Commentary on the Gospels and Acts, Commentary 1 · Chapter 27

Commentary on the Gospels and Acts · Commentary 1 · Chapter 27

p. 599CHAP. XXVII.

Verse 1. When the morning was come]

THey had broken their sleep the night afore: and yet were up and at it early the next morning, so soon as the day peeped, Luke 22. 66. So sedulous are the Devils servants. Esau beganforeign to bustle with Jacob even in the very womb, that no time might be lost.

Verse 2. And when they had bound him]

Bound he had been before this (to loose the cords of our iniquities:) but belike they had loosed him again, to try if by fair means they could makeforeign. him belye himself. So those Martyrs were tempted, Heb. 11. 37. And this was Iulians way of persecuting the Primitive Christians, as Nazianzen testifieth: persecutioni suae miscuit persuasionem; Nazianzen.ideo que fuit superioribus nocentior, & perniciosior. So Bonner, after he had allowed William Hunter Martyr, an half-peny a day in bread and drink in prison, perswaded with him saying: If thou wilt recant I will make thee a freeman in the city, andAct. and Mon. sol 1397. give thee fourty pounds in good mony, to set up thine occupationIbid 1386. withall: or I will make thee steward of mine house, and set thee in office. So, to reduce D. Taylor Martyr, they promised him not only his pardon, but a bishoprick.

Verse 3. Then Iudas which had betrayed him]

Might not Iedu have sang care away, now that he had both the bag and the price of blood, but he must come and betray himself? Whiles he playd alone, he wonne all: but soon after, his own wickednesse corrected him, and his backslidings reproved him. Sin will surelyJer. 2. 19.Jer 2:19 prove evill and bitter, when the bottom of the bag is once turned upward. A man may have the stone, who feels no fit of it. Conscience will work once: though, for the time, one may feel no fit of accusation: Laban shewed himself at parting. Knowest2 Sam. 13. ….2 Sam 13 thou not that there will be bitternesse in the latter end? But p. 600… devil deals with men as the Panther doth with the beasts; he … his deformed head, till his sweet sent have drawn them into his danger. Till we have sinned, Satan is a parasite: when we have sinned he is a tyrant. But it is good to consider that of Bernard. …At the day of judgement, a pure conscience shall better bestead one then a full purse.

When he saw that he was condemned]

He hoped, belike, that Christ would, as at other times he did, have delivered … by … miracle. Let no man flatter himself, as if there were no such hurt in sinne; for, like dirty dogs, it doth but defile us in fawning: and like a treacherous Host, though it welcome us into the … with … countenance, yet it will cut our throats in our beds.

He repented]

That is, he changed his minde, from thinking… well of his former actions. So those miscreants in Malachi are said to return and discern, &c. …. 3. 18. So … …Duke of Suevia, when, at the Popes instigation, taking up arms against Henry the Emperour, he had lost his right hand in the battel,Hic … ille … Papa …, …, …. he sent for his Bishops, and other his confederates and said unto them: Loe this is that hand wherewith I swore that allegiance to my Soveraign, which by your means and motion I have …. Videte an rectà viâ me duxeritis, &c Consider whether you have … me on in a right way or not.

And brought again the thirty peeces]

So did Iames Abbes bring to the Bishop of Norwich, his forty … fastened upon him by the Bishop: which when he had … (saith … Fox) and was gon from the Bishop, who had prevailed with him to recant, his conscience began to throb, and inwardly to accuse this fact, how he had displeased the Lord, by … to … illusions. In which combat with himself, being …, he went to the Bishop again, and there threw him his mony… and …. …. …. and said, It repented him that he ever consented to their wicked perswasions in taking of his mony. Hereupon the Bishop with his Chaplains laboured afresh to winne him again. But he was better resolved, and crying out to God for … of his sinne (which Iudas did not) he obtained mercy, and suffered ….

Verse 4, I have sinned, &c.]

Here was …, Confession, Restitution (most men go not so far, that … hopes of heaven) there was wanting that …, Conversion, p. 601Obedience of faith that should have completed his repentance. He died in the birth, as that foolish childe Ephraim. He confessed to men, and not to God: and by his confession he sought no more then to ease his heart, as drunkards by vomitingMelanct in Chronico p. 5. rid their stomacks. So Latomus of Lovain confessed inter horrendos …, se contra conscientiam adver satum esse veritati, roaring and crying out, that against his … he had persecuted the truth of God. In trouble of minde all will out. Conscience, like Samsons wife, conceals not the riddle: like Fulvia a whorish woman,… in bel. Catil. who declared all the secrets of her foolish lover Cneius a noble Roman.

What is that to us? See thou to that]

Miserable comforters, Physitians of no value. To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend: but he for saketh the fear of the Almighty. The devilJob 6. 14.Job 6:14 and his imps love to bring men into the briers, and there leave them: as familiar devils forsake their witches, when they have brought them once into fetters. Thus the old Bethelite, that had been at pains to fetch back the Prophet, would not go back with him. Thus the Papists burnt Cranmer recanting, and the present Prelates cast off their great Antisabbatarian White, when they had served their turns on him. David when he was hunted from Samuel the Prophet, he fled to Ahimelech the Priest: as one that knew that justice and compassion should dwell in those brests that are consecrated to God. But Judas met with no such matter in the Priests of his time. Those mischievous men left him, when they had led him to his bane.

Verse 5. And he cast down the pieces of silver]

That wages of wickednesse burnt in his purse, in his conscience; neither could it secure him in the day of wrath. See Zeph. 1. 18. Ezek. 7. 19. Obad. …. Jam. 4. 1, 2. Omnia fui, & nihil mihi profuit, said Severus the Emperour, when he lay a dying. Most of the Emperours … nothing by their advancement to the Empire, whereof they were so ambitious, but this, Vt citiùs interficerentur, that they were slain the sooner. All or most of them, till Constantine, died unnaturall deaths. Achans wedge of gold served but to cleave asunder his soul from his body; and the Babylonish garment but for a shroud.

And went and hang'd himself]

If you confesse your felf to a Priest, and not to God, said that Martyr, you shall have the rewardAct. and Mon. …. 1538. that Judas had. For he confessed himself to a Priest, and p. 602yet went and … himself by and by. So did Pavier, TownClark of London, in Henry the eights time, who had before sworn a great …, That if the Kings … would set forth the Scripture in English, and let it be read of the people by his …, rather then he would so long live, he would cut his own …. But he brake promise: for shortly after he hang'dIbid. 962. …. … the same time Foxford, Chancellour to the … of London, a cruell persecutour and butcher of the Saints, … in his chair, his belly being burst, and his guts fallingIbid. 962. out before him; as likewise Judas his did, Cum … singularicrepitus fragore, as the word imports, Act. 1. 18. … foreign … …. Christ. …, …makes mention of a covetous Bishop of Misna in Germany, who had the devil for his deathsman: And D. Morton, late Bishop of Durham, reports a story of his own knowledge,Institut. of the …. l. 5. cap. 3. … 5. of one Sir Booth, a bachelour of Arts in S. Iohns Colledge in Cambridge, who being Popishly affected, took the … bread at the time of the Communion; and forbearing to eat it, conveyed and kept it closely for a time, and afterwards threw it over the Colledge wall. But, a short time after, not enduring the torment of his guilty …, he threw himself headlong over the battlements of the Chappel, and some few hours after ended his life. The spirit of a man may sustain his infirmity: some shift or other a man may make to … calamities: But a wounded spirit who can bear? … 18 14. … no fighting with a mighty fire, no bearing up … storm. Iob when once wet to the skin, … the day of his birth, and thinketh it better to be strangled or hanged, then longer to endure it.Job 7. 15.Job 7:15 And yet God was but in …, as it were, with Iob, in comparison of Iudas.

Verse 6. It is not lawfull, &c.]

They would not suffer the price of bloud to lie in a chest; but the bloud it self they could well enough suffer to lie in their consciences. So our modern Pharisees (the Popish Prelates) will not be present when the Martyrs are condemned to death, but have an hypocriticall form of interceding for them to the secular powers, when as they themselves have delivered them up to the Judges to be executed, … suis praejudiciis damnarunt, as one speaketh, having …, excommunicated and adjudged them worthy of death.

Verse 7. To bury strangers in]

Romans and others, with whom they would have nothing common, no not so much as a p. 630buriall place, Isa. 65. 4, 5. God … of a people that remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments; which say, stand by thy self, come not near to me, for I am holier then thou, &c. sick … were of a Noli me tangere, strict in …, … of foulAdricom Th. ter sanct. sinnes. There are that tell us, that the nature of this Potters field is such, as, if a strangers body be laid in it, it consumes it to theMedit for the … week, by N …. bone in four and twenty hours; which it doth not to the body of any Jew. This, if it be true, saith one, it seems God would have the earth thus markt to preserve the memory of the bloudy mony, by which it was purchased: and therefore he gave it a vertue to consume strangers bodies ere they could corrupt, refusing the Jews; to shew how they had lost their priviledge to their own land, by crucifying their Lord, and strangers began to be possest of it. Also, to teach us, that his hope is nearest incorruption, who is the greatest stranger from the sin of the Jews, that is, … Christ.

Verse 8. Was called the field of bloud]

Not the buriall-place for strangers, as they would have had it called (thinking thereby to have gotten … an eternall commendation, for their love and liberality to strangers) but the field of bloud (so the Vulgar would needs call it, much against these Masters mindes) for a lasting monument of their detestable …, which they thought to have carried so cleanly, that the world should have … never the wiser; and therefore they would not … Christ themselves, as they did Steven; but, to decline the envy, delivered him up … Pilate to be put to death. It is hard if hypocrites be not, by one means or other, detected: how else should their names rot?

Verse 9. Then was fulfilled]

Those blinde Pharisees not only observed not the sayings of the Prophets which they daily read, but un wittingly also fulfilled them.

By Ieremy the Prophet]

Indeed by Zachary the Prophet: but either … had two severall names (as was ordinary among that people) or else what … had preached. … long after … to writing, as did likewise Obadiah, &c.

The price of him that was valued]

A goodly price … there upon God, for all his pastorall pains with that perverse people: and … upon Christ (who is hereby proved to be God) for all his inestimable worth, and incomparable love to lost man-kinde. If we be at any time undervalued, as we are p. 604sure to be (for the world knows us not, 1 Ioh. 3. 2.) what so great a matter is it? Was not the Lord Christ infinitely underrated?

Verse 10. And gave them for the Potters field]

To the Potter (saith Zachary) in the house of the Lord. What the Prophet sets down in short, and more obscurely, the Evangelist expounds, and applies to Christ the antitype. So true is that observation of Divines, that the old Testament is both explained and fulfilled in the new, by a happy harmony.

Verse 11. And Iesus stood before the Governour]

The best therefore and most innocent may be brought before Magistrates, and accused of high treason, which ever was, as Lipsius observeth out of Tacitus, Vnicum crimen corum qui crimine vacabant. … was held the Kings enemy. Ieremy laid by the heels for a … to the State. Paul stiled a pest. Luther a trumpet of rebellion. Beza a seedsman of sedition, &c. Christs accusers here, shamelesly appeal him of matters that were evidently ntrue. This Pilate saw, and therefore sought so many waies to deliver him.

Verse 12. He answered nothing]

Here the nimble Lawyer would have presently argued, as the Popes Legat did at the meeting of the Princes at Smalcaldia in Germany. He brought Letters from the Pope to the Electour of Saxony: and because the Electour gave… Manl loc. com. p 406. him not a present answer, he inferred, Qui tacet consentire videtur. Melancthon, being by, made answer, Hoc est sophisticum, est regula juris, … non valet inconjecturalibus. Nam dicit, videtur, & argumentum videtur, solvitur per non videtur. Christ therefore answered nothing, because they alledged nothing but notorious lies, and such as he saw well the Governour himselfe saw thorow, and therefore tried so many policies to set him free.

Verse 13. Hearest thou not? &c.]

Yes, well enough: but there is a time, when a man should be as a deaf man that heareth not, and as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Ego … Psal. 38. 13.Ps 38:13Dominus, ut tu linguae, said he in Tacitus to his obstreperous adversary. If I cannot command thy tongue, yet I can command mine own ears. And the prudent will keep silence in an evil time, saith Amos. See the Note above, on Chap. 26. 62. Patience andAmos 5, 13.Amos 5:13 silence were Isaac's apology to Ishmael. Sile, & funestam dedisti …, saith Chrysostom.

p. 603Verse 14. The Governour marvelled,]

That Christ should so betray his own cause, by an obstinate silence. But why marvelled he not as much at the impudency of the Priests, pressing such palpable untruths against him? He did no doubt: and yet against all equity, yeelded to their importunity. But … not Magistrates be men of courage cuerdelions? Solomons throne was supported by lions; to shew what manner of men such should be, as sit in places of judicature.

Verse 15. The Governour was wont]

In remembrance, say some, of their deliverance from the AEgyptian bondage. A … it was, and therefore obtained; but an evil custome, and therefore should better have been abrogated. Custome without truth is but hoarinesse or mouldinesse of errour, saith one. And … without …, is but antiquity of iniquity, saith another. A custome they have in Rome at this day, that if a Cardinall meet a condemned person going to execution, and put his hat on the malefactours head, he is thereby set free. I see no…. sense for such a pardon. But the Inhabitants of Berne in … gave a generall pardon to most of their prisoners, and called home their banished that same day, wherein the … received and established amongst them. And they gave this… usi. Scult. Annal. reason for it. Should some confederate Prince passe thorow our coasts, we should, for his sake, pardon our offenders, upon promise of amendment. Now, shall the King of Kings. the Sonne of God, and our dear brother, who hath done and suffered so much for us, come graciously unto us, and we not honour him this way also? Saul, for joy of his victory over the Ammonites, would not suffer such to be put to death, as had spoken treason against him: for to day (said he) the Lord hath wrought salvation 1 Sam. 11, 13.1 Sam 11:13in Israel, &c.

Verse 16. A notable prisoner, called Barabbas]

That is, by interpretation his fathers sonne, his white son, his darling, his tidling, whom he had cockered and not crossed from his youth. Such children are oft undone, as Absolom, Amnon and Adoniah were by their parents indlgence. How many a Barabbas, brought to the gallows, blameth his fond father, and haply curseth him in hell?

Verse 17. Whom will ye that I release?]

Pilate hoped they would never be so grossely wicked, as to prefer such a stigmaticall varlet. But why did he give them the liberty of such a p. 604choice? Why did he not rather (as Iob) break the jaws of the wicked, and pluck the spoil out of their teeth? Should not the standardJob … 17.Job 17 be made of hardest metals? the chief post of the house be heart of Oak? Was it not pusillanimity and popularity that missed …, and so muzzled him, that he could not contradict the many-headed multitude?

Verse 18. For he knew that for envy]

His sinne was the greater for his knowledge, I am, 4. 17. Omne peccatum contra conscientiam, aedificat ad …, saith …. When men imprison their light (that Prophet from God) Rem. 1. 18. and after conviction runne away with the bit in their mouths, as it were, they run without Gods greater mercy upon their utter ruine and destruction. Tostatus truly observeth, that Solomons idolatry was a sinne farre more sinfull then that of his wives; because … knowledge.

Verse 19. … wife sent unto him]

There are that think that this womans dream was of the devil: thereby to have hindered the work of redemption by this composition. Satan and his agents, when they cannot conquer, would fain compound. … will have it to be a divine dream, because it was sent, say they,Opus providenliae Dei: non ut solveretur Christus, sed ut … uxor. Theophylact. for the better clearing of Christs innocency, even whiles he stood at the bar: yea for the salvation of this womans soul, as Theophylact is of opinion.

Verse 20. The chief Priests and Elders perswaded]

And prevailed. See then how needfull it is that we pray for good governours; Ieroboam made Israel to sinne: Peter compelled the … to Judaize, Gal. 2. 14. As the corruption of a fish begins at the head, and as in a beast the whole body followes the head: So are the people over-ruled by their Rulers.

Verse 21. They said, … ]

This mad choice is every day made, whiles men preferre the lusts of their flesh before the lives of their souls. In the present instance we may see, as in … mirrour, the inconstancy of the common sort (who erst cryed Christ up for a Prophet, and would have crowned him…. for a King) and the desperate madnesse of the Priests, Qui citiùs Diabolum ex inferno petivissent quam Iesum, as Pareus hath it; Who would have desired the devil of hell, rather then Jesus.

Verse 22. Let him be crucified.]

He, whom … they p. 605had little lesse then deified. See how soon evil company and counsell had altered them: like as Walnut-tree-roots imbitterAElian. var. hist. lib. 7. the roots of all the trees about them. Siquis obsequatur …, … reddet … temulentum Callias; si Alcibiadi, jactatorem: si Crobylo, coquum, &c. saith AElian. A man easily conformeth to his company.

Verse 23. Why? What evil hath he done?]

Why? but if he have done no evil, wherefore doth not Pilate pronounce him innocent coutra gentes? And quit him by proclamation? which because he did not, but the contrary, was he not therefore, by a just judgement of God upon him, kickt off the bench, by the Emperour Tiberius? Judge Hales came to an evil end for crossingAct. and Mon. Englands Eliz. his conscience. And Judge Morgan, who gave the sentence of that peerlesse Lady … Graies death, presently fell mad: and in all his distracted fits, cried out continually, Take away the Lady …, Take away the Lady Iane from me. It is reported of Nevessan, a better Lawyer then an honest man, that he should say: He that will not venture his body shall never be valiant: he that will not venture his soul, never rich.

Verse 24. He took water]

Too weak an element to wash off guilt … which is not purged but by the bloud of Christ, or fire of hell.

And washt his hands]

An old Ceremony, used, in this case,foreign. both by Jews (Deut. 21. 6, 7. Act. 18. 6.) and Gentiles, as the Scholiast upon Sophocles testifieth. And it was as much as to say, the guilt of innocent bloud doth no more stick to my conscience, then the filth now washed off, doth to my fingers. Sed quid hoc est, … one? Manus abluit Pilatus, & cor polluit. O Ierusalem, wash thy heart from wickednesse, saith the Prophet. God and nature begin at the heart. And, Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, butJer 4 14.Jer 4:14 withall, Purifie your hearts, ye double-minded, saith the Apostle.Jam. 4. 8.Jas 4:8 The very Turks, before praier, wash both face and hands,Blunts voyage. pag. 100. sometimes the head and privities. But bodily exercise only profiteth little.

See ye to it]

See thou to that, said they to Iudas, vers. 4. See ye to it, saith Pilate to them: With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again, Mat. 7. 2. They are paid in their own coyn, their own very words, by a just judgement of God, are regested upon them.

Verse 25. His bloud be on us, and on, &c.]

God said Amen to p. 606this woefull curse, which cleaves close to them and their posterity, as a girdle to their loins, soaking as oil into their bones to this very day, Psal. 109. 18, 19. Thirty eight years after this fearfull imprecation, in the same place, and close by the same tribunall where they thus cried out, His bloud be on us, &c. Historians tell us, that Herod, wanting money, demanded of the Jews so much out of their treasury, as would pay for the making of a water-course. But the Jews, supposing it a needlesse work, not only denied him, but gave many out-ragious and spitefull speeches, tumultuously flockt about him, and with great clamours prest upon him, even as he was in his seat. Whereupon to prevent mischief, he sent to his souldiers to apparrel themselves like Citizens, and under their gowns to bring with them a … or ponyard, and mingle themselves amongst the multitude; which they did, observing who they were that made the greatest uproar.…. …, p. 30. And when Herod gave the sign, they fell upon them, and slew a great multitude. Many also, for fear of losse or danger killed themselves: besides others, which seeing this massacre, … treason among themselves, fell one upon another. What a dispersed and despised people they are ever since, exiled, as it were, out of the world, by the common consent of all Nations, for their inexpiable guilt. See my True Treasure, Chap. 7. Sect. 2. And beware by their example of wishing evil to our selves or others, as our desperate God, damn-me's do at every third word almost, and God will undoubtedly take them at their words, as he did those wretches, that wished they might die in the wildernesse, Numb. 14. 28. As he did John Peters, the cruell Keeper of Newgate in Queen Maries daies: who commonly whenAct. and Mon. …. …. he would affirm any thing, were it true or false, used to say, If it be not true, I pray God I rot ere I die, and he had his desire. So had Sir Gervaise Ellowaies. Lieutenant of the Tower, hang'd in our remembrance on Tower-hill, for being … to the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury: who being upon the Gallows, confest it was just upon him, for that he had oft in his playing at cards and dice wished, That he might be hang'd, if it were not so Joh Manl. … com p. 192and so. In the year, 1551. the devil in a visible shape lifted up a cursing woman into the air in Germany; and therehence threw her down, in the view of many people, and … her neck. Another brought her daughter to Luther, entreating his praiers for her, for that she was possessed by the devil, upon her cursing p. 607of her. For when she had said in a rage against her daughter, Involet Ibid. 228.in … diabolus, The devil take thee, he took possession of herIbid 229. accordingly. The same Authour relateth a like sad story of a stubborn son, cursed by his father, who wished he might never stirre alive from the place he stood in, and he stirred not for three years, &o. Cursing men are cursed men. Alterius perditio tua sit cautio. Seest thou another suffer shipwrack? look to thy tackling.

Verse 26. And when he had scourged Jesus]

So … satisfie their cruelty, and move them, if it might be, to pity. But though they relented not at the sight, it's fit we should. Would it not grieve us at the heart, if we should see the Kings son basely whipped by our adversaries, only for our affairs? Christ was scourged when we had offended, that he might free us from the sting of conscience, and those scourges and scorpions of eternall torments, that he might make us a plaister of his own blessed bloud: for by his … medici factus est medicina phrene. tici.stripes we are healed, by the bloudy wails made upon his back we are delivered. We hold it a thing almost beyond belief, that the applying of medicines to the sword that wounded a man, shall make the wounds heal in a man. But here is a mystery that only Christian religion can tell of, and of which there never was president in nature, that the scourging and wounding of one man should cure another. See the Note, on Joh. 19. 1.

Verse 27. Then the souldiers of the Governour]

Barbarous and brutish men, skilfull to destroy, Ezek. 21. 31. Let the young men arise and play before us, said Abner, 2 Sam. 2. 14. It is but a sport to souldiers to kill and put men to tormentfull ends. At the taking of Tripolis in Barbary, the Turkish souldiers, having in their hands one John de Chabos, a …-man born in Daulphine, they brought him into the town: and when they had cut off … hands and nose, they put him quick into the ground to the wast, and there, for their pleasure, shot at him with their arrows, and afterwards…. …. fol. 756. cut his throat. What insolencies and cruelties they exercised upon our Saviour for our sakes, even the whole band of them, we should read with regret for our sins, the weapons and instruments of all his sufferings; and see thorow his wounds the naked bowels, as it were, of his love to our poor souls.

Verse 28. And they stripped him]

That we might be cloathed with the rich and royall raiment of … righteousnesse, p. 608that fleece of the Lamb of God, who … away, &c.

And put on him a scarlet robe]

Ore worn and threed-… no doubt: so to set him forth as an historicall King, in … of him: but the Kingdom of Christ came not by observation. He is an obscure King, as Melchisedeeh was, but yet a King, as he told …, and this was that good confession witnessed by him, and celebrated by S. Paul, 1 Tim. 6. 13.

Verse 29. And when they had platted a crown, &c.]

Christ, by wearing this crown of thorns, the first-fruits of the curse, took away the sin and curse of all his people: who must therefore, by their obedience set a crown of gold on his head, Cant. 3. 11. as … in his superstitious way … his crown upon the crucifix. See the Note on …. 19 2.

And a reed in his right-hand]

So do all those still, that submit not to the scepter of his kingdom, that give him not full … over their souls.

Bowed the knee before him]

With ludibrious devotion: So do hypocrites to this day. King Richard the second, when he was to be deposed, was brought forth in royall array, whereof he… …. …. was presently despoiled. Never was Prince so gorgeous with … glory, and more grief.… ….

Verse 30. And they spit upon him]

So doth … still cast dirt and drivell into Christs face. See the … on Chap. 26. 67. Robert Smith, Martyr, in his examination before Bonner, made one of his Doctours to say, that his breaden god must needs enter into the belly, and so … into the draught. To which he answered: What derogation was it to Christ, when the Jews spit in his face? Smith presently replied, If the Jews, being his enemies,Act. and …. …. 15 30. did but spit in his face, and we, being his friends, throw him into the draught, which of us deserveth the greatest damnation?foreign.

And … him on the head]

… into the head: drove the … into his holy head with bats and blows, as Basiliades the Duke of Russia, nail'd an Embassadours hat to his head, upon some displeasure conceived against him. At the taking of Heydelberg, the Spaniards took Monsieur Mylius, an ancient Minister…, …. …. and man of God, and having abused his daughter before his …; they tied a small cord about his head, which with truncheonsAct. …. …. 874. they wreathed about, till they squeezed out his brains. The Monks of … roasted the Minister of S. Germain, till his eyes dropt out. And the Spaniards suppose they shew the innocent p. 609Indians great favour, when they do not, for their pleasure,S. Fr. Drakes travels, …. 53. whip them with cords, scratch them with thorns, and day by day drop their naked bodies with burning bacon. So very a devil is one man to another.

Verse 31. Put his own raiment on him]

Gods hand was in this, that all men seeing him to suffer in his own habit, might acknowledge that it was very he, and not another that suffered in his stead. Mahomet in his Alchoran speaks very honourably of Christ, except only in two things. 1. He took up the Arrian heresie, to deny his Deity. 2. He denied that he was crucified, but that some one was crucified for him. But what saith S. Peter? He his own self bare our sinnes in his own body on the tree, &c. 1 Pet. 2. 24.

They led him away]

Quite out of the City, Ut vera piaculavis victima & foreign pro nobis fieret, Heb. 13. 12, 13. This was a mystery hardly understood by any of the faithfull afore Christ: neither could we well have told what to make of it, but that the … hath there opened it to us, by the instinct of the holy Ghost. Let us therefore (as he adviseth) goe forth unto Act. 5. 41.Acts 5:41him without the camp, bearing his reproach, accounting it ourEst & consu, on is gloria, & gloriosa consusio. Ambr. crown, as those Apostles did that rejoyced in their new dignity of … shame for Christs name. It was their grace to be so disgraced.

Verse 32. They found a man of Cyrene]

A stranger, coming out of the field towards Jerusalem, meets with an unexpected …, and follows Christ, which occasioned him to enquire into the cause, and got him renown among the Saints. In like sort, the faithfull Christian (a stranger upon earth) comes out of the field of this world, with his face set toward Sion; and meets with many crosses by the way. But all-while he follows Christ, let him enquire into the cause, and the issue shall be glorious.

Him they compelled to bear his crosse]

Not so much to ease Christ, who fainted under the burden, as to hasten the execution, and to keep him alive till he came to it. See the Note on Joh 19. 17.

Verse 33. A place of a skull]

Here our thrice noble Conquerour would erect his trophies to encourage us to … for him, if God call us thereto, in the most vile and loathsom places, as also to assure us that his death is life to the dead.

p. 610Verse 34 They gave him vineger, &c.]

Cold comfort to a dying man; but they did it in …, q. d. Thou art a King, and must have generous wines. Here's for thee therefore. See the Note on John 19. 29. It were happy if this vineger given our Saviour, might melt our adamantine hearts into sorrow.

Verse 35. Parted his garments]

Let us likewise suffer with … the spoiling of our goods, &c. Heb. 10. 34. yea, the spoiling of our persons, to have our clothes also taken and torn off … backs: Christ will say, Bring forth the best robe, ring, &c. If a Heathen could say, when he saw a suddain shipwrack of all his wealth, Well fortune, I see thy intent, thou wouldst have me be a Philosopher: Should not a Christian conclude, Surely Christ would have me look after heavenly, that thus strips me of all earthly comforts?

Verse 36. They watched him there]

Lest haply he should get get away thence by a …. But his time of getting out of their hands was not yet come. Here hung for a while that golden censer Christs body; which through the holes that were made in it, as thorow chinks or holes, fumed forth a sweet savour in the nostrils of his heavenly Father, Eph. 5. 2. such as draweth all men to him, that have their senses exercised to discern good and evil, Joh. 12. 32, Heb. 5. 14.

Verse 37. This is Jesus, the King of the Jews]

Pilate (by a speciall providence of God) intending nothing …, gives Christ a testimoniall, and would not alter it, though sollicited thereto. He did it to be revenged on the Jews for their senslesse importunity to have him condemn an innocent, and withall, toforeign …. put Christ to an open shame, as a crucified King. Like as that A theist Lucian, blasphemously cals our Saviour, The crucified cousener, the modern Jews contemptuously call him (in reference to his crosse) The Woofe and the Warp. And, at the sack of Constantinople, the Image of the Crucifix was set up by the insolent Turks, and shot at with their arrows: and afterwards in great … carried about the Camp, as it had been in procession, those dead dogs railing and spitting at it, and calling it, The God of the Christians. Ten thousand Martyrs were crucified in the Mount of Ararath under Adrian the …,… hist. fel. …. crowned with thorns, and thrust into the sides with sharp darts, in contempt of Christ.…. and Mon.

p. 611Verse 38. Then were there two theeves]

So he was reckoned among the transgressours, Isa. 53. 12. A sinner, not by … only, for he bare the sinne of many (ib.) but by reputation also,Quasi …. … rex …. and therefore crucified in the midst (as the worst of the three, chief of sinners) that we might have place in the midst of heavenly Angels, in those walks of paradise, Zach. 3. 7. The one of those two theeves went railing to hell (his crucifixion being … a typicall hell to him, a trap-dore to eternall torment) the other went repenting forth-right to heaven, living long in a little time, and by his praier making his crosse a Jacobs ladder, whereby. Angels descended to fetch up his soul. It is remarkable, and to our purpose sutable, that Rabus reporteth, that when Leonard Caesar suffered Martyrdom at Rappa, a little town in Bavaria, a certain Priest, that had by the law for some villainous act deserved death, being led forth with him towards the place of execution, cried out often, Ego ne quidem dignus sum, qui tibi in hac poena associer, justo injustus. I am not worthy to suffer with thee, the just with the unjust.

Verse 39. Reviled him, wagging their heads]

God took notice of Cains frowns, Gen. 4. 6. Miriams mutterings, Numb. 12. 2. these mens noddings, Rabshakeh's lofty looks, Isa. 37. 23. … lowrings, Gen. 31. 2. and sets them upon record. He is jealous for Ierusalem with a great jealousie. Zac. 1. 14. (and jealousie is very wakeful, hardly shall the sly paramour avoid the husbands eye) if he see any indignity offered to his beloved spouse, he will arise and play Phineas his part, as that Martyr said. The virgin daughter of Sion, though she be but a virgin, hath a champion that will not see nor … her to be abused, Isa. 37. 22. See how he revileth her …, Isa. 57. 3, 4. But draw neer hither, ye sons of the …, the seed of the adulierer and the whore, Against whom do ye sport your selves? Against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falshood? Yea he giveth encouragement to his Spouse, in an holy scorn to despise and derideIsa. 37. 22, 23.Isa 37:22Isa 37:23 her deriders, shaking her head at them, … they do at her, and saying, Whom hast thou … hed and blasphemed? &c. q d. Dost thou know what thou hast done? &c.

Verse 40. And saying, Thou that &c.]

Dogs will be barking at the Moon (as these dead dogs do here at the … of righteousnes,) At peragit cursus … Diana suos. … goes on with the work, nothing retarded by their jears and buffoneries. p. 612Didicit ille maledicere & ego contemnere, said he in Tacitus, Non tantum habemus etij. P C. said Augustus to the Senate.Die in Aug. when they informed him of what such and such had said against him, we are not at leasure to listen to every slight slander raised of us. And of Severus the Emperour it is recorded, that his careforeign. …. was, what was to be done by him, not what was said or censured of him. Do well and hear ill, is written upon heaven gates, said that Martyr. Railers are to be reckoned kill-Christs: words may more afflict then blows, Psal. 42. 3, 10. As with a murthering weapon in my bones, &c.

Verse 41. Likewise also the chief Priests]

Sick of an foreign the devils disease, they petulantly insult over our dying Saviour, with their Satanicall sarcasmes: which he answereth with silence, and by a brave composednesse sets himself above the slight of the injurious claw. Facile est in me dicere, cum non sim responsurus, saith one. It is as impossible to avoid, as necessary to contemn the lash of leud tongues, bitter tongues, and scurrilous invectives. Those ears that were wont to hear nothing but Angelicall hymnes, are here filled with them, and he replyes not. Princes use not to chide when Embassadours offer them undecencies, but deny them audience.

Verse 42. We will beleeve him]

They would not: but rather have said, he had done it by the devils help; or have searched the deyils skull to finde out some other trick, to elude the truth.

Verse 43. He trusted in God]

These were cruell mockings, as those were called, Heb. 11. 36. Nothing troubled David more then to be hit in the teeth with his God: to have his Religion laid in his dish, Psal. 42. & 43. And it went to Jobs heart to hear his friend Eliphaz (a godly man otherwise,) scoffe him for his Religion, Job 4. 6. Is not thy fear (or thy Religion) become thy folly? Zeackiah feared more to be mocked of the Jews, then the Caldees, Jer. 38. 9.

Let him deliver him now]

But what if he do not deliver him now, is he therefore no sonne? So they would seem to argue: and so Satan would fain perswade the Saints when … a while under the crosse. But the Apostle assures us otherwise, Heb. 12. 6, 7, 8. See my Love-tokens.

Verse 44. The theeves also]

Both of them railed at first, till one of them was converted by a miracle (for it was one of those p. 613seven miracles wherewith Christ would honour the ignominy of his crosse.) Till then either they both reviled our Saviour, or the better of them seemed, at least by his silence, for a season to consent to the other. In whose example we see, that every fool hath a bolt, to shoot at afflicted godlinesse. Every curre is ready to fall upon the dog that he seeth worried: and every passenger to pull a branch from a tree that is felled. But there is no small cruelty in composing comedies out of the tragedyes of the Church: and so, to draw blood from that back which is yet blue from the…. 13. hand of the Almighty. God threatneth Edom for but looking upon Jacobs affliction in the day of their calamity.

Verse 45. Darknesse over all the land]

The Sun hid his headSol non sert aspectun illum uni …, … fine … & …. in a mantle of black, as ashamed to behold those base indignities done to the Sonne of righteousnesse, by the sons of men. This darknesse some think was universall: not only over all the land of Jury, but over the whole earth (and so the text may be rendered.) Tiberius, say they, was sensible of it at Rome: Dionysius A ….writes to Polycarpus, that they had it in Egypt. And anotherforeign. great Astronomer Ptolomy (if I mistake not) was so amazed at it, that he pronounced, either nature now determineth, or the God of nature suffereth.

Unto the ninth hour]

In this three-houres darknesse he was set upon by all the powers of darknesse, with utmost might and malice. But he foyled and spoiled them all, and made an open shew of them (as the Romane Conquerours used to do) triumphing over them on his crosse, as on his chariot of state, Colos. 2. 15 attended by his vanquished enemies, with their hands bound behinde them, Eph. 48.

Verse 46. Jesus … with a loud voice]

Therefore he laid down his life at his own pleasure: for by his loud outcry it appears, that he could have lived longer, if he had listed, for any decay of nature under those exquisite torments that he suffered in his body, but much greater in his soul. That which for the present seems to have expressed from him this dolefull complaint was, the sense of his Fathers wrath in the darkning of the body of the Sunne over him: which though God causeth to shine upon the just and unjust for their comfort, yet was not suffered to shine upon him, for those three sorrowfull hours together. When Theedorus the Martyr was racked and tortured by the command of…. …. Iulian the Apostate, an Angell, in the forme of a young man, p. 614stood by him and comforted him, wiping off his sweat with a fine linen cloth, and powring cold water on his vexed limmes. When M^r Saunders Martyr was examined before Steven Winchester, he felt a most pleasant refreshing issuing from every part of his body to his heart, and from thence ebbing and flowing to each part again. William Hunten Martyr cryed out at the stake,Act. and Mon. fol. 13…8. Sonne of God shine upon me, and immediately the Sun shone out of a darke cloud so full in his face, that he was constrained to look another way: whereat the people mused, because it was so darkIbid 1398. a little before. And I my self was an eye-witnesse of a like answer returned from heaven, to a like prayer made by a penitent malefactour executed at Evesham in Worcestershier, manyforeign … plus quam foreign … quam derelinquere. years since. But our Lord Christ was forsaken of all these creature-comforts: and (which was worse then all) of his Fathers favour to his present apprehension; left forelorne and destitute for a time, that we might be received for ever. Howbeit, perplexed though he were, yet not in despair; persecuted, yet not2 Cor 4. 8, ….2 Cor 4:8 forsaken, cast down, yet not destroyed. He could say My God in theforeign midst of all, by the force of his faith, which individuateth God (as a Father saith,) and appropriateth him to a mans self. And Hilary hath a good note, which here comes in, not out of place. Habes conquerentem relictum se esse, quia homo est: habes eundem profitentem Latroni in paradiso regnaturum, quia Deus est: As man he cryes out My God, my God, &c when, as God, he promiseth paradise to the penitent theef.

Verse 47. This man calleth for Elias]

A malicious mistake, a devilish sarcasme. Whiles darknesse was upon them, they werePsal. 32. 9.Ps 32:9 over-awed and husht; their mouths were haltered (as horsesMark 4 …9.Mark 4:9 must be, saith the Psalmist, as the sea was by our Saviour,) andforeign. held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. But no sooner was it light again, but they are at their old trade again; deriding our Saviour and depraving his words, as if forsaken of his hope in God, he had fled to Elias for help: So whenM…ch. Adam in vita Cranm. Cranmer, standing at the stake, cryed out often, Lord Jesu receive my spirit, a Spanish Monk that heard him, ran to a Noble-man there present and tells him, that those were the words of one that dyed in great despair.

Verse 48. And filled it with vineger]

Sorrow is dry we say. This man of sorrows more to fulfill the Scriptures, then for his own satisfaction, though extream dry no doubt (for now was p. 615the Paschall lamb a roasting in the fire of his Fathers wrath) he saith, I thirst, and had vineger to drink: that we might drink of the water of life, and be sweetly inebriated in that torrent of pleasure that runs at Gods right hand for evermore, Psal. 16. 11. See the Note on Joh. 19. 29.

Verse 49. Let us see whether Elias, &c.]

This mocking is the murther of the tongue, which therefore our Saviour suffered, ut nos illusori Satanae insultaremus, saith one. It is reported of Aretine, that by a longer custome of libellous and contumelious speaking against men, he had got such a habit, that at last he came to diminish and disesteem God himself. May not the same be made good of these malicious miscreants?

Verse 50. Yeelded up the Ghost]

Or, let go his spirit, viz. to God that gave it, to whom also he recommended it, Luk. 23. 46. teaching us what to do in like case. Our care herein may make even a Centurion, a gracelesse person to glorifie God saying, Certainly this was a righteous man, vers. 47. When so great a clark as Erasmus dying with no better words in his mouth thenIoh. Ma… loc com. Domine fac finem, fac finem, is but hardly thought of. How much more that English Hubertus a covetous oppressour, who dying made this wretched will-paroll: I yeeld my goods to the King, my body to the grave, my soul to the devil?

Verse 51. The vail of the Temple was rent]

To shew than there was an end of the Leviticall liturgy; and that now there was free and open accesse for all Saints to the throne of Gods grace, for the vail was a figure of the spirituall covering which was before the eyes of the Church till Christs coming.

And the earth did quake]

To work a heart-quake in the obstinate Jews, as in some it did: others of them had contracted such an habituall hardnesse, such a hoof upon their hearts, as neither ministry, nor misery, nor miracle, nor mercy, could possibly mollifie.

And the rocks rent]

So they do, wherever Christ makes forcible entrance into any heart. I will shake all nations, and then the desire of all nations shall come, Hag. 2. 7. A man will never truly desire Christ, till soundly shaken. Gods shaking ends in setling, he rents us, not to ruine, but to refine us.

Verse 52. And the graves were opened]

To shew that death was now swallowed up in victory by life essentiall: like as the fire p. 616swallows up the fuell, and as Moses his serpent swallowed up the enchanted serpents.

And many bodies of the Saints]

To shew that the …, strings of death, which before bound them in their …, were now broken, and they enlarged to attend our Saviours resurrection.

Verse 53. And appeared unto many]

Not to converse again, as heretofore, with men, but to accompany Christ, that raised them, into heaven; and to be as so many ocular … of Christs quickning power, whereby he shall also raise our vile bodies, and conform them to his glorious body the standard, Phil. 3. ult.

Verse 54. Truly this was the Sonne of God]

i.e. A divine foreign fine …, id est …. …. in loc.man, a de my-god, as these Heathens reputed those in whom they beheld and admired any thing above the ordinary nature of …, and their expectation. Naturall conscience cannot but stoop and do homage to the image of God stamped upon his people; as being afraid of that name of God whereby they are called, Deut. 28. 10. There are that think that these souldiers, our Saviours executioners, were truly converted by the miracles they … seen, according to what Christ had prayd for them, Luk. 23. 34. And it may very well be: like as Paul was converted upon … Stevens prayer; as Justine Martyr and others were, by behold.Iustin. foreign. ing the piety and patience of the Primitive Christians, and as James Silvester … at the Martyrdome of Simon Lalot at …. He seeing the great faith and constancy of that heavenly Martyr, was so compuncted with repentance (saith M^r Fox,) and fell into such despair of himself, that they had much adoAct. … Mon. fol. 829. to fasten any comfort on him, wich all the promises of the Gospell: till at length he recovered, repented, and with all his family, removed to the Church of Genova: Christians have shewed as glorious power (and have as good successe) in the faith of Martyrdome, as in the faith of miracles; working wonders thereby, upon those that have sought and suckt their blood.

Verse 55. And many women were there]

More hardy then the Disciples, who all, save John, were fled and hid. Oh stand (saith a Divine,) and behold a little, with those devout women, the body of thy Saviour, hanging upon the crosse. See him afflicted from top to …. See him wounded in the head, to heal our vainD. Suttons Disce mori. …. See him wounded in the hands to heal our evil actions. p. 617See him wounded in the heart, to cure our … thoughts. See his eyes shut up, that did enlighten the world: See them shut, that thine might be turned from seeing of vanity. See that countenance so goodly to behold, spetted upon and …, that thy face … shine glorious as the Angels in heaven, &c. See the Note on, Job. 19. 25.

… afarre off]

Either out of womanly modesty, or … of faith; which, when it is in heart, is able by its … to pull the very heart as it were out of hell, and with … and conquest to look even death, and the devil in the …; as we see in Anne Askew, Alice Driver, and other brave women, that suffered stoutly for Christ.

Verse 56. Among which was Mary Magdalen.]

Love is … as death: good blood will never bely it self. Mary also … mother of Jesus was there, sitting with the sword thorow her …, that old Sime on had forehight her. See, …. 19. 26, 27. with the Note upon that text.

Verse 57. A rich man of Arimathaea]

Not many such, '… there are any. Ioseph was a counsellour, a Senatour, one of the … or seventy Seniours. Christ findes friends in the … tempestuous times and unlikely places; as in … and Neroes court. Some good Obadiah, or One …, to seek out Paul the prisoner, and refresh his bowels. Serena the …,Bucholo. wife to Diocletian that bloody persecutour, was a Christian, and a great friend to the true Religion. So was the Lady Anne (wife to our King Richard the second,) a disciple of Wickliffe; whose books also she conveyed over into Bohemia her countrey, whereby a good foundation was laid for the ensuing Reformation. … of Gaunt shewed himself a great favourer of Wickliffe: The like did the Electour of Saxony for Luther. George Marquesse of Brandenburg, in a meeting of the Emperour and … Ausborough, zealously professed that he would rather kneel…. … down presently in the presence of them all, and yeeld his head to be … off by the executioner, then deny Christ and his Gospel.

Verse 58. He went to Pilate.]

It was time for him now or never to shew himself, and to wax bold, Mark 15. 43. The Spaniards, Hist. of …. of …. ….they say, abhorre dangers, never aduenturing upon hard enterprizes, but aiming to proceed securely. Christs Disciples must speak and do boldly in the Lord, …, 14. 3. whatever come p. 618of it. Audendo Graeci pèrvenêre Trojam. Alexander never … any thing, but he conceived it might be done, and he did it. Historians … most of his successe, to his courage; and tell us, that having a souldier of his own name in his army whom he knew to be a coward, he commanded him either to change his name, or shew his valour. So saith Christ to all … Iosephs and Nicodemusses; either play the men, or pretend … to me.

Verse 59. He wrapped it in a clean linnen cloth]

Which … had bought new for the purpose, saith S^t Mark, to his no … …. 15. 46.cost: for linnen in those daies was precious, so that a handkerchiefNam … setaba ex … muneri … & …. Catul. among even the Roman riotours, was a rich token, as appears out of the Poet. Neither did this rich man loose his cost; for he is and shall be famous for it to the worlds …: though … body be not at leasure to do as Paleottus Archbishop of Binony did, who wrot a great book of the shadow of Christs body … Iosephs new syndon; which was also commented upon by … Professour of Divinity there.

Verse 60. And laid it in his own new tomb]

His own, … was now well warmed sweetned and sanctified by our … body, against himself should be laid there; as afterwards he … and probably was too. A new tomb it was, and fit it should … for that virgin-body, or maiden-corps, as one calls it, … and untainted. Besides, else it might have been suspected, … not Christ but another arose; or if he, yet not by his own, but by anothers vertue: like him who revived at the touching of the bones of dead Elisha, 2 King. 13. Buried our Saviour was. 1. … none might doubt of his death. 2. That our sinns might be buried with him. 3. That our graves might be prepared and perfumed for us, as so many beds of roses, or delicious dormitories, Isa. 57. 2. He was buried in Calvary, to note that he died for the condemned: and in a garden, to expiate that first sinne committed in the garden: and in another mans sepulchre, to note that he died for other mens sins, as some will have it. Helena, mother…. of Constantine the great, bestowed great cost in repairing this … of our Saviour, which the Heathens out of hatred to Christ had thrown down, and built a temple to Venus on the same ground. And Ierusalem, that poor ruinous city, being governed, by one of the Turks Sanzacks, is for nothing now more famousTurk Hist. … …. then for the sepulchre of our Saviour again repaired, and much p. 619visited by the superstitious sort of Christians and not unreverenced by the Turks themselves.

And he rolled a great stone]

Either for an inscription to the sepulcher, or for more safety to the body, or that the glory of the resurrection might be the greater, or all these together.

Verse 61. And there … Mary Magdalen]

Carefully watching where they laid the Lords body, that they might not leave off their kindenesse to him living or dead, as she said of …, Ruth 2. 20. Heavy they were as heart could hold: yet not hindred thereby from doing their duty to Christ. So Daniel, though sick, yet did the Kings businesse. Even sorrow for sin, if it so exceed, as to disable us for duty, is a sinfull sorrow, and must be sorrowed for.

Verse 62. Now the next day that followed]

That is, on that high-day, that double Sabbath; they that had so oft quarreld Christ for curing on the Sabbath, request a servile work to be done, of securing and sealing up the sepulcher. It is a common proverb, Mortui non mordent, Dead men bite not. But here Christ, though dead and buried, bites and beats hard upon these evil mens consciences. They could not rest the whole night afore, for fear he should get out of the grave some way: and so create them … trouble. Scipio appointed his sepulcher to be so placed, as his image standing upon it might look directly toward Africa: that being dead he might still be a terrour to the Carthaginians. And …, an ancient King of this Iland, commanded his dead body to be embalmed, and put into a brazen image, and so set upon a brazen horse over Ludgate, for a terrour to … Saxons. It is well known that Zisca, that brave Bohemian, charged his Taborites, to flea his corps, and head a drum with his skin; the sound whereof as oft as the enemies heard, they should be appaled, and put to flight. And our Edward the first, adjured his son and Nobles, that if he died in his journey into Scotland, they should carry his corps about with them, and not suffer it to be interred till they had vanquished the Usurper, and subdued the countrey. Something like to this, the Prophet Isaiah foretelleth of our Saviour (and we see it here accomplished) when he saith, In that day the root of Jesse shall stand up for an … to Isa. …. 10.the people, and even his rest (or, as some read it, his sepulcher,) shall be glorius.

Verse 63. Sir, we remember, &c.]

They that had forgotten p. 620so many sweet and savoury sayings of our blessed Saviour, and written them all in the sand, could remember (but for no good purpose,) that which his Disciples could not so readily call to minde for their good and comfort; no nor … it, when plainly told them, Mark 9. 32. The soul should be as an holy Ark, the memory as the pot of Mannan, preserving holy truths, for holy uses. But most men have memories like nets, that … goe the … water, catch nothing but sticks, and …-…; or like sieves, that retain the chafte, let go the good corn: like the creature Cervarius, that if he but look back, forgets the meat he was eating, though never so hungry, and seeks for new: Or … in …, who never in all his life could get by heart those three names of Homer, Ulisses and Achilles. Old songs, old wrongs, &c. they can retain sufficiently; but in matters of God, their memories serve them not.

This deceiver said]

Men … as they use. Quis tulerit …? who can endure to hear the devil taxing God of envy, as he did to our first …? or these deceitfull … the Faithfull and true witnesse, a deceiver, a cheater,foreign. one who doth … an … of cosening men to their faces? forEust ath. iu Hom. so the Greek word signifieth. We must look to hear all that naught is, either whiles alive, or when dead. … mor tuits, … in deum, cruci affigitur, saith Zanchy: and all because he pleased not, in all points, the … … M …, ….Lutherans.

Verse 64. Command therefore]

How fain would the devil by his … have kept Christ still in the grave, when there they had him. But all in vain: for his resurrection was to be the demonstration of his deity, Rom. 1. 4. and the ground work of our safety, 1 Cor. 15 14. He turned therefore their counsell into foolishnesse, and in the fight of so many armed witnesses, rose the third day, in despite of them, breaking the bonds of death as easily, asJudg 36. 7. Sampson did the … withs.

Least his Disciples come by night]

A most vain, and yet a most vexing fear, such as was that of Herod after he had beheaded John Baptist: he thought he heard that holy head ever shouting and crying out against him, for his cruelty. This is John Baptist, said he (when he heard the fame of Jesus,) whom I have beheaded. Exod. 23. 28. I will send the hornet, saith God, before thee. What was that hornet, but the misgiving fear of the Canaanites p. 621self condemning consciences, that haunted them perpetually? So here.

Verse 65. Pilate said unto them]

He was willing to please both sides: and therefore condescends both to Joseph of Arimathea for his buriall, and to the Priests for securing the sepulcher. … erat utpote qui ab omnibus gratiam inire cupie …: quales quidam per jocum placentas dixit. But if I yet please men, Gal. 1. 10.Gal 1:10saith Paul, as once I did when I was … Pharisee, I am no more the servant of Christ: He scorns that such … counter … should be found in his followers. Mordecai will not crouch or curry …, to dye for it. Micaiah will not budge, though sure to kisseColos. 2. 8.Col 2:8 the stocks for his stiffnesse.

Ye have a watch]

Appointed for the use and service of the Temple, a band of garison-souldiers who had their captaine, Act. 4. 1. and are here set to watch that true Temple wherein the Godhead dwelt bodily, i. e. personally.

Verse 66. So they went and made the sepulcher sure]

And now they seemed to dance upon Christs grave, as thinking themselves cock-sure of him. So did those bloody tyrants of the Primitive times (who proudly engraved upon pillars of marble, Nomine Christianorum deleto, qui Remp. evertebant,) make no other reckoning, but to raze out the name of Christ from under heaven. Therefore also they did not only constitute laws and proclamations against Christians, but did engrave the same laws in tables of brasse; meaning to make all things firm for ever and a day. But he that sat in heaven, and said, Yet have I set my King upon my Psal. …. 4. 6.holy hill of Sion, laughed at them, Jehovah had them in derision. Look how Daniel was innocently condemned, cast into the lions den, had the door sealed upon him, and to see to, no hope or means of life was left him; and yet, by Gods good providence, he came forth untouched, and was made a greater man then ever: So our blessed Saviour was innocently condemned, cast into the grave, sealed up among the dead, and to common judgement left as out of minde: yet early in the morning, at the time appointed by the power of his deity, he raised himself from death, and gloriously triumphed over it and hell. Now thanks be unto God 2 Cor. 2. 14.2 Cor 2:14which also causeth us to triumph in Christ, having as prisoners of hope, brought us out of the pit by the blood of the covenant, Zech. 9. 11, 12.