Christs Valedictions, Part 3
The Third Word.
JOHN 19.26, 27
He ſaith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy Son, and to the Diſciple, Behold thy Mother.
A Queſtion is here to be diſcuſt, Why S. John did affirm the three women to have ſtood near the Croſs of the Lord, when S. Mark 15.40. and S. Luke 23.49. write they ſtood afar off? But this is ſoon ſalved;S. Aug. lib. 3 de Conſen. Evang. they may be ſaid to have ſtood afar off in relation of the guard and ſouldiers who did even touch the Croſs; near, becauſe they could eaſily hear Chriſt. Or they may be ſaid to have ſtood afar off at the inſtant of Crucifixion, the multitude hindring them, but when his ſuffering began to be completed, many giving way, they might make a nearer approach.
The ſum of the words is this, Being I am now to paſs from this loathſome world to my glorious Father, and knowing thee to be deſtitute of all humane aſſiſtances, I commend thee to my moſt loving Diſciple John, he ſhall be to thee a Son, and thou ſhalt be to him a Mother. The command was moſt pleaſing to them both, and S. John ſpeaks of himſelf in the following words, and from that hour the Diſciple took her home.
But S. John was one of them who by his Maſters mandate had relinquiſhed father and mother, all relations and poſſeſſions to follow Chriſt, how comes he now, having forſaken his own, to take the charge of another mother?Mat. 4.22 The reſolve is eaſie; The Apoſtles that they might follow Chriſt, diſmiſt father and mother as they were a hindrance to the preaching of the Goſpel, either in regard of carnal affection, or worldly commodity, but in what concerned their care and ſolemn duty they left them not; and upon that account the Virgin Mary was committed to him, having no other viſible worldly ſupport. God, without mans aſſiſtance, could by the adminiſtration of Angels have procured her a livelyhood and protection, but it was our Saviours pleaſure to have it done by John, as well in regard of an honour to him, as a love to her. God ſent Elias to be fed by a widow, not that he could no longer feed him by Crows as formerly, but by this action he ſeemed to vouchſafe a bleſſing to the widow; ſo it pleaſed the Lord to recommend his mother to this Diſciple,S. Aug: Serm. 26 de Verb. Domini. to demonſtrate it was both a remarkable bleſſing to him, and that he loved him above the reſt; and the exchange was happy, when in lieu of a mother, the wife of a Fiſher, he took the mother of a Saviour, the beſt of women, full of grace, and bleſſed in her Sex.
But,
1. He that diligently obſerves may gather hence, Chriſts deſires to ſuffer for our ſalvation to be infinite and inexpreſſible, that thereby our redemption might be moſt full and copious. Other men think it an augmentation to their ſorrows to have their kindred, friends and alliances ſpectators of their death, eſpecially of that which is violent and infamous; but Chriſt not contented with his own real paſſion, which was moſt cruel and full of diſhonour, would have his Mother and this Diſciple to be alſo preſent, that the Sympathetical ſorrows of his deareſt might add to, and reduplicate his own perſonal ſufferings. Three Maries and a Diſciple ſtood near the place of his ſufferings, that as four Fountains of blood iſſued from his body on the Croſs, ſo from their mournful eyes might ſpring four Fountains of tears; ſo that it is queſtionable, whether he felt more ſorrow for the effuſion of his own blood, or their tears. Methinks I hear Chriſt bemoaning himſelf, The ſorſows of death have compaſſed me,Pſal. 17.9 but the ſword foretold by Simeon which ſhould pierce the ſoul of my innocentLuk. 2.35 mother, doth as much Lacerate and wound my heart. Moſt bitter death! that ſeparate not only the ſoul from the body, but alſo a Mother, and ſuch a Mother from ſuch a Son!
God ſo loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for the Redemption of it, and he ſo loved the Father, that for his honour Rivelets of blood ſtreamed from him, that we ſhould not periſh but have everlaſting life: Yet we give ſuch a diſobedient reſiſtencie to his goodneſs, that we had rather be confounded in the juſt fury of an omnipotent God, then taſt the ſweetneſs of his compaſſion. One drop of his moſt precious blood might have been a ſufficient Ranſome for the Redemption of more worlds, and yet he would ſacrifice all for this one, thereby as well to endear us, as fully to ſatisfie the juſtice of his Father.
2. But there are many conſiderations that ariſe from a myſtery of the three women that ſtood near the Croſs. Some out of a petulancy of wit, to maintain Paradoxes and ſuch ſingularities, have called in queſtion the abilities and faculties of women, in the Root thereof, in the Reaſonable and Immortal Soul; but no man of Piety and converſation in Scripture can admit ſuch a doubt. Here are women that were ſedulous and conſtant in their religious offices to our Saviour to the laſt gaſp:Mat. 28.6 and after that he was interred, they came with a pious intention to ſee the Sepulchre, and out of a civil reſpect to embalm his body in the Monument where they thought to find it. When others (even his own Diſciples) through timer ouſneſſe and infidelity had deſerted their Maſter, theſe (like inſeparable friends) followed him to his grave, and would not reſt there till an Angel of heaven had aſſured them of his Reſurrection. The zeal and piety of women have equalled, if not ſurpaſſed the beſt of men; S. Paul teſtifies in their behalf, that they were great inſtruments for the advancing of true Religion. At Theſſalonica, Act. 17.4.of the chief women not a few; great, and many. Neither do we read of any woman in the Goſpel that aſſiſted the perſecutors of Chriſt, or furthered his afflictions, even Pilats wife diſſwaded it. Jerome writ many letters to divers holy Ladies, for the moſt part all of one Stock and kindred, and all ſo Religious, as that he ſayes, If Jupiter were their Couſin and of their kindred, he believes Jupiter would be a Chriſtian; he would leave being ſuch a god, as he was, to be their fellow ſervant to the true God. Woman, as well as Man was made after the image of God in the Creation; and in the Reſurrection her ſex ſhall not diminiſh her glory. Of which ſhe receives one fair beam and inchoation at the Paſſion of Chriſt, that women continued in their attendance on him to the laſt, and that by the miniſtry of Angels the glad tidings of his Reſurrection was communicated to them before any other.
3. And becauſe they were worthy to be known, the Holy Ghoſt celebrates them by their names and qualities; we will therefore conſider who they were and what they were, their Names firſt; and then their Conditions. There is an Hiſtorical relation and obſervation,Badin de Repub. l. 6 c. 4 That in divers Kingdoms in Europe the Crown did fall at one time upon women of one name, Mary. It was ſo in England, Scotland, Denmark, and Hungaria, all four Maries. Here we have but three, Mary Magdalen, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary the Virgin, and yet ſuch three as wear now Immortal Crowns in Heaven. Indeed it is a Noble and a Comprehenſive Name, Mary. It is the Name of woman in general, according to ſome of the Learned;Gen. 2.23 for when Adam ſayes of Eve, She ſhall be called Woman, in the Arabick Tranſlation, there is this name, She ſhall be called Mary; and the Arabick is perchance a Dialect of the Hebrew. But in pure and Original Hebrew the word ſignifies Exaltation, and whatſoever is beſt in the kind thereof; and worthily are they to be ever exalted for their diligence and perſeverance in their devotion. This is alſo like, if not the ſame, as Miriam, the ſiſter of Aaron and Moſes, that with her Quire of women aſſiſted at that Euchariſtical Sacrifice, that triumphant Song of thankſgiving upon the deſtruction and ſubverſion of Aegypt in the red Sea.Exo. 15.20 As Joſhua and Jeſus is the ſame to men, ſo Miriam and Mary is the ſame name in women according to ſome. The word denotes Greatneſs, not only in Power but in Wiſdom. And great are they in the eyes of God, and to be magnified by men to all Poſterity.
4. But we intend not to dwell upon this circumſtance, but paſs to another conſiderable that ſprings from the Quality of the women, in relation to their Spiritual ſtate. We find Mary Magdalen perſonates the penitent or incipient, the other Mary, the proficient, the Virgin Mary, thoſe who are perfect. All three had need of Chriſt, and to ſtand near the banner of the Croſs. The Incipients that are to war with many ſins and concupiſcences, want the guidance and aſſiſtance of ſo great a General as Chriſt, that beholding him ſtruggling with ſo ſubtil and malicious an enemy as the old ſerpent, and openly triumphing over him, they might be animated to fight the Lords battel againſt all the aſſaults of the divel, and not to deſiſt untill they have obtained an honourable victory. The Proficients (who are repreſented by Mary of Cleophas, who was a married woman, and a mother of ſons) had need of him too, leaſt the cares and troubleſomeneſs of this world ſhould choake the good ſeed ſown in their hearts. Chriſt not content with good works (many and great) which he had formerly done, aſcends by the Croſs to higher, and deſcends not from thence, till he beholds a vanquiſhed enemy proſtrate at his feet. Nothing more hurts a Proficient, then when he languiſheth in his courſe, and ſtifles his proceedings; according to that old Moral. In the way of Virtue, not to go on, is to go backward,Bern. ad Ganinum. as Bernard doth rightly exemplifie in an Epiſtle, in which he produces an inſtance of Jacobs Ladder, where all do either aſcend or deſcend, none keeps a fixt ſtation. Thoſe alſo who are Perfect and Virgins, as Mary and John were (and for that cauſe the more beloved of our Saviour) I ſay thoſe do much need the aſſiſtances of Chriſt's ſufferings; for they are in an higher condition, and ought much to fear the tympanies and ſwellings of pride and ſelf-conceit, which can no better way be aſſwaged and taken down, then by looking into the glaſs of the Croſs. There they may find an admirable preſident of true humility, even Omnipotency it ſelf yielding to moſt contemptible ſufferings: He, in whom are all the treaſures of wiſdom and knowledg,Col 2.3 permits himſelf to be illuded and reputed may by Herod and his armie: He that ſits between the Cherubims, and can blaſt a ſtar with a breath,Pſal. 99.1 and melt a Church with a look, and molder a world with a touch, even he ſuffers himſelf to be crucified in the midſt of theeves, and to die the moſt ignominious death, the death of the Croſs. Learn hence, O man! not to be proud of thine honor, wealth, learning no, nor of thy Piety it ſelf, but lay them all down at the feet of Chriſt, and learn to be meek and lowly in heart,Mat. 11.29. for ſo was he.
5. And laſtly we may obſerve hence the Reciprocal love of Parents to their Children, and of children to their parents.
1. The Virgin-mother did moſt accurately demonſtrate this, when ſhe ſtood near the Croſs with much ſorrow and conſtancy; and how could ſhe chuſe but beſtow on him her choiceſt love, whileſt he was not only her ſon, but alſo the Son of glory? a Son, that according to his Divine generation had a Father without a Mother, and according to his Humane generation had a Mother without a Father, and therefore may be ſtiled unigenite, her only begotten Son: A Son that was qualified with moſt ſpecial endowments, as well of body as ſoul, far excelling both men and Angels. And yet even for this Son, ſhe had no inordinate, no impatient grief; but though his Paſſion was violent & unparallell'd, yet ſhe beholds him with a holy and a Religious Courage, humbly ſubjecting her ſelf, her ſon and all to the Divine will and diſpoſe of the higheſt: Thereby giving us this inſtruction, That we look not upon any natural relations, but with a love ſubordinate to the love of God, for he hath told us, He that loveth ſon or daughter above me, Mat. 10.37it not worthy of me. And that whenſoever he calls us to part with them we muſt not unmeaſurably grieve for them, but chearfully reſign even our deareſt comforts to that God that hath given them unto us.
2. Neither was there a mutual retribution of love wanting on our Saviour his part towards his parent, when notwithſtanding he was then in the midſt of moſt diſtracting torments, he forgot not to recommend her to the care of his boſome friend and deareſt Diſciple.
It is a ſaying among the Heathens, Diis, Parentibus, & Magiſtris nunquam redditur aequivalens, The Gods, Parents, and Teachers are never ſufficiently gratified. I need not inlarge my ſelf upon this point, even nature it ſelf dictates unto us what love, reſpect, obedience and aſſiſtance is owing to thoſe that begate us, and did for us when we could do nothing for our ſelves. They are therefore to be recompenſed by performing theſe duties to them,Eph. 6.1 Heb. 12.9
1. To obey them in all things in the Lord.
2 To bear their corrections with ſubmiſſion.
3. To reverence them,Mal. 1.9 in giving them all outward ſubmiſſion, and fearing to offend them.1 Tim. 5 16.
4. To cheriſh and maintain them in time of need.
This the Apoſtle clearly teacheth, If any faithful man or woman have widows (that is, to their mothers or aunts) let them miniſter unto them, and let not the Church (that is, other Chriſtians) be charged.
1. O Moſt glorious God and gracious Father, that ſenteſt thy Son in no ſort to aſſume the ſhape of Angels, but the nature of a woman, the ſeed of Abraham; and didſt glorifie that ſubſtance with the bright robe of immortality, and place it at thy right hand: We hope and pray that every one of us may have a portion in that ſacred body of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt.
2. Make us partakers of his Divine nature, as he was of our Humane; make us free from ſin, as he was, holy, as he was holy, and in the end glorifie both our ſouls and bodies (with his) in thy heavenly Kingdom.
3. O thou Saviour of the world, that wert pleaſed on thy Croſs to caſt an affectionate thought on thy dear Mother, and (amidſt all thy ſorrows) to chuſe her a Guardian, to have her in his cares; teach us never to forget thoſe duties we owe them that are (under thee) the makers and preſervers of our lives. Give us grace to love, ſerve, obey and cheriſh them, that ſo we may be as children of their love, ſo heirs of their bleſſing, the bleſſing which thou haſt promiſed to loving and obedient children.
4. And we beſeech thee (Lord) to teach all parents by her example (who loved thee to the laſt) to be conſtant in their affection and care of their children, and to bring them up in thy fear. Let them know that thou art the Father of their ſpirits, they but of their bodies; Heb. 12.9let them then put all confidence in thee for them as their beſt Father, and make their daily ſupplications to thee for all goodneſs to them.
5. Thou that didſt favourably look at thy dear Diſciple, and adopt him of thy ſervant, thy mothers ſon; we pray, that the light of thy countenance may ſhine on all us that profeſſe thy Name, make us who are by nature, the children of wrath, by thy grace, inheritors of heaven.
6. Teach us, with Magdalen, to repent, with the wife of Cleophas to proceed in all good and pious works, and with the Virgin Mary to attain to a good meaſure of perfection. Let us be aſhamed that the weaker Sex ſhould excel us, in the acts of pietie, or religion, yet powre forth thy grace upon all Sexes and all degrees of people, that they may all know, and ſerve thee the only true God, and Jeſus Chiſt whom thou haſt ſent, Joh. 17for that is eternal life