BOOK 6. THE DEATH.
CHAPTER 3.
6.3.2. Of Considering Jesus in that Respect.
Of Considering Jesus in that Respect.
Let us consider Jesus, carrying on this great work of our salvation, during his sufferings and death. "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced," saith the prophet, Zech. xii. 10. (i.e.) they shall consider me, and accordingly says the apostle, "Looking unto Jesus, or considering of Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy of our salvation set before him, endured the cross, and despised the shame," Heb. xii. 2. Then indeed, and in that act is the duty brought in: it is good in all respects, and under all considerations, to look unto Jesus from first to last; but above all, this text relates firstly to the time of his sufferings; and hence it is that Luke calls Christ's passion (theorian) theory or sight; "And all the people that came together to that sight, -- smote their breasts and returned," Luke xxiii. 48. Not but that every passage of Christ is a theory or sight worthy our looking on, or considering of: Christ in his Father's purpose, and Christ in the promise, and Christ in performance, Christ in his birth, and Christ in his life; O how sweet! What blessed objects are these to look upon? But above all, "consider him (saith the apostle) that endured such contradictions of sinners against himself" Heb. xii. 3. "Consider him, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, and despised the shame," verse 2. of all other parts, acts or passages of Christ, the Holy Ghost hath only honoured Christ's passion, (his sufferings and his death) with his name of theory and sight. Why, surely this is the theory ever most commended to our view and consideration; O then let us look on this, consider of this. As in this manner, --
1. Consider him passing over the brook Cedron; it signifies the wrath of God and rage of men; the first step of his passion is sharp and sore; he cannot enter the door, but first he must wade through cold waters on bare feet, nor must he only wade through them but drink of them; through many tribulations must they go that will purchase souls, and through many tribulations must they go that will follow after him to the kingdom of glory. Consider him entering into the garden of Gethsemane; in a garden Adam sinned, and in this garden Christ must suffer, that the same place which was the nest where sin was hatched, might now be the child-bed of grace and mercy; into this garden no sooner was he entered, but he began to be agonized, all his powers and passions within him were in conflict. Consider, O my soul, how suddenly he is struck into a strange fear; never was man so afraid of the torments of hell, as Christ (standing in our room) is of his Father's wrath; fear is still suitable to apprehension, and never man could so perfectly apprehend the cause of fear as Jesus Christ, nor was he only afraid but very heavy; "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." His sorrow was lethal and deadly, it melted his soul gradually, as wax is melted,with heat; it continued with him till his last gasp, his heart was like wax burning all the time of his passion, and at last "it melted in the midst of his bowels," Psalm xxii. 19, Mark xiv. 33. Nor was he only afraid and heavy, but he began to be sore amazed; this signifies an universal cessation of all the faculties of the soul from their several functions; we usually call it a consternation, it is like a clock stopped for the while from going, by some hand or other laid upon it: or if it was not wholly a cessation, yet was it at least an expavefaction, such a motion of the mind, as whereby, for the present, he was disenabled to mind anything else but the dreadful sense of the wrath of God. O what an agony was this! O what a struggling passion of mixed grief was this? What afflicting and conflicting affections under the sight and sense of eminent peril was in this agony? "And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly," Luke xxii. 44. Thrice had he prayed, but now in this agony he prayed more earnestly. "O my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Though I feel the soul of pain in the pain of my soul, yet there is divinity in me, which tells me there is a wage for sin, and I will pay it all. O my Father, sith thou hast bent thy bow, lo, here an open breast, fix herein all thy shafts of fury, better I suffer for a while, than that all believers should be damned forever; thy will is mine, lo, I will bear the burden of sin, come and shoot here thy arrows of revenge. And thus as he prayed he swate, and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground, Luke xxii. 44. Oh! What man or angel can conceive the agony, the fear, the sorrow, the amazement of that heart, that without all outward violence, merely out of the extremity of his own passion, bled through the flesh and skin, not some faint dew, but solid drops of blood? Now is he crucified without a cross, fear and sorrow are the nails, our sins the thorns, his Father's wrath the spear, and all these together, cause a bleeding shower to rain throughout all his pores; O my soul, consider of this, and if thou wilt bring this consideration home, say, "Thy sins were the cause of this bloody sweat," Jesus Christ is that true Adam, that is come out of paradise for thy sins, and thus laboured on earth with his bloody sweat, to get the bread that thou must feed on.
2. Consider his apprehension; Judas is now at hand with a troop following him to apprehend his master, see how without all shame, he set himself in the van, and coming to his Lord and Master, gives him a most traitorous and deceitful kiss, "What, Judas! Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?" Hast thou sold the Lord of life to such cruel merchants, as covet greedily his blood and life? O alas! at what price hast thou set the Lord of all the creatures? At thirty pence. What a vile and slender price is this for a Lord of such glory and majesty? God was sold for thirty pieces of silver, but man could not be bought without the dearest heart blood of the Son of God. At that time, said Christ, "Ye be come as it were against a thief with swords and staves? I sat daily among you teaching in the temple, and ye never laid hands on me, but this is your hour and the power of darkness," Luke xxii. 52, 53. Now the Prince of darkness exercised his power, now the hellish rout, and malicious rabble of ravenous wolves assaulted the most innocent Lamb in the world, now they most furiously hauled him this way and that way; O how ungently did they handle him? How uncourteously spake they unto him? How many blows and buffets did they give him? What cries, and shouts, and clamours made they over him? Now they lay hold on his holy hands, and bind them hard with rough and knotty cords, so that they gall the skin of his arms, and make the very blood spring out; now they bring him back again over Cedron, and they make him once and again to "drink of the brook in the way;" now they lead him openly through the high streets of Jerusalem, and carry him to the house of Annas in great triumph. O my soul, consider these several passages, consider them leisurely and with good attention, consider them till thou feelest some motions or alterations in thy affections; is not this he, that is the infinite virtue, the pattern of innocency, the everlasting wisdom, the honour of earth, the glory of heaven, the very fountain of all beauty, whether of men or angels? how is it then, that this virtue or power is tied with bands, that innocency is apprehended, that wisdom is flouted and laughed to scorn, that honour is contemned, that glory is tormented, that he who is fairer than all the children of men, is besmeared with weeping, and troubled with sorrow of heart? Surely there is something, O my soul, in thee, that caused all this: hadst not thou sinned, the Sun of righteousness had never been eclipsed,
3. Consider the hurryings of Jesus from Annas to Caiaphas; there a council is called, and Caiaphas, the high priest, adjures our Lord to tell him, "if he was Christ the Son of God," Matt, xxvi. 63. No sooner he affirms it, but he is doomed guilty of blasphemy, and so guilty of death, verse 66. Now, again they assault him like mad dogs, and disgorge upon him all their malice, fury and revenge; each one to the utmost of his power, gives him buffets and strokes; there they spit upon that divine face with their devilish mouths; there they hoodwink his eyes, and strike him on the cheek, scoffing and jesting, and saying, "Prophecy who is it that smote thee." O beauty of angels! was that a face to be spit upon? Men usually, when they are provoked to spit, turn away their faces towards the foulest corner of the house; and is there not in all that palace a fouler place to spit in than the face of Jesus? O my soul, why dost thou not humble thyself at this so wonderful example? How is it, that there should remain in the world any token of pride, after this so great and marvellous an example of humility? Surely I am at my wits end, and very much astonished to consider how this so great patience overcomes not my anger, how this so great abasing assuageth not my pride, how these so violent buffets beat not down my presumption. Is it not marvellous, that Jesus Christ by these means should overthrow the kingdom of pride; and yet, that there should remain in me the relics of pride? Consider all those night-sufferings of Christ; O crUel night! Unquiet night! now was the season that all creatures should take their rest, that the senses and members wearied with toils and labours should be refreshed; but on the contrary, Christ's members and senses were then tormented, they struck his body, they afflicted his soul, they bound his hands, they buffeted his cheeks, they spit in his face; O my soul thou sinnest in the dark, in covert, in secret, when no eye is upon thee, when the sun, that eye of the world, is set or hid; and therefore all the night long is Christ thus tormented by thy sins; not one jot of rest hath Christ, not a wink of sleep must seize on him, whom thou by the alarm of thy sins disquieted both at evening, at mid-night, and at the cock crowing, and at the dawning.
4. Consider the hurryings of Jesus from Caiphas to Pilate; now he stands before Pilate where he was accused of sedition, seduction and usurpation. Not only Jews, but Gentiles, have their hands imbrued in the blood of Christ; Pilate was delegated from Caesar, both of them Gentiles; yet not without a prophecy, "Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man, shall be accomplished, for he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles," Luke xviii. 31, 32, At the Gentile tribunal he is questioned of his kingdom, and he answers both the Jews and Gentiles that they need not fear his usurpation, "My kingdom is not of this world," John xviii. 36. He gives kingdoms that are eternal, but he will take away none that are temporal; Christ came not into the world to be Caesar's, or Pilate's, or Herod's successor, but if they had believed, to have been their Saviour. Look through the chronicles of his life, and we find him so far from a king, that he was the meanest servant of all men; where was he born? But at Bethlehem, a little city. Where did the shepherds find him? But in a poor cottage. Who were his disciples? But a deal of fishermen. Who his companions? But publicans and sinners. Is he hungry? Where stands his table? But on plain ground. What are his dainties? But bread and a few fishes. Where is his lodging? But at the stem of a ship. Here is a king without either presence-chamber, or bed-chamber, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not whereon to lay his head." Come, fear not Pilate the loss of thy diadem; it may be the people would sometimes have made him a king, but see how he flees from it, "My kingdom is not of this world," saith Jesus, Oh! that I could but contemn the world as Christ did. Oh! that first, and above all, I could seek the kingdom of God, and his righteousness. Oh, my soul! I feel it, I feel it, unless I can be free from the affection of all creatures, I cannot with freedom of mind aspire unto divine things: unless I be willing with Christ to tread on crowns and sceptres, to be despised and forsaken of all, and to be esteemed nothing at all, I can have no inward peace, nor be wholly spiritual enlightened, nor be wholly united to the Lord Jesus Christ!
5. Consider the hurryings of Jesus from Pilate to Herod: there is he "questioned of many things," but justly is the Lamb of God dumb, and opened not his mouth to him, that not long before had taken away his voice; upon this "he is mocked and arrayed in a gorgeous robe," Luke xxiii. 11. Wisdom is taken for folly, virtue for vice, truth for blasphemy, temperance for gluttony, the peacemaker of all the world, for a seditious disturber of the world, the reformer of the law for a breaker of the law, and the justifier of sinners for a sinner, and the follower of sinners. See how he emptied himself, and made himself of no reputation, that he might fill thee with goodness, and make thee spiritually wise unto salvation.
6. Consider the hurryings of Jesus from Herod back again to Pilate; O my Saviour how art thou now abused? Now accusations are forged; and when Pilate sees that nothing will do, but Christ must die, he delivers him to be stripped, whipped, clothed in purple, crowned with thorns, and sceptred with a reed. He that with spittle cured the eyes of the blind, is now blinded with their spittle; who can number those stripes wherewith they flay and tear his body, one wound eating into another, that "there is no health in his bones by reason of my sins?" O Jesus! was that frothy spittle the ointment, those thorns thy crown, that reed thy sceptre, that purple dyed and embroidered with blood thy royal robes? Or, because Adam's sin brought forth thorns, must it therefore be tby penance to wear them? Unthankful people, thus watered with his blood, that bringeth forth nothing but thorns to crown him. But Oh! that the Lord of heaven, the Creator of the world, the glory of the angels, the wisdom of God, should for my sake, be punished with whips and scourges! O my heart, how can I think on this without tears of blood? O joy of the angels, and glory of saints, who hath thus disfigured thee? Who hath thus defiled thee with so many bloody blows? Certainly they were not thy sins but mine; it was love and mercy that compassed thee about, and caused thee to take upon thee this so heavy a burden; love was the cause why thou didst bestow upon me all thy benefits, and mercy moved thee to take upon thee all my miseries.
7. Consider that sad spectacle of Jesus, when "he came forth wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe, and Pilate saying unto them, Behold the man," John xix. 5. O my soul, fix thy eyes on this sad object: suppose thyself in the case of Jesus; what, if in so sensible and tender a part as thy head is, men should fasten a number of thorns, yea, and those so sharp, that they should pierce into thy skull: why, alas! thou canst hardly abide the prick of a pin, much less the piercing in of so many thorns. O but my Jesus was crowned with thorns, and sceptred with a reed, and that reed was taken out of his hands to beat the crown of thorns into his head; and, besides, thy Jesus was whipped with cords, and rods, and little chains of iron, that from his shoulders to the soles of his feet, there was no part free; and being now in this plight, thou art called on to "Behold the man:" dost thou see him? Is thy imagination strong? Canst thou consider him at present, as if thou hadst a view of this very man! Methinks it should make thee break out, and say, O brightness of thy Father's glory, who hath thus cruelly dealt with thee? O unspotted glass of the majesty of God, who hath thus wholly disfigured thee? O river that flows out of the paradise of delights, who hath thus troubled thee? It is my sins, O Lord, that hath so troubled thee, my sins were the thorns that pricked thee, the lashes that whipped thee, the purple that clothed thee; it is I Lord that am thy tormentor, and the very cause of these thy pains.
8. He Consider Pilate's sentence. That "Jesus should be crucified as the Jews required." Now they had him in their will, and they did to him what seemed them good. Follow him from Gabbatha to Golgotha, see how they lay the heavy cross upon his tender shoulders, that were so pitifully rent and torn with whips, accompany him all the way to the execution, and help to carry his cross to mount Calvary, and there, as if thou hadst been frozen hitherto, thaw into tears; see him lifted up on that engine of torture, the bloody cross, he hangs on nails, and as he hangs, his weight becomes his own affliction: O see how his arms and legs were racked with violent pulls, his hands and feet bored with nails, his whole body torn with stripes, and gored with blood: And now, O my soul, run with all thy might into his arms, held out at their full length to receive thee: Oh weigh the matter! Because sin entered by the senses, therefore his head, in which the senses flourish, is crowned with searching thorns; because the hands and feet are more especially the instruments of sin; therefore his hands and feet are nailed to the cross for satisfaction. O marvellous! What king is he, or of what country, that wears a crown of thorns? What man is he, or where lives he, whose hands and feet are not only bored, but digged into, as if they had been digging with spades in a ditch? Surely here is matter for a serious meditation; be enlarged, O my thoughts, and dwell upon it! Consider it, and consider it again!
9. Consider the darkness that spread over all the earth; now was the sun ashamed to show his brightness, considering that the Father of lights was darkened with such disgrace, the heavens discoloured their beauty, and are in mourning robes, the lamp of heaven is immantled with a miraculous eclipse, the sun in the firmament will sympathize with "the Sun of righteousness," it will not appear in glory though it be mid-day, because the Lord of glory is thus disgraced. And now hear the voice that comes from the Son of God, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Christ in the garden tasted the bitter cup of God's fierce wrath, but now he drunk the dregs of it: he then sipped of the top, but now he drunk all off, top, and bottom, and all. O! but what is the meaning of this, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Surely,
(a). This was not a total, but a partial dereliction; this was not a perpetual, but a temporary forsaking of him; the Godhead was not taken away from the man-hood, but the union remained still, even now when the man-hood was forsaken.
(b). This was not a forsaking on Christ's part, but only the Father's part; the Father forsook Christ, but Christ went after him; God took away the sense of his love, but the Son of God laid hold upon him, crying, and saying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
(c). This forsaking was not in respect of his being, but in respect of the feeling of God's favour, love and mercy; certainly God loved him still, oh! but his sense of comfort was now quite gone; so as it never was before: in his agony there was some inklings of God's mercy now and then, at least, there was some starlight, some little flash of lightning to chear him up, but now all the sense and feeling of God's love was gone, and not so much as any little star light of the same appeared. Christ now took the place of sinners, and God the Father shut him out (as it were) amongst the sinners; he drew his mercy out of sight, and out of hearing, and therefore he cried out in a kind of wonderment, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
After this he speaks but a few words more, and he gives up the ghost. He dies that we might live, he is dissolved in himself, that we might be united to his Father; O my soul, see him now, if thou canst for weeping, his eyes are dim, his cheeks are wane, his face is pale, his head is bowing, his heart is panting, himself is dying; come, come, and die with him, by a most exact mortification; look pale like him with grief, and sorrow, and trouble for thy sins.
10. Consider the piercing of his side with a spear, whence came out a stream of blood and water; O fountain of everlasting waters! Methinks I see the blood running out of his side, more freshly than those golden streams which ran out of the garden of Eden, and watered the whole world. Consider the taking of his body down by Joseph; the burying of it by Joseph and Nicodemus; O here is excellent matter for our meditation! O my spirit, go with me a little! Christ being dead, it is a pity but he should have a funeral according to the letter, let Joseph and Nicodemus bear his corpse; let the blessed virgin go after it sighing, and weeping, and at every other pace looking up to heaven, let Mary Magdalen follow after him with a box of precious ointment in her hand, and with her hair hanging ready (if need were) to wipe his feet again; or, that in this meditation, I may be more spiritual, let the usurer come first with Judas' bag, and distribute to the poor as he goes along; let the drunkard follow after, with the sponge that was filled with gall and vinegar, and check his wanton thirst: let the young gallant or voluptuous man, come like his Master with bare foot, and with the crown of thorns set also upon his head; let the wanton person bear the rods, and whips, and wires wherewith Christ was scourged, and fright his own flesh; let the ambitious man be clad in the purple robe, the angry person in the seamless coat; my meaning is, let every sinner, according to the nature of his sin, draw something or other from the passion of Christ, to the mortifying of his sin: yea, let all turn mourners, let all bow their heads, and be ready to give up the ghost for the name of Christ. And let not Christ be buried without a sermon neither, and let the text be this, "The good Shepherd giveth his life for the Sheep" John x. 11. and in the end of the sermon, (whether it be in use or no) let the preacher take occasion to speak a word or two in the praise of Christ; let him say with the spouse, "That he was the chiefest among ten thousand, that he was altogether lovely," Cant. v. 10, 16. That being God above all gods, he became man beneath all men; that when he spake, he began ordinarily, "Verily, verily, I say unto you," that he was an holy man, that he never sinned in his life, neither in thought, word or deed; that being endowed with the power of miracles, he lovingly employed it in curing the lame, and blind, and deaf, and dumb, in casting out devils, in healing the sick, in restoring the dead to life; that as he lived, so he died, for being unjustly condemned, mocked, stripped, whipped, crucified, he took all patiently, praying for his persecutors; and leaving to them, when he had no temporal thing to give them, a legacy of love, of life, of mercy, of pardon, of salvation. When the sermon is done, and the burial is finished, let every mourner go home, and begin a new life in imitation of Jesus Christ. O my soul, that thou wouldest thus meditate, and thus imitate, that so thy meditation might be fruitful, and thy imitation real: that thy life and death might be conformable to the life and death of Jesus Christ. But of that hereafter.