hang'd himself Matth. 25.5 AND now O most Holy Jesu let this Blessed Spirit further assist me in this great Work to present thee Dear Lord to the Life to my Devout Soul that it may the more perfectly see thee in all thy Agony Passion Death Burial Resurrection and Ascension and to admire thee and adore thee most Blessed Lord and Saviour in the greatest humiliation and adoration a poor Creature is able to do as thou art daily interceding for me at the Throne of Heaven And this I beg upon the bended Knees of my Soul in thy own Name and for thy own sake who art my Lord and Saviour and Ever-Blessed Redeemer and Advocate Amen But now to proceed on with this wicked Tragedy of the Jews After Judas had Hang'd himself the Chief-Priests took the Silver-pieces and said It is not lawful to put them into the Treasury because it is the price of Blood And they consulted together and bought the Potters Field to bury Strangers in wherefore that Field is call'd the Field of Blood to this day Then was fulfill'd that which was spoken by Jeremiah the Prophet saying And they took the Thirty pieces of Silver the price of him that was valued whom they of the Children of Israel did value and gave them for the Potters Field as the Lord appointed Jesus carried before Pilate But the High Priests took Jesus and bound him and sent him away very early it being a work of darkness to Pilate and they themselves came after to accuse him Pilate entring the Tribunal Seat ask'd them What Accusations they did bring against this Man they answer and say in in general If he were not a Malefactor we would not have deliver'd him up to you Pilate being unwilling to meddle in this Affair perceiving it was for envy they accus'd him and not any thing of a just Offence Pilate ask'd them Why they did not proceed against him and judge him according to their Law and not to trouble him The Jews said unto him It is not lawful for us to put any Man to death that the saying of Jesus might be fulfill'd which be spake signifying what Death he should dye as he himself had prophesi'd of himself And they shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucifie Then Pilate enter'd the Judgment-Hall and when he saw no body come against him calls to Jesus and said unto him Art thou the King of the Jews Thinking happily he might trap Jesus in his words but Jesus as cautiously ask'd him another Question Hast thou said this thing of thy self or did others tell it thee of my Pilate answer'd him Am I a Jew Thy own Nation and the Chief Priests have deliver'd thee to me What hast thou done For as yet none can testifie any thing against him for they had not as yet their pretended Fact ready whereby to accuse him moreover they found Pilate to be very strict in his Examination and very unwilling to be both Accuser and Judge and made them not willing to answer to any particulars till they had drawn up full Proof against him seeing a General Charge had no Influence upon Pilate Jesus said unto Pilate my Kingdom is not of the World Pilate therefore said unto him Art thou a King then Jesus answered Thou sayest that I am a King For this Cause was I born and for this Cause came I into the World that I should bear witness to the Truth What is the Truth saith Pilate Jesus answered Every one that is of the Truth heareth my Voice Pilate then goes out to the Jews and tells them If they had nothing else to say against Jesus of Nazareth he must and will discharge him for be for his part found no fault in him at all John 18.29 to 38. Then when they heard this rather than he should be discharg'd the whole Multitude ran in with open Mouth and began to accuse him saying If we must come to Particulars we are prepared We found this Fellow teaching Sedition and Rebellion and endeavouring to pervert the Nation from paying Tribute to Caesar and saying That himself is Christ a King saith Pilate I have heard of this already and I will hear no more of it I must discharge him if this is all you have to say for I tell you I can find no fault in the Man Then they were the more fierce against him but all to no purpose saying He stirreth up the People Teaching throughout Jury beginning from Galilee to this place Pilate being now quite wearied out with this Nonsense and hearing he was a Galilean knew that he belong'd to Herod's Jurisdiction and turns him over to him Luke 23.8 whom he knew to be at Jerusalem at that time Jesus carried before Herod and therefore sends Jesus to him who had been desirous of a long season to see him because he had heard many things of him and hoped to see some of his Miracles done by him Then Herod begins to Interrogate Jesus and finding he could get nothing from him nor no Miracles to be done by him and being most vehemently accused by the Chief Priests and Elders saying all manner of Evil against him that the subtilty of Men or Devils could invent for they distrusted to have any good done by Pilate and therefore concluded this was the last Stake they had to play and thereupon resolv'd to make the best of it They said that He pretended to be a King and had forbid them to pay Tribute to any Earthly Monarch and that he did frequently sow Sedition amongst the People and moreover said He could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days But he answered nothing to all this Moreover Herod was informed they had been before Annas and Caiphas and that their Witnesses could not agree together and that Pilate could find no just Accusation of Death against him and upon that account had sent him to him which he took very kindly from Pilate and upon this occasion they Two were made friends which before had been at Variance and Enmity for a great while Notwithstanding Herod calls a Council of his Mighty Men and they debate the Matter amongst themselves but yet could find no cause of Death in him more than the violency of the People so that Herod was neither willing to release him nor yet to condemn him but He and his Nobles make sport with him awhile set him at nought mock'd him and arrayed him in a Purple Robe others a White Robe out of derision to his Regal Power and on purpose to render him more the peoples Scorn and the more to enflame their merciless Cruelty and thus return him back again to Pilate with Thanks and a great Compliment for the grand favour he had done him in sending this Malefactor the King of the Jews to him I have Rob'd him and given him what Ignominy and Despite I thought convenient but as for his Death or to condemn him belongs not
Blood be upon us and our Children for ever if it will we will have him Crucified And the Voices of them and the Chief Priests prevailed Luke 23.23 Then Pilate released Barabbas unto them and delivor'd Jesus to be Crucified and they took him and lead him away John 19.16 Then they called together the whole Band of Soldiers and with the Scarlet Robe and the Crown of Thorns on his Head they put a Reed in his right band in stead of a Scepter and they bowed the Knee before him and said Hail King of the Jews And then they spit upoâ— him and took away the Reed from him and smote him on the Head with it And after they had done that they mock'd him and then they took off the Robe that was upon him by Herod's Appointment for to Crucifie him in that King-like Robe would be a great dishonour both to their King and Country And the Saviour of the World now being left to the Barbarous Multitude to be Crucified The Jews and Gentiles consent and assist in the Crucifying of him Mat. 20.18 19. and to do what they would with him You may imagine with what Undecency and Rudeness they twist and turn about the Sacred Body of our Dear Jesus that is already most grievously sore and stiff with Blood from their late Inhuman Stripes and with what force and cruelty they pull off his Robes and put on his own Garments for his Crucifixion is enough to make a Devout Soul quake and tremble Thus they took the ever-blessed Jesus and led him away bearing His own Cross toward Mount Calvary or Golgotha the place of a Skull with all the Joy their Rage and Malice could invent Stay now my Soul and take a serious view of thy Lord and Saviour thus far afflicted The Devout Soul standing to see its Saviour pass by toward the Mount the place of his Execution tormented and forsaken I say now if thy Heart does not break to fast and the Sluces of thy Eyes do not pour down Pears too violently take a view of him and make a stand It 's the way to his Cross and he will come dragg'd by presently O my Soul be like the true Zacheus make the best of thy Ground to view and of thy Time to consider for now the Agony of our Blessed Redeemer begins Ah cruel and miserable Pilate What hast thou now done And whom hast thou Condemned And whom hast thou delivered up to be Crucified The Lord of Glory The Son of God! The Redeemer and Saviour of the World A just Person As thou thy self hath testified of him Thou found'st no Guile nor Evil in his Mouth What canst thou expect from him then for thy own Salvation See but yonder how he is hal'd and dragg'd away from thee with his Head crown'd with Thorns his Temples bleeding his Face besmear'd with Blood and Spittle from the basest and vilest of the poor ignorant Jews and his Back stooping under the Burthen of his own Cross and his poor Legs trembling by reason of its weight which with the Dust Dirt Crowd Sweat Blood and want of Sustenance to revive his poor drooping Spirits His sacred Lips having received no nourishment from the time of the Passover till the time of his thirsting up on the Cross which was the third day and exactly forerun the time of his Body lying in the Grave is ready to sink Canst thou look after him Pilate and see all this and thy Heart and Soul not faint and bleed What wouldst thou give Pilate now to recal thy wicked and abominable Sentence of a just Person thus spitefully used and dealt with Like a Lamb to the Slaughter or a Sheep before the Shearers is dumb so openeth he not his Mouth But now not for Pity to his tender Back Simon the Cyrenian compell'd to bear our Saviours Cross but for fear he tire before he come to the Place of suffering and that they may give him some ease to lengthen out his Torments and that they may be able to inflict more Stripes upon him and that he may more become the publick view and that he may be the better come at to receive his Stripes and to be spit upon and thrown at let us seize and compel the Traveller Simon of Cyrenia to bear his Cross O happy art thou Simon to bear thy Lord's Cross Let there be no unwillingness in thee Thou hadst no hand in Condemning him nor Crowning him with Thorns nor spitting upon him nor bussetting him let it not grieve thee thou may'st be amply rewarded for thy pains if thou believest in him He in requital will bear thy Soul to Heaven for thee How many poor Souls now a days would have been glad to have suffer'd for him or with him that have already found part of the Virtue of his Death and Resurrection But how can I blame thee poor Simon when all his Disciples had left him and one of them was he that betray'd him to this but all hid their Faces from him as he himself had foretold them And ye shall leave me alone but I am not alone because the Father is with me O dear Lord Jesu joyful is this News to me that I now here thee speak That thou hast the Presence Comforts and Assistance of thy Father of thy God with thee in this hour in this great Agony and Suffering And having thus far mournfully accompanied our Lord and Saviour up the Hill laden with Afflictions and Sorrows to the top of Mount Calvary where the Cross of our dear Saviour is to be fix'd for the separating of his most Glorious Soul and most Precious Body Who can but consider and be amaz'd to think what stupendious Sorrows and Sufferings our dear Lord at this moment feels and apprehends All Malefactors that we have at any time beheld with our Christian compassionate Eyes there are three Times especially that conflict and operate most upon sympathizing Beholders and according as the Sentence for the extinguishing part of Life is so are we more or less affected and afflicted with Sorrow First at the time of their Condemnation and dreadful Sentence Thou shalt return to the Place from whence thou camest and from thence to the Place of Execution and there be hang'd by the Neck till thou art dead or Quarter'd alive or burnt to Death and the Lord have Mercy upon thy Soul Secondly at the present time of their going up the Ladder or being fastned to the Rack Cross Stake or Block What Eyes can behold this but their Face shall gather Paleness and Sorrow A simpathizing thinking Christian and their Knees even knock together with fear and trembling to think what is at hand and they now going immediately to suffer Thirdly at the time of their being in the very present Agony of Death where not only the present Torment of Body they endure but the dreadful Terrors of an affrighted Conscience at the immediate sight of a revengeful God and irreconcileable
Body of a Crucify'd Jesus Yet true Faith carry'd thee beyond fear come Life come Death nothing can or shall separate a true Joseph a truly devout Soul from the Love of Christ Jesus Yet withal we may from hence observe the Prudence and Care a Christian ought to have He went privately in respect of the Jews whose precipitate rage had so lately embru'd their hands in the Blood of an Innocent harmless Jesus and was still reeking hot with that Cruelty but yet boldly in respect of Pilate he went in and begg'd the Body of Jesus His Love and Faith to Jesus made him bold but his Wisdom and Discretion made him cautions If he must sacrifice his Life for his Love to his Saviour it should be by the hands of a Legislative Power and not by the merciless barbarity of the Mobile but if it must be so ready and resolv'd he was immediately to follow and be second to so good a Saviour for whose Salvation he had so long time waited O Blessed Joseph Had'st not thou took care of the Son of God of Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews of the ever-blessed Jesu Redeemer and Saviour of the World to have given him decent Burial his Sacred Body might have laid all mangled torn distorted and extended upon the cold Earth to the merciless Cruelty and savage Nature of Wild Beasts and Birds of Prey But this was design'd from all Eternity that thou should'st be the Man appointed by the Hypostatick Counsel of Heaven I say to be the Man to embalm and entomb the Body of the ever-blessed Jesus and for this art thou sure to have thy Soul embrac'd and enthron'd in Heaven in the Bosom of thy Saviour He that is not asham'd to confess and own me before Men in the most dangerous of times him will I not be asham'd to confess and own before my Father which is in Heaven And now Even is come and the time of Solemnity and Entombing of our Saviour is at hand away now my Soul with all the heavy weight and burthen of thy Sins to the Grave of thy Saviour The Body born by Angels vailing their Faces The Solemnity of our Saviours Funeral who in the time of his Humanity were always appointed by God to attend upon him and minister unto him and also while in the Grave to perform the same Heavenly Office And there appear'd two Angels sitting the one at the head and the other at the feet And can we think they should be spar'd or wanted at this time Luke 24.4 John 20.12 First follow'd by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus John 16.39.40 Then Mary the Mother of the ever-blessed Jesus Mary Magdalen and Mary the Mother of James and Joses and the Mother of Zebedee's Children And the Women that follow'd after as Mourners bâ—held the Body where if was laid Luke 23.55 And all the rest of the Mourners came following after ordered by the great Herauld of Heaven And I will in that day pour upon the house of David and Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and Supplication and they shall look upon me whom they have perceiv'd and they shall mourn for him as one that mourneth for his only begotten Son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-horn In that day there shall be a very great mourning in Jerusalem Typically spoke of good Josiah aâ—â—ding to our Saviour at this time Rev. 1.7 as the mourning of Haddadrimon in the Valley of Megiddon And the Land shall mourn every Family apart The Family of the House of David apart and their Wives apart The Family of the House of Nathan apart and their Wives apart The Family of the House of Live apart and their Wives apart The Family of Shimei and their Wives apart And all the Families that remain every Family apart and their Wives apart Zech. 12.10 11 12. Come now O my Soul do thee follow after gather up I say all thy Sins from the soot of the Cross and bring them with thee to the Grave of thy Saviour Bury them there in a Flood of Tears with the rest of those Afflicted Mourners that they may never rise up in this World more to affright thee nor in the World to come to condemn thee Leave them all there that they may all be laid upon the head of the scape-Goat and carry'd into the Wilderness the Land of forgetfulness And now strengthen your Heads you weak Hearts and gather strength ye feeble Knees for now is your Redemption near at hand And they roll'd a great stone to the door of the Sepulchre and departed Thus having as succinctly as possibly I could run over the Passion of our Dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in that method and order the Holy Scriptures have most perspicuously testify'd of him both by the Prophets and also the Apostles I shall conclude all with that of the most Holy Apostle and for the present leave his precious Body in the Grave with Angles to attend his Call to his Glorious Resurrection which the blessed Apostle in these few words proclaims Ye Men of Israel Hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a Man approv'd of God among you by Miracles Wonders and Signs which God did by him in the midst of ye as ye your selves also know Him being deliver'd by the determinate Counsel and foreknowledge of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucify'd and slain Whom God hath rais'd up having loos'd the Pains of Death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it But David speaketh concerning him I foresaw the Lord always before my Face for he is on my Right hand that I should not be mov'd Therefore did my Heart rejoyce and my Tongue was glad moreover also my Flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption Thou hast made known to me the way of Life and thou shalt make me full of Joy with thy Countenance Now Glory to God on High Peace on Earth Good Will towards Men. Meditations and Ejaculations to be used in thy Closet before or immediately at the Table of the Lord or after thou art return'd into thy Closet again Made and compos'd by the Author from the Considerations of Christ's Merits by his Body Blood and Intercession O Lord help the Sluces of my Soul to pour out Tears abundantly for my many Sins heinous Sins great and grievous Sins O Lord help me O Christ help me O Saviour of the World help me O Lamb of God help me O Redeemer of the World help me O dear and ever blessed Jesu Christ and Saviour help me I fear I shall be drein'd dry too soon I fear I shall slacken too fast Help me Lord to a River of Tears that I may pour out more more O pensive Heart and Soul more abundantly my Heart and Soul to my God This is Pleasure indeed This