Works of Joseph Hall, Part 28
THe birth of CHRIST.
AS all the actions of men, ſo eſpecially the publike actions of publike men are ordered by God to other ends than their owne: This Edict went not ſo much out from Auguſtus, as from the Court of Heauen. What, did Caeſar know Ioſeph and Mary? His charge was vniuerſall to a world of ſubiects, through all the Roman Empire: God intended this Cenſion onelyonly for the bleſſed Virgin and her Sonne, that Chriſt might bee borne, where he ſhould: Caeſar meant to fill his Coffers, God meant to fulfill his Propheſies, and ſo to fulfill them, that thoſe, whom it concerned might not feele the accompliſhment: If God had directly commanded the Virgin to goe vp to Bethleem, ſhee had ſeene the intention, and exſpected the iſſue; but that wiſe Moderatour of all things, that workes his will in vsus, loues ſo to doe it, as may be leaſt with our foreſight, and acquaintance, and would hauehave vsus fall vnderunder his Decrees vnawares, that we may ſo much the more adore the depths of his Prouidence: EueryEvery Creature walkes blind-fold, onelyonly he that dwels in light, ſees whither they goe.
DOVBTLES, bleſſed Mary meant to hauehave beene deliuered of her diuine burden at home, and little thought of changing the place of Conception for another of her Birth: That houſe was honored by the Angell, yea, by the ouer-ſhaddowing of the Holy Ghoſt, none could equally ſatisfie her hopes, or deſires: It was fit, that hee, which made choice of the Wombe, wherein his Sonne ſhould bee conceiued, ſhould make choice of the place, where his Sonne ſhould bee borne: As the worke is all his, ſo will he alone contriue all the circumſtances to his owne ends: O the infinite Wiſdome of God in caſting all his Deſignes! There needes no other proofe of Chriſt, than Caeſar and Bethleem, and of Caeſars, than Auguſtus; his Gouernment, his Edict pleades the truth of the Meſsias: His Gouernment, now was the deepe peace of all the World vnderunder that quiet Scepter, which made way for him, who was the Prince of Peace: If Wars be a ſigne of the time of his ſecond comming, Peace was a ſigne of his firſt: His Edict, now was the Scepter departed from Iuda: It was the time for Shilo to come; No power was left in the Iewes, but to obey: Auguſtus is the Emperor of the World, vnderunder him Herod is the King of Iudea; Cyrenius is Preſident of Syria; Iurie hath nothing of her owne. For Herod if he were a King, yet hee was no Iew, and if hee had bin a Iew, yet he was no otherwiſe a King, than tributary and titular: The Edict came out from Auguſtus, was executed by Cyrenius; Herod is no actor in this ſeruice: Gaine and glory are the ends of this taxation, each man profeſt himſelfe a ſubiect, and payd for the priuiledge of his ſeruitude: Now their very heads were not their owne, but muſt bee payed for to the head of a forreine State: They which before ſtood vponupon the termes of their immunitie, ſtoop at the laſt: The proud ſuggeſtions of Iudas the Galilean might ſhed their bloud, and ſwell their ſtomacks, but could not caſe their yoke, neither was it the meaning of God, that holineſſe (if they had bin as they pretended) ſhould ſhelter them from ſubiection: A Tribute is impoſed vponupon Gods free people: This act of bondage brings them libertie: Now when they ſeemed moſt neglected of God, they are bleſſed with a Redeemer; when they are moſt preſſed with forreine Souereignty, God ſends them a King of their owne, to whom Caeſar himſelfe muſt bee a ſubiect: The goodnes of our God picks out the moſt needfull times of our reliefe, and comfort: Our extremities giuegive him the moſt glory. Whither muſt Ioſeph & Mary come to be taxed, but vntounto Bethleē Dauids Citie? The very place proues their deſcent: Hee that ſucceeded Dauid in his Throne, muſt ſucceed him in the place of his Birth: ſo cleerly was Bethleem deſigned to this honour by the Prophets, that euen the Prieſts and the Scribes could point Herod vntounto it, and aſſured him, the King of the Iewes could bee no where elſe borne. Bethleem iuſtly the houſe of bread, the bread that came downe from Heauen is there giuen to the World; whence ſhould wee hauehave the bread of life, but from the houſe of bread? O holy Dauid, was this the Well of Bethleem, whereof thou didſt ſo thirſt to drinke of old, when thou ſaydſt; O that one would giuegive me drinke of the water of the Well of Bethleem! Surely that other water, when it was brought thee by thy Worthies, thou powredſt it on the ground, and wouldſt not drinke of it: This was that liuing Water, for which thy ſoule longed, whereof thou ſaidſt elſe-where; As the Hart brayeth after the water-brooks, ſo longeth my ſoule after thee O God: My ſoule thirſteth for God, for the liuing God.
It was no leſſe than foure daies iourney from Nazareth to Bethleem: How iuſt an excuſe might the bleſſed Virgin hauehave pleaded for her abſence? What woman did euer vndertake ſuch a iournie ſo neerelier deliuery? and doubtleſſe Ioſeph, which was now taught of God to louelove and honour her, was loth to draw forth a deare Wife in ſo vnweildy a caſe, into ſo manifeſt hazard: But the charge was peremptory, the obedience exemplary; The deſire of an inoffenſiue obſeruance euen of Heatheniſh authority, diſgeſts all difficulties: Wee may not take eaſie occaſions to withdraw our obedience to ſupreme commands; yea how didſt thou (O Sauiour) by whom Auguſtus reigned, in the wombe of thy Mother yeeld this homage to Auguſtus: The firſt leſſon, that euer thy example taught vsus, was obedience.
After many ſteps are Ioſeph and Mary come to Bethleem: The plight, wherein ſhe was, would not allow any ſpeed, and the forced leiſure of the iournie cauſeth diſappointment: the end was worſe than the way, there was no reſt in the way, there was no roome in the Inne: It could not bee, but that there were many of the kindred of Ioſeph and Mary at that time in Bethleem: For both there were their Anceſtours borne, if not themſelues; and thither came vp all the Couſins of their bloud: yet there and then doth the holy Virgin want roome to lay either her head, or her burthen. If the houſe of Dauid had not loſt all mercy & good nature, a Daughter of Dauid could not ſo neere the time of her trauell, hauehave bin deſtitute of lodging in the City of Dauid. Little did the Bethleemites thinke what a gueſt they refuſed. Elſe they would gladly hauehave opened their doores to him, which was able to open the gates of heauen to them. Now their in hoſpitality is puniſhment enough to it ſelfe: They hauehave loſt the honour and happineſſe of being hoſt to their God: Euen ſtill, O bleſſed Sauiour, thou ſtandeſt at our doores and knockeſt; EueryEvery motion of thy good Spirit tells vsus, thou art there: Now thou commeſt in thy owne name, and there thou ſtandeſt, whiles thy head is full of dew, and thy lockes wet with the drops of the night: If we ſuffer carnall deſires, and worldly thoughts to take vp the lodging of our heart, and reuell within vsus, whiles thou wayteſt vponupon our admiſſion, ſurely our iudgment ſhall be ſo much the greater, by how much better we know, whom we hauehave excluded. What doe we cry ſhame on the Bethleemites, whileſt we are wilfully more churliſh, more vnthankfull? There is no roome in my heart for the wonder at this humility: He, for whom heauen is too ſtrait, whom the heauen of heauens cannot containe, l…es in the ſtrait cabbin of the wombe, and when he would inlarge himſelfe for the world, is not allowed the roome of an Inne: The many manſions of heauen were at his diſpoſing, the earth was his, and the fulnes of it, yet he ſuffers himſelfe to be refuſed of a baſe cottage, and complaineth not: What meaſure ſhould diſcontent vsus wretched men; when thou (O God) fareſt thus from thy creatures? How ſhould we learne both to want and abound, from thee, which abounding with the glory and riches of heauen, wouldeſt want a lodging in thy firſt welcome to the earth? Thou cameſt to thine owne, a… thy owne receiued thee not: How can it trouble vsus to be reiected of the world, which is not ours? what wonder is it, if thy ſeruants wandred abroad in ſheeps ſkins, and goats ſkins, deſtitute and afflicteth, when their Lord is denied harbour? how ſhould all the world bluſh at this indignity of Bethleem? He that came to ſaue men, is ſent for his firſt lodging to the beaſts: The ſtable it become his Inne, the cratch his bed: O ſtrange cradle of that great King, which heauen it ſelfe may enuy! O Sauiour, thou that wert both the Maker and Owner of heauen, of earth, couldſt hauehave made thee a Palace without hands, couldſt hauehave commanded thee an empty roome in thoſe houſes, which thy creatures had made? When thou didſt but bid the Angels auoid their firſt place, they fell downe form heauen like lightning; and when in thine humbled eſtate thou didſt but ſay, I am he, who was able to ſtand before thee? How eaſie had it bin for thee to hauehave made place for thy ſelfe in the throngs of the ſtatelieſt Courts? Why couldeſt thou be thus homely; but that by contēning worldly glories, thou mightſt teach vsus to contemne them? that thou mightſt ſanctifie pouerty to them, whom thou calleſt vntounto want that ſince thou which hadſt the choice of all earthly conditions, wouldſt be borne poore and deſpiſed, thoſe which muſt want out of neceſſity, might not thinke their pouerty grieuous. Here was neither friend to entertaine, nor ſeruant to attend, nor place wherein to be attended, onelyonly the poore beaſts gaue way to the God of al the world: It is the great myſtery of godlines, that God was manifeſted in the fleſh, and ſeene of Angels: but here, which was the top of all wonders, the very beaſts might ſee their Maker: For thoſe ſpirits to ſee God in the fleſh, it was not ſo ſtrange, as for the brute creatures to ſee him, which was the God of ſpirits: He, that would be led into the wilderneſſe amongſt wilde beaſts to be tempted, would come into the houſe of beaſts to be borne, that from the height of his diuine glory his humiliation might be the greater: How can we be abaſed low enough for thee (O Sauiour) that haſt thus neglected thy ſelfe for vsus? That the viſitation might be anſwerable to the homelines of the place, attendants, prouiſion, who ſhal come to congratulate his birth, but poore ſhepherds? The kings of the earth reſt at home, and hauehave no ſummons to attend him, by whom they reigne: God hath choſen the weake things of the world to confound the mighty: In an obſcure time (the night) vntounto obſcure men (ſhepherds) doth God manifeſt the light of his Son, by glorious Angels: It is not our meanneſſe (O God) that can exclude vsus from the beſt of thy mercies; yea thus far doſt thou reſpect perſons, that thou haſt put downe the mighty, and exalted them of low degree. If theſe ſhepherds had beene ſnorting in their beds, they had no more ſeene Angels, nor heard newes of their Sauior, than their neighbours; Their vigilancy is honored with this heauenly viſion: thoſe which are induſtrious in any calling, are capable of further bleſſings, whereas the idle are fit for nothing but temptation. No leſſe than a whole Chore of Angels are worthy to ſing the hymne; of Glory to God for the incarnation of his Sonne: What ioy is enough for vsus, whoſe nature he tooke, and whom he came to reſtore by his incarnation? If we had the tonges of Angels, we could not raiſe this note high enough to the praiſe of our glorious Redeemer. No ſooner doe the ſhepherds heare the newes of a Sauiour, than they run to Bethleem to ſeek him: Thoſe that left their beds to tend their flocks, leaue their flocks to inquire after their Sauior: No earthly thing is too deare to be forſaken for Chriſt: If we ſuffer any worldly occaſiō to ſtay vsus frō Bethleem, we care more for our ſheep, than our ſoules: It is not poſſible that a faithful heart ſhould heare where Chriſt is, & not labour to the ſight, to the fruition of him. Where art thou, O Sauiour, but at home in thine owne houſe, in the aſſembly of thy Saints? Where art thou to be found, but in thy Word and Sacraments? yea there thou ſeekeſt for vsus: if there we haſte not to ſeeke for thee, we are worthy to want thee, worthy that our want of thee here, ſhould make vsus want the preſence of thy face for euer.