The Good Samaritan, Part 12
He paſſed by on the other ſide] Text.
It may be it was not in popular view where the man lay; the Phariſees muſt do what they did with a witneſſe (for feare that God ſhould deny the debt) all they did (as our Saviour ſaith) was to be ſeene of men; Mat. 6 23.there being no body to looke on, was the reaſon (ſay ſome) they paſſed by on the other ſide and left him unſuccoured. But ſecondly, and eſpecially they thus paſſed, Ne cadaveris contactu pollueretur (Beza in Loc.) leaſt they ſhould be defiled. The Law forbad the Preist to touch any dead corps; had he been dead (which yet he was not) they had obſerved the Law and done well to have tooke the wind, but now they ſhewed themſelves right Phariſees, more to reſpect a Ceremony then the weightier matters of the Law. Out of their ſchoole learn this leſſon,
Doct. If we would avoid danger and infection, then to ſhun the means and occaſions therto conducing, Pro. 4.15. & 5.8. Iob 31.1. Gen. 39.10. Pſ. 119.37.
Vſe. Thoſe come ſhort of the wiſdome of this Prieſt and Levite, who pretending to avoid the infection of ſin, yet avoid not the Perſons in whom that corruption reigneth: who ſo would avoid the Plague will balke the houſe wherein the Infection dwelleth: Miſerable folly! We hate the Plague which may kill our bodies, wee love the Plague which will kill our ſoules. If a man lie ſick in the ſtreets we take the wind of him, we ſhun him and walke aloofe: But with Adulterers, Swearers, &c. we complement and cloſe, yet onelyonly of theſe we have a charge de non tangendo, not to accompany them.Eph. 5. This argnes an unſound heart, for the occaſion will diſcover us, Heb. 11.15.
Vſe 2 As we deſire to ſhun ſin in the action, ſhun it in the occaſion; for if occaſion be not ſin; yet it is a friend to ſin: Saepe occaſio peccati voluntatem facit peccandi (Iſidor, Sol. lib. 2.) there be ſparkles in a Flint, which being let alone are quiet and appeare not, but ſtrike it with a Steele then you ſhall diſcover thoſe which are able to kindle a great flame: The ſparkes of ſinne are raked up in the imbers of our affections, let them not be ſtirred with occaſions, they are quiet, but when opportunity blowes them there is danger.
Bees in Winter (you know) keepe their Hives and will not expoſe themſelves to the bleake ayre, ſharpe winds, bitter froſts: Such ſhould be our wiſdome, if we would ſhun danger: And as thoſe that deſire to hinder the generation of bad creatures, keepe the male and female aſunder the one from the other: So ſhould we keep ſuch enticements from our hearts what lies in us, ſee Iſay. 33.15.
Object. But if all occaſions of evill are to be avoided then good duties are to be omitted; for from hence doth Satan take occaſion to enſnare us.
Reſpon. It is true that David ſpeaketh, Pſa. 142.3. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a ſnare for mee: Man in his innocency was not free from this; Paradiſe was made for man, yet there behold the Serpent: And thither he no ſooner came then he fell to worke. But occaſions are of two ſorts. Firſt. Such as are given to Satan and our owne corruption, as things either ſimply evill or elſe in themſelves indifferent, which yet we, (ſuch is our weakneſſe) cannot uſe without ſinne.
2. Such as are not given by us to them, but onelyonly taken by them; as Prayer, Almes, Hearing, receiving Sacraments, &c. theſe may not be refrained nor omitted, becauſe of the occaſion of Pride and Vain-glory, but Gods aſſiſtance is to be craved: Thoſe of the former ſort muſt carefully be avoided: As for example, if one find himſelfe in ſuch a company in danger to be intangled, apt to learne their waies, joyne with them in their courſes; it is wiſdome to forbeare that company what may be: So in the uſe of the creatures: He that finds himſelfe apt to Drunken…eſſe, he may not looke on the wine that is in the cup, nor be ſo bold with it as another may. The like I might ſay of Recreations and Paſſions. But I conclude the Uſe with that which Plutarch reports of Cotys King of Thracia, who being by nature very cholerick, and having many curious glaſſes preſented to him, brake them preſently, fearing leaſt he ſhould deale too cruelly with his ſervants, if in caſe that any of them ſhould be broken by them: His practiſe may teach us this care, wiſely to prevent the occaſion, if we would the danger.
Doct. Next in that the Prieſt and Levite paſſed on the other ſi…e to avoid legall uncleanneſſe, neglecting the worke of mercy, which was to be preferred, we may obſerve the nature of Phariſaicall Hypocrites, more to regard the Ceremony then the Subſtance (as our Saviour tels them) Matthew 23.23. They ſtraine at a Gnat and ſwallow a Cammell, Matthew 26. They make much a do about Mint and Cummin, ſome ſmaller matter, when in the meane time the weightier matters of the Law are neglected: Care indeed ſhould be had about all; But the greateſt and weightieſt matters moſt, and the leſſe, leaſt.