Contemplations and Devotions, Part 10
X. Hee is reiected,Luk. 23.18. and Barrabas released.
WHither will not malice transport them? how farre beyond, not the bounds of charity, of piety, of pitty onelyonly, but of reason too? what more vnreasonable disproportion'd peruersenesse? then to giuegive life to him who gaue others death, Luk. 23.19.Barrabas, a murtherer, and to him death who gaue others life, Iesus a Sauiour, one that could not onelyonly (as they had often seene) restore such a life as Barrabas could take away; but that came to giuegive such a life, as no Barrabas, no, not that old seditious murtherer from the beginning, Io. 8.44could any way impeach, life eternall; nay, one that would hauehave giuen it them, how often? Mat. 23.37.had they found as well hands of Faith to hauehave applyed his bloud, as of cruelty to hauehave spilt it; had preiudice but giuen them leaue to hauehave compar'd these two obiects of their choyce, malice it selfe could not so hauehave err'd; our Sauiour could not hauehave a better foyle to hauehave re-enforc'd his luster: Barrabas a murtherer of the liuing; Iesus a raiser of the dead, Barrabas a seditious tumult rayser, Iesus a loyall tribute payer, Barrabas a bloudy reuenger, Iesus a Patient, though now what with sweating, bleeding, buffetting, fasting, watching, scourging, crowning…, almost a bloudlesse Redeemer; Barrabas wounded, hee healed, Barrabas stole, hee gaue: light and darknesse hauehave not lesse fellowship, 2 Cor. 6.15.Christ and Belial no greater discord, heauen and earth are not so wide as here Vox populi and Vox Dei, Ier. 15.19.the mouth of God (sayes the Prophet) is that which separates betweene the precious and the vile; but here the mouth of the people doth not onelyonly not separate, but preferres the vile to the precious, the Author of sedition, to the Prince of peace, a murderous mutiner, to a mercifull: Maker, a sonne of Belial, to the sonne of God. Heere (indeede) how well might he complaine that he was made a worme and no man, Psa. 22.6.a degree belowe the worst, the scumme of men, Barrabas. Enuie, how ill a Iudge is it, though so good a spy? how blind in choise, though so quick-sighted in discouery? Barrabas the shame, the reproach of mankind, (as his name imports, and his nature too well applyes) is preferred to Iesus, The glory of his people Israel, Luk 2.32.the light of the Gentiles, the holy one of God, one that iustly thought it no robbery to make himselfe equal with God, Phil. 2.5.and yet they make him equal with robbers, nay worse then this the worst of them, a Murtherer and Robber too, release vntounto vsus Barrabas. Here is the full impletion of that prophetike parable of Iotham, the trees of the Forest, Iud. 9.14.have here chosen the bramble, and refus'd the vine, Here,Io. 15.1. is that chiefe corner stone reiected by the foolish builders, Psa 118.22.here 'tis (if we take the exposition of some) that (as our Saviour speakes himselfe of them) they straine at the gnat, and swallow the Cammell; the gnat bites with a kind of buzzing, a fit embleme of the mutiner, who vsually stings by buzzing factious fancies, and big sounding hopes into discontented eares: yet, is this gnat Barrabas, thus nicely strain'd at, spar'd, release vntounto vsus Barrabas: whereas the Camell willingly kneeles downe to take on his burden, as fit an embleme of our Saviour, who willingly humbled himselfe, Phil 2.8.and stoop'd to the burden of our sinnes: yet him, how greedily into those open Sepulchers (as the Psalmist speakes) of their throats doe they swallow and devoure? crucify him, Psa. 5.10.crucify him. And yet even in this too, had our redemption, how full a correspondence to our ruine? Adam had at first in Paradice preferd that old mutinous Murderer the devill, even to God himselfe: eat and yee shall die, Gen. 3.(saies God) eat and yee shall not die (saies the Serpent) but be like Gods, &c. Adam refuses God, and chuses him to trust to, and therefore will our Saviour to expiate so misualuing a reiection, once againe bee weighed with a seditious Murtherer, and in their false scales of preiudice and malice found too light: release vntounto vsus Barrabas, and crucifie Iesus: nay, but 'tis not so well neither, the Iewes had a custome, what they held execrable not to name it; grounded ('tis like) on that of the Psalmist, I wil not make mention of their names within my lips: Psa. 16.5.that (as the Wise man speakes the name of the wicked may rot, Prov. 10 7.and so nothing more speakes their spight, then that they vouchsafe not to speake his name, for if wee marke the text, they doe not onelyonly not chuse him, but not name him: 'tis not not Iesus, but Barrabas, Luk. 23.18.21.but not him, but Barrabas, and crucify him, as if they meant first to murther his name, …nd then his person… so after his death too, how ma…iciously, how disdainefully, doe they strive, if …ossible, to bury his name, ogether with his body. Sir, (say they) wee remember that, that deceiver, Mat 27.63.while hee was yet alive, said &c. Not Iesus, but that deceiver, as if neither himselfe, nor his name were worthy breath, either his owne, o… theirs; as if his n…me were some magike spell, and might coniure vp yet more devils in those open Sepulchers, Psa. 5.10.their throats: that malice that hates the name of an enemy, bewraies at once both folly and fu…y. But why? may wee not say (with Pilate) what evill hath hee done? Luk. 23.22.what evill? alas, may wee not better aske (with himselfe) for which of his good d…eds is it that they thus maligne him? was it for that there is no name vnderunder Heaven, by which they can be saved, that there is no name on earth, that they so much hated? so much that they hated to name it: anger is cruell, Prov. 27.4.and wrath is raging, but who can stand before enuy? enuy and innocence (as very enemies as they are) how frequently doe they meet? even at first in Paradice, the devill was neve… more enuious, then when Adam was most innocent; enuy 'tis the Canker-worme in vertues garden, that feeds ever on the fairest flowers, the ripest fruits it yeelds: herefore is God said (in Scripture) of all other sins, most to resist and fight against those two, Pride, and Enuy, because they of all …he rest most strive to resist him; crossing his blessings, …ouering, vnworking his miracles, bringing (how aversly to his wont) darkenesse out of light, turning wine into water, into gall; 'tis the devils last fling at grace; where (as in our Saviours temptation on the Pinnacle) hee cannot hinder it,Mat. 4 6. either to make others enuious, or a mans selfe proud on't: of all other sinnes, Enuy and Pride feed most what on the best, and yet still fare the worst: and, as how spightfully, so how fondly too, how reachlesly (with that angry Emperour, wanton'd by his power and greatnes into an imagin'd deity) doe they herein but cast nets in to the Sea, to catch Neptune, and shoote arrowes into the aire, to wound the sun with? in thus maliciously not vouchsafing to give him any name,Phil. 2.9 10 to whom God hath given a name above all names, in bending thus their tongues against that name, at which (spight of their teeth) theirs, and every knee as well in heaven as earth, must bend and stoope.
But O my blessed Saviour,Rev. 5.5. art not thou that Lion of the tribe of Iudah? how frowardly doe they h…re then peruert the iudgement of the Wise? Better (saies So…omon) is a living dogge then a dead Lion: better say they, is a dead dogge, dead in trespasses and sinnes, Ephes 2.1.dead in law too, then the ever-living Lion of the tribe of Iudah. Release vntounto vsus Barrabas &c. And yet (Lord) how mercifully dost thou gather grapes from their sharpest thornes? how miraculously dost thou still turne not their water, but their worst of gall,Io. 2. to mee into the wine of gladnesse? two notorious malefactors (to the comfort of all however grievous, if grieved sinners) didst thou by thine owne death free from theirs; this seditious Murtherer here, and that other theefe vponupon the Crosse: the one from the death of his body, the other from the death of his soule; both, to assure mee, that 'tis no other then thy death, that can free mee from that death, which is of bo…h body, and soule. Redemption is ever most proper in relation to captivity; how early then, how fully dost thou appeare a Redeemer (Lord) that even now, thus long before thy death, hast redeemed this captive wretch, both from death, and durance? nor as Barrabas is not redeem'd from death onelyonly, but f…om Prison too; so neither let mee ever thinke, that thou wilt redeeme me from my soules death, vnlesse thou first redeeme my soule, and set it free from sinnes bondage; those two powers, of sinne and darkenesse, that of damnation, and the other of dominion, are ioynt and inseparable, and where thou redeemest not from both, thou dost from neither. But (O Lord) to draw yet neerer home, have I never with these thy Murderers prefer'd Barrabas before thee? alas yes, every wilfull act of sinne, is no other then a sedition, a mutiny against the commonwealth of my soules Israel, and another Iudas Galilaeus, Act. 5 37.that denies the tribute of obedience to thee, the truely high and mighty Caesar; as often then, as I have listned to that old mutinous Murderer, Io. 8.44.in his seditious temptations and neglected thy commands, so often have I chosen Barrabas and reiected thee; so that I stand doubly guilty, not onelyonly of sedition against thee with Barrabas; but of reiection of thee with these thy Murderers, how often hast thou beene, as thou art here to these disdainefull Iewes offred me, and that by thine owne selfe, in thy word, thy Sacraments, and good motions of thy spirit, and that not (as here by Pilate vntounto them) to bee releas'd, but to bee bound for my release? come vntounto mee all yee that are heavy laden, and I will release you. And what hath my carelesse neglect of those thy free and many offers, but answered (with Pilate here) (as if I knew not what thou were good for) what shall I doe with Iesus that is called Christ? If not worse (with those devils in the Gospell,) what have I to doe w… thee? Iesus thou Sonne of God? nay have not many times the secret grudgings of my reluctant soule, accounted those thy gracious offers of speedy repentance, but a comming (as those devils speake there) to torment mee before the time? before the time of my owne vnsetled setting, age, or sicknesse, or some other surfet of the world? But (O Lord) Pilate here offred thee but thrice; how much more liberall art thou of thy selfe; how often wouldst thou have gathered mee vnderunder thy wings, Mat. 23 37.as a hen her chickens? And yet, I would not; nay, thou still offer'st thy selfe, and cryest why will yee die, come vntounto me; returne, returne: (O Lord) as thou dost mee the grace so freely to offer thy selfe to mee, so give mee the grace, as faithfully to …eceive thee; otherwise, if thou give mee not both h…rt to chuse thee, and han… to take thee, thy many offers will bee but to my greater cost, to inhai…e the price of Hell.