For as the Apostle saith stipendium peccati mors The wages of sinne is death Rom. 6.23 according to the great Law-makers decree at the first In what day soever thou shalt eat of the forbidden fruit thou shalt die the death Gen. 2.17 And his Lawes are like the lawes of the Medes and Persians they must not nay they cannot be altered And therefore there was a necessity laid upon Messiah that he must be slaine as the Prophet speaketh Dan. 9.26 For he that will take upon him to become a Mediator unto God for sins yea and a redemption for sin too he must be content to pay the wages of sin which as you heare is death For God is not so wholly composed of Mercy as altogether to neglect Justice but his Law must be throughly satisfied before his Gospel can be effectually preached Vt sic justitia vinceretur diabolus non potentia That so the divell may be vanquished by justice not by power So that thus it behooved then Christ to suffer and to rise againe from death that repentance and remission of sinnes might be preached in his name to all nations as he saith himselfe Luke 24.46.47 verses yea for this cause is he the Mediator of the new Testament that through death which was for the redemption of the transgressions which were in the former Testament they which were called might receive the promise of eternall inheritance For where a Testament is there must needs be the death of him that made the Testament for the Testament is confirmed when men are dead for it is yet of no force as long as he that made it is alive wherefore neither was the first ordained without blood Heb. 9.15 16 17 18. verses O come and hearken then what God hath done for our soules ut animas nostras eriperet animam suam posuit he hath laid downe his owne life that hee may save ours ut me à morte eriperet In Psal 65. mortem accepit saith Arnobius and that I might live he hath beene contented to suffer himselfe to die Hee gave up the ghost Which phrase of expiring or giving up the ghost as it shewes his death and sacrifice upon the crosse for our sinnes to be voluntary so his humane nature to be perfect and intire as well of a reasonable soule as of humane flesh subsisting as it is in Athanasius Creed notwithstanding never so many lewd and lying fancies of some heretiques to the contrary so that Totus homo in Christo as Saint Austin speakes The whole manhood was assumed to and by the Godhead and not one part of it alone And in the same whole nature hee accordingly suffered under Pontius Pilate all those tortures and torments formerly recounted and at last died which if it were not so then were we which have believed in Christ of all men most miserable as being still in our sinnes our preaching and your believing all but in vaine as Saint Paul inferres 1 Corinth 15. For si aliquid ei defuit non totum redemit saith Saint Ambrose If hee wanted any part of man then hee saved not the whole man For it is out of all question that whatsoever hee assumed not hee redeemed not as Nazianzene But taking all in reality of association and assumption and dying according to all in verity of dissolution and disiunction he redeemed all even our whole persons consisting both of soules and bodies Which brings this comfort and consolation unto us that naturall death which at the first was inflicted as a curse upon Adam and all his posterity for transgressing of GODS Commandement as you have often heard already is now changed by this Death of Christ from a curse into a blessing insomuch as blessed are the dead which hereafter or henceforth dy in the Lord Revelations 14.13 Yea our owne death is made heereby a very bridge or path-way as it were to leade us unto life For hee that heareth my Word and believeth in him that sent mee sayth Christ himselfe hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death unto life Iohn 5.24 Yea hee therefore tooke our humane nature and Flesh upon him that hee might destroy through his owne death him that had the power of death that is the divell and that he might deliver them which forfeare of death were all their life long subject unto bondage c Heb. 2 14.15 verses Againe hereby the second death is also quite taken away from all that are by a true and lively faith ingrafted into Christ There being no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus as Saint Paul concludeth Rom. 8.1 answerable to that of Austin Mors Christi simpla mortem nostram duplam desiruxit The single death of Christ hath destroyed that double death of ours unto which we were all lyable by reason of our sinnes And therefore as the same Father saith elsewhere O quam bene te tuo impetu diabole percussisti How well hath the Devill wounded himselfe through his owne violence seeing his cruelty in sparing none no not Gods owne Sonne hath brought life and safety to others but destruction and confusion onely to himselfe For Ille sanguis as he goes on quem effadisti te vicit me redemit That very blood of his which thou hast wrongfully and unjustly shed hath vanquished thee and redeemed me Prae valuisti in paradiso sed victus es de patibulo And although thou prevayledst and hadst the day in Paradise yet thou hast lost it againe by being conquered and overcome upon the Crosse O quam grande mysterium which is a great mystery indeed ut mors quae per lignum venit per lignum superaretur that that death which came from the fruit of the tree should upon the Tree bee vanquished and overcome and that gate of life which was shut against Adam should now be opened to a thiefe By which it appeares that Mors Christierat muscipula tantū diaboli The death of Christ was onely a trap wherein to catch the Devill Which hee was willing therefore to set up Vt injusta mors justam vinceret mortem That his undeserved death might free them from death that had deserved it Et liberaret reos juste dum pro eis occidebatur injuste as the same Austin still and that he might acquit and discharge those that were guilty because he that was guiltlesse or not guilty was put to death for them whereby because Non habebat peccata propria digne delevit aliena He that had no sinnes of his owne did worthily blot out the sins of other men He gave up the ghost And here I might dismisse this point had I not promised you at my first entrance into this discourse to shew you a Quis Quis. aswell as a Quid Who suffered as well as what For here if any where is the most proper place to bring it in For seeing we have proved at large aswell in our former as in
recompence and reward of all such his spirituall labours And thus farre Chrysostome of the Great Week And thus farre I of the sufferings and death of Christ in the same Weeke or his giving up the ghost Buryed THe utmost point and period of the sufferings and death of Christ and the last degree of the dejection and humiliation of his assumed humanity is reckoned by the generall consent of most and best Divines to be his buriall that is when after his death his body like other mens was laid into the ground that so men might see and know that hee was dead indeed according as it was foretold of him That he should make his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death though he had done no wickednesse neither was any deceit in his mouth Esay 59.3 For as Jonas was three dayes and three nights in the Whales belly so shall the Sonne of man be in the heart of the earth saith he of himselfe Matth. 12.40 For the better record of the truth of which prophesies all the foure Evangelists have reported and set downe the manner of it as yee may finde in them if you please to have recourse unto them Saint John shall serve for my purpose in this place as being somewhat larger in some circumstances then the rest who describes the order of Christs buriall in this sort After the death of him saith he Joseph of Arimathea besought Pilate that hee might take downe the body of Jesus and Pilate gave him licence He came then and tooke Jesus body And there came also Nicodemus and brought Myrrhe and Aloes mingled together about an hundred pound Then tooke they the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linnen cloathes with the odours as the manner of the Jewes is to bury And in that place where Jesus was crucified was a Garden and in the Garden a new Sepulchre wherein man was never yet layd There then layd they Jesus because of the Jewes preparation day for the Sepulchre was neare John 19.38 39 40 41 42. verses Where yee see then a large description of the solemnity of his buriall in which wee may observe that though his enemies did crucifie him and put him to death yet his friends onely take care to bury him and have him decently interred Which argues the sincerity of their affection towards him though as yet they durst not openly confesse him for feare of the Jewes And it was more fittingly done by these then it could have beene done by his knowne Disciples because as Saint Austin saith Ser. 117. de Temp. Si Apostoli sepelirent eum dicerent non sepultum quem Judaei nunciaverant raptum The world might have beene apt to beleeve that he had never beene buried at all seeing the Jewes gave out that he was stollen away And because he dyed to save other men it was but reason he should be laid in another mans grave Vt quid enim illi propria sepultura qui in se propriam non habebat mortem saith the same Austin Ser 133. de Temp. For why should he have a Sepulcher of his owne to whom death nor buriall did not properly belong Vt quid illi tumulus in terris cujus sedes manebat in coelis Or why should he looke for a Tombe on earth whose habitation and abiding place was onely in Heaven neither indeed had he any For Saint Matthew tells us that Joseph laid him in his owne new Tombe which hee had hewne out in the Rock Matth. 27.60 And thus much briefly of the manner of Christs buriall The causes thereof is the next thing to be considered which are assigned by Writers upon this subject to bee diverse I wi l prosecute onely some few of the chiefe and so conclude The first whereof shall be this viz. That the truth of his death might thereby be manifested and confirmed For living men use not to be buried but only such aâ— are dead To which purpose also some other parts and passages of his Passion may be urged and alleadged As that a Souldier thrust a speare into his side That he was taken downe from the Crosse so soone as they perceived him to be dead indeed That they annoynted and imbalmed him to the buriall and wrapped him in linnen clothes and the like For as by touching handling and seeing of him as also by his eating of broyled fish afterwards and part of an honey-combe we conclude the truth of his Resurrection so by these other circumstances the truth of his death Secondly that in his Grave he might bury all our sinnes for which that curse was imposed on us In pulverem reverteris Thou shalt returne to dust Compend Theol. c. 49. Gen. 3.19 For as Aquinas well observes Sinne hath brought upon us not onely infirmities and afflictions in the time of our lives but defects also even after our death aswell in our bodies as our soules In our soules to descend to the lowest Lake contrary to the nature of spirituall essences which should ascend rather to the highest heavens and in our bodies to returne againe to the earth from whence they were taken contrary to the Law of our Creation which was to have beene so quickned by the spirit of life as not to have died at all but to have liv'd together with the soule for ever Now this defect of our bodies is to bee considered as our School-man speakes Secundum positionem secundum resolutionem either according to its position or resolution It s position is onely to be laid in the ground Its resolution is also to be dissolved into the first elements of which it was compacted and composed The former of these Christ would did undergoe but not the latter according to that of the Psalmist Non dabis sanctum tuum videre corruptionem Thou shalt not suffer thy holy One to see corruption viz. by the putrefaction of his body Psal 16.10 The reason whereof is this because as the matter or materials of Christs body comming from the nature of man was in regard thereof to be returned to ' its proper and accustomed place under the ground Locus enim corporibus debetur secundum materiam praedominantis elementi that is Place is due to bodies according to the matter of the predominant element which is Earth So the frame and composure of his body comming not from man but from the vertue and power and workemanship of the Holy Ghost was not to be dissolved neither would he or did he undertake it because herein he was singular and differed from other men Thus farre Aquinas Thirdly hee was therefore buried to shew that wee by Baptisme are buried with him into death as the Apostle speaketh that like as hee was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so wee also should walke in newnesse of life Rom. 6.4 Fourthly he was buryed and rested in his grave the whole day of the Jewes Sabbath that he might sanctify an
because Myrrhe was wont to be used in the sacrifices of the old Law but also because the body of Christ was so embalmed before his buriall as we may see John 19.39 40. Verses Or because the Jewes even just before his Crucifying dederunt ei bibere vinum Myrrhatum gave him Wine to drinke mingled with Myrrhe Marke 15.23 which as Cyrill saith Fellis instar amara est â—atâ—eiâ—â—si 13 is even as bitter as gall But I must confesse that Mercerus a learned expositor upon the place doth not approve of the bundle of Myrrhe in this sense but acknowledging Quòd quidam nostrorum c. that some did so expound it upon the same reason yet concludes himselfe That Nil necesse est c. there was no need of such an interpretation But saith he simplex sâ—nsus est c. the plaine meaning of the place is that the Spouse saith her bâ—loved was most sweet and gratefull unto her even as a bundle of Myrrhe is pleasing and delightfull to the sent and he addes his reason too because Christus in ecclesiam odores spargit suavissimos c. Christ doth as it were strow sweete odours of his gifts and graces upon his Church and chosen But beloved the truth is it may safely be taken and expounded in both senses For Myrrhe may be said after a sort to resemble the Physitians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is it is both bitter and sweet sweet in the smell bitter in the taste And so is the sacrifice of â—hrist sweet in the offering bitter in the suffering sweet in the nostrils of God his Father that injoyned it that accepts it and sweet unto his spouse the Church i. e. the whole number of his faithfull ones wheresoever dispersed throughout the whole world for whom it was performed and to whose comfort it is applied in regard whereof she hath reasâ—n to say as followes in the text inter ubâ—ra mea commorabitur he shall lye all night bâ—twixt my brests in the same verse Yet it is bitter yea most bitter unto him that for his sake is content to sustaine and endure it Which diversitie of the apprehension and relish as I may so speake of the sacrifice of Christ is by one well exprest after this manner when he saies Patitur Christus ex hoc dolor patitur pro nobis ex hoc laetitia patitur ad suam mortem ut videatis hominem patitur ad nostram vitam ut ametis Deum patitur in cruce ecce miseriam patitur ut resurgat ecce gloriam And as well Englished by another a Divine moderne Poet of our own truely I am sure whether intâ—ntionally or no I know not in this sort Christ suffers and in this his teares begin C. Fletâ—â—â— Poâ—â—◠〈◊〉 Ciâ— sâ— Triumph Suffers for us and our joy springs in this Suffers to death here is his manhood seen Suffers to rise and here his god-head is c. And thus you see how Christ our blessed Saviour may be said to be a bundle aswell of bitter as of sweet myrrhe A sweet bundle to his heavenly Father aâ—d his beloved spouse the Church but a bitter bundle to himselfe in regard of his continuall sufferings which were so knit and bound together throughout the whole course of his life that there was no intermission or release betwixt them and therefore justly termed and styled a bundle If therefore Solomon could say of man in generall That cuncti dies ejus delâ—ribus aerumnis pleni All his daies are sorrowes and his travaile griefe as Eccles 2.23 Then much more might the Prophet say of this man in particular that he was Vir dolorum sciens infirmitates Esay 53.3 i. e. A man so composed of sorrowes as that he had a taste and sense of all humane infirmities I meane all that were naturall not sinfull And that together with our nature he tooke all that belonged thereunto sinne onely excepted as all our weakenesses our wants our sicknesses our sores our griefes our sorrowes yea all our common infirmities though not Personall defects both of body and soule as is solidly discussed and plainely proved by a learned Tutor of mine preaching upon the same subject D. Sa. 〈◊〉 The Life and Death of Jesus Christ whither I referre you for further satisfaction in this point But I take the meaning of the Creed to stretch no farther then to those great and grand sufferings that went immediately before his crucifying on the Crosse because it sayes He suffered under Ponâ—ius Pilate that is in the time of his jurisdiction and by authority derived from and under him so that whatsoever things were publikely done and acted against him about this time and by this meanes are properly hereto be handled and no more For the name of Pontius Pilate is not here mentioned ad personae dignitatem Sâ—â— 81. de 〈◊〉 sed ad temporis significationem as Saint Austin speakes That is not for any honour or credit given or intended to be given to the person but onely to expresse and declare the time of Christs suffering here mentioned and set downe For hee was Judge Governour Deputy President Viceroy or whatsoever else you please to call such a Magistrate as had the supreame authority of life and death at this time in the land of Jury Judea and in the City of Jerusalem where Christ was to and did suffer death upon the Crosse for the sinnes of the whole World although indeed his said authority were but subordinate and derived from the Roman Empire For you must know beloved that Jerusalem at this time was in bondage with her children i. e. in servitude and subjection to the Emperor of Rome Who as he had under his government the most part of the neighbouring world and bordering countries round about him so among the rest this country of the Jewes in which Jerusalem stood commonly called and knowne by the name of Judea or the land of Jewry Now as our King of England hath his Deputies Presidents and Governours in Scotland Ireland Virginia and other places of his more remote Jurisdictions and Dominions where he is not personally resident himselfe so the Emperour at this time had the like in his severall Provinces abroad And amongst the rest Pontius Pilate in this City and Country where Christ now suffered and was put to death and therefore is it said He suffered under Pontius Pilate that is at that time when Pontius Pilate was the President of the place and before whom he was convented arraigned condemned and the like Which beloved was a very necessary circumstance to be known ne ex aliqua parte velut vaga incerta gestorum traditio vacillaret In loâ—um saith Ruffinus Lest the mindes of men should stagger and waver at the report and tradition of their doings and Christs sufferings if in the smallest circumstance they were left doubtfull and uncertaine And therefore it was thought fit not to be omitted by
Word affirme That the bitter wounds of a lover are better than the sweet and sugred kisses of an enemy that hates thee to the death as you have heard before out of Proverbs 7.13 And therefore as the Prophet adviseth so let me trust not a friend neither put confidence in a Counsellor but keep the doores of thy mouth from her that lyeth in thy bosome For the son revileth the father the daughter riseth up against her mother the daughter in law against her mother in law and a mans enemies are they of his own house Mic. 7.5 6. And this sufficeth for the kisse of Judas But saith Christ ye be come out unto me as against a theefe with swords and staves Yea and which is more Lord as to the worst of theeves to a theefe of the night with lanthornes and torches Neither is there cause why thou shouldst either wonder or be troubled at it For seeing thou art not come to suffer for theeves aswell as for other sinners there is reason thou shouldst be handled as a theefe and beare their punishment although thou knowest no sin in thy selfe yet God hath made thee sin yea all sin for us that so we might be made the righteousnesse of God in thee saith Saint Paul 2 Cor. 5. ult And therefore thou must nay thou art contented to be nuâ—bred among the wicked as the Prophet foretold of thee Isa 53.12 And if among the wicked then among the theeves and robbers aswell as any other sinners whatsoever that so thou mayest save some of them that have bin such and deliver others from the hands of those that are and will be such for ever Thou hast told us thy selfe that the theefe commeth to steale kill and to destroy Iohn 10.10 by which words an old Postiller tels me Par. de tem 〈◊〉 3. post â—ent there are three sorts of theeves designed and described The devill death and the wicked man The devill Quia insidiâ—tur animae because he seeks to destroy our soules Death Quia insidiatur vitae because it seekes to kill us and deprive us of our lives and the wicked man Quia insidiatur bonis he seekes to steale from us and rob us of our goods Now the last of these thou savest so many of them as will repent with the good theefe and put their trust in thee And the other two thou vanquishest so that they shall not prevaile either against thee or thine to their destruction or confusion as will be manifested more at large in that which will follow and ensue upon this subject when we shall come to speake of thy death buriall and the like And therefore if these thine enemies use thee as a theefe in comming out against thee with swords and staves torches and lanthornes and such other instruments as whereby they used to take and apprehend theeves and robbers withall it is but thy fathers justice against our sins which thou camest into the world most cheerfully and willingly to satisfy undergo But yet I must confesse that seeing thou wert innocent as well from these as all other offences both thy sufferings and thine enemies sinnes are the greater in that they did these things unto thee without thy desert And therefore there is a great deale of reason that they should be punished and thou pitied accordingly For if it be a thing much to be condoled and lamented to see an innocent and honest man to be apprehended and violently laid hold upon yea drag'd and haled pinioned and manacled too and so carried to prison and thence afterward brought to the Barre and forced to answer for his life then much more when these things are done Coelorum Angelorum Domino to him that is Lord both of Heaven and Earth as it was unto our blessed Saviour who as the Prophet speaketh was led as a sheep unto the slaughter Esay 53.7 Wherefore our Saviour did but justly complaine of their injustice in saying They came out unto him as to a theefe when they came to take him For whereas it is the property of theeves first to steale and rob men of their goods and then to fly and run away after they have stollen according to that question and demand at the Barre Did he fly for the same as also to hide and conceale themselves in corners and obscure places and many times to lay violent hands yea to hurt and wound those that shall seeke to resist and withstand them in their robberies as it is said of the Bandettees in France that they seldome rob but they kill too Why Christ did never any of these things but was so farre from doing them as that he did the cleane contrary For instead of flying he went to meet them when they came to take him and when the officers knew him not hee told them that he was the man Vliro se dans in manus eorum yeelding himselfe willingly and readily of his owne accord into their hands And instead of hurting or being any wayes in such kinde prejudiciall to any man he did infinite good to all men healing them of all manner of sicknesses and sores that stood in need of his helpe either of those wayes And lastly he was so farre from robbing or taking any thing unjustly from them as that hee would never be sole owner or possesse any temporall thing as his owne but rather spend and imploy all such things as he had as his gifts and graces his labour and his learning yea and his very life and all for the benefit and salvation of others and therefore I say it was a great point of injustice in them thus to come out unto him as to a theefe with swords and staves And that which is added by our Saviour himselfe in the text addes also an increase to their mischiâ—fe and his misery that is that while he was daily or in the day time teaching in the Temple among them they tooke him not but made choyce of the night to doe it in and therefore came with lanthornes and torches aswell as swords and staves to take and apprehend him which speeâ—h of Câ—rist howsoever it principally tend to shew his power and their weaknes in that they could not apprehend him nor lay hold upon him till himselfe was willing so that Stultum erat cum gladiis quaerere eum qui uliro se offert in nocte investigare quasi latentem qui quotidie in Templo docet that is It was but a foolishnes in them to hunt after him with swords and staves which did of his owne accord offer himselfe unto them or to seeke for him in the night as one that concealed himselfe and usually lay hid when as he was daily to be seene heard and had teaching in their Temples Yet withall it bewrayes their wickednes also and their base cowardise that when they durst not resist and withstand him in the day time among the multitude and before the people that rather then not doe it all they
sacrifice might be voluntary For without willing obedience to his Fathers Ordinance our atonement and the expiation of our sinnes could not bee wrought whereupon S. Austen discoursing upon those words of S. Iohn Et misit filium suum sacrificatorem pro peccatis nostris as he reads them 1 Ioh. 4.10 God loved us and sent his Sonne to bee a sacrifice for our sinnes demands this question Vbi invenit hostiam ubi invenit victimam quam puram volebat offerre where did hee finde a pure and cleane sacrifice fitting for himselfe to offer And when hee hath thus propounded gives the answer himselfe in these words Alium non invâ—nit seipsum obtulit He could finde no other and therefore hee offers himselfe as if he should say hee made his humanity the sacrifice and his divinity the priest But howsoever hee were never so willing and obedient himselfe yet his countreymen and cruell friends must not loose their turne For they will have an hand in this busines though never so much to their cost aswell as hee wherefore after they have conducted him to mount Caluary the place of his execution there they speedily erect his crosse and display his bloody banner and soone after crucifie him thereon as ye may see Luke 23.33 which part of theirs as it was acted with much violence to shew their malice so it was suffered by him with more willingnesse and patience to manifest his love Answerable to that of the Apostle he humbled himselfe and became obedient unto the death yea even the death of the Crosse Phil. 28. Now this kinde of death was accounted in those dayes not onely the most shamefull and ignominious death but the most cruell and tormenting too as yee shall see anon wherefore these Iewes howsoever they had foure kinds of death for malefactors among themselves as our reverend and learned Bishop of Exetâ—r in his passion Sermon hath well observed one of which was ordinarily used to those that did offend of their owne Nation as the Towell the Sword Fire and Stones and each of these above other in extremity yet they rejected and refused all these whereby to take away Christs life and chose this Roman death of crucifying as accounting it the worst of all which we may suppose they did the rather because their owne Law saith cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree Deut. 21.23 so that their malice was such as it should seeme towards him as that they were desirous not onely to crosse and crucifie him whereby to rid him him out of his life but to curse him also if it were possible and in their powers in the life to come But yet as â— Ierome well noteth Hee is not therefore accursed becauâ—e hee hangeth but therefore he hangeth because hee is accursed beiâ—g made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is acursed for us as S. Paul speaketh Gal. 3.13 And therefore howsoever the Iewes made choyce of this death for him out of the depth of their malice and venimous hatred against him hoping thereby not only to destroy his body but his soule too yet hee that was able to worke good out of evill and turne their mischiefe and malice owards him to his owne glory and the benefit of his Church and chosen had other reasons in the secret of his owne counsell which they little dream't of why hee would undergoe it and take it upon him As first that the curse might be imputed unto him which was due to us and so we by his curse might be redeemed from the curse of the Law as the former Apostle saith wee are in the former place And therefore sayth Aretius Ideo cruce passus est Christus ut omnis maledictio etiam à forma supplicii in illo concurreret Therefore did Christ suffer on the Crosse that by the forme and manner of his suffering every curse might concurre and be found in him which was due to us yea hee himselfe bare our sinnes in his body on the Tree that wee might bee delivered from sin and be healed by his stripes as S. Peter sayth 1 Pet. 2.24 Secondly as S. Chrysostome and Theophilact assigne it ut ipsius aeris naturam mundaret terram sanctificaret sanguinis suae distillatione that he might cleanse and perfume the ayre with his holy and Heavenly breath and sanctifie and hallow the Earth with the streames of his sacred blood distilling and descending down from his blessed body Medicina enim quae removet maledictionem terrae est sanguis Christi For the onely Medicine that is able to remoove the curse of the earth is the blood of Christ Thirdly as Anselmus saith That hanging in the ayre on the Crosse the foote whereof was fastned in the Earth and the top looking towards Heaven hee might shew himselfe to be the true Mediator betwixt God and man by reconciling Heaven and Earth together and reducing our humane nature to the society of Angells and so making a perfect peace and union betwixt the things above and the things below By such strange and contrary meanes doth God shew his power and providence in working our salvation and redemption giving us life even by his owne death and that the most accursed death too even the death of the Crosse Optimum faciens instrumentum vitae quod erat mortis pessimum genus as one saith making that the best instrument of life which was the worst kinde of death worst indeed as we shall easily perceive if wee will vouchsafe to looke another while into the manner of it together with the counsell and cruelty of the Iewes in inflicting it as wee have already done into the mercy and goodnesse of Christ in suffering it For besides the infamy and ignominy of it as you have heard already it was a terrible and bitter death too where hee felt the uttermost of those paines which incensed and inraged malice was able to inflict and mans nature able to indure For the better and more cleare expression whereof it is observed by some that Christs Passion on the Crosse had in it all the foure dimensions as length breadth height depth Lenght first in regard that the Crosse was a lingring slow death Vbi diù vivebatur mors ipsa protendebatur ne dolor citius finiretur which gave no quick dispatch unto the patient but protracted and prolonged his life keeping him a great while together upon the Racke under the sharpe sense aswell of our sinnes as his owne paines Now it is truly sayd that Acerbissima est mors quae trahit poenam it is the bitterest kinde of death wherein the paines thereof are long continued and delayed and not presently or suddenly finished and dispatched For to have death prolonged when a man is under the stroke of death is to die many deaths at once Now it was full three houres betwixt Christs affixion to the Crosse and his expiration on the Crosse For hee continued there from the sixth houre untill the ninth as the
of the Apostle more true then in the death of Christ Virtus in infirmitate perficitur Power and strength is made perfect in weaknesse 2 Cor. 12.9 De duplici Martyrio For as Cyprian saith Ibi fracta est Satanae Tyrannis ibi devicti sunt inferi ibi triumphatum est de Diabolo ibi dejectus orcus coelum apertum c. Therein is the tyranny of Satan broken and the infernall powers overthrowne the Devill subjected the Principalities of Hell dejected and Heaven it selfe opened to all true and faithfull beleevers So that as hee goes on Quid homine mortuo contemptius quis enim vel Caesarem mortuum metuat sed Christi morte quid efficacius velum Templi scissum est terra concussa saxa discissa monumenta aperta c. Although nothing be more contemptible then a dead man no man fearing no not Caesar himselfe when he is once dead yet nothing is more efficacious and powerfull then the death of Christ whereat the vayle of the Temple was rent the earth did quake the stones did cleave and the graves did open of themselves so that many bodies of the Saints which slept arose as it is said Mat. 27.51 52. verses A reason of which powerfull effects is this that although the soule and body of Christ were separated asunder by his death à neutro tamen horum recesserit divinitas yet his divinity was separated from neither But Tam Dei virtus in Christo ex operibus quae fecit apparuit quam fragilitas hominis ex passione quam pertulit as Lactantius speakes Inst l. 4. cap. 14. The power of his God-head manifested it selfe in these his powerfull workes aswell as the frailty of his man-hood in those other things which he suffered So that Factus est homo suscipiendo quod non erat non perdendo quod erat as Saint Austin speakes Although Serm. 60. in Iohan. by being made man he tooke that which before he was not yet he did not loose nor let goe any thing of what hee was Sed manens Deus factus est homo But continued God although hee was likewise made man Accepit te non consumptus est in te as he goes on He indeed tooke thee unto himselfe O man but yet did not consume or spend waste or diminish himselfe in thee So that wee must hold and beleeve as that most Reverend Incarnat of Christ the Sonne of God learned and painfull Archbishop of Armagh well observes That there are two distinct natures in Christ God-head and manhood which are so distinct as that they doe not make one compounded nature but still remaine uncompounded and unconfounded together And yet though never so distinct in their natures they are as firmely and fully united againe in the person as can possibly be imagined and conceived seeing in him dwelleth all the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily as the Apostle affirmeth Colos 2.9 that is by such a personall and reall union as doth inseparably and everlastingly conjoyne that infinite Godhead with his finite man-hood in the unity of the selfe same individuall person So that by reason of the strictnesse of this personall union of these two natures in the person of Christ whatsoever may be verified of either of those natures the same may be truly spoken of the whole person from whethersoever of the natures it be denominated so farre Doctor Vsher Which if it be so beloved then by this time I hope you are as well satisfied in the Quis as the Quid Who it is that suffered and dyed as what he suffered viz. even Jesus Christ the Son of God which was conceived by the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Mary as you have heard out of the former Articles even he also is the He which suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead buried c. the worlds Creator and mans Redeemer the Almighty God himselfe Totus Christus though not Totum Christi whole Christ though not all of Christ was the Quis which was the passive Agent and active Patient in all these things for Jesus cryed with a loud voyce and gave up the ghost Neither let it seeme strange to any man that that should be predicated and spoken of the whole person of Christ which can be verified but of one of his natures seeing without any note or thought of strangenesse at all we do the like dayly in our owne and ordinary discourses even concerning our selves and proper actions For whereas the whole person and compound of man consists of two parts and those very different in their qualities and operations as of a soule and a body whereof the one is carnall the other spirituall and each hath his proper actions and imployments accordingly by themselves as the body to eate drinke sleepe walke runne ride suffer hunger thirst heat cold and the like and the soule to understand conceive remember forget to be chearefull or sorrowfull angry or well pleased and such like either of which cannot truly be verified of the different part as not the bodies actions of the soule nor the soules operations of the body And yet we usually referre both and all to the whole person and that without any incongruity or unpropernesse of speech considering the firme union that is betwixt them So by reason of the hypostaticall union and communion of properties that is betwixt the two natures in Christ Divine and Humane That which is proper but to one may safely be predicated and spoken and applyed to the whole Vigilius As also if man whole man may in himselfe have two such contrary qualities as to be able to dye and not to dye To dye in his body and not to dye in his soule as our Saviour himselfe hath taught us saying Feare not those that can kill your bodyes but not your soules Then much more may Christ whole Christ dye in one nature and yet live in another And in him God be said to dye too and Man to live for ever In him I say the second Person onely of the Trinity For to speak it of any of the other two persons whether Father or Holy Ghost it is no lesse then blasphemy and that which never came so much as in the thought of any orthodoxe Christian much lesse divine although some Hereticks there have beene called Patro-passioni which have seem'd to atribute suffering to the Father Dr Clarke But a learned Clarke of our owne calls it an unlearned heresie sprung of Scriptures misconstrued Christs speech especially I and my Father are one c. and therefore I will not so farre trouble my selfe or Readers as to goe about to confute it Sed his perplexioribus disputationibus praecisis as Chitraeus speakes but leaving all such intricate and perplexed discourses as Hereticks did usually beat their braines about we will fall to use and application Fides enim dum simpliciter proponitur intellectum illustrat dum autem altissima ejus mysteria
eternall Sabbath of rest unto his children unto which although they were at first created yet by reason of sinne and the Devils malice they had been deprived unlesse he had dyed and been thus buryed to restore it againe unto them Fifthly he was buryed to the end that he might hallow the earth by his sacred body to become a receptacle of rest for the receiving of our bodyes also Which must needs be a great comfort to the godly to know and beleeve how that by his grave and buryall he hath sweetly perfumed our graves wherein we shall be buryed and instead of stinking houses of perdition hath made them chambers of quiet rest and sleepe unto us so that as the Prophet saith Peace shall come and they shall rest in their beds that is their graves every one that walketh before him Esay 57.2 And in these respects and sundry others which might be thought upon The buryall of Christ is esteemed by some Ancient Fathers to be more hâ—nourable then his birth according to that of Saint Austin Gloriosior est sepuliâ—ra quam nativitas in Christo ista enim coâ—pus morâ—alâ— genuit illa edidit immortaâ—e Because that brought forth a body which was mortall so that it both could and did dye whereas this restored and returned it immortall and which can dye no more but liveth and abideth now for ever And as after his birth he fell into many tortures and troubles miseries and afflictions in this life so after his buryall he hath passed immediately from death to life in the land of the living So that Religiosior plane est ista quam illa nativitas as the Father goes on This latter birth of his is more to be celebrated and held sacred then the former because in that the Lord of the whole World was kept close prisoner nine months together in his Mothers wombe whereas this detained him only three dayes in the wombe of the earth In which respect Illa cunctorum spem tardius protulit Haec omnium salutem citius suscitavit That is said but to delay our hope and this to finish more speedily our Salvation In regard whereof also the Prophet saith That Sepulchrum ejus erit gloriosum as the vulgar Latine reads it Esay 11.10 that is His Sepulcher or buriall shall be glorious not by reason of the statelinesse of his tombe or magnificence of the pompe and solemnity at his buriall For herein it is very likely that the Sepulcher and sepulture of Alexander the Great and many other earthly Princes might farre outstrippe and overgoe him exceed and excell him much but onely Quia ex morte ad vitam gloriam aeternam revixit as saith Chitraeus because herehence hee passed presently from death to life and from mortality to immortality and eternall glory whereas all those great Monarchs of the World aswell as meaner persons remaine under deaths arrest till this present day and so are like to continue to the Worlds end And therefore although these Potentates of the earth can find neither comfort nor glory in their grave though they goe with never so much pompe and glory to it Yet wee which are Christians doe expect and looke for both by reason of the buryall of this our Saviour who as you have heard hath hereby sanctifyed our graves to be unto us as our beds wherein our bodyes rest from thâ—ir labours till the generall resurrection at the the latter day and further hath opened unto us a way from thence to eternall glory So that although we dye and be buryed as other men yet we shall rise againe with him from the earth to life everlasting And lastly to conclude we may from this buryall and sepulture of Christ learne and note the civill use of the grave to be necessary and fitting for all persons and people whatsoever to bury their dead out of sight and from annoyance and offence that they may otherwise come from their deceased bodyes It being reckoned among the blessings of God to be decently and comely brought unto our graves and so layd and put into them and not to be cast out as wile carkasses to the beasts of the field or foules of the ayre as it was threatned and imposed as a curse upon Jeconiah to be buryed as an Asse is buryed even drawne and cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem Jer. 22.19 And therefore Diogenes is too currish and uncivill to say Cast me out and lay a staffe by me as seeming to take no thought for seemely buryall at all whereas the Saints of God have alwayes had a speciall care of it Abraham purchasing a possession of buryall the first purchase that we read of in the booke of God wherein to bury his dead out of his sight as yee may see Gen. 23.4 And the Sonne of God himselfe the subject of our discourse at this time submitting and permitting his body after his death to be put into a decent and comely grave as here you see But yet if it so fall out as oftentimes in warres in pestilence in drowning and the like it doth That the godly happen to be deprived of seemely and Christian buryall as the two witnesses of Christ through the rage and inhumane cruelty of their persecutors were as it appeares Revel 11.8 9. Let all men know that this is no hurt or detriment unto them either in the resurrection of their bodyes or salvation of their soules No more then the stâ—tely and pompous tombes and buryall of the wicked can benefit or profit thâ—m either of these wayes For all the pompe and honour done unto their bodyes cannot keepe their name and fame from shame and dishonour noâ— their soules from the fire of hell torments and confusion Luke 16.22 23. The rich glutton dyed and was buryed richly no doubt and sumptuously but his soule for all that went to hell where it was tormented Lazarus dyed likewise and no mention is made of his buryall but yet it is expresly said That his soule was carryed by Angels into Abrahams bosome What profit then had the rich man in that his body was buryed or what disprofit or hurt was it to Lazarus though his body were not Let us not be carelesse then of the decent and comely buriall of our bodies nor neglect to hew us out a Tombe as Joseph here had done or to provide Coffins or Graves for them but above and before all let us be carefull to provide that our soules may be carried by the Angels into Abrahams bosome And this sufficeth for the buriall of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I will conclude the whole discourse with Saint Augustines Prayer upon the Passion in this manner O thou most gratious God which for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be borne into the world to be circumcised as a Jew and yet to be rejected by the Jewes thy Countrey-men and Kinsmen according to the flesh to be betrayed by thine owne Apostle Judas the Traytor and that with a kisse the signe and pledge of love Yea to be bound with Cordes and so led as an innocent and harmelesse Lambe unto the slaughter to bee undecently and uncivilly presented and offered to the sight and view of Annas Caiaphas Pilate and Herod to be accused by false witnesses to have thy sacred body tormented with scourges and thy blessed soule tortured and afflicted with revilings and reproaches to be besmeared with filthy spittle and to be crowned with piercing and pricking Thornes to bee beaten and buffeted with fists stricken with rods blindfolded in thy face despoyled of thy garments fastened to the Crosse with nayles and so lifted up upon the Crosse naked in the wide and open aire To be accounted and crucified among theeves to be offered Vineger and Gall to drinke and lastly to have thy sides wounded and broken pierced and launced with a speare Thou most gratious Lord I say by these most holy and sacred sufferings of thine which I though most unworthy doe thus recount and recollect as also by thy holy Crosse and death deliver me and set me free from the punishments and paines of Hell and vouchsafe to carry me with thee to that blessed place of rest and Paradise of pleasure whither thou carryedst that good theefe that was crucified with thee who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen Soli Deo Gloria