now at the length come wee to the next Verse Then Iesus sayde to the Disciple whom hee loued c. Note in the words two things First Obseruations Christs charge Secondly Iohns obedience Before we come to the more exact handling of this text one thing would bee noted generally viz. Christs earnestnesse in the behalfe of his mother First he directed his speech to his mother Behold thy sonne And had hee sayd no more but this out of question it would haue made Iohn exceeding careful but Christ contents not himselfe with this but makes sure worke and directs his speech to Iohn also saying Behold thy mother From his example learne we to deale earnestly and zealously not carelesly and coldly in the behalfe of the distressed The Apostle telleth vs that it is good to loue earnestly in a good thing It was Salomons item that thou doest doe with all thy might exhort all with all thy might reprooue all with all thy might pleade the poore mans cause with all thy might Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God saith Christ with all thine heart and with all thy Math. 22. 29 might and thy neighbour as thy selfe A lesson that gals and wrings our lukewarme Laodeceans that happily will plead the poore mans cause but how they care not whether they speake or hold their peace whether they win or lose the day after a dead and dull and frozen and cold manner without all spirit and zeale But this obiter Come we to the words themselues and first of the charge wherein consider First Cui to whom Christ speakes Secondly Quid what he speakes First to whom namely to the beloued First Cui Apostle and heere many things are colligible I will select a two or three of them First our Sauiour commits the charge of his mother to a Disciple and none but a Disciple though there were neuer Musc in Iohn so many of her kindred according to the flesh present Non alii tamen cuipiam c Yet would our blessed Sauiour commit her to the trust of none but of a Disciple At quos Discipulos habent Euangelii ministri c. But sayth a learned man where shall a paynful and laborious Minister of Gods word finde such a Disciple to whom hee may with confidence vpon his death bed commit the care of his father mother wife or children It makes mee euen woe to consider it that when Gods Minister hath spent his strength and like a lampe wasted himselfe to giue light to others spent his body spent his substance vpon his flocke hath beene instant and earnest in season out of season not three years together as Paul was at Ephesus but tenne Act. 20. twenty thyrty fortie yeares together in labours often in trauells often in watchings often in prayers often in perrils often and when hee hath performed the duty and office of a faithfull Pastor his course beeing finished it makes my bowels euen turn within meto see his poore widdow to become a vagabond his children like Iudas his to beg their bread yet such is the ingratitude vnmercifulnes of these vnthankfull times that a Minister may spend his spirits and life blood in for a congregation yet amongst thousands of such as are or ought to be disciples not a man to bee found that wil relieue either mother wife son or daughter in lieu of al their labors They will as soone it may be sooner prouide for the wife and posterity of theyr shepheard or neatheard and thinke themselues as much bound to it as to prouide for the wife and children of their deceased Pastor Let their kindred prouide say we and what reason haue we to take our childrens bread and giue it to strangers as if the care and faithfulnesse of a Disciple ought not to exceed the care faithfulnesse of a kinsman or brother The virgin Marie had much kindred yet Christ commends her to a Disciple not to her kindred Secondly obserue that Iohn writing of Obseruation himselfe sayth not Deinde dicit mihi Then he sayd to me Behold c But thus he sayd to his Disciple whom he loued c. And so in the consequent words he sayth not Ego recepi I tooke her but ille recepit hee tooke her to his owne home Suppressit nomen Are. in Iohan. supra c. he suppressed his name before verse the twenty fifth of this chapter and here he suppresseth it againe if you would haue any reasons for his so doing I answer you First he doth it out of singular thankfulnesse R. A. in doct Euang. p. 177. to Christ for his entire and especiall affection towards him this great fauour would neuer out of his minde that his master loued him aboue all the Apostles therefore he delights to call himselfe the Disciple whom Iesus loued euen out of a thankefull minde It was no small fauour to be the best beloued Apostle the least that Iohn could returne was the sacrifise of prayse for so great a mercy to think of it speake of it write of it and as Dauid Psal 66. 20. sayth to exalt God with his tongue by acknowledgement of so admirable kindenesse It makes to the euerlasting prayse of Dauid that famous singer of Israel that he neuer receiued a new mercy but with all he would sound foorth a new song of prayse to God in one Psalme he cryes out Psal 103. 1. Psal 105. Benedic anima mea Iehouae c Soule prayse thou the Lord let all that is within mee praise his name In a second place Quid retrihuam c. What shall I render vnto the Lord for all Psal 33. 1. his benefits bestowed vpon mee In a third place Cantate iusti in Iehoua Reioyce in the Lord ye righteous prayse is comely for the vpright In a fourth Laudate Iah Praise the Lord for it is good to doe so it is a pleasant and Psal 147. 1â— a comly thing In a fifth place Halaluiah laudate Iehouam laudate eam in excelsis c. Praise the Lord praise the Lord from the heauens Psal 148. 1. praise him in the height In a word his life was euen a continual recounting of Gods mercies Oh that wee were men of the same spirit in these dayes thousands millions myrriads of blessings euen the blessings of both hands hath God poured downe vpon vs right handed left handed blessings for this life and a better he hath placed peace vpon our borders enriched vs with plenty and crowned euery new yeare with new blessings delighting to do vs good as a father to his owne sonne he hath declared vnto his word and statutes shewed vs his ordinances hee hath not dealt so with any nation But where is the man that like Iohn delights to talke of Gods mercyes to him who sings with that sacred virgin Magnificat anima mea c. My soule doth magnifie the Lord and Luke â—â— my spirit
the honourable titles belonging to Christ to her Christ they call Lord her they call Lady Christ they call King her the Queene of heauen Yea they cal her their life hope ioy saluation and pray to her as if she could command her sonne Their Psalter called our Lady her Psalter is so full of blasphemy that I will not recite one word of it but referre you rather to the Ecclesiasticall story called the booke of Martyrs Foxe Acts and Monument where their blasphemyes are discouered to the full Yet that I might not too lightly passe ouer this poynt and that by the lesse you may iudge the more I will not passe ouer one Idolatrous prayer that I lately read Aue miserorum patrona aue caelicae matrona Tu ancillam Iesu Christi te vocari voluisti Sed vt docet lex diuina tu ipsius es domina Namius habet ratio matrem praeesse filio Ergo ora suppliciter praecipe suhlimiter Vt nos in Mundi vespera ad regna ducat supera This and a great many other like Rihmes are sung to the magnifying I was about to say the deifying of Christs mother obscuring and dimming the glory due to Christ himselfe All which I speake not to derogate from the sacred virgin whose rare vertues I dare not neglect nay dare not for my soule but reuerence and admire The Papists extoll Stulti dum vitant vitia in contraria currunt her too much many of vs esteeme her too little Her priuiledges were high and admirable aboue all the womens that were before her or shall be after her First though she had originall sinne yet the course of originall deprauation was so stayed in her by the ouershadowing of the holy Ghost that shee brought foorth a childe perfectly righteous without sinne which neuer any but shee did Secondly Shee was mother and nurse to our Sauiour Christ the sonne of the most high in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed which is so great aprerogatiue that the Prophet Isay sets it foorth with an ecce Behold a virgin shall conceiue and beare a sonne c. Thirdly the holy Angell pronounced her blessed amongst women Luke 1. 28. All generations ought to call her blessed Luke 1. 48. All which considered I cannot but grieue and haue indignation when I heare the vnconsiderate speeches that some haue aduentured to poure foorth in discoursing of the virgin Marie But to pray to her to adore her as the Antichristian rabble doe at this day that know no bounds when they prayse her nor meane when they honour her As there are many places against it so I take it none more apt then this Text where our Sauiour speaking to his mother saith not mother but woman behold thy sonne From the manner proceed we to speak of the matter of Christs speech Behold thy thy sonne as if he had sayd this is he that I appoynt and constitute to bee in place of mee thy sonne to prouide and care for and comfort thee which I know he will as carefully performe as if hee were thine naturall sonne Before I come to gather any doctrine from the words let mee assoyle two questions First it may be questioned why Christ Obiection commends the care of his mother to Iohn rather then to any other Disciple since there were more Disciples then Iohn of whose affection our Sauior litle doubted though now through frailty and infirmity they forsooke him Answer Bellarmine yeelds many reasons as first Bell. de 7. verb because Christ knew that Iohn should out liue Marie and all the rest of the Apostles Secondly he knew Iohn to be his most louing as he was the most loued Apostle Thirdly because Iohn was present with him in his greatest abasement when the other Disciples were fled for feare I thinke to these three I may adde a fourth viz. this That Christ commends her to Iohn and none other to preuent superstition Papists prate and pride of Primacie Aret. in Iohan and Princedome as if Peter had had the iurisdiction ouer and beene head of all the Apostles and yet our Sauiour euer loued and in some sort honoured and preferred Iohn and was more familiar with him then with Peter or any Disciple else Ioh. 13. 23. It is sayd that Iohn leaned vpon Christs breast and in the same chapter it is sayde that when Christ had spoke the word One of you shall betray me the Disciples looked one vpon another and Peter beckened to Iohn that hee might aske his master of whom he spake vers the 26. To which also might bee added that the Reuelation was deliuered to Iohn and not to Peter Reu. 1. 1. And here the virgin Marie is committed to Iohns custody and not to Peters yea it is remarkeable that the infirmities of Peter are more displayed in the Scriptures then the infirmities of any of all the Apostles perhaps his rashnesse whē he cut of Malchus his eare Math. 27. Certaynly his cowardise that he denyed and not once but thrise together denyed yea and forswore his owne master Marke 14. 72. and many other of his infirmities the Scripture mentions that I forbeare to rippe vp out of the reuerence I beare to so worthy an Apostle and yet could not say lesse then I haue sayde to stoppe the mouthes of such as extoll Peter as the Prince and principall of all the Apostles The second doubt to be answered is The second doubt answered why Christ commits the care of his mother to Iohn onely and not rather to all and euery one of his Apostles and to her kindered also that were then present as well as Iohn The saying is Vnita vis fortior a threefold cord is not easily broken suppose that one should haue proued vnfaythfull to the virgin Marie yet if the care of her had beene committed to many a man would thinke in reason though one should forsake her yet all would not forsake her Why then doth Christ commit her to the care of one and but one To this I answer that whatsoeuer in Answer reason wee may imagine to the contrary for the most part that is neglected of all that is committed to the care of all It was Aristotls rule whatsoeuer is regarded of al is regarded of none Yea experience confirms as much let me instance it in particulars Quod multorum fidei cnrae committitur non satis probe curatur Musc in Iohan Arist pol. lib. 2. cap. 2. it is the duty of euery towne and parish of euery particular mā woman according to their ability to feede the hungry cloath the naked but if that there were not an ouer seer or two in euery towne appointed for that end that the poore might and through their negligence it comes to passe sometimes that they are cast away for want of sustenance It is the duty of al to defend the innocent and helplesse from the mighty man and ftom the oppressor but had wee
sayd Zacheus come downe at once it is added in Luke 19. the Text He came downe hastily and receiued him ioyfully When God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his sonne he did not onely Gen. 22. doe it but hee rose vp early to doe it When Christ arose from the dead he arose not on the second or third but vpon the Luke 24. first day of the weeke he arose not about noone or towards night but early in the morning Hee that seeke me early sayth God shall finde me Paul cals vpon vs for early and present repentance Behold sayth 2. Cor. 6. 2. he now is the acceptable time now is the day of saluation Now is the time that we are sure of and wee are sure of no time but this now we cannot recall the time past wee know not whether euer wee shall enioy that is to come we are sure of no time but this nunc euen this moment watch and pray therefore you know not the houre we know not whether we shall liue to the end of another houre or quarter of an houre and therefore let vs as wee say of souldiers be at an houres warning yea at a minutes warning I shake and shiuer to thinke of the vaine confidence of carnall men that deferre all obedience and repentance till they come to their death beds and when their soules lie at the gate of their bodyes ready to go out when the breath sits vpon the tip of their tongues ready to flye away then will they lumpe with God for all The diuell may most aptly be compared to an vsurer the deferring sinner to an incestuous dingthrift Dingthrifts when they haue morgaged house and land to the Vsurer plead commonly for longer respite for a quarter or halfe yeare or a yeares day Vsurers giue them golden language till they haue broken day and then they seize vpon all with extremest tyranny Thus it fares in matters of repentance drunkards would faine haue a little respite to follow their drunkennesse adulterers would runne to the harlots house a little longer will it not be time enough if they repent hereafter Yes sayth Sathan twenty forty yeeres hence enough when thou hearest the bell tole for thee in the meane time God tops them off suddenly like an eare of corne or takes away their senses or hardens their hearts that they cannot repent What followes the breath is no sooner out of their bodyes but the diuell seizes vpon their soules which hee straight wayes plungeth into so horrid torrid torment that were I able to expresse it to the life would make the heauens melt and the earth shrinke to heare it In the feare of God while we haue time euen instantly enter we vpon a good course 2. Obserue Iohns cheerefull obedience Iohns cheerefull obedience he doth nothing after a repining manner questioning and reasoning as a worldly man would haue done What are their no more Disciples but my selfe Are not many of her kindred present Am I neerer to her then they Hee reasons not thus but as one reioycing that his Master wold command him any thing euen presently hee takes her to his custody and keeping It is not enough to doe that that God requires of vs but wee must doe it with alacrity and cheerefulnesse The Lord loues a cheercfull giuer Exodus 15. When 2. Cor. 9. 7. Moses was to take thc peoples beneuolence towards the building of the tabernacle God commanded him to take the gifts of none but such as gaue freely It is a true Axiome that God lookes rather to the affection of the Agent then to the Act it self the widdowes Mite was accepted though not for the quantity of her gift yet for her good affection Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen is one petition in the Lords prayer Fiat voluntas tua Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen Quid hoc sayth Augustine Aug. de temp What meanes this petition Vt quomodo tibi seruiunt Angeli in Coelo c. This is the meaning sayth hee that as the Angels serue God in heauen so wee desire ability and strength to serue God on earth yea but how do the Angels in heauen serue God The reuerend Babbington tels vs they obey Bab. on the Lords prayer God Lubentissime citissime fidelissime c. Willingly chearefully speedily faithfully c. they flye when God commands I cannot deny it but that we performe some actions in themselues commendable we giue almes pay tithes and tenths but what sayth God My sonne giue me thine heart all is done in vayne if God haue not the heart as well as the hand 3. Obserue Iohns constant obedience he Iohns constāt obedience tooke her not to his care for a time but was carefull and tender ouer her so long as she liued From the houre c. Some write that shee liued with Iohn eleuen yeares after Christ his death Others that she liued Nicephorus with Iohn 23. yeares others that she liued with Iohn full 24. yeares When the holy Ghost ouershadowed her they say shee Epiphanius was 14. yeeres old Betwixt the time of Christ his birth and death was 33. yeeres after Christs death shee liued 24. yeeres and if this be true the virgin was about 72 yeares old when she dyed The popish Legend if there be any heede to be giuen to that heape of lyes sayth she liued with Iohn the space of twelue yeares but what neede I trouble you or my selfe in the rehearsall of sundry opinions so long as she liued so long the Apostle tooke care of her were it 11. 12. 23 or 24. yeares Learne we by his example not to bee weary of well doing Paul sayth that they shall inherit Rom. 2. 7. eternall life that continue in well-doing Woe to that man that layes his hand to the plow and lookes backe sayth the Spirit it is a notable commendations of Ruth that she shewed more good at the Ruth 3. last then at the first A great commendations of the Church of Thyatira that her Reu. 3. workes were more at the last then at the first I pray God that I were able to giue the same testimony of all in our times but I cannot for of some I scarce thinke but I Dan 2. 23. thinke of the Image that Nebuchadnezar dreamed of The head was fine gold his breast and armes siluer his belly and thighes brasse his legges iron his feete partly iron partly clay still worse and worse and so is it with many in our times to whom wee may apply that saying of the Apostle Euill men and deceiuers wax worse and worse at the first profession of religion they were exceeding forward for the aduancing of Gods worship ready to distribute c. But now are as cold as frost or Ice in winter like the Sunne in Ioshua his time they stand still nay it may bee like the Sunne in Ezekiah his time goe