning viz. Psal 30.5 when as our blessed Saviour here can finde none of this joy neither morning nor evening but after a dismall night as you heard before meets with as darke a day where we may observe that Christ our Lord suffered some injuries and indignities or others for our sakes at all times and houres both of night and day First from the evening which was the time of his appprehension till the morning as you have heard already and now againe from the very morning till the evening as here followes Tota nocte vexatus tota die sine intermissione cruciatus saith one Vexed all the night and tortured all the day without ceasing or intermission For at the first houre hee is carryed to the Judge and before him accused at the second examined at the third condemned at the fourth hee was scourged and crowned with Thornes at the fift hee had the heavy burthen of his owne Crosse laid upon his shoulders at the sixt he was crucified at the seaventh the Souldiers cast lots upon his garment at the eighth hee had Vinegar given him to drinke at the ninth he dyed at the tenth he had a speare thrust through his side whereout came water and bloud and at the evening or toward the latter end of the day he was buried O sweet Jesus there was some great cause surely why thou wouldest at every new houre thus suffer new punishments and afflictions for our sinnes and it can be no other but this because we doe every day of the yeare and every houre of the day yea every minute and moment of every houre of each severall night and day provoke thy heavenly father to wrath in one kinde or other by new transgressions and delinquencies And therefore that thou mightest satisfie and appease the said wrath of his as well for the circumstances as the substance of our sins thou wouldst be punished for them at all times aswell at morning and evening as at noone day It is but meet and right then that as thou sufferedst continually from one end of the day unto the other so on the other side that wee should pray continually as the Apostle exhorteth and sing prayses unto thee both night and day without ceasing for so great a benefit Thirdly let us observe that though these Jewes sent Christ unto the judgement Hall of Pilate yet they went not in themselves Their reason being this lest they should be defiled but that they might eate the Passeover as our text saith Because as it should seeme it was accounted an unlawfull and an unholy thing for a Jew at the time of that high and solemne Feast to enter into the houses or societies of any of the Gentiles which were esteemed no otherwise then as uncleane among them But hereupon Saint Austin cryes out O Impia stulta caecitas Tract 114. in Iohan. habitaculo videlicet contaminarentur alieno non contaminarentur scelero proprio O impious and foolish blindnesse to thinke that they could be more defiled by the habitation and externall society of strangers then by their owne proper and internall sinnes Alienigenae Judicis praetorio contaminari timebant fratris innocentis sanguinem fundere non timebant They were afraid to be contaminated by the judgement Hall of the Roman President yet feared not to shed the bloud of their owne innocent and undefiled brother
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
point Here first then let us take occasion to contemplate and admire the infinite mildnesse meeknesse and mercifulnesse of our blessed Saviour in that knowing himselfe to be thus ignominiously and basely betrayed and sold by this cursed Caitiffe yet doth not cast him off not expell him his society nay doth not so much as Prodere proditorem not once bewray him to his fellow Apostles till he was urged and increated to doe it and then but very closely and covertly without naming him too but suffers him still to continue quietly in his company as one of his owne followers and familiars to the last houre thereby instead of shutting it against him setting the gate of mercy wide open unto him that so he might finde entrance unto the throne of grace if he could but make use of the opportunity and lay hold upon it Yea he converses with him sets him at his table eates and drinkes with him gives him of the bread of life to eate in his most holy Sacrament as you heard before and last of all washeth his feete as he did to all the râ—st of his Apostles even at that very instant when he on the other side breathes out nothing but prodition and perdition against him Mira patientia as Saint Chrysostome exclaimes Ser. 2. de 51 fer Pas which shewes a wonderfull patience indeed even beyond all president or example Petrus enim condemnat Ananiam mentientem Salvator autem patienter sustinet Judam traditorem as he goes on for whereas the Apostle Peter condemnes Ananias only for lying yet our Saviour himselfe could tolerate and beare with Judas though for treason and that against himselfe too But all this was done that he might mollifie his heart and win him if it were possible by love to remorse and sorrow for his sinne For N lo mortem morientis dicit Dominus I have no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth saith he by his Prophet Ezechiell 18.23 but I desire rather that he should returne from his evill wayes and live Verse 32. of the same Chapter But here peradventure some man may object and say Object that if Christ did truly desire that Judas should not perish in his sinne Cur cogitationem ejus non mutavit adversam Homil. de prod Iudae as the former Chrysostome makes the object or to speake why did he not alter and change his wicked purposes and intents before they came to execution as being that eternall word by which all things were made and so had the heart of Judas aswell as of all other his Creatures in his handâ— to alter and change the courses and counsels of it as himselfe should lease Sol. To which the said Chrysostome himselfe makes answer in the same place after this manner viz. that Judas could not be reclaimed recalled from his trayterous purposes but that it must be either with or against his will Si invitus nulla correctio est nam mentis malitia necessitate non tollitur Now if it were done by violence and against his will it would not prove any correction or amendment at all because the wickednesse of the heart and malitiousnesse of the minde is not to be lessened or taken away by any externall constraint neither is it the custome or law of Heaven as I may safely add to save any man that is not willing On the other side Si sponte as the Father goes on omnia qua meliorare animum poterant audisse cognoscitur To have made him willing there was no meanes neglected but all courses taken that were usuall and ordinary to other men in the like kinde As the hearing of Christs heavenly Sermons together with the rest of the Apostles the partaking of his Sacraments the fore-telling of his treason and crying Woe to him by whom the Sonne of man is betrayed as also the laying before him the torments of Hell to fright and feare him and the hope of Heaven to weane and win him from his sinnes By which meanes onely his fellow Apostles were setled and established in the faith of Christ and reclaimed from their misdeeds And therefore if he onely of all the rest would remaine obstinate and perverse by continuing singular in his wicked purposes and resolutions and alone reject and refuse the former medicines that were provided and prepared by the hand of so skilfull an Apothecarie for his recovery Non medici vitium est sed languentis there is no blame to be laid upon the Physitian but onely upon the patient as the same Father in the end concludes the question And therefore let not any man be so lewde as to accuse Christ in his most secret and retired thoughts for the condemnation of his treacherous Apostle Judas but onely lay the fault upon himselfe that when his loving and tender-hearted Master would have healed and recovered him yet would not be healed but continued still obstinate and rebellious in his sinnes just like one of those Quos non vincas verbo nec verbere neque lauro neque loro which are not to bee won by words or blowes neither by punishment nor reward neither for love nor feare Et quibus cum benefeceris pejores fiunt but such an one as the more is done for him the worse he is as the Church of the Jewes of which God by his Prophet complaines saying What could I have done more unto my Vineyard that I have not done unto it And yet behold Quando expectavi uvas fecit labruscas When I looked for grapes it brought forth wilde grapes Isay 5.4 or like a barren field which instead of Barlâ—y bringeth forth Cockle and Thistles instead of Wheat Job 31.4 But O God! that any heart should be so hard or any minde or soule so obstinate and perverse as not to be mollified and broken Tanta amoris suavitate with the sweetnesse of such love and the tender mercies of such a lover but to continue like Pharaoh Qui incudem non cor gerebat in pectore as one saith which instead of an heart carried an Hammer or an Anvile rather in his breast and bosome victus invictus male gratus ad tot munera surdus so was Judas deafe to all goodnesse stopping his eares at Christs charmes charme he never so wisely But for use aswell the comfort of the godly as the terrour of the wicked if our blessed Jesus be so loving and kinde patient and long suffering towards those that set him and sell him at so low a rate then much more will he be so to those that esteeme so highly of him as to set their hearts sincerely to love him and faithfully to serve him all dayes of their life Si honoras O dulcis Domine Inimicum amici nomine Quales erunt amoris carmine Qui te canunt modulamine saith a Poet. If hee vouchsafe to call Judas friend which was so false unto him as Friend wherefore art thou come Matth. 26.5 then much more those that are
but saved for evermore The reason whereof is onely this that the one kissed him Osculo poenitentiae sinceritatis that is With the kisse of sincerity and repentance and the other Osculo malitia fraudis with the kisse of malice and deceit Mary kissed him Mentis affectu commixtione spirituum with an affectionate minde and spirituall touch But Judas onely Oâ—is attactu conjunctione labicrum with an orall touch and corporall conjunction of the lippes comming unto him and saying Hayle Master and kissed him Now if any demand the reason why Judas gave this ceremony of a kisse for his token it is rendred by Expositors to be this Because Christ after the fashion and custome that was then in use amongst his Countrey-men the Jewes and also amongst the Romans and other Nations as it were easie to shew if it were much materiall did ordinarily after that loving and familiar manner entertaine his Disciples and Apostles at their returne when at any time they had beene absent from him for a season Vt ostenderet regressum ingressum eorum esse gratum pacificum that so hee might manifest unto them that their entrance and returne was very welcome and acceptable unto him And therefore Judas that he might be the lesse suspected of having any ill minde or meaning towards his Master came onely in this ordinary and loving way of salutation crying Hayle Master and kissed him as you heard before that so they that knew him not either by face or favour might take notice which was he and so be able to distinguish him from the rest of his company and to take the right man by not mistaking one for another which was all they cared for their malitious mindes being more bent against him then any nay then all the rest And they had some reason to be suspitious and jealous of his escape because he had conveyed himselfe secretly from them at the least once before as you may see John 8. and the last verse But Jesus takes it ill at Judas hands that he should make Sigillum dilectionis signum perditionis the seale of love the signe of treachery and a kisse the key of his Treason by which himselfe had manifested so much love to him aswell as to his fellow Apostles and therefore cryes unto him as you have heard Judas betrayest thou the Sonne of man with a kisse which he doth onely to shew the unsufferable lewdnesse and unpardonable wickednes of such notorious hypocrisie and not out of any wonder or astonishment at the thing considering he could not be ignorant how that long before this Joab did the like to Amasa when he tooke him by the beard to kisse and smote him with a sword into the fift rib making a friendly embrace the preface to a deadly blow as you may see 2 Sam. 20.9 10. veâ—ses And Cain also long before that not much unlike when he egged his brother forth of doores with an Egrediamur foras come brother let us goe walke and take together and in the meane time whilst his tongue thus annointed him with oyle his heart and hand conspired together to murther and mangle butcher and betray him Vse Now then if these things have beene done so long since not onely to the Saints but also to the Sonne of God why then let us be contented with like patience to suffer if at any time we be tryed with the like assaults Let us be content willingly to put up injuries at all mens hands seeme they friends or foes for in so doing we shall heape coales of fire upon their heads and become conformable to the example of Christ that hath done the like before us and for us Let us neither curse nor revile those that have offered such indignities and injuries to us nor yet provoke them farther by biting and bitter language but onely reprove them friendly as Christ did Judas and the Jewes when he said unto the one Judas betrayest thou the Sonne of man with a kisse and to the other Yee be come out unto me as to a theefe with swords and staves and the like For Quis erit impatiens in ferenda injuria ab amico In Mat. 26. cum Christus proditur à Discipulo saith Rabanus who can be impatient though he suffer injuries from his friend when he sees his Master Christ Jesus so patient before him when he was betrayed by his owne Disciple Secondly take notice what a dangerous thing it is to betray Christ with a kisse as all hypocriticall professors doe and such as making shewes of religion and devotion outwardly and to the world are yet in their hearts and soules neither truly religious nor devout indeed but having only a forme of godlinesse have denied the power thereof as Saint Paul speaketh 2 Tim. 3.5 And likewise such as eat the body and drinke the bloud of Christ in the Sacrament when as they are neither truly sorrowfull for their sinnes nor in love and charity with their neighbors neither yet intend to lead new lives but come only for custome and fashion sake as compelled thereunto more by law than love and therefore doe not earnestly hunger and thirst after the righteousnesse of God and his Christ but retaine still voluntatem peccandi a will and desire to returne to their old sins againe as the dog to his vomit and the sow to her wallowing in the mire But these I say yea all these betray Christ with a kisse in making shewes of being his followers and servants when as in their hearts and minds they are nothing lesse And therefore in their so doing they are no other no better than very traytors also to their owne soules Thirdly let all Gods children learne hence to beware of the faire face and flatteries of the world which is nothing else but a traytor and a false friend to all those upon whom it fawneth most smiling upon some with the pleasing lookes of wealth and riches kissing others with the lips of love and pleasures and hugging and embracing a third sort in the armes of honour and preferment and so under the shewes of friendship betraying all to eternall death and destruction And lastly let every one as Christ adviseth his Apostles and Disciples beware of those that come unto them in sheeps cloathing but inwardly are ravening wolves Let them beware of them I say that they doe not worke them a mischiefe before they are aware For Quando bonum ore faris mala corde tamen meditaris Oscula quae Domino Judas dedit haec mihi tu das Their kindnesses are but like Judas kisses watching opportunities to betray thee into thine enemies hands And therefore saith the Poet Timeo Danaos dona ferentes an enemies kisses are wounds the overmuch and sudden kindnesse of such men as these are but the very markes of treason For he that useth me better than he was wont will betray me saith the Italian proverbe And the heavenly Proverbs of Gods
Egypt that you should not be their bondmen yea I have broken the bonds of your yoke and made you goe upright saith this Lord himselfe unto them Levit. 26.13 Haeccine ergo reddis Domino popule stulte insipiens Doe yee therefore so reward the Lord O yee foolish people and unwise said Moses unto them long since as you may see Deut. 32.6 And therefore much more foolish and unwise now to thinke themselves able to binde him unlesse he were willing thereunto that came into the world onely to let them that were bound to goe free as the Psalmist speaketh Dominus solvit compeditos The Lord looseneth the prisoners Psal 146.7 causing Peters chaynes when he was in prison to fall off from his hands Acts 12.7 And therefore it is but a point of folly if not madnesse in them indeed to comfort and solace themselves overmuch in this their new prisoners bondage seeing although they have bound him yet they have not vanquished nor overcome him For Quod vinciunt non victi est sed volentis His bonds proceed not so much from their conquest as from his owne consent And besides in this their binding of him they doe but tye themselves both bodies and soules the faster and the surer to their owne damnation as indeed doe all others that in these dayes doe likewise tye the hands of our blessed Saviour by their sinnes as first they doe which either distrust his providence over them for the provision and welfare of their bodies or despaire of his mercy towards them for the salvation of their soules or lastly that doubt of his assistance in any other their temptations and afflictions whether corporall or spirituall whether of minde or body or both Secondly they doe the like which doe so resist his divine and holy motions and inspirations which many times hee breatheth and infuseth by his heavenly blasts into their hearts and soules as that they doe not permit and suffer him to have his free operation and worke out his owne worke within them but either carelesly neglect him or wilfully reject him when he offers divine grace unto them Thirdly they that are ungratefull and unthankfull for benefits and blessings formerly received doe also so tye up Gods hands as that hee can conferre and bestow no more upon them but doe plainly manifest and declare that they are very unworthy of those which they have already had and received Fourthly they which upon all occasions are not ready and willing to cooperate with Gods divine grace by faithfull and carefull imployment of their talents to farther and greater benefit and increase but are so cold and sloathfull in good things as that they bury and hide their talents and rather extinguish and quench the spirit then cause it to flame and burne out as they ought to doe by being diligent and zealous in good works free and forward to all holy actions and endeavours For Aguntur homines à Spiritu Dei ut acti agant non ut ipsi nihil agant saith Saint Austin Men are so led and guided by the Spirit of God as that by his assistance they must also worke and agitate themselves and not doe nothing towards their owne salvation which the very word Assistance doth plainly import For he that doth helpe and assist his friend in any thing doth it not altogether for him but together with him doth helpe to perfect that which he was not able to finish and fulfill by himselfe alone So that as the same Austin elsewhere Qui fecit te sine te non salvabit te sine te He that made thee without thee yet will not save thee without thee And lastly the proud Justitiaries which are ready presently to thinke highly and magnify themselves for those good things that are in them although they be not nata but data not their owne but such as they have received from the Lord and with the Pharisee in the Gospell to boast and bragge of their owne righteousnesse and holinesse above and beyond others and that with a kinde of scornefull rejection and disdainfull detestation and demonstration of Iste Publicanus The poore Publican and all other their neighbours and brethren in comparison of themselves as too many in these dayes doe Why these I say yea all these do so binde and tye up the hands of our blessed Saviour and Redeemer as that he cannot goe forward with the worke of their salvation no more then he could doe his great workes and wonders in his owne Countrey and among his owne people for their unbeliefes sake as Matth. 13.58 and Marke 6.5 And therefore let me entreat and perswade you to beware of these and the like fearefull sinnes if ever you meane that God and his Christ shall save your soules And thus in the flight first of his Disciples and then in the apprehension and binding of our Saviour himself afterward ye see the truth of those things fulfilled in these dayes of the Gospell which were long since typified and fore-showne in the time of the Law First in the flying of the Israelites before their enemies and the taking of the Arke of God at the newes whereof old Eli fell backeward from his seat so that his necke was broken and he dyed 1 Sam. 4.18 where since the taking of the Arke was a token and a type of the taking of Christ as many Writers observe I see no reason but that I may safely infer that the fall and breaking of the neck of Eli the Priest of Israel at that time might fore-shew also the downefall and destruction of the Jewish Priesthood and Ecclesiasticall Policy at the taking or shortly after the taking of our Lord himselfe but this onely by the way Secondly the binding and durance of Christ was typified in the casting of innocent Joseph into prison because hee would not consent to lie with his lascivious and adulterous Mistris Gen. 39.20 And lastly in the binding of Sampson with fetters and chaynes after that Dalilah had cut off the seaven locks and other haires of his head as Judges 16.19 21. verses But I must confesse that this our Sampson would easily have broken these chaynes cast away these cords from him now when these Philistims these his enemies much worse then the Philistims were upon him if hee had not beene held with other with stronger tyes then these they being the chaynes and bonds onely of his love and the cordes nay cart-ropes of our sinnes that are able thus to hamper thus to hold him His love first as the Poet saith Omnia vincit amor is that which doth overcome him that is invincible and binde him here that is omnipotent and our sinnes nâ—xt answerable to that of the Prophet Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me as the vulgar Latine reades it in Psal 109. Verse 61. that is The cordes of sinne or if you please of sinners have ingirt and incompassed me round about As when the razor came once upon the head
which is the right property of all hypocrites to straine at a Gnat and swallow a Camell to thinke it a more haynous thing Pulicem quam hominem occidere as Calvin speaketh To kill a flea at one time then a man at another To be over-curious and ceremonious yea and in very deed superstitious too about small matters and yet to let the weightier matters of the Law alone as mercy and judgement and fidelity and the love of God and the like for which neglect our Saviour himselfe condemneth the Pharisees Matth. 23.23 and Luke 11.43 But howsoever it be these Jewes that they may seeme rightly to eate the Passeover do pretend to keepe themselves pure and clean from all forraine defilements Caeterum immunditiem includunt praetorii parietibus when as yet they confine this defilement onely to the walls of Palats hall or house of judgement not doubâ—ing otherwise in the publike face as well of Earth as Heaven to deliver the innocent over unto death and damnation But our Saviour himselfe tells them that knew best how to define defilement That such murthers and evill thoughts and false testimonies and slanders and the like which they practise here against him These are the things which defile the man Mat. 15.19.20 Lastly they doe honour the figurative passeover with a deceiveable and fained reverence when as they offer violence with their bloody and sacrilegious hands unto the true passeover indeavouring as much as in them lies utterly to overthrow him even with an eternall destruction But I must not dwell here Pilate therefore in the next place went out unto them and said What accusation bring you against this man Where let us observe That although this Gentile bore no great affection to that Religion which the Jewes at this time professed but rather disregarded it yea slighted and laughed at it in his minde Yet in his first hearing of the cause he discharges the part of an upright and just Judge amongst them in bidding them to shew what accusation they brought against the prisoner whom with such tumult and clamour they had brought bound unto him As if he should say thus Whereas you Jewes have brought here one of your owne Nation to be sentenced to death by me I tell you I cannot I must not I will not I dare not doe it except you can shew me some just and lawfull cause why I should For si accusassa sufficit quis innocens if to accuse alone were sufficient who should be innocent Neither is it the manner of the Romans to put any man to death unlesse he be first convicted and found guilty of some grievous and haynous yea capitall offence against their owne Lawes For as for your superstitious ceremonies of violating your Sabbaths eating of Swines flesh speaking against Moses the Prophets the Temple or your God I have nothing to doe with them Ad meum Tribunal non pertinent They come not within the compasse of my Inquiry And therefore bring him not to me but take him and judge him according to your owne Law verse 31. of this Chapter Aurea planè Pilati exordia saith one utinam par epilogus Pilate begins well and it were well for him if his end were answerable But they for reply and answer hereunto cry out and say If he were not a malefactour we would not have delivered him unto thee as if they were angry with Pilate because he would not rest satisfied with their examination and tryall of him without any more adoe as if hee were bound to stand to their prejudicate and unjust sentence and so become an instrument onely of their malice to execute whomsoever and whatsoever they with the consent of their arrogant and malitious high Priests should determine and decree Where we may behold as Calvin observeth the insolency of those men that without the feare of God are lifted up to great dignities and high places of honour in the world be they Ecclesiastical or Civill whether in Church or Common-wealth who being blinded with the splendor of their power and eminency thinke it lawfull for them to perpetrate and commit any injustice or iniquity whatsoever without controule As these take it as a check to their pride and greatnesse that Christ is not by Pilate accounted a malefactor onely because they accuse him If he were not a malefactor we would not have delivered him unto thee But O ingratefull and unhappy Jewes let us heare some relation from you of the evils which this your Messias hath done and the injuries and violences which he hath offered unto you for which you thus call and count him a malefactor and thinke him worthy of death Are they any other if you rightly examine them and your owne consciences then preaching the wordes of life unto you then healing all manner of your diseases by restoring sight to the blinde hearing to the deafe speaking to the dumbe going to the lame and life to the dead Aske them that have received these great blessings and benefits from him an also those other that were possessed with Devills and infected with leprosies The one cleansed and the other set at liberty by him Inquire of these I say whether Jesus be a malefactor or not and you shall heare them all make answer with one voyce and unanimous consent in the words of him that was borne blinde If this man were not of God he could doe nothing John 9.33 So that as a moderne Poet hath well observed If either of these could but any grace have wonne What would they not to save his life have done G. Flâ—tâ—ner Poem called Christs Triumph The dumbe man would have spoke and lame man would have runne And yet you say If he were not a malefactor we would not have delivered him unto thee But we that are Christians and professe to beleeve in him that is here accused for a malefactour by these Jewes may make better use of this their slander and false accusation brought against him if wee doe but seriously meditate and consider with our selves how truly in this he took the forme of a malefactour upon him whereby hee that knew no sinne became sinne for us that wee might be made the righteousnesse of God in him as Saint Paul speaketh 2 Cor. 5. ult like smooth and innocent Jacob presenting himselfe before his heavenly father in the rough and rugged habite of his sinfull brethren and the hairy skins and coates of reprobated and rejected Esau that so for a time hee might steale away the blessing from our elder brethren these wicked and accursed Jewes and conferre it upon us Gentiles that are but younglings in Gods favours in respect of them As also for ever entayle it upon his own heires by faith whether of Jewes or Gentiles from the elder brethren to us both the lapsed and fallen Angels which because he knew could never be throughly accomplished and effected by any other meanes then by taking unto him and putting upon himselfe this sinfull
Evangelists declare Let a Poet then make the application Poem vocal Christs Triumph pag. 49. by G. Fletcher What better friendship then to cover shame What greater love then for a friend to die Yet this is better to asselfe the blame And this is greater for an enemy But more then this to die not suddenly Nor with some common death and easy paine But slowly and with torments to be slaine O depth without a depth far better seene then sayne Secondly breadth For here we may justly take occasion to behold how many were the crosses which he indured upon this one crosse for us First his legs and hands by rude and boysterous hands are violently pulled out at length to the places fitted for his fastening then pierced thorow with sharpe yron nayles which were so bigge Lib. 1. c. 17. that as Socrates in his Ecclesiasticall History reports Constantinus eos accèptos in fraena galâ—am mutavit ad bella usurpavit Constantine having received them from his mother made of them a bridle and an helmet for his owne use in the time of war which if it were so it is no marvell if the Prophet in his person complaine Foderunt manus meas pedes meos as the vulgar Latine reads it Psal 21.17 They digged as it weâ—e or pierced deep into my hands and feet as it is in our English translation Psal 22.16 Then in the next place hee is raised from the ground upon his crosse where by the weight of his body his wounds are opened and inlarged his nerves and veines rent and torne asunder and his blood gushed out abundantly Thirdly his body exhaust of spirit and blood is exposed naked to the cold ayre the Sunne during all the time obscured with a strange and unusuall ecclipse as it were with horror impatient at the sight of those indignities which were then offered â—o the Sonne of God Fourthly he is afflicted with a wonderfull exceeding drought which Cyril sayes was Vnum ex gravissimis tormentis one of his greatest sharpest and most grievous torments occasioned by his former wearisome travel his sweating agony and the effusion of so much blood His fifth paine was the want of the use of both his hands and feet whereby he was infoâ—ced to hang immoveable upon the crosse as being unable to turne any way for his case or to change the position and site of his body upon any termes The sixth and last the blasphemous and contumelious words which the Pharisees Scribes and Priests breathed out against him which is more piercing to an ingenuous and noble nature than any corporall punishment whatsoever as I have in part shewed you before And in regard whereof it is said of Alexander the great that he forgave many sharpe swords but never any sharpe words But the length and bredth of our Saviours crosse is not greater than the heighth and depth of it That passion may be said to be deepest which surpasseth other passions in the sharpnesse and intensivenesse thereof Now that our Saviours passion did so it will easily appeare by this first That it did not surprize him suddenly but was long before fore-seene and expected of him For if you search the Evangelists you shal find his arraignment and death often repeated from his owne mouth as Matth. 17.22 and againe Matth. 20.17 as also Luke 9.44 And in the 18. of the same Gospel He reckons up all the particulars as his delivering to the Gentiles mocking reviling spitting upon scourging putting to death and the like as you have heard before Now as long as he foresaw he suffered For the expectation of evill is not lesse than the sense but as to looke long for a good thing is a punishment so for evill is a torment And as for those proverbs or sayings Expectatio minuit dolorem expectation doth diminish and lessen griefe and Iacula praevisa minus feriunt darts fore-seene doe wound the lesse They are true of such evills as may be avoyded and averted either in whole or in part But not of those which cannot be eschewed by the utmost of our Art and industry For for a man to be blasted with a flash of lightning or smitten with a thunderclap troubles him lesse to take him on the sudden when hee thinkes not of it then if it were told him before that at such an houre he should perish by such a means for this lingring expectation of it doth possesse the soule continually with horror and sad affrights Adde to this as adding more measure unto this That the body of Christ was of a most perfect temper and sound constitution as being the immediate workmanship of the Holy Ghost by whom it was composed and framed in his mothers wombe without any the least help or assistance of man at all now the stronger and purer the complexion is the more lively and vigorous are the senses and so the more sensible either of paine or pleasure according as the objects are diversified Thirdly to make it yet more full such was the excesse of Christs love to man intending a plenteous Redemption that hee would not suffer his strength as in a dying man to languish and decay by degrees that so in the close nothing at all should remaine but even to his last breath he would retaine that vigor in him that he might fully feel the smartnes of his pains à principio passionis usque ad finem from the first of his passion to the last which that strong cry of his when hee gave up the ghost doth witnesse For the Text sayes that clamavit voce magna expiravit He cryed with a loud voyce or great cry and gave up the ghost Marke 15.37 which strong cry shewes that nature was strong in him For non solent moribundi exclamare dying-men are not accustomed to cry out so loud So that there is no questino to be made he might have lived longer but that all things being once accomplished to make our Redemption perfect and intire he would now die Thereby to shew himselfe to be Lord both of life and death The rarenesse and strangenesse of which act wrought as rare and strange an effect in the Centurion which heard it For the hearing of him cry thus made him to cry out too verè hic homo filius Dei erat Truely this man was the Sonne of God verse the 39. of the former fifteenth chapter of Saint Marks Gospel And so Auditus invenit quod non visus saith S. Bernard oculum species fefellit veritas auri se infudit Ser. 28. iâ— Cantica His hearing found out that which his seeing could not by reason his meane outside and exernall forme deceived his eye when as the truth infused it selfe into his eares answerable to that of the Apostle Faith commeth by hearing Rom. 10.17 The fourth and last is the depth thereof which consists in this That Christs passion was a full and solid passion that is an absolute and pure
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