so he might mollifie his mind and teach us to do the like The meaning is Friend wherefore art thou come q.d. I invite thee to be friends For as I foreknew what thou wouldst do so now I am ready to forgive thee and to receive thee into former favour and friendship again though thou hast thus sin'd against me Do not sleight my offer but consider what thou art attempting how wickedly thou dealest with me who have deserved no such thing at thy hands Friend wherefore art thou come Who did bring thee to me who forc'd thee hither Was it my fault Have any of mine offended thee But thou art come willingly of thy own accord The rest are commanded and compelled but thou comest and therefore thou hast the greater sin O Judas I pitty thee how doth thy destruction trouble me for whom I now suffer in vain Lo thou art the first on whom my blood hath no effect Why art thou come Surely not to my destruction but thine own because thou art come to destroy me by whom thou shouldest be saved For how can he be saved that would destroy the very Truth Righteousness and Salvation it self And these we may suppose were not spoken to Judas only but to all such as intend mischief to their Neighbours For truly he that wrongs his Neighbour doth first ruin himself Therefore Brethren let us look to it and give all diligence that we be not found false but reall friends of God and Christ As Abraham was called the friend of God James 2. and Lazarus the friend of Christ Joh. 11. And Christ doth not call his Apostles servants but Friends Joh. 15. But Judas was never the better for all Christs counsell It may be he thought that Christ spake this out of fear Therefore after he had kist him Christ cals him yet once more the last time and that with great expression of love and goodness Judas saith saith he dost thou betray the son of man with a kiss Now he doth lay open his sin and touch him to the quick he aggravateth the sin it self that so being terrified therewith he might forbear O Judas what a horrible sin dost thou commit What man durst ever do the like Dost thou only strive to out-strip all other men besides in malice and mischief Beware what thou dost Thou thinkest to cheat me with thy fawning flattery and to hide thy hatred from me But I knew long ago what thy purpose was and what bargain thou drovest with the Jews and what thou meanest by this thy treacherous kiss thou betrayest the Son of Man But consider what an hainous crime it is to destroy the innocent Consider also who and what he is whose life thou huntest after Grant it hitherto I have called my self only the son of Man but I will make thee see and know who this son of Man is Thou dost not destroy the son of man only but the Son of God too Thou betrayest them both at once Thou betrayest him that is thy Father by creation thy Lord by preservation thy Saviour by Redemption thy Brother by incarnation thy Master by instruction thy Friend by election and lastly him that will be thy Judge by a finall Retribution See how many sins thou committest at once and all by one kiss Thus thou woundest him by a shew of Love thou sheddest his blood by a seeming work of charity thou seekest his death in a way of peace what can be more odious then this horrid fact We see here how unwilling God is that any man should perish and how grievously they sin who are the occasion of others ruin and destruction As on the other side how honourably they deserve who are the means of others Salvation Jam. 5.20 Here Christ instructeth by his Example and Word By this Example he teacheth us 1. Patiently to bear with wicked men yea to bear the guil and treachery of false Friends as Christ did patiently bear the falshood of Judas for we that are servants ought not to be greater than our Lord. 2. So to love our Neighbour that we wink not at their faults as Christ here calleth Judas Friend yet withall he rebuked him for his sin By those two words which Christ here spake be would warn every man not to be like Judas lest they suffer as he did It were to be wisht that there were but one Judas in the Church of Christ We all indeed cry out against his malice but mean while we do the same things which we blame him for Judas was a covetous man and for filthy lucre he sold Christ He rob'd the poor of their Alms and gifts of charity He did not make it his business to preach Christ He was not converted at the preaching of Christ He took the Body of Christ in his sins He betrayed Christ under a colour of peace He was an hypocrite He was obstinate and impenitent c. How oft do we see these and such like things in a Church Is not he a Traytor that confesseth Christ with his mouth but denyeth him in his works Also he that doth contrary to righteousness truth charity c. for money or any other temporal advantage Likewise he that makes a shew of Love to his Neighbour but hateth him in his heart O cursed generation of Judas how many and deep roots hast thou fastened in the earth But the time will come when all the followers of Judas shall perish together with their Jewish frowardness Mean while let the godly like Christ bear and have patience with wicked men Now when Judas had kissed him no doubt but the rest run upon Jesus to lay hands upon lest the traytors sign being observed they should let him escape Therefore it follows in the Text When they which were about him saw what would follow Luke 22.49 they said unto him Lord shall we smite with the sword Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it John 18.10 and smote the high Priests servant and cut off his right ear the servants name was Malchus And Jesus answered and said Suffer ye thus far Luke 22.51 John 18.11 Mat 26.52 Then said Jesus unto Peter Put up thy sword into the sheath for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father and he shall presently give me more then twelve Legions of Angels The cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it John 18.11 Mat. 26.54 Luke 22.51 But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be And he touched his ear and healed him The Apostles understood not what Christ said at supper when he spake of buying a sword Christ meant the sword of the Spirit but they thought that he had spoken of a material sword Therefore they presently brought him two swords and now when they saw their enemies they asked whether they should fight in his defence But Peter as one hotter then the rest and flusht
a long time forborn the Lord doth by these and such like words shew that the wicked do prevail and get the upper hand in this world but so as that they kill themselves with their own Weapons The more they prosper in their projects the juster they take their cause to be Being blinded therefore they run headlong into the most heavy Judgement of God For as it is with a man in his sleep that dreameth he is fighting with and beating his enemy but when he awaketh he finds that he hath buffetted himself with his own fists so he that doth wrong a godly man doth seem indeed to have the better of him either because of the godly mans weakness or because vengeance is prolonged But if we well weigh it he doth wound himself with his own Weapon Pharaoh oppressed the Israelites but to speak more properly and more truly he did thereby oppress himself Saul persecuted David one may better say in so doing he did persecute himself The Iews pierced Christ but in deed and in truth they did more deeply pierce their own hearts according to that Whoso casteth a stone on high casteth it on his own head Eccl. 27.25 The wicked therefore shall look on him whom they have pierced and shall see that they did not kill and condemn the righteous but themselves It follows And now when the even was come because it was the Preparation Mar. 15.42 Mat. 27.57 Luke 23.50 Iohn 19.38 that is the day before the Sabbath Joseph of Arimathea a rich man an honourable Counsellour a good man and a just The same had not consented to the counsell and deed of them who also himself waited for the Kingdom of God being a Disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews he came and went in boldly unto Pilate and besought him that he might take away the body of Iesus And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead and calling unto him the Centurion he asked him if he had been any while dead And when he knew it of the Centurion he gave the body of Iesus unto Joseph and Joseph bought fine linnen And there came also Nicodemus who at the first came to Iesus by night and brought a mixture of Myrrhe and Aloes about an hundred pound weight It was now time to bury the body of Christ but scarce any man durst undertake it because of the raging madness of the Jews Yet lo here are two who as it were unthought of offer themselves to do it but not without the counsell and pre-ordination of God The Evangelists do diligently set down and exactly describe both their person and their care in the burial of Christ It was and is a matter most worthy for us to know and imitate which was not done without great danger The first was called Ioseph who was of Arimathea whence Elkanah also in the first of Samuel had his beginning Now this Joseph was an honest and a just and a Rich man which three may well stand together though they are very rare to be found Nicodemus is not so much commended here because he is otherwise mentioned to his praise elswhere in the Gospel He was a Lawyer but Ioseph was a Senator But in this they agreed that both of them did affect and love Christs Doctrine and esteemed it as the Word of God yet they chose rather to be Christs Disciples secretly then openly And the reason was because of their riches and reputation wherein they did excel and which they could not presently forsake nor yet would they reject Christs Doctrine But that both of them loved Christ did sufficiently appear by what they did for him Nicodemus had formerly stood up in the Council of the Pharisees in desence of Christ Iohn 7. And Ioseph openly refused to consent to the death of Christ They were just men indeed endowed with great gifts of Nature in whom also the Spirit of the Lord did begin to sparkle out I wish we had more such men now in our Councils Parliaments Conventions Convocations Assemblies that would withstand wicked men and their Designs and would do but as these two here did We are therefore diligently to take notice of these two persons For first we see here that there is no time or age so bad but God doth preserve and deliver those that are his and that some good men at least are to be found in the worst of times Thus in the dayes of Elias when every place was full abounded with Idols and false Worships yet then God reserved to himself seven thousand men that had not bowed their knees to Baal So at the time of Christs death there was nothing but scandal impiety and distrust of Christ For some did wickedly revile others out of weakness denyed him Some were offended at his shamefull death and never expected any more good from him But these two Ioseph and Nicodemus do here openly shew themselves who stedfastly continued in the Faith being nothing shaken either by the impiety or unbelief of others Indeed the Faith of these men was to be admired which is made more manifest by the Antithesis or opposition For they were both rich men both Potent both accounted just men before the world The one a Senator the other a Pharisee But all these Riches Authority Power Repute and Worldly Honour they neglected regarded not and exposed themselves to trouble and danger to serve Christ even when he was dead Who compelled them to do this Who forced them to it Was it it their kindness towards Jesus Civil Friendship will go but to the Altar Death will put a period to it Faith only carried them thus far which is of such force and power that it will draw a Believer from all sensible things and set him upon things insensible Riches Power and Senatorian Dignity were sensible things But Faith fixt these two upon eternal Power and Wealth having pluckt them off from those things The same Energy and vigour of Faith was there in Abraham who forsook his Countrey his Fathers estate and his Friends and followed after those unknown and invisible things which God had promised Joseph therefore being instigated and strengthened with this Faith went boldly to Pilate and confidently craved of him the body of Jesus which none of his Disciples durst ask for Pilate presently grants it him for so was the Divine Grace pleased to work and order it Pilate had adjudged Christ to die but fore against his will Now he enquires of the Centurion whether Christ were already dead before he would grant his body to Ioseph He could not easily be perswaded that Christ should be dead so soon whereas others oftentimes use to live till the next day with their legs whole And because they were so long a dying they used to set Souldiers to watch the cross to keep them lest they should chance to make an escape which here also they did as the Evangelists witness But Pilate knew not that Christ had power to
day was divided into the Morning Third Sixth Ninth and Evening hour Whatever was done between the third and sixth hour is said to be done at the third hour because the sixth was not yet come John therefore doth not say that Christ was adjudged to die at the sixth hour but about the sixth hour signifying that yet it was the third hour as Mark saith it was But the third was almost out and the sixth hour now was at hand Now the Hebrews had a far other Computation of their hours than we English or Germans have For then the sixth hour was about noon Their day had twelve hours and the night as many John 11. But enough of this Let us return to the Court of Judgement When Pilate sate on the Judgement seat the place day and hour aforesaid before he would pronounce sentence he speaks again to the Jews For he was very unwilling to pass sentence of death And therefore he delayed and put it off so long contrary to those who make nothing to shed mans blood Behold your King saith he whom ye have delivered Prisoner to me under that inditement Why are ye so implacably bent against him Look upon him he is whipt buffeted mockt spit on here he stands before you full of derision and reproach Behold your King What hurt hath he done you What harm can he do to you He could not help himself in vain therefore do you fear him If he did say he was a King see now he is brought low enough If he was indeed your King loe he is subjected to Judgement If he fain would be a King Behold what a worthy King he is just such a one as Boyes use to make Nay In this respect he is so much worse in that he hath indured more punishment and reproaches Behold therefore your King What do you see in him What are you resolved to do with him Are ye satisfied with what he hath suffered Will ye desist from your wicked intention lest you unjustly destroy him and consequently incur your own utter ruine See here with what unwillingness Pilate yielded to the rage of the Jews For although they threatened him with Caesars displeasure yet he doth try all means if possibly he might to rescue and deliver the innocent Certainly he was more righteous and just than many in our times who rave against and fall foul on the innocent before they have any command or commission from Caesar so to do But 't is to be observed that Christ had three names and those very eminent and famous too even from unbelievers For First Pilate said before Behold the man Now Secondly he saith Behold your King The Jews Thirdly add Behold be made himself the Son of God These three a Man King God or the Son of God are the most true names of the one only Christ whom his enemies indeed did scoffingly confess but his friends who reverence and truly adore him do seriously acknowledge And in these three names all our faith hope and comfort do consist As it is the costome of envious men to interrupt ones speech when any thing is spoken which they would not hear of willingly as it happened to Paul Acts 22. When he made his defence and gave an account of himself at Jerusalem So the Jews here interrupt Pilates speech crying out Away with him away with him Crucifie him Thus he that did so mercifully visit the children of men he that dealt so gently and sweetly with the weak among them is grievous to them to behold They rest not at once crying Away with him but they cry out twice to shew their greater disdain and indignation against Christ Although this their bawling rebounded on their own bosom For their Saviour was taken from them both in this world and that which is to come When those wretched Caytiffs cryed out to have Christ taken out of their sight they brought this misery upon themselves even to be deprived of their King Prince and Priest Then was fulfilled that of Hosea The Children of Israel shall be many days without a King and without a Prince and without a Sacrifice Hos 3. Again They shall go with their flocks and with their heards to seek the Lord but they shall not find him he hath withdrawn himself from them Hos 5. And that justly too because they cryed Away with the Saviour Crucifie the Propitiator so that they have lost their salvation and have no defence left them Pilate When he heard these unclean dogs bark and these cruel Lions roar a fresh he doth again make mention of their Kingdom Shall I crucifie your King as if he had said What strange men are ye who will needs crucifie your own King It will be a perpetual blot and stain to you He speaks this more in jest than in earnest how be it be doth still endeavour to break their fury with such kind of Ironies or Riddles He did yet tremble to shed innocent blood But the Jews were not in jest this was no matter of mirth to them We have no King say they but Caesar q.d. Why dost thou talk so much of our King to us as if we Jews would have a King of our own We will not be tainted with this suspition We will not have this man either for a King or for Ceasar We are well enough contented with Tiberius Caesar We acknowledge him for our Soveraign and do pay toll and tribute to him as thou Pilate dost very well know Thus ye miserable Jews have denyed your Messias and rejected him and have chosen Caesar in his stead whom yet ye ever hated and have traduced him for a very Edomite or Idumaean Him therefore ye shall have to be your King whether ye will or no and him indeed ye have This our Jesus would never have tyrannized over you with such cruelty as Vespasian and Titus have since done But if ye are so addicted to the Roman Caesar why have ye so often rebelled Why have ye made so many mut nies against him But such was their hatred against Christ Zach. 9. Mat. 21. that out of envy to him they would applaud and commend Caesar whom they did mortally and most of all hate See what malice will do If they might but destroy Christ they would perpetually enslave themselves as if they had said We had rather be vassals to Ceasar than Free-men under this King Well then ye shall be his slaves that you may learn the difference between the service of God and the service of men By these words they cast off both Christ and God both of which are called their King in the Scriptures They say of God The Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King Isa 33.22 And of the Messias the Scripture saith plainly that he should be King Behold thy King cometh to thee meek c. Zach. 9. And again I will raise unto David a righteous branch and a King shall raign and prosper c. Jer. 23. But here they
Vagabonds upon the earth like Cain Gen. 4. And no doubt but ye have felt the smart of it long since how sorely this blood of Christ hath lain upon you But now 1659. years and opprest you and your Children now more than these fifteen hundred years Nor shall you ever have rest and quiet till ye be converted and turn to him and acknowledge your iniquity After Pilate had washt his hands and thought himself whiter than the snow then he gives sentence against Christ to put him to death He thought it a small matter to adjudge a poor mean man to die He thought no body would revenge his blood but he found it otherwise at last What matter is it if a godly man hath no man to take his part or none to revenge his quarrel so long as he hath God to avenge his wrong Vengeance is mine saith he I will repay Deut. 32. Thus Barabbas the Robber is let go without any punishment but innocent Jesus is whipt and judged to death even the death of the Cross The just for the unjnst So those sons of men Whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword did prevail and get the day because they stifly stood it out and held on their clamour so long till at last he was delivered to them to be crucified And so he that gives life to all bare the sentence of death for us For in the righteous Judgement and Court of God this sentence of death was due to us But Christ took it upon himself Thus I say He to whom the heavenly Father had committed all Judgement John 5. And who shall call to the Heavens from above and to the earth that he may judge his people Psalm 50. 2 Pet. 2. At whose Judgement the Powers of Heaven shall be shaken and the firmament shall pass away with fervent heat Hell shall give up its dead and every creature shall tremble he it this day set at naught and despised as the vilest fellow in the world and condemned to die But wo and alas 1. How were the hearts of his Disciples and the rest of his friends overcharged with sadness and grief when all hope of life was taken away and they heard that their faithfull Master their Lord and Helper was condemned by a most unrighteous Judgement 2. On the contrary what a frantick fit of jollity and howling exultation were these mad dogs put into when they had at last prevailed with the Judge by their importunate clamours to grant them their most abominable and horrid request which he had so often denyed them before when the wicked Judge delivered up Jesus the Saviour to the cursed and most cruel will of those who thirsted so much after his blood 3. How did the hopeless sadness of his friends and the furious mirth of his foes torture and afflict this meekest Lamb now in the midst of Wolves 1. Here we see Christians what we must have expected at Gods Judgement day even the Sentence of Eternal Death if Christ had not took pity on us and taken it upon himself 2. We see what little confidence we are to put in the World when Pilate who had hitherto so often stood in defence of Christ now to gratifie and please the Iews doth crucifie him without any other cause in the world So Herod heard Iohn willingly yet cut off his head at last Mark 6. This unrighteous Sentence Christ took and accepted of to free us from the most just Sentence of damnation and to teach us not to fear the unrighteous judgement of the World Let us alwayes remember this Judgement that we may with all our might and whole hearts give thanks to our Lord Christ who would be condemned to death for us and be delivered to the will of the wicked Iews yea he delivered himself that we might be able to stand before the Judgement of God And they took off the purple from him Mar. 15.20 and put his own cloaths on him and led him out to crucifie him And he bearing his cross went forth John 19.17 And as they came out they found a man of Cyrene Simon by name Mat. 27.32 who passed by coming out of the Countrey the father of Alexander and Rufus Mark 15.21 and they laid hold upon him Luke 23.26 him they compelled to bear his cross Mat. ibid. and they laid the cross on him that he might bear it after Iesus And there followed him a great company of people and of women which also bewailed and lamented him And Iesus turning unto them said Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and for your children For behold the dayes are coming in the which they shall say Blessed are the barren and the Wombs that never bare and the paps which never gave suck Then shall they begin to say to the Mountains fall on us and to the Hills cover us For if they do these things in a green Tree what shall be done in the dry Luke 23.27 Dearest Brethren and friends of God you who wait to hear the end of the saving crucifying of the blessed Lord and beloved Jesus the good God imprint in your hearts the memory of this great suffering that thereby you may not only be more strengthened in your Faith but also animated and encouraged in patience to undergo the like if need so require Amen Invocate the Lords mercy and with most fervent minds pray for all Iews Pagans Hereticks sinners and sinneresses that God the Father and Creator of all would bestow his Grace and Mercy upon all men whereby they may be converted from unbelief to the Faith and from a wicked life to godliness O thou most high God remember this so infinite Passion and be not angry with us for ever These things I thought good to premise to stir up your minds and make ye more attentive to those things which now follow We have heard first what our Lord suffered before finall sentence was past upon him We have heard secondly what that sentence was to wit that he should be crucified Now thirdly we shall hear next how that sentence was put in execution Here then let us give all attention not so much with the ears of our body as of our mind The next thing to be done is to open the Veins of the Fountain of living Waters that that precious balsam which pierceth and softeneth the hearts of all the godly may flow out After that wicked sentence was pronounced those truculent and bloody Wolves took that meekest Lamb Jesus to rend him in pieces and destroy him utterly a thing which they had long desired and now at last had obtained So that what Christ had foretold was now fulfilled to wit that the world should rejoice in his sufferings Ioh. 15. Then is the world glad when it may do what it listeth without controul when there is none to reprove it when it hath those that rebuke it under its own power they took Christ