The Passion Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Lecture 27
THE XXVII. LECTVRE, OF THE BVRIALL OF CHRIST.
MATTH. CHAP. XXVII.
verse 59 So Ioſeph tooke the bodie, and wrapped it in a cleane linnen cloth,
MARKE, CHAP. XV.
verse 46 And layed him in a tombe that was h…wen out of a rocke, and rolled a ſtone vntounto the doore of the ſepulchre.
LVKE CHAP. XXIII.
verse 53 And tooke it downe, and wrapped it in a linnen cloth, and layed it in a tombe hewen out of a rocke, wherein was neuer man yet layed.
IOHN, CHAP. XIX.
verse 41 And in that place where Ieſus was crucified, was a Garden, and in the Garden a new ſepulchre, wherein was neuer man yet layed.
WEE hauehave in hand at this preſent (well-beloued in CHRIST) this Goſpel of the Buriall of the Lord: When Hee is crucified and dead, His Buriall is obtained by a requeſt: which requeſt was made to Pilate, the Iudge and Romane Deputie: he that made the requeſt, was Ioſeph of Arimathea, an honourable man, a Senator, a rich, a good, and a godly man. There comes afterward to Ioſeph, one Nicodemus, a Doctor in Iſrael, an honourable, a wiſe, and a good man, and a Diſciple of Ieſus, albeit quietly, as Ioſeph was: and he joynes handes in this worke with Ioſeph: So theſe two take the whole worke in hand: firſt Ioſeph, and then Nicodemus. In the Hiſtorie of this Buriall wee hauehave theſe two partes: Firſt, wee hauehave the vvinding of Chriſt, as vve ſpeake commonly, Hee is vvinded and vvrapped in a newe linnen cloth, being embaulmed vvith ſweet odors. We hauehave heard already of this firſt part of His Burial: The ſecōd part of His Buriall, is the laying of His precious body in the graue. Firſt this day we ſhal ſpeak of the laying of yt body in the graue: & next falles out a piece of a Hiſtory, concerning certain women, namely, Marie Magdalene, & the other Marie, the mother of Ioſes, vvho are vvitneſſes of yt buriall, & ſaw that all things vvere vvell done. Thirdly, in that part vve hauehave read in the Goſpel of Matthew eſpeciallie, vvee hauehave a piece of Hiſtorie concerning the vvatching & keeping of the graue of Ieſus, after He vvas buried. The Hiſtorie is very plaine, and the doctrine thereof ſhall be plaine alſo. Then to begin at the firſt part of the hiſtory: The burying of Ieſus after hee vvas vvrapped in the vvinding-ſheet, Iohn in his Goſpel markes the place vvhere he vvas buried: Firſt in generall, he notes it to bee in a Garden; not a Kirke, not an houſe but, a Garden, in the faire fields: not vnderunder a roofe, but vnderunder the roofe of heauē. This burying in Kirks is come in vponupon ſuperſtition. It maye ſuffice the greateſt lorde of them all to be buried in the fields, as the Lord Ieſus vvas buried. So the place vvas a Garden. Next, it is deſcribed from the ſituation of it: Neare Mount Caluarie, the place vvhere hee vvas crucified: Joſeph and Nicodemus chooſed this place, of verye purpoſe, becauſe it vvas neare hande: the time ſtraited them: the time of the Paſſeouer vvas drawing neare, and they vvere to celebrate it after the going down of the Sunne: and therfore they take the commoditie of the place. This vvas their purpoſe. But the Father of heauen had his purpoſe in this vvorke. The place vvas notable, & knowne to all the indwellers in Hieruſalem. The Lorde of purpoſe choſe that place: that as the place of His Buriall was knowen to Hieruſalem, ſo the Reſurrection of the Lord ſhould be known to Hieruſalem. Al this knowledge that: Hee was buried auailes nothing: if thou knoweſt not yt Hee is riſen againe: & vvithout this knowledge no remiſſion of ſinnes, no life. But to come more particularlie to the place: Iohn, when hee had ſet it downe in generall, he comes in ſpeciall, and hee calles it, a monument; he calles it, a new graue, wherein neuer man lay. It was a graue, not hewen out of the earth: it was hewen out of a ſtone: and Ioſeph cauſed it to be hewē out, not to Ieſus, but to himſelf: but yet he vouchſafes it vponupon Ieſus. All was notable; the place, the gardē, the time, the graue, that His Reſurrection might be notable & eaſily known duplicate page duplicate page to all the indwellers in Ieruſalem, for He made all things to fall out ſo, that His reſurrection ſhould be patent: the Lord prouided that in all reſpects the buriall of Ieſus might be honourable. Looke to theſe men that buried Him, Joſeph and Nicodemus, honourable men: looke to His windingſheete, and cleane linnen cloath: looke to the odours wherewith Hee was embalmed, they were coſtly: looke to the place, it was hewen out of a ſtone, with great coſt, and trauell, it was a new graue wherein neuer man lay, it was ordained for an honourable man: the Lord will hauehave His Sonne honoured in all theſe things, and as He was a chiefe man, farre aboue all the kings in the world, ſeparate from ſinners, & made higher than the Heauens, as the Apoſtle ſayes, Heb. 7.26. So His heauenly Father would hauehave Him appearing a ſpeciall man in His buriall, and namely in His graue: for in that graue wherein Hee was laide, neuer ſinfull man come, & well worthy was He, who was ſeparate from ſinners to be laide in a graue, wherein neuer ſinner was laide: yet the newneſſe of the graue, it importes ſomething more, that when He roſe it ſhould not bee ſaide, that any other man ſhould hauehave riſen, but that it was onelyonly Ieſus that had riſen. To goe forward to the laying of the body in the graue, the two men, Ioſeph & Nicodemus they take the body, & lay it in. They caſt it not in, but ſoftly & tenderly they laid that precious body that they loued ſo well, they laide it in a graue, as it were in a bed, to ſleepe: when they hauehave laid Him downe in ye graue, they take a great ſtone, & rolles it on the doore of the graue, & when they hauehave done that, they goe to the celebration of the Paſſeouer: As all this worke was directed by prouidence of God, ſo in laying on of this great ſtone, the Lord Hee had His prouidence. No queſtion, Ioſeph and Nicodemus rolled on this ſtone to honour the Lord, but the prouidence of the Lord in this ſtone was chiefly, that when the Lord roſe againe, the enemies ſhould not ſay, that the Lord was ſtollen out of the graue: for it was no ſmall matter to rolle away ſuch a great ſtone: ſo the Lord would meete the calumnies of His enemies in raiſing the ſtone, and not onelyonly in raiſing the ſtone, but in breaking the bands of death, and of the graue, and in raiſing from death to life, wherein Hee ſhewed the power of His Godhead: for in nothing did the power of GOD appeare ſo euidently, as in the raiſing of Chriſt from the death: and therefore the Apoſtle Paul in the firſt Chapter to the Epheſians, verſe 19. brings it in as a ſingular proofe of the ſtrong power of God. Now we hauehave ended this diſcourſe of the buriall, which in all reſpects ye ſee is honorable: ſo that, albeit the buriall be otherwiſe ignominious, and by the laſt part of His humiliation: yet in it the Lord begins to honour Him, He begins at it His glory: euen ſo, albeit the buriall of all men & women beeing ſhamefull of the owne nature, yet the buriall of all faithfull men and women beeing ſanctified in the buriall of Ieſus Chriſt, is the firſt part of their honour for by it they paſſe to that eternall glory: but the vnbeleeuers by their buriall paſſe to ſhame and confuſion. Now we goe vntounto the ſecond part of this Text, to the part of the godly women, good Marie Magdalene, who neuer left the Lord, but followed Him from Galile, then the other Marie, the mother of Joſes: As they followed Him to the Croſſe, ſo they followed Him to the buriall, and they ſtand aſide, and ſee Him buried. O that louelove! that wonderfull tender louelove! that could not ſuffer them to be reaued from the LORD: for woe is the heart that is ſeparate from Ieſus, and that louelove that drew them to the Croſſe, that ſame drawes them to the graue with Him: for nothing could ſeparate theſe women from Ieſus: No, the croſſe, the graue, death it ſelfe, cannot ſeparate theſe womens heartes from the LORD: ſo out of all queſtion, this following of Ieſus to the graue was a token of an intiere louelove that they bare to Him: yea, it was rather a token of that louelove that came from Ieſus to them: that following of Him vttered ſuch a louelove and ſmell, to flow from that dead bodie, that hang on the croſſe, and was buried, that neuer man nor woman felt the like: He ſo loued the world, that He died for it, Hee gaue Himſelfe for it: for, Brethren, except that force that came from the bodie, had drawen their heartes, it had beene vnpoſſible that they could hauehave followed Him. No man can louelove GOD firſt, but becauſe He loues vsus, we louelove Him: None can come to mee, ſayes Chriſt, except my Father draw him: if Hee lay not holde on vsus firſt, our hearts will neuer incline to louelove Him. Now certainly, I put no queſtion in it: theſe women looked with ſad and heauie hearts on this buriall: for when we ſee one buried, whom we louelove, we will be ſad, nature dites this: But as they were heauie hearted in looking on ye ſpectacle: ſo their heart had joy in looking thereon, for they had a great hope to ſee: yt glorious body riſe again, ſo they had ſadnes mixed wt joy, for wo to yt ſadnes yt hath not joy mixed with it. Now yet I ſee as they cōtinued in following Him, firſt to ye croſſe, & then to the buriall: ſo the Lord continues in honouring them, for He ſends them out as Preachers, & eye witneſſes of his death, which honour neuer one of the Apoſtles got, but Iohn: ſo He honoured them in His buriall: therefore honour Chriſt, followe Him to the croſſe, follow Him to the graue: thinke not ſhame of His croſſe or His graue, louelove Him with thine heart, waite on Him, for Hee will let thee ſee the moſt glorious things that euer the eye ſaw: holde therefore the eye vponupon Him, looke to Him night & day, now when He is in the Heauens: and I promiſe thee, thou ſhalt finde by experience, He ſhall make thee a proclaimer of His glory: but thou who ſetteſt not thine heart to ſeeke Him now, when He is gone to the Heauens, thou ſhalt not hauehave a mouth to glorifie Him, or to ſpeake of His Name hereafter. Now, will ye looke to ye carefulneſſe of theſe womē, they ſtand againſt ye graue a far off & they looke no doubt wt ſad hearts, how theſe two men, Ioſeph & Nicodemus handles the glorious body of Ieſus, & layes it in ye graue. Men & womē for curioſity & delectatiō vſe to look vpō ſuch ſpectacles, but theſe women looked wt a carefull & ſorrowfull heart, looking that this body ſhould be tēderly & honorably handled & buried. Therefore, if yu haſt yt ability to be a handler, & medler with ye worke of ye Lord, as Ioſeph & Nicodemus was: look at leaſt, yt thou be a carefull onlooker & tēder it in thy heart, & ſee yt all things go wel, & if thou doeſt that, ye Lord ſhal count it a piece of good ſeruice for ye furthering of ye glory of His Kingdom, If thou haſt not to beſtow on Chriſt, yet ſpeak wel of Him, if yu canſt not ſpeake, yet thinke well of Him: yet theſe women are not cōtent to look on only, but they will be alſo medlers in this actiō: & for this cauſe, whē ye graue is cloſed, they go home wt, vnſpeakable ſadnes, & joy mixt together, going home, they prepare ſweet odours for ye embalming of Him ye third day following, they ceaſe vpō yt morne, becauſe it was the Sabbath, & vpō ye third day He roſe & diſappointed them of ye embalming of Him, but yet their intentiō is to be cōmended, they are not cōtent to looke on Him, but according to their power, they put to their hand: but ere they prepared theſe odours, a ſweet ſmell came frō His body to them: for except a ſweeter ſmel come frō Him, except He giuegive thee a greater grace, yu wilt not beſtow a pēny on Him, except He giuegive thee a poūd: but being once benefited by Him, thou wilt beſtow if it were thy own life, (let be thy goods) for Him & His glorie: and if thou wilt not beſtovv on Chriſt, and vponupon His Goſpell, I teſtifie thou haſt neuer found the ſvveetneſſe of the Lord, nor of His grace, It may be that He caſt a Lordſhip to thee, or portion of heritage as it were a bone to a dogge, but if thou beſtoweſt nothing on Him, thou haſt neuer felt the grace of God, thy ſoule hath neuer taſted of that odour & ſweetneſſe that is in Him Nowe I come to the laſt part which I hauehave read out of the Goſpell of Matthew, concerning the watching of Ieſus after Hee was buried. This watching came vponupon a ſuite, as all other thinges came vponupon a ſuite, for nothing durſt be done without licence of the Magiſtrate, of Pilate the Romane Deputie: the Iudge was reuerenced, without him nothing was done. The time of the ſute is noted, to wit, the next day after He was buried. This was, no doubt, the Sabbath day, for they began their day at Euen, when the Sun goes downe, (as yee would ſay on Fryday at Euen) for no doubt, the vvatch ſtood about ye graue all night. The ſute is made to Pilate, & all is done by the Iudge: it is a circumſtance ſhould be vvell noted, thinke it not a light matter. The Lord in all His ſuffering is ſubject to the Iudge, it behoued Him to vnderly the ſentence of the earthly Iudge in all ſorts: if Hee had not vnderlyed it, it had behoued thee to vnderly the fearfull Iudgement of that euerlaſting Iudge. But vvho makes the ſute? It is not Ioſeph, nor Nicodemus, none of them that loued Chriſt. Ioſeph indeed made a ſute that the body ſhould bee buried? But vvho is it that makes this ſute? Who but they vvho ſuted to crucifie the LORD, The Scribes, the Phariſes, that vvere enemies to Him. Looke thorovv all this Hiſtorie, & ye ſhal finde ſundrie ſutes, ſome euil, ſome good, ſome on an euil mind, ſome on a good mind, many euill, few good, many ſuters to crucifie Him, many ſuters to breake Him, many ſuters to hold Him down in the graue: ye read of none but of one Ioſeph, vvho makes ſute to get the dead body of Ieſus buried. Read all the Eccleſiaſticall Hiſtories, and ye ſhall finde theſe ſame things that fell out in Chriſt, to hauehave fallen out in His members: when a godly man hath beene drawen out before the ciuile Iudge, or to martyrdome: there hath bene ſundrie ſuters for him, ſome ſuters good, ſome euill yet euer moe euill than good. Therefore a P…ince or Magiſtrate was neuer in ſuch danger, in any judgement, as whē he gets a good man fallen in his hands. Pilate was neuer in ſuch danger, as he was into through this action, for it loſt him his life preſent, & the life to come. When the action of a thiefe or a murtherer comes before a King there is no ſuch danger: but when a godly man is brought before him for the cauſe of CHRIST, then he ſhould take good heede, where he ſhall get one to giuegive him a good counſell: he ſhall get many to giuegive him euill counſell, many ſhal crie, crucifie Him: & woe to him, if he aſſent, as Pilate did, for he ſhall inuolue himſelf in that ſame guiltines with them that cried crucifie him. It is true indeede, that Pilate granted a good ſuite, hee gaue leaue to Ioſeph, to burie the body of Chriſt, yet did this any good to Pilate, ſaued it him? No, Thinkeſt thou when thou haſt executed an innocent, that thou doeſt enough, when thou haſt giuen His bodie to bee buried? No, that ſhall not excuſe thee, nor free thee from guiltineſſe. O how g…eat and weightie is the burthen of Magiſtrates! Therefore they had neede euer to hauehave good men about them, and we ſhould pray the Lord earneſtly to guide them and direct them in judgement.
This much for the ſuters, now come to the ſute: the wordes are theſe: The deceiuer ſaid, whilſt as He was aliue, that within three dayes He ſhould riſe: command therefore that the ſepulchre bee made ſure, vntill the third day, leſt His diſciples come by night and ſteale Him away, and ſay to the people, that He is riſen frō the dead: ſo ſhall the laſt e…rour be worſe than the first. In effect this is as much, as if they had ſaid theſe wordes, this man ſaid, that He ſhould riſe the third day, therefore appoint Him a guard to teſtify of His glorious reſurrectiō: ye Lord ſo directed their words, albeit their meaning was flat contrarie: Marke therefore a good leſſon: euer more the Lord h…th ſnared the reprobate in their wicked deuiſes, & hath euer turned them from that miſchieuous end they aymed them, to the manifeſtation of His owne glory. The Prieſts & Phariſes thought to obſcure ye glorie of Chriſts reſurrection, & if it had lyen in their hands to hold Him by force in the graue: but the Lord who workes light out of darkneſſe, makes their ſute to ſerue for the clearer manifeſtation of His reſurrection, for they could hauehave done no more for the manifeſtation of His reſurrection, if they had bene hired for that purpoſe: ſo looke what interpriſe wicked men will deuiſe to diſhonour Him: I ſay, the Lord ſhall turne it in end to His glory, but to their deſtruction: I will ſay further, (& it may ſeeme marueilous) peruerſe deuiſes of the wicked often times do ſerue more to His glory, than the good purpoſes & deedes of the godly: for it is not a greater glory to GOD, to bring light out of darknes, than to bring light out of light: the Lord is a moſt skilfull and mightie workeman, Hee makes His glory to appeare, by bringing light out of darkneſſe, by bringing life out of death, and by calling the thinges that are not, as if they were: all the deuiſes of the wicked are darkneſſe, the doings of the godly are light: ſo the Lord will ſometimes bee more wōderfully glorified in the doings of the wicked, than in the doings of the godly. But this doth ye wicked no good, nor it ſerues nothing for their benefite, for in ye meane time they are more malicious againſt ye Lord, than euer they were, they call Him a deceiuer: this is a wonderfull thing, they ſaw the Lords povver in obſcuring of the ſun, in renting of the rockes, in opening of the graues, they ſaw His great glory ſhine in all theſe wonders: yet ſuch is the maliciouſnes of theſe wicked men, they call ye Lord of glory, a deceiuer, & in ſo doing not onelyonly they oppone themſelues againſt God, but alſo they doe ſo far as in them lay, as to hauehave ſpitted in the face of God: yet theſe miſerable creatures, I meane the Scribes & Phariſes, came not on a ſuddaintie to this extreame maliciouſnes, but they ſhew ſome meane & ſmall beginnings of it, whē Chriſt firſt manifeſted Himſelfe, & began to preach amongſt them: then they proceeded frō worſe to worſe continually, all the time He was conuerſant amongſt them: thereafter in His Croſſe & death they taunted & mocked Him, & put Him to the moſt ſhameful death they could deuiſe: & now when He is buried & laid in ye graue, they vtter more maliciouſneſſe than euer they did, they come to the extremitie of maliciouſnes and induration, they call the Lord a deceiuer. Curſed be yt mouth that calles the Lord a deceiuer, & as Paul ſayes, He that loueth not the Lord Ieſus Chriſt, let him be anathema maranatha, 1. Cor. 16.22. This lets vsus ſee the nature of their ſinne, it was a ſinne againſt the Holy Spirit, and this is the nature of that ſinne, when once thou ſhalt enter in it, thou vvilt hardly get backe againe, vntill thou commeſt to extreame excecation and induration, to thine euerlaſting deſtruction. My leſſon is this, If the Lord giuegive vsus grace to learne it. When it pleaſes the Lord to ſhine vntounto thee, albeit thou vvereſt a King, or Earle, or Lord, looke, as thou vvould eſchevv H…ll & damnation, that thou repine not to this light, but greedily embrace it, and vvalke in it: for if thou ſtep forvvard in repining, thou ſhalt hauehave an hard backe-comming againe, and thou ſhalt come from excecation to excecation, vntill thou come to vtter deſtruction. Novv, I doubt not, but ye are ſorrovvfull, vvhen ye heare the Lord a deceiuer, yee are ſorrovvfull to heare light called darkneſſe▪ but comfort our ſelues vvith this, the Lord vvho vvas free of all guile and deceit, ſuffers Himſelfe to bee called a deceiuer, to purge vsus from guile and deceit: for it might ſeeme marueilous, that the Spirite of God ſhoulde regiſter this name of a deceiuer, ſuppoſe they called Him a deceiuer: for this name defiles the aire to call the Lord of Trueth a deceiuer: Yet no queſtion the Spirite hath left it in regiſter to bee hearde and read of all Chriſtians, to the ende of the worlde, that thou mayeſt knowe what the Lorde hath ſuffered for thee. And doubtleſſe this name was heauier to Him, than all the vexation that was done to Him: it was heauier than the crucifying of him it ſelfe: and when thou heareſt this name thou ſhouldeſt ſay, He was not a deceiuer, but it was I that was a deceiuer, & Hee was called a deceiuer for me who was damned for deceit, that I ſhould be deliuered from the debt & puniſhment of deceit, and deceiuers.
Now to end ſhortly: Ye hauehave a watch, ſaies he, goe and make it ſure, keepe it as yee pleaſe. Hee was an eaſie man to graunt to any man whatſoeuer thing he ſought of him: either good or euill. Hee granted to Ioſeph his ſute to burie Chriſt: ſo he grants to the Prieſts and Phariſes this ſute to keepe Him in the graue: The reaſon is, becauſe being an Ethnick, he ſerued not God, but the affections of mē, whether good or euill: he looked not to God, but hee had a reſpect to his owne ſtanding: and therefore hee cares not to grant a ſute ſuppoſe it were againſt God and Chriſt: Hee had a reſpect to his owne ſtanding, when he commanded Chriſt to be crucified: Such like he reſpected his owne ſtanding, when hee gaue Ioſeph leaue to burie Him: and likewiſe now when he grantes this ſute to the Prieſtes to vvatch His graue, he reſpected his owne ſtanding. Marke this Brethren: It is a miſerable thing, vvhen a King or a Iudge hath not God before his eyes: wo to yt king who hath not God & a good cō ſciēce before his eyes: for he will be a ſlaue to the affections of any varlot in the Countreye. A Begger, a Horſe-rubber, and the vileſt ſlaue that can be among men, is not ſo vile a ſlaue as he who ſerues the affections of men, and hath not God and a good conſcience before him: and euer the higher, and the greater his eſtate be, he is the greater ſlaue. Nowe hauing gotten leaue of Pilate, they ſet men of vvarre to keepe Him in the graue, they make the ſepulchre ſure with the watch, to the ende Hee ſhoulde not bee ſtollen awaye: and for the more ſecuritie, they ſ…aled the ſtone, and ſignated it vvith Pilates ring: and then it vvas death to anie man in the vvorlde to touch it: Yet the more buſie they are, and the more they ſtriue to hold Him in the graue, the more the Lorde glorifies Him, and the more cleare and manifeſt was his Reſurrection. Could Pilates ſeale holde him in the graue? Could the men of vvarre holde him in? No, they coulde not keepe him: but yee will haare: They fell all downe dead at his Reſurrection, and they had not a worde to ſpeake, ſuppoſe ſuch was the impudencie of the Prieſts, that although they knew that he vvas riſen: Yet they hired the men of vvarre to ſay that he vvas not riſen but his diſciples ſtole him away by night: And this errour continues in the vvorlde among the Iewes euer ſince. But the Lord Ieſus aroſe vvith great power and glorie, and now is in infinite glorie in the Heavens, at the right hand of the Father: To vvhom, vvith the Sonne, and holy Spirit, from our hearts, vvee render all praiſe, honour, and glorie, for euer and euer, AMEN.