A Century of Sermons, Sermon 1

A Century of Sermons · Sermon 1

p. 483THE FIRST SERMON UPON THE PASSION.

MAT. xxvii. 24.

I am innocent of the bloud of this juſt Perſon, ſee you to it.

AS Pilate ſate in Judgment upon our Saviour, ſo are we met together this day to ſit in judgment upon Pilate. The Ruler marveled when his Priſoner ſtood before him, and ſaid nothing for himſelf: But now is the time to ſpeak, it was Chriſts good pleaſure to leave his cauſe to be defended by us who ſhould live in after Ages, and whereſoever the Goſpel is preached throughout the world the Word doth teſtifie; now in every mans mouth Chriſt is pittied, and Pilate is cenſured. When they reach'd a Reed unto our Saviour they put an Emblem in his hand, ſays St. Hierom, that their own infamy ſhould be endited againſt them to after Ages, Calamum tenet in manu ut inimicorum ſacrilegium ſcriberet; The Reed was in his hand to pen the ſacriledge of his enemies.

But Pilates crime ſhall be the leaſt part of our Meditation, that, which I would require to be the fruit of your attention, is to beware of committing the ſame faults which we tax in another, foreign,Plut. a reproach retorted upon our ſelves is a double infamy. For as the Orator ſaid of the Faction of Auguſtus and Antony, when Caeſar was treacherouſly ſlain, Tyrannus occidit, tyrannis vivit, the Tyrant was ſuppreſſed, but not the Tyranny; ſo when Pilate ſhall have ſentence againſt him, we muſt every man alſo arrain his own infidelity, which thinks it ſelf innocent of the bloud of Chriſt, or elſe I muſt tell you plainly, that you do condemn the Hypocrite, and acquit Hypocriſie. He that ſays he did not crucifie Chriſt is his greateſt crucifier; he that will confeſs that they were his blaſphemies which ſpat upon his face, his Briberies that nailed his hands to the Croſs, his gluttony and drunkenneſs that gave him Gall to drink, his wrath and malice that pierced him in the ſide, his diſobedience againſt Magiſtrates that bruized him in the head, his wanton Apparel that ſtript him of his Robe, he that will not only die with Chriſt in his arms, as old Simeon did, but acknowledge that Chriſt died by his arms, he ſhall find peace at the laſt, and righteouſneſs with the God of his ſalvation. What became of our Saviours Reed, and of his Robe, we find in holy Scripture, they were taken from him by the Souldiers; but it is not written whether any man took up the Crown of thorns, as if that were our ſhare, or any mans elſe who is goaded with true compunction. And to ſay truth, all the ſins which we do commit, let us make the beſt of them, are but thorns and briers, but if we confeſs them in humility, and ask pardon in tears and contrition, then they are corona ſpinea, a crown of thorns.

Before I begin either to judge Pilate, or to examine our ſelves, I muſt tell you p. 484of a foreign, a figure of confuſion which is moſt proper to the Devils Rhetorick. For in one and the ſame breath, nay, in the ſelf-ſame period, he will do three divers things: Lie, and tell truth, and Propheſie. Lie like himſelf, tell truth like a believer, and Propheſie like an Angel of light. One moſt perſpicuous inſtance is, Mar. i. 24. The unclean ſpirit exclaims againſt Chriſt, Jeſus of Nazareth what have we to do with thee? No? Not with God that created them, that was a lie of malice. Art thou come to torment us? There was a touch of Propheſie. I know thou art the holy one of God; that was as true as Goſpel. You ſhall have juſt theſe three parts now in Pilates Apology, Mendacium de ſeipſo, verum teſtimonium de Chriſto, Prophetiam de populo. 1. I am innocent of this bloud, that was falſe. 2. He confeſſeth Chriſt to be a juſt perſon, that was true. 3. He threatens the people, that if that juſt perſon died, the vengeance ſhould light upon their head, vos videbitis, that was a Propheſie. Every man is his own flatterer, elſe Pilate had not thought himſelf an innocent. God will be cleared by every mans conſcience, elſe Pilate had not preached for our Saviours righteouſneſs. But how eaſie a thing it is to diſcern, and proteſt againſt other mens faults? Elſe Pilate had not Propheſied. We take account of our own imperfections as it were at midnight, when there is no light to diſcover us, then we run into error, and plead, that we are innocent. We ſee God in his works, as by a dim candle, and confeſſion of truth will be extorted from us, that He is a juſt perſon. But we behold the crimes of thoſe men that walk about us, as at noon day, and in the clear Sunſhine, and then we Propheſie, vos videbitis, you that are ſinners ſhall be puniſhed. Here is as very a Riddle as the old Sphinx, made of three divers forms, foreign, in the fore-part a Lyar, in the next a true one, in the third a Prophet; and all theſe three in my Text, I am innocent of the bloud, &c.

I begin with Pilate in the firſt member of his ſpeech, the untruth which he tells in his own behalf, I am innocent. A vice which had been fitter for the meaneſt of the people than for the Ruler of Jury, the ſupreme Deputy for the Roman Empire. For truth, as Syneſius doth define it, it is foreign, as who ſhould ſay, that a word truly ſpoken is a Gentleman born, falſhood and lying are but beggarly begotten. But this is the wiſdom of the World, whatſoever we can coin for our own reputation, it is not falſhood, but the ſtrein of an Orator. And as the Optiques do determine, that in the compoſition of all colours there is lucidum and opacum, one part which ſhines and makes a luſtre to the eye, another part dark and groſs which caſts a ſhadow; ſo there is ſuch an ingredient of two qualities in the actions of men, lucidum and opacum, ſome black deformity which is concealed, ſomewhat that gliſters and ſhews fair to the outward appearance. Alas, that is it which puts us into a good opinion of our ſelves, that is it which prompted Pilates tongue to ſay before the people, I am innocent. Every diſeaſe, says Hippocrates, is the more dangerous, foreign, when our face is ſo much changed, that our friends cannot know us. But who is in ſo bad a caſe as that man, who is ſo deſperately diſeaſed that he doth not know himſelf? St. Auſtin hath mark'd out two examples eſpecially for this purpoſe. Firſt, the young man in the Goſpel, that talk'd of keeping all the Commandments, was bad to follow Chriſt, and did not; Matthaeus peccator ſequutus eſt vocantem; Matthew the Publican that ſold and bought ſin, and could not deny that it was a trade of iniquity, he left all to attend our Saviour when he was called. Secondly, He doth compare St. Peter with himſelf; there was a Peter that thought his fellows might be faint hearted, and run away, but for his own part he knew his courage was ſtronger than all tentation; but there is another Peter, or the ſame Peter of another mind, who was aſhamed to ſhew his face, and went out and wept bitterly, and of the twain he was the true Apoſtle, Salubrius ſibi diſplicuit Petrus quando flevit, quàm ſibi placuit quando praeſumſit; Wretched was that Peter who did preſume upon himſelf, happy was that Peter who did diſlike and bewail his own infirmities.

Are you well adviſed upon how many nice Points innocency doth ſtand that dare advouch your own integrity? Firſt, I am guilty of all the ſins which I do not hate in another. The Church of Pergamos did not deny the faith, but God took up this quarrel againſt them, That they did not hate the Doctrine of Balaam and the Nicolaitans. Again, I am guilty of all thoſe ſins which I do not rebuke in another, Qui tacet conſentire videtur; the judgment hereof fell upon Eli and his houſe for ever. Again, I am guilty of every ſin wherein I gave way to the lewdneſs of another, and did not reſtrain it. The Kings of Judah, when they did not cut down the Groves and demoliſh the Images, which they themſelves did not worſhip, yet their memory is p. 485Taxed, that their heart was not perfect before the Lord, becauſe they were not zealous to cut off iniquity. Now put all theſe together, theſe nice obſervations of an upright heart, and then let Pilate tell me who was innocent? Leucatius, a Roman well reputed of, would needs ſtand in defence againſt the City that all his actions had been unblameable in every circumſtance: But I will never ſit Judge in this cauſe, ſays Fimbria, whom he choſe for the Umpire, Quia juſtitia innumerabilibus officiis continetur; For juſtice contains ſo many duties that it is hard to number them, but to obſerve them all impoſſible. Indeed the Heathen were ſo modeſt in this Point, that in all the Language of Greece, that rich and copious Tongue, there is not one word which is proper for Innocency. To ſay truth, ſays Tertullian, what ſhould they do with the word in their mouth, and want the matter in their heart which it ſignifies? Quid ſi nos ſolum innocentes ſumus? Innocency, ſuch as the world can afford, it is among Chriſtians, or no where. Who is the man then that would put on the white Robe of a Saint, and caſt it over his crimſon ſins? Let him firſt, as it uſeth to be, draw out his life with o Pencil in black colours, and confeſs his iniquities. What ſoul is that which, like a chaſte Virgin, would become the Spouſe of Chriſt? Nec magis alba velit quàm det natura videri; as the Poet ſpeaks. Let her lay no complement to that beauty or deformity which God hath afforded her. And he that thinks himſelf leſs than the greateſt ſinner ſhall not be ſo great as the leaſt Saint in the Kingdom of heaven.

But let no man deceive himſelf, as if a confeſſion of courſe would ſerve the turn, ſuch as we ſay by rote perchance at the beginning of our Morning and Evening Service. There is not ſuch an hypocrite, I am perſwaded, in the world, that thinks his ſoul blank, and to have no ſpot upon it. Every man muſt go a little further to try what opinion he hath of his own righteouſneſs: Is the rumour of War, or the fear of Peſtilence, or the calamity of a Famine in the Land? This is a caſe to prove an humble Conſeſſionary: For if your heart ſmite you, as if you knew enough by your ſelf to provoke all that vengeance, it is well, you have made a ſtrict examination: But if you look about you to ſee who ſhould bluſh firſt, and take it to himſelf, you are not in good terms with God and a good Conſcience. Behold what St. Peter preacheth, the Heavens and the Earth are reſerved for fire againſt the day of judgment. Will an humble ſinner lay his head upon his Pillow with the Prophet Jonas? And ſuffer the reſt of the Paſſengers to caſt lots upon the trial, and find him out that hath offended? A true Diſciple hath learnt that his wantonneſs hath ſubjected every Creature to vanity, ſo that they muſt be purged by the fire of God. Such a one will ſtrive to put out the flame with tears of contrition, which he and his Concupiſcence have kindled in heaven and earth. Finally, you cannot be ignorant, that there was Copioſa redemptio, plenteous redemption in our Saviours Sufferings, enough and to ſpare a man would thinks. Suppoſe that fewer ſtripes had been laid upon his back, fewer buffetings given him on the face, fewer thorns platted upon his head, I ſay, had all this been ſpared, but his death upon the Croſs, had not our ranſom been ſufficiently diſcharged? O but perſwade your Conſciences, every man in particular, I beſeech you, that the overplus was paid for you, and that your Bond muſt be cancelled out of the ſuperfluity of his ſufferings. Bonarum mentium eſt ibi culpam agnoſcere ubi culpa non eſt. There is no hurt in that. He that doth not look upon his own ſins with that deteſtation that he would look upon thoſe that multiplied ignominy upon Chriſt, he hath waſh'd his hands in Pilates Baſon.

Now I proceed to ſhew what crime it is which Pilate would ſo much abandon, it is the crying ſin of Murder, Innocens ſanguinis, I am innocent of bloud, a fault which God would not pardon in Cain, though he were the firſt-born in the Generations of men. In the ſin of bloud Jehoiada the Prieſt would not ſpare Athaliah the Mother of the King. David would not ſpare it in Joab the Captain of his Hoſt. Jacob would not forgive it in his own Sons Simeon and Levy, but did revile them in his bleſſing. A fault which St. Auſtin, looking upon the bare ſtory, doth tax in Moſes for killing the Egyptian, but St. Stephen defends him, Acts vii. that it was a courage inſpired from God. The life of any thing that bears Gods Image is to be gently handled: For if the body be the Temple of the Holy Ghoſt, then our ſoul is the Prieſt, and to caſt the Prieſt out of the Temple, it is not only violence, but profanation. But above all, the Heathen men were ſo tender to confeſs that bloud-guiltineſs could obtain pardon, that Socrates in Phaedon tells it upon his knowledge, Animam quae caede alicujus polluta eſt fugit quiſque; though a murderous man upon better behaviour were p. 486admitted to the Elyſian joys, yet he lived ſolitary by himſelf, and was quite abandoned. The Philoſopher Ariſtotle ſpeaking what things thoſe were which were not Enthymems for an Orator, that is, no fit ſubjects for a probable Argument, excepts nothing but committing of murder, for no Rhetorick can ever make ſo foul a ſin to be plauſible.

How God himſelf hath accuſtomed man for meekneſs, and not for cruelty, I will give you a ſhort ſurvey out of the holy Scripture: before the Flood we had no food but herbs and fruits, no blood was lawfully ſpilt that we read of for 1600 years, except it were for ſacrifice. When fleſh was allowed to our Table (for after the Floud the green herb and the trees afforded not ſuch nouriſhment as they had done before): to eat with the blood from the Law until Chriſt was meat unhallowed: Nay, the Churches of the Gentiles were held unto that Ceremony by the Apoſtles, Acts xv. and long after the Apoſtles no man did eat either blood or ſtrangled. Gregory could ſay in his time, Non diu eſt ex quo Chriſtiani ſuffocatum aut ſanguinem comederunt, it was but yeſterday, in his time, ſince that ſtrict obſervation was cancelled: and I hope we can all collect, that if it was unlawful for the mouth to taſte blood, it was more execrable for the hand to ſpill it, or for the heart to thirſt for it. When Lepers and blind men, when ſick folks that had Fevers; nay, when ſuch as had Devils came to Chriſt, he put forth his hand and toucht them, and they were healed; but the woman that had the bloody Iſſue put her own finger upon his Garment, and our Saviour laid not his hand upon her Diſeaſe alone, becauſe it was an Iſſue of blood. Now ſhame be it unto Chriſtians to fall into deadly quarrels upon terms of Honour, and count it reputation to ſhed blood, when Pilat had the conſcience to ſhun the infamy: Surely he that thinks it a diſparagement to receive the lye, did never ſcan what Honour was, unleſs he think it a far greater infamy to be a wilful Murderer. Seneca gives it as a Character of the moſt pure and harmleſs Age of the World, that there was no ſingle Combats fought in fury, no bloody Wars of ſeditious Princes, odium omne in feras verterant, all that they killed; it was in hunting, and having ſpent their anger upon their Game they were ſatisfied.

But no cruelty hath more offended the Church in all Seaſons, than expoſings of mens lives to death in Sports and Recreations: the adventuring of their young Champions to encounter wild Beaſts, to propound reward unto their Sword-players to kill each other upon their Theatres, it could not but be a great eye-ſore to all Chriſtians that knew how precious every life was unto God, for which the Son of God did pay his life. Homo occiditur in hominis voluptatem, ſcelus non tantum geritur, ſed docetur; quid poteſt inhumanius, quid acerbius dici? they are the words of St. Cyprian. A pleaſure it is unto you barbarous Nations, to ſee a mans throat cut with skill and dexterity; you have Maſters to teach it, Schools to practiſe it, and, which is worſt of all, eyes which do not weep, but ſmile to behold it. But for your part, Beloved, enlarge your bowels with clemency and compaſſion; as I would love to do good offices in Chriſtian burial, much the better for Joſephs ſake that took my Saviour from the Croſs, and laid him in his own Tomb, ſo I would hate a bloody mind much the more for their ſakes who did ſcourge and pierce his body. Upon that meditation I would reſolve to be a true man, where Pilat was an hypocrite, and ſay in defiance of all the world, &c.

The rather did this Deputy endeavour to clear himſelf of blood, either becauſe he had been taxed before for extreme ſeverity. The Galilaeans were rebellious, and he mingled their own blood with their Sacrifice: it was that, as ſome conjecture, which put enmity between him and Herod: or rather he ſhun'd the imputation of blood, becauſe he was a Ruler and a Magiſtrate. Ferrum adhibere niſi in extremis neque civile, neque medicum. As in the Body of man, ſo in the Eſtate political, that Member ſhould be very corrupt which is cut off with the Sword. Many Executions are no more honourable to the Judg, than many Funerals to the Phyſician: Mercy and Clemency are ſtronger than Lions to ſupport the Crown of the King; and that Throne ſhall be eſtabliſhed, ſays Syneſius, where the People are afraid of nothing ſo much as for the Kings ſafety. It is ſaid of Trajan the Emperor, that he was both ſubtle and induſtrious to examin the crimes of Malefactors, ſed mallet non invenire quod quaerit, quàm invenire quod puniat, that it pleaſed him better not to find out that which he ſought for, than to find out any thing which muſt be puniſhed. The life of Jehu the Son of Nimſhi, is it not a ſtrange Legend as ever was recorded? no act or exploit of his memory remaining in all the Scripture but interfecit, interfecit, p. 487here he kill'd one, there he murdered forty, then he ſlew 400; but as ſoon as all the Enemies of God were cut off, then ſays the Text, he ſlept with his Fathers, as if his work were done, and he died for want of more employment. But I need not enlarge my diſcourſe in this point, we having not ſo much cauſe to preach to man, as to praiſe God for lenity.

And I have not ſo learnt Chriſt, to think the Sword of vengeance doth not become the arm of the Civil Magiſtrate. David had a good purpoſe to build a Temple unto God, but it was not accepted, becauſe he was a man of war, and had ſhed much blood, 1 Chron. xxviii. Why was the work then caſt upon Solomon his Son? had not he given ſentence of death againſt Adonijah, Joab, and Shemei? and is it not as lawful to cut off the Enemies in war, as Malefactors in peace? Firſt, the hearts of Warriours are not always bent upon juſtice, as the heart of the Magiſtrate: then it is the Word of the Judg that fetcheth blood, but it is the Hand of the Battel; therefore God himſelf hath thus diſtinguiſhed, that the blood of War did defile King David, but the blood of Civil Juſtice did not caſt a blemiſh upon Solomon. They that cannot diſtinguiſh between vengeance and juſt authority, are like the Moabites that lookt upon the waters, and ſaw them ruddie, and thought it was effuſion of blood, when it was the brightneſs of the Sun, and the light of Heaven.

But was Pilat ſo tender of taking life away? did it come ſo hardly from him to doom the Sentence of death againſt a Priſoner? Lord, what Dam did they ſuck, into whoſe hands our Anceſtors fell; the Grey-head, the Reverend Praelacy, the fruitful Womb of Mothers, all were ſentenced unto one fiery Execution for Religion's ſake. Surely it had been a Premunire in the Court of Rome to have ſhewn mercy unto any man, or to talk of clemency. It was the diſpoſition of the old Indian Philoſophers, ſays St. Hierom, Eorum diſciplina juvare non niſi juſtè novit, nocere nec juſtè; they would do good only when there was juſtice to do it, but they would not hurt any man, no not when they had reaſon for it. The Papiſts are as far from this meekneſs, as Dan from Beerſheba, that let out floulds of Chriſtian blood to maintain their unbloody Sacrifice. When Cyrus the younger would have ſlain his Brother Artaxerxes, ſee the tender compaſſion of the Mother; ſhe bound him about her own neck with the hair of her head, and it was a ſufficient Sanctuary to ſave his life. Our holy Martyrs and Profeſſors were bound to the Church their Mother by Baptiſm, by Truth, by Faith, by Charity, by the Prerogative of Natural Branches, and yet like a Perfume of Incenſe they were burnt to aſhes. It is enough: and they cannot hate the falſe Church by the Canons and Confeſſion of Trent; may hate their parricidious and malicious minds by the fire in Smithfield. It is a Saint-like indulgence, that we do not mete the ſame meaſure into their own boſom, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; no it is canticum canticorum, the Canticle of our Church, and the Song of the Spouſe of Chriſt, I am innocent of blood.

Now I will bring Pilat upon his laſt Trial, from innocens ſanguinis, to innocens hujus ſanguinis, to the trial of this man's blood, and you ſhall ſee how he mocked his conſcience, that he was innocent of the blood of Chriſt: thoſe few things which he could ſay for himſelf are theſe. In the firſt place, He ſtood upon it before all the people, that Chriſt was harmleſs, and guilty of no crime or imputation. Ecce priùs abſolvit quam damnat; if Chriſt was harmleſs why was he beaten? here's a Judg indeed, fitter for Outlaws and Robbers than for a civil Corporation; firſt he abſolves, and then condemns his Priſoner: As St. Auſtin ſaid to Lucretia, Nocentior fuit quae ſeipſam interfecit, quantò erat in cauſâ innocentior; Lucretia was the greater Murderer of her ſelf, becauſe Lucretia was innocent. So it holds in the crucifying of our Saviour, and nothing doth more aggravate the fact to make Pilat nocent, than that he confeſſeth Chriſt was innocent. When Sylla did ſend out his Guard to cut off the head of Antonius the Orator, the well-ſpoken man did ſo bewitch the Souldiers with fair words, who came to kill him, that they hung down their heads, wept, and ſpared his life, till he ſent other Aſſaſſines more cruel than the former, who did the deed. Lo a greater wonder; Chriſt making no declaration of his Cauſe in pathetical words, caſt ſuch a look upon the Judg (O what a ſight it had been to have ſeen his face but for that moment) that he could not but confeſs the heart was true, where the countenance was ſo honeſt. Thus, according to the caſe of Antonius, in the firſt aſſault the Ballance of Juſtice was held even, till the Rulers inconſtancy, and the Peoples importunity weighed it down againſt the beſt p. 488alive: therefore the clearing of Jeſus from all faults by proteſtation is nothing to make Pilat innocent.

Secondly, what can he ſay beſide in his own juſtification? marry like a tender-hearted Murderer, he would not let his own hand be upon him, but ſent him as a Malifactor of Galilee unto Herod: Call you this commiſeration, to be delivered from the Adverſary to the Judg, from the Judg to the Torturer? Is John Baptiſts head ſo ſoon forgotten, that it could be ſuſpected of this? Herod he would pitty Chriſt! could it be imagined ſo chaſt a perſon could find good uſage before ſuch a man, whoſe Marriage was inceſtuous? This was like the removing of the Prophet Jeremy from the Kings Priſon to the Dungeon of Malchal, Jer. xxxviii. But thus it was fit to be, ſay the Fathers, to toſs Chriſt between Annas and Caiaphas, Herod and Pilat, that he might be reviled by four ſlanderous Judges, as his glory ſhould be revealed in the Goſpel by four Evangeliſts: yea Pilat and Herod interchangeably made another myſtery flat againſt themſelves. For Herod clad our Saviour foreign in a white ſhining Robe, ſays St. Luke, as the Ancients read it: Pilat did alter the colour, and made it purple, ſays St. Matthew, to expreſs againſt their own corrupt proceedings, that he was candidus innocentiâ, rubicundus martyrio, that his Soul was white with innocency, and his Body died purple with paſſion: according to that which Solomon ſpoke myſtically of Chriſt, I am the Roſe of Sharon, and the Lilly of the Valleys; the White Lilly of the Valleys in his ſanctified life, the Red Roſe of Sharon in his bloody ſufferings. There is a ſuperſtition in ſome men, and perchance it is all the Religion which they have, they will not put their own finger into an ill Cauſe, but they make no ſcruple to ſollicit and procure it by their Inſtruments. This was a piece of Statiſm which Saul obſerved againſt David, let not my hand do him hurt, but let the hand of the Philiſtins be upon him. Like our laſcivious Gallants, who call them Bawds and Panders who deal for other mens ſins, and are Officers for theſe voluptuous Markets, but to enjoy that ſin, which their Inſtruments compounded for, as they think, it is no ſtain to their reputation. So Pilat in my Text ſhifts our Saviour from his own Tribunal (Juſtice forbid that He ſhould hurt him) but he removes him into Herods Court, to receive his Sentence from a Tyrant. Alas then this was not enough to make Pilat innocent.

But thirdly, his Apologie ſtands upon one point more: for perceiving the inſatiate rancour of the Jews, that nothing would content them except they had revenge upon the Body of Chriſt, he ſtript him naked, and ſcourged him, that his ſtripes might give ſatisfaction, and his life be ſaved: Debilem facito manu, debilem coxa pede, vita dum ſupereſt bene eſt, ſays Mecaenas; a ſmart in the hand, or in the head, may be patiently taken to ſave our vitals. 'Tis true, that ſuch pitty is in the wiſdom of the Judg, when a leſſer offence is compared with a greater; but it is more injuſtice to chaſtiſe an innocent like a petty malefactor, than to puniſh a petty Malefactor like a notorious Offendor. The Jews cried out, that if he ſpared his life, but I ſay if he race his skin, he is no Friend to Caeſar: but as it happens unto ſome Beaſts, that if they taſte of blood, it puts a thirſt into them to make them raven and devour every prey that they catch: So the drops that trickled from his ſhoulders put a ravenous appetite into the Jews, to thruſt a Spear into his ſide as deep as to his heart, to make a paſſage for a greater effuſion: the very nakedneſs of his body when he was ſtript to be ſcourged, and to be crucified, ſays St. Auſtin, was irkſom to a modeſt man. Obtenebratus eſt ſol ut celaret pudicitiam creatoris in nudo corpore, ſays the Father: but to take ſuch a ſcourging, that Pilat himſelf ſhook his head to behold the man, Et fuit in toto corpore ſculptus amor, ſays a Chriſtian Poet, that the teſtimony of his love was enameled, or engraven in every part of his body, to fall into the hands of ſuch Executioners, that did over-do their Commiſſion, and would gratifie the People in their Function, as much as their Maſter had done in his Sentence before them; will this defence hold water to make Pilat innocent?

Then let us hear his fourth Allegation. When he had made a Proteſtation of Chriſt's integrity, but it would not be believed: when he had tempted Herod to end the Trial, but the Cauſe was returned to his own Court; when ſcourges were applied to take off the edg of his Enemies cruelty, yet nothing was heard but crucifie him in the voice of the Multitude, he caſts about to ſave him by the priviledg of the Paſſover; chooſe you who ſhall be releaſed, Barabbas that ſeditious Murderer, or Jeſus that is called Chriſt. Is it come to the choice, and the People made Arbiters? then no doubt Chriſt muſt prepare for the Altar, and Barabbas ſhall be hircus emiſſarius, the Scape-goat let to run away into the Wilderneſs: p. 489Et mecum certaſſe feretur may the Son of God ſay? ſhall the Joy of Heaven and Earth come in ſcrutiny with Barabbas? but we have no quarrel againſt him: Non reprehendimus O Judaei quod per Paſcha liberaſtis nocentem, ſed quod occidiſtis innocentem, ſays St. Auſtin; If you have a mind, O ye Iſraelites, to ſave a ſinner at the Paſſover, ſpare not to ſhew mercy, who can be offended at it? But if that be a buſineſs fit for the day, it cannot be a good work to kill an innocent. Upon what occaſion the cuſtom was grounded to acquit a Thief at the Paſſover it is not upon record. Some are confident that it was very ancient in memory of their own deliverance out of the Land of Egypt; ſome think it was later, begun after the Roman Conqueſt, upon this occaſion; Their Cities of Refuge were quite taken from them, becauſe the crimes of blood and death were tranſlated from the Law of Moſes to the Tribunal of Caeſar; wherefore this courteſie was inſtead of a recompence, to releaſe unto them one Priſoner at the Paſſover. Now I ſtrike at Pilats hypocriſie; for this cuſtom, ſays Lyra, was not ex imperiali ſanctione ſed conſuetudine, the ſurrender of one Malefactor was not ſtrengthened by the Imperial Law, but by courteſie. Why did not Pilat then confine the Roman mercy to this juſt perſon, but leave it indifferent, as well for him, as for the benefit of a Murderer. There is no ſuch Beaſt in the World as Demetrius and the City of Epheſus broke looſe into a mutiny: what they chooſe, or what they refuſe, the greater part are always ignorant: take the people in this wild phrenſie, and they would like the company of Barabbas before any man, ſuch an hair-brain would make a Ringleader fit to cry out foreign, let him be crucified. Had Antiochus, the chief Enemy of their Nation, been living, and ſet up againſt our Saviour, ſurely the voice had gone, not Him, but Antiochus; wherefore to propound Chriſt and Barabbas it was a deluſion, and will not hold to make Pilate innocent.

Give him water now to waſh his hands; manus lavet, ſed facta non diluit, ſays St. Ambroſe, he will never waſh off his crimes: yet certainly it was a Ceremony which will riſe up in judgment to the confuſion of the Jews; foreign, they could not but be prickt in conſcience, ſays St. Chryſoſtom, for it was no Roman Cuſtom, but the Ceremony of their own Law, Deut. xxi. that if a man were found ſlain in the Feild, and it was not known who had ſlain him, the Elders of the next City ſhould behead an Heifer in the Valleys, and waſh their hands upon it, ſaying, our hands have not ſhed this blood, neither our eyes ſeen it. And according to this Ordinance David did meditate, Pſal. xxv. 6. I will waſh my hands in innocency, and ſo will I go to thine Altar. And to this Statute Pilat did allude, but as one objected to Cicero, that his Accuſations were powerful, and his Defences ſlender; ſo this was as ſharp as the ſting of a Cockatrice to wound the Jews, but as weak as paper proof to defend Pilat. Xanthe retro propera, never let water have the operation ſo much as to clenſe his hands, ſince he condemned Chriſt, who was the fountain of living water ſpringing up into everlaſting life.

Yet in every circumſtance that I have laid open, I muſt confeſs he doth ſhew ſome motion of a relenting heart, and I think he would have been conſtant, if the People had not took upon them to over-rule the Judg; qui me tradidit tibi majus peccatum habet, Pilat hath his ſhare in the ſin, but the death of Chriſt will be moſt burdenſome to his own Nation. This is the prepoſterous courſe of the world, when the Tail muſt lead the Head, and the Head go backward; yet the inconſiderate many had rather wander, ſo they may go formoſt, than keep the right way and let others go before them that know how to lead. In the multitude of counſel there is peace, and a good Senate is ſtronger than a wall of braſs, but to be carried away as Moſes was, with the murmuring of theſe people at Maſſah and Meribah; to ſave Amalech and the fatteſt of the Sacrifice, as Saul did, becauſe it went by moſt voices, this is a dangerous popularity. The greateſt ſedition in the Roman State fell out in the Tribunſhip of the Gracchi, when they rather choſe to give attentive ear to thoſe that walked in the Market-place, than to the ſage and prudent Body of the Senate-houſe: They both made an unfortunate end; and better cannot come of it, ſays Plutarch, when the ſame man will be foreign, both the Magiſtrate and the Servant of a multitude. There are two things which David wondred at in the power of God, to ſtill the raging of the waves, and the madneſs of the people, Pſal. lxv. 7. both will ſwell as high as the clouds in an hour, and grow calm in a minute. If there had not been a wiſer Captain in Jeruſalem, when Paul preached in the Temple, Act. xxi. that ruled his place with authority, Paul had been ſtoned to death for his Doctrine; but he commanded the multitude, and they obeyed. p. 490I would Pilat had learnt but one leſſon from his own Maſter Tiberius, theſe are his words in Tacitus, I will endeavour, ut offenſionum pro utilitate publicâ minimè pavidum me credant; the Fathers of the Senate-houſe ſhould know, he was not afraid in a good Cauſe to offend the multitude. This Precept had qualified Pilat, not to give up the Meſſias of the World unto the rage of the people; then not ſo much had troubled him, as his Wife ſuffered in a dream; as innocent had he been of the blood ſhed upon the Croſs, as he was clear of the bloody ſweat which our Saviour caſt himſelf into by a miraculous agony in the Garden.

Somewhat there was in it, beſide the rude importunity of the people, why Pilat had but half an heart either to abſolve or to crucifie our Saviour: Somewhat was in it indeed, for Satan was in it if we may believe Alexander Ales. It was the Devil that tempted Judas to betray his Lord, and there his tentation prevailed; but being ſuſpicious upon ſome alteration that Chriſt was the Eternal Son of God, and ready to ſuffer death for the redemption of Man, collecting it, as we conjecture out of Iſaiahs Prophecy, that this was the Lamb ſtanding dumb before the Shearers; now he caſts jealouſies into Pilats mind to ſave his life, as I have read concerning the Parthians, that although they hated the flouriſhing Common-wealth of Rome, yet nothing did diſpleaſe them worſe, than to hear of any great caſualty of fire that had waſted the City, becauſe the ruins were but an occaſion to make the reparation more glorious: So the old Serpent beſtirs himſelf that the ſentence of death may not be denounced againſt our Saviour, leſt his ruin be an occaſion to build up mankind with an everlaſting reparation. Therefore horror is ſtruck into Pilats mind, but the ſuggeſtion prevails not; the Sacrifice is offered upon the Altar of the Croſs, ſuggerendo vicit ſuggerendo vincitur; he ſuggeſts a motion into Judas his mind, and was a Conqueror, he ſuggeſts a motion into Pilats mind, but himſelf is conquered.

This opinion of Ales gliſters, but it is not gold; for the Revelation which Pilats Wife did ſuffer in a dream to warn her Husband not to meddle with this juſt man, it came from God; it is St. Auſtins opinion, in ſomniis patitur, ut ne ampliùs pateretur, ſhe that ſuffered that good motion in a dream, ſhall not ſuffer any more for ever. Nay if the Devil were ſo forward to caſt in hinderances that our Saviour might not ſuffer, why did he not turn the ſtream among the vagabond multitude, that cried out Let him be crucified? I am ſure they did rather run headlong, as if their heads did ſwim with ſuch a ſpirit as was in the Swine of the Gergaſens. Therefore I leave this opinion as fidei dubiae, if not as falſe, yet at leaſt as ſuſpected and apocryphal.

What need any other cauſe be given, why Pilat ſhould halt between Juſtice and Popularity, why he ſhould be half for Chriſt, half for Barabbas; but the modeſt anſwer of St. Paul, Deus quos vult indurat, he was a Veſſel of diſhonour, and therefore to be daſht and broken. To open the heart of a Thief upon the Croſs, non minus ſuit quàm petras concutere, it was as great a wonder as to open the Graves of the dead: Pilats heart was only rent in twain like the Veil of the Temple, but it was not opened. The Fathers have a ſubtle reſolution of this caſe, and yet a profitable. Pilat bore the perſon of the Gentils, and in their perſon his bowels did a little earn to pluck the Son of God out of the hand of his Enemies: but when he grew unſtable, and was vanquiſht, he caſt the curſe upon the Jews, vos videbitis, you ſhall ſee to it. It was the providence of Heaven, ut gentilis deprecatione ultio ſanguinis iſtius à nobis ablata ſit, that the vengeance of his blood ſhould be denounced againſt Iſrael, and the Nations excuſed: but yet Pilat was but mungril good, and therefore his hand was in this bloody paſſion, as well as the men of Jeruſalem: both Jew and Gentile did concur to his ſufferings, ſays Origen, ut pro perſecutoribus qui oraret, gentiles non excluderet; that when he prayed for his Perſecutors, the Gentiles might be at one end of his perſecution, and be partakers of his Prayers. Had Pilat been as malicious as the Jews, we poor ſouls had been liable to the vengeance of his blood; had Pilat ſtopt his ears againſt the outcries, and never yielded to the paſſion, we had not been in the number of thoſe Perſecutors for whom he made interceſſion, therefore this luke warm Magiſtrate began with Jacobs voice, but ended with the hands of Eſau; neither could he ſay he was innocent of the blood of this juſt man.

Nay then I muſt tell you (to forget Pilat a while) were you all in this Aſſembly, (dearly beloved) of none other but of the very choice and flower of the reſurrection of the juſt, a Rank of Patriarchs, an Army of Martyrs, a Company of p. 491holy Prophets, yet Qui omnes concluſit ſub peccato, omnes conluſit ſuh homicidio; he that doth lay ſin to every mans ſoul doth lay the murder of our Lord and Saviour to every mans charge for the redemption of ſins. And then are you better than your forefathers? Are you more righteous than the Prophets, that you alone are innocent? No, you are alſo the crucifiers of your Redeemer, and if your conſciences do not ſay ſo, bear witneſs of my words for an action of ſlander. Solum peccatum homicida eſt. Not Pilate but hypocriſie, not Caiaphas but Simony, not Herod but inceſtuous luſt, not the Souldiers but Bands and Troupes of Rapines and Blaſphemies were the murderers of Chriſt. When a Bullock was ſlain for a ſin Offering to make an attonement for the whole Congregation. Lev. iv. 25. All the Elders of the City, ſays Moſes, ſhall lay their hands upon the head of the Bullock, that they, being the repreſentative body of all Iſrael, might teſtifie that every ſoul in Iſrael was acceſſory to the death of the Sacrifice. This was a figurative expreſſion, how the whole Generation of mankind did concur to be guilty of the bloudy Oblation of the Son of God. As the trial hath been ſeen upon murderers when they have drawn near to the Carkaſs which hath been ſlain by their hands, either freſh bloud from the wounds of the Carkaſs, or an iſſue of their own bloud, hath betrayed them, as ſome ſay; ſo let me queſtion you, when you ſtand before Chriſt, eſpecially when he ſtands before you in the holy Sacrament, do not your hearts bleed within you to expreſs your guiltineſs of his Paſſion? O give the flux a paſſage to come out, I do not ſay in bloud, but in tears, which are the bloud of the ſoul. The bleeding of the Vine draws away the life of the tree, and leaves it barren of the Cluſters which ſhould hang upon it, but the flowing of tears makes us fruitful to bring forth many Bunches of good works, not the Cluſters of an earthly, but of an heavenly Canaan.

And now let me ask you, as I would ask of men that ſhun thoſe places out of horrour wherein they have ſpilt anothers bloud; I ſay, Why do you love this world ſo much wherein you have killed Chriſt? Why are you not aweary of this place? What can pleaſe us in ſuch a ſoyl, which ſhould be unto us all as Aceldema was to Judas, the Theater to act ſins, and therefore the field of bloud? Wherefore do we not rather ſay with Tertullian, Nihil noſtri refert in hoc mundo, niſi de eo quàm citò excedere? We Chriſtians have nothing to do in this earth, but to make haſte to forſake it for a better, eſpecially abandon the thoughts of deadly revenge, do not wiſh for more bloud at any hand, we have all ſpilt enough already in the funerals of our Saviour, were he not both a Sacrifice ſlain for us, as he is a Sacrifie ſlain by us, more than ever we could anſwer for. Make not your revengeful heart like Golgotha, where Chriſt was crucified, a place of dead mens ſculls.

But leaſt any man ſhould be ſwallowed up with too much grief becauſe he is endited for this hainous crime, the bitter death of his Saviour, let him take this for his comfort, to put gladneſs in his heart; it is not one death that our Lord Jeſus doth ſtand upon, Paſſus eſt quia voluit; he never ſhrinks for one death, but ſtretched out his arms upon the Croſs to embrace it. Take heed only that you do not crucifie him anew. Nay miſtake me not here, though you ſin ten thouſand times over, yet he can die but once for you; but my meaning is, the Summa totalis of all mens ſins did abaſe the Son of God to the ignominy of the Croſs, yet this dolorous day was from Gods preordination: But that we may not crucifie him anew, firſt, Do not neglect his death as if it were ſome common and uncommiſerated anguiſh. Secondly, Do not run into admiration of your own merits, as if, had there been all ſuch as you in the world, his Paſſion had been ſpared. Laſtly, Do not preſume upon grace, as if Remiſſion of ſins were a ſafe Indulgence for ſins to be multiplied. They that do commit ſuch things are guilty, not once, but often, to crucifie the Lord of life.

To conclude then againſt Pilates falſhood and hypocriſie, three things do concur in the crucifying of our Saviour, Deſtinatio paſſionis, executio paſſionis, iteratio paſſionis. In the Predeſtination of Chriſts Paſſion God did look upon all mankind, the Elect eſpecially, as lapſed into ſin, and therein Pilate was not innocent. The execution of his Paſſion upon earth was committed by the envy of the Prieſts, the cruelty of the Souldiers, and the power of Pilate. What though his mind did not conſent? Yet he lent them his authority. Herod was not willing, it ſeems, to have John Baptiſts head, but it comes all to one paſs if Herodias muſt have her content; and therefore in the execution was not Pilate innocent. The iteration of his Paſſion lights upon thoſe who make an impenitent end, and do not apply his ſufferings to their p. 492ſin-ſick conſcience; and ſince Pilate lived a Vagabond for ever after, and died like a deſperate caſt-away, either by drowning at Vienna, or falling upon his own Sword at Lions (that is the difference of the Hiſtory) neither in this reſpect, nor in any elſe could he ſay, I am innocent of the bloud of this juſt perſon.

And ſo I paſs to the ſecond general part of my Text, from this lie which Pilate told, to his true teſtimony concerning Chriſt, that he was a juſt perſon. Yet I commend this diſpoſition in Pilate, that when he found no cauſe of diſlike, among all the ſlanderous tongues in Jeruſalem he alone would ſpeak well of Chriſt. It was a word better placed than that of Phocion, who praiſed a lewd perſon with this excuſe, that good men did not need commendation. The Devil was a murderer from the beginning, for indeed in the beginning of time he was a Slanderer, Non qui ferro, ſed qui verbo malefico interficit homicida eſt, ſays St. Auſtin. He that takes away a mans good name is a Man-ſlayer, as he that takes away my life. This ſame foreign, to bear true witneſs of all mens actions, I wonder it is no more in requeſt; it is the thriftieſt vertue that you can entertain. In rewards of Gold and Silver what we give away we want our ſelves, but in giving good words, and in making good report of other mens deeds, we do not diminiſh our own fame, but increaſe it.

To come nearer to the cauſe in hand. How did our Saviours righteouſneſs appear unto Pilate that ſuch good words came out of the mouth of a Roman, who was a ſtranger to Chriſt? There is ſcarce any talk of him in the Goſpel before this Chapter. Why ſurely, you will ſay, for a Priſoner to juſtifie himſelf, the way is, to clear his Enditement and accuſations before the Magiſtrate. Now the Adverſary did caſt in four Crimes againſt the life of Jeſus: One before Caiaphas, Mar. xxvi. that he would deſtroy the Temple. 2. That they found him perverting the Nation. 3. That he forbad to give tribute unto Caeſar. 4. That he ſaid openly he was Chriſt a King. Theſe three Allegations are together, Luk. xxiii. 2. and none but thoſe three brought before Pilate. You know now the Bill of Enditement. What ſatisfaction did the Priſoner give I pray you? Did you ever read of his Anſwer? No, not a word came out of his lips, Silentium habuit pro advocato; Bare ſilence was his Advocate. Fortè verebuntur filium, ſays the King in the Goſpel. Fortè, peradventure? What doth any ſuch word of doubting make in the mouth of God? But the Lord would not ſeem to determine that any would be ſo malicious to kill filium complacentiae, the innocent Son in whom he was well pleaſed. His ſlanders were ſo notorious that he held his peace, and was pronounced innocent. Now you are not afraid, I am ſure, that I ſhould hold you too long with multiplying many words in our Saviours behalf; Chriſt thought it needleſs to ſay oft, and therefore I may ſpare much pains in that Point in ſo Chriſtian an Auditory. For method ſake and the direction of your memory thus I will proceed, firſt to lay down two reaſons why our Saviour would ſtand dumb in the queſtion of his integrity. Secondly, I will draw a ſhort defence againſt the four calumniations of the Jews, not that our Saviour needs it. For I tell you he would not move his lips to make an Apology but for your uſe and inſtruction.

For the firſt of theſe: The ſilence of Chriſt in a matter that concerned his life, it was not well interpreted by any man for want of the illumination of the holy Spirit. Is he beſide himſelf, thinks Peter, ſtanding in the High Prieſts Hall? Can he ſay nothing to his Accuſers? And becauſe he ſpoke ſo little Peter would ſpeak too much, thrice he denied him and forſwore him. And is this the great Prophet of Galilee? Thinks Herod, who preacheth in every Synagogue, not like the Scribes and Phariſees, but with power and authority. Surely, he may teach Fiſhermen, but when he comes before Tetrachs and Princes he is quite daunted and out of countenance. But as the Fathers do Comment ingeniouſly upon the place, he dropt a word or two before Caiaphas and Pilate, but he did utterly ſeal up his lips before Herod, Quia vocem ejus abſtulerat? How ſhould he ſpeak before him who had taken away his voice? For what was John Baptiſt but the voice of Chriſt? Doth he deſpiſe my Authority thinks Pilate? Doth he eſteem me not fit to command in the Seat of Juſtice that he doth reply to no Interrogatory but ſuch as like him? Ʋbi reſpondet paſtor eſt, ubi tacet agnus. When he did lift up his heavenly voice, then he took upon him the perſon of a Shepherd that fed his flock; when he held his peace, then he carried himſelf as that Ecce agnus, that remarkable Lamb of the Flock, which ſtood dumb before the Shearers: Thus Peter, and Herod, and Pilate, all were ſcandalized, therefore I come prepared to conteſt againſt the World p. 493by a double reaſon, how expedient it was for this juſt Perſon to hold his peace.

The firſt is this, Ambiunt defendi qui timent vinci; Let them defend themſelves who can be convicted; his life could not be tainted with any ſuſpicion, his works were clear from all imperfection: Then what need an Advocate? Suſanna tacuit & vicit; Suſanna ſtood impeached between the two laſcivious Elders that had tempted her, ſhe did not beat the Tribunal, and call to heaven and earth for witneſs of her innocency, this had not become her Virgin modeſty, but ſtanding dumb in her righteouſneſs God did plead her cauſe by the mouth of Daniel. The very Romans gave that reſpect to an approved man Q. Metellus, that the whole Bench forbad him to take his oath in a controverſie to be debated, leſt they ſhould ſeem to diſtruſt ſo reverend a Citizen. So for theſe crimes wherewith our Saviour was impleaded, Non confirmat tacendo, ſed deſpicit non refellendo (ſays the Gloſs;) His ſilence was not a ſign of conſent, but an argument of untainted integrity. And Pilate himſelf did peep into this myſtery. For as it hapned to a Client of Rhodes in Plutarch, that the Advocate of the contrary ſide ſpared not to defame him, and caſt out his Cauſe as unworthy of the Court, but the Judge all the while ſate ſtill, and ſaid nothing; Non refert quid ille loquatur, ſed quid ille taceat, ſays the Rhodian; It makes not againſt my Cauſe that the Advocate rails, but it makes much for me that the Judge holds his peace: So Pilate did not weigh objections by the malicious out-cries of the Jews, but by the generous and inoffenſive ſilence of the Son of God. Sophocles in his elder years was accuſed by his Sons for doating, and miſpending his goods to the impoveriſhment of their Inheritance. What defence doth the Father make? Conteſt before the Areopagites with his own Children? Nothing leſs; he knew the awful authority of a Father, and would not ſtoop ſo low as to prove and ſend a cauſe with thoſe whom he had begotten; but ſends his Tragedy, called Oedipus Colinaeus, the work of his gray hairs, to be read over before the Judges; Hoc non eſt opus delirantis hominis, that was not the work of a doating man; there was but that one acclamation heard, and ſo he was abſolved. In like manner our Lord and Saviour was God from everlaſting, and by him the worlds were created, his hands had made and faſhioned every one of theſe malicious Jews, when their ſubſtance was yet imperfect in their mothers womb, ſhall he not diſdain then, as well as Sophocles, to conteſt in judgment with his own Creatures. Ask Job, if it be fit for God to come in judgment like the Son of Man. No, let his patience ſpeak for his humility. His faſting forty days for his ſobriety, his miracles and healing the ſick for his charity, his cleanſing of the Temple of buyers and ſellers for his zeal to the Houſe of God. Let Judas ſpeak before he goes to his own execution, let the Wife of Pilate ſpeak and her viſion, let the Ruler himſelf ſpeake his conſcience, and if theſe be ſilent the ſtones ſhall ſpeak, but let Jeſus hold his peace, and taciturnity it ſelf ſhall prove him a juſt perſon.

Indeed I have ſeen a great evil under the Sun, I do honour our Courts of Juſtice for my part, and the municipal Laws of the Realm, but I cry out ſhame upon this fault, that it is grown an art among pleaders to be a good Accuſer. He that can aggravate a crime well, is in good hope to be a thriving Practiſer. Alas, if Accuſers were charitable, Innocents ſhould not need to pay ſo dear for learned Counſel to defend them. That which might be diſpatch'd by yea and nay is grown a volume, and if it be wyre-drawn by Statute upon Statute it will fill five hundred ſheets of Paper. Brethren, this ought not to be ſo for pity ſake, let it not be ſo coſtly a matter to be a juſt perſon. The truth of the Lord ſays David, Pſal. xii. Is like Silver purified ſeven times in a furnace of fire. But this cuſtom is grown ſo chargable, that the truth of an honeſt man muſt be purified ſeven times in Silver. If we had leſs eloquence among pleaders, and more plain dealing, a juſt perſon might come before Magiſtrates, either as our Saviour prepared his Apoſtles, Care not what to ſay, The Holy Ghoſt ſhall direct you in an anſwer; or elſe the Judge might find the defendant to be innocent, as Pilate did eſteem our Saviour when he anſwered not to his Accuſers, but ſtood dumb before him.

But hear a ſecond reaſon more forcible than the former from the unanimous conſent of all the Fathers. Chriſt held his peace when his juſt dealing was ſuſpected before Pilate, Ne paſſionem ſuam impediret; Leſt upon manifeſtation of his good life, his Paſſion had been hindred. And what would he not ſuffer, ſuſpicions, infamies, imputations rather than the work of our Redemption ſhould become void? Though he went leiſurely on foot from one City to another to preach the Goſpel, p. 494yet he would needs ride to Jeruſalem to ſuffer: nay rather than his Croſs ſhould be left behind or come tardy after, he would carry it part of the way upon his own ſhoulders unto Golgotha. There paſſed but a little time, from midnight to midday, betwixt his Attachment, his Arraignment, and his Execution, as if his feet had ſtood upon thorns until his head was crowned with them. After the manner of men, who expect verily to be gathered to their Fathers, his Grave was provided before he was dead in Joſephs Garden. Why did he not take Judas to Mount Olivet? Why did he not carry him with Peter, and James, and John, and caſt him into a dead ſlumber in the Garden? nay mark the Commiſſion which he had for his Enterpriſe, fac citò, do it quickly, as if he had been ſent like Ahimaaz, to outrun the reſt of the Servants, and to be the firſt that ſhould betray him. I had like to have ſaid Judas was not the only one that did betray him; let me ſpeak it with reverence, did he not betray himſelf, when he gave up his life ſaying, Whom ſeek ye? I am he. Take all the lump together: ſo forward of his journey, ſo mindful of his Croſs, ſo haſty to diſmiſs Judas, ſo well provided of a Grave, who would not preſume that he would ſuffer his back-biters to revile him, and ſay nothing?

David made this Cauſe both a Pſalm and a Propheſie, a Pſalm of remembrance, and a Propheſie of wonder; I held my tongue, and ſpake nothing, I kept ſilence, yea even from good words, but it was pain and grief unto me. His heavenly tongue, ſhould it have pleaſed him to touch the ſtring of defence and apologie, would have made the Judges to licenſe his life, and to fall down and worſhip him; the Servants would have ſaid to their Maſters, as the High Prieſts did ſometimes to their Servants, when they were aſtoniſht at his ſpeech and words, What are you alſo taken? to ſay more than this, had he but ſhed a few tears when they ſmote him on the head, as Moſes did in the Ark of Bulruſhes, ſome mild ſpirit, as merciful as Pharaohs Daughter, would have reſcued his life from the power of the Enemy. So I have given you two obſervations warrantable, why ſo juſt a perſon ſhould neglect to purge himſelf of his accuſation. Firſt the Enditements were groſly ſlanderous, and therefore he would not ſpeak. Secondly, he would endure ſuch contradiction of ſinners, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, rather than purchaſe deliverance from the Croſs, to hinder our redemption.

The conſideration hereof will bring forth two Sons more unto Jacob, a double ſpeculation ariſing from the former: Firſt that Jeſus could have hindred theſe bloody paſſions: But ſecondly out of endleſs compaſſion he had ſet us as a Seal upon his hand, and as a Signet upon his right arm, and love was ſtrong to death: Paſſus eſt quia voluit, He would not hinder them.

Poſſe & nolle nobile. He could have hindered his death. The Jews were ſo far from thinking that ſuch a feeble man in outward appearance could deliver himſelf, that they did not think when He was faſt and nailed that God could deliver him. He truſted in God, let him deliver him if He will have him. Inſultando quod non fieret, non credendo quod factum eſſet, ſays St. Auſtin; not ſuppoſing that God could reſcue him, but braving him with that which was impoſſible. O fools and ſlow of heart! this was not the unruly Sacrifice impotent to help it ſelf, bound with cords to the horns of the Altar, but ſuch a Priſoner as St. Paul was Act. xvi. who might have ſprung out of priſon when the doors were opened by the Angel, but yet contented himſelf in bonds without liberty or enlargement. Give me leave to foreſpeak your attention, and I will diſcourſe unto you briefly in the concluſions of the Schoolmen, how the humanity of our Saviour might have been exempted from death and paſſion.

Firſt, had it pleaſed him to diſcover his Glory, as he did at the Transfiguration in Mount Tabor: would He but charm the Jews from their furious outrage with one graceful word, what Devil durſt have laid hands upon him? Tun' homo audes occidere Caium Marium? ſays the Conſul Marius, and ſo daunted his Executioner. Thus then our Saviour had eſcaped their hands, divinitatem publicando. 2. Where were the Legions of Angels that did attend him? That Hoſt of Princes who ſolemnized his Nativity with peace on earth, and good will towards men, would have recanted and ſung a ſong quite of another nature, to guard him from his paſſion. And thus our Saviour had eſcaped, exercitum producendo. Durandus tries his skill for a third reaſon thus, corpus in ſe mortale ad immortalitatem perducendo: If you ask what he means by it, I will enlarge his mind. Our bodies do decay and decline every day more and more unto corruption neceſſarily, becauſe it is paſt the cunning of p. 495any mortal man, to know preciſely to a crum of bread, what nouriſhment is beſt to fulfil the place of that which decays daily in our body: but as for Chriſt, ſcivit in alimento quantum neceſſe fuit ſumere ad reſtaurationem deperditi, He having the treaſures of all wiſdom hidden in him, needed not the adviſe of any man to inſtruct him, how the decays of nature being juſtly repaired, could preſerve his mortal body in a ſound conſtitution for everlaſting. Scotus thinks this reaſon too weak, and ſo do I alſo: For although Chriſt had this inſpection to diſcern wholſom from unwholſom in all the works of nature, yet conſumption and diſſolution would happen to his body from two things: The firſt prejudice to his health would be impuritas alimenti, the earth and all the fruits thereof yield not ſuch ſtrength and vertue as they did before the Floud of Noah. Si Adam habuiſſet alimentum noſtrum mortuus fuiſſet ſenio, ſays the ſame Schoolman very boldly; if Adam in his beſt eſtate had been fed with ſuch meats as we are, and none beſides, age had brought him to his Grave. Again there is potentiae nutritivae debilitatio, that gentle heat which gives warmth to the faculty of concoction would have gone out like a candle in the ſocket; and therefore it ſtands for a concluſion in his Divinity, that a medicinal intelligence of herbs and fruits, and other viands had not drawn out our Saviours life unto immortality.

There is a fourth reaſon how Chriſt could have reſtrained all agony and paſſion from his body for ever, and it is without exception. Death in a reaſonable creature is the wages of ſin: they are relatives ſecundum eſſe, ſo that a man may ſay, here is a ſinner, and therefore a dead man; here is the Tomb of a dead man, and therefore the Grave of a ſinner. The next concluſion cannot be parted from the former; for if Sin and Death be acus & filum, if one do draw the other after it, then there muſt be ſome miraculous diſpoſition in that mans body, who is no ſinner, but innocent as an Angel of light, and yet obnoxious to death as a vile tranſgreſſor. Where then lies the miracle in the ſubſtance of our Saviour? why thus: the whole Manhood was united to the whole Godhead in the Union hypoſtatical, but the influence, the grace and priviledg of the Divine nature was not diffuſed over the fleſh, nay it caſt not the celeſtial beams upon all the parts of his Soul till after the reſurrection: but it ſhined only upon the ſuperior faculties of the will and underſtanding. The ſtrength then of our Samſon did lye in capite, in the Divine nature, which he would not uſe to immortalize his Body before the Reſurrection. Potuit relaxare influentiam divinae naturae, ut in inferiorem portionem redundar…t, ſayes Biel. It was a miracle then, that He could confine the influence of his Godhead for a time to the ſuperior faculties of the Soul; and I think you will confeſs, that there was no miracle done by neceſſity or compulſion: but upon this preſumption, that the fleſh was left unaſſiſted of the Divinity, there follows a threefold neceſſity of his death and diſſolution. The firſt is called neceſſitas naturae, nature would have dropt away when it grew mellow ripe according to the courſe of humane conſtitution. The ſecond is called neceſſitas coactionis; ſuppoſing the malice of the Jews, and his obedience to unjuſt Authority, he muſt have ſuffered by neceſſity of compulſion. The third is called neceſſitas finis, a neceſſity of death lay upon him from Gods eternal Decree, to accompaſs the happy end preordeined, which is mans Redemption.

But what is the fruit of this Doctrine now? where are the ſheaves to fill our boſom? you will ſay now, I doubt it not, that Chriſt had power to lay down his life, and to take it up. Then enlarge your hearts to receive St. Auſtins Meditation: Amplius tenemur Chriſto quod liberè voluit pati, quàm quòd neceſſario; Our engagement had been leſs if Chriſt had ſuffered by abſolute and imperious neceſſity, but we praiſe our God the more, we bleſs him, we magnifie him, we give thanks unto him with the greater affection, becauſe our Sacrifice is of choice and liberty.

But I paſs from the conſideration of the mighty power which was in our Saviour: Had he rejoyced like a Giant to run his courſe, what death could have ſeized upon him; had our Samſon awoke out of ſleep, and ſhook himſelf, no fetters could have held him; But if you will lay your ear to the ſweeteſt harmony that ever was tuned, ad aquae lene caput ſacrae, if you will give attention to the ſoft and ſtill bubling, from whence ſprung all our ſalvation, voluit, in a word, he would not plead his innocency before Pilat, he would be offer'd up, he would be crucified. It is a memorable accident which Plutarch doth report of a Sacrifice in Lacedaemon: The Prieſts were in great diſtreſs for an unſpotted Beaſt to be ſlain; Satan, p. 496no doubt, deſiring to ſupply them with fuel to kindle their Idolatry, an unſpotted Heifer ſwam over the River, and laid it ſelf down before the Altar. I know not the truth of this Story, but ſure I am, that I know a Sacrifice which will fit the Parable. For when wrath had faln upon Mankind throughout all Generations, and a burnt-Offering was wanting to appeaſe the Lord, to the end that Iſaac, and the Sons of Promiſe and Election might eſcape the blow of death, the chief Ram of the Flock, vir gregis, even Jeſus Chriſt, thruſt his horns into the Thicket, and entangled his ſtrength in the guilt of our ſins: ſo Iſaac was ſaved, and the Ram was ſacrificed. Voluit, would he ſuffer? was there no remedy but to cut off the Head to ſave the Body? had not Chriſt humbled himſelf ſo far as to the death of the Croſs, yet had not our Redemption been finiſhed by the ignominy of his poor Nativity; the lowlineſs of ſubmiſſion to his Parents; the pang of his Faſtings; the horror of his Agony in the Garden; might not all other reproaches have ranſomed his life? This curious Queſtion the Schoolmen ask, therefore let them reſolve it.

Firſt, ſays Biel, conſult with Nature, ask her if ſhe do not ſometime uſe ſuperfluity for the greater elegancy of her workmanſhip: plura ad unum aſſumit, ſicut duos oculos. Why might not man have been a Cyclops? why might not Nature have ſpar'd an eye? but if ſhe will make pairs where a ſingle inſtrument might ſerve, why ſhould we limit God's grace? and ſcant it to juſt as much paſſion as would fit the turn? ſince there is plenteous redemption with our God.

Seconly, Per ſuavitatem peccavit homo, per aſperitatem maximam ſatisfecit, it ſeems there was ſome delicious reliſh in the fruit forbidden, as it was very pleaſant to the eye: The taſte of Adam was of a moſt ſapid and quick mixture; the Apple was of the moſt refined compoſition, being the food of Paradice, and Gods own Plantation; theſe could not but leave a touch upon Adams lips ſweeter than the Honeycomb, or Manna in the Wilderneſs. Now ſet the Scale of juſtice in an equal poiſe, the tranſgreſſion was ſweetneſs, the ſatisfaction muſt be bitterneſs: the tranſgreſſion was pleaſure in the higheſt degree, the ſatisfaction muſt be grief in the very gall of bitterneſs; but what ſo bitter as death? eſpecially the Croſs, that death of malediction.

Thirdly, this is the Maſter-piece among Lombards reaſons, but a flower pickt from St. Auſtins Garden; Deus juſtitiâ voluit Diabolum vincere, non poteſtate: the Dragon and his Angels do plead againſt Michael and his Angels, that the Judgment might be proportioned to the Crime committed. But what did Satan accompliſh by his impleadment? God doth not deal like Pilate and the corrupt Judges of the world, ſhift the Law out of their ſight, when it doth not ſerve the turn, and ſtand a tip-toe upon their Power and Prerogative; He doth not deal with Juſtice as Feſtus did with Paul, Go thy wayes, I will ſpeak with thee at another time, Juſtitiâ' vincere voluit non autoritate, Satan is confounded by Gods Juſtice, not by his Authority.

Fourthly and laſtly, as Draco the rigid Magiſtrate wrote his Laws in blood, ſo Chriſt that innocent Lamb wrote the Inſtructions of patience in his own blood. Let the great Rabbies of Divinity diſpute it, whether one drop of our Saviours blood could not ſave as many Worlds as there be ſins in this World, that is infinite; yet he took his ſhare of all ſorts of perſecution, ut nobis praeberet exemplum patientiae, that when we are perſecuted and ſtung with fiery vermin, we might look upon the Brazen Serpent in the Wilderneſs, and be comforted with patience. For now by the Examples of his Sufferings, when my Soul languiſheth with any calamity, I will turn me to my Lord, and lay my wounds to his wounds, my tears to his tears, and my mouth dipt in gall to his mouth, and my diſgrace to his reproaches. Finally in all my afflictions, I will ſeem as it were to read his Title upon the Croſs, Jeſus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.

I have drawn out my Clue very far, to enlarge the true teſtimony that Pilate gives of Chriſt, though he forbore to open the trial of his integrity, which had he undertaken, his arm was ſtrong enough to diſarm his Perſecutors, and to delude his Enemies; but compaſſion of our miſery made him draw out a long line of torments to ſtripes, to buffettings, to death, to conſummatum eſt, till all was finiſhed. We may well give his tender heart that honourable title which St. Chryſoſtom gave unto St. Paul, a volume of charity. Is there any weak conſcience in this place that marvails at our Saviours proceedings, and makes it his own caſe, whether it be fit to plead innocency before the Magiſtrate, or whether wrongful accuſation ſhould be endured without an anſwer; for ſuch a man I give this Doctrin for his p. 497reſolution. As the Paſſover was divided into two Portions, part thereof was to be eaten, and that part which remained to be burnt with fire; ſo among the actions of Chriſt, ſome are to be eaten, that is, drawn into example, as his Prayers, his Purſe of charity for the Poor, his converting of Publicans to the fear of God; ſome are to be conſumed with fire, that is to be adored with faith and zeal, but not to be drawn into imitation, as his miraculous faſting, his walking upon the ſeas, and this compaſſionate ſilence before Pilat, he would not ſpeak to ſhun death, that our hearts and tongues might be bleſſed through his name, to praiſe and magnifie him for ever. For as Caeſar ſaid of his Souldiers, when they were offered conditions to depart with ſafety, Caeſaris milites ſalutem dare ſolent non accipere, that they uſed to give ſuch benefits, not to receive them; ſo Chriſt came into the world, not to take his life as the gift of Pilate, but to give life to every one that ſhould repent, and believe in the Goſpel.

I have one bough yet to prune off in this branch, and then I will proceed. Great bundles of Waſt-paper are printed every monethmonth, and diſcharged againſt us by the buſie-headed Jeſuits, to diſparage the integrity of our Reformed Religion: for the moſt part ſuch ſlight and unlearned ſtuff, that we may ſay in another ſenſe than Chriſts Diſciples did of Solomons Building, Lord what manner of ſtones be theſe? yet if every Scribler be not anſwered, the Chalenger goes out of the field, and cries victoria. I think it was Craſſus the Roman, that replied not one word to a foul-mouth'd fellow, who railed on him by the way, till he came to his own dores: Light him home, ſays Craſſus to his Servant, and bring him to his Lodging. Beloved, it doth become our patience to ſhew the ſame contempt to theſe idle Pamphleters, and it becoms our Profeſſion to ſhew them as much curteſie, that is to light them home to the Kingdom of Heaven, if they will hear our Doctrin. When Iſrael fought with Amelech, but the victory was ſwayed by the hands of Moſes held up by Aaron and Hur: It was not the hand which fought, ſays Nazianzen, but the hand which did not fight that conquered Amelech: And it is ſaid of Scaevola, non retentis, ſed amiſſis manibus, he put the Etruſcans to flight, not by uſing his hand, but by burning it off; ſo though we give a Truce and reſpite to the Pen which ſhould write, yet the patience which doth not write, and the mildneſs which neglects their bitter words ſhall confound our Adverſaries. We dare lanch into the Seas, as the learned Writings of this Kingdom can teſtifie: our Ship, that is our Religion is ſound, and will hold out water againſt all objections▪ It is our modeſty to harbor ſometimes in the Haven, to ſhun Pirats and ſtormy winds, leſt we ſhould encounter with ignominious Rabſheka's: and be perſwaded, it is no loſs of reputation unto us, no gain unto our Enemies, that we ſtand dumb like Jeſus before the Jews, and ſay nothing at the Bar of Pilate.

I have proſecuted my method thus far, to avouch the integrity of our Saviour againſt ſcandalous accuſations, when his lips were cloſed: but as a Reſt in Muſick is not the cloſe of the Song, but a ſeaſonable ſtop to make the next reliſh more graceful and harmonious; ſo after the pauſe of ſilence which our Saviour made, you ſhall now ſee the better how falſe and malicious the crimes of enditement were. Before Cajaphas the High-Prieſt (as I told you) this only was objected, that he threatned to deſtroy the Temple. Three other capital crimes are laid againſt him, Luke xxiii. 2. that he perverted the Nation, that he denied Tribute unto Caeſar, that he made himſelf the King of the Jews. Here are two great ſins againſt the Eccleſiaſtical Weal, to pluck down the Temple, and to pervert the Religion; and two outrages againſt civil peace, to pay no Tribute, and to encroach upon the Title of the Kingdom; let him be crucified a Gods name, that pleads guilty to ſuch abominations; but if no more can be ſaid againſt Jeſus, and we can ſhew in every particular, that all this was forgery, then let Pilate waſh his hands, and proteſt before them all, that the life which they would take away, is the bloud of a juſt perſon.

We heard him ſay He would deſtroy the Temple: Never was ſuch a ſyllable ſpoken: Is not this the Temple wherein He beſtowed his firſt blould at Circumciſion? a pair of Turtle Doves for a Sacrifice at his Mothers Purification? Did He not ſhed his tears over this Houſe of God in that pathetical lamentation? O Jeruſalem, Jeruſalem! did He not ſpend his diſputations with the Doctors, his Sermons among the People, his Prayer unto the Father, and all under that holy Roof? And now is his zeal turned to his reproach, that He would pluck down the Sanctuary? a while before did He not ſcourge the prophane Merchants, and clenſe p. 498the Temple? and now is He ſuſpected for laying waſte the dwelling place of the Moſt high? Nay, let them offer Swines fleſh there, let them change money, and ſell Doves, I would rather bear with Superſtition, with Prophanation, than with extreme Sacrilege. O beware Beloved to open the lead of the Roof, or to rent the walls of that Habitation where Gods Altar was incloſed; He ſhall offend leſs that throws down any Manſion Houſe in the World, than he that cuts up but the Bramble-buſh, if he knew it, wherein the glory of the Lord appeared. 'Tis pity that the ſtony hearts of men ſhould ſuffer holy Buildings to moulder and crumble away into deſolation; I ſee a compaſſionate example before mine eyes. O ye rich men of the World, who is your God that you do not repair it? But thoſe Sons of Belial who prevent theſe ruins, which time would bring upon the Houſes of God, 'tis more pitty they ſhould ſee the grey hairs of age in peace. Surely as the Heavens, which are the upper Court of Gods Houſe, ſhall melt away and be diſſolved only by the power of God; ſo Churches and Oratories here below, which are the nether Courts of his Sanctuary, ſhould never be defaced in this World by any arm of fleſh, till the whole earth ſhall paſs away, and Gods own finger deface theſe Monuments of glory.

See but the hypocriſie of theſe Jews and Herodians, they that are ſo careful a Temple ſhould not be deſtroyed, are furious to deſtroy the body of a man which is the Temple of the Holy Ghoſt. Like the Popiſh Inquiſitors, moſt bold and zealous to curſe thoſe hotſpurrs in our Kingdom, who threw down a Church in their wrath, and broke down the walls in their blind affection; yet they themſelves made havock of holy Praelats, and did perſecute their lives unto death, and this was called Juſtice and Catholigue Religion: to conclude this Accuſation. And why do they impeach our Saviour that He would deſtroy a Temple: no ſuch matter God knows. Solvite templum hoc, what means that? why, the Temple of his Body: Why then, who but they themſelves do deſtroy the Temple which He ſpake of? meaning the Temple of his Body. The crime then, you may perceive, as it was objected againſt our Saviour it was ſlanderous; but take this to the advantage of your inſtruction, what judgment will God pour upon them who rob the Altar, and ſpoil the Patrimony of the Church, ſince theſe unconſcionable Jews do confeſs, that whoſoever would deſtroy a Temple deſerves to be crucified.

Yet Pilate was a Gentile, and perchance would not heed the eracing of Gods Houſe, therefore to make the Romans look about them, they have a ſecond Objection in ſtore, That He would pervert the Nation: Not foreign as ſome read it, the Nation of the Romans, but foreign, our Nation. Forſooth they fain an Accuſation, that he taught contrary to the Law of Moſes, and if new Doctrine be publiſht, let the Rulers look to it; for this is as apparent as the light of the day, that new Religion is ever new Rebellion; but I do not ſay ſo of old Doctrine renewed. It is a ſtrange ſtupidity which the Devil puts into ſome mens heads, you cannot perſwade them to change for the better. Simonides would rather learn the art of Forgetfulneſs, than the art of Memory. Velleius the Epicuraean was afraid of nothing more than to have learned Problems caſt into his head, which might rouze him out of ignorance. Gryllus was ſo well in a Hogſty, that he was unwilling to leave his ſwiniſh life, and turn man again. Are there not a thouſand examples of wanton Ladies, that had rather be Girls and Younglings, than grow into years of underſtanding and diſcretion? So the Jews had rather be ever kept under the Paedagogie of the Law, than be perfect men, and caſt off the yoke of Ceremonies, and live in the liberties of the Goſpel: Niſi ceſſaſſent ceremoniae, non diſcernere licuiſſet hodie quorſum eſſent inſtitutae, ſays our learned Calvin: had not thoſe Shadows and Figures ceaſed in their due time, when Chriſt brought a body into the world, they had ſeemed impertinent, we had never known for what they were inſtituted. The Levitical Ceremonies were ſo obnoxious to alteration, that the Schoolmen have ſet down their ſtate in no leſs than five Concluſions. 1. They were ever mortales, the Covenant of theſe Obſervations was to fade away, and not to endure for ever. 2. From the time of John Baptiſt to the Burial of our Saviour, they were moriturae, inclining to diſſolution. 3. Upon the Commiſſion which the Apoſtles had to preach the Goſpel at the Feaſt of Pentecoſt, they were mortuae, quite dead and expired. 4. As the Corps of a great Perſonage is not interred but in a decent time after his departure, ſo till the weakneſs of the Jews was well inſtructed, they were ſepeliendae, laid out to be buried. But laſtly, when the faith of Jeſus Chriſt was preached unto all Nations, they were mortiferae, not p. 499only dead, but deadly unto him who ſhould diſtruſt in Chriſt, and make himſelf a debter to the Law of Ceremonies. Wherefore ſays St. Auſtin, Sicut hyemi aeſtas ſuccedit ſenſim addito calore, &c. As Summer doth ſucceed Winter, and brings heat to thaw the Ice which went before, and gives light alſo to clear the darknes of the ſhort days, ſo the Meſſias was preſented to the world, to ſet on fire the frozen hearts of them who were but half believers, and did alſo enlighten thoſe myſtical obſervations.

But whoſoever ſhall ſcan our Saviours Sermon in the Mount, Matth. v. Let him report if ſuch a Teacher do deſerve ill of the Law of Moſes, if ſuch an Interpreter could pervert the Nation. Every Text thereof was ſo miſ-expounded, that, like the Pool of Betheſda, there was no vertue remaining in it, unleſs the Angel of the Covenant, Chriſt Jeſus himſelf had troubled it. Touching then the perverting of the Nation, you ſee the report is malicious: Yet take this for your inſtruction, that thoſe Romiſh Emiſſaries, Prieſts and Jeſuites, who ſhall lurk in thieviſh corners to pervert Religion, where Scripture is in every tittle received, and Gods Laws unviolated, they that privily teach a Doctrine againſt Allegeance and Fidelity, ſhould be ſharply chaſtiſed, ſince the very Jews did think that man that did pervert the Law of Moſes deſerved to be crucified.

In the third impeachment envy is caſt upon our Saviour, that he forbad to give Tribute unto Caeſar. What? neither allow God his Temple, nor the King his Tribute? Theſe are faults indeed, if they could be proved. Alas nothing leſs. Could he be an enemy to Tribute, who was a friend to Publicans? Eſpecially in ſuch a Commonwealth where they were Vaſſals by War, not only Subjects by Allegeance. Can he deny that which was due, whoſe Diſcipline was ſo famous, to part with our Coat alſo, if our Cloak were taken from us? Firſt reconcile theſe contradictions and then accuſe him. I will give Pilate no Bribe to abſolve him, but only the Penny upon which he preached, Give unto Caeſar that which is Caeſars, and unto God that which is Gods. But becauſe Chriſt would not have ſuch witneſs as might ſpeak for him, he borrowed the money of a fiſh, wherewith he paid the Tole-gatherers, the dumbeſt creature of all that are ſenſible. In the days of Alexander the Great, ſays Joſephus, the Jews were ſo forward to pay Tribute, that when Alexander took great delight in the Prophecy of Daniel, which was applied to his own Conqueſts, he promiſed any favour to the Jews which they ſhould requeſt. They asked no more than to be exempted from the ſeventh years Tribute, becauſe they ſowed no Lands in that year, nor reaped any Harveſt: But for the other ſix years, the heart of the people was as the heart of one man to pay a portion of their yearly encreaſe. Why was the memory of that Age ſo ſoon forgotten? Covetouſneſs encroached every day, they payed their Tribute but with a ſingle hand, and curſed with a double heart▪ and no man was ſo filthy in their eyes as a Tole-gatherer, and a Publican.

Beloved, the Treaſury of the Prince is the vena porta which conveys bloud and life to all the veins of the body of the Realm. The juſtice which protects you at home, it is the Kings expence; the peace which you have abroad with forrein Nations, the burden lies upon his Revenue. The Magnificence of the Kingdom, the maintenance of the Navy, the relief of noble Families decayed, the rewards of good Subjects, all theſe are an exhauſting of his Treaſury. Our common happineſs might unhappily be diſſolved if theſe were not publickly maintained. I will but name the Fable, and leave the Application to your ſelves: The Mule was overladen, and the Horſe that ſtalked refuſed to eaſe him of the ſuperfluity of his burden, till at length the Mule ſunk down dead, and then the Horſe was fain to carry home both the burden, and the Corps of the Mule. We are to impart Subſidies, ſays St. Auſtin, not ſo much in the name of Kings, as in the name of Fathers of our Country. Gratius eſt nomen pietatis quàm poteſtatis; and God forbid but we ſhould relieve out Fathers. The Athenians ſays Plutarch, for private vertues were the beſt of all men: But in publick vertues the Lacedaemonians carried away the glory. And who had not rather ſee a Kingdom flouriſh than a Family? When Conſtantius, the Father of Conſtantine, was upbraided by Embaſſadors of Aſia for his poverty; his Subjects, to take away that defamation, piled him up ſuch an Exchequer in three days, that the world had not a more plentiful. A good man, ſays Seneca, accounts himſelf rich becauſe he hath the Air to breath in, the Sea to ſail upon. Neque quicquam magis eſſe ſuum judicat, quàm cujus illi cum humano genere conſortium. That bleſſing wherein all men did partake, he did eſteem his own moſt properly. If I would proceed in this Argument I might be copious in the praiſe of our own Nation, eſpecially of this moſt illuſtrious and magnificent City, wherein there have been at all times ſo many chearful p. 500givers; and who would be guilty of ſuch a crime, which the Jews did think worthy to be crucified?

The laſt accuſation pretended was not againſt the Coffers, but againſt the Crown of Ceſar, that he made himſelf a King. A cunning piece of villany. For as Joſeph was accuſed for an Adulterer by Potiphars Wife becauſe he would not be an Adulterer: So Chriſt is accuſed for making himſelf a King, becauſe he would not be a King when all the people ſought to caſt that honour upon his ſhoulders, Joh. vi. My Kingdom is not of this world, ſays Chriſt. Why, what a Gods name is his fault then? Had Ceſar any Land in another world? In hoc mundo regnum habet, non de hoc mundo, ſays St. Auſtin; He had infinite power and authority in this world, but it was not of this world, but of an eternal Kingdom. True Prophets and true Prieſts have been always the truſtieſt ſervants to Kings, and religious Kings have been always the advancers of Prieſts and Prophets. See their interchangable affection in doing mutual honour one to another in holy Scripture. The Prophets have entituled their Books the Books of the Kings, and King Solomon hath called his divine Book the Book of the Preacher. And would Chriſt who was the Chief Prieſt, and the anointed Prophet caſt any indignity upon Caeſar? Kings are the Images of God, and the higheſt powers, ſays Nazianzen, do reſemble Images drawn to the feet, the middle ſort of Rulers are likened to Pictures drawn but to the waſte, the loweſt in authority are like Pictures drawn but to the neck and ſhoulders, but all in ſome ſort are the Image of God. And would Chriſt deface his own Image? By reaſon indeed of the Omnipotency of his Divinity there was ſome Regal Majeſty glittering upon earth in Chriſts humanity. Auguſtus Domini appellationem ſicut maledictum exhorruit, ſays Su…tonius. Auguſtus took it for a ſcoff to be called a Lord, as if his ſoul did divine there was a greater upon earth. The Reed put into Chriſts hand, the Crown upon his head, the bowing of the Knee, the Title upon the Croſs, theſe were calumnies and revilings on the Jews part, but on Gods part, ſecret myſteries of his Spirit to make his enemies afford him the Enſigns of a Kingdom. Nay, ipſa crux tribunal fi…it, ſays Origen; Upon his very Croſs whereon he hanged he ſtood like a Judge between the nocent and the innocent. All this was nothing to Caeſar, to challenge the chief place among malefactors.

One thing is worth your adnotation, that becauſe Pilate and the Roman Empire did give wrong ſentence of death againſt Chriſt, who did not make himſelf a King, therefore the ſelf ſame Roman Empire doth endure this malediction from God that it ſhould endure the pride of a Biſhop unto this day, who calls himſelf the Vicar of Chriſt, and ſets himſelf in a Throne above their Emperour. The fault was caſt upon Chriſt, but the Pope commits it. To end this Point, If the Jews thought him worthy of death who made himſelf a King, they that have a Doctrine to unmake a King as they pleaſe, to ſport with their Crowns, what do they deſerve? And let the Jews be Judge, and not the Jeſuits. Calliſthenes was asked how a man might be moſt famous, foreign, let him kill the moſt famous. A fit anſwer for our Roman Parricides, who above other Chriſtians are rebaptized in baptiſmo ſanguinis, in the bloud of Princes. Speak Pilate, and you outragious murderers of the Jews, do they not deſerve to be crucified?

So now to recapitulate theſe falſe crimes objected, the Temple was unviolate for any thing Chriſt had done; the people unperverted; Tribute granted; Caeſar honoured. Venit Princeps mundi, & in me non habet quicquam; let Pilate ſpeak if he were not a juſt perſon. How ſhould a man be avenged of his enemies? Plutarch anſwers, by being ſo good, that they cannot reproach his honeſt converſation: So did our Saviour, and ſurely it would pity any heart in the world, that ſuch a Saviour, ſuch an innocent Lamb ſhould be ſlain. But ſuch a Sacrifice it behoved us to have, which was holy, unblameable, and undefiled. And, to conclude this ſecond general part of my Text, be careful, my brethren, to keep a good conſcience, that when you ſhall crucifie this mortal body, and the affections thereof; as you muſt do daily, you may endeavour to be a juſt perſon, to walk in all the Statutes of the Lord, that you may offer up a clean Sacrifice to God your Creator and Redeemer. And ſo much for Pilat's true Teſtimony that Jeſus was a juſt perſon. I am innocent, &c.

And now I betake my meditations to the laſt Point of all, Vos videbitis, you ſhall ſee to it. The depravation of his own nature made him forge a lie in the firſt words, I am innocent. Conſcience extorted truth in the ſecond, that his Priſoner was a juſt perſon. A ſtrange inſtinct brings forth this laſt part, Vos videbitis, you ſhall ſee to it. Marvel no more at Caiaphas, that he could Propheſie, One man muſt die for p. 501all the people, but rather marvel how Pilate ſhould Propheſie, that all the people muſt die for the bloud of one man. As Saluſt ſaid of the deſperate times of Rome, that men were ſo ill affected, Ʋt intenta mala quaſi fulmen optarent, ſe quiſque ne attingat; That they wiſhed miſchiefs might fall down like a thunderbolt, only every man was ſo careful as to pray for his own head. So Pilate calls for a curſe upon all Jury, but firſt he ſhields his own head, he is innocent. You never knew a Fortune-teller skilful either in Palmiſtry, curious Metapoſcopie, or of the Devils ſecret counſel in judicious Aſtrology, that could read ought in his own deſtiny; as Seneca ſaid of the Soothſayers of Rome, that undertook to tell Prodigies by the entrails of beaſts, Plus ſapiunt in alieno jecore quam in ſuo; That they had a better inſight into the entrails of other things than into their own: So we are all very cunning in vos videbitis, to denounce thoſe judgments which will befall other men, but we ever miſinterpret what will betide our ſelves. Harſh judges we are of other mens faults for the moſt part, but worſe Prophets; not ſo charitable as Elizaeus his bones, to bring the dead unto life, but like Micaiah unto Ahab, always portending ſome diſaſtrous thing to come to bring the living unto death. foreign, as the Grecian General ſaid to Chryſes, when will we leave this ominous Prediction, to be chanting ſome deadly Propheſie againſt our brethren? Like Pilate againſt the Jews, Vos videbitis, You ſhall ſee to it.

Many Jews had Propheſied againſt the Abominations, and Idolatry of the Gentiles. Pilate is the firſt Gentile in Scripture that Propheſied againſt the Jews. Alas then if the wrath of God be kindled, yea, but a little, what is it that can ſave us from indignation? Vos videbitis? ſhall Iſrael be loſt? Shall Judah, the firſt-born of God, be wiped out of his mercies? Is there no title for the protection of a ſinner? Joab is fled to the Altar, what ſhall become of him? Ask Benaiah when he cuts his thred. The Altar yet is an eternal refuge for others; Shall it not ſtand for ever? Ask the Prophet who made it ſhake with fear, as with an Earthquake, that it ſhould be thrown down. The Temple is an everlaſting habitation, ſhall it not laſt as long as the Sun and Moon endureth? Ask our Saviour if one ſtone ſhall be left upon another. The people of the Land are the Sons of Abraham and Iſaac; is not their Covenant to endure for ever? Ask St. Paul if the natural branches be not cut off and withered. The Land howſoever is that plentiful Canaan, fruitful, by the report of Caleb and Joſhuah, more fruitful than report could make it. Shall it not always be the Lady of the earth? Ask Titus and the Romans, if it be not a neſt for Screech-owls, and an hiſſing to all that ſhall live in the world. How is the deſtiny of all things turned about? Neither ſecurity remaining to fly unto the Altar, nor the Altar remaining in the Temple, nor the Temple in the City, nor Inhabitants remaining in the Country; but City and Country defaced unto all Poſterity. See, Beloved, how no priviledge upon earth will keep conditions with us, except we keep conditions with heaven. As Tertullian ſaid of the Devils, Pluvias quas jam ſentiunt repromittunt. When they perceive much moiſture in the Air by their natural ſagacity, then the Soothſayers tell us we ſhall have rain, ſo Satan knowing that judgment was begun already in Judaea, Pilate begins to Propheſie, Vos, &c. The murder of our Saviour ſhould be their endleſs calamity.

The Paſſions of Chriſt were ſo innumerous, ſo ſpiteful, that to draw them unto certain heads if all were reckoned up, I would confeſs it impoſſible, but to inſtance in the principal parts I will divide them into four quarters, that you may ſee how the puniſhment of the Jews is proportionable to the injuries which they did unto out Lord: 1. He was bound like a Malefactor, and are not the Jews made Bond-ſlaves and Captives for ever? 2. He was blinded that he might be buffeted; and what is ſo blind as the heart of that Nation? 3. He was ſpat upon, and reviled; they hated him without a cauſe. And no people under the Sun every where more hated, and diſaffected. Laſtly, He was murdered with the death of the Croſs, the death of malediction. And according to their ſtubbornneſs and infidelity, we can ſcarce ſay leſs in charity, than that the death of malediction is faln upon them. As the Prophet Amos ſaid, For three tranſgreſſions, and for four I will not turn away my puniſhments from Iſrael: becauſe they ſold the righteous for Silver, and the poor for a pair of Shooes. To be enthralled without Liberty; to be blind without Light; to be hated without Love; to be condemned without Mercy; thus I have quartered out the diſmal ſorrows of that Nation which ſpilt his bloud, and ſpeaking a word briefly of each part I will conclude this exerciſe.

Firſt, They bound the Meſſias, and they themſelves are Captives. That Caeſar p. 502whom they ſtood ſo much for before Pilate, even he did pervert the Nation, and deſtroy the Temple. In Mount Olivet they did firſt lay hands upon Chriſt, in Mount Olivet, ſays Joſephus the Roman Souldiers did firſt entrench themſelves to beſiege Hieruſalem. The unutterable miſery of their City how it was taken and defaced is ſo common a ſtory that I will not ſpend the time to rehearſe it. As the puniſhment of the Deluge was fifteen Cubits higher than the talleſt Mountains of the earth, ſo the puniſhment of that City was fifteen times greater than that mighty City. Within the Walls the Famine was ſo great, that it parched their bodies, and dried up their living moiſture, that Children had not tears to weep over their dead Parents. Nay, the living had not ſtrength enough to dig a grave to bury the dead. Without the Walls their Priſoners were ſo paid with the ſame coin, which they dealt unto our Saviour, Ut ſpatium crucibus deeſſet, & corporibus cruces; That the field did not afford room enough to ſet up ſo many Croſſes; or had there been ſpace in the field, there was not wood in the Mountains to make ſo many. And do they not think the Croſs of Chriſt did work in this affliction? As Tertullian ſaid to the Heathen, you have ſent offerings heretofore to the Temple, you have beſtowed gifts upon Jeruſalem, Nunquam nunc dominaturi niſi Deo in Chriſtum deliquiſſent. Nay, ſays Joſephus, if the Sword of Titus had not cut them ſhort, their crimes were ſo unnatural and ſo deſperate, that the wrath of Sodom and Gomorrha had rained down upon them. When that deſolation ſhall come, ſays the great Prophet, whom they hanged on a tree, you will call upon the Hills to cover you, and the Mountains to fall upon you. Sic in cavernis & collibus ſe abſcondiderunt, ſays Beda; they did lurk in Groats and Caves of the Rocks to avoid the Romans, and ſo fulfilled the Propheſie ever ſince that black day, O populus natus ad ſervitutem. They have loſt the remembrance of liberty. They cannot ſay of any parcel of ground in the earth, this is our field and our poſſeſſion. Of all the men upon the earth, they are the only Nation under heaven, that have neither portion in earth nor in heaven. When the City was loſt, Adrian would never ſuffer them to return to ſee it, unleſs it were to mourn and ſorrow, and then they muſt pay for it. Sic qui ſanguinem Chriſti vendunt, jam ſuas lachrymas emunt; They bargained for Chriſts bloud, and they pay for their own tears. Non eſt tutus Judaeus ad Eccleſiam confugiens, ſays the Canon Law. They only have no ſafety, though they betake them to the protection of a Church. Other men are Lords of that wealth which God hath beſtowed upon them, but they are Tributaries ad placitum, ſpung'd every year as the neceſſity of the Prince requires. Money can never proſper with them ſince they bought our Lord. Indeed Judas ſold him, the Jews did buy him, and they gave him to Pilate, and ſo the Gentile hath purchaſed him. Other men can be avenged of the inſolencies of their Adverſaries, and ſo every man lives in peace under his own Vine, and under his own Fig-tree, but they are never quiet for violence and outrages committed againſt their perſon. Ideo Judaei pacem habere non poſſunt, quia ſeditionum principem eligere maluerunt, ſays Iſidor. How can they hope for reſt who refuſed the Prince of peace, and choſe Barrabas the Prince of ſeditions?

The next Viol of vengeance is the groſs darkneſs of their heart ever ſince they blinded our Saviour. If Samſon be blinded and put to ſcorn, ſhall he not pluck down the Theater upon the Princes and upon the People? If Eliſha be ſcoft at, ſhall he not call for Bears to devour the Children? The Diſciples forſook Chriſt, and ran away at midnight, this night you ſhall be offended at me. In nocte ſcandalizantur, ſays Origen; and Peter plunged himſelf into that fearful denial ante gallicinium, before the crowing of the Cock, this betokened that they ſinned out of ignorance, and therefore were received into favour upon repentance: But for the High Prieſts and Elders, Mane facto conſilium capiunt, when it was morning they took counſel againſt Jeſus, Hoc eſt ſcientes peccant in lumine, ſays that Author; They ſinned by broad daylight as it were, againſt their own conſcience; and they that did ſo much abuſe the light are caſt into a long darkneſs for ever. The miraculous Eclipſe of the Sun, ſays St. Hierom, an Emblem of that blindneſs which ſhould poſſeſs them, was not over the whole Hemiſphere of the world, but only in Jury: For neither Graecian Aſtronomer, nor Arabian do ſpeak of it. Wanderers they were in the Wilderneſs about forty years, wanderers they have been in their vain imaginations almoſt two thouſand. Then they were directed as the clouds went before them, now they are guided by Vapours and Pillars of ſmoak. After our Saviours Aſcenſion eight years were ſpent when St. Matthew wrote his Goſpel, and yet even to that day they did report and believe that his Diſciples ſtole him away by night. What, when the p. 503Souldiers ſlept? If they were broad awake, ſays St. Auſtin, why would they ſuffer the body to be ſo conveyed? If they were faſt aſleep, which way came they to know the conveyance? Beda takes this to be not a ſtory, but a Propheſie in the Goſpel, that the Jews ſhall be ſo hardened in unbelief, that they ſhall give credence to that report for ever.

This it is to curſe themſelves, with ſuch an everlaſting curſe, His bloud be upon us, and upon our Children. Sanguis ille veniat ſuper nos, ſed in ablutionem; Let his bloud come upon us all, I beſeech God, but to waſh away our ſins in the Laver of Regeneration. But upon whom it comes for vengeance it muſt needs put out their eyes, and make them ſtark blind. A bloudſhed eye can never ſee well. A man never fares worſe than when he is his own carver. No greater infelicity can betide us than when we have our own wiſhes. Inter vota imprecantium ſeneſcimus, ſays Seneca. No marvel if we do not thrive in this world. What by our own prayers, what by the prayers of our friends, who ſhoot wide of the true good, we ſpend our age in imprecations. The Jews here did ask ſuch a thing, that they never had the reaſon more to ask any thing that was good. They ſee no more than if a beam were in their eyes, a beam as big as the tree of the Croſs of Chriſt. And ſo much for the ſecond puniſhment, the blindneſs of the Nation.

But thirdly, A juſt reward is faln upon theſe murderers, that the haters of the Lord ſhould be deſpiſed in the eyes of all men, Canes facti ſunt filii, & filii facti ſunt canes, ſays Theodoret long ſince. Thoſe who were called dogs in the perſon of the Syrophaenician woman are beloved like the Children; and thoſe that were Children are ſpurned at like Dogs under the Table. If we meet a Jew, our phancy makes us believe that we ſee our enemy. Nay, the moſt part of men preſage no better luck after their ſight than if ſome diſmal beaſt had been in the way which our ſuperſtition is afraid of. Truly we may ſay of their dejected countenance, and that malignant Mark of Cain in their face, as Caeſar did of Caſſius, Quid Caſſius ſibi vult? mihi pallor ejus non placet. Caſſius did dart treaſon in his eyes, and they dart murder. I will not report it upon tradition, becauſe fame is but the Poſt-maſter to carry lies, that the ſavour of death is in their bodies to this day, or that their Children are born with knots of bloud in their hands. This I may be bold to ſay, it is an heavy vengeance, and the great judgment of God, if theſe things be true: But true or falſe, the anger of God is broke out upon them, that the whole world with one conſent ſhould ſpeak ſuch things unto their infamy, as their Conquerours thought them not worthy to be Freemen. So as if they had been worſe than beaſts, and not fit to make good bondſlaves, thirty of them have been ſold at a baſer price, than an Aſs head was ſold in Samaria, or than they ſold our Saviour. Alas, they that find none to love, to regard, to pity them, to prize them at an honeſt rate, they are in Hell already, but God forbid that I ſhould teach you to hate a Jew. Every living ſoul, for which Chriſt died, is the object of a Chriſtians charity. This is the very day wherein we offer up our prayers, both at Morning and Evening Sacrifice, for the ſalvation of Jews and Paynims, according to our Church Liturgie. I come now to end this long diſcourſe with the fourth malediction, to wit, that we may well fear that they and their Children die an accurſed death who crucified our Saviour.

They that were ſo nice as to deny to come into Pilates houſe in the days of the Paſſeover, leſt they ſhould be defiled with bloud. What will become of their poor ſouls when they ſhall be thruſt into the Valley of Hinnon? Into the Tophet of damnation? Timent contaminari habitaculo alieno, non timent contaminari ſcelere proprio, ſays the Gloſs. It was a perillous thing to ſet foot in Pilates doors, that would defile them. But what deſtruction will it be to take the myſtical houſe of Pilate, I mean the Kingdom of darkneſs over their head for ever? They that ignominiouſly bad our Saviour come down from the Croſs, the greateſt Croſs in the world is come down upon them, ſays Nazianzen. Forty years did the Lord prove them in the Wilderneſs, ſeventy years in Babilon. But as Chriſt ſaid unto Peter, Thou ſhalt forgive thy brother unto ſeventy times ſeven times: Even juſt ſo many years were there by true computation between the return from Babylon and the deſtruction of the Temple. Now they have endured almoſt one thouſand ſeven hundred years of deſolation. O that the anger of the Lord would go no further, then they might ſing a Jubilee for ever. But the Prophet Iſaiah doth threaten them, Though you lift up your hands I will not hear your Prayers, becauſe they are defiled with bloud. Their Mothers were fruitful for nothing, but to bring forth abundance of them who might be ſlaughtered. Beſide the number, as great as the ſand upon the Sea-ſhore that periſhed under Titus, in p. 504the Wars of Adrian, when they gathered themſelves under Barcoſdau, their Pſeudomeſſias, twice as many, ſay our Hiſtories, were ſlain with the Sword as came out of Egypt. Aſſyria and Babylon have known their Captivity; Veſpaſian drove them into Italy; Adrian from thence into Spain; They have been caſt out into Brittany and caſhiered; Into France and baniſhed; Out of Spain by Emanuel and Ferdinand expulſed. O where ſhall they reſt at laſt? But where there is no reſt for eaſe, no Chriſt for Redemption, no pity for conſolation.

Yet, believe it Brethren, (the Lord haſten the day of his merciful viſitation) the time will come when a Remnant ſhall be ſaved. The Holy Ghoſt did dip the Pen of St. Paul into Propheſie, and he cannot deceive us. Wherefore one gloſſeth thus upon my Text, Veſtrum peccatum, veſtra poena, veſtra ut & omnium redemptio. Your ſin it is O Iſrael, your puniſhment it muſt be, and ſee to it further, for if his Perſecutors do repent, your redemption it ſhall be. But to conſtrue the words of the Prophets touching a viſible Kingdom of the Jews to come, a new Jeruſalem, another Temple, a potent Monarchy over all the World; Let this fancy prevail with other men, for my part I will ſay to it as one did in the like caſe, His victoribus herbam porrigo, ſed elleborum. Two things, ſays St. Hierom, are of great obſcurity in the New Teſtament, the Kingdom of Antichriſt, and the reſtauration of the Jews. We know all about what hour Chriſt gave up the Ghoſt, ſo we ſhall be able in ſome conjecture to trace the ſteps of Antichriſt; but at what hour Chriſt aroſe from the dead we cannot tell, Ita majus eſt myſterium quando Judaei reſtituentur, quia eſt quaedam reſurrectio, ſays the Father? So it is a more intricate myſtery when the Jews ſhall be reſtored, becauſe it is a kind of reſurrection.

But O Lord we call upon thee, and beſeech thee to begin thy Kingdom of grace in our hearts upon earth; Alſo to call home thine ancient people the Jews, and to haſten thy Kingdom of glory. Put thy fear into us all, that we do not crucifie our Lord anew by Blaſphemies, by Ʋncharitableneſs, by an Impenitent heart, leſt we be brought into the bondage of ſin, leſt our heart wax groſs and want underſtanding, leſt we loſe thy favour as thine own Iſrael did upon earth, leſt we loſe the light of thy countenance in heaven for ever. O Lord hear us, and be merciful to us for his ſake who died upon the Croſs, &c.