sustain him in all his adversities, how cutting must it needs be to his soul, so pure and holy, and which had so high a value for the divine love? Consider then, and see, if ever there was any sorrow like unto his sorrow. Now it is finished, the sharp conflict is at a close; one cry more, and the blessed Jesus bowed down his head and yielded up the ghost. No wonder then if the powers of heaven and earth be moved. The earth trembleth and shaketh, the rocks rent, the graves are opened, the vail of the temple was rent in two, the sun himself shrunk in his beams, and darkness covered the face of the earth; which a learned man of Greece is said to have observed at that time, and from thence to have concluded, That either the God of nature suffered violence, or that the frame of the world was about to dissolve: Aut Deus naturæ patitur, aut machina mundi solvitur. Thus we have given you some rude imperfect hints of his great and unspeakable sufferings. But O how little of them do we understand to very good purpose! It was for this reason the ancient fathers of the Greek church in their liturgy, after they have recounted all the particular pains as they are set down in his passion, and by all and every one of them called for mercy, do after all shut up with this supplication: By thine unknown sorrows and sufferings, felt by thee, but not distinctly known by us, have mercy upon us and save us. II. We proceed, in the next place, to consider the interest that we have in the suffering of our Saviour: Is it nothing to you; Have you no interest nor concernment at all in them? Much, certainly, every way. We were the occasion of his sufferings, and the benefits of them redound unto us. When we see a person undergo any sad and grievous punishment, we cannot choose but inquire into the grounds and occasions of their sufferings; and the rather if they have the reputation of innocence and integrity. And here not only the most innocent, but the most excellent person that ever was in the world, undergoes those dreadful sufferings which we mentioned before; who never had done any sin at all, neither was guile found in his mouth,* so that the judge who condemned him, behoved first to condemn himself by a solemn acknowledgment of his innocence. He had gone up and down all his days doing good unto men, and scattering blessings where he came; healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, and making the lame to walk, the dumb to speak, and the deaf to hear, feeding the hungry, and instructing all that would vouchsafe to hear him. For which of all these good works is he punished? Death is the wages of sin; how comes he to die that knew no sin? The Prophet Isaiah gives us the answer: Surely, he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon` him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Messiah was cut off, but not for himself‡. He bare our sins in his own body on the tree,|| and gave his life a ransom for many.§ The race of mankind, by their apostacy from God, were become liable to his wrath, and all the dreadful effects of his vengeance: the eternal Son of God, the Wisdom of the Father, whose delights were always with the sons of men, resolveth to make up the breach, and restore us again unto his Father's love: but first he must repair the honour of God, and secure the authority of the divine law; which could not be done, but by some signal evidence of God's displeasure against sin, + Dan. ix. 26. tls. liii. 4, 5, 6. * 1 Pet. ii. 22. § Matth. xx. 28. and some valuable compensation of the punishment which had been denounced against it: and therefore himself was pleased to take our nature upon him, appear in the similitude of sinful flesh, to lead a miserable and afflicted life in the world, and at last to offer it up as a propitiation for us; that mercy and truth might meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss each other*; and that God might at once be just, and also the justifier of him that believeth in Jesusț. Thus then the blessed Jesus endured all these sufferings for us and for our sins. In vain do we exclaim against the treason of Judas, the malice of the Jews, the injustice of Pilate; we have ourselves and our iniquities to blame: our covetousness and ambition exposed him to poverty and contempt, our excess and intemperance made him hunger and thirst, our levity and foolish mirth were the occasion of the anguish and bitterness of his soul; our sensual and sinful pleasures were the occasion of all the pains and tortures which he endured. And is it nothing unto us? shall we think ourselves unconcerned in these sad effects, whereof we were the unhappy cause? Again, we are concerned in our Saviour's sufferings, as the benefits of them redound unto us. By his stripes we are healed. We have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. We have access unto the throne of God, and boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh || But this is not all: God hath not set him forth as a propitiation, through faith in his blood, for the remission of sins that are past; but doth also, for his sake, bestow on us that grace, whereby we may be euabled to Col. i, 14. Psal. lxxxv. 10. + Rom. iji. 16. serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives. An amnesty, or act of oblivion for past offences, would never have served the turn; we should presently have run ourselves upon another score: nay, sin itself had been enough to make us miserable, though no other punishment had been inflicted upon us; and therefore he does not only cover our sins, but cures them; he forgives all our iniquities, and healeth all our diseases: as we are justified by his sufferings, so we are sanctified too through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. In a word, by the merits of our Saviour we are both reconciled unto God, and made partakers of the divine nautre; we are both delivered from everlasting darkness, and made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. And now is it nothing to us? Can we think ourselves unconcerned in these sufferings, from which we reap so great, so unspeakable advantages? III. Having spoken of the greatness of our Saviour's sufferings, and the interest which we have in them, we think we should need to say little of the third particular which we proposed: you cannot but be convinced, that we ought to regard and consider them. Were it nothing to us, the very strangeness of the thing would deserve notice. The holy angels desire to pry into this mystery; they will contemplate and admire it to all eternity. And surely we are far more nearly concerned. What an unaccountable dulness and negligence is it then, for men to go up and down the world amusing themselves with every trifle; hearing and telling of news about matters of the smallest importance, and never to consider the stupendous sufferings of their dying Saviour! They walk to and fro, they come and pass, and scarce vouchsafe to look upon him: or, if they chance to cast their eyes that way, it is a very short and * Heb. x. 10. overly view; they presently turn them away. And this occasions the complaint of the text, Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? But sure I am we can no where behold an object so worthy of our most serious and solemn regards. The whole world does not afford so useful and edifying a prospect. Here it is that we may best learn the horrid and heinous nature of sin, which could not be pardoned at a smaller rate. Here it is that we may discover most of the divine bounty and goodness to mankind, and the inexpressible love of our blessed Saviour and Redeemer, which are the most important lessons that we can learn. This made the blessed Apostle to determine to know nothing but Christ, and him crucified, to count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lordt. Let me therefore exhort you to fix the eyes of your mind, and call up your most serious attention; reach hither the hand of your faith, and thrust it into the hole of your Saviour's side; put your fingers into the print of the nails; lay to heart all the passages of this lamentable story; and this cannot choose but melt your hearts, unless they be harder than the rocks, and deafer than the bodies in the grave. Let us fix our eyes, I say, on this astonishing object, till our eyes affect our heart, that while we are musing, the fire may burn. Let us mourn for those sins wherewith we have crucified the Lord of glory, and be grieved that ever we should have put him to so much anguish and pain; and let us vow a perpetual enmity against our lusts and corrupt affections, which would crucify him afresh, and put him unto open shame. Let us consider and admire the wonderful love of our dying Saviour, that our souls may be kindled with reciprocal flames, wherein we may offer up ourselves as a living and acceptable sacrifice unto him; that thus, Christ dwelling in our hearts * 1 Cor. ii. 2. + Phil. iii. 8. + Lam. iii. 51. |