A Key Opening Mysterious Texts of Scripture, Collection of sermons 4 · Sermon 35 · Part 1
THE FIRST ROW.
And in the firſt row a Ruby, a Topaze, and an Emrald.
WHether the Ruby fit not the modeſty of the Speaker; the Topaze, quae ſola gemmarum limam ſentit, his limate and poliſhed ſtile; the Emrald the freſh and green verdour of his ſentences, I leave to your learned cenſures: ſure I am, the green and ruddy ſtones, ſome of them generated in the red ſea, lively ſet forth the green wounds and bloudy paſſion of the worlds Redeemer, the ſubject of his diſcourſe. The Ruby hath a perfect colour of fleſh, whence it is called in Latine Carneolus; but with a luſtre and reſplendency farre above the nature of fleſh. What fitter embleme of the rayes of divine majeſty ſhining in the fleſh of our Saviour? which was the argument of the Preachers firſt part. This Ruby nubeculâ quâdam offundebatur (as the naturall) to wit, in his paſſion, and then changed colour, and reſembled the other two gems, death diſplaying its colours in his fleſh, which he ſuffered to pay the wages of ſinne for us; which was the ſcope of his latter obſervations. The imboſſment of gold, in which theſe gems of divine doctrine were ſet, was his Text taken out of
JOHN 11.50.
It is expedient for us, that one man ſhould dye for the people.The firſt Sermon preached on Good-friday by Maſter Ozborſtone Student of Chriſt-Church.
BEhold, I bring you a propheſie, but of no Prophet; I preſent you lying malice ſpeaking truth, unwittingly, unwillingly, and ſavage cruelty providing a ſalve to cure the wounds of all mankind. Out of one fountain bitter and ſweet, out of one field tares and wheat, out of one mouth proceeds curſing and bleſsing. Behold an ambitious ſimoniacall Prieſt of the Romane conſtitution, and that but for a yeer, vaunt over him that is a Prieſt for ever after the order of Melchizedek. Behold bloudy Caiphas conſulting, nay determining to put Chriſt to death, not for any fault of his, but becauſe it was profitable to the Prieſts (it is expedient for us): yet doth hee colour his bloud-thirſty appetite with a varniſh of common good: If wee let him alone, all men will beleeve in him, and beleeving him to be a God, will advance him to be a King, & the Romans will come & take away this place and our Nation. He is but one man, what is the bloud of one man to the quiet of a publike ſtate? Melius eſt ut pereat unus, quàm unitas, let one man dye, that the whole Nation periſh not. This is Caiphas his meaning: vouchſafe we a look to it, before we conſider the meaning of a much better ſpirit. Solomon his Lilly is moſt beautifull among thornes. The Roſe, ſayes Plutarch, is never ſo fragrant, as when it is planted by the Nettle: the doctrine of the Holy Ghoſt ſeemeth never more excellent, than when it is compared with the doctrine of Divels. It is expedient he ſhould dye, he ſaith not it is juſt or lawfull: Bonum commodis non honeſtate metitur. Caiphas profit is become the rule of juſtice; in whoſe hands now it is not only to judge according to the rule of law, but to over-rule the law alſo. In imitation of whom I verily thinke it was, that Clemens the fifth being demanded how the Templer Knights might be cut off, made this anſwer, Si non licet per viam juſtitiae, licet ſaltem per viam expedientiae.
But if it be profitable, to whom, cui bono? to whom is it ſo? to us: now hee ſpeakes like himſelfe. To S. Paul all things were lawfull, yet many things did not ſeem expedient: to Caiphas that is expedient which is not lawfull. But ſhall a juſt innocent man, a Prophet, nay more than hee that was more than a Prophet, loſe his life for nothing but your commodity? the anſwer is, that though he be all theſe, yet in a manner he is but unus, one man, and we are many; better it were that he ſuffer a miſchiefe, than we an inconvenience; therefore be his quality what it may be, let him dye. Ne ſaevi magne Sacerdos: Let not the high Prieſt be angry; will nothing but his death appeaſe you? You have a guard, keep him ſure, manacle his hands, fetter his feet, only ſpare his life, bring not his bloud upon your head. Tuſh, it is for our profit, His bloud be upon us. Thus crudelitas vertitur in voluptatem, & jam occidere hominem juvat, it was meat & drink to them to ſpill the bloud of Chriſt Jeſus; and being pleaſed to conſider him but as a man, they trampled on him as a worme and no man.Yſtel. in Exod. Behold here in another ſenſe Caiphas a bloudy Ruby; yet, as the Rubies about Egypt aureâ bracteâ ſublinuntur, ſo hath he gold foyle Scripture in his mouth, the words of the Holy Ghoſt, who not only out of the mouth of babes and ſucklings will have his praiſe, out of the mouth of aſſes and brute beaſts will have his power to be knowne; but alſo out of the mouth of reprobates and incarnate divels will have the ſame truth in the ſame words confirmed, which holy Prophets, and the holy Spirit, by which they ſpake, would have revealed. For not onelyonly holy men (as the Preacher obſerved) but ſometimes alſo unholy men ſpeake as they are moved by the Holy Ghoſt: Agit Spiritus Dei, & per bonos, & per malos, & per ſcientes, & per neſcientes quod agendum novit, & ſtatuit; but in a different manner. The Holy Ghoſt ſo touched the hearts of holy Prophets, that their hearts enditing this matter of Chriſts paſsion, their tongues became the pen of ready writers: but on the contrary, as Caiphas did honour God with his lips, while his heart was farre from him; ſo (ſaith Saint Chryſoſtome) the Spirit of God touched his lips, but came not neere his heart. (It is expedient.) In the expoſition of Caiphas, the meaning is, it is good for us pretending common good, to kill Jeſus; but the ſenſe of the Holy Ghoſt is, that the precious death of our Saviour would be expedient for us, and his alone bloud once ſhed for his people an all-ſufficient ranſome for their ſoules.
Expedient it was, and behoovefull in the firſt place, that he who ſhould ſatisfie for ſinne (the wages whereof is death) ſhould bee a man ſubject to death. Secondly, that he ſhould dye. Thirdly, inaſmuch as with reſpect to his people he became a man ſubject to death; ſo that hee ſhould in the end lay downe his life for the people. Fourthly, that he ſhould be ſufficient by his alone death to ſatiſfie in their behalfe, for whom he dyed. Laſtly, we muſt enquire whether the profit of his paſsion be ſuch as extendeth to our ſelves, or not; we ſhall find it doth: for ſo are the words of the Text, It is expedient for us.
Expedient it was that the Saviour of man ſhould be a man, Ecce homo, behold he is ſo: for comming to ſave man, ſuſcepit naturam quam judicavit ſalvandam, he became in all things, ſinne only excepted, like unto us. It was fit it ſhould be ſo; for if the Deity had oppoſed it ſelfe, non tam ratio quàm poteſtas Diabolum viciſſet, what myſtery had there bin for God to vanquiſh the Divell? how ſhould the Scripture have bin fulfilled, The ſeed of the woman ſhall breake the Serpents head? yet there is an experiment beyond all this, Experiar Deus hic diſcrimine aperto an ſit mortalis, ſaith the ſpirituall Lycaon; if hee carry about with him foreign, a body ſubject to diſſolution, doubtleſſe hee is a man. Thus therefore that hee might ſhew himſelfe a man, it was expedient that hee ſhould die. Is this thy reward, O ſweet Saviour, for ſtouping thine infinite majeſty ſo low as to become earth, and thirty three yeeres to converſe amongſt us, muſt thou dye? It muſt bee ſo, yet not for any neceſsity of juſtice in reſpect of himſelfe; for never Lambe more innocent: nor of conſtraint; for at the very time of his apprehenſion, when hee had leſſe than twelve Apoſtles, hee had more than twelve Legions of Angels at his becke; at the breath of his mouth, the majeſty of his countenance, the force of thoſe his words, I am hee, a whole troupe of his perſecuters fell backwards: but it muſt bee ſo, becauſe the determination of the Trinity, and the conformity of his owne will thereunto will have it ſo: Oblatus eſt quia voluit (ſaith the Prophet:) I lay down my life (ſaith himſelfe:) Yea, Caiphas ſaid as much in effect, It is meet, not that one ſhould be put to death, but that he ſhould dye: Mori infirmitatis eſt, ſic mori virtutis infinitae. There wanted not other meanes to redeeme man, but foreign, it was meet, that by the death of the Sonne of God wee ſhould bee redeemed: Sanguine quaerendi reditus animâque litandum. No eſcaping the ſtroake of the Angel, but by ſprinkling the Lambes life bloud: no meanes to returne from exile, till the death of the high Prieſt. Must hee dye then? and are the Scriptures ſo ſtrait in this point? O death, how bitter is thy remembrance? witneſſe our Saviour: Si fieri poteſt, tranſeat hic calix; but ſith for the reaſons before named that was neither poſsible nor expedient, ſith dye hee must, what death doth the Holy Ghoſt thinke to bee moſt expedient? If hee may not yeeld to nature, as a ripe apple falleth from the tree, but muſt be plucked thence, there are deaths no leſſe honourable than violent: ſhall he dye an honourable death? No, hee muſt bee reckoned among the malefactors, and dye a ſhamefull death. In ſhamefull deaths there is a kind of foreign, rid him quickly out of his paine: Miſericordiae genus eſt citò occidere. No, that was not expedient, Feri ut ſe ſentiat mori, it was expedient that hee ſhould dye a tedious and moſt painfull death, wherein a tract of lingering miſery and laſting torment was to bee endured: What death is that? I need not amplifie; even by the teſtimony of the Holy Ghoſt the death of the Croſſe was for the torture moſt grievous, for the ſhame moſt infamous: He humbled himſelfe, and became obedient unto death. Could his humility goe on one ſtep further? Yes, one ſtep, even to the death of the Croſſe, that is a death beyond death; the utmoſt and higheſt of all puniſhments, ſaith Ulpian: Having in it the extent of torture, ſaith Apuleius: The quinteſſence of cruelty, ſaith the Roman Oratour. It is not amiſſe to know the manner of the execution of this death. Firſt, after ſentence given, the priſoner was whipped, then forced to carry his Croſſe to the place of execution, there in the most tender and ſinewie parts of the body nailed to the Croſſe, then lifted up into the ayre, there with cruell mercy for a long while preſerved alive; after all this, when cruelty was ſatisfied with bloud, for the cloſe of all, his joynts were broken, and his ſoule beat out of his body. This was part of his paine; I ſay part, I cannot expreſſe the whole, the ſhame was much more: Infoelix Lignum, ſaith Seneca truly, and unhappy: for untill this time the curſe of God was upon him that was hanged. It is a treſpaſſe to bind, 'tis wickednes to beat, it is murder to kill: Quid dicam in crucem tollere? Look we to the originall, it was firſt deviſed by Tarquinius, as the moſt infamous puniſhment of all, againſt ſuch as laid violent hands upon themſelves. Look we to the uſe of it, they accounted it a ſlaves, nay a dogs death; for in memory that the Dogge ſlept when the Geeſe defended the Capitoll, every yeer in great ſolemnity they carried a Gooſe in triumph, ſoftly laid upon a rich carpet, and a Dogge hanging upon a croſſe. Looke wee to the concomitancy, Non ſolent ſuſpenſi lugeri, ſaith the Civilian, no teare was wont to be ſhed for ſuch as were crucified. And was it expedient that our Saviour ſhould dye this death? It was expedient, that the propheſie of Eſay might be verified, We ſaw him made as the baſeſt of men; and of David, A ſcorne of men, and the out-caſt of the people; and of himſelfe, They ſhall deliver him to the Gentiles, to mock, ſcourge, and crucifie him. Theſe were propheſies that it ſhould be ſo; yet we want a propheſie that ſaith, It is expedient: That we doe not, Oportet filium hominis exaltari, ut Moſes extulit Serpentem; for that Serpent, lifted up to cure all that looked upon it, was an embleme of Chriſt. Thus himſelfe, who was a high Prieſt for ever, did propheſie of himſelfe, being now both prieſt and ſacrifice. It was expedient that he ſhould dye, & thus dye: to be forſaken of his friends, falſly accuſed by his enemies, to be ſold like a ſlave, mocked like a foole, ſpit upon like a made man, whipt like a theefe, crucified like a traitour; make up a miſery, that the ſun ſhamed, the earth trembled to behold it: yet it was expedient, it muſt be done, God hath ſaid it. Mee thinkes, I heare our Saviour ſay in this baptiſme of bloud, as he ſaid in his baptiſme of water, Thus it becommeth us to fulfill all righteouſnes, and thus it became him, for whom, & by whom are all things, to conſecrate the Prince of our ſalvation through afflictions. The propheſies had ſaid it, it ſhould be ſo, and it was expedient that he to whom they pointed ſhould fulfill them, that ſo in fulneſs of truth he might take his leave of the croſſe, and ſay, Conſummatum eſt, thoſe things which were written of mee have an end.
All this while we ſee not the reaſon why he ſhould be thus tormented: Goe to Pilate, his anſwer will be, I am innocent of the bloud of this man: Enquire you of the Scribes and Phariſees, their anſwer will be, We have a law, and by this law he muſt dye, becauſe he made himſelfe the Son of God. This was no fault, he was ſo, and therefore without robbery or blaſphemy might both think and declare himſelfe to be ſo. Goe wee further, from popular Pilate and the cruell Jewes to God himſelfe, and though we be but duſt and aſhes, for the knowledge of this truth preſume we to aske, Cur feciſti filio ſic? How may it ſtand with thy juſtice that he ſhould dye, in whom there was found no fault worthy death, nay no fault at all? the unſwer is, Expedit mori pro populo: yet, O Lord, wilt thou ſlay the righteous with the wicked? nay, which is more, wilt thou ſlay the righteous, and ſpare the wicked? nay, which is yet more, wilt thou ſlay the righteous for the wicked? ſhall not the Judge of all the world doe right? God cannot chuſe but do right, the wages of ſin is death; though he have not ſinned, the people have. If the principall debtour cannot pay, the ſurety muſt; if the priſoner dare not appeare, the baile muſt: Chriſt was the ſurety, the baile of the people, and ſo God might permit his juſtice againſt ſin, to take hold on him, and hee muſt dye for the people, if he will not have the people dye.
It being knowne that he dyed for the people, it is worth the while to know who theſe people were, for whom he dyed. Caiphas had reſpect to the Jewes only, and their temporall good; but the Holy Ghoſt intended the ſpirituall good of the Jewes primarily, though not of them alone: but of the people alſo through the world. But is it poſsible, that of all people he ſhould dye for the Jewes? Ab ipſis, & pro ipſis? theſe were they that ſpit upon him, whipped him, ſmote him on the face, crowned him with thornes, tare him with nailes; theſe were they, who in the act of his bitter paſsion, when his ſoule bereft of all comfort, laden with the ſinne of all the world, and fierceneſſe of his Fathers wrath, enforced from him that ſpeech, than which the world never heard a more lamentable, My God, my God, why haſt thou forſaken mee? then in ſtead of comfort they reviled him, If thou be the Son of God, come downe from the croſſe, all this notwithſtanding though they perſecuted him, hee loved them; though they cryed Away with him, he dyed for them, & at his death prayed for them: Father, forgive, and pleaded for them, they know not what they doe; and wept for them, offering ſupplications in their behalfe with prayers & ſtrong cries. Greater love than this can no man ſhew, to lay downe his life for his friend: yet thou, O bleſſed Saviour, art a patterne of greater love, laying downe thy life for this people whileſt they were thine enemies; but not for this people only, (the Holy Ghoſt ſo ſpeakes) O Lord, we were thine enemies as well as they, and whileſt we were thine enemies, we were reconciled to God the Father by the precious death of thee his Son. For the Scripture ſetteth forth his love to us, that whileſt we were yet ſinners he dyed for us.
He for us, alone for us all: the ſame ſpirit which ſet before him expedit mori, did ſweeten the brim of that ſowre cup with this promiſe, that when hee ſhould make his ſoule an offering for ſin, hee ſhould ſee his ſeed: that as the whole earth was planted, ſo it might be redeemed by one bloud; as by one offence condemnation ſeized upon all, ſo by the juſtification of one, the benefit might redound unto all to the juſtification of life. And this bloud thirſty Caiphas unwittingly intimated, ſaying, Expedit unum mori pro populo.
If one, and he then dead could do thus much, what can he not do now, now that he liveth for ever? He trod the wine-preſſe alone, neither is there ſalvation in any other. S. Stephen was ſtoned, S. Paul beheaded, Nunquid pro nobis? No, it coſt more than ſo, it is done to their hands, there is one, who by the oblation of himſelfe alone once offered, hath made a perfect and ſufficient ſacrifice for the ſins of the whole world.
And that whileſt it is a world: for our Saviour, that ſtood in the gap betwixt Gods wrath & us, catching the blow in his own body, hath by his bloud purchaſed an eternal redemption; every one that beleeveth in him ſhal not periſh, but have life everlaſting. In the number of which beleevers if we be, then is the fruit of his meritorious paſsion extended to us, we may challenge our intereſt therein; and in our perſons the Prophet ſpeaketh, He bare our infirmities and carried our ſorrowes, he was wounded for our tranſgreſſions, the chaſtiſement of our peace was upon him, and by his ſtripes are we healed.
Which great benefit, as it is our bounden duty to remember at all times, ſo this time, this day Vivaciorem animi ſenſum, & puriorem mentis exigit intuitum, recurſus temporis, & textus lectionis, as S. Leo ſpeaketh, The annuall recourſe of the day, and this text fitted to it, calleth to our minde the worke wrought, & the means by which it was wrought on this day: to him a day of wrath, of darkneſſe, of blackneſſe, & heavie vengeance; but to us a good day, a good Friday, a day of deliverance & freedome, a day of jubilee and triumph. For as on this day by the power of his Croſſe were we delivered from the ſting of ſin, and tyranny of Satan, ſo that whereas we might for ever have ſung that mournfull Elegy, O wretched men that we are, who ſhal deliver us from death & hell? we are now enabled to inſult over both, O death, where is thy ſting? O hell, where is thy victory? Which victory of our Saviour, and ours through him ſo dearly purchaſed, when we call to mind, let us conſider withall, that as the cauſe of this conflict on his part was his love to us; ſo on our parts it was the hainouſneſs of our ſinne, not otherwiſe to be expiated than by his death. And as the firſt ought to raiſe us up to give annuall, daily, & continuall thankes to him, who did and ſuffered ſo much for us; ſo the ſecond ſhould withhold us, & keep us back from ſin: that ſince our Saviour dyed for our ſin, we ſhould dye to ſin, & rather dye than ſin. This bloud once ſhed is good to us; Expedit nobis, if to faith in that bloud we joyn a life beſeeming Chriſtianity: but if by our crying ſins & treſpaſſes we crucifie him againe, we make even that bloud, which of it ſelfe ſpeaketh for us better things than the bloud of Abel, in ſtead of pardon to cry for vengeance againſt us.
Let us therfore looke up to him the author and finiſher of our ſalvation, beſeeching him, who with the bloud of his paſsion clave rockes & ſtones aſunder, with the ſame bloud, which is not yet nor ever will be dry, to mollifie and ſoften our hard hearts, that ſeriouſly conſidering the hainouſneſſe of our ſins, which put him to death, and his unexpreſsible & unconceivable love, that for us he would dye the death, even the death of the Croſſe; we may in token of our thankfulneſs endeavour to offer up our ſoules and bodies as a reaſonable ſacrifice to him that offered himſelfe a ſacrifice for us, and now ſitteth at the right hand of God; to this end, that where he our Redeemer is, there wee his people and deareſt purchaſe may be for ever.