Concerning the Truth of Christian Religion, Chapter 31
The xxxj. Chapter.
An answere to the Obiections which the Iewes alledge ageinst Iesus, why they should not receiue him for the Christ or Messias.
NOw let vsus examine the obiectionsObiection, that he must hauehave bin knowen. of the Iewes, and sée what they can say ageinst the Testimonie of all the Prophetes, which agreeth fitly to Iesus, and can agree to none but him. First, If Iesus (say they) were the Christ; who should hauehave knowen and receiued him, rather than the great Sinagogue which was at that time? This obiection is very old; for in the Gospell the Pharisies say,Iohn. 7. ver. 4…. Doe any of the Pharisies or chiefe Rulers beleeue in him, saue onelyonly this rascall people which know not the Lawe, who be accursed? Here I might alledge Simeon surnamed the rightuous, a Disciple of Hillels, who had serued fortie yeres in the Sanctuarie,Euke. …. how hée acknowledged Iesus for the Sauiour of Israell and the light of the Gentiles; in the which Simeon the Iewes themselues confesse that Spirit of God to hauehave sayled, which was woont to inspire the greate Sinagogue, and inspired him still during all his lyfe. Also I could alledge Iohn the Baptist, whom they called the great Rabbi Iohanan, who acknowledging Iesus to be the sonne of God, sent his Disciples vntounto him: And likwise Gamaliel, whom in the Acts Act. 5. 38.of the Apostles we reade to hauehave sayd, If this Doctrine be of God, it will continew; if not, it will perish; and in Clement, to hauehave bene a Disciple of the Apostles; and in their owne bookes, to hauehave bene the Disciple of the sayd Simeon: Talmud. treatyse Pirke… auoth.And finally S. Paule him selfe, a disciple of the sayd Gamaliel, soothly a very great man, and of great fauour and authoritie among them, of whom they cannot in any wyse mistrust. To bee short, Iosephus reporteth that this Iesus was followed among yt Iewes, of all such as loued ye trueth, and that as many as loued the Lawe, did greatly blame Ananus the highpréest, for causing the disciples of Iesus to be put to death. Also R. Nehumia R. Nchum….the sonne of Hacana hauing recounted the miracles of (Iesus, within a litle of whose tyme he was) sayth expresly, I am one of those which hauehave beleeued in him, and hauehave bene baptized, and hauehave walked in the right way. Likewise the S. Rabbi seemeth to hauehave hild of Iesus; and if he did not, then is it yet more wonderfull than if he had knowen him,There were two Rabbies of the name of Hacadosch, both called Saincts: the one liuing vnderunder Antiochus, and the other vnderunder the Emperour Antonine. considering yt he séemeth to describe this Iesus by the selfsame circumstaunces yt the very Christ is described by him. But without any stāding vpō that poynt, I say further to them, That whereas the Synagogue receiued not Iesus for the Messias, their so doing is a token that he was the very Messias in deede; and that their receiuing of Barcozba for the Messias, was a sure proofe that Barcozba was not the Messias. For it is expresly sayd by the Prophetes, that when the Messias came vntounto them, they should be so blynde as not too knowe him, and so vnthankeful as to despise him. The stone (sayth Dauid) which the builders refused, Psal. 11. ver. 22.is become the chiefe corner stone, and that is a maruelous thing in our eyes. Esay. 28. ver. 16And this saying doth Iesus interpret concerning the kingdome of Heauen,Math. 21. vers. 42. which should bee taken from the Iewes for their refusing thereof. Also this text is applyed to the Messias by R. Ionathan, yea and by R. Selomoh also (as great an enemy to Christ as he is) who writing vponupon Micheas Micheas. …. …. 2.sayth that Christ (by exprese name) should bee borne in Bethleem; and which way so euer they turne themselues, they can gather none other sence of that place. Herevppon commeth it that the yoong babes crye out in the Gospel, Hosanna which commeth in the name of the Lord; which is ye verse that followeth next after this place of Esay, Esay. 6. vers. 53.Go tel this people, Heare and vnderstand not, Looke and see not. Harden the heart of this people, stop their eares, and close their eyes, least they see with their eyes, & heare with their eares, and vnderstand with their heartes, and turne agein, and I heale them. How long? Euen all their Citties be desolate without inhabitants (sayth the Lorde) and the houses without any man in them, and the land be a wildernesse. Yet shall a Tythe remayne and turne agein, and be made bare as a Turpentine tree & an Oke, whose sap neuerthelesse shall continue in them. And if ye desire the interpretatiō hereof, behold, it is readie at hand in the same Prophet. For going about to describe with what humilitie and simplicitie Christ should come to suffer for vsus, (whom these great Rabbines looked for too hauehave come in triumph to content their pryde and ambition) Who hath beleeued our preaching (sayth he) or to whō is the Lords arme discouered? That is to say, of so great a nomber of Iewes which looke for the Messias, how feawe shall there be that will beléeue him, when they see him come after such fashion as I am to describe him vntounto them? But surely (sayth he) Those to whom he had neuer bene declared shall see him, and those that neuer heard of him shal cōsider him. This text (as I hauehave declared often heretofore) is expounded by the Iewes themselues concerning the Messias, Also Zacharie saith, I wil powre out the spirit of grace and merciemercy vponupon the house of Dauid, aud vponupon the inhabiters of Hierusalem, and they shall looke vntounto mee whom they hauehave pearced. This Hierusalem (say I) and this house of Dauid wherevpon GOD will power out his grace and merciemercy, are the very same which shal pearce his Anoynted and cruciste him after the same maner that they martyred Esay, Ieremie, and Zacharie, and tormented all the rest of the Prophetes, according wherevnto our Lorde Iesus sayde vntounto them, It is not meete that any Prophet should dye elswhere than at Hierusalem. Now they must néedes graunt, that if they were to kill hym, they were not to know him: for who durst bée so presumptuous as to lay his hande wittingly vponupon the Lords Anoynted? And those words also doe they expound to concerne the Messias.Deut. 2…. To be short, Moyses sayth; The straunger yt is among thee shalbe thy head, and thou shalt be his tayle; he shalbe aduaunced aboue thee, and thou shalt be his vnderling. And Esay sayth, Because of the sinne of Iuda, I wil seeke out those which hauehave not sought for mee, and I wilbe found of them which hauehave not enquired for me. I wil giuegive a better place in my Temple to the Geldedmen & Strangers, than to the Sonnes and daughters of Israel. And it is an ordinary matter among the Prophets, to vse such speeches as this, Those which are my people, Ieremy. 3. vers. 14.shall no more be my people: & thei which were not my people shalbe my people, & such other. And sildom doo they speake any word of ye calling of ye Gentiles, but they match it immediatly wt the casting off of ye Iewes for their refusing of Christ, like as ye cānot well make mention of the graffing of a tree wt a strāge Impe or sien, but ye must also speake of the eu…ting off of the boughes to make place for it.Talmud. Treatyse Sanhedrin. Cap. Helec. To this same effect doo R. Samai and R. Selomoh say, It is sayd in Ieremy, I wil take one out of a Cittie, and two out of a Trybe, and make them to enter into Sion, because (adde they) that as of sixehundred thousand Israelites, onelyonly two (that is to wit, Iosua & Caleb) entered into Chanaan; so shall it be also in the dayes of the Messias. Aud the sonnes of Rabbi Hija affirme.Talmud. Trea: Sanhedrin, Ch. Dines Mammoneth. That the Messias shalbe a stone to stumble at vntounto the two houses of Israel, and a Snare to the Inhabiters of Hierusalem, and they deliuer it for a great Secret. Also R. Iohanan and R. Iacob, R. Iohanan & P. Iacob. chap. Helec.say that the Gentiles shalbe put in place of the Iewes that hauehave refused the Lord, as the Horse is put in the place of an Oxe that halteth. And whereas I hauehave said that Gods spirit should be withdrawen from the Syn…gogue for their Iniquities sake. Rabbi Iudas sayth, that when the Sonne of Dauid commeth, there shalbe feawe wyse men in Israel, and the wisdome of the Scribes shall stinke, and the Scholes of Diuinitie shalbe become Brothelhouses: which accordeth with this saying of our Lorde Iesus, Of a house of prayer ye hauehave made my house a den of theeues. And R. Nehoray sayth that mens countenances shal at that tyme be past shame. And R. Nehemias writeth, that wickednes shalbe multiplyed without measure, Talmud. Sanhedrin. Helec.and there shall be nothing but vntowardnes & Heresie; R. Moyses Hadarsan vppon the 74 Psalme.insomuch that (as sayth R. Natronai.) They shall say that the miracles which the Mesias shall woorke, are done by Magicke and by vncleane Spirites. To be short, Ieremy Ieremy. 10. ver. 11. and 30. ver. ….saith, The Shepherds are become beastes, and hauehave not sought the Lord. And in another place, They hauehave made my sheepe to go astray, & turned them away to the mountaines. And the Rabbines to confirme the matter, say thus: If our predecessors were the Children of men, we be the children of Asses; and surely (sayth R. Menahem,) the shee Asse of R. Pinehas is wyser then we. But to come backe ageine to the Prophesie of Esay, The Oxe (sayth he) knoweth his owner, and the Asse knoweth his maisters Crib, but my people knowe not mee, they hauehave no vnderstanding. And in very déede whosoeuer doubteth yet still what spirit gouerned the Teachers of the Iewes from this time foorth; let hym reade but onelyonly their Talmud, which is such a booke, that God (say they) studyeth in it eueryevery first fower howers of the day: And when Hierusalem was destroyed, hee left himselfe thrée cubits space wheron to sit and reade in the Talmud, which yet notwithstanding was not then made. Besides this, they make God (in that booke) to bewayle the miseries of Israel, to bee angrie at the Comb of a Cooke, to lye, and to commit sinne and so foorth; so that if a man might hauehave looked into the consciences of those Rabbines, I beléeue hee should hauehave seene that they made not so good account of GOD as of themselues. As for the Scriptures, they expound not one text of them among a hundred to the purpose, no nor scarsly without blasphemie, sauing where they followe or alledge the Rabbines of old time. The residew are either toyes, or oldwiues tales, or horrible blasphemies, or things either too fond for Children or to wicked for men, and such as euen the Diuell himself would be ashamed of. To be short, I can not tell how they that wrate that booke could bee Iewes; or howe the reading of it now should not make them all become Christians.
Yet they reply still and say:Esay. 1. What lykelyhod is there that this Iesus was the Messias,An obiection concerning the bacenesse of Iesus. comming so attyred as he did? Or were not we (at least wyse) woorthie to be excused for not knowing him, comming disguysed after that manner? Nay, I demaund of you, after what other sort he could or should come, considering that hee came to humble himself, and to be crucified for vsus? You looked to hauehave had him princelyke, and he was forepromised poore: a Warryour, and it was told you he should be beaten and wounded: with a greate trayne, and he is descrybed alone vppon an Asse: with a companie of wyues, and there was no mo spoken of but only one: with tryumphing and feasting, and yee were informed aforehand that his bread should be stéeped in vineger, and his Cup be full of gall and bitternesse. You imagin vnderunder him, eyther the Peace of Salomon, or the Conquests of greate Alexander: peace to manure Iewrie at your ease, and Warre to reape the riches of the Gentyles. But he came to appease Gods wrath, and to vanquish the Diuell; and thenceforth to make Iewes and Gentyles equall. Of these two commings, which is most meete, both for Gods glorie, and for his owne? Admit he had the Empyre of Cyrus and Alexander; admit he had all the power and riches of all the Kingdomes that euer were in the world; what were all this but a witnesse of his want, and an abate … of his glorie? As for example; Moyses led Sixhundred thousand feyghting men out of Egipt, and with the stroke of his rod he passed the red Sea and drouned the Egiptians therein. Now in whether had Gods glorie more appeared, and the calling of Moyses bin better warranted … by his winning of a battell ageinst the Egiptians with so greate a nomber of men, or by ouerthrowing them with one stroke of a rod? In reducing the King to reason by force of armes, or in making him to seeke mercy by an hoste of fleas and lyce? Let vsus come now to Christ. He was to subdewe the world vnderunder his obedience. Whether was it more to his glorie and more correspondent to his Godhead, to hauehave done it by inuesting himself in an Empyre, or by ridding himself of all worldly meanes, by force of armes, or by his only word? By conquering men with shewe of pompe, or by winning them with suffering reproche at their hand? By tryumphing ouer them, or by being crucified by them? By being alyue, or euen by being dead? By killing his enemyes, or by yéelding vntounto them? By ouerthrowing his foes; or by sending his seruants to suffer whatsoeuer they would do vntounto them? For who séeth not, that in the victories of Princes, their men bée partakers with them of their glorie? And that in battells betwéene men, the Horse and the speare hauehave their part? And that oftentimes the harnesse and the very shadowe of the Crests of their helmets (as yee would say) do step in for a share? Surely therefore, wee may well say, that Iesus could not hauehave shewed his Godhead better, than in comming like an abiect & miserable man; nor his strength better, than in comming in feblenesse; nor his myght, than in infirmitie; nor his glory, than in despisednes; nor his eternitie, than in dying; nor his rysing ageine, than in being buryed; nor his whole presence, than … his way hence; nor finally his quickening life, than in conquering the world by the death of his Diciples. For had he come otherwise, man had had the glory thereof: the stronglyer he had come, the lesse had bin his victorie; and the more pomp he had pretended outwardly, the lesse had he alwayes vttered his Godhead, and the more excusable had both the Iewes and Gentyles bin in not receyuing him. To be short, wil ye sée that he was the same sonne of God, which was present with God at the creating of the world? God created the world without matter or stuffe whereof, and without help, by his only word: And Iesus being destitute of all help and meane, hath conquered the world with his only word, euen by his … death, which séemeth to hauehave bene a cleare dispatch of him? What greater maiestie or greatnesse can we imagine than this?
Yea but (say they) where bee the signes promised by the Prophets?An obiection that the signes promised by the Prophets are not come to passe. and specially the euerlasting peace which Christ was to bring vntounto the world, which should turne Swords into Mattocks and Speares into Coulters? To this we may answer, that Iesus was borne vnderunder the Emperour Augustus, at which tyme the Histories tell vsus, that the Temple of Iauus at Rome was shut vp… and all the world was at peace throughout, as who would saythat by that meane God meant to open a free way to the preaching of his Gospell. But let them first of all marke here their owne contrarietie of speech, in that they require of vsus here a generall peace, and in other places speake of battelles against Gog and Magog, and of the bathing of themselues in the blud of the Gentyles, insomuch as they say that their second Messias the Sonne of Ioseph, shalbe slayne in battell. Nay, as he is a spirituall King, so bee his warres and peace spirituall also. Esay Esay. ….calleth him a man of warre: but of his warres he sayth, They shall turne their swordes into Coulters. On the contrary part he calleth him yt Prince of peace: but of such peace wherof it is sayd;Esay. 9. &. 35. The chastisemēt of our peace was layd vponupon him, and by his stripes are we healed: that is to wit, he was wounded for our misdeedes and torne for our iniquities. To be short, Micheas Micheas. 3. vers. 3.sayth, He himselfe shalbe the peace. Neuerthelesse, to the intent ye should not thinke he meaneth of your manuring of your grounds & of your dressing of your …ineyards; yet shall not the Assyrian (sayth he) ceasse to come into our Land, and to march in our Palaces. And therefore doth Ieremie well say, He shall breake the yoke from thy necke, & burst asunder thy bonds: howbeit (as he expoundeth himselfe in another place,Ieremy. 30. & 35.) in such sort as thou shalt not serue straunge Gods any more: that is to say, he will both winne vsus victorie and be our victorie himself against the Deuil, and also both purchace vsus peace and be our peace vntounto God, according to this which he sayth another where: The Euerlasting will be our rightuousnesse. Talmud in the treatyse Sab. bath.And in trueth, in the booke of Sabbath where these texts are examined, Rabbi Eliezer sayth plainly, That warres shall not ceasse at the first comming of the Messias, but only at his second comming, that is to wit, when he commeth in glorie to iudge the world.
Of the same stampe are the obiections that followe. Zachary. 14. vers. 4.It is written (say they) that Mount Oliuet shall bee split asunder in the middes, and the one halfe fall towards the East and the other half towards the West: which thing wee sée not yet come to passe. Well, they cannot denye but that this text speaketh plainly of the destruction of Hierusalem: and if they will néedes followe the letter, they shall see in their owne Histories, that when the Romanes beseeged the Citie, they made their trenches on that side. Againe, it is sayd, R. Iohan…n in the treat: Baua Bath…a. Midrasch, Psalm. 86.That the Lords hil shalbe aduaunced aboue al hilles; and therevppon they dreame that Hierusalem shalbe hoyssed vp thrée leagues into the ayre. But these people which otherwhiles delight so much in Allegories, ought to vnderstand these, euen by the text it selfe. For (sayth the Prophet) folke shall say let vsus goe vp to Syon, and God will there teach vsus his waies:Zachary. 4. Esay. 2. and Michens. 4. The Lawe shall come out of Syon, and the word of the Lord from Hierusalem. And I pray you when came they better out, than when the Apostles of Iesus did spread them abroade from Hierusalem thorowe the whole world? And therefore Rabbi SelomohR. Selomoh & R. Abraham ben Ezra vponupon Esay. 2. and Micheas. 4. saith vponupon those texts, that the Lord should at that tyme be magnified in Hierusalem, by a greater signe… than he was in Sinai, Carmel, & Thabor, And Rabbi Abraham the sonne of Ezra sayth, that this Aduaunced hill is the Messias, who shalbe highly aduaunced among the Gentyles. Also it is sayd in Esay;Esay. 11. The Woolfe shall feed with the Lambe: and in Malachie,Malachy. 3. The Angell of the Lord shal make the waies playne:Rabbi Moyses Ben Maimon vppon Deut. in the Lawes concerning Kings and War…es. which things (say they) wee see not yet performed, nor many other such like. But yet doth Rabbi Moyses Ben Maimon their great teacher of Rightuousnesse say; Let it neuer come in thy head, that in the tyme of Christ the course of the world shall any whit bee chaunged: but when thou readest in Esay, that the Woolfe shal dwell with the Lamb, call to mynd how Ieremieleremy. 5. sayth, A Woolfe of the wildernesse hath wasted them, and a Leopard watcheth at their Cities, to snatch …p them that come out. For the meaning thereof is, that both Iewes and Gentiles shalbe cōuerted to the true doctrine, and not hurt one another, but feede both together at one Crib, according to this saying of Esay in the very same place, The Woolfe shall eate Hay with the Oxe. And after that maner (sayth he) must we expound all such maner of speeches, which belong to the tyme of Christ: for they be parabolicall and figuratiue. of the same sort also is the exposition of Rabbi Dauid Kimhi, howbeit that ordinarily he followed the letter, & the translation of Ionathan himselfe. And as touching the Angell or Ambassador that should leuell the waies mentioned in the text of Malachie: The meaning thereof (sayth Ramban) is that a great Prince shall bee sent afore the Messias come, to prepare the harts of the Israelites to the battell. But Malachie expoundeth himselfe more fitly in these wordes: He shall turne the hearts of the fathers to their Children: that is to say, he shall exhort Israell to repentance.
The ObiectionsAn obiection that Idolatry should ceasse. that insewe hereafter hauehave a little more weight in them. It is written, I will destroy all the Idolles of the earth. Also,Esay. 2. I will hungerstarue all the Gods of the Gentyles. And againe,Zach. 13. They shall all serue mee with one shoulder. Would God that the abuses which are crept into the Christians Church against Christes ordinance,So phony. 3… were not so great a Stumbling blocke to the Iewes. Neuerthelesse, let them consider the great nomber of Gods woorshipped by the Assyrians, Persians, Greekes and Romaines, at what tyme eueryevery Countrey, eueryevery Citie, eueryevery Household, and eueryevery person had his peculiar God and his Idols by himselfe: and they shall finde that within a little while after ye Apostles had preached the doctrine of Iesus to the world, they were all gone, and not so much as any rememberance of them had now remayned, but that in publishing the glorie of God, wee had also declared their ouerthrowe. Let them reade the Histories of the Heathen and aske of them what is become of their Oracles, I meane the Deuilles which hild them in with their Lyes and Dreames, and would not bee pacified but with the Sacrificing of men, yea and euen of their owne Children: and of all those wickednesses, which had taken roote all the world throughout, can they now shew any print at all? Euen in the tyme of Tyberius began men to aske these questions, namely what was the cause that Oracles spake not any more; that Deuils wrought not as they had done aforetymes; And that their Priestes wanted liuing? And the Heathen themselues were driuen to answer, that since the tyme that Iesus had dyed, and his Disciples had preached abroade, Arte Magicke and the Deuils had lost their power. So sodeine, so vniuersall, and so wonderfull to our very enemies was the chaunge in that tyme; and of so great force was the onelyonly name of Iesus in the mouth of those poore men, against Kings and Emperours, against their Kingdomes and Empyres, and against the vpholders and worshippers both of the Deuilles and of their Idols.
For briefnesse sake I omit this ObiectionAn Obiection ageinst the Alteration of Religion made by Christ. following and such other; as that all Nations hauehave not followed Iesus. For the Prophets hauehave tolde vsus, that but a remnant shall bee saued: and Iesus himselfe sayth that Many be called, and fewe chosen. And it suffiseth that the voyce of the Gospell hath bene heard ouer all the world, and that the gate of the Church is set open to all Nations. Againe, to come to an issewe, they know… that the word Col [that is to say All] betokeneth not that all men without exception shall followe him, but that all Nations without difference shall bee his people. Againe, the seede of Christ (say they) should be euerlasting: but we see not the seede of Iesus to bee so. They say very well, in that by the word Seede, they meane Christs Disciples; and in their owne language they terme them Sonnes or Children: & thankes be to the Lord, there are Disciples of his still, euerywhere through the whole world.
But the principall Obiection remayneth yet behind, and that is this: If Iesus be the Sonne of God, (say they) why chaungeth he the Lawe of God his father deliuered by Moyses, beeing (as hath bene sayd alreadie) both holy and inuiolable, which who so doth, how can) hee bee receiued for the Messias? Surely in this poynt where they charge Iesus with the changing and abolishing of the Law; we be flat contrarie to them; affirming that he did not change it or abolish it, but more plainly expounded it and fulfilled it. Nay say they, Circumcision was expressely commaunded by God vntounto Abraham, and afterward to Moyses: and why th… hath Iesus abolished it? In déede that is the thing which doth alwaies deceiue them; namely, that they take the signe for the thing signified, and the shadowe for the substance and trueth of the promises. But wée say that Circumcision was a signe or seale of the Couenant, and not the Couenant it selfe, and the best of the Iewes denye it not themselues.Deut. 30. and 10. And yet Moyses sayth: When the Lord shall hauehave cast thee out to the vttermost partes of the earth, yet will he bring thee home againe into the land which thy fathers possessed, and hee will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy Children, that thou mayst louelove the Lord thy God; with all thy heart and with all thy Soule, and that thou mayst liue. And in another place he sayth: Circumcise the foreskin of your hearts, and harden not your neckes any more. And whē the Prophets rebuke vsus, they call vsus not simply vncircumcised, but vncircumcised of heart or of lippes. The which ought to aduertise you that the signe is fleshly,Ieremy. 4. but the thing signified (that is to wit, the Couenant) is spirituall;The Cabale by the report of Picus Earle of Mirandula. and that it would behoue you to enter into the Marée of the Lawe, and not to byte about the barke of it. To bee short, the Cabale it selfe giueth vsus to vnderstand, that Christ shall cure the venome of the Serpent, make a new Couenant, and take away the necessitie of Circumcision. As touching Sacrifices, I hauehave declared alreadie heretofore that they were signes. It is sayd that they shall cleanse away the sinnes of the Congregation. How may that be, if we go no further than to the blud of a Lamb, or to the sprinckling of the ashes of a Cowe? And therefore. Dauid sayth:Psalm. 49. and 50. Thou desirest not Sacrifice for sinne, and therefore will I not giuegive thee any. And God himself sayth: I blame thee not for that thou hast giuen me no burntofferings. Also in Esay: Esay. 1. and 58. and 66.Who required these things of you? As for these Sacrifices, these new Moones, these Sabbats, and these solemne Feastes, they lothe me, they burden me, and I cannot wel away with them. Moreouer Micheas sayth: If thou gauest thousands of thy Sheepe, and Riuers of Oyle, Micheas. 6.yea & thyne eldest sonne, euen the sonne of thyne own bodie begotten for thy sinne: all this is nothing before the Lord. Nay, (sayth Esay) the offering of an Oxe is as the murthering of a man, and the offering vp of a Sheepe is as the snetching of a Dog, and the burning of Incense is as the blessing of an Idoll. All which sayings doe vsus to vnderstand, that the Sacrifices were not the very things themselues, but onelyonly signes of things, that is to wit, partly of the lustes and affections which wee feele in our hearts, and partly of the Saluation which wee looke for by the Messias; and that if wee passe no further than the bare Sacrifices, thei be vtterly vnprofitable. But Dauid saith; The Sacrifice of the Lord, is a broken and lowly heart. And Esay sayth, Wash your selues, scoure away the naughtinesse of your hearts, doe right to the fatherlesse and the widowe. Also Micheas sayth, Deale vprightly, & shewe merciemercy. These bée the Sacrifices which God requireth at eueryevery of our hands, and which were betokened in the particuler Sacrifices, by the Bowels, Kidneyes, Liuer, and such other parts, which were wont to be burned vponupon the Altar. And as touching the generall Sacrifices and such as were more solemne, they betokened that vniuersall Sacrifice for the sinne of Mankynd which God had ordeyned euerlastingly, that is to wit, the death of the Messias. For that those Sacrifices should hauehave an end, namely, the signe by the presence of the thing signified, the figure by the presence of the substance, and the shadowe by the presence of the bodie, wee perceiue by these wordes of Daniell; Daniel. 12. verse. 11.From the tyme that the continuall Sacrifice is taken away, there shall bee a thousand two hundred fowerscore and ten daies. And that it should be done by the death of Christ, it appeareth by this which he had sayd afore,Daniel 9. After threescore & two weekes Christ shalbe killed, and in halfe a weeke he shall cause the Sacrifice and Offering to ceasse; and for the outreaching of abhominations, there shalbe desolation vntounto the end. And whereas Malachie Malachy. …hauing reproued Sacrifices very sharply, saith; From the Sunnerysing to the Sunnegoingdowne, my name shalbe great among the Gentyles, and Incense and pure Oblations shall be offered euerywhere in my name: it cannot bee vnderstood of the Sacrifices ordeyned by the Iewish Law, but rather of the abolishing of them, and of all other signes, by the Messias. For if the Gentyles must Sacrifice vntounto him according to the law; then must they come to Hierusalem to the Temple there. And if it be so: what Court will bee large enough to hold the Sacrifices? What shall al Hierusalem be but a very Slaughterhouse and Butcherie? Nay moreouer, the Prophet sayth that they shall offer euerywhere; which thing bewrayeth an euident chaunge: and a pure or cleane Oblation, which putteth a difference betwéene their Offerings, and the bloodie Sacrifices of the Lawe. And after that the Prophet hath sayd, My name shall bee great among the Gentyles: Hee addeth immediatly; But yee hauehave vnhalowed it. Which is as much to say, as that ye Gentyles shalbe these Priests eueryevery man in his owne place, and they shall not neede to co… to you Iewes for the matter. To bee short, as touching the Sacrifices, some of the Rabbines say,Midrasch. Nombers. 13. Mark. 2. They shall all ceasse, sauing the Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiuing. And as touching the Sabbath; He that bringeth the Commaundement from God, (say they) may also breake it: wherevnto our Lord Iesus agréeing, sayth, The Sonne of Man is Lord of the Sabboth. And as touching the difference betwéene Beastes cleane and vncleane, All Beastes (say they) which are counted vncleane in this age, shall bee counted cleane by the vertue of God in the age to come, that is to wit vnderunder the Messias, as they were to the Children of Noe. R Hadarsan vponupon Gen. 42. and 49.And thereof they ad this reason, That Gods inioyning thereof for a tyme, was but to trye who they were that would obey his word. The same doth Rabbi Hadarsan affirme, saying; There is not a more expresse Lawe, than that which concerneth the monethly disease of women; and yet shall that ceasse in the reigne of him: [that is to say, of the Messias.] And it is not for them to alledge here, that concerning the Circumcision, the Sabboth, the feast of Easter, and such others, it is sayd that thy shalbe legnolam: Leuit. …. and 15.that is to say by their interpretation, for euer. For wee hauehave learned of them, that the word legnolam, signifieth not for euer, Deut. 15.but a long tyme; and a tyme of long continuance without intermission or breaking of, rather than a continuance of tyme without end. And in that sence doe we reade it sayd of Samuel; He shall abide in the presence of the Lord legnolam for euer: Midrasch.Vpō which place the Commentarie sayth, It is an age of the Leuites or a Leuiticall age, that is to say, the continuance of fiftie yeres. Likewise, of the Seruant whose eare his maister boared through, it is sayd; He shalbe thy Seruant legnolam for euer: in which place the Commentarie sayth,R. Dauid Kimhi in his booke of Rootes. Prouerb. 22. Vntill the yeere of Iubil. And therfore their great Grammarian Rabbi Kimhi sayth, that legnolam signifieth a long tyme, according to this saying in the Prouerbes, The olde bound or buttel that hath continued of long tyme; where he vseth the word legnolam. The words whereby the Hebrewes vse commonly to betoken a tyme without end, are these, gnad netsach, and selah, and legnolam vagned.
But that God ment by the sending of his sonne Christ to make a new Couenant with his people, as farre differing from the first Couenanat as the thing figured differeth from the figure, let vsus here IeremyIerem. 31. vers. 31. 22. 27. in his one and thirtith Chapter. Behold, the day shal come (sayeth the Lord) that I will make a new Couenant with the House of Israel, and the House of Dauid; not according to the Couenant that I made with their fathers, when I tooke them by the hand & led them out of the land of Egipt, which Couenant they hauehave disanulled though I was married vntounto them: but the Couenant that I wil make with them after those dayes (sayth the Lord) is this; I will plant my Lawe within them and wryte it in their harts, and I wilbe their GOD and they shalbe my people. EueryEvery man shalnot teache his neybour any more, nor eueryevery man his brother, saying, Knowe the Lord; for they shall knowe me from the greatest to the least. And I will forgiue their vnryghtuousenes, and their Sinne will I remember no more. And that this was ment of the comming of the Messias, it appeareth playne. For he had sayd afore, The Lord wil create a new thing vppon the Earth; a woman shall compasse a man about. Also that by the House of Israel he ment all such as should bee graffed into that house by the comming of Christ, it appeareth in this, that hauing spoken of the peopling of Israel, he said afore, I will sowe the house of Israel and the house of Iuda with the seede of Man; and after that maner do the Rabbines themselues alledge it. And therefore doth Ionathan say vppon Esay,Mechilta vponupon Exod. 12. Esay. 12. Ye shall drawe waters of gladnesse out of the welsprings of Saluation, that is to say, you shall receyue new doctrine of gladnesse by the chosen ones of the Rightuouse, that is to wit, of Christ; of whom the Prophet had sayd in the Chapter going last afore, God is my safety, I wilbe bold and not be afrayd.Midrasch Coheleth Chap. 11. 1. And the Comentarie vppon the booke of the Preacher sayeth, The lawe that men learne in this age, is nothing in respect of the lawe of the Messias; nor the miracles that are past, in comparison of his miracles. And in the booke of Blessings it is sayd, the things that were done in Egipt are but tappilath that is to say, In the treatyse Boracoth. Talmud of Hierusalem Chapter Meemathai Korin.an Accident or Bywoorke; but the things that shalbe done in the tyme of the Messias, shalbe gnikkar that is to say, the substance thereof. Yea and Rabbi Iohanan in the Talmud sayeth, Wherein soeuer a Prophet biddeth thee transgresse the Lawe, obey him, sauing in Idolatry.Talmud, trea. tyse Sanhedrin. For al the rest are things that may be chaunged by a Prophet according to occasion and tyme.
Yet they reply and say, is God then chaungeable, to giuegive a lawe that shalbe chaunged after that fasshion?A reply of the Iewes. No, say we. For what chaungeablenesse is it to promise and performe, to say and to do, to represent and to bring to passe, to begin and to finish? Nay contrarywise, what greater constancie can there be, than to bring to passe in their tymes, and according to their circumstances, the things which he had promised to his people? He had said, Circumcyse me all your male Children. This was a signe. And he sayd also, He shall Circumcyse your harts and the harts of your posteritie; and that is the verie true signification of the signe. Now Iesus himself was circumcysed, and that was bycause he was borne vnderunder the Lawe. But yet hath he circumcysed our harts by regenerating vsus, which is as much to say as he performed the Lawe. And why should it bee thought straunge that Circumcision is not reteyned now that the Gentyles are called. Verely bycause there is not now any peculiar people, nor consequently any peculiar marke to bee coueted of any one People or Linage, as a seuerall marke of couenant betwéene God and them. Also God hath sayd, Take a Cowe for a Sinne offering, And ageine, Take eueryevery of you a Lambe. But he hath sayd lykewise, The sacrifice that I require is a broken and sorowfull hart. The sacrifice that I prepare for you is my Christ, who shalbe led as a Lambe to be slayne for you, and vponupon him shall your sinnes be layd. Therefore the Moother of Iesus caried her Sacrifice to the Temple, for her purification; but she caried her Sonne with her also according to this scripture. EueryEvery manchild that first openeth the womb, shalbe holy vntounto the Lord; because he was borne vnderunder the Lawe. But he was crucified for our sinnes, wherein he accomplished the onelyonly Sacrifice that had bene betokened by so many Sacrifices in the Lawe, and therefore he made an ende of all sacryficing and offering of oblations, as one that came to fulfill the Ceremonies of the Lawe, and to set vsus free and discharge vsus of them.
On the contrarie part, how delt he with the Lawes which were no signes but matters of substance in deede? It is written. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. And Iesus hath sayd, Thou shalt louelove God with all thy hart, and he hath giuen vsus an example thereof in himself. Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image sayth the Lawe: and Christ hath ouerthrowen all the Idols of the Heathen. The Lawe sayth, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vaine: yea (saith Iesus) and thou shalt not sweare by any maner of thing, no not euen by thine owne head. The Lawe sayes, Thou shalt keepe holy ye Sabboth day: Howbeit not to restreine thee from going aboue two myles that day, as the Pharisies taught; but to apply thy selfe all that day throughout, to the mynding of the Lawe of thy God, and to the seruing of thy Neighbour in his neede. And to the Commaundements of the second table he saith, Thou shalt honour thy Father and thy Moother; howbeit from thy heart, and not for fashions sake, and thou shalt doo the lyke to all thy Superiours. Thou shalt uot kill: yea, and if thou hate, not thy neighbour onelyonly, but also euen thyne enemy; thou art a manslear already. Thou shalt not steale: and if a man will hauehave thy Cote from thee, thou shalt let him hauehave thy Cloke too. Thou shalt not beare false witnesse: not only in word either false or hurtfull, but also ydle. Thou shalt not commit aduoutry: No, for if thou doe but looke vponupon a woman with a lust vntounto her, thou hast committed adultrie already. Moreouer, so little leaue hast thou to couet any mans goods, that to succor him thou must dispossesse thy selfe, and sell all that euer thou hast. Finally, Thy God is only one God, and no mo: but thy neighbour is eueryevery man whom thou meetest, of what Countrie, state, condicion, or calling soeuer he or thou be. To bee short, worshippest thou God? doe it with the knees of thy heart. Doest thou fast? When thou doest it, annoint thy face. Doest thou almes? Let not thy left hand knowe it; giuegive of thy néede, and not of thine abundance. I demaund now whether the exhibiting of the substance and body of the Lawe, in sted of the counterfet or Portrayture thereof, and the requiring of the mynd in sted of the flesh; be an abolishing or defacing of the Lawe? whether the stablishing thereof, bee the disanulling thereof? The clearing and inlightening thereof, be the quenching thereof? or the fulfilling therof in himself, and the spreading thereof ouer all Nations of the Earth, bee the breaking thereof? Nay moreouer, the Lawe (say the Cabalistes) was giuen to man for the sinne of the Serpent; that is to say (accordi…g to our doctrine) not for vsus to accomplish, for wee cannot atteine thereto; but to shew vntounto vsus how farre the infection of that venome hath caried vsus away, from that duetie which God and nature it selfe require of vsus. Which end of the Lawe is greatly inlightened vntounto vsus by the comming of our Lord Iesus, in that he teacheth vsus that the Lawe is not satisfied with an outward and pharisaicall obedience, that is to wit, (to speake fitly) by hipocrisie; but by the vncorrupt obedience of the Heart, yea euen much more by an vnfeyned acknowledgement of our disobedience, than by the greatest profession of obedience that a man can shewe?
If they vrge yet further, why then was not this lesson of yours giuen vsus at the beginning? I answere, that euen from the beginning foorthon, Moyses and the Prophetes gaue it you, in willing you to circumcise your hearts, to offer vp the sacrifice of prayse and obedience,Deu. 30. & 10. Esap. 56. and 5 …. to absteine from vnhalowing the Saboth day with vnrightuousnes, and such otherthings. And in speaking to you of the land of Canaan, they hauehave told you lowd inough by all their dooings, that it behoued you to hauehave a further reache of mynd, namely to the things which (as Esay saith) neitheir eye hath séene, nor eare heard, nor heart of man conceiued. The seruice then which God required of you is spirituall, and the reward which we ought to looke for, is spirituall also. But you, lyke Children as ye be, thought not but (as the most part of you doo still at this day) vponupon the body and the world; whereas GOD spake to you concerning your Soules and the welfare of them, which lyeth in him. Euen so the Schoolemaister promiseth his yoong Scholer a Marchpaine or some other banketing stuffe to make him to learne; not that vertue shall not like the Child much bettter, and be a greater reward to him when he hath atteyned vntounto it; but because that if he should talke to him of vertue or of honour at that tyme, he can no skill of any of them both; and he would bee the negligenter to his lesson, and the more vnable to conceiue a greater thing. And truely ye would hauehave sayd vntounto Moyses; Let not God speake vntounto vsus, but to thee; and yet was he fayne to couer his face, because ye could not abide it. To the same purpose doth Esay say, that ye were fayne to hauehave line after line, and precept after precept, and lisping Prophets to dallie with you like newe weaned children, that they might make you to vnderstand. Also S. Paule sayth in the same sence, that ye were trained vp like babes vnderunder the discipline and tutorship of the law. To bee short, all Mankind (after the maner of one only man) hath his birth, his Childhood, and his youth, and his spirituall nourishment proportionable to eueryevery age, as well as eueryevery of vsus hath by himselfe. Nature ought to be a Lawe vntounto vsus. And verely GOD ment to make vsus to feele how sore it is corrupted in vsus; and because that in those first ages wee did transgresse it and breake it so many and so sundrie waies, like yoong Scholers, which (to speake rightly) cannot write one right letter without a sample: therefore God gaue vsus the Law written; and there remayned at leastwise so much conscience in vsus all, as that none of vsus could say but it was most iust. Neuerthelesse, it was Gods will that wee should trye our strength for a tyme in the doing thereof; whereby we perceyued in the end, that wee could not atteyne thereto, like as the Child that indeuereth to followe the Copie of a good Skriuener, and cannot atteyne to the fashioning of one letter aright, furtherfoorth than his maister guideth his hand. At length came Gods grace brought by Iesus Christ, when our accusation (I meane the accusation of all Mankynd and specially of the Church) was made and concluded both by Nature and by the Lawe the Interpreter of Nature, and that so apparantly, as none of vsus can denye but that he deserueth very great punishment, nor any of vsus say that he deserueth any reward at the hand of the euerlasting God, whose reward being proportionable (if I may so terme it) to the giuer, cannot be but euerlasting. So then, Nature hath made man readie to receiue ye Law; the Lawe hath made him readie to imbrace grace: and God (as séemed conuenient to his wise prouidence) hath in this last age of the world, caused his grace to be brought and preached vntounto vsus by his Gospell, euen vntounto vsus which were as folke standing on the Scaffold readie to bee executed: to the intent that such as perish should acknowledge his Iustice, & such as are saued should acknowledge his onelyonly grace in Iesus God and Man, the onelyonly Sauiour and Redéemer of Mankynd.
Amen.