The Passion Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Lecture 25
THE XXV. LECTVRE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
MATTH. CHAP. XXVII.
verse 57 And when the euen was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Ioſeph, who had alſo himſelfe beene Ieſus diſciple.
MARKE, CHAP. XV.
verse 42 And now when the night was come, (becauſe it was the day of the preparation that is before the Sabbath)
verse 43 Ioſeph of Arimathea, an honourable Counſellour, who alſo looked for the Kingdome of God, came, and went in boldlie vntounto Pilate, and asked the bodie of Jeſus.
LVKE CHAP. XXIII.
verse 50 And beholde, there was a man named Ioſeph, who was a Counſeller, a good man, and a juſt.
IOHN CHAP. XIX.
verse 38 And after theſe things, Ioſeph of Arimathea (who was a diſciple of Ieſus, but ſecretly for feare of the Iewes) b…ſought Pilate that hee might take downe the body of Ieſus. And Pilate gaue him licence. Hee came then, and tooke Ieſus bodie.
THeſe dayes paſt (beloued Brethren in Chriſt) we hauehave ſpoken of the taking downe of ye Lord from the Croſſe, after He was dead, which came as yee heard by a requeſt made to Pilate: theſe who made the requeſt were the Iewes, his enemies: they requeſted that he ſhould be taken from the croſſe: not for any louelove they bare to him, but becauſe it was the time of the preparation to the Paſſeouer: & they beleeued, that Ieſus & the other two crucified mē who hung on ye Croſſe ſhould hauehave polluted their holy feaſt, & holy actiō: & requeſt Pilate, that ye thies of the crucified men might be brokē, that therafter they might be takē down from from the Croſſe. The ſouldiers came firſt to the one thiefe, & broke his thie, thē they came to the other, & broke his thie alſo: laſt, they came to Ieſus, & finding Him to be dead, they would not break His thie: but one of the ſouldiers came with a ſpeare in his hand, and to put the matter out of doubt, he thruſt Him thorow ye heart, ſo that out of the wound ran blood & water in abundance. Whē Iohn hath made a rehearſal of theſe things, he joynes to a weighty teſtimony, He who ſaw theſe things, hath teſtified of them, & his teſtimony is true, & he knowes, that they are true, that ye might beleeue. Laſt, he ſets down the end of theſe things: firſt, wherfore the thies of Ieſus were not brokē: thē, wherfore His ſide was pearced: Theſe things were done (ſais Iohn) that ye Scripture might be fulfilled: & for this he alledges firſt ye which is ſpokē of the type (Exod. 12) Not one bone of the Paſcal lambe might be brokē : and Zachar. 12. They ſhall ſee him whom they hauehave pearced thorow. The laſt day, Brethren, we left off at theſe teſtimonies of Scripture: therfore this day, as God ſhal giuegive vsus grace, we ſhal ſpeak firſt of theſe 2 teſtimonies, & therafter we ſhal enter to the next Hiſtory, yt is, to the burial of Ieſus. Then to ſpeak of the firſt teſtimony, Not one bone of him ſhal be brokē. Moſes ſpeakes theſe words (Exod. 12) of the paſcall lamb: he giues a commandement, that in the eating of the paſcall lamb, not one bone of it ſhould bee broken. That which Moſes ſpeakes of the paſcall lambe, Ioh. drawes it vntounto Ieſus Chriſt, becauſe the Lord Ieſus was the true paſcall lambe: and that lambe that the Iewes ate, was but a figure & ſhadow of that true lambe, the Lord Ieſus, who tooke away the ſinnes of the world: therfore, ſeing the type & ſhadow had ceaſed by the death of Ieſus Chriſt (there was not a paſcall lambe any more, and all the celebration of the Paſſeouer that the Iewes vſed after the death of Ieſus Chriſt, was but vanitie) it was good reaſon, that Iohn ſhoulde draw that which was ſpoken of the figure, to the thing ſignified by the figure: for theſe wordes that Moſes ſpake of the paſcall lambe were accompliſhed in Chriſt: there was not one jot of it, but it was perfected and accompliſhed in Him. Paul (1. Cor. 5) drawes to Chriſt the very words which Moſes vſed in preſcribing of the eating of the paſcall lambe, Put away the olde leauen, that wee may bee a newe lumpe, as wee are vnleauened, for Christ our Paſſeouer is ſacrificed for vsus. Marke this leſſon for our inſtruction: When thou readeſt of the Types and Figures in the olde Teſtament, caſt away the Types, and keepe the veritie, and appl…e it to CHRIST, who is figured by the Types. We are euer reading yt olde Scripture yt ſpeakes of the types vſed in the old Church of the Iewes, as that Scripture of the Paſchal lambe and all the other ceremonies of the Iewes: but take heede how yee read them: read them not, as the Iewes read them: read not theſe Scriptures, as though they were to bee vnderſtood of as many types, yet to bee kept in the earth: bevvare of that: Heare them not, as though they vvere any figures and ſhadowes vnfulfilled, for that were, to exclude the Lord Ieſus, vvho only is the body. But in reading caſt avvay the types, becauſe they hauehave alll ceaſed at the comming, and after the death of Chriſt. Caſt not away the Scripture, but dravv it vntounto Ieſus: and that vvhole Scripture which the Iewes vnderſtood of the type, vnderſtand thou of Chriſt. As for Example, In reading of this Scripture, Exod. 12.41. Caſt aſide the type, the Paſchall Lambe, but caſt not away the Scripture, Ye ſhall not breake one bone of Him, Take this Scripture and vnderſtand it of Ieſus Chriſt, that Lambe of God, and His bones. And vve muſt not thinke, Brethren, that this is any vvrying and vvreſting of the old Scripture by the ovvne ſenſe, becauſe the ſame Scripture vvhichwhich ſpake of the Type, ſpake of Ieſus, but mediatly by the Types: and the Fathers of olde, by reading of the Types, got a ſight of the body, looking in thorovv the ſhaddovv to the body. This is no vvreſting of the Scripture. But novv, ſeeing all Types are avvay, it is good reaſon, that thoſe Scriptures novv immediatly be vnderſtood of Chriſt, vvhichwhich before mediatly vvere applied to Chriſt. I goe to the ſecond teſtimonie, Zacharie 12.10. prophecies that the Iewes that pierced thorovv Chriſt, ſhould ſee Him: and vvhen they ſee Him, they ſhould vveepe for Him, as for their only begotten ſonne. It is a prophecie of the repentance of the Jewes, vvho had crucified Chriſt, & pierced Him thorovv: a promiſe of their repentance for that vvofull deede they did. This ſame thing came to paſſe in the 2. of the Acts vvhen Peter in his preaching laide to their charge that wicked deede, that they had crucified the Lord of glorie, & had put hand into the Lord of life, at his preaching their hearts were pricked & pierced thorow with bitterneſſe, & they demand of Peter, & the reſt, What ſhall they doe to be ſafe? & it is ſaid, three thouſand of them repented & beleeued at that one preaching. The words wold be marked, How is this, that They pierced Ieſus. They pierced Him firſt with their ſins: it was the Jewes ſins chiefly that procured the death of Chriſt: Next, they pierced Him when they perſecuted Him, when they crucified Him, & blaſphemed Him, and rayled on Him hanging on the croſſe: & laſt they pierced Him, when by the ſpeare in the handes of a ſouldier, they thruſt Him thorow, and pierced His ſide. And who is this that pierced Him. It was not ſo much the Ethnicke man that did this, as the Iewes, for whoſe ſinnes Hee came to die: for they were the occaſion of all this wickednes. If we will marke narrowly, and will weigh narrowly this matter aright, we will ſee great wickedneſſe, malice, and vnthankfulneſſe to hauehave bene in this people: The Lord came to die for them? And who are theſe that ſlay Him? Euen theſe for whome He came to die. Was not this a miſchieuous deede? Who will not abhorre and deteſt ſuch a villanie and malice? Alas, ſhould I who am a ſinner, when an innocent man comes to die for my ſinnes, ſlay that man, and be a burrio to Him? Lord ſaue mee from ſuch wickedneſſe, and let neuer mine hands be a ſlayer of that man: and yet this was the malice of the vngratefull Iewes. Againe, will ye conſider the wonderfull louelove that Chriſt caried to this people, when they deſerued nothing at His hands but death, He dies for them, when they were His enemies: He ſhed His blood ſor them: & thereafter when they executed Him and crucified Him, (beholde His wonderfull louelove) Hee brings them to repentance, His merciemercy ouercomes their malice: ſo that in them ye ſee that which is ſaid to be verified, Where ſinne aboundes, grace and merciemercy ſuperabounds, ROM. 5.20. There is no compariſon betweene the louelove of Ieſus, and the ſinnes of men: Albeit thy ſinnes were neuer ſo great and hainous, yet the louelove & merciemercy of Chriſt, will compaſſe them, and goe round about them all: ſo that no ſinner hath occaſion to deſpare of merciemercy and of grace. I doubt not, there is none of vsus all, but we will condemne the Jewes, and will finde fault with the malice of this people: but looke to thy ſelfe, whilſt as thou condemneſt them, that thou disfigure thine owne face, and condemne thine owne ſelfe. Are there none in this land that hauehave put hand in Ieſus, that died for them, as ſurely, as euer the Iewes did. Who dare cleanſe themſelues? Thou dareſt not ſay, but thou haſt pierced the Lord, either one way or other: There is not a ſinne that thou committeſt, but therewith thou haſt pierced the Lord. Haſt thou opponed thy ſelfe to the Trueth, and perſecuted the Goſpell, then thou haſt pierced Chriſt. Haſt thou perſecuted the Church of Chriſt, and troubled His members on the earth? thou haſt pierced the Lord: for Hee cries out: Saul, Saul, why perſecuteſt thou mee …? Haſt thou beene giuen ouer to thy luſtes, and led a wicked life? I ſay, if thou bee in any of theſe rankes: if thou gaine ſtandeſt His Trueth, perſecuteſt Him in His members, or by thy euill life: Proteſt as thou wilt, thou haſt pierced Him, as well, as the Iewes, and thou ſhalt bee as guiltie of His death, as they were, and as Pilate, Herode, Iudas and Caiaphas were challenged for His death, ſo ſhalt thou, except the Lord of His merciemercy grant thee grace to repent. The Lord giuegive eueryevery one of vsus grace in time to repent, IOH. REVEL. 1.7. drawes this Scripture to the ſecond comming of Chriſt in the cloudes: for hee ſayes, They ſhall ſee Him whom they hauehave pierced, and all the Tribes of the earth ſhall mourne before Him. Of the which wee may gather, that in the latter daye the very Elect, when they ſhall riſe, and ſee the Lord, when they ſhall ſee theſe handes, and theſe ſeete, and that ſide, which by their ſinnes they hauehave pierced thorow, their firſt meeting ſhall bee with bitter mourning, they ſhall mourne, as a man will doe for His onelyonly begotten ſonne, but immediatly that weeping ſhall be turned into joy, and the Lord ſhall wipe away all teares from their eyes, ſo that they ſhall neuer mourne nor ſorrow any more, but they ſhall be with the Lord, and rejoyce with a ſolide joy for euer more,
Now I come to the buriall of that bleſſed body: As the downe taking from the croſſe came by a requeſt, ſo this buriall alſo comes by requeſt. But who requeſts for His buriall? Not the Iewes that requeſted for His downe taking, but good Ioſeph of Ar…mathea requeſts for the buriall. The Iewes requeſted not for any louelove they bare to Him, but Joſeph that worthy diſciple of Chriſt requeſts vponupon louelove. Then the thinges that we ſhall ſpeake of the buriall this day are theſe: Firſt, by the conference of the foure Euangeliſts, wee hauehave a faire deſcription of this man Ioſeph: Next, we hauehave eſpecially in the Goſpell of Luke, how boldly he comes to Pilate: thirdly, we hauehave the ſuite it ſelfe: then the good and humane anſwere that he receiues out of the mouth of Pilate. Then looke how this man is pointed out: Firſt, he is deſcribed by his name, his name is Ioſeph: Next, hee is deſcribed by his countrey: he vvas of Arimathea, a tovvne in Iudea: Thirdly, he vvas deſcribed from his ſubſtance, Hee was a rich and wealthie man: and vvhat more? What matter of all outvvard things, of our birth, of the place of it, or all the riches and ſubſtance in the vvorld, if there be no more: Fourthly, he is deſcribed from his office, He was a wiſe and graue Senator, and apparantly hee was in that Councell of the IEVVES, which was called SANEDRIM: yea, apparantly he was on PILATES coūſell, becauſe he was a wiſe and potent man. But all theſe are outwarde thinges, therefore the Spirit afterward paints him out by his inward qualities: for if thou hauehave no good properties, I will not giuegive a pennie for all thy calling, thy ſubſtance, and all outwarde thinges: Hee is painted out in theſe qualities, which concerne this life, & his behauior toward mē: he is called a good & vpright mā in his life. But what helpe all theſe ciuill and morall vertues, if there bee no more, they are little worth. Therfore, the Spirit of God deſcribes him from the inwarde grace of the heart, from faith and hope. And it is ſaide Hee waited for the kingdome of God. All his riches cloſed not his eyes from the ſight of that life to come. Then as hee hoped for yt Kingdome, ſo hee vſed the meanes: Hee beleeued in Ieſus Chriſt, and was His Diſciple. So then, if thou bee not a ſcholler to Chriſt in this earth, looke neuer to dwell with Him in Heauen. Yet there is ſomething wanting: Hee durſt not avowe himſelfe openlie, for feare of his riches and honour: But now at laſt, when it comes to extreame perſecution, hee manifeſtes himſelfe: When they ſate in the Counſell, concerning the death of Chriſt, IOSEPH would not giuegive his counſell nor conſent thereunto. But yet there is an impediment in this man: for he ſhould not only hauehave refrained to hauehave giuen his conſent, but ſhould hauehave opponed himſelfe againſt them, as Nicodemus did, for he opponed himſelfe boldly vntounto them: Doeth our law (ſaies he) condemne a man before he be heard? IOH. 7.50. where learne yee that? So yee ſee, it is an hard and dangerous matter to bee a Counſeller, either in Kirke or in Policie. There will bee many impedimentes in Counſellers; yea, euen in the beſt of them: and yee ſee that when harde matters doe come in queſtion, men will abſent themſelues from the Councell: but that is not well done. For, if thou bee a Counſeller, albeit there were neuer ſo hard a matter in hand, thou art bound in conſcience to bee preſent: But indeede it is better to abſent thy ſelfe, than to come and giuegive an euill vote. Againe, there are ſome, who will come, but will not conſent to euill; as IOSEPH here did: But this is not enough: there is an infirmity here: for thou that art a Counſeller, art bound to make oppoſition to euill. Again there are other ſome who will come, & not only refuſe to conſent to that which their cōſcience judges to be euil: but alſo wil oppone themſelues boldly thereunto, as Nicodemus did. And theſe are the beſt ſort of Counſellers. Alwayes, wee ſee this: It is an harde matter to be a good Counſeller: for often times this terrour and that terrour will bee caſten in to thee, if thou incline either this waye or that way: and ſomtimes the matter will fall out ſo ambiguouſly, that thou wilt not know howe to vote, or what way to turne thee: So that of all men, he who is a Coūſeller, either in Kirke or Policie in theſe dangerous dayes, wherein ſuch terrours are caſten in, hath moſt need to depēd vponupon the coūſel of God, reuealed in His word: & in all things to keepe a good cōſcience. Let no man offer to doe againſt his conſciēce, for then the cōſcience ſhall take hold on him, intend a proceſſe againſt him, and challenge him, conuict him, and torment him with anguiſh before the Lords Tribunall▪ This for the deſcription of the man. We muſt not thinke yt by fortune or chance or of his owne accord raſhly he came to this point: No, the prouidence of God guided him, led him out for that purpoſe. And in this action God had reſpect, not only to the Heauēly honour of Chriſt: but alſo to the worldly things, to riches & power. The Lord choſe a worldly, rich, & potent man to bury Him; to this end, that the Iewes who by all meanes ſought to heape ſhame & ignominie vponupon the Lord, ſhould not oppone themſelues, & ſtaye Him to be buried: for if it had bene a poore or meane man, that had taken this in hande, doubtleſſe they had opponed themſelues, & hindered His buriall. Againe: an honourable man is choſen to bury His Sonne honourablie. The Father will hauehave an Honourable riche man to burie His deare Sonne. Indeede Ioſeph of Arimathea got neuer ſuch honour, as by yt buriall of the bleſſed body of Ieſus, the Son of God. His calling was nothing: he had neuer bin regiſtrate for yt he was a Senator in Iudea, except that the Lord had put in his hand the buriall of His deare Son. It is true, the buriall of the Lord Ieſus is the laſt point of His humiliation: for what is the buriall of the body, but the continuance of ye body vnderunder death? And, if thy burial be not ſanctified, it is a terrible thing to be caſten in a hole, & to be bound vnderunder the earth. Woe to that bodie who is caſten into a hole, and in the bellie of the earth, and if it bee not ſanctified in the buriall of IESVS CHRIST. So I ſay, the buriall of Ieſus Chriſt was the laſt poinct of His humiliation. Hee was holden in the fetters of death. Yet the Lorde begins the glory of the Son at that which was ignominious in it ſelfe. He will not employ eueryevery man in this work, but the moſt honourable man in the Citie. And then Hee will hauehave His Buriall not in a vile place, nor in a backſide, but in a notable & faire place, couered with a ſtone. So the Heauenly Father will hauehave the honour of the Sōne & His glory, to begin at the buriall, which was ſhamefull in it ſelfe: and then Hee goes forward, till His reſurrection, and to His aſcending to Heauen, & ſitting at the right hand of the Father. To worldlinges, this honour of their buriall, is but a part of worldly honour: but heere vntounto Chriſt, that ſame piece of honour was ye beginning of his heauenly glory. If thou be in Ieſus this ſame honour which is done to thy bodie in this life in thy buriall, is the beginning of thy glory which thou ſhalt enjoy in the Heauens. The diſhonour of the faithful in this life ſhal be turned to their honour and glorie, and it ſhall be turned to their weale: All things worke together for the beſt vntounto them that louelove God, ſaies Paul, Rom. 8.29. If thou loueſt the Lord, that ſhame that ſhall be heaped on thee in this earth, ſhall bee the beginning of thine honour. Then much more ſhall the honour that thou ſhalt get in this life, bee the beginning of that euerlaſting honour. Now when Ioſeph takes vp the body of ye Lord lying ſo low at the Gallowes foot, and intends to bury that body: I doubt not, but he hath an eye to that glorious reſurrection, and he ſaw that glory wherewith that body ſhould be glorified & ſhould glorifie the bodies of the faithfull, & make them like His glorious body. If there were no more but that reſpect of the reſurrection of the bodies of the faithfull, in that daye it ſhoulde make vsus count of the bodies of the faithfull, of their death and buriall. 1. Pet. 3.7. Ye reade, that husband ſhoulde giuegive honour to their wiues, becauſe they are the infirmer and weake… veſſels, and becauſe that with them they are to bee heires of the kingdome of glorie, and of that life. Yee ſee this, that if there vvere but an earthly body, who were appearing heire to a kingdome, men will count of him: Much more then, when we ſee a man or woman ordained to that Heauenly kingdome, and to that glory, ſhoulde we not honour them for that reſpect of glory. Paul to Tim. ſaies, In a great houſe are many veſſels, ſome to honour, & ſome to diſhonour. Yee ſee in a Noble mans houſe howe honourably they will handle golden and ſilu…r veſſels. Then when we looke to a faithfull man, ſhould we not count greatly of him, becauſe hee is ſo glorious a veſſell, and is to be partaker of that glory? All the glory of this world appertains properly to the faithfull: Indeede, often times they hauehave leaſt part thereof (that they maye knowe their happineſſe ſtandes not in this earthly glory, but in that glory of Heauen) & the wicked hauehave moſt of it. Yet I ſay: All the glory euen of this world appertaines to the faithfull only. No honour appertains to a king who is a reprobate: He is but a violent vſurper of theſe worldly things, and he ſhal one day giuegive account of his violent vſurpation: nothing but ſhame appertaines to him, and all his honour ſhall bee turned into ſhame.
Now I goe to the next thing: The boldnes that Ioſeph had in cō ming to Pilate: Hee lurked before, but nowe when Ieſus is lying in greateſt ignominy, as wee vſe to ſpeake, At the Gallowes foot: The man takes boldnes, & ſteps in to Pilates Hall, & makes his requeſt. His riches, his ſubſtāce, & honour held him abacke awhile: but now he comes out & forgets all, & interceades for the body of Ieſus, to burie it. Thy riches & honour of the worlde, are like as many fetters & yron chaines, to retaine thee & hold thee abacke from Chriſt. Yet all the riches & honour in the world cannot hinder nor hold backe GODS calling, when Hee puts out His hande to drawe thee in to Him: But if He put not out His hand, & draw thee out, thou art ſo faſt detained, that all the ſtrength in the worlde will not be able to draw thee. It is true that Paul ſaies, 1. Cor. 1.26. Ye ſee your calling, how that not many wiſe men after the fleſh, nor many noble are called; It is a rare thing to ſee the Lord draw ſuch men: He vſes not to call many wiſe men, out of the hands of their wiſdome; nor many rich men, out of the hands of their riches; nor many Noble men, out of the handes of their Nobility: No, He lets them be. We reade not of any potent men among the Jewes, whom the Lord pulled out to be His Diſciples, except theſe two, Ioſeph & Nicodemus. There might hauehave beene moe among the Princes of the Iewes, but wee find the names of no moe regiſtrate. O how hard a thing it is, to draw a wiſe mā a mightie man, or a Noble man to Chriſt: for it is true that Chriſt ſaies,It is as hard to drawe a rich man to Chriſt, as to draw a Camell thorowe a needles eye. To draw a great body thorow a needles eye, is no leſſe difficulty than to draw thee to Chriſt, who art a Noble man, who wilt ſit vp, & talke of thy kinred, & of thy blood. This doing of Ioſeph may bee marueiled at. Think ye not yt Ioſeph ſhould hauehave manifeſted himſelfe rather in Ieſus lifetime, than nowe after His death? When Hee was going, working wonders, and ſpeaking ſuch ſweet ſentences as neuer man ſpake, yet all this moued him not to come foorth, and ſhew himſelfe. But now Chriſt being in ſhame, he comes out. Whereunto ſhall I aſcribe this? I aſcribe it to the force yt came from the death of Ieſus. There was neuer a liuing man in the world, that had ſuch force as yt dead body had. No, I ſay, He had more power hanging dead on the croſſe, than when Hee was liuing in the world, & more mighty was His death than His life. The Lord giuegive vsus a ſenſe & feeling of ye force of ye death of Chriſt▪ it is able to cauſe a dead body riſe from death to life. Iohn 12.24. He foretold ye power of His death: When the corne of wheat lyes in the ground and dies, it fructifies and brings foorth much fruit: ſo the dead body of Ieſus fructifi…d, and brought with it out of the graue to life many thouſand ſoules, & ſo does it to the end of the world. Haſt thou life into thee, From whom came that life? Euen from the death of Ieſus Chriſt: if Chriſt had not died, thou hadſt neuer felt life. Hee vſes alſo for this purpoſe another ſimilitude, Where euer the dead carcaſſe…s, thither reſorte the Eagles: Meaning, where His dead body was, the faithfull where euer they were, they ſhould take them to their wings, from all the ends of the earth, & leaue their riches and honour, and by Faith flee to Him, to feede vponupon Him, for His deade body caſts ſuch a ſweete ſmell thorow the Heauens, and the Earth (a carioun caſts ſuch an euill ſmell, but the body of Ieſus hath a ſweete ſmell) that it will allure men & women to come to it. The Lord giuegive eueryevery one ſuch a taſte of His ſweetneſſe, as Ioſeph and Nicodemus found, that with pleaſure we may flee to Him, and feede on Him. Now followes the requeſt, he comes in to Pilates Hall, and deſires leaue to take vp the dead body of Ieſus, as yee ſaw before, the body of Ieſus was not taken from the croſſe without the licence of the Iudge, Pontius Pilate: ſo they durſt not burie the body of Ieſus without leaue, Why? The Lord vvas condemned, and the man who is condemned, is yet in the hands of the Iudge, vntill he giuegive Him ouer. If we conſider wel this whole Hiſtorie of the ſuffering of Chriſt, vve ſhall finde one thing vvorthy to be marked, Albeit the Lord Ieſus vvas the moſte innocent man that euer vvas in the vvorlde, yet hauing to doe vvith Magiſtrates, both ciuile and eccleſiaſticall, as Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, and the reſt, from the beginning to the end, Hee will hauehave nothing done but vvith their leaue: vvhen the Magiſtrate ſent out men of vvarre to take Him, He vvould not ſuffer Peter to reſiſt them, but He reprooued him for drawing his ſword: Hee would not hauehave His body taken downe from the Croſſe, without the leaue of the Magiſtrate: Hee would hauehave nothing done to Him: Hee would not be buried without the leaue of the Magiſtrate. Hee leaues thee His example, to teach thee, if thou wereſt neuer ſo innocent, yet if thou falleſt in the handes of the Magiſtrate, ſuffer nothing to be done to thee with offence, and with the diſgrace of juſtice and judgement: hee who would die well, and in the Lord, let Him proteſt that nothing be done to him that will diſgrace juſtice, albeit he ſuffer innocently. I might let you ſee an higher ground of this matter, but I wil touch it only. The Lord that came in the world to relieue thee from that great Iudge, and from all the pointes of his Iuſtice, it behoued Him to ſuffer all the points of Iuſtice vnderunder the earthly judge Pontius Pilate, in His condemnation, in His taking from the croſſe, & in His burial: this was all to the intent, that thou mighteſt be fully freed from all the points of the Iuſtice of GOD, for whatſoeuer thing He either did or ſuffered, it was for thy cauſe. There is another thing here, that would not be paſſed by: There is no queſtion, but it comes of the Prouidence of God, that this body is neither reaued away by violence, nor ſtollen away by ſlight, but the taking away comes of a ſpeciall requeſt…: no queſtion, this matter was ſo diſpenſed, that the death of Ieſus ſhould bee made notable, and come to the eares of Pilate, and all other men: the death was to be made notable to the world, & likewiſe the buriall was to be made notable, to the end, that His glorious reſurrection might be made knowne to the world. Theſe are the two pillars of our Faith, the death of Chriſt, and His reſurrection, & theſe are the two points that the deuill and the Heretiques hauehave from time to time ſtriuen to hew and cut downe, that they ſhould not appeare to the world, becauſe they are the chiefe pillars of our Faith: but honour & glory be to the Lord, who of His grace hath kept theſe pillars conſtantly in His Church, in deſpite of the deuill, & all his inſtrumēts. Now the God of Heauen grant vsus grace to take holde on His death, and glorious reſurrection, that through His death and reſurrection we may bee raiſed from death to newneſſe of life here, that hereafter wee may reigne in glory with Him, To whome with the Father, and the Holy Spirite, bee all honour, praiſe and glorie, world without end.
AMEN.