the beginning of the world from Tisri or September so that that yeere was his first yeere and 3929. his second yeere at the which the wise men came to visit him 3930. his third yeere and so 3960. halfe passed or at Easter his two and thirtyeth and an halfe at which age hee dyed And now hee that desireth to know the yeere of the world which is now passing over us this yeere 1644. will finde it to bee 5572. yeeres just now finished since the Creation and the yeere 5573 of the worlds age now newly begunne this September at the Aequinox THE HARMONY OF THE FOVRE EVANGELISTS SECTION I. S. LVKE CHAP. I. The Preface or Epistle Dedicatory The occasion and warranty of Lukes writing the Gospel FORASMVCH as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely beleeved among us 2 Even as they delivered them unto us which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and Ministers of the Word 3 It seemed good to mee also having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write unto thee in order most excellent Theophilus 4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed Reason of the Order FOrasmuch as none of the Evangelists have made a Preface to their story but onely Luke this of his may serve as a generall one for all the rest And like the beautifull gate of the Temple may bee as an entrance or inlet into the glorious and royall Fabrick of the Gospels Harmony and Explanation Ver. 1. Many have taken in hand HEE condemneth not the undertakings of these men as very many Expositors hold hee doth for first hee saith they had taken in hand a declaration of those things which were most surely beleeved Secondly Hee saith they had done it even as the eye-witnesses and Ministers had delivered it Thirdly Hee maketh his own undertaking of the like nature with theirs when hee saith It seemed good to mee also But hee mentioneth these their writings as only humane Authorities undertaken without the injunction of the Holy Ghost which his divine one was to exclude So the Books of Jasher of Gad of Iddo of the warres of the Lord c. are cited by the Old Testament neither as altogether disapprooved nor yet approoved above humane In the losse of them there perished none of the Canonicall Scriptures but onely the works of men no more did there in the losse of these Vers. 2. Eyewitnesses these were the twelve Apostles Ministers these were the 70 Disciples From their Sermons and Relations many undertook to write Gospels of a godly intention and holy zeale Of which the Evangelist here speaking aimeth neither at the Gospel of Matthew nor Marke though they were written when hee thus speaketh for the first was an eyewitnesse and one of the twelve and the other it is like a Minister or one of the 70◠and so wrote not from the intelligence of others as those did of whom the Evangelist speaketh but by their owne Vers. 3. It seemed good to mee also having had perfect understanding of all things from above For so might 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee best translated And so it signifieth John 3. 3. 31. 19. 11. James 1. 17. c. And thus taken it sheweth Lukes inspiration from heaven and standeth in opposition to the many Gospels mentioned ver 1. which were written from the mouthes and dictating of men ver 2. but his intelligence for what hee writeth was from above Most excellent Theophilus In most probability a Nobleman of Antioch and fellow Citizen with Luke converted by Paul at his Preaching there Act. 11. 26. Luke adhered to his Master and forsook him not 2 Tim. 4. 11. but Theophilus staying at Antioch after Pauls departure what hee wanted in verball instructions from the mouth of his Master when hee went away Luke doth in this his Gospel supply by writing that so hee might know the certainty of these things wherein hee had been Catechized Theophilus in Greek is the same in signification with Jedidiah in Hebrew the name of Solomon the Lords Beloved or with glorious title of Abraham the Friend of God And thus was that Prophecy most sweetly fulfilled Esai 60. 14. The sonnes of the afflicters shall come bending to thee c. when in that Town which had been the residence and bare the name of Antiochus the sharpest enemy that ever Israel groaned under the professors of the Gospel were first named Christians and such an Evangelist hath his Originall SECT II. S. JOHN CHAP. 1. The fitnesse and necessity of the second Person in the Trinity his being incarnate and his being the Redeemer rather then either of the other asserted and prooved by his being the Creator the given of the promise and substance and tenor of the types and Prophecies of the Old Testament IN the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God 2 The same was in the beginning with God 3 All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made 4 In him was life and the life was the light of men 5 And the light shined in darknesse and the darknesse comprehended it not 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John 7 The same came for a witnesse to beare witnesse of the Light that all men through him might beleeve 8 Hee was not that Light but was sent to beare witnesse of that light 9 That was the true Light which lighteth every man that commeth into the world 10 Hee was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not 11 Hee came unto his own and his own received him not 12 But as many as received him to them gave hee power to become the Sons of God even to them that beleeve on his name 13 Which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God 14 And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and wee beheld his glory the glory as of the onely begotten of the Father full of grace and truth Reason of the Order THe Preface being made the story is to begin and that it doth here from Christs Divinity most Divinely For whereas the other Evangelists begin their relations no further back then from the birth or conception of our Saviour or at the furthest of his forerunner John draws the Reader back to behold him in the Old Testament in the Creation of the world and in the promises to the Fathers And therefore this portion is first to bee begun withall and of it selfe will justifie its own order Especially it being considered that the person of Christ is first to bee treated of before his actions and in his person the divine nature which John here handleth before the humane Harmony and Explanation FRom Gen. 1. 1. the Evangelist sheweth that the redemption was to bee wrought by him by whom the Creation was namely by the Word or the second Person in
of his incarnation and of his owne Nation the Jewes amongst whom hee came and conversed in humane flesh yet they refused him They were his 〈◊〉 by choice Deut. 7. 6. by purchase Exod. 19. 4 5. by Covenant Deut. 26. 18. and by kindred Heb. 2. 16. Ver. 12. Power to become the Sons of God The people of the Church are called the Sons of God Gen. 6. 2. And after the dispersion at Babel where the Heathen became the Sons of men Gen. 11. 5. this title was appropriated onely to the Jewes Exod. 4. 22. Hoâ— 11. 1. But now when the Jewes Christs owne people should not receive him when hee so came amongst them this priviledge should bee conferred upon what Heathen or Gentiles so ever should receive him that they should bee henceforward as the Jewes had been hitherto the Sons of God or the Church of Christ. That beleeve on his Name That is In or On him For the Name of God in Scripture doth often stand for God himselfe as Psal. 71. 1. Mic 6. 9. Act. 3. 16. c. For God is without any 〈◊〉 or composition on but a most pure and simple essence and therefore his name and himselfe are not two severall things as they bee in the creatures but one and the same R. Menahemâ— on Exod. 6â— Ver. 13. Which are born Not of God Greek Not of blâ—â—dâ— in the plurall number That is not of the kindred descent or continued Pedegree from the Patriarchall line or the blood of Abrahâ—m Isaac Jacob and successively For John the Evangelist speaketh much to the same tenor here that John the Baptist doth Mat. 3. 9. That Christ would adopt the Heathen for the Sons of God as the Jewes had beene though they had no relation at all to the Jewish blood or stock Nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man The Evangelist hath traced Moses all along from the beginning of the Chapter and so he doth here He used the phrase of the Sons of God in the Verse preceding from Gen. 6. 2. And this Clause that wee have in hand he seemeth to take from the very next Ver. after My Spirit shall no more strive with man because hee also is flesh Where as Moses by flesh understandeth the brood of Cain men that followed the swinge of lust sensuality and their owne corruption and by Man the Family of Seth 〈◊〉 Adam that was regulated by Religion and reason till that Family grew also fleshly like the other so doth John here the like For having in the next foregoing words excluded one maine thing that was much stood upon from any claime or challenge towards the adopting of the Sons of God or forwarding of the new birth and that is descent from Abraham and from those holy men successively that had the promise So doth he here as much for two other which onely can put in for title to the same and those are first the will of the flesh or ability of nature Secondly the will of man or power of morality Verse 14. And the word became Flesh Now hath the Evangelist brought us to the great Mystery of the Incarnation in the description of which may be observed First the two termes the word and Flesh expressing Christs two natures and the word was made or became their hypostaticall union Secondly the word flesh is rather used by the Evangelist then the word man though oftentimes they signify but the same thing as Gen. 6. 12. Psal. 65. 2. Isa. 40. 5 6. First to make the difference and distinction of the two natures in Christ the more conspicuous and that according to the common speech of the Jewes who set flesh and blood in opposition to God as Matth. 16. 17. Gal. 1. 16. Secondly to magnifie the mercy of God in Christs incarnation the more in that flesh being in its owne nature so farre distant from the nature of God yet that hee thus brought these two natures together as of them to make but one person for the reconcilling of man and himselfe together Thirdly to confirme the truth of Christs humanity against future Heresies which have held that he had not a true and reall humane body but only Fantasticall or of the aire Fourthly to explaine what he said before that Peleevers became the Sonnes of God that is not by any change of their bodily substances but by participation of divine grace for Christ on the contrary became the Sonne of Man by assuming of flesh and not by changing into it Fifthly to shew the Plaister fitly applyed unto the Sore and the Physicke to the Disease for whereas in us that is in our flesh there dwelleth no good but sin death and corruption hee tooke upon him this very nature which we have so corrupted sequestring onely the corruption from it that in the nature he might heale the corruption Sixthly he saith he was made or became flesh and not hee was made man lest it should be conceived that Christ assumed a person for he tooke not the person of any man in particular but the nature of man in generall Was made flesh Not by alteration but assumption not by turning of the God-head into flesh but by taking of the Man-hood into God not by leaving what hee was before that is to be God but by taking on him what he was not before that is to be man And the Evangelist saith rather He was made flesh then he assumed it i. e. that he might set out the truth and mystery of the incarnation to the life both for the hypostaticall union of the two natures and their inseparability being so united For first whereas Nestorius said that the word was not that man that was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary but that the Virgin indeed brought forth a man and hee having obtained grace in all kind of vertue had the word of God united unto him which gave him power against uncleane Spirits And so he made two severall Sons and two severall persons of the two natures his Heresie is plainly and strongly confuted by this phrase he was made flesh which by the other he consumed it might have had more pretext and colour Secondly whereas Eâ—tyches Valentiâ—us and otherâ— averred that Christ had not a true humane body but onely a body in appearance This also confuteth them home and taketh away all probability of any such thing which the word assumed might have left more doubtfull since we know that Angels assumed bodies and those bodies were noâ— truly humane So that in this manner of speech The word was made flesh is evidently taught First that there are two distinct natures in Christ the God head and the Man-hood for hee saith not the Word was turned into but was made or became flesh Secondly that these two natures doe not constitute two persons but onely one Christ for he saith hee was made flesh and not assumed it Thirdly that this union is hypostaticall or personall for he saith the
the Trinity as being fittest for that great worke as whereby coâ—fusion both in the externall workes of the Trinity as also in the terme of Sonship might bee avoided In the externall workes of the Trinity when the Creator of man became his Redeemer and in the terme of Sonship when the Son of God and the Sonne of Man were but one and the same person Ver. 1. The Word Hee is so called in the Old Testament First as the Authour of the Creation Psal. 33. 6. Secondly as the Authour of the promise 2 Sam. 7. 2. compared with 1 Chron. 17. 19. Thirdly as the very Subject of the Covenant and promise it selfe Hag. 2. 5. Deut. 30. 12. compared with Rom. 10. 6 7. So that these things being laid together and well considered they shew why John calleth the Son of God the Word rather then by any other name First because hee would shew that as the world was created by the Son so it was most fit it should bee redeemed Secondly that as in him the promise was given so in him was fit should bee the performance Thirdly that as hee was the Subject of the Covenant in the Old Testament so also was hee the Substance of it in the New From such places as these forenamed where the Son of God is called the Word in the Old Testament it became most familiar and ordinary among the Jewes to use this title personally for him And this may bee a second reason deduced from that that was named before why the Evangelist here useth it namely as a name most familiarly and commonly known amongst his own people Examples hereof might bee alledged out of the Chaldee Paraphrasts even by hundreds It will suffice to alledge some few Gen. 28. 20 21. If the word of the Lord will bee my helpe c. The word of the Lord shall bee my God Exod. 19. 17. Moses brought forth the people to meet the word of the Lord Esai 1. 14. Your appointed Feasts my word abominateth and ver 16. Put away the evill of your doings from before my word and Chap. 45. 2. My word shall goe before thee c. So Esay 48. 11. 49. 5. 15. 51. 5. Jer. 24. 6. 27. 5. 18. 29. 14. 23. Hos. 1. 7. 9. Zach. 2. 5. and in hundreds of other places And so likewise in some of the writings of the Talmudists and Philo Judaeus in lib. De mundi opificio explaineth this title This terme and in this sense also was got even among the Heathen for so Mercury Trismegistus useth it often in Pimandro as The will of God contained his word And God with his word produced another intellect which is a fiery God and a Divine Spirit And againe The word of God compacted the pure workmanship of nature And The working intellect together with the Word So likewise Orpheus as hee is alledged by Justin Martyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But Mahomet in his Alcaron goeth yet further Eise or Jesus saith hee is the word of God and this being the word of God is reputed among the Saracens as the proper name of Jesus Christ so that no other man is called by this name but Jesus onely whom in Arabick they call Eise Sam. Maroch lib. de advent Messiae cap. 27. Drus. in praeter in loc And the word was with God c. The Evangelist goeth not about so much immediately to shew the eternity of the word or of the second Person in the Trinity as hee doth to declare how requisite it was that that Person should bee incarnate rather then the first or the third because by him the Creation was wrought and answerably by him it was fittest should bee the redemption c. Therfore the words in the beginning have not reference to the words eternall being but to his giving of being to the Creature For as they are Moses his owne phrase Gen. 1. 1. so are they to bee taken in his sense and further back then the Creation it is not possible to bring his words and by those of his must these bee understood They trace not therefore his Divinity beyond the Creation nor yet doe they find it to have begun there but this they say onely that then the word was and by him were all things made And this was enough for the answering of Ebion and Cerinthus which held that Christ was not before the Virgin Mary And this being concluded that the word was in the beginning and created all things his eternall being before the Creation will readily inferre it selfe The Evangelist useth this manner of speech The word with God First to shew the subsistence of the Son of himselfe and his co-existence with the Father his subsistence hee was his co-existence Hee was with God Secondly the distinction of the persons Hee was with God and the unity of Essence hee was God Thirdly the relation between the Father and the Son The Son is said to bee with the Father as children are apud Patrem but not è contra Fourthly the Phrase Hee was with God is in Antithesis or opposition to that that is said afterward The word dwelt among us And this doth illustrate the doctrine and benefit of the incarnation the more when it shall bee observed that hee that in the beginning was the word and was with God and was the Creator did in the fulnesse of time become flesh and dwell with men and became their Redeemer And the word was God God in the clause next preceding is taken personally for God the Father but here essentially for the Godhead Moses all along the Story of the Creation called God Elohim by a word plurall to denote the distinction of Persons but at last in Gen. 2. 4. hee calleth him Jehovah Elohim to signifie also the unity of Essence So David when hee had spoken of the Lord and his word 2 Sam. 7. 21. amd the Lord and his Servant 1 Chron. 17. 19. Hee presently concludeth that there is but one God though those titles might seem to make them more There is none like thee neither is there any God besides thee ver 22. So the Evangelist here when hee hath named The Word and God and the word being with God as two persons distinct one from another lest this distinction should breed the supposall of difference and the mention of more persons the surmisall of more Gods hee preventeth betimes and stoppeth all such misconstructions by saying The word was God Ver. 2. The same was in the beginning with God Hee had said the same thing immediately before but not in the same respect For there hee spake of the words co-existency with the Father as hee explaineth himselfe after it The word was God but here
that when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary the babe leaped in her wombe and Elisabeth was filled with the holy Ghost 42 And shee spake out with a loud voice and said Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy wombe 43 And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me 44 For lo so soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine eares the Babe leaped in my wombe for joy 45 And blessed is shee that beleeved for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 46 And Mary said My soule doth magnifie the Lord 47 And my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour 48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his hand-maiden for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things and holy is his name 50 And his mercy is on them that feare him from generation to generation 51 Hee hath shewed strength with his arme hee hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich hee hath sent empty away 54 He hath holpen his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy 55 As he spake to our fathers to Abraham and to his seed for ever 56 And Mary abode with her about three moneths and returned to her owne house Reason of the Order THe Order of this Section requireth not much confirmation for it will plead for it selfe After the Divine Nature of Christ is handled as in the Section preceding his humane is to bee considered next and so is it here And first the manner of his conception but the conception of his forerunner John the Baptist orderly described and declared before Harmony and Explanation Ver. 5. In the daies of Herod THe Scepter shall not depart from Judah or the Lawgiver from between his sect untill Shiloh come Gen. 49. 10. The words are to bee read discretively Or rather then And shewing that when the Scepter ceased the Law-giver succeded and when both were gone then Messias should appeare The Scepter continued in the hand of Judah till the captivity into Babylon and then it departed and being once fallen it was never recovered till hee came to whom it belonged This Jeremy told expressely even at the very time when it was in failing Jer. 22. 30. Write Coniah childlesse for no man of his seed shall prosper sitting upon the Throne of David and ruling any more in Judah And so did Ezekiel even just then when Nebuchadnezzar was setting himselfe to fetch it away Ezek. 22. 21. c. Remove the Diadem and take off the Crown c. I will overturne overturne overturne it and it shall bee no more untill hee come whose right it is and I will give it him After their returne out of that captivity the Law-giver or the high Court of the Seventy Elders sate at the Helme and ruled the State till the usurpation of the Asmenean or Maccabean family distempered all Their Ambition brought in a Crowne and that civill warres and those the Romans who subdued the nation and set Herod King over them Hee was the Sonne of Antipater of the race of Edom or of the seed of Esau a generation that had been an enemy to the Jewes continually but never ruled over them till now so that now were fulfilled the words of Isaac to his Sonne Esau. Thou shalt serve thy brother Jacob but it shall come to passe when thou shalt have the dominion thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck Gen. 27. 40. Herod was bloody like the root of which hee came which persecuted his Brother even in the wombe and among other his cruelties which were very horrible and very many hee slew the Sanhedrin or the bench of the Lxx Judges And then was the Law-giver departed from between Judahs feet as the Scepter was out of his hand long before And then might the Jewes cry out as it is recorded they did though upon another occasion Woe unto us for the Scepter is departed from Judah and the Law-giver from between his feet and yet is not the Sonne of David come § There was a certaine Priest named Zacharias Of this name there had been a famous Priest and a famous Prophet in old time before Zacharias the Sonne of Jehojada before the captivity 2 Chron. 24. And Zacharias the Sonne of Barachias after Zac. 1. 1. And consonant it was that hee in whom Priesthood and Prophecy should bee strucke dumb and even have their period because the great Priest and Prophet was so neere at hand should beare the same name with them in whom Priesthood and Prophecy had in some manner ceased before SS Of the course of Abia. The Priests were divided by David into foure and twenty courses 1 Chron. 24. Not but that there had beene courses before of them but because there had not been so many For reason it selfe will tell us that since they were all bound to the service of the Sanctuary and withall were so very many in number they could not serve there mixedly and confusedly but must need have some distinction and order some of the Jews say they were divided into eight courses by Moses foure of Eleazar and foure of Ithamar But for this they have no ground to shew at all Others that they were divided into sixteen by him namely eight and eight of either family And of the division it selfe there seemeth to bee some probability in the Text but not of the divider For speaking of Davids distinguishing them because they were growne more numerous it saith 1 Chro. 24. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which importeth thus much that there was one principall houshold added to every course of Eleazar more than was before and so they became sixteene but of Ithamar were onely taken those which were used before which were onely eight and thus did they rise to 24. See R. Solomon Dav. Kimehi in loc These courses thus newly increased by David for number and thus newly ranked by lot for order and both for the service of the Temple when it should bee built it is but little to bee doubted but that they began their round when the service of the Temple did first begin which round began on the Sabbath next after the Feast of Tabernacles about the two and twentieth day of the moneth Tisri 2 Chron. 7. For on the 23 day Solomon dismissed all the people to their owne houses ver 10. after hee had kept the Feast of Tabernacles seven dayes before according to the Law beginning on the fifteenth day of the moneth and concluding on the one and twentieth day Lev. 23. and the next day after or the two and twentieth day was a solemne
very well bee beleeved that hee would bloodily stirre against this new King of the Jewes that the wisemen spake of for feare of interception of the Crown as wel as his Father Hee dyed but five daies before his fathers death as it was touched before out of Josephus and thus God brought this bloodinesse of the Father and the Son and the rest of their cruelties to an end and upon their own heads at once and in a manner together and thus may the words of the Angel bee very fairely understood Take the childe and return to the Land of Israel for Herod and Antipater are dead that sought his life Ver. 22. Archelaus did reigne in Iâ—dea in the roome of his Father Herod Herod had first named Antipater for his Successor in the Throne of Judea but upon detection of his conspiracy against him hee altered his minde and his will and nominated Antipas and changing his minde yet againe hee named Archelaus and hee succeeded him a man not likely to prosper in a Throne that was so bebloodyed His conclusion was that in the tenth yeere of his reigne hee was accused by the Nobles of Judea and Samaria to Augustus banished to Vienna and his estate confiscate Jos. Ant. lib 17. cap. 15. Ver. 23. Hee shall bee called a Nazarene From Isai. 11. 1. where the Messias is called by the title Nezer which indifferently signifieth A branch and the City Nazaret one and the same word denoting Christ and the place where hee should bee borne SECT VIII S. LUKE CHAP. II. Christ sheweth his wisedome at twelve yeeres old Ver. 40. ANd the Childe grew and waxed strong in spirit filled with wisdome and the grace of God was upon him 41 Now his Parents went to Jerusalem every yeer at the Feast of the Passeover 42 And when hee was twelve yeers old they went up to Jerusalem after the custome of the Feast 43 And when they had fulfilled the daies as they returned the Childe Jesus tarryed behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother knew not of it 44 But they supposing him to have been in the company went a daies journey and they sought him among their kinsfolkes and acquaintance 45 And when they found him not they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking him 46 And it came to passe that after three daies they found him in the Temple sitting in the middest of the Doctors both hearing them and asking them questions 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers 48 And when they saw him they were amazed and his mother said unto him Son why hast thou thus dealt with us Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing 49 And hee said unto them How is it that yee sought mee wist yee not that I must bee about my Fathers businesse 50 And they understood not the saying which hee spake unto them 51 And hee went down with them and came to Narareth and was subject unto them but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart 52 And Jesus increased in wisedome and stature and in favour with God and men Reason of the Order THe Order of this Section dependeth so clearely upon the proper Order of that preceding that that being made good to lie where it doth as in the proper place the subsequence of this to it can nothing at all bee doubted of For whereas all the Evangelists have unanimously passed over in silence all those yeeres of Christs minority which intervened or passed between his return out of Egypt and this passage of his at twelve yeeres old there is nothing possible to bee found in the Gospels that can come between to interpose this order and connexion The carriage and demeanour of our Saviour in the time between is onely briefely comprised in the first verse of this portion And the childe grew and waxed strong in spirit filled with wisedome and the grace of God was upon him Harmony and Explanation Ver. 40. And the childe grew c. TWo yeeres Old hee was when hee went into Egypt and there hee abode in his Exile a very small time it may bee some two or three moneths about such a space as Moses had been hid in Egypt in his Fathers house from the fury of Pharaoh When hee returned to Narazeth his Mothers City being now about two yeers and a quarter old hee was not weaned if in this hee followed the use and custome of the Jewish children as it is like hee did but still sucked his Mothers breasts As hee grew in body hee grew much more in minde for so the phrase Hee waxed strong in Spirit seemeth to bee understood by the Evangelist taking Spirit not so much for the Holy Ghost though it is past question hee was filled with that as for his Soule or spirituall part of his humane nature And so hee describeth his growth in both parts in the two expressions The childe grew in body and waxed strong in intellect and soule filled with wisedome in an extraordinary manner above other children and a graciousnesse appeared in him both in person and actions Vers. 41. Now his Parents went to Jerusalem c. Joseph is called the Parent of Christ as Paul calleth preaching foolishnesse 1 Cor. 1. 21 23. because hee was so commonly reputed by men And as for Womens going up to this Festivall whereas the Law required onely the Males appearance before the Lord three times in the yeere wee shall have occasion to speake of it hereafter Ver. 42. And when hee was twelve yeeres old c. At what age our Saviour sheweth his admirable wisdome in the Temple among the Doctors in this Story at the same age had Solomon shewed his in the matter of the two Hostesses about the dead and living child 1 King 3. 25. â—8 For that hee was twelve yeers old at that time may be conceived upon these collections First Absolom began to rebell in the thirty seventh yeere of Davids Reigne or three yeeres before his death or thereabout This is to bee picked out of that datelesse reckoning of yeeres 2 Sam. 15. 7. And after forty yeeres Absalom said let mee goe pay my vow c. These forty yeeres are counted from the time that Israel asked a King three of Sauls Reigne 1 Sam. 13. 1. and seven and thirty of Davids and then began Absalom to challenge the Kingdome and the reckoning from that date giveth this hint and intimation that as their asking a King then did sore displease the Lord so now are they punished in the proper kind for it when they have so many Kings that they know not well which to follow and many of them perish in following the usurper Secondly before his open rebellion Absalom had been two yeeres in Jerusalem and not seen the Kings face 2 Sam. 14. 28. Thirdly before that time he had been three yeeres in deserved exile in Geshur 2 Sam. 13. 38. Fourthly and two yeeres had passed betwixt the rape of Tamar and
and usuall division of the Old Testament by the Hebrews into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Oraictha Nebbyim Chetubhim The Law the Prophets and the Holy writs approved and followed by our Saviour Luk. 24. 44. and alluded to by the Evangelist here Before thy face c. Thy way before thee The former is neither in the Hebrew nor in the Lxx at all the latter is in them both but clean contrary for they both have it The way before mee But First the Evangelists and Apostles when they take on them to cite any Text from the Old Testament are not so punctuall to observe the exact and strict forme of words as the pith of them or sense of the place as might bee instanced in many particulars so that the difference of the words would not prejudice the agreement in sense were there not so flat difference of person as mee and thee Secondly The Majesty of Scripture doth often shew it selfe in requoting of places in this that it alledgeth them in difference of words and difference of sense yea sometimes in contrarietie not to make one place to crosse or deny another but by the variety one to explaine and illustrate another as in corresponding places in the Old Testament might bee shewed at large as Gen. 10. 22 23. cited 1 Chron. 1. 17. Gen. 36. 12. compared with 1 Chron. 1. 36. 1 Sam. 25. 44. paralleled 2 Sam. 21. 8. 2 Chron. 3. 15. with Jer. 52. 21. and very many other places of the like nature wherein the Holy Ghost having penned a thing in one place doth by variety of words and sense inlarge and expound himselfe in another And the same divine authority and Majesty doth hee also use in the New Testament both in parallell places in it selfe and in citations in it from the Old So that this difference in hand betwixt My face in Malachi and thy face in Mark is not contradictory or crossing one another but explicatory or one explaining another and both together do result to the greater mystery For Christ is the face or presence of the Father and so is hee plainly called Exod. 33. 14. and in Christ the Father came and revealed himselfe among men and the words in both places both in the Prophet and in the Evangelist are to bee taken for the words of the Father in the one spoken of the Sonne and in the other to him In Malachi thus Behold I send my Messenger before mee to prepare the way before my face that is before the Sonne as hee is in his own nature the very brightnesse of the glory of the Father and the expresse image of his person Heb. 1. 3. and in Marke thus to prepare the way before thy face that is before thee O Sonne when thou commest to undertake the work of redemption and to publish the Gospel And this change of persons in Grammaticall construction is usuall in the Hebrews eloquence and Rhetorique as 1 Sam. 2. 23. My heart rejoyceth in the Lord I rejoyce in thy Salvation There is none holy as the Lord for there is none beside thee c. Zech. 12. 10. They shall look upon mee whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him and 14. 5. The Lord my God shall come and all the Saints with thee Luk. 3. ver 1. In the fifteenth yeere of Tiberius Caesar. This Tiberius was the third Emperour of the Romanes the son of Livia the wife of Augustus and by him adopted into the family of the Caesars and to the Empire A man of such subtilty cruelty avarice and bestiality that for all or indeed for any of these few stories can shew his parallell And as if in this very beginning of the Gospel hee were produced of such a constitution to teach us what to look for from that cruell and abominable City in all ages and successions Now Tiberius his fifteenth was the yeere of the world 3957. And the time of the yeere that John began to Baptize in it was about Easter or the vernall equinox as may bee concluded from the time of the Baptisme of our Saviour For if Jesus were baptized in Tisri or September as is cleered hereafter hee being then but just entring upon his thirtieth yeere as the Law required Numb 4. And if John being six moneths elder then our Saviour as it is plaine hee was did enter his Ministery at the very same age according to the same Law it readily follows that the time mentioned was the time when hee began to Preach It was indeed Tiberius his fifteenth when John began to baptize but it may very well bee questioned whether it were so when our Saviour was baptized by him For the exact beginning of every yeere of Tiberius his reign was from the fourteenth of the Kalends of September or the eighteenth of August at what time Augustus dyed Sueton in Aug. cap. 100. That fifteenth of the Emperour therefore in the Spring time of which John began to baptize was expired before September when our Saviour was baptized and so his baptisme is to bee reputed in the yeere of the world 3958. which was then but newly begunne and in the sixteenth yeere of Tiberius but newly begun neither unlesse you will reckon the yeere of the Emperour as the Romanes did the yeere of the Consuls from January to January But this wee will not controvert nor crosse the common and constant opinion of all times that holdeth our Saviour to have been baptized in Tiberius his fifteenth SS Pontius Pilate being governour of Judea Hee is called Procurator Judeae by Tacitus Annal. lib. 15. and hath this brand set upon him by Egisippus that hee was Vir nequam parvi facient mendacium De excid Jeruf l. 2. c. 5. A wicked man and one that made little conscience of a lie from which unconscionable disposition those words of his What is truth Joh. 18. 38. seem to proceed in scorn of truth and derision of it Hee succeeded Gratus in the government of Judea managed it with a great deale of troublesomenesse and vexation to the nation and at last was put out of his rule by Vitellius and sent to Rome to answer for his misdemeanours Joseph Antiq. lib. 18. c. 3 4 5. Philo in legatione SS Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee This was Antipas the sonne of Herod the great and called also Herod after his Father a man that after a long and wicked misdemeanour in his place was at last banished by Caius upon the accusation of his Nephew Herod Agrippa and Herodias his incestuous mate with him as shall bee shewed in a more proper place SS Tetrarch Some tying themselves too strictly to the signification of the Greek word understand by Tetrarch him that governeth the fourth part of a Kingdome for the Originall word includeth foure and accordingly have concluded that the Kingdome of Herod the great was divided by Augustus after his death into foure parts and given to his foure Sonnes Archelaus in whose roome they say succeeded
which answereth to part of our September Moses commeth down from his third Fast of forty daies and bringeth with him the glad tydings of Gods reconciliation to his People and in sign thereof the renewed Tables and the welcome command to make the Tabernacle From that time forward the working and offerings for the making of the sanctuary began and six moneths after it was finished and erected namely in the moneth of Abib Exod. 40. So long a time was the Baptist conceived and borne before the conception and birth of our Saviour Luke 1. 26. and so long a time did he preach and baptize and prepare for the great building of the Gospel before our Saviour himselfe came and by his own baptisme and preaching reared it up For as our Saviour was baptized and entred into his ministeriall function when he began to bee thirty yeeres of age and that according to a legall ordinance as shall be shewed ere long so likewise did the Baptist begin to preach when he began to be thirty which was six moneths current before And this may be the better supposed if it bee but considered how great multitudes were baptized of John before the baptisme of Christ and how farre he travailed up and downe to preach Of the latter Luke witnesseth thus And hee came into all the Region round about Jordan Preaching the baptisme of repentance Luke 3. 3. And Matthew of the former thus There went out unto hiâ— Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about Jordan and were baptized of him A space of ground not to be travelled over with resting in many places by the way and a number of people not to be baptized in a short space of time Now the reasons why Christ that needed no cleansing being purity it selfe would be baptized are given divers As first that by this Symbole hee might enter himselfe into the society and fraternity of the Christians as by Circumcision he did of the Jewes like a King it is Jansenius his comparison that to unite and indeare himselfe to any City of his subjects condescendeth to bee made a freeman of it as are the ordinary Citizens Secondly that he might beare witnesse to the preaching and baptisme of John and might receive testimony from him againe Thirdly that by his owne baptisme he might sanctifie the waters of baptisme to his Church Fourthly that he might give example himselfe of the performance of that which he injoyned to others and by his owne comming to bee baptized teach others not to refuse that Sacrament Fifthly that he might receive testimony from heaven that he was the son of God Sixthly that he might occasion the revealing of the Trinity Seventhly that he might shew the descending of the holy Ghost on the waters of baptisme But eighthly the maine reason of all and that which is equall to these all is that which is given by Christ hinselfe namely that heâ— might fulfill all righteousnesse of which anon Ver. 14. But John forbad him So Peter forbad Christ to wash his feet not in any surly forwardnesse but in an holy humility having an eye upon his owne unworthynesse This refusall of John being of the same nature seemeth to have had respect to three things according to the severall persons there present Christ the people and himselfe First in regard of Christ because hee needed no baptisme in that hee needed neither repentance nor remission of sins Secondly in regard of the people lest they might mistake and seeing Christ baptized as well as they might judge him sinfull as well as themselves Thirdly in regard of the Baptist himselfe who had told the people so oft and so constantly of him that came after him that hee was greater then hee and that his baptisme was more excellent then his and how would this crosse that testimony of his in the eyes and hearts of the people when they should see him as an inferiour come to bee baptized of John But Fourthly and chiefely this his reluctancy proceeded from his true and right comparing of Christ and himselfe together the Majesty and purity of him with the basenesse and sinfulnesse of himselfe and therefore hee saith I have need to bee baptized of thee c. Not refusing the sâ—rvice nor crossing the will of Christ but confessing the unworthinesse of himselfe and ponderating the inequality of the persons But it may not unfitly nor unseasonably bee questioned here how the Baptist knew that this was Christ seeing that hee saith himselfe I knew him not but hee that sent mee to baptize with water the same said unto mee on whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him the same is hee that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost Joh. 1. 33. Now the descending of the holy Ghost was after hee was baptized and these words I have need to bee baptized of thee were spoken before To this doubt and scruple many answers are given but not so many resolutions First Some take the words I knew him not c. to bee spoken by John to make his testimony to bee without suspition For John and Jesus being a kin by birth for their Mothers were Cozins Luk. 1. 36. it might bee surmised that John gave so high and large a testimony of him for kindred and affections sake therefore hee protesteth that hee knew him not in any such a way but onely by divine revelation Thus Chrysostome and Theophylact. In which answer if there bee any satisfaction at all which is but little yet is it not to our whole quaere but onely to the least part of it Secondly some thus that John before his baptisme knew that he was the Christ but not that it was hee that should baptize with the holy Ghost aud with fire till hee saw the Spirit descend upon him and thus Theophylact againe and upon this hee fixeth as on the most genuine and proper resolution which is very hard to apprehend or collect out of the words of John in his whole Sermon for this maketh him to distinguish betwixt Christ and him that should baptize with the holy Ghost and to make them two distinct persons in his opinion whereas both his own words and no doubt the expectation of the people did take him for one and the same and that same to bee Christ. Thirdly their opinion is yet farre more strange that think that the Baptist took not Christ for Christ when hee gain-sayeth his being baptized by him but for some extraordinary holy man and continued in this opinion till the descending of the holy Ghost confirmed him in the Truth that hee was the Messias For it is not imaginable that John having the peculiar Commission from God to baptize all that should come unto him should himselfe desire to bee baptized by another man And again his words I have need to bee baptized by thee shew that hee understood that it was hee that Baptized with the holy Ghost as will appeare by and by Fourthly little lesse improper
the three silence that heard it and saw what was done Matth. 17. 9. and yet should let this voice and vision from Heaven bee so publike as to bee heard and seen of all the people Fourthly John himselfe telleth that this Revelation was given chiefly if not onely for his sake Joh. 1. 33. Fifthly the preaching of the Baptist was the meanes that God had ordained to bring the people to the knowledge of Christ John 1. 7. 31. and this Revelation to bring the Baptist to it Sixthly had all the people been partakers of this sight and voice John had needed no more to have pointed Christ out but the people would have knowne him as well as hee nor could the opinion have ever prevailed as it did that valued John above him Sixthly when John shewed him forth with the singer with Behold the Lambe of God presently Disciples followeed him which they would have done much more had they thus seene and heard him pointed out from heaven but it is plaine they did not the one and thereupon it may be boldly concluded that they did not the other Eighthly to which may be added that God ordained preaching partly of John partly of Christ himselfe and partly of his Disciples the way to bring the world acquainted that hee was Messias And these divine revelations were for the instruction and confirmation of them his preachers who were chosen witnesses for such a purpose that they thereupon might the more confidently confirm the people And hereupon it is observable that while the Baptist was at liberty our Saviour contented himselfe with his testimony and preaching but wheâ— he was shut up then instantly chose he others Now if any doubt of the possibility of this and question how could John see and heare these things and the other company that was present not doe so as well as hee The answer may bee readily given by example of Elishaes servant 2 King 6. 17. and the two men that went to Emmauâ— Luke 24. For the mountaine was full of Horses and Chariots of fire and Elisha perceived them but his servant did not till his eyes were opened in a more speciall manner And Christ it is like was in the same shape and appearance upon the way when they knew him not that he was in the house when they did but til then their eyes were holden Yet if any one will suppose that the people saw the flashing of the opened Heaven and heard the noice of the voice that came from thence and tooke the one for lightening and the other for thunder as Joh. 12. 29. we will not oppose it for now was the season of the yeere fit for lightning and thunder but that either they saw the holy Ghost or distinguished the words of the voice any more then Pauls companions did Acts 9. 7. compared with Act. 22. 9. the reasons alledged doe inforce to deny till better information Mat. 3. vers 16. And hee saw the Spirit of God The syntax and construction of Marke doth tye and six these words Hee saw onely to our Saviour as it did those before and both for the reason mentioned namely to shew the return and answer of his prayer But these words of Matthew are not so strict but that they may equally bee applied unto John For first there may be observed a distinction in the verse and a kind of difference of speech betwixt what goeth before about the opening of the heavens and this fight of the holy Ghost For of that hee speaketh thus And Jesus being baptized went straightway out of the water and lâ—e the Heavens were opened unto him And then commeth hee on with a distinct clause concerning the other And be saw the Spirit of God descending leaving it at the least in an indifferency whether to apply it to Christ or John But secondly it seemeth rather to bee understood of John because hee saith himselfe that this descending of the holy Ghost was given to him for a signe and that he saw it and if it bee not to bee so taken herâ— none of the three Evangelists have mentioned it in the story at all And thirdly the rather may it bee taken of Johns seeing it because he saith He saw him descending and comming 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon on him Had it been said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon himselfe it must needs have been understood of Christ upon whom the Spirit came that hee saw the Spirit comming upon himselfe but since it is 〈◊〉 him without any reciprocation it may be the better applyed to John that hee saw it It is true indeed that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes signifieth reciprocally himselfe as our Lexicons doe give examples and as it is of force to be taken in Saint Marke in this place like as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes doth not signifie reciprocally as in the Lxx in Judg. 7. 24. But why should wee take the word out of its commonest and properest sense unlesse there were necessity to doe it which in Matthew there is not though in Marke there bee Fourthly and lastly these words hee saw being understood of John it maketh that the three Evangelists being laid together the relation ariseth out of them the more full and the story more plain For Luke telling that the Heavens were opened and the Holy Ghost descended Marke addeth that Jesus saw this and Matthew that John Mat. 3. Ver. 16. The Spirit of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 2. 2. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters in the beginning of the old world and so doth it here of the new It is needlesse to instance how oft in Scripture the holy Ghost is called the Spirit of God as Gen. 41. 38. Exod. 31. 3. Numb 24. 2. and very many other places but it is most necessary to observe that wheresoever hee is so called it is in the Hebrew the Spirit of Elohim in the plurall number and sheweth his proceeding from more persons then one Contrary to the opinion of the Greek Church that holdeth that the holy Ghost proceedeth not from the Father and the Sonne but from the Father onely Luk. 3. Ver. 22. The Holy Ghost As hee is called the Spirit not so much in regard of his owne nature as in regard of his manner of proceeding so also is hee called Holy not so much in respect of his person for the Father and Sonne are Spirits and are holy as well as hee but in regard of his worke and Office which is to sanctifie the Church of God And in this respect hee is called by the Hebrews not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Holy Spirit onely but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ruahâ— bakkâ—desh the Spirit of Holinesse for this phrase the Holy Ghost is taken from the common speech of the Jews And so is hee called by Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 1. 4. and so doth the Syrian call him Ruhâ—a dekudsha in this place SS The Holy Ghost descended This
descending of the Holy Ghost was first partly for the sake of John for this token had been given him when hee first began to preach and baptize whereby to know Christ when hee should come Joh. 1. 33. Secondly partly for Christ that hee might thus receive his consecration and institution for the Office that hee was now to enter upon the preaching of the Gospell This was as his anointing to install him into his function as Aaron and his Sonnes were with materiall oyle to enter them into theirs as Isa. 61. 1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon mee therefore hath hee anointed mee hee hath sent mee to Preach the Gospel And Thirdly partly for the businesse and matter that was now to goe in hand namely Christ beginning to preach accordingly For First the Gospel is the Spirituall Kingdom and Scepter of Christ in and by which hee was to rule all Nations for ever and therefore it was agreeable that the Spiritualnesse of that should bee sealed and confirmed by the holy Spirits shewing himselfe even in the beginning of it The carnall rites of Moses were now to vanish and his corporall and ceremoniall observances to bee changed into a spirituall worship and neither at Jerusalem nor at mount Gerizim nor elsewhere must there bee any more adoration with fleshly and earthly Ceremoniousnesse but hee that will worship God must worship him in spirit as Joh. 4. 21. Therefore it is no wonder if the Holy Ghost do now reveale himselfe now when his sway of spirituality and dominion by sanctification is to begin Secondly The Holy Ghost was departed from Israel after the death of the last Prophets as was observed before and now hee is to bee restored againe therefore himselfe commeth visibly and apparently at this his restoring and lighteth upon him to whom it belonged to give and distribute the gifts of the Spirit to whom hee pleased For as John had told that Christ should baptize with the Holy Ghost so is that power and priviledge now sealed unto him in the sight of John when the Holy Ghost commeth down upon him and there abideth SS Descended in a bodily shape God is said to descend not that hee moveth from place to place or commeth where hee was not before for hee is incircumscriptible and every where and filleth all places but in that hee sheweth this his presence upon earth in such or such a place by some externall sign and visible apparence And so hee is said to come downe to see whether the wickednesse of Sodome were according to the cry that was come up unto him because hee revealed himselfe to Abraham Lot and the Sodomites in the visible and conspicuous representation of men So is hee said to have come down upon Mount Sinai because of the outward revealing and expression of his presence there And so the Chaldee Paraphrast understandeth the Trinities descending Gen. 11. 5. for a conspicuous appearance of it for hee translateth The Lord revealed himself to take vengeance c. And so is the Holy Ghost said to descend in this story and in that in Act. 2. not but that hee was present in the same places before by his power and Godhead but that hee revealed and expressed his presence by so sensible an evidence and by and in so revealed a worke SS In a bodily shape First It was convenient that the Holy Ghost should reveale himselfe at this time First for the sake of John who was to have a sensible signe whereby to informe him which was the Messias as Joh. 1. Secondly In regard of the Holy Ghost himselfe whose worke in the Church was now in a more speciall and frequent manner to bee shewed under the Gospel namely that hee might bee expressed and revealed to bee a personall substance and not an operation of the Godhead onely or qualitative vertue For qualities operations and acts cannot assume bodily shapes nor ought but what is in it selfe substantiall Thirdly That a full and cleere yea even a sensible demonstration of the Trinity might bee made at this beginning of the Gospel For it may bee observed in Scripture that the Holy Ghost hath a speciall regard to expresse this mystery upon singular occasions that we might learne to acknowledge the three Persons in one Godhead as hee also doth the two natures of Christ that wee might acknowledge them in one person So the very first thing that is taught in all the Bible is this very mystery For when Moses beginneth the story of the creation hee beginneth also to teach that the three Persons in the Trinity were co-workers in it God Created there is the Father God said there is the Word or the Sonne And the Spirit of God moved there is the Holy Ghost And the very same mystery is intimated by the Prophet treating upon the very same Subject Isa. 42. 5. Thus saith God the Lord hee that created the Heavens and they that stretched them out That wee might learne that Of him through him and to him the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost are all things Rom. 11. 36. So Moses also when hee is to teach concerning the creation of man hee first teacheth that it was the Trinity that created him Gen. 1. 26. And God said Let us make man after our Image Hee saith Let us to shew the Trinity of Persons and hee saith In our Image not in our Images to shew the unity of essence That every man even from the reading of the story of his Creation might learn to remember his Creators in the dayes of his youth as Solomon with the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Boraiecha answereth the same mystery Eccles. 12. 1. So likewise at the confusion of tongues the Trinity is expressed Gen. 11. 7. Let us goe down and confound their language as it is also at the gift of tongues I will send the Comforter from the Father Joh. 15. 26. Act. 1. 4. Such a one also was the blessing pronounced by the Priest upon the people when hee dismissed them from the daily service of the Temple in the name of the Trinity Num. 6. 24 25 26. the name Jehovah or the Lord three times repeated for denotation of the three Persons as Paul explaineth it 2 Cor. 13. 13. When Moses also beginneth to rehearse the Law to Israel and to explaine it the first thing hee teacheth them is the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity Deut. 6. 4. Heare O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one Three words answering the three Persons and the middle word our God deciphering fitly the second who assumed our nature as is well observed by Galatinus To these may bee added the entrance of Moses his revelation with the name of the Lord three times rehearsed Exod. 34. 6. The Vision of Esay with three Holies Isa. 6. 3. The beginning of Psal. 50. and of Psal. 136. and many again of the like nature which the heedfull reader will observe himself How fitting then was it that at the beginning of
the promise given to Adam for all Nations were then equally in his loynes for this the holy line runnes down to him Secondly That therefore all Nations have equall interest in the Messias and that in the preaching of the Gospell which Christ beganne from his Baptisme there should bee no difference of people made as there was before This being the intent of the Pedegrees placing here as the very placing of it doth inevitably evince it is not onely warrantable but also admirably divine that Luke taketh in Cainan from the Seventy For first writing for Heathens hee must follow the heathens Bible in his quotations Secondly In Genealogies hee was to bee a Coppier not a Corrector Thirdly and chiefely In following this insertion of the Lxx. hee imbraceth not their error but divinely draweth us to looke at their intent When Jude mentioneth Michaels striving with Satan about the body of Moses hee approveth not the story as true which hee knew to bee but a Talmudick Parable but from the Jews own Authors hee useth this as an argument against them and for their instruction So though Luke from the Lxx the Bible of the Heathen have alledged Cainan the sonne of Arphaxad hee alledgeth it not as the truth more then the Hebrew but from the Septuagints owne authority or from the matter which they inserted in distaste of the calling of the Heathen hee maketh comfortable use and instruction to the Heathen concerning their calling First they put in two men Gen. 10. that they might dissemble their arrogating of singularity above all Nations and to make Ptolomy beleeve that there was no such distinction of people held by them but they thought otherwise Luke reserves the one of these in his pedegree for the other could not come in it to teach the Gentiles really what they did in dissimulation that there was no such distinction of Nations in the sight of God even the Lxx. themselves being witnesses Secondly They used a mournfull name for the men whom they inserted in detestation of the comming in of the Gentiles Luke reserves this also for the comfort of the Gentiles which were now to bee called in To teach them from the Jewes own confession that the divulging of the Gospell in vulgar languages should bring Japhet into the tents of Sem which thing was now ready to beginne when Christ at his baptisme is annointed to preach the Gospell and to send it abroad to bee preached both to Jew and Gentile And what the Lxx. in their Cainan sorrowed to see afarre off Luke in his Cainan calls to behold now with comfort neere at hand Thus are the Censers of Korah and his company though ordained for an evill end by them yet reserved in the Sanctuary for a good by the command of God Ver. 38. Which was the Sonne of Adam which was the Sonne of God Thus hath the Evangelist shewed Christ to bee the seed of the woman promised to Adam and descended from him And that hee that was proclaimed the seed of the Woman to Adam in the garden was now pointed out and proclaimed the Sonne of God from heaven to John at Jordan And thus doth the Evangelist conclude this Genealogy with a cleere expression of Christs two natures his humanity for hee was the sonne of Adam his divinity for hee was the Sonne of God And this lesser of these two natures being knit and united in the person of our Saviour the Evangelists all of them teach very frequently as they goe along as a thing of chiefe and choyce observation which wee shall take up and observe as wee proceed The End of the first Part. ERRATA PAg. 1 line 19. for forme read fouâ—â—e p 3. in marg l 8. r. â— 21 21. ibid. l 10. for Col. 1. Gal. p. 4. l. 14. for shined r. 〈◊〉 p. 6 l. 8. for 2 Sam. 7. 2. r. 2 Sam 7. 21. and so in the marg and in mar l. 9. soâ—â—1 1. in l. 37. of the pag. after the word Piman 〈◊〉 adde if that Booke be his p 8. l. 37. for Alcum â— Aleuâ— p 10. l 24 25. dele Fifthly Sixthly l. 30. point at the word onely and read thus Therefor the light c. l. 33 r. Mic. 7. 8. Psal. 84. 11. p. 11. l. 33 r. Psal. 75. l. 37. r. Exod. 6 l. â—8 instead of Not of God r. Not of blood p. 12. in marg l. 18 r. Luke 2. 52. p. 13. l. 27. omit i.e. l 36 for consumed â— assumed p. 16 l. 11. r. And he shall go before him l. 35 r Dan. 8. 16 in mar l. 6 7. r. 1 Chron 3. 15. ibid l. 1◠◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 17. l. 38. r. Joh. 6. 52. 3. 4 p. 18. l. 26. r. Gen. 18. 14. l 28. r. Num. 13. 29. l. 29. r. of the dead Sea p. 19. l. 32. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 3. 19. l 33. r. Isa. 41. 1. l 34. Psal 83. 8. p. 21. l 2â— SS here and elsewhere should be Sect. In the Calendar in the moneth Tamnuâ— at the last line read thus 1 King chap 18. from verse 46 to the end of the 20 Chapter In the moneth Ab against the 9 day read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 25. l. 22. r Misopogone l 33. therein to be omitted p 42. l 11. 1 Esth 1. 16. 17. p 44. l 33. for verse 4. r 34 p. 51. r SECT IIII l 22. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 52. l. 39. for be r. by the feare p. 53. l 8. r. and they shall call p 59. l 33. r use her unkindly p 60 l 13 r hee violateth the Law p 61. l 7. omit the word First p 62. l. 26. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p 63. l 3â— r. French Spanish p 67. l. 3. r upon that promise in the Garden p. 68 l. 19. for him r them ibid in marg l â—1 r Psal 34. p 69 in marg l. ult r Levit. 12. p. 72 l. 35. r Isa 9. 6. p. 74. l 5. r. the platform of subjection and submission to the Empire p. 81. r. those intricacies p 89. l 9. after before his presentation in the Temple r. may be refuted p 90. l 13. r. and not to the words from two yeeres old p 99. l 2. r Psal 72. p 101. l 24. for Jerusalem r Bethlehem p 10â— l. 9. for delivered r. deliverer p. 104. l. 3. for instancing r instanceth ibid. l 27. for and matters r. in matters of debate p. 109. l. 3. for perfect r. prefect p. 114. is figured 110. in l. 4 5. r. machination p. 121. l. 13. for and wisemen r and the wisemen p. 122. Column 2 at verse 1. read The voice of one crying Columne 3. ver 1. r. Pilate being p. 123. at ver 12. for hath r. hath p. 127. l. 2. for Rambani r. Rambam l. 34 for now r. now was fit p. 132. l. 25. for A Tretarchy r. A Tetrarâ—h l. 24 r. Mishneh l 34 r.
the new world and the new Law and the baptism of Christ the three Persons should be revealed especially since he ordained baptism to be administred in their names Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost Matth. 28. 19. SS Likâ— a Dove It is thought by Austin and after him by Aquinas that this was a very living Dove not of the flock indeed of common Doves but immediately created by God for this purpose but created as true a living Dove as any of them and the reason they give for this their opinion is this Because it is not to bee said that Christ alone had a true body and that the Holy Ghost appeared deceiveably to the eyes of men but that both those are to bee said to bee true bodies for as it was not fit that the Sonne of God should deceive men so was it not fit that the Holy Ghost should deceive them neither But it was no difficulty to the Creator of all things to make a true body of a Dove without the helpe of other Doves as it was not hard for him to frame a true body in the wombe of the Virgin without the seed of man So they too punctuall where there is no necessity nor indeed any great probability For First what needed there a reall living Dove when an apparent onely would serve the turne For the descending of the Dove was that there might bee a visible domonstration of the Holy Ghost his resting upon Christ and anoynting him for his Ministration so that the visibility of the Spirit was as much as was required and there needed no reality of a living body Secondly The Text saith expressely in all the Evangelists that it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like or as it were a Dove which plainly sheweth the similitude to such a thing and not the being of the very thing it selfe Thirdly In apparitions of the like nature when the furthest end of the body appearing was but for visibility the bodies that were seen were not of the very existency and nature of those that they represented but of another As the Angels that appeared in humane shapes had not very living humane bodies but onely bodies assumed and framed to such a representation And so the fire in the bush on Sinai and with the cloven tongues was not very reall fire but onely a visible resemblance of it and the like must bee held of this Dove or else it will bee such an apparition as never was before nor since Fourthly The parallell betwixt the appearing of our Saviour in humane flesh and the appearing of the Holy Ghost in a living Dove is not onely very improper but also somewhat dangerous For if they appeared alike then may the holy Ghost hee said to bee a very Dove for Christ was a very man and that were improper and in its kind to bee incarnaâ—e for Christ was incarnate and that is dangerous And Fifthly as for fallacy or deceiving there could bee none no more then there had been in all other apparitions since the world began since in such things the veriâ—â— and reality of the â—ody that appeared was not looked after but onely the 〈◊〉 and the spirit that lay hid under that body Now reasons why the holy Ghost appeared in the shape of a Dove rather then of any other creature are conceived some to have concerned Christ some to have concerned the Holy Ghost himselfe and some to have concerned man As First to shew Christs innocency pâ—rity simplicity charity and love for all these qualities are observable in a Dove Secondly to shew the like graces of the holy Ghost and Aquinas and Iâ—dolphus do parallell the seven graces of the Spirit Isa. 11. 2. 3. to seven properties of a Dove as if any bee so curious as to see them hee may in Lud in 〈◊〉 and Aquin. par 3. quest 39. Art 6. Thirdly to shew what innocency and harmlessensse should bee in those that are baptized Fourthly to answer the figure in Noahs flood for as a Dove did at that time bring tidings of the abating of the waters so doth it now of the abating of the wrath of God upon the preaching of the Gospell These are the common and most current reasons that are given by Expositors to which may bee added Fifthly that since Christ was to have visible testimony from heaven it was fittest it should bee by the likenesse of a fowle of Heaven For it was not fitting that five should have come thencâ— upon him for hee was to baptize and not to bee baptized with fire and for a cloud to come from thence upon him was reserved till another time namely as his transfiguration and what then can bee imagined to descend upon him but a bird and what bird so fit as a Dove which was the only fowle that was clean and allowed for sacrifice Lev. 1. 14. Mat. 3. ver 16. And lighting upon him In the strictnesse of the Greek it is comming upon him which is to the very same signification especially the addition of the Baptist himselfe being laid unto it viz. that it abode upon him Joh. 1. 32. Some conceive and that not improperly that the Dove sate upon his head which if it did it was like the inscription in the golden plate that was on the fore-head of the High-priest and declared him to be Koddesh Laihovah The Holy one of the Lord Exod. 28. 36. How long the Dove sate upon him is not to bee questioned because not to bee answered it is not unlike that it did so all the while hee was in the sight of John at this time especially seeing that the Text saith that straightway this Spirit drove him into the wildernesse Ver. 17. And loe a voyce from heaven The testimony of two witnesses is a confirmation past denyall and greater witnesses then these two could not bee produced the Father and the Holy Ghost because a testimony could not bee given to a greater then to Christ. Nor could these two witnesses have properly gone single one without the other the descending of the Dove to point out to whom the voyce was intended and the descending of the voyce explaining what was meant by the descending of the Dove SS A Voyce Both the Talmudick and the latter Rabbins make frequent mention of Bath Kol Filia vocis or an Echoing voyce which served under the second Temple for their utmost refuge of revelation For when Vrim and Thummim the Oracle was ceased and Prophecy was decayed and gone they had as they say certaine strange and extraordinary voyces upon extraordinary occasion which were their warnings and advertisements in some speciall matters Infinite instances of this might bee adduced if they might bee beleeved one allegation in the Talmud shall serve for all concerning Joâ—â—athan the Chaldee Paraphrast When Jonathan the Sonne of Uzziel say they had composed the Targum of the Prophets there came Bath Kol or a divine voice and said who