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
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
their place was contracted and as it were a certain partition was made Secondly Moses is hereby hinted who came between for when Zarah drew back his hand there was a partition like to an Hedg and Pharez came forth that is to say the dispensation by Moses which Paul calleth a partition Wall and Pharez is expounded an hedg partition or division and after him came again the dispensation of the Gospel and it was Zarah who cast the first beams of Light into the World at the first and yet came last into it Zarah therefore prefigured the Gentiles and Pharez prefigured the people of the Jews and as Zarah shewed his hand and afterwards withdrew it so also a New People and the Institutions of Moses shewed themselves in the days of Noah and Abraham and afterwards drew back and the People and Rites of Moses Entred as Pharez was born first and afterwards a New People appeared and as Zarah who was born after Pharez our Saviour sprang from Pharez as to the flesh Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab He mentioneth Rahab to shew that Christ came not as a Judg to Punish but to Cure our Iniquities and as he took an Harlot so God Espoused a Nature which went a Whoring after Idols and clave thereunto teaching us that he admits of such as are Penitent Rahab is Expounded an Association of Gentiles and of Gods peculiar People Boaz begat Obed of Ruth Ruth was of the Gentiles and he mentioneth her to shew the calling of the Gentiles for the Law drave out the Amorites and Moabites from the Congregation from whom was Ruth but the Gospel by Faith in Christ called them and as Ruth derived her self from the Gentiles so are the Gentiles called wherefore she is mentioned to reproach the Pride of the Jews for behold David proceeded from her and as the Poverty of Ruth was not despised by Boaz so neither was Christ ashamed of those of his Church though destitute of Honourable Extraction Ruth is Expounded by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth Reconciliation David begat Solomon of the Wife of Vriah he brings into remembrance the Wife of Uriah thereby signifying that he was not ashamed to write the Truth and to declare the Sin of David who by means of the Gospel and the descent of a Physitian who had no Sin was Cured and freed therefrom and from the Murther of Uriah for when David increased in Vertue and became Eminent he immediately obtained Remission by him He also committed Adultery with Bethshebah but he Repented and Wept whereupon it was Revealed unto him Psal 132.9 that the Lord should come and heal him from Sin and when he enquired concerning the place of his Son he said I will give no Sleep to my Eyes c. and after he received the Promise of God concerning this he spake Psalm 29th and the 16th concerning the condescention of a Physitian even to Death who saved the Souls of Sinners and if any one shall be offended that David Sinned let him take notice that he committed this one Sin the whole time of his long Reign and therefore he offered a long lasting and a great repentance and he was permitted to fall into Sin that he might be a good Example for Sinners to repent as he did and therefore he made Solomon to Reign in his stead that all Men might know that his Sin was remitted and that the Jews might not conceive that Solomon was a bastard as was the other Boy whom God smote and he dyed He mentioneth four Women thereby signifying the four Corners from whence the Chuch is gathered Solomon begat Rehoboam After he had mentioned a strange Woman he brings these into remembrance that he might reproach the foolish Jews who boasted of their Genealogy and to teach them that it is not the Noble Kin but a mind fearing God that is to be deemed Honourable for behold David was greater than his Forefathers and Solomons Mother did not debar him from the Kingdom even so the Gentiles if they will believe their stock of Idolatry is no hinderance unto them Jehoshephat begat Joram and Joram begat Hosiah Wherefore did he pass out Achaziah Jehoash and Amoziah Some do relate that Affricanus Bishops of Emaus saith the reason was because they were Sinners of the Seed of Jezabel unto whom we say that they were not of the Seed of Jezabel for Jezebel was the Wife of Achab but Joram took to Wife Atalia the Daughter of Omri the Sister of Achab and of her begat Achaziah although in one place according to the sense of the Septuagint she is called the Daughter of Achab by a mistake rising from the similitude of Writing according to the Exposition of Severus and the Mother of Jeoash was called Thoba of Bersheba and of Amotsia Jehoadan which were of Hierusalem wherefore they were not of the Seed of Jezabel nor were they greater Sinners than Solomon Achaz and Manasse who are Written Saint Severus saith that Joram the Son of Joshephat took Athalia the Daughter of Achab and of her begat Achazia and Joash and Amotsia whom Mathew omitted because the Jews held in abomination the Idolaters of the House of Achab and for this reason it was that he was silent as to those who were born in Idololatrical Marriage remembring this That Punish the Sins of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Gene ration of them who hate me unto whom some say That Athaliah the Wife of Joram and Mother of Achazia was not the Daughter of Achab but the Daughter of Omri and the Sister of Achab and if out of regard to the Hebrews he forbore to speak of those who came from Athalia how cometh cometh to pass that he mentions Ozia who was more Unclean and Abominable to the Jews than these Origen saith that he therefore left out these that the Generations from David to the Captivity might be adjusted to the Number fourteen for thrice fourteen Generations amount to forty and two and it is a Figure signifying that as at the end of forty two Progressions the people of Israel inherited the Land of Promise so at the end of forty two Generations Christ arose and gave the Inheritance of the Temporal Earth to the Saints Georgius de Gentibus saith That Mathew did not omit these three persons nor did he change the Number of the Generations nor said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fourteen instead of seventeen but forasmuch as he wrote his Gospel to the Jews many of whom were skilful in the Greek Tongue and desirous to Translate it out of Hebrew into Greek and the Greek Tongue could not express the Letters of their Names Cheth Aign and Tsadi according to the pronunciation of the Hebrew and Syriack Language and that it hath not in its Alphabet guttural Letters deeply sounding in the Throat so that the Interpreters when they came to Joram the Words being that he begat Achasia and he begat Jehoash and he begat Amotsia and
said that he was after the Captivity but that other who was before the Captivity of whom mention is made in the Book of the Kings is he who was after the Captivity and in the Book of Jeremiah is mentioned whom he cursed and called Joiakim Others say That the Joconia of whom Jeremy speaks was not the same with that of Mathew and he of whom Jeremy speaks was Tsedekiah the Son of Josiah whose Children were slain before his face in the Captivity and he dy'd in Babylon grinding in a Mill but he of whom Mathew speaks was Jokoniah the Son of Jojakim and his Mother was called Shushan and she was the Sister of Jeremy the Prophet and this Jokoniah begat Shelathiel It is now necessary to enquire whether Shelathiel and Zorobabel mentioned by Mathew be the same with those of Saint Luke or others and if they be the same wherefore doth Mathew call Shelathiel the Son of Jokonia whom Luke calls the Son of Neri We answer That St. Severus wrote that often-times Mathew and Luke produced the very same Persons for Families are used after the similitude of Rivers which run in divided Channels to run together again and being divided from one another to be intermixed by intermediate Persons after they have been long separated for behold both the Evangelists make mention of Shelathiel for Mathew names him the Son of Jokonia according to the course of Natural Generation and Luke calls him the Son of Neri in respect of Legal Deduction Malchim  Neri according to the Law  Nahashtha the Wife of Shelathiel  Joiakim  Jokoniah according to Natural Propagation Malchim the Father of Neri who was derived from Nathan took to wife one who was called Nahashtha the Daughter of Eliathan from Jerusalem and of her begat Neri and when Malchim died Jojakim the King took Nahashtha for her Beauty and begat Jokonia and this Neri and Jokonia were Brethren by the Mother and Neri took a wife and died without Children and Joconia his Brother took her and of her begat Shelathiel according as was commanded by the Law that if a Man should die without Children his Brother should take his wife and raise Seed to his deceased Brother and Shelathiel was the Son of Jokonia by Natural Propagation and the Son of Neri by Legal Institution And Mathew said that Jokonia was the natural Son of Jojakim and Luke saith that Shelathiel was the legal Son of Neri wherefore both of them are in the right Georgius saith that they were not the same but that Neri who was derived from Nathan being willing to resemble his Son by the Son of Jokonia the King called him Shalathiel after his name even as Shalathiel in emulation willing to represent his Son by the Son of Shelathiel called him Zorobabel And this is certain from hence that there are many Names imposed by Mathew from David and under which are synonimous with those of Luke such as are Joram Eliezer and Eliakim for there was often-times a Synonimity in the Genealogy either by Chance or Design as say the Philosophers Moreover it is doubtful how Malkim being from Nathan took at first Nahashta and after that he begat Neri from her and died Jojakim the King should take the Widow he being Eighteen years of Age and of her begat Jokonia or after that he was slain that she became wife to Malkim and brought forth Neri Both these Opinions are doubtful this that we should believe that Jojakim in his youth should take to wife a widdow woman or that she who had been a Queen should marry one of a mean condition being of another Tribe Besides it is written in the book of the Kings that Nebuchadnezer led Joiakim and his mother and his wife into captivity and if Nahashta the mother of Joiakim descended with her Son into captivity it is unlikely that she was marryed after the death of Jojakim her husband neither would Josiah have taken the widdow of Malkim for a wife to his Son Jojakim therefore Neri the Son of Shelathiel the Son of Jokonia of whom Mathew wrote is not Shelathiel the Son of Neri whom Luke sets down neither is it written either in the book of the Kings or in the book of Bar Jamin that Jokonia had a Son called Neri who dying childless Jokonia took his wife and of her begat Shelathiel In the book of Bar jamin it is written thus concerning the Sons of Josia Jehoaaz John Jojakim Tsedikia Shalom and that Jokonia was the Son of Jojakim therefore they are not the same who are mentioned by Mathew and Luke neither do they agree in Name Zurubabel begat Abiud Zurubabel is expounded the Seed of Babel because he was there begotten and born Mathew said That Zurubabel begat Abiud and Luke saith That Zurubabel begat Resa my Lord Severus saith That Zurubabel had two Sons Abiud and Resa and that Mathew reckons the one and Luke the other and as from David the Genealigies are divided between Nathan and Solomon and they descend to Joseph Mathew taking up the Genealogie of Solomon and Luke that of Nathan so also from Shelathiel the Genealogies are divided between Abiud and Resa and they likewise come down to Joseph Georgius de gentibus saith That the Zurubabel who begat Abiud and the other who begat Resa of whom Luke speaks were different persons others say That Abiud the Son of Zurubabel was called by two Names Abiud saying I and Resa and therefore every of the Evangelists call him by a particular Name even as the Sons of Josiah were every of them called by two Names Mathan begat Jacob Jacob begat Joseph the Husband of Mary from whom Jesus was born who is called Christ By the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whom had it not been pointed it might have been thought that Christ had been born of Joseph but the Supernal Point over the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thus written 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sheweth that he was begotten of the Virgin and not by Joseph and according to the Greek Translation it is not so written but Joseph the Husband of Mary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Feminine Gender 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore if Mathew had omitted the Gender it would have been thought that he had been the Son of Joseph but forasmuch as he wrote 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex qua and not ex quo he makes it manifest that he was born of Mary and not of Joseph Moreover by reason he added the Husband of Mary he sheweth that he recited the Genealogie with regard to Mary and that she was of the House of David and of Abraham and therefore he brings in her Name Mathew calleth Joseph the Son of Jacob and Luke calleth him the Son of Heli for that there was a certain Man whose Name was Mathan of the Lineage of Solomon and he took a Wife whose Name was Esther and of her he begat Jacob and Mathan dyed and
manifest from hence that he spoke of the Genealogy in reference to Baptism Moreover Mathew recounts the Natural Generation to signifie That the Natural Generation brought us downward but Luke the Legal Generation to shew that the Legal Generation is to us an adumbration of Adoption and of the Resurrection and that we are to Ascend by the Laver of Regeneration and to be made the Sons of God Wherefore doth Luke compute so many Names from David to Christ being forty three and those of Mathew are but twenty eight besides those omitted by the Writers being revera thirty two We say That there was not an equal course of Generations in all Families for it was one progeny that draweth from Nathan to David according to Luke and that is another which is by Solomon as Mathew Wrote for we have seen many being of equal years who took Wives some of whom have Children and Grand Children so that in the one may appear three descents and in the other one wherefore it is no wonder if one Genealogy be more or less fruitful than another in descents Moreover Mathew reckons the Natural Fathers from David to Christ but Luke computed Natural and Legal and therefore Luke hath more than Mathew Wherefore doth Mathew compute the Natural Genealogy and Luke the Legal Because Luke had formerly learnt That the Jews blamed Mathew concerning the Genealogy for that he had mentioned culpable persons as Jochania Moreover They said that Joseph although he was Naturally the Son of Jacob yet it being not fit that his Name should have been Written with his Name Luke but that Eli was he on whose Name the Seed was Establish'd He being willing to solve this Querie wrote the Legal Progenies and Ascends to Genealogy of Persons who were differing from Nathan and comes again to call the Progeny and sheweth that although Joseph should be referred to Eli yet so Christ appears to be of the Lineage of David An Objection of Julian the Wicked If Luke wrote the Legal Genealogies wherefore speaks he of Obed the Son of Boaz as according to Nature and not of the Son of Malion according to the Law as it is written in Ruth And we answer That the Mad-man did not understand the matter for the Controversie concerning Joseph was Whether he was from David or no and there was no Controversie concerning this from David to Abraham for all the Jews were from Abraham therefore Luke from Christ to David computes the Legal Fathers and from David to Abraham the Natural and from Abraham to Adam the Legal Pedigree Wherefore doth Mathew mention the culpable Men and Women and Luke the vertuous We answer That it was Mathews design to shew that God came to call Sinners to Repentance and did not disdain that Mankind whom he created should be united to him and that he should Justifie the same and for this Reason he mentioned the Culpable But Luke having a design to teach that it was unfit that such as weâ—… baptized and made the Children of God should be subjected to Sin he computed the blameless Lineage of Nathan and for this reason doth not mention Jochania and the like of him Aphricanus and Eusebius place Malchi in the third place from the end as also Mathan who is written before Joseph Joseph the Son of Eli the Son of Malchi But in the Syriack Copy of Luke remaining with us he is set in the fifth place Joseph the Son of Heli the Son of Matthath the Son of Levi the Son of Malchi Moreover Aphricanus placeth Fifty Persons in Luke from Abraham to Joseph and in the Syriack Copy of Luke there were Fifty six and it is necessary to enquire after the Truth Gregorius Theologus saith There were Seventy Seven Generations from Adam to Christ according to the discourse concerning Genealogies of Luke the Glossarie and Jacobus Batanensis in the Epistle to Maron saith That from Abraham to Christ were forty two Generation as Mathew wrote and according to Luke Fifty Seven If therefore according to the Sayings of these Doctors and according to our Copy of the Gospel there were 77. Generations from Adam to Christ there remain 57 from Abraham to Christ as saith Dominus Jacobus so that taking one from 57 to wit Christ there are left 56 from Abraham to Joseph and not fifty only as said Aphricanus and our Syriack Copies are true and Aphricanus is not so in setting down only 50 persons And this also we are finally to take notice of that in the Syriack Copy there are written 55 persons from Joseph to Abraham and not 56 as said Theologus and Jacobus Batanensis and we are of opinion that the Scribe omitted one Name and so it was left out of many Copies computing the Names from Christ to Nathan the Son of David In the Greek and Syriack Gospel there are found but 42 so that adding thereunto 14 Generations from David to Abraham they make up only 56 and not 57 as said Jacobus which being all put together amount to 76 and not to 77 as said Theologus there being one Name forgotten about the Middle And the Nativity of Jesus Christ was thus For our Lord is called in Scripture by 52 Names whereof some agree to the time before his being made Man as the Word the Son Splendor and the like and some to the time of being made Man as Jesus Christ and some denote his Union as Emanuel so called from the Divinity and the Humanity which Word Emanuel is Expounded God with us Here it behoves us to inquire what the Name Jesuah signifies We say That Jesuah is an Hebrew Name and with us imports a Redeemer but the Grecians call him Jesus and say that it is Expounded Healing therefore he is a Redeemer because he Redeemed his people from their Sins and he is Healing because he Healed and Cured those who lay under the Calamity of Sickness and Diseases and Moses imposed first the Name on Joshuah the Son of Nun and he was a Type of Christ and was at first called Hoshea and as this Name was imposed from verity of Fact so the Name Emanuel signifieth this that by Birth from a Woman The Word of God was with us The Word Christ teacheth us That as Man he is said to have been Anointed after the manner of Men as the Name Jesus signifieth that he Revived and Redeemed us wherefore the Names of Jesus Christ and Emanuel are the same in force of Understanding Moreover The Name Christ signifieth an Unction in Christ a certain kind of Election The Ancients had three sorts of Anointing first Parabolically with Oyl as Kings and Priests Or by Grace That is to say by the Spirit in an hidden manner as Prophets and Priests or for Honor and Distinction by direction of Actings as the house of Abraham Cyrus and Hazael and the name Anointing is used in seven manner of ways First For quantity as what is measured by Cubits or Palms and as the Angel
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
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
a Virgin shall conceive and bring forth a Son A Jew will say that other Interpreters render it a young Woman and not Virgin Unto whom we say That the Seventy Two are true and more to be relyed on than all other Interpreters first of all for their Number their Truth and Agreement of their Words secondly because they made their Interpretations long before the coming of Christ and are free from all suspition of Fraud but those Interpreters who followed after are of less esteem because they interpreted after Christ and being in Judaism hated Christ Moreover these words A Virgin shall conceive the Lord gave as a Sign unto Achaz and how had it been a sign that a young Woman should bring forth with carnal knowledge For a Sign is a Work above Nature Furthermore the Scripture usually calls Virgins young Women for it saith The young Woman went forth to fill Water and in Deuteronomy it is written concerning a Virgin that is corrupted The young Woman because she did not cry out and the young Women were Virgins whom the Benjamites Ravished And they shall call his Name Emanuel which is interpreted God with us He did not say Thou shalt call but they shall call that is to say from his Works it shall be known that it is God who came unto us who shall converse bodily with us Which is interpreted that is to say Expounded and he hath been called Emanuel by approved Doctors and Doctors are Men and this is like to that of Zacharie behold a Man and his Name is a Branch or Splendor where also from the matter of Fact it was known that he was the Light and Splendor which arose to those who sate in Darkness though not by Name so called And if the Jews shall say That Christ was not called Emanuel by Men let us ask them when was Esaiah called by the Name of Swift to Captivity and given to Prey But they cannot shew it unless by matter of Fact because of the Captivity and Prey which happened in his days he might have had that Name It is Written also concerning Hierusalem That it shall be called the City of Righteousness and the City of Fidelity yet we have observed it not to be so named but it retained the Name Hierusalem though from matter of Fact it might have been denominated from those two Qualities In like manner it is as to Emanuel whom the Prophet Names so from matter of Fact That is because he conversed with us bodily for it is the Custom of the Scripture to use the thing done instead of a Name Emanuel signifies God who conversed openly with Men and if they shall say that he also conversed with the Just according as he said to Jesus as I have been with Moses so will I be with thee by way of Assistance and is not there called Emanuel We say That here he speaks concerning his bodily Nativity being made Man and conversant with us on Earth Moreover The Angel said Emanuel that is to say God with us and not God with him as Wicked Nestorious would have it for the Word is not only United to one Man Framed Assumed and Segregated but also hath drawn and collected by the power of his Operation our whole Nature into Union with himself When Joseph arose from his Sleep he did as the Angel commanded him that is he Teacheth us by the Obedient Conscience and awakened mind of Joseph in that he did nothing indiscreetly and readily obeyed Divine Pleasure and was very desirous to get an Excuse for the Virgin And he took his Wfie and knew her not he calls her his Wife that the present Mystery might not be disclosed and to prevent an Opinion of Adultery it being the custom of the Scripture to call the Spouse Husband according to that If there be a young Virgin betrothed to an Husband behold she calls the Spouse Husband and commands him to be Stoned who abused her This That he knew her not He speaks of commixture by Carnal Conjunction Vntil she brought forth her first born Son This Word Vntil is taken three several ways signifying either a fixed term or the ceasing of things or an indefinite term a fixed term as this The people removed not until Miriam came into the host after she was Cured in token that after her coming the people did remove and according to this The Scepter shall not depart from Judah until he shall come whose it is and it is known that after his coming then the Scepter that is the Kingdom departed it signifieth the ceasing of things as this hitherto the end of the Speech And Eliah walked in the strength of the Meat to the Mountain and it is certain that he rested after he came to the Mountain and that his Discourse ceased after he had spoken and that there was an end and term to his Speech Sometimes it is spoken indefinitely and as an unfixed time according to this The Raven went forth and did not return until the Waters were dryed up and it is certain he returned not after the Waters were dryed up and it was said to Jacob I will not forfake thee until I shall do for thee what I have said and afterwards he forsook him not And Malchil brought not forth untill her death and if whilest she lived she brought not forth much less after her death and And behold I am with you untill the end of the world is he therefore afterward to forsake them or be remiss No. And these words Thou art Lord from generation unto generation do not impose an end to God and this Expression amplitude of peace until the moon shall pass away doth not inferr an end to this beatitude and Christ shall reign until he shall put all his enemies under his feet and it behoves him that the heavens contain him until the end of times Is he therefore thereafter to be cast out of heaven or to become a Stranger to his Kingdom No wherefore the Word Vntil in these and other the like places are not spoken desinitely In like manner the World Vntil is not so to be understood in this place as if he knew her after she brought forth but that he knew her not and it is of a fence unfixed to term and of an indefinite signification Moreover This word Vntil is not to be understood by way of distinction as if before she brought forth he knew her not and that he did know her after she brought forth that is to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it being the custom of the Scripture to use this Expression and that Joseph did not approach unto her is evident from the honour due unto her Son and that she was an Habitacle to the Spirit and that she received the Vertue of the most High and that she was the most blessed of Women and that it was indecent that she should bring forth with pain and curses For all these
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
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
much as he did not believe that Christ suffered on his own accord for had he been of that belief he had been converted as was Simon and had not hang'd himself Thirty pieces of Silver viz. Thirty Pence I have sinned in that I have Betrayed the innocent Blood Vers 4. lest it should be thought that he had betrayed him as finding some Evill in him it was so ordered by Divine disposition that he should say before the Chief Priests I have sinned in that I have betrayed Innocent blood What is that to us Thou knowest Hereby they cast the blame on Judas as if they had been clear of the matter whereas if they had been so pleased he had not been Crucified And he Cast down the silver in the Temple Ver. 5. viz. he earnestly contended with them to take it back again and they would not receive it he therefore cast it down in a fury and went his way He went and hanged himself Acts. 1.18 Mathew sayeth thus but Luke in the Acts writes that he burst in sunder in the midst and all his Bowels gush'd out A Reconciliation of the difference between the Evangelists concerning the Death of Judas and both are in the Right For there was strangling and bursting in the case and every of the Evangelists writes of the one for after he had cast down the Silver in the Temple he cast a Rope about his own Neck in a Wood belonging to his House and it happening that some passing by saw him hanging and loosed him before he was choaked Others say the Rope brake and that for some days after he was sick and swelled to so large dimensions as that a Cart could not bear him and his head was sore puffed up and his eyelids so swolne that he could not see And Papias saith That his privy Members were mightily enlarged and that putrid matter abominable stench and Worms proceeded from them Epiphanius saith That he lived four days after his Suspension that he was cut in twain Epiphanies his Opinion and that his Bowels gushed out Others That he died of that Disease and they did not bury him for that it was a custom to leave those unburied who hanged themselves Wherefore he did stink and became offensive and a Nusance to the Inhabiters round about and they were forced to remove him thence on a Bier and when they lifted him up he fell and bursted and all his bowels gush'd out It is said by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles Let his habitations be waste That is to say Acts 1.20 after they had buried him the ill savour of his house offended the inhabitants and they removed thence the stones and the rest of the materials and so his habitation became waste to wit Scariot and uninhabited His house was seated in Jerusalem Because it is the price of Blood Vers 6. Hereby they plainly shew that they bought his blood at a Price and did not put him to death as guilty And bought with them the Potters field to bury strangers in Vers 7. That is to say for a Sepulcher of strangers and to cover the wickedness of the murder by their pretended provision for strangers and while they labour by pretext to conceal their fraud God on the contrary ordains that the names of both should perish as well of the Potters as of the strangers Vers 8. for it was called the Field of Blood he calls Agorsa the Field or Land which belongs to one that makes Potts and Vessels and such like Potters ware and this man was one of these three either he made Earthen Ports or his Ancestors were Potters or his Name was such as imported Potter as they call men by many and sundry Names Took the thirty pieces of Silver Vers 9. those things which the Jews did wickedly and voluntarily were the accomplishment of the Prophecie These words were set down as a Parable which the Prophet converts by application into matter of Fact An Error of the Translator Corrected John 18.33 as this Out of Egypt have I called my Son These words Took thirty Pieces of Silver are not written in Jeremy as we find in Mathew but are written in Zachary and by Error the Translator wrote Jeremy instead of Zachary Pilate entre'd into the Praetorium Viz. the place where the King or Judg sits and gives Judgment in publick Causes Art thou King of the Jews Vers 11. Because the Jews accused him they added that he said of himself that he was King and Pilate being above all other thing most Solicitous hereof asked him this question for he thought this a matter against the Roman Government and that it behoved him who was set up in the place of Authority as a Warden or Judge to be more inquisitive thereof than all others Thou sayest Ver. 12. Which was a much as if he had said I am And he gave him no answer that is to say neither to Pilate nor to the Jews for they had not profited by his Answer moreover over that the words of Isaiah may be fullfilled He was dumh and opened not his mouth And he wonder'd mightily Ver. 14. that is to say it being so easy for him to speak and get the victory there being no cause of death alledg'd against him he was silent Luk. 23.9 Luke says that Jesus answered him not a word that is to Herod he gave no answer nor wrought a miracle before him lest they should rescue him from the Crucifiers by force he being a Gallilean and so retard his sufferings from the Cross which he was prepared to undergo But Herod contemned him because he neither answered him nor wrought a miracle before him Chastise him therefore and let him go Luk. 23.16 That is to say cause him to be scourged and permit him to depart for Pilate himself perceived that they conspired against him and it was the custom to dismiss at the Feast one that was Chastised The Jews said unto him Joh 18.31 It is not lawfull for us to put any one to Death That is to say it is lawfull for them to execute to death in another manner than that of the Cross which is manifest by their stoning of Stephen but as to Christ they said It is not lawful for us to put him to death as a Traytor or Rebell against Caesar and as one that taught the Jews to rise in Rebellion against the Romans so that being to be put to death under that notion he might not receive any favour at his Death being one that suffered for a Capitall offence Moreover it is not Lawful for us his transgression is not onely against us or our Law but his insolency reacheth so far as to offend Caesar also Again Divine Dispensation utter'd this by their mouths that the speech of our Saviour before he was betrayed might befulfilled My Kingdom is not of this World Jo. 18.36 That is to say The
priviledg'd than he who Prophesied of his Passion and knew that he was to be Crucified and to dye but it is certainly known that he is greater than the Prophets as ye have said and were it true that he had not known wherefore he was forsaken then was it false which was written concerning him that he is the Wisdom of the Father and if he knew not then neither did the Father know for he said As the Father knoweth me so know I the Father but if ye shall say That the fear of Death hinder'd him from knowing his Death let them take notice That it hath not been written either of the Martyrs or Prophets who sustained Passions that they were hindered so that they cou'd not know of their Death Now let us reprove the Arians who say That it was the Son who was forsaken of his Father Against whom we say How did he forsake him Since that the Son himself said I am in my Father and my Father in me and whether did he depart who is every where without Limitation And how did the Father forsake his Power and his Wisdom spontaneously For behold Paul said That Christ is the Power and Wisdom of God the Father for as he spoke this I thirst for two Causes First That he might fulfil the Prophecy as said the Evangelists And Secondly That he might give us Drink who were Thirsty and as he asked Water of the Samaritan Woman not in behalf of himself but to induce her to ask Water of Life from him for behold it is not written that he drank of the Waters which he asked of her which is evident from hence that as soon as she perceiv'd him she began to demand of him Living Waters and behold it is not Written That he drank of the Waters which he asked of her wherefore he asked it not for any other end but that he was willing to confer on her the Drink of Life So when he said to the Jews I thirst he sought to give us Water of Life Moreover he said I thirst in respect of his Human Nature which Thirsted after the knowledg of the Holy Ghost for as he demanded in the matter of her who was Healed Who touched me when the multitude pressed upon him that by the asking of a Question the Faith of her may be Revealed who touched him so here he asks Why hast thou forsaken me not that he was Ignorant but that the Auditory hearing this Interrogation might inquire and be informed that it was not He who was forsaken but the Human Nature Moreover He calls the Father his God because He was Man for as he was not to be Blamed or Reprehended when he exercis'd Divine Function because he was God so was he not to be Reproved or Contemned when he spake as a Man forasmuch as he was a Man He calls Elias for the Word Eli my God and Elia are near a like in the Hebrrw Language for Eli is Interpreted God and Elohia is Interpreted Divine And one of them ran and brought a Spunge and filled it with Vinegar For he was a Jew who offered him Vinegar and Myrrh as is evident from hence that the Jews said Behold he calls Elias They many times offered him Vinegar in derision and he drank but here he did not And Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the Ghost that is to say he shewed that voluntarily and freely he gave up his Soul and not by constraint for he dismissed it and it was not taken from him as ours which is taken by force It is said of us Creatures Thou takest their Spirit and they die but he was Creator and did give it up of his own free will Some Men ask of what kind of Death died our Lord Whether that of ours or of his own And we answer That ours is the Separation of the Soul from the Body but the death of God is the Separation of the Divinity from the Humanity and this he did not suffer wherefore we say that he died our death for his Soul was separated from his Body and not his Divinity from his Humanity For tho' his Soul was separated when he died on the Cross till he arose from the Grave yet his Divinity was not at all separated neither from his Soul nor from his Body for his Divinity was united to his Soul and to his Body with an unseparable Union that is to say his Divinity to his Humanity for his Divinity remained with the Body and with the Soul went into Hell and preached to the Souls there detained which did not obey the preaching of Noah as Peter say'd in the Acts for the Divinity is unlimitted and therefore with his Body and Soul and by him are all things and without him nothing and within him are all things we say also of Christ that he was God for it is say'd of the word of God that it is God and the very same is Man who is God John said And God was that Word and that he was Man the same John said The Word was made Flesh and dwelt in us and Paul sayth God sent his Son and he was made of a Woman therefore that word of the Father is God and was made Man and as he is God he is not limitted by space or place nor to be comprehended with words or thoughts but as He was made Man He was with the Body in the Sepulcher and with the Soul in Heaven Moreover Jesus cried twice with a loud Voice First My God my God wherefore c. as Matthew writes Secondly Father into thy hands I commit my Soul as Luke saith The first time as in the Person of Adam My God my God The second time in his own Person My Father into thy hands He calls him My Father to shew that he is God and equal in Essence with the Father and God to shew that the same was made Man And in saying I commend my Spirit he sheweth that voluntarily and of his own free will he laid it down and that no other took it from him by constraint as is our case Stephen in saying Christ into thy hands I commit my Spirit signify'd Christ accept of my Spirit From Adam to this time the Souls of the Righteous and of the wicked were sent to Hell as we have say'd before and from the time that Christ cried Father into thy hands I commit my Spirit until the end of the World the Souls of the Righteous are in the hands of God as Solomon said that is to say they are near unto him and dwell in Paradise He bowed his Head and gave up his Spirit With us first the Soul departs from us and afterwards our Heads fall down but with Christ it was not so but first he bowed his Head and presently gave up his Soul that is to say of his own accord and free will he delivered it up and not by constraint Furthermore In saying I lay down my Spirit he sheweth that after a
to a King so they made Simon bear his Cross And this is certain from hence that it is not Written that the Thieves did bear their Crosses but that there came with him two Malefactors And as Simon bare his Cross and was not Crucified so our Lord was Crucified not for himself but for others Furthermore when Satan perceived what good things there came from the Cross he made the Jews give his Cross to another that the Good which was to be wrought by his Death might come to pass by other means and not by the hands of Jesus and that all the World might look upon him who carried the Cross and not upon Jesus Yet the Will of Satan was not performed for tho' another bore the Cross yet the Cross bore Jesus and all the Good was wrought by him Again he did as did the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets for they indeed prophecied and did not suffer but Simon carried the Cross and another was Crucified Moreover it was to teach us that whosoever will be his Disciple must take up his Cross and that the Prophecy might be fulfilled that his Dominion is upon his shoulder that is to say his Cross by which he exerciseth Dominion over things in Heaven and Earth and as Isaac bore on his Shoulder the Wood of his Sacrifice so our Lord bore upon his Shoulder the Cross Wherefore did not God permit Abraham to slay Isaac That the Seed of Abraham might not follow the Custom of the Prophane Gentiles who Sacrificed their Sons to Devils and to learn by Abraham that God delights not in Slaughter but in true Love But since there are many kinds of Death Why did he suffer the Death of the Cross To the end that when he should be lifted upon the Cross he might draw all Men to him from the Earth and that he might Sanctifie the Earth by the Sprinkling of his Blood Moreover That he might publish the putting off his Flesh to the Principalities for the Powers of Satan for the most part reside in the Air Again because by the Tree also Death entered so by the Tree came Salvation when he was mounted thereupon and that he might free us from this Curse Cursed be the Earth for thy sake he suffered a Cursed Death according to what he said Cursed be every one who hangeth upon a Tree and that he might bless us with all the Blessings of the Spirit And there came behind him a multitude of People and Women who Lamented This was the custom that when any sad thing happened the people gathered themselves together and Women grieved and wept And this is it which is said in John Ye shall seek me and shall not find me My Lord John saith Here they sought him Lamenting and Weeping for him Cyril saith That they Wept and Lamented because Woman kind are prone to Tears because of their soft Constitutions or Tenderness of Conscience Moreover the Weeping and Wayling of the Women was a Sign of the Destruction of their City But Weep for your selves and your Children That is to say a bitter Destruction is coming upon you Blessed are the Barren That is to say you shall count them happy who have no Children when ye shall see this sharp Destruction from the Romans If with the Green Tree Green he calls himself who was Delightful and Fruitful That is to say he wrought Miracles affording Teaching and Preaching and if after these things the Romans and Grecians Reproached and Despised me What will become of you What will they do with you who are dry Wood and fruitless because they find nothing useful in you they will have no Pity for you Christ is the Green Tree the Jews the Dry and the Romans the Fire And they came to a place which is called Gagultha which is Interpreted a Skull that is to say the Syrians call the Pan and bone of the Head a Skull but Interpreters say that when Noah enter'd into the Ark he took with him the Bones of Adam and that going out of the same he divided them among his three Sons to Shem as to his first born he gave his Head to Ham and Japheth the rest of his Bones accordingly he divided the Earth between them three to Japheth fell the Northern part to Ham the Southern and to Shem the Middlemost to which belonged Jerusalem and they say that by way of Mystery the Skull of Adam was buried in the self same place and Earth whereon Christ was Crucified and that when Christ was Crucified they fix'd his Cross in the Mouth of Adam to the intent That in the very place where Death and the Fall first happened Life and Resurrection might there begin Moreover he was Crucified in this place because therein were Administred the Mysteries which prefigured the Crucifixion for from Generations and many years it was kept for this Use Therein Melchizedeck exercised the Sacerdotal Function and effered Sacrifice and Oblation thereon Also David built an Altar and interdicted Death and finally this was the Threshing Floor of Arnon the Jebusite And they gave unto him to Drink Vineger mixed with Gall. Mark saith They gave him Wine mixed with Myrrh but he did not take it for it was a Law with them to give Wine to him who is Crucified to the end he may become forgetful and unsensible of his Passion and they gave him Wine mix'd with Gall but he drank it not First because his time was not yet come Secondly The Prophets did not Prophecy of him that he should drink Wine mix'd with Gall. They oftentimes offered him Vinegar to drink thereby deriding him before and at his Crucifixion which is manifest from hence that they did not offer it to the Thieves that were Crucified with him and he drank not the Vinegar because as Mathew saith The time was not yet come They divided his Garments by Lots That the Prophecy of David may be fulfilled but this did they by way of Derision And they divided them into four Parts because there were four Chieftains of the Soldiers and he had a Tunick an head-covering a Shash and Sandals and because the Shash was small they were willing to divide the Tunick and to add to the Girdle for the which because they divided it not they cast Lotts and it fell to one of them They divided his Garments into four Parts The Mystery hereof is that they were guilty of four-fold Sin What every one should take that is to say what part of every one of the Souldiers should take of his Garments and who should have the Tunick or Girdle His Tunick was Seamless from the top being all Woven It was the custom in the Land of Palestine to weave two pieces of Cloth and to stich them together above the shoulders and so make a Tunick and they called it without seam from the top that is to say woven without that stitch above the shoulders Moreover that it was seamless shews the meanless of his attire Furthermore he calls
his Body a Tunick and that it was without seam from above sheweth that he brought not his Body from Heaven but that it was united to him from Mary and in as much as it was intirely woven is signified that the Word united to it self a compleat living Body endowed with a Rational Soul and that they did not divide it sheweth that after this union Our Lord was not to be divided or seperated into two subsistances Again his Tunick signifieth faith which is one and undivided and that there is one Lord undivided into two and incomprehensible his Coat fell to the Soldiers who were of the Gentiles and not of the Hebrews because the Gentiles were heirs to the faith in Christ And they sat and watched him that he should not be snatched away by his Kinsfolks and this they did peculiarly as to our Lord at the command of Pilate or they watched him to observe whether or no he was dead and they put over his head the cause of his Death Luke and John say That it was written in three languages Hebrew Latine and Greek Pilate did this that he might be revenged of the Jews and that he might excuse himself for that they accused him as a Malefactor moreover this was the guidance of divine providence for the Crosses were hidden under ground and a long time after this was known to be that of Christ by the Table which the Judge had placed thereon Others say that he feared least that when enquiry should be made after his death and he found innocent he himself might be accused and therefore wrote on the Cross the pretence of his Death in three Tables that three languages might testifie that the Jews crucified their King Moreover three witnesses gave testimony alluding to this that they Crucified one of the Trinity But the Writing pleased them not because they thought they should be thereby reputed Rebels if he who was their King were crucified they sayed therefore Write that he say'd he was King and not that we owned him as such but he did not alter the Inscription because Judges are not accustomed to vary from what they write as also that he might reproach the Jews And two Thieves were crucified with him he on the right hand was called Titus and he on the left hand Domeus Moreover they did this with an impudent intention that forasmuch as they crucified him with Thieves and Murderers he might be deemed one of like guilt with them and that by a pretended community in so flagitious a Crime his Majesty might be obscured But against their will he fulfilled the Prophecy in that he was crucified with evil doers Destroy the Temple and baild it in three days Mark fayeth Ah thou that destroyest the Temple and buildest it in three days and these words denotes their reproach and blasphemy as if they had said He that gave out that he would build the Temple in three days is not able to preserve himself If thou beest the Son of God come down from the Cross But he did not descend from the Cross because he was the Son of God for he who knows that if he dyes he shall not rise again flyeth from Death But it became not him who is assured to rise after 3 days and by his Deaths to destroy Hell and triumph over Death to have come down until Justice had been fully satisfied by his Death And likewise the High Priests reviled him That is to say the Seribes the Doctors of the Law the Priests and the Elders who were there assembled to take care that the Execution should not be delay'd nor prevented He brought others to Life inasmuch therefore as they testified that he reviv'd others they condemned themselves for if he revived others he might not have dyed or Dying he might rise again Let him now come down from the Cross and we will believe in him for if he were King of Israel they sought to abolish his Kingdom and if he had descended from the Cross they had not believ'd in him which is manifest from hence that he wrought great miracles before his suffering on the Cross whilest he suffer'd thereon and after he had suffer'd and yet they believed not so neither had they believed had he descended from the Cross and he did not descend from the Cross for at that time his Agony and contest was not with them but against Death to destroy it He trusted in God Are therefore the Prophets no Prophets or the Righteous not righteous because God did not deliver them from Dangers and Sufferings But it is certain they were Prophets and Righteous so in the Son of God The Thieves also who were crucified with him reviled him Some say that one of the Thieves only reviled him and that he took up the reproach of one and extended it to them both according to the custom of the Scripture As for Example On my Rayment did they cast Lots whereas it is evident that they did not cast Lots upon is whole Rayment but on his Tunick only Like unto this Some of them doubted whereas Thomas only doubted Mathew and Mark say that both of them reviled him and all three say true for when our Lord was nailed to the Cross both reviled him but after that he on the Right Hand saw the Wonders and Signs which were wrought on the Cross and knew that they were not effected for his or his Fellows sake and heard the Jews repeating high things of him and calling him the Son of God and King of Israel and saw the Inscription of Pilate in three Tables proclaiming him King he confessed his Majesty and ceased to blaspheme and began with Praise even reprehending and accusing his Fellow Moreover the Thief on the Left Hand had one reprehensible property for he blasphemed as did the Jews judging him to be God But there were five praise-worthy Actions to be observed in the Thief on the Right Hand 1. He rebuked his Fellow 2. He confessed the wickedness of his Deeds 3. He Justified Christ 4. He acknowledg'd him to be King 5 He begged saying Remember me my Lord. How knew the Thief that Christ was King We answer That either he knew it by Divine Revelation the Testimony of Pilate who said Shall I crucify your King or of the Jews If he be King let him come down For the Faith of the Thief is to be praised for that he believed on him when he was in disgrace and on the Cross and not in his Kingdom and Majesty So also the Christians great was their Faith and Rewards shall be given unto them because they believed in a Crucified Saviour who notwithstanding is God over all Again The Thief being a Malefactor who with one Word gained a Kingdom sheweth that Christ is a Propitiation for Sins and Lord of a Kingdom but he was not Crucified as he was God but as he was made Man according to this That the Word was made Flesh and dwelt in as and according to