of Levi but their Genealogy was deduced from Judah by reason of the commixture of the Tribe of Levi especially of the High-Priests with the Royal Tribe of Judah Afterwards when Aristobulus and Aurkay being brethren contended with one another for the Chief Government after much conflict who should take up the Government at last the Kingdom remained in Herod the Askalonoite and he confounded the Book of Jewish Genealogies for he was no Jew and he put the Stole of the Priesthood under his Signature that is under his Seal In the time of this Herod Christ arose when the Kings and Rulers of the people were ceased according to that The Scepter shall not depart c. In the time of these brethren Aristobulas and Aurcanus the Kingdom ceased from the House of David and Herod Ruled and Christ came whose the Kingdom was in the thirty fifth year of this Herod our Lord was born on the fourth day others on the sixth day others on the first day of the Week at Night before Cock Crow about the time that he Arose from the Sepulcher and is to effect the Resurrection on the twenty fifth of December and the three hundred and ninth year of the Greeks In other Copies it is Written the Seventh which is the forty third of Augustus Caesar he was born of the Virgin being then thirteen years of Age and she died in Ephesus being Aged fifty one years and John the Evangelist and his Disciples buried her and at the time of the Birth of our Lord Cyrenus the Governour was sent and the Wise-Men came in the Month of Nisan Mathew omits her putting him into swadling Cloaths and her laying him in a Manger the Angelical Hymas the Circumcision and other things and writes only of the coming of the Wise-Men from whence is made known the fraud of Herod the Murthering of the Children c. The Wise-Men came from the East to Hierusalem and said It is to be enquired therefore of what Nation were these Wise-Men Eusebius and Gregory Nyssen say that they were of the Sons of Balaam Jacobus Auriensis than they were of the Progeny of Elam the Son of Shem others that they were descended from the Kings of Sheba and Seba as David said They shall bring Gifts unto him and they were Men of Note and came from Persia but how many were they Some say they were three in respect of the three Offerings which they made and that there were with them a thousand Men and therefore Hierusalem was troubled Jacobus Aurihensis saith that they were not three as Painters draw them but twelve Princes and that they had more with them than a thousand Men. Others say they were eight as said Micha We shall raise against him seven Shepherds and eight Shepherds that is Governours and that they had with them a great Army Others that they were three Sons of Kings and nine Noble Men of their Countries and that the King who sent them was called Pirshabor and their Names Hidondad the Son of Artabon Shethoph the Son of Godephor Areshock the Son of Mahedes Zodonad the Son of Varud Arihu the Son of Cosare Artehoth the Son of Havilith Ashtonbozan the Son of Shishoron Mahodok the Son of Hevaham Ahirosh the Son of Tsonikeban Tsardonnah the Son of Beldon Merudok the Son of Bil. And there were with them about three thousand who bare Arms and five Ships of Burthen and when they passed Euphrates they heard of a Famine in Jerusalem and they lest their Forces to abide about Euphrates from Kalinikos that is to say Raka unto Ktesiphon and those twelve Princes went on with an Army consisting of a thousand Men and carried Gifts with them Saint Cyril and Johannes say That Christ was an Infant and wrapped in Swadling Cloaths when the Wise-Men found him for they say that before the time of his Birth a Star appeared to the Wise-Men about eight days before his Nativity as Saint Cyril saith to Guide them unto him Moreover They say that it was fitting that he should be Worshipped in Swadling Cloaths and laid in a Manger that the Miracle might appear to be the greater Others say That in the very same Night and Day he was born the Wise-Men came and it is manifest from that which is written That when Jesus was born the Wise-Men came Epiphanius of Cyprus doth not Assent hereunto for he saith That our Saviour was born in Bethlehem and that he was Circumcised in a Cave that he went up to the Temple and that he was carried by Simeon and that he went to Nazareth and that the next year they brought him to appear before the Lord and then he went to Bethlehem and thence returned to Nazareth and at the end of two years they carried him up again to Jerusalem and went to Bethlehem for they loved often to frequent this place wherein he was born and whilst they were in Bethlehem the Wise-Men came And this is clear from that which Mathew said And they came into the House and saw the Lad with Mary his Mother and they fell down and Worshiped him for here he saith an House and not a Cave and Moreover the Lad with his Mother and not such an one as was wrapt in Swadling Cloaths and in the night he appeared to Joseph to take away the Lad and his Mother and to depart into Egypt And hereby also he sheweth that he was two years Old for Gnoba the Scripture calls one that is wrapped in Swadling Cloaths and Taloio Lad one that Rowls himself and creeps and goeth and herewith agreeth Eusebius and the Lord Ephraim in his Exposition saith it was the Second year And Jacobus Auriensis or Sarugensis in his Sermon on the Star and the Wise-Men saith that they saw him when he was two years old and from hence are verify'd the Words of Mathew and of Luke Luke saith that he went from Bethlehem to Nazareth and Mathew saith from Bethlehem to Egypt and both are in the Truth for they went to Hierusalem after forty days as saith Luke and afterwards to Nazareth and at the end of two years from Nazareth to Bethlehem and from Bethlehem to Egypt as Mathew saith and he was in Egypt two years until the Death of Herod and that Archelaus his Son Reigned Behold it is known that Christ was then two years old from this that those whom Herod slew were two years old and under according to the time he enquired of the Wise-Men and if it were said that he should fly that Night into Egypt or that he was of eight days old how went he to the Temple or was born of Simeon Herod being filled with Rage Magick is an Heresie composed of Gentilisme and of Caldaisme for it Worshiped the Elements according to the Gentiles and Worshiped the Stars and went by the help and knowledg of Luminaries and the Signs of the Zodiack and by the directions of the Stars as the Chaldeans and every of them lived by themselves and were
measured Jerusalem a thousand Cubits and as with a Span measureth he Man Secondly For Grace as the Prophets who were Anointed privately with the Spirit Thirdly for Oyl as the Kings and Priests were Anointed with Holy Oyl and Men likewise with ordinary Oyl Fourthly in the way of Honour as it was said of the House of Abraham and Isaack Touch not my Anointed Fifthly by way of Distinction as they who are set apart to do somewhat by Direction as Cyrus and Hazael who being seperated for a design were called Anointed Sixthly for Faith as That which is of Faith and Baptism is as the Body of Christ Seventhly for the Holy Ghost even as the Word Anointed his Body that is with his Godhead and with his Spirit for the Christ whom we Worship we do not call so as the Man born only of Mary and afterwards Anointed by the Spirit and Sanctified as the Hereticks say but we call Christ the Word of God who was begotten of the Father from Eternity and we call him Christ because he vouchsafed to be Anointed with the Spirit and to be Sanctified in the Flesh and as his Nature was high and above the Birth of a Woman of Passion and Death and yet vouchsafed to be born and to suffer and to dye in the Flesh for us so did he take upon him to be Anointed with the Spirit being the Giver of it and Holy in in his own Nature he was pleased to receive the Grace of the Spirit as not needing it and therefore receiv'd it that he might bestow it upon us And in all things he was the beginning to us as the Second Adam according to the saying of Paul That by his means he might give us the Holy Ghost Moreover we call him Christ because the Spirit descended into the Womb of the Virgin as the Angel said and this Spirit framed the body of the Word of God and Anointed and Sanctified it and so the Word was United to this Body and this the Spirit did not that it was unable to frame and Sanctifie the body out of the Womb but that it might be known that he that was born was God coequal in Nature with the Spirit who formed and Sanctified the body and not meer Man Again the Spirit formed the body of the Word and Sanctified and Anointed it that the distinctions of persons in the Trinity might be made known It was the Fathers pleasure the Son should be incorporated and it was the Holy Ghost who made him a Body in that he formed his body of the Virgin The same Order was observed in the Creation The Father commanded things to be made and the Son made them and the Spirit finish'd and accomplish'd them Furthermore the Father said Anoint and the Son was Anointed and the Spirit supplied the place of Oyl wherefore we call the Word of God Christ or Anointed Again we call the Word of God Christ for two Reasons and the first is for that he vouchsafed to be Anointed in the Flesh by the Holy Spirit tho' equal in Nature with the Giver of the same Secondly because the Holy Ghost Anointed and Sanctified his body being United to the Word Moreover this Name Christ teacheth the whole Doctrine of the Trinity it was the Father who Anointed the Son who was Anointed and the Holy Ghost was the Oyl or Unction he who said That Christ was made Man Naturally and that he was Anointed by the Spirit for Sanctification let him tell us where he was Anointed if before his Conception he had then no body in the Womb of the Virgin and behold it is not written that he was Anointed at his Baptism but behold he was called Christ at his Birth Some Hereticks there are who say that Jesus Christ signifies one made Man against whom we say that Jesus Christ signifies the Word of God not as he is God alone but as he is made Man Again The Name of Jesus Christ doth not denote Man from Mary nor God and Man together but the Word of God and it is most certain from hence for Jesus saith thus to the Jews Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the World do ye say Thou art a Blasphemer Who therefore was he who was sent from the Father Man Or God and Man together Or the Word as saith Paul that God sent his Son and he was made of a Woman Therefore he who was sent to the World is the Word which was from the Father and he is called Jesus and is the same who is said to be Sanctified and not meer Man neither God and Man together but the Father Sanctified the Word by the Holy Ghost who Anointed him not as he is God for so he is equal to the Father and the Spirit and the Giver of Holiness but as he was made Man for us Moreover Christ said before Abraham was I am who therefore was before Abraham the Man who was of Mary or God and Man together For the Man who was from Mary was so far from being before Abraham that he was not before Mary but after Mary being born of her 't is certain therefore that the Word of God who was called by this Name of Jesus Christ was before Abraham Furthermore Jesus said to the Jews What say ye concerning Christ whose Son is he They said unto him the Son of David and he said unto them How did David call him in the Spirit Lord for he said The Lord said unto my Lord sit on my right Hand if David called him Lord how was he his Son he therefore who is the Lord of David is the Man from Mary who as yet was not in the time of David nor Mary of whom he was born Either he calls Man and God together Christ for he calls one in the singular Number my Lord and not many Lords it is therefore certain that he calls the Word of God coequal with the Father in Nature Lord according to this The Lord sent down Fire from before the Lord on Sodom and according to this also There is born unto them to day a Redeemer who is the Lord Christ wherefore he calls him Christ again it is written That thy Throne is for ever and ever after he had called him God and said Thy Scepter is for ever and ever that is to say there is no end or term to his Kingdom he said God hath Anointed thee that is the Father hath Anointed the Word of God by the Holy Spirit but not as God but as he was made Man and accordingly as the Word said He whom the Father Sanctified and Sent. Moreover the Prophet said He hath Anointed him above his Fellows that is he hath Anointed him above us and above the Prophets and Apostles and others who are Anointed for all Men who are Anointed of the Spirit receive what they stand in need of but the Word being Sanctified and Anointed with the Spirit received it tho not in want thereof but full and a bestower thereof
Nazareth and both declare the Truth but this of Luke was first for he abode forty days in Bethlehem from the time he was born and afterwards went to Jerusalem and offer'd Gifts and Simeon bore him and from Jerusalem he went to Nazareth and at the end of that Anniversary he came to Jerusalem and so returned to Nazareth and at the end of the second year he came from Nazareth to Jerusalem and from thence to Bethlehem and there the Wise-Men Worshipped him and from Bethlehem he went to Egypt as saith Mathew and Luke declares where he was born and what things were done at his Nativity and that he went up to Jerusalem when the days of her Purification were accomplish'd and when they had performed what the Law required they went unto Nazareth Mathew afterwards sets forth that the Wise-men came and found him in Bethlehem after he was Circumciz'd and had offered his Gifts and was two years old and then it was told Joseph that he should carry him by flight into Egypt and he remained three years in Egypt and suddenly returned to Nazareth and hence it is known that the Wife-men worshipped him when he was two years old for there was no Congruity with reason or conveniency that they should bring him up to the Temple whilest Herod breath'd forth destruction against the Children Which is called Nazareth The Jews question in what book these two passages are written viz. He shall be called a Nazarite and Out of Egypt have I called my Son To whom we say that these are not allegations of praise and exaltation but of humiliation for this word Nazareth they spoke of it as an house of Indecency out of Nazareth c. And the other is applyed to flight and had they not been True Mathew had not produced them because they were not of advantage Moreover many books perished as the book of Barjamin teacheth us for the Jews continually were drawn into the Errour of Idolatry and some of the Books they lost and some of them they tore as Jeremia declares and he who wrote the Book of the Kings faith that Deuteronomie was scarce found after a long time which was hidden and plundered For if when they were free from Warr they had so little care or regard for Books much less had they in the time of war And if they shall say if it was not written in the time of Christ whence doth Matthew produce it We answer that it was the daughter of a Voice And in the time of Mathew it was delivered and propagated from mouth to mouth and therefore Mathew wrote it or it was in the Books which were Lost or the Spirit which dwelt upon him in the Parlour Revealed it unto him or in his time it was preserv'd in Books and after Mathew wrote it perish'd in the destruction of the City by the Romans And if a Jew will indeavour to Falcify the Gospel because this allegation is not Extant he may be Reprehended from his own Books wherein are many Speeches written say'd to be in writing and are not written wherefore we may hold theirs in the like repute Moses speaks to Aaron concerning the death of his Sons I will be Sanctified by my near ones and I will be praised before all the People yet this is not found any where and it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord. A Flame in the Whirlwind in the Torrent of Aron Moreover To teach the Children of Israel the use of the Bow behold it is written in the Book of Jasher But neither did he reveal what is the Doctrine of the Bow It is said of Jeroboam the Son of Jehu I will turn the Border from the going in of Hamath to the Book of the Sallows as said the Lord by his Servant Jonas the Son of Mathi the Prophet in Gad-Hether and this is not written any where no not in Jonas And Thou hast said the World shall be Built in Grace and also in Esaia This Word the Lord spake concerning Moab and it is unknown where these two passages are written therefore let the Jew take our Excuse from his own Moreover The Gospel according to Custom and with regard to the accomplishment of things produceth an Allegation for Isaiah saith There shall come forth a Rod from the Root of Jess and a Bough shall sprout forth And in the Hebrew a Branch or Bough is expounded a Branch and Nazaren one who sprouts out and when Mathew saw that Christ came and dwelt in Nazareth he expounded this of Esaiah A Branch shall sprout out He shall be called a Nazaren and he was called a Nazaren from Nazareth that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one sprouting out from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sprout so they are expounded in the Hebrew Tongue Others say that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is expounded New and that Nazareth signifieth New and signifies Typically that the Son would newly be made Man for Men Others say That Nazareth signifies Justice and Nazaren signifies Just and if they shall say that because he was born in Bethlehem and not in Nazareth Esaiah calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let them know that the Apostles called him as did the Prophets and that this of Bethlehem was not hid as to the Prophecy but chiefly intended according to that of Nathaniel who from this was moved to make Enquiry and said From Nazareth c. For Nazareth was a contemptible place as was Galilee and our Lord was not ashamed to be called from thence After he had discoursed concerning Christ's Nativity c. at last he came to the beginning of the Gospel which is the Baptism of Christ And so he Continueth his Discourse on towards his Passion MATH III. ANd in those days came John the Baptish He doth not understand by those days the time when Jesus returned from Egypt to Nazareth for in those days Jesus was five years old but the time of his abode in Nazareth being Twenty five Years he was Thirty Years of Age when he came to Baptism as saith Luke Others are of opinion that he calls those days the time when he came to be baptized for it is the custom of Scripture to term by the Name of those days the days wherein any matter what-e'er it be is acted or done Others think that he calls those days the time wherein the Jews had neither King nor Prophet forasmuch as the Prophecy of Jacob was fulfilled The Scepter shall not depart c. but Tiberius then Reigned as Luke saith Others say thus In those days that is our Lord did not immediately after his teturn from Egypt come to John but when he was Thirty Years of Age being Two years old when he went down into Egypt where he remained Three years and afterwards dwelt in Nazareth Twenty five Years and in these years he paid the debt of our Nature and fulfilled the Law and abrogated it and it is the Custom of
as Mark saith and it is manifest from what Mathew and Luke have said That there was Darkness at the Sixth Hour until the Ninth for this that they divided his Garments and the Title of his Death written and the Soldiers offer'd him Vinegar Blasphemed against him and the Words of the Thieves were between the Sixth and the Third Hours and from the Sixth to the Ninth Darkness prevailed and there was not opportunity for the doing of these things wherefore Mark speaks the Truth In the Morning our Lord was Condemned at the third Hour he was Crucified and from the Sixth Hour to the Ninth there was Darkness Moreover John did not design to speak precisely of the time of the Crucifixion but after he had made a Relation as his Fellows had done and wrote what he had particularly receiv'd from them He said plainly not exactly it was about the Sixth Hour when these things were done That is to say these Words were to the Miracle of the Darkness and the things performed and not to the time Again we say That Christ was Crucified for Adam and the Second Adam agrees directly with the First and it s most certain That Adam was created in the Morning and by Divine Appointment began to impose Names on the Wild Beasts Cattle and the Fowl of the Air from the Morning to the third Hour then there passed three Hours and then he cast on him a Sleep and framed Eve of his Rib and at the time of the third Hour they were both placed in Paradice and receiv'd the Commandment and at the very time of the third Hour our Lord was Crucified and the time of the sixth hour they Transgressed the Commandment and were Naked and Clothed themselves with Darkness so on the Sixth Hour when our Lord was strip'd Naked on the Cross Darkness prevailed and the Creatures were Clothed with Darkness Others are of opinion That the third hour whereof Mark speaks is thus to be understood Viz. That Judgment was pronounced against him that he entred into the Praetorium and was examined until the Sixth Hour and then was Crucified Others say That this which John saith Viz. The Sixth Hour proceeded from the Error of the first Transcriber by Reason of the nearness in similitude of Characters between the third and sixth Letter of the Alphabet That is to say of Gamma and Epsilon Gamma being written thus Γ and Epsilon thus Ε Γ therefore signifieth three whereunto being added to the back a stroak at the bottom it became Epsilon Quere Varâ—atione Alphabetae and signified Six John therefore wrote the third but the Scribe mistook and wrore the Sixth Moreover this Sixth day which is here called Gnarutha we do not find any where that it was called Gnarutha until the time of Christ but was called the Sixth day it is called mixt or obscure because therein the Sun was obscur'd and for that the Law and the Administration thereof was benighted Moreover Vices ceased That is to say were at an end and Goodness approached Old things were Abolished and new things were introduc'd Gods care of the people ceased and arose to the Gentiles The fiery Cherubin and blazing Sword of Destruction were extinguish'd from the Gate of Paradice for there did set the Sun of the People which slew their Lord and the Sixth day signified the Six thousandth year wherein he sufferd Wherefore was our Lord Crucified on this day For that on this day Adam was created therein Transgressed the Commandment receiv'd Judgment and on this day departed Paradice and on the self same Hour that the Cherubim took up the Sword to Guard the Tree was Christ Wounded with the Spear and disarmed the Cherub and in the very hour that Adam went out of Paradice did our Lord bring the Soul of the Thief into Paradice and the New Adam Corrected the Old Adam There stood at the Cross of Jesus c. Some say these were the Maries Mary thâ— Mother of God and Mary the Wife of Joseph the Mother of James and of Joses and Mary the Sister of Eliezer and Mary the Wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalen Others say That there were four and that he calls the Mother of James and Joses the Mother of God but not rightly for their Mother was Machatha Jacobus Auriensis saith That Machatha was not the Wife of Joseph and they call her the Sister of his Mother according as Men are used to call their Brothers Wives Sisters Cyril Severus and Philoxenus say That Mary the Mother of God and Mary the Wife of Cleophas were Sisters and he calls her the Sister of his Mother St. Philoxenus Joseph and Cleophas were Brethren and Mary the Mother of Christ and Mary the Wife of Cleophas were Sisters and these two took two Sisters And in the Harcalian Translation it is so written His Mother and the Sister of his Mother the Wife of Cleopha for inasmuch as he did not add the Letter Samech unto Mary the Wife of Cleopha he shewcth that she was the Sister of his Mother Others say That he called another Mary the Wife of Joseph of whom he begat Jacob after another way First Mary the Virgin and Mary the Wife of Joseph and Mary the Wife of Cleopha and Mary the Mother of Mark who as some say was the Wife of St. Peter and Mary Magdalen the Daughter of Simon the Leaper the Sister of Lazarus she was called Magdalen because she inhabited The Tower of Astrat or the Tower of Shiloah or from pleated because her Hair was pleated Others say That Mary the Sister of Lazarus was an Harlot and was called Magdalen but they do not agree with what is the Truth for Mary the Sister of Lazarus was Chaste and no Harlot The Adulteress in the Gospel was another and her Name the Evangelist did not declare Thou shalt not have to do with an Adulterer or Adulteress how then was the Sister of Lazarus who was a Friend to Christ an Harlot Therefore Mary Magdalen was another and was called Magdalen from the Tower which she built her self out of what she got by playing the Strumpet as the Work of this Uncleaness and they call her seven Devils the sulfilling of Unclean Affections she by her Conversion figured the Conversion of the Gentiles Others say she was Tempted by Unclean Devils and not by the Unclean Passions of Impudicity They were called Seven either for that they were Seven in Number or by reason of the Asperity of the Temptation and when our Lord-Cured her she improved in a Virtuous Conversation so far as that she was called Magdalen from the Tower of Righteousness which she built for her selfe which she mounted to Heaven Eusebius saith there were two Magdalens the one was she out of whom he drove seven Devils the self same of whom thou hast heard say'd Come not near me And the other was she of whom Mathew say'd that she was of Magdala Mary of James to distinguish him from James the Son of
should do no Work on the Sabbath and therefore they prepared Sweet Odours as the Custom was that they might perfume on the third day the Body for the Love they bore unto it But the Morrow after That is to say it was the Sabbath day after the Friday or Preparation The Chief Priests Assembled together That is to say to desire Pilate to grant them their Pleasure Our Lord we Remember that this Deceiver They called Pilate Lord and denied Christ and by the Words we Remember they shew'd that they knew all things which were said by him But observe how void of Pride Mathew was who wrote all Words of Reproach and was not ashamed to express the Word Deceiver and others the like Command therefore that they watch the Sepulcher They desired Watch-Men because they were mov'd with his Speech That he was to Rise the Third day Secondly Because the Watch-Men were to be Preachers of the Resurrection to the Region of the Jews Pilate said unto them Ye have Watches go and have a Care Pilate did not send a Guard of his own nor did he Seal the Sepulcher that they might not have occasion to say That he took a Bribe and permitted his Disciples to take him away And they Sealed the Stone the Soaldiers being present Some say That they made the Souldiers to stand as Centuries at the Stone and tied them thereunto and fixed the Impression of their Seals on their Necks or their Thighs or their Loyns or their Feet Others That they placed them on both sides of the Stone with their Faces one against the other and that they stretched forth their Hands over the Stone and knit their Fingers together about it and Sealed them Others say That they sealed the Stone over the Sepulcher with all their Rings as did Darius the Cistern with his Ring and the Ring of his Nobles And if they had not sealed it and appointed Keepers they might have a pretence to say that he was stoln away but this fell out more to their Shame That the Keepers themselves became Preachers and Witnesses of the Resurrection and that the Seals and Signs gave concurrent Testimonies with the Keepers that they did not Lye And he calls Keepers those who were appointed to keep Prisoners in Custody or those who were ordained Executioners in Capital Causes and there were 15 Keepers whereof some were Hebrews and some Romans There were three Captains and twelve under Command and this is Written in St. Paul's Roll and in other Hebrew Histories A Discourse against Hereticks and Gentiles AS to those who weigh and refer the Exinanition of Christ to Human Nature we have opposed Supereminencies for John said When ye shall lift up the Son of Man by listing up meaning the Cross and brings him saying as it were thus Had I not quieted the Sea yet when I shake the Earth and remove it out of its place were it so that I had not made Streight those who were Crooked yet when I do Rend the Veil of the Gate and the Stones and did I not restore Souls to their Bodies yet when I make the Holy-Ghost to depart from the Temple were I not the Light of the World whilst I cry out yet when I darken the Sun and the Moon and all Creatures did I not set at Liberty Mouths that were Chained up in Silence yet when I open Sepulchers securely shut up Nay I Raise to Life those who were Buried and had I not Cured the Sick and Diseased yet when I do renew the whole Creation as well Visible as Invisible then will ye confess who I am That is to say then shall ye by Conviction be forced to confess who I am and to believe upon these Tokens That I am God who was Crucified in the Body which I assumed and not a meer Man nor divided into two Substances after that Union made The Divine Excellencies of our Saviour THE Word was begotten of the Father from Eternity he is in all places without Limitation he is by his Nature God the Word he is Rich as God Simple as God he is Perfect in his Essence he gave the Law as God he is Obedient to God his Father he was Baptiz'd by the Holy-Ghost he is above Passions and Indigences he is Immortal in his Nature John Danced in the Womb at his Approach he fed thousands with a small quantity of Bread he cleansed the Leapers with a Word as God he Interdicted the Winds and Sea and they ceased as God he created Eyes to the Blind as God he remitted the Guilt of Sin as God he knew the Secrets of all Hearts as God he commanded the Apostate Devils into the Sea he stilled the Tempest of the Sea as God he heard the Prayer of the Cananitish Woman as God he said to the Disciple Fear not Death he called Lazarus and Rais'd him as God he called the Young Man and Rais'd him as God he was Sanctified of the Seraphims as God he made the Earth to tremble and cleft the Rocks as God he Darkned the Sun and the Firmament as God he changed Water into Wine as God he caused the Spirit to depart from the Jewish Temple he opened the Sepulchers and Raised the Dead as God Things belonging to the Humanity and Exinanition of our Saviour HE was Born of a Virgin in time and took his beginning in the Womb of a Virgin and appear'd comprehensible as to the Flesh but incomprehensible as to the Divinity he was made Man by his Grace being unchanged he was made Comprehensible because he was made Man being Rich in his own Nature he had in him the Composition of Soul and Body he increased in bodily Stature he kept the Law in Person as Man he was Tempted of Men and suffer'd Indigencies as Man he Tasted our Death in Humane manner as Man he Fasted and was Hungry in the Wilderness as Man he was Clothed with Contempt as Man he Slept and was Immersed in Sleep as Man there Gushed out Tears from his Eyes as he was Man he sate down with Publicans and Sinners he besought the Samaritan Woman as Man he was bound by the Rebellious Jews as Man and he said My Soul is troubled as Man he Pray'd in his Passion for us as Man he shew'd that he was afraid of our Death as Man he asked Where have ye laid Lazarus as if he were Ignorant he said Into thy Hands I commit my Soul as Man the Jews cry'd Crucifie him as Man he was Crucified between two Thieves as Man he was Hanged on the Cross and Pierced with Nails as Man he was Buffetted on the Cheek by an Impudent Servant as Man he was Wounded in the Head with a Cane as Man he Drunk Vinegar on the Cross as Man his Side was Wounded with a Spear as Man he was laid in a New Tomb as Man and there are many the like Instances but we do not admire the Miracle of Christ for it behoves not us but Strangers yet as being
Domesticks we admire his Exinanition and Low Estate the First of these were Natural unto him and Humane knowledge can't Reach them but the Latter are of extraordinary Dispensation and are Miracles and Signs and we Believe them and by these very things whereon the Hereticks reputed him a Man we know him to be God and by things whereon they depended and fell have all of us Risen but they shall be constreined to confess him when they shall see him coming in Glory and bringing with him the Cross which is one of the least and shall account him Holy as he said That then shall be seen the Sign of the Son of Man and that of his Lifting up he doth not call his Ascention but his Ascent to the Cross That is to say I shall then be known to be God by Miracles MATH Chap. XXVIII BVT in the Evening of the Dawning of the First day of the Week Concerning the diversity of Mens Opinions touching the times whereof all the Evangelists have severally Written we have spoken but not of the time when our Saviour Arose for that is unknown to Angels and Men but he knows it and his Father and the Holy-Ghost Mathew saith They came in the Evening John in the Morning Luke at the dawning of the Day Mark when the Sun Arose In the Evening of the dawning of the first day of the week came Mary Magdalen and Mary the Mother of God to visit the Sepulcher and they were told by an Angel that the Lord was Risen and they saw our Lord and took hold of his feet and he sent them to tell his Disciples but the Keepers went into the City and declared it to the Priests and received a Bribe and said he is stolen away Mary Magdalen hearing that he was stolen suffer'd somewhat of humane Infirmity as did Thomas and She returned to the Sepulcher the second time early in the morning when it was dark as John said and she saw the Stone removed and an Angel sitting thereon whom she saw in the Evening sitting on the Stone then she became more doubtful and came to Symon and John and say'd they have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him and when the Disciples went and saw the Sepulcher and the Linnin Cloaths they were assured and returned believing but Magdalen stayed at the Sepulcher surprized with doubt of what had happned unto him and when she saw two Angels which had not appeared to Symon and John and when she looked back she saw our Lord and he sent her-unto his Disciples and she returned unto them and declared unto them that She had seen our Lord and she found there those women who came from Gallilee with him who were prepared to come to the Sepulcher with Sweet Odours and she returned with them and also the mother of God whom Luke calls the mother of James and he was beautiful as say'd Luke And they saw there two Angels in the Similitude of two Men and their Garments Shone and their faces were Illustrious there came Mary Magdalon and the mother of God with the Forraigner the Wife of Shalom who was not in readiness to come with the other women and they saw an Angel like unto a Young man cloathed with a white Stole and they wondered and then it was that the Sun arose as sayeth Saint Mark. These are the four times that women came to the Sepulcher as the Evangelists wrote Saint Severus reconciled the several times wherein women are say'd to have come to the Sepulcher Magdalen came five times to the Sepulcher First in the Evening as said St. Mathew Secondly at the break of day when it was yet dark alone as say'd St. John and she came unto Symon and John and it was the third time of her coming with Symon and John The 4th time she came with John and the mother of James at the Dawning of the day as say'd Luke the Fifth time was when the Sun arose with Shalom and the mother of James as mark say'd The mother of God came three times the first time when he said the other Mary the second time when Luke say'd Mary the Mother of James The Third time when Mark say'd the mother of James and Joses Jacobus Auriensis calls the other Mary the first Wife of Joseph who bare James and Jose The Patriarck Severus calls the other Mary the mother of God and likewise calls the Virgin Mary the mother of James and Jose according to the accustom'd Speech Symon went twice to the Sepulcher First of all with John Secondly alone as Luke saith And he went with his Soul filled with Admiration and at this time he saw as said the Eleven and the Houshold of Cleophas That our Lord was surely Risen and appear'd unto Symon as Paul and Luke do Testifie Moreover about the time wherein our Lord Rose from the Sepulcher he is to cause the General Resurrection according to Severus and that such an hour bears a great Similitude and Image of the last Hour And in the Evening of the Sabbath at the dawning of the first day of the Week That is to say we are to enquire of four times and to distinguish them one from another in reference to the Day the Night the Morning and the Evening for these four Seasons the Sun maketh with us and the Day is the time when the Sun is above the Earth and the Night is the time when the Sun is below the Earth or hidden behind the Northern Mountains as is the Opinion of some for the Evening is the End of the Day to wit the time when the Sun is obscure to us the Morning is the Beginning of the Day when the Sun Beams peep out and the Night is at an end That there is an Evening of the preceding day John testifies who said When it was the Evening of the First day of the Week which he spake of he doth not call the Evening of the coming in of the Sabbath but the Evening of its going out for the Evening of the day is the going out and end thereof whether it be Artificial or Natural for so Moses said for after the Light was Created and the Day was ended and the Hours thereof he said it was the Evening and the Morning calling the Evening the end of the first Artificial day which was created and the Morning the end of the Night and he doth not call the Evening of the Sabbath the time of the Sun setting of the Sabbath otherwise he had said in the Evening of the Sabbath and no more but forasmuch as he added the Dawning of the first day of the Week to wit the waxing Light he sheweth that he calleth here the Night of the First Day of the Week the Evening of the Sabbath in Respect of the Dawning Much of the time was passed insomuch that it was about Cock crowing that is to say the time when we in Fasting begin to abstain from Meat and Drink
and we begin at the First and not at the end of the Sabbath Johannes de Dara And in the Evening of the Sabbath That is to say also concerning the Passover it is written that it was slain on the 14th in the Evening for altho it was reputed the Night of the day to come by reason of the Course of the Moon yet it was reckoned the Evening of the Day and not of the Night others say that Mathew by the Evening entended the whole Night of the First day of the Week according to the Phrase of the Scripture by a Synechdoche of the part for the whole according to this the Evening and the Morning was the First day and again Let all Flesh praise the Name of the Lord and the Soul of Israel died in the way Others in the Evening of the Sabbath when the First day of the Week Dawned Eusebius Mathew by way of Exposition adds after this of the Evening of the Sabbath the dawning of the First day of the Week denoting the Hour and time of the Night after the Sabbath which was when the First day of the Week dawned 'T is true Mathew wrote in the Hebrew and he who Translated the Scripture into the Greek Language rendred the Dawning of the Day the Evening of the Sabbath and Mathew by the Evening means the whole Length and Evening of the Night as John calls the passing away or the least part of the Night Day and therefore adds whilest it was yet dark least it should be thought that he spoke of the Morning so Mathew also when he said the Evening of the Sabbath lest Men might think it was spoken of the Evening Season he adds When the First day of the Week began to dawn Our Lord appear'd many times but six times more Remarkably First To Mary Magdalen and to the other Mary as saith Mathew Secondly To many Women as say Mark and Luke Thirdly To Mary Magdalen as saith John Fourthly To Cephas as saith Paul That he Arose and was seen of Cephas Fifthly To those two who went to Emaus as saith Luke Sixthly To the Eleven when they were Assembled in the Upper Room and afterwards many times for forty days Mary Magdalen and the Mother of God said nothing to Shalom and John that they might go and be assured by the sight of the Sepulcher and of the Angels and not by their Words But this Who shall Roul away for us the Stone c. was spoke of John and Shalom Magdalen therefore and the Mother of God saw before the Stone was Rouled away And the other Mary to behold the Sepulcher That is to say that they might cast in Sweet Odours as was usual on the third day and wherefore wou'd they cast in Sweet Odours some say for the Sepulcher but we say for the Body and it is evident from what Mark said they bought Aromaticks that they might go and Anoint Him and not his Sepulcher Again who shall Roul away for us the Stone By the Rouling away the Stone 't is clear that they sought to cast Odours on his Body And behold there was a great Earthquake It was not here as at the Cross for that was an Universal Earthquake but this was particular and the Keepers and the Women only perceiv'd it and the Keepers were Terrified and the Women comforted therewith and he explains what kind of Earthquake it was for an Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven drew near and Rouled away the Stone it was the Angel Gabriel the same who Administred in his whole Dispensation on Earth and the other who appear'd with him was Michael he saith that he descended from Heaven and appear'd to the Keepers because it is thought that Heaven is their place though some of them be with us in this World such as are sent Jacobus Sarugensis saith That a Fire appear'd to the Keepers and that a multitude of Angels were heard in the Air and they saw Christ face to face as he came out of the Sepulcher uncorrupted and with that Angel other Angels Descended and a Light shone and a Ladder of Fire was put up that Reach'd from Earth to Heaven and Christ stood not above it to Descend but below it to Ascend and there were Angels ascending and descending singing Praises Furthermore We say that it is unknown to the Creatures at what time our Lord arose but the Evangelists have written of the several times that the Women came to the Sepulcher as we have said above Mathew saith that Mary came in the evening and saw our Lord and because the Keepers came in the Night and signified that he was risen the Priests published by Proclamation that his Disciples had stolen him away and when it was heard that he was stolen away Magdalen suffer'd somewhat of humane Infirmity and ran to the Sepulcher as John hath written and afterwards she returned with the Women bringing Aromaticks as saith Luke and when the Sun arose with John as Mark hath written they saw six Angels at the Sepulcher Mathew saith they saw one Luke saith two Angels John two Mark one First of all the Soldiers saw that the Lord was risen the Seals remaining as they were and they were terrifyed and at the time before the Women came the Angel descended who rolled away the Stone and for fear of him it was that they who kept him were terrifyed and became as dead Men and they saw also the Angel who sat upon the Stone and he was like to Lightning and that they might not fear he said unto them meekly Be not ye afraid as are the Keepers and after he had encouraged them he preached unto them the Resurrection and when the Women went away the Keepers were awakened and hastily went to the City and declared to the High-Priest what had hapned And came near and rolled away the Stone He did not roll away the Stone that Christ might go forth of the Sepulchor for he Arose before the Angel descended but that the Women who saw that he was laid in the Sepulcher perceiving it empty and he not there might believe for he went out of it the Stone being Sealed and the Impressions remaining as they were But how was it possible that the Body should go out the Door being shut We Answer That all things are easie and expedite for the Lord to perform for as he came out of the Womb Virginity being preserv'd and darkned the Sun and Rais'd the Dead and as the Angel came unto Daniel in the Den being Sealed up and as the Apostles got out of Prison and Symon walked on the Waves and the Aegyptian Waters were turned into Blood and the Hebrews kept sure footing in the Region of the Sea and Moses his Rod was turned into a Serpent so he came out the Sepulcher it being Sealed up And his Countenance was as Lightning It is the Custom of Angels to shew themselves in Shapes and Figures according to the several Works of their Ministry to Joshua the Son of Nun and to David they appear'd as Souldiers in Armour to Zachary in Red Colours and Spotted and to the Women in a comely Shapâ— and full of Joy And the Keepers were Terrified for Fear of them The Angel appear'd as he pleas'd to the Women Pleasing and Splendid but to the Keepers Angry and Terrible and all this they so much fear'd that they became as Dead Men Wherefore was the Resurrection first manifested to the Keepers Because the Jews were more ready to give Credit unto them than to the Disciples and to Women For God is used to draw the Perverse by what they have Relation or Affinity unto as by a Star he drew the Wise-Men The Angel answered and said unto the Women He did not only comfort them with a Joyful Apparition but with Speech also Fear Ye not He said Ye in Comparison of those who Crucified him for Fear belongs to them but Ye are worthy of Honour Luke saith They Remembred his Words that is to say I shall Rise again and he Arose again as Mathew said I know that Jesus who is Crucified Not to deride him as did those who Crucified him but to Honour him and if an Angel was not ashamed to say that he was Crucified how are the Calcedonians and Nestorians ashamed to say that he was FINIS
when one is become that which he was not before so was Abel a Herdsman and David a King and a Prophet and Aaron a Priest without changing humane Nature from what it was and thus we say The Word of God was made Man God being not changed in his Nature The Son of David the Son of Abraham he calls him not the Son of Joseph because he had not to do in his Generation neither doth he call him the Son of Mary although he was made Flesh by her it being not agreeable to the custom of Scripture to compute Genealogies from Women but he mentions David and Abraham because the beginning of his Generation of Chist is referred to them For he said unto Abraham In thy seed shall all the Natious of the Earth be blessed And unto David Thy Children shall sit upon the Throne for ever And to shew unto the Hebrews that he descended from David as the Prophets had foretold Moreover he calls him the Son of David thereby to raise the greater esteem of him he was a Nazarite because nursed in Nazareth according to what Philip said unto Nathaniel We have found Jesus of Nazareth The Promise was made unto Abraham because he was the first who was converted from Idolatry It was also made unto David forasmuch as he was the first King who kept the Commandments and for that he pleased God and brought up the Ark and was desirous to build a house unto the Lord. He sets David before Abraham by reason of his Kingdom his Majesty and the Renown of his Time for the Fame of his Deeds were celebrated in the mouth of all men and from him they expected that Christ should arise according to that Was it not from the seed of David and from Bethlehem that Christ was to spring And they called all good Kings which ruled over them by the Name of David as David my Servant shall rule them and I will set over them David my servant And it was with an oath said unto David The Lord swore unto David in truth and will not repent Of the fruit of thy Belly And I have sworn unto David my servant and A Rod shall sprout out of the Root of Jesse Again he placeth David before Abraham because the Promise made unto Abraham was That he should be Father of Nations but it was promised unto David That Christ the Redeemer should spring out of his Seed and it was meet that he from whose Seed Christ the Redeemer was to come should be preferred to him who was Chief of the Nations For the Redeemer is more to be esteemed than they who are Redeemed For this cause it is that he mentions Abraham after David because unto him was the Promise of calling the Gentiles The Son of Abraham that is to say He calls Christ the Son of Abraham according to the flesh but he neither calls him the Son of David nor of Abraham as of Marital Conjunction but according to Genealogy and Descent and he whom Mathew calls the Son of David Mark calls the Son of God and Luke the Power of the most High and John the Word of God but he was called God and the Word and the Power of the most High because he was so and he was named the Son of David and of Abraham for that he was made so and he was one and the very same and not different Persons Abraham begat Isaac he sets down this Genealogy to shew that Christ came as God formerly had promised to Abraham and to David and that he was the Messiah expected by the Jews and that they were inexcusable if they would not believe in him Isaac begat Jacob Jacob begat Jadah and his brethren He did not mention the Brethren of Isaac and Jacob because they had no Commerce with the Stock of Israel for they were Heathens and the Sons of Ishmael Arabians and Edomites and not by reason of their being wicked as others say for the Scripture mentioneth those who were more wicked than they He mentioneth the Brethren of Judah because that from his Lineage is derived the Genealogy of Christ who was of the Seed of David Judah begat Pharez and Zarah of Thamar He mentions Thamar who was of the Gentiles and was guilty of Fornication hereby we are instructed of the Mercy and Goodness of God who was not only made Man but was born from such-like Ancestors as these and by reason all men were brought under the yoke of Sin there was a necessity of his coming upon earth and if Judah sinned and David committed Adultery how much more was the transgression of others He by his coming absolved those who were under the reproach of guilt and his Gospel accepted of every Believer Adulterers Fornicators and as many of all sorts as were Penitents And it was for our Consolation that he made mention of Thamar that we should not be ashamed of our wicked Ancestors but be comforted by the Vertue Pulchritude and Ornaments of our own minds for a man is not scandaliz'd by evil Parents for if a Fornicatrix be converted into vertuous habits her former evil manners will be no reproach unto her How much less reproach is it to a man to have been the Son of a Fornicatrix or the Adultery or Sins of his Fore-fathers if his own Manners do not reproach him Moreover he mentioneth Thamar to reprove the Jews who boasted of Abraham and yet were destitute of a good Conversation as if he had said unto them Behold she who committed Fornication was the Mother of David Furthermore we say That Thamar did not sit there with a purpose of Fornication and it is manifest from what Judah said She hath been more righteous than I but that she might minister to the Generation of our Saviour Christ Gen. 32.26 who was concealed in Judah and this is known from hence that she did thus with him and no other man and thus she did after the death of his Wife that she might not seem to offend for the Law was not then written which prohibited the same Again she had the greater proclivity in her affections to Judah in regard of his want of Children for destitution of Children was reputed a disgrace to every man Moreover Thamar prefigured the Church and the Gentiles who committed Fornication with Idols and by the off-spring of Thamar were redeemed Thamar was of the off-spring of the Gentiles so also was the Church Thamar committed Fornication so likewise did the Church commit Fornication with Idols and as Thamar was mixed in the Genealogy of Christ so was the Church made a parcipitant of the Body and Blood of Christ Thamar is expounded the Church as calling Christ unto her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Come my Lord unto me inhabit with me Wherefore doth he mention Pharez and Zarah Zarah signifieth the East they appeared in the light of Gods Worship as Enoch Shem Japheth and Melchizedech and he sprouting out for a while and stretching forth the hand
on others as said John That of his fulness we have all receiv'd and being equal in Nature and a Giver of the Spirit he vouchsafed to be Anointed therewith that by means of him he might give us his own wherefore the Word of God is called Christ not for that he was Man nor Man of Mery nor Man and God together and this John confirms saying There are different Spirits some are of God and some of this World every Spirit that saith Jesus Christ is not come in the flesh this is not of God but of the World this being certain that he who came in the flesh is the Word of God and John calls him Christ and he is not Man nor Man and God together Moreover Paul saith We have one God the Father from whom are all things and one Lord Jesus by whom are all things and this further that in Christ all things were created Again Paul saith unto the Philippians That Jesus Christ being the likeness of the Father thought this no Robbery to be compared with God what therefore is this comparison or equality Who therefore is to be compared with God the Father the Man born of Mary or God and Man or the Word For Man is not only not equal to God but is also a Creature and a Servant but the Word of God is to be compared with God the Father because he is of the same Nature and Coequal in Essence and did not Usurp this but had it Naturally Again who was it that emptied himself Man of Mary or Man and God together or the the Word of God Man was already empty necessitous and indigent and the Apostle doth not speak of both God and Man nor are there two that stand in comparison with God and did empty themselves but the Word emptied himself because he was made Man and he it was who emptied himself in the Flesh without being changed Furthermore it is written that he assumed the likeness of a Servant he assum'd and was not assumed for Man was assumed and did not assume it being impossible that both of them should assume but the one assumed and the other was assum'd Again That he emptied himself what is it 't is this that being God he was voluntarily made Man without being changed Secondly That being equal in Nature with the Spirit and Giver thereof and had Sanctity naturally he did vouchsafe to be Anointed by the Holy Ghost inasmuch as he was Incarnated Thirdly That his Nature being High and above Passions he took sufferings upon him and suffer'd death in the Flesh not as God but as Man yet he suffer'd natural Passions but not culpable Hunger Thirst c. and he bore Evil and contemptible Names of Reproach being God and Lord and King And the three hundred and eighteen Fathers call the Word Jesus Chrst and not the Man from Mary nor Man and God together for they said And in our Lord Jesus Christ the only Son of God Again we say to those who maintain this Errour that if the Word Christ signifies God and Man as they say and both of them were Anointed wherefore the Name is applicable to both that there are three Names the first is he who applies the Oyntment the second signifies the Operation it self and the third him to whom it was applied Wherefore if the Name Christ signifies both God and Man then according to their saying Man is Anointed and God also is Anointed and if it be so wherefore do ye fly from what ye say That the Word of God is Anointed of the Father by the Holy Ghost as he was Man Again if the Name of Christ signifies God and Man there seems to be two Christ and not one as the Name Horse signifies a Land-Horse and a Sea-Horse and each of them peculiarly and again both of them together and both of them are called Horses so then when ye say That Man is Anointed and God Anointed him therefore ye call him Anointed Anointing and Oyntment and not Anointed only And that ye say that Man who was Anointed being in Union with the Word and communicating unto the Word this Name of being called Christ or Anointed it were fitting that the Word also should communicate unto Man his Name of being called One Anointing for which Reason we call the Word of God Christ not that he is but that he was made Man and he is not Earthly who was made Man but Heavenly who was made Earthly as he said that he came down from Heaven and was to go to his own The Doctors also speak in Confirmation of this that the Word is called Christ and that he was anointed by the Spirit in as much as he was made Man Gregory Nyssen saith the holy Ghost calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Anointing of the only Son of God a Divine Word and a little after If therefore Christ be the only Son of God and Anointing be the holy Ghost the Name of Christ signifies Regal Authority for Anointing is a sign of Regality the holy Ghost also communicates of the Power John Chrysostom in his Exposition on the Gallatians saith he is called Jesus from delivering his People from their Sins and also hints by the Name of Christ the Anointing of the Spirit Severus in the forty second Chapter against Grammaticus It being said after the manner of Men that he was Anointed We all are they who are Anointed in him for he being baptized we are they who are baptized in him St. Philoxenus He is therefore called Christ because the Father by the Spirit revealed that he was his Son by Nature and that He is God as He is Himself according as he said Glorifyme O Father with the Glory which I had with thee and a Voice was heard I have glorified and will glorify and concerning the Spirit he said When the holy Ghost shall come he will glorify me But when was Christ Anointed Whether in the Conception or before he was Conceived or after he was Born The Hereticks say After he was born of the Virgin but they are not in the Truth and it is manifest from hence that Mathew saith The Book of the Birth of Jesus Christ for hereby he sheweth that he was born being Christ but some of the Doctors say that he was Anointed before he was Conceived in the Womb because they call his Mission from the Father his Anointing according to what he said Whom the Father sanctified and sent into the World and who ascended into heaven and brought down Christ But we say That the Word was Anointed in the very Conception in the Womb of the Virgin for in as much as the Spirit descended into the Womb and purified her and formed of her a Body to the Word he anointed and sanctified the Body and the Word was united thereunto personally and that is evident from this That the holy Ghost shall come and the power of the most High shall dwell upon thee And the Generation of Jesus Christ
as it is written in the Law and as the Scripture is used to call one but betrothed Son-in-Law and as he called Mary the Mother of John before she bore him So doth the Angel call Mary the Wife of Joseph though he knew her not the Angel doth not threaten Joseph as he did Abimelech because the Administration to Joseph was great and much differing from the other and Joseph was confirmed by him who revealed unto him his thoughts and by the promise which he made to David and by the Testimony of Esaiah to the House of David and from the Majesty of the Generation and over and above these Considerations he added a Declaration whence she Conceived For he who is begotten in her is from the Holy-Ghost The Power therefore of the Most High that is to say God the Word being to be United to the Flesh dwelling in the Virgin the Holy-Ghost first Sanctified the Word and framed into one Person with the Word his Holy Body for always the Spirit creates with the Word according to this That by the Word of the Lord they were made and Thou sendest thy Spirit and they are Tormented for these Words Begotten in her in this place signifie as much as Conceived in her for if the Word Birth or Nativity be said of remote things as this I know not what to morrow will bring forth and the rest of other the like places whereof we have spoken formerly it is certain that Conception may be spoken of Nativity Moreover to shew That this Child was not of the Seed of Man nor yet of Maries own Concupiscential Seed but of the Holy-Ghost and of the Virgins own Body for he saith Born in her and not from her for he doth not speak a Man newly created but of God Incorporated for we because we took beginning from our Mothers are said to be from them as having had no other being before but he because he was before yet Conceived in her and not Born before the Angel said in her but the Words from her are said of meer Man who derived his beginning from a Woman and because he had no being 't is said that he is born from her and in her is said of God who was from the beginning and dwelt in the Virgin therefore because it was God who was Incarnated the Angel said in her who had an Eternal being beyond all times and because he was incorporated he said that he was born in her Concerning the Word from we have before set forth how many ways it is taken Of the Holy Ghost that is to say as his Creature and his work for the Body of Christ is from the Holy Ghost not by way of Generation for whatever is Generated is Flesh from Flesh and whatever is from Spirit is Spirit though not yet naturally for it is above Nature when the effect doth not participate of the same Essence in Generation It remains therefore That he was from the Spirit as his Creature Saint Severus For the Spirit made the Child after the manner of one who gives Shape and Figure to things But Mary contributed without deficiency whatever belongs to women of their own nature to contribute to generation without deficiency except sin and Concupiscence because Adam and his wife fell by Concupiscence of the Tree therefore the being and generation of their children was also by Concupiscence and God the Word being minded to renew our decayed inveterate nature it was fit that there should be nothing of Concupiscence in his conception And shall bring forth a Son He did not say to thee because he was not born to him but to the whole world and again because he had nothing to do with his generation he did not say to thee And thou shalt call his name Jesus That is to say though he were not his own Son yet for as much as fathers imposed names on their Children I give thee authority to impose a name on him that thou mayest not be made a stranger to the Administration And it was said of Joseph in the Masculine Gender Thou shalt call his name but Luke said that the Angel spake to Mary in the feminine gender Thou shalt call and these are not contradictory because it is the part of the Father and the Mother to give names Jesus is expounded Redeemer and that we might not think him to be a sensible Saviour and that he was to free us from bodily bondage he sayed For he shall quicken his people from their sins he did not say who shall redeem for he came to revive those who were dead in sins and he did not say the Gentiles that Joseph might not be grieved at the passing of a Redeemer from the Jewes to the Gentiles as it happened unto Jonas But the Intelligent know that not only the Jews but also all they who imbrace his knowledge are his people according to that The Gentiles shall expect him But how did he save his people By Faith in him and Baptism and Repentance Moreover in as much as he said his people he gave notice before hand of his power and coequality with his Father calling the people of the Jewes his people as also he is said to be Father of his people for these two things belong to God and not to man that the people should be his as it is written That the People of Isreal is the Portion of the Lord and to quicken his people from sins as said the Jews It is God only who forgiveth sins wherefore Christ is God who was made man All this was done that is to say because Joseph wondered at this matter he said All this was done And what was all this The Virgin who conceived without carnal Copulation God who became a humane Child without being changed the middle wall of Partition broken down Reconciliation made between God and Man and ye are not to think this as a new thing for it was manifested many Ages past in Types and Mysteries and therefore he saith That it might be fullfilled which was say'd of the Lord by the Prophet that is to say The Angel doth not set this down as the cause as if a man should say that the Lord did this because Esaiah say'd it but because what he was to do he signified unto Esaiah and he prophesied for by this What was say'd of the Lord he signifies That these were the Words and Speech of the Lord and by these words by the Prophet he declares that the prophet was the Organ of the Lord that although Esaiah spoke these words yet they descended from on high And he produceth this Testimony to teach that this Administration was anciently promised and to make it clear that the Conception of the Virgin was not adulterous but as Isaiah prophesied Behold a Virgin shall conceive and if it chance that thou shalt forget the Dream when thou shalt awake in remembring the words of the Prophet thou shalt call to mind the Vision For behold
and the like Reasons he durst not approach unto her it is also certain from hence that our Lord in the time of his Passion commended her to his Disciples as a single Woman Others say that the Word hath a twofold signification For First It signifies the knowledge of Carnal Copulation as Adam knew his Wife Eve 2dly It is taken for Knowledge properly so called according to this second sense it 's said in words of the same derivation And there was none who knew me according unto that of Simon to our Lord Thou knowest and we say That this which the Evangelist said He knew her not is as much as if he had said He knew not that she was the Mother of God until she had brought forth her Son and he had seen the Miracle of the Angels and of the Shepherds and of the Star and of the Wise Men. That she remained a Virgin after she brought forth is evident from the common opinion of Men for as God being born of her was not changed so the Virginity of her who bare him was not lost for she was not corrupted for the Scripture calleth her The Vndefiled in Marriage and Zachary in the Temple ranketh her with the Virgins The Heretick saith If he did not dissolve Virginity neither did he assume a Body and if he did assume a Body therefore did he dissolve Virginity in his Exit And we answer That if God confirmed the Mother of God a Virgin so that she remained in Virginity after bringing forth it was also a Miracle that she being a Virgin did bring forth And if thou requirest proof or illustration hear how he came forth of the Sepulcher unopened and entered into the Parlour being shut up So he came forth of the Womb not prejudicing Virginity Furthermore that a Body penetrated a Body without any open passage we have shewed many ways as Eves coming out of the side of Adam the Waters which flowed from the Rock the Waters which sprung from the Jaw-bone of an Ass how much rather then did he who is incorporeal come forth in his Birth from the Virgin without corrupting of her Virginity Her first-born Son Not that she brought forth any one after him but he is called the first-born because he was first in Generation for the Scripture is used to call him the first-born who openeth the Womb according to that Every one who openeth the Womb shall be called Holy The Scripture calleth one the first-born before he have Brethren so our Saviour Altho' Joses and James and others were called his Brethren yet they were not called so as being born of the Virgin but because they were the Sons of Joseph by another Wife and they were in the way of his dispensation called his brethren as Joseph was called his Father and Christ is say'd to be first born four several ways first as saith saint Mathew by opening the womb and he doth not call him her first born onely for he was not onely the first born of Mary but of all creatures Secondly first born of the whole creation for he is first born by nature because all creatures were made by him Thirdly the first born of many brethren because he hath many brethren from baptism that is to say Regeneration Fourthly the first born from the dead because he was the first who arose to Immortality And she called his Name Jesus that is to say Redeemer as said the Angel in the Greek it is in the Masculine Gender as if Joseph called him so We have already shewed that it was the part of the Father and of the Moâ—â—er to impose names on their Children He was born of a Virgin and not of a marryed wife by marriage consummated that it might be known that God was made Man and not mere man deified for to be born of a Virgin was of God onely and that the Heathens might not conceive he was a meer man who was born of a woman who had known a Man Moreover because we were made guilty by Eve it behoved that we should be made righteous by a Virgin and as the World was born of a Virgin above nature so also he begat us from baptism above nature And how could a Virgin bring forth We Answer that what things are impossible with us are possible with God and in Luke we have written fully concerning this Matter Wherefore was he born of a Virgin betrothed That Virgins might not be Exalted above marryed women and that it might be known that marriage was commanded by God and not by Satan as the Heritick Maries taught Christ is known to be God from hence that his nativity is not written as others are and for that he was begotten without Carnal Copulation And because he was Incorporated by the Holy-Ghost and for that he was born of a Virgin who kept her Virginity for that he Accomplish'd Promises and Prophecies Moreover for that he reviv'd Men from their Sins for that he got a Name before he was born and for that he was called Emanuel which is Interpreted God with us for after Mathew had finished his Discourse on the kind of his Nativity he begins to shew how he was Born and what things were done at his Birth which do not a little manifest his Majesty and Deity CAP. 2. Mathaei AND when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah in the days of Herod the King He therefore sets down the Region that is to say the Place and the Time and the Person and Authority that by all these he might teach us that the Prophecies are fulfilled and he mentions the place to put us in mind of that of Micah And thou Bethlehem Ephratah and that he might make it known that he was the Son of David who was Taxed in the City of David He set down the time and person of Herod to shew that the Weeks of Daniel were ended and that Christ was come and the Authority of Herod to signifie that that Prophecy of Jacob was accomplished The Scepter shall not depart from Judah We are to take notice as to the Name of Bethlehem Ephratah that Caleb the Son of Jophena when his Wife died he took to Wife a Widow who was called Ephratah and he took for an Inheritance from Joshua the City Cobedth that is to say Honourable and Illustrious and he added unto the City Cobedth a second City which he Builded and called it Ephratah that is to say Fruit-bearing after the Name of his Wise Ephratah and he begat Sons of Ephratah and the first he called Lehem afterwards he begat Amor and other Sons and for the Love which he bore unto his Son Lehem he Builded a Third City which he United and joyned to the two former and called it Bethlehem that is The House of Lehem or the House of Bread Moreover it is fitting to take notice That Kings Reigned from David to the Captivity and after the Captivity the High Priests Assumed the Government who were of the Tribe
spoke of a King Again the Names of Christ are threefold of Excellency as God the Son of God and Lord of a middle Nature as King Redeemer and Ruler Of low condition as the Son of Man Man and Servant The Wise-Men made use of a Name of middle Nature calling him King as more acceptable it being the beginning of his Government and Supereminent or low Names were not very acceptable Furthermore They enquired after a King because Micah called him King from thee shall go forth a King For we have seen in his Star in the East and are come to Worship him He drew the Wise-Men by a Star condescending with their weakness in what was accustomable unto them for as they declared the Death of Saul by Sorcerers and taught Balaam his Power by those things he did unto Balak and as he allured the Children of Israel by Sacrifices which they affected according to the custom of the Heathens in Egypt and as he took the Apostles by the taking of Fishes and as Paul did when he spake with the Gentiles who produced an Illustration from Ports and as Fowl is taken by scattering before them what they are accustomed unto so did he unto the Wise-Men he first calls them by a Star and afterwards by an Angel speaks with them and so draws them by degrees unto Vertue So he did unto the Philistians when they cut their Buttocks and called their South sayers and said yoak Heifers under the Ark and the Plague is known if such an one it is from God and if such an one it is by chance and if God be Counselled of Sorcerers it was not thought a shame unto him that Enemies should Testifie unto Truth so the Wise-Men by Stars after which they wandered foreshewed his Nativity And again because he was of an Heavenly Nature he hooked them up by a Star of Heaven who also calls the Heaven his dwelling Moreover he drew them by a Star according to the word of Balaam who called him a Star and Esaiah Light and Malachi the Sun and Jeremiah a sprout of Righteousness and our Lord calls himself Light Furthermore That they might be lighted to the Sun Christ by a Star and therefore when they attained the Sun the Star was swallowed up in obscurity for it is the Nature of a Star to disappear when the Sun shines in its Brightness so Divination Chaldaisme also ceased for among the Persians a Star was reputed a God which was called Nain and by that which was true in their conceipt he allured them to the Truth Again three bodily Preachers Preached him the Star because he was Heavenly the Shepherds because he was a Shepherd and a Lamb the Wise-Men because he was a propitiation for Sins Moreover He declared his Divinity by a Star and that he was altogether High and Sublime who was born whose Embassador and Nuncioes were such as by the Wise-Men were reputed Gods and as before the sensible Sun the Morning Star Ascends so before the Rational Sun a Star was the Herauld and that he might shew that he was the Creator of all the Creation Old and Spiritual for in that he began first with Light and in this he drew the VVise-Men with a Star neither was it a Star indeed which appeared to the VVise Men for it is known that it descended and stood over the House for that it descended is as much as that it lest its sublime station and came down very near over the place otherwise it could not have distinctly indicated the place as with a Finger for behold the Moon which is greater than the Star remaining in one place seems to be over many and sundry Places not being able to shew one of them distinctly and this Star if it descended and distinctly shewed the place it is evident that it was no natural Star but one of the sublime host And to these agree Cyril Johannes and Theodotus Ankorensis Furthermore there are two sorts of Stars some of them are fixed in a Sphere and are in an immovable station some of them never cease from motion this moved going before the wise men and stood thereby demonstrating the Place and sometimes went on and sometimes stood still wherefore it was no natural Star And furthermore the Stars in the Sphear some of them proceed from East to West and the wandring Stars from VVest to East but this held its course from North-East to South-west for so is Persia situated in relation to Palestine And natural Stars are not usually seen in the day time but this appeared night and day which is not agreeable to the nature of Stars For when they came to Jerusalem it disappeared and when they departed thence it manifested it self and from that it appeared to the wise men and not into others and afforded light indifferently day and night and from that it did shine and not burn being descended very far from the place of Coelestial Stars to direct the wise men in the way as with the singer and from that that it overcame the Beams of the Sun with its brightness when the Sun was in its Meridional Altitude We say it was no natural Star Whence therefore was it Some say that it was a concealed power of the Lord that appeared in the similitude of an Angel others as we have said before one of the Angels assumed the likeness of a Star and was constellated and led the wise Men and it was not a phantasme or Automaton that is to say of its self Moreover it is known to have been no natural Star from this that it held its progress from East to West for so Persia is placed in position on the East of Hierusalem and Hierusalem on the West of Persia Others say that it proceeded from the South-East to the North and from the North to the west for so was the Course from Persia to Palestine and when they entred into one of the Cities or Towns it was obscured and this was as it were by way of Question and Answer that the Nativity of Christ might be made known nor had it a progressive indication but when it behoved them to proceed It did proceed like to the Pillar of Israel Some men desirous to establish the Caldean Learning say Behold a Star appeared when Christ was born against whom we say that if the Astrologers say that he was born by this Power how did he suddenly destroy Caldaism and the efficacies thereof And mens Nativities are not calculated by one Star but by many by Twelve or Seven Furthermore Astrologers from the Stars fore-tell concerning a mans Kingdom or what befalls him as their Judgment and perhaps some may say that so they made this computation concerning the King of the Jews In answer to whom we say Behold he said My Kingdom was not of the World neither had he Ministers nor Army not House Moreover Caldaisme doth not establish a Nativity upon one Star but from the seven Wanderers which are called Planets which do
notice of him he was hidden in the mean time and after two Years the Star published him and the wise-men adored him and lest the Jews might have said that they knew not when he was born he drew the wise Men. Moreover the Prophet did not say that he was to dwell or converse in Bethlehem but to come out thereof that is born there for there he was born and dwelt in Nazareth for that he was first to come thence the Jews did not say for they did not know the sence thereof or it was no necessary answer to Herods question or they were willing to please Herod in omitting it For the Jews took these words Of thee shall come forth a Shepherd to be spoken of Zerubabel but we say that their Priests did expound this passage of Christ and the comming forth of Zerubabel was not from the beginning neither was he born in Bethlehem but in Babylon and there he was conceived and born as said my Lord John for they who are skilled in the Aramaian Tongue that is the Syriack know that the name of Zarubabel is compounded of Seed and Babel Then Herod privily called the Wise-men and learned from them at what time the Star appeared unto them He being inquisitive to learn where he was born he privily called together the Chief Priests that it should not escape his knowledg and being desirous to learn concerning the Star he used privacy First because he was ashamed of his kindred least the Wise-men might learn who or whose Son he was of the Jews Secondly that the Jews might not perceive that his inquiry after him proceeded from Hatred for he thought that the Jews had a regard for the Child Thirdly that his parents might not perceive and fly away with him Fourthly That the Craft which he designed might not be discovered he enquired of the time of the Star and not of his Nativity out of Craft For he thought with himself If I shall ask when he was born the Jews will apprehend that I seek to slay him and they will go and hide him but I will ask concerning the time of the Star as to the time of the year or month and accordingly put to death the Children of Bethlehim But Fool as he was he understood not that his power could not reach his design from hence that the Star proclaimed him and the Persians came to worship him and the Prophecies were concerning him and if it were true it could not be salsifyed and if false why should he be troubled or be afraid But it is the nature of Envy so to blind the Understanding as not to discern Reason Go enquire concerning the Lad His Envy would not let him call him King but Lad for he could not endure to attribute unto him any Name of Power Show me that I may also go and Worship him He designed to deceive and Cozen the Jews in promising to Worship him And moreover That the Wise-Men might return unto him to the End that without any Man 's taking notice he might Murther the Lord and that without fear he might possess himself of the Kingdom And some say That Herod gave a Viaticum to the Wise-Men and promised them some Reward at their Return but the Wise-Men did not suspect that Herod intended Evil unto him And behold the Star which they saw in the East went before them When they came to Hierusalem it disappeared that the Jews might not enquire after him nor Learn the Prophecy and perceive but now it began to Conduct them None of the Jews went out with them to Conduct them because they hated him but this seems not to be true for many went out to see what was Worthy of Admiration although they hated him but Providence forbad them for if any Man should have Conducted them it had been superfluous for the Star to have appeared and there had been no use thereof Besides none was to place a Favour on the Wise-Men for coducting them for he who began would finish and the Jews were not to conduct the Gentiles as saith the Scripture He is the hope of the Gentiles for this Star went before them from North to South for such is the posture of Bethlehem from Hierusalem and hence it is known that it was no natural Star Vntill it came and stood over the place where the Child was That is to say the Star descended until it stood over the Child and pointed at him as with a Finger for he was not in a House of great Note and because he was to Worship the Lord of the House therefore he approached near to the top of the House according to that Praise him ye Stars and Light and ye Creatures that are nigh praise him And when they saw the Star they rejoyced with great gladness That is to say that their Labour was not in vain and that their hopes did not deceive them But what became of the Star after it shewed the Child Some say That it went to a Field near Bethlehem which was called the Star and which Anciently prefigured this Star for if Bethlehem which is interpreted an House of Bread did Typifie the Bread of Life which came down from Heaven which was the Word who was Incarnated it is not improbable that also a Village called Cocheba or a Star might have prefigured the Star which Conducted the Wise-Men But we say That it was an Angel that Assumed a Similitude who after he had performed his Ministry Ascended into Heaven and Ranged himself in his Order And they went into the House and saw the Lord with his Mother It 's said They went into the House and not into the Cave and that they saw the Lad and not a Child newly born and put in a Manger from whence it is evident that the Wise-Men saw Christ when he was two years of Age nor were they Scandalized when they saw the Lad without Glory like to his Star by reason of the Greatness of their Faith and the Testimony of the Chief Priests and the Prophecies concerning him which they heard from the Scribes and the Tumult and Commotion of Jerusalem and therefore they were not offended when they saw him in an Empty and Low Condition And they fell down and Worshipped him His Divinity shone upon them and this it was that made them Worship him as also the Aspect of the Star which Conducted them did perswade to Worship him they Adored him out of knowledg and not by constraint for the sight begat Admiration in them and Knowledg Joy Concerning the Coming of the Wise-Men David Prophesied The Kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring Gifts unto him and Jacob the Nations shall expect him here it is apparent that the Gentiles preceded the Jews in Worshiping him and how was it that he did not at first say Go and Teach all Nations but at last Because it behoved That the Types should go first for it was fit that the Jews should offer first But forasmuch as they
he who fled from Herod is not God but feeble We Answer That he did not Fly from Herod and if he would have fled it had been better to have fled with the Wise-Men or to have been hidden in that Country as many times they laid their hands on him and he passed thorough them and went his way for he it was who put a Legion to Flight and did drive out Devils and Diseases and stilled the Sea How did he fly who preserved Moses in an Ark and struck them with Blindness who followed Elisha and delivered David from Saul and preserved Jeremie and Baruch in Jerusalem and struck the Sodomites with dimness of Sight how did he fly away Wherefore he did not Fly of Weakness but by Gods Ordinance he took upon him humane Exinanition and as he said I repent that I have made Man and that I have made Saul a King though he did not at all Repent and said to the Congregation I have Espoused thee to my self in Righteousness though God doth not Espouse so the Scripture saith He fled though he did not fly as God nor did he change from place to place but fled as he was Man by reason of Divine Ordinance and for these Causes First That that might be done in Egypt which was done in Persia at the coming of the Wise Men for when he came into Egypt he subverted all the Idols that were there and they fell to those two Nations who most abounded in Error he first tendered his Doctrine to Persia by a Star to Egypt by going thither in his own Person Secondly That he might fulfil that Prophecy Out of Egypt have I called my Son and Behold the Lord rode upon a thin Cloud and came into Egypt Thirdly That he might Illustrate by Example that saying When they Persecute you in this City Fly unto another and do not resist Evil. Fourthly That he might not prejudice the free-will of Herod and calumniate his prime Creature and that the Fame of his Birth might be spread among all Men by the trouble of Herod and the Slaughter of Children whilst Men asking the Cause thereof they might learn that it was because Christ was born And that this Dispensation might be admired for if from the swadling cloaths temptations attended him let us not be offended if they befall us He Sent away the Wise-men speedily that they might teach other Countreys and Persia And lastly that he might lenify the foolish insanitie of Herod and teach us not to oppose things too strong for our resistance Again if he had not fled one of these two had happned he must either have been killed or not killed And if he had been killed it had been absurd for his dispensation had not yet been fully administred according to that My hour is not yet come And if he had turned the edg of the sword and had not been slain it would not have been believed that he was cloathed with a Body for if when he Exerted many humane operations Men presumed to say that he was not cloathed with a Body what would they not have objected if he had performed all his Actions agreeably to the Power of his Divinity And if any one shall say that the Martyrs blunted the Edges of Swords and the three Youths extinguish'd the Fite really and not apparently We Answer That these things they did after they had testified that they were Men and their Victory is attributed to Divine Power for the Word was God and after he had testified that he was made Man he wrought Miracles but he did not work Miracles immediately after his Nativity that he might not be thought a Phantasme and therefore he fled into Egypt And be there until I shall tell thee He doth not appoint the time of his Flight within any limited term but without limitation as did Elia to Shemaia saying Vntil I shall tell to shew that all things which he did mov'd from Divine Revelation For Herod will seek after the Lad to destroy him That is and not to Worship him as he politickly gave out but to Slay him yet Joseph is not hereat offended but remembring the Revelation of the Angel and the coming of the Wise-Men besides other things he receiv'd the Command in Faith And Joseph took the Lad and his Mother and Fled into Egypt And some say That they fled that Night destitute of all things having not so much as hired an Ass because that was reserv'd for Entrance into Jerusalem Others say That they had nothing except the Offerings of the Wise-Men and the Carpenters Tools of Joseph But Mary when she heard this she took up the Lad on her Shoulders and went her way on foot and charged Joseph to hire an Ass and to bring what they had and to come after her Others say That she came to Egypt with difficulty because the Destruction of the Children who were strangled by Pharo came into her thoughts and for these Causes Mary had need of an Espous'd Husband to be an Assistant to her Out of Egypt have I called my Son The Jews say That this is said concerning us who were called out of Egypt And we say That it is the manner of Prophecies that when they pronounce Words concerning certain Men they are accomplish'd in others for behold Jacob said to Simeon and Levi I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel and it did not come to pass in them but in their Off-spring and that of Noah concerning Canaan was accomplish'd in the Gibeonites the Off-spring of Canaan And that of Isaac to Jacob Thou shalt be the Chief among thy Brethren So here this is fulfilled in Christ and not in Israel and the going down and coming up of the Children of Israel from Egypt was a Type of our Lords going down and coming up from Egypt And this That Israel is called the Son of God is like that My Son my first born Israel and this Name was by Grace Communicated unto them but they have lost it by Worshiping Baal and and Idols and they are called of John a Generation of Vipers and our Lord the Children of Satan but Mathew when he saw our Lord went into and came out of Egypt he said Now is fulfilled this that I have called my Son and not in the time of Israel The Angel did not say I will go down into Egypt with ye and come up with ye for the Power of the Lad is sufficient for all these things for he was God who was made Flesh without being changed and having been the Creator of Times is subjected to the Stature of Time Herod when he saw that he was deluded by the Wise-men that is inasmuch as they did not come and make discovery concerning the Lad but contemned him he did not believe that his Fraud was known He was very angry That is against the Wise men pouring forth his rage against the Wise men on the simple Children He sent and slew all the
matter is not as the Jews Accuse me that I am a Rebel an Usurper of an Earthly Kingdom If it were of this World That is to say this Temporal Kingdom is Slippery and Deceitful and it needs Ministers or Souldiers to content for it but my Kingdom needs none such because it is Powerful and sufficient of it self and by this he shewed That he was by Nature the Son of the Father the Heavenly King and Creator of all things and that he was not as the Jews said One that would Raise a Rebellion against Caesar Usurp an Earthly Kingdom or Power It was a Custom to loose a Prisoner to the People Mat. v. 15. That is to say the Releas'd one at a Festival in shew of commiseration and not at every Feast but that of the Passover and this was That they might Grace and Honour the time of whereon they were Releas'd from the Egyptian Bondage Called Barabba V. 16. Jesus was his Name who is here called Barabba for so it is Written in the Gospel of the separated and it is more evident from what Pilate said in the 22d Vers What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ Wherefore he was called Jesus and the Evangelist was unwiling to Write his Name that none might in his Book bear the same Name with the Lord Jesus Have thou nothing to do with this Just Man V. 19. She did not speak to him in the House because she was not acquainted with the matter for what was done in the Night by the High-Priests unto Jesus she knew not he being not brought to Pilate till the Morning and then hearing that her Husband sat on the Tribunal to Condemn Jesus she sent unto him that he should have nothing to do with that Just Man Or when she Dreamt she understood not the Interpretation thereof otherwise she would have told him of it but when she saw the City in Commotion she understood the Dream and speedily sent unto her Husband Nothing appeared to Pilate in a Dream either because he was unworthy or for that if he had seen any thing in a Dream the Jews would not have believed him but would have said These things he feighneth as having a mind to save him Or perhaps he would not have Revealed the Dream lest he might have been Accus'd knowing that he should not thereby have saved him Pilate's Wives Name was Lognia 19. An Errour of the Calcedonians and Armenians retorted For I have suffer'd much in my Dream this Day concerning him The Calcedonians and with them the Armenians may be asham'd for computing the Day from the Morning for behold Pilate's Wife in the Night was affected with the Dream and computed the Morning together with the Night which was passed as Mathew Writes The day therefore is composed of 24 Hours and begins from the Evening as we compute Inasmuch as she said I have suffer'd This is signified that when she was disturb'd with a Terrible and Violent Dream and design'd to keep her self awake and to decline it the very day Light inclin'd her to Sleep and vexed her and that often Why Pilates Wife revealed not her Dream at home to him But why did she not declare the Dream to her Husband at Home Some say That he lay elsewhere that Night and therefore she sent unto him My Lord Ephraim saith That it was so wrought by God that she forgot the Dream and did not reveal it to her Husband in the House in that sending to him in the Court after it came into her mind the Hearers might fall into Admiration and when the whole City was in Commotion against her Husband concerning Jesus she sent word unto him That he should not fulfil the desire of the People but preserve Jesus Several conjectures of her Dream But what was it she saw in a Dream Some say That she saw Dragons encompassing her and endeavouring to hurt her but Christ did not permit them so to do Others are of Opinion that she saw our Lord as Judge of all Men extending his Power to the utmost reach of Jurisdiction and before him the Billows of a fiery Sea and he sitting on an exalted Throne and a dreadful Tribunal the Angels Ministring in his Sight and all Creatures trembling before him and Voices proclaiming bodily This is Jesus King of the Jews who is to be judged before Pilate Others say That she saw terrible and Hideous Sights full of Horror in her Dreams but they set not down what they were The causes of Dreams Now Dreams are thought to proceed from Diurnal Meditations and from the four Humours The 4. humours to wit Effluctions therefrom as the Physitians say When Black Choller prevails one perceiveth Dark Places and Obscure being Imprison'd in Darkness but when Yellow Choller is predominant one perceives Fiery Flames and Torches Wine Merriment and Singing When Blood abounds one fancies Slaughter and Effusion of Blood and when Flegm is redundant Rain Swimming Rivers and Floods are fancied But Dreams which come from Satan are according to the Phantasie Satan such as are pleasant Embraces and Kisses God But such as proceed from God are as this of Pilate's Wife of Joseph Pharoah Nebuchadnezar and Abimelech of Daniel Visions and of Joseph the Husband of Mary But the High-Priest perswaded the multitude to ask Barabbas Ver. 20. And all this was out of a desire they had to Murther him and they saw that the Rules complyed with the multitude in what they asked of Pilate Who will ye that I let loose unto ye Ver. 21. He made them Arbitrators or referred the matter to their Election for he hoped they wou'd have been ashamed to say openly Let Christ he Crucified but neither cou'd the Words of the Judg shame them nor wou'd they be Prohibited by the Feast nor by the Admonition Beware how ye Crucifie the Just one wherefore the Judg adds unto Jesus the Name of Christ to distinguish him from Barrabbas who was also called Jesus Moreover he termed them Lords hoping they would be ashamed and dismiss him But they said Barabbas Altho of Evil Will they asked Barabbas yet Divine Dispensation concurr'd with them V. 21. whether they wou'd or no. For Barabbas resembled Adam for as Barabbas Sinned and was bound so Adam by reason he had Sinned was bound in Hell and as Christ was Crucified and Barabbas loosed so was Adam loosed from the Chains of Hell Christ being Crucified for him They all said Let him be Crucified V. 22. Instead of Accusing him of any Fault as he did so or so they were made Judges which was very absurd What shall I do unto him They snatch'd him from his place because they were made Judges and this was either because he was Blind and did not understand or because he was afraid Crucifie him 22. That is to say hang him on a Tree for they did not say Murther him or put him to
it was lawful only for Kings to wear Scarlet Others think there were two Garments and that at first they put on the Scarlet that is to say the Red Robe and afterwards that of Purple and every one of the Evangelists say the same thing Mathew calls it from the Ground others from the Figure Others say it was one but yeilded a shew or cast of two colours Moreover by their cloathing him with Purple he restored unto us the Glory whereof we devested our selves in transgressing the commandments and this shall be compleated in the world to come Purple signifies his Kingdom his Humanity his Divinity but Scarlet signifies his Humanity his Blood the Bloody Sin which he nailed to the Cross Furthermore John says that they plaited a Crown of thorns and cover'd him with purple Cloaths and Mathew says that the Soldiers of the Governour cloathed him with a garment of Scarlet and therewith derided him Mark saith that the Soldiers led him to the Praetorium or Judgment seat and cloathed him with Purple and put on him a Crown of thorns Luke saith that Herod as well as his Soldiers despised him and derided him cloathed him with Scarlet Robes and sent him to Pilate both Herod and the Soldiers derided him and desired to apply unto him such things as belonged unto the King and one made thorns a Crown for him and another put into his hand a Reed after the similitude of a Scepter and one of the chief Priests brought the Robe and gave it to the Soldiers thereby to deride him Jacobus de Sarug sayeth that these were one of the Purple Robes of one of the Kings which had been offered to the Temple as we have formerly say'd and in this Gospel it is only written that the Soldiers of Herod did put it upon him And they plaited a Crown of thorns that is to say the Crown which they put upon him there were two things in it a circumference or circle and thorns of brambles which were great and blossoming and they grew in Woods and watery places the Crown of thorns was for a Diadem he was adorned with a Crown after the manner of a Victorious Champion as God and King the Crown of thorns in token of rooting out the Curse against Adam the Earth is Cursed for thy sake Furthermore as the first Adam planted the Curse and Briars so the second Adam has Eradicated the Curse and the bryars by a Crown of thorns Moreover he has taken away the universal Sin which encompassed the world for his Crown was Circular wherein were tormenting thorns a type of Sin tormenting the Soul And a Reed in his right hand A Reed instead of a Staff of Government that is to say a Scepter and Rod of Gold such as Kings used to bear in their hands but otherwise then they designed they signified the truth of things which were to come to pass for by the Reed in his right hand he gave a demonstration of his never failing authority signifying that by this Scepter he would cancel the Instrument of Obligation which was written against us by Adam a Signification also it was of the Killing and Wounding of that Serpent which Inchanted Eve for a Reed is naturally terrible to a Serpent and we are used therewith to torment and kill Serpents And they Kneeled on their Knees Genuflection and Worship signifie the Conversion of the Gentiles to our Saviour and delivery from Idolatry and that he would make us his True Worshippers And they Spat on his Face That the Prophecy of Isaiah may be fulfilled I have not turned my Face from the Contumely of Spittle and the Pharisees who are Domesticks my Heavenly Father has permitted them to be Rebels and Actors against me And they took a Reed Viz. The Reed which he held in his Hand and struck him therewith on the Head that he might Exalt our declined heads who by our Deeds was brought low During the time of all these contumelious Reproaches neither the Priests nor Elders nor People of the Jews drew near but stood afar off and Judg'd that forasmuch as they had not yet Eaten the Passover and had preserv'd themselves from familiarity with the Gentiles they shou'd be unpolluted for tho' they might have eaten it from the Evening they put it off till they had put Christ to Death that so they might eat the Passover without fear Thou hadst had no Power against me at all had it not been given thee from above That is as much as to say The Father has withdrawn his Grace and left thee to thy Liberty of doing this and it is known he was guilty of Sin from what followeth in the same Vers Wherefore he that betray'd me unto thee his Sin is greater than thine whereby he sheweth That Pilate was guilty of Sin altho the Sin of the Jews was greater than his and he concludes him under Guilt because he pronounced him Innocent and yet set at Liberty one that was Guilty A Place called the Pavement Viz. A place which was laid even and flagged with Stones Pilate said unto them shall I Crucifie your King Hereby he Reproach'd them but they would not be put to shame Moreover he derides them They say unto him We have no King but Caesar Hereby they wou'd have terrified Pilate and because they denied him even at this great Feast came upon them the mighty Destruction of Titus They found a Man of Cyrene whose Name was Simon Our Lord first bore his Cross and went out of the Pretorium and afterwards they made Simon the Father of Alexander and Rusus to bear it The Wood of the Cross was called Sahka which signifieth Pardon or Remission and they took it from Solomons Porch and one of the Crosses was of Cedar another of Fig-Tree My Lord John saith That this Wood was set up as a Sign to the end that though they could not approach unto it yet they might see it others say That it was of that Tree which held an Offering in the place of Isaac for Abraham cut it down and brought it for a Testimony and it was preserv'd till the coming of Christ and they perceived that it was placed in the Porch and brought it away and the first Judgment that was given in the Porch was that of the two Harlots whom Solomon Judged and the latter was that of our Lord after which it was destroyed and no more Judgments given therein Him they compelled to bear his Cross Observe they accused Christ because he bad the Man sick of the Palsie to take up his Bed and these on a Day to be doubly Honour'd compelled Simon he who gathered Sticks on the Sabbath Day was Stoned and these made a Jew bear Wood on the Sabbath and that which was worse they Crucified Christ and the Thieves on the day of the Feast Others say That Simon was a Jew but of the Gentiles they gave his Cross to Simon to bear by way of Disgrace as others bear Ensigns of Royalty
short time he was to take it up again according as he said I lay down my Life that I may take it up again I have power to lay it down and to take it up For the Spirit is called Soul For the Soul is called by three Names Soul Vnderstanding and Spirit as we have writlen in our Book of Distinctions concerning Natures Intellectual and Sensitive It behoves us therefore to enquire how on the Friday and at the same time was our Lord in these three places in the heart of the Earth as he said The Son of Man shall be in the heart of the Earth and in Paradise as he said to the Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise and in the hands of the Father according to that Into thy hands I commit my Spirit Immediately the Preface to the Gate of the Temple was rent The Preface to the Gate he calls the Curtain which hung before the Gate of the Temple which is called a Veil Why was the Veil of the Gate rent Because the holy Spirit departed thence who dwelt there in the Mysteries of the Law But in what manner was it rent They say That this Texture of the Veil was on the one side and the Woof on the other which was wonderful It was rent That is to say The Veil was divided for that it could not suffer the Passion of him who was principally typified thereby and to signifie that the Grace of the holy Ghost was departed thence and that the Sacrifices of the Law ceased and that it was designed for Destruction And after the Ninth hour the Darkness was dispersed in token that the Ancient Sorrows which came by Sin were to cease The Earth was moved as a Dish in the Water In the first place forbidding the Disputation of the Arrogant it is to be considered that it was established on a Foundation of Immobility and that an Earthquake was never over all the Earth and at once yet this motion was in all the Earth and the whole Body thereof was moved as a Dish in the midst of the Water So also this Darkness was over all the Earth and not one part thereof only as it is wont to be And the Stones were Cleft that it might be known that it was the Creator who was Crucified and it was known from hence that the Creatures Suffer'd in Compassion with him Moreover the Rocks were cleft in reproach to obdurate hearts for all this odious Deed. Moreover because Rational Creatures were silent out of crafty Policy the Stones Cryed out and this is meant by those words If these should by silent the Stones would cry out Again because God many times instructs men for their Conversion by Irrational and Insensitive Creatures as he instructed Baalam by an Ass and Jeroboam by an Altar and Ashes and Pharoe and the Egyptians by the Elements So he removed the Earth out of it's place and cleft the Rock in Reprehension of the Jews who he desired might have been converted from their wickedness and they would not And the Sepulchers were open'd and many Bodies That is to say Arose on the Ninth hour of Friday and they were not of those who were dead long before but such as fell asleep about three years more or less before the Passion of our Lord and they were Saints because they believed in our Lord before their Death And they were of Jerusalem and arose out of the Sepulchers round about the City and enter'd into Jerusalem and were known some to their Fathers some to their Brethren and some to their Mothers and reprehended them saying What wicked â—eed is this which ye have done that ye have Crucified the Life and the Giver of Life and they remained there three days Eating nothing but were preserv'd by Divine Efficacy as was Moses and Elias in their Fasting and their Bodies were really United to their Souls and concerning this Mathew said That many Bodies of the Saints Arose and abode three days in Jerusalem and there Preached and afterwards returned unto their Sepulchers and fell asleep but did not go into Paradice neither were they dispersed to the utmost Limits nor were they seen of all Men. And it is certain from what Mathew said That they appeared unto many for many are not all and so our Lord after his Resurrection was not always seen but sometimes and that not unto every one as at first but to his Disciples and to those who were Worthy Others say That they were Prophets who knew the Holy Scriptures and believed in him before their Decease as saith Ignatius and had Preached the Resurrection of Christ and their own the Dead arose in manifestation of this Raiser from the Dead Johannes de Dara The Dead who Arose did not enter the City to Preach until he Arose Others That they remained at their Sepulchers Standing and giving Praises Others That they were Assembled at the Mount of Olives Others That they went into Paradice And they went into the Holy City Jorusalem Some say That he doth not call this Earthly City which was polluted Jerusalem but that which is in Heaven and when Christ cryed on the Cross they were reviv'd and remained in their Graves as Jonas did in the Fish and after his Resurrection they also Arose Spiritually and when he Ascended in abscondito to his Father in the Heavens they also Ascended privately with him to the Holy City which is in Heaven Others say That Jerusalem as to the Upper part thereof was Holy and that many believing Persons dwelt there but that the Lower Part was Prophane by Reason of the Deceit practis'd there and he calls the Upper Region thereof the Holy City whereunto the Dead who Arose Entred and Preached to the Believers who Lamented his Death Others That he calls by the Name of Jerusalem the whole Terrestrial City into which they Entred and Preached and more then 500 Souls returned to their Bodies and Entred and appeared to many and they appeared to the Grief of those who knew not that they had Crucified their Lord and therefore he spake to them who were bitterly griev'd in Spirit Others say That they at first appear'd in Gallilee and in many other places and that after the Resurrection they came to Jerusalem and appear'd to many that they might declare that the Resurrection was no Phantasm There were five Miracles when Christ was Crucified whereof some were in the Heavens some in the Air some on the Earth and some under the Earth In the Heavens the Sun and Moon were Darkned in the Air the Veil was Rent on the Earth the Rocks were Cleft and from under the Earth the Dead Arose and some of the Miracles were Universal as that of the Eclipse of the Sun and the Emotion of the Earth some also were particular as that the Rocks and Veil were Rent and the Dead Arose Who therefore was he who hung upon the Cross God or Man If he were God it were impossible that