תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

says,

extremities of the hands and feet, to the fingers and toes, and so to speak, even to the nails;-just as the precious ointment poured upon Aaron's head, ran down upon the beard, and descended to the skirts of his garments. This is what John affirms, when he "Ye "have an unction from the Holy One;" and again, "The anointing which ye have received of him, abid"eth in you." Now this unction consists in a participation of the same Spirit; and hence says Paul, "Now "he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath "anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."

66

XIV. We may here observe that believers can attain no privilege, more profitable, or more joyful, or more glorious, than this participation of the unction of Christ.

xv. In ancient times, wrestlers, and others that contended in gymnastic games, endeavoured to make their nerves supple, and their limbs active, by frequent anointing. Anciently, wounds were usually cured by wine and oil; and perhaps more successfully than they are now healed, by the tedious applications of a laborious surgery. In the primitive Church, in fine, many sick persons were healed, when anointed with oil. Tertullian affirms,* that, among others, Severus, the father of Antoninus, was recovered in this way from an illness under which he laboured, by Proculus, a Christian. If we may give credit to Jerome,† even dead persons were, in some instances, thus restored to life.

* Ad Scapulam, cap. iv. On this passage see the observations de la Cerda.

+ In vita Hilarionis.

y Ps. cxxxiii. 2.

a Verse 27.

Luke x. 34.

z 1 John ii. 20.

b 2 Cor. i. 21, 22.

d Mark vi. 13. James v. 14, 15.

So likewise, by the participation of the mystical oil, or the Spirit of Christ, we who are dead are quickened," for he is "the Spirit of life;"-we who are diseased are healed; and the wounds which our sins have inflicted on our consciences, are cured. We are girded also with strength, and our feet are made like hinds feet;i so that we are enabled to lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and to make straight paths" for our feet." Anointing with the Spirit, and anointing with power, are united in Christ the head; and also, in his believing members. And how can it be otherwise? The Spirit with whom we are anointed, is "the Power of the Highest," and "Power from on high."m

66

XVI. Joy, and the gladness of a soul exulting in the grace of God, spring also from this unction. Oil, by its natural virtue, "makes the face to shine;"" and amongst the ancients, anointing with ointment was an indication of mirth. Hence Jesus directs his disciples to conceal the severity of a fast, by anointing their head with oil. But nothing possesses so great an exhilarating virtue as the shedding abroad of the love of God in the heart by the Holy Ghost; who, on this account, is called "the oil of gladness." The Psalmist cordially congratulates himself on this felicity, saying, "Thou

[blocks in formation]

66

--

exuberant a joy, that even the valley of the shadow of death can neither strike terror into the mind, nor deprive it of serenity. This is the true reason why Christians have undergone, sustained, and overcome, the most cruel tortures of every sort, not merely with constancy, but with incredible alacrity, leaping and singing for joy. They were refreshed to a degree which can neither be expressed nor conceived, by the delightful odour and powerful fragrance of this anointing, from which they derived that abhorred name, which was the cause of their tortures. To this the Spouse refers, when she sings thus; "Because of the savour of thy good ointments, therefore do the virgins love thee."* XVII. In fine, distinguished honour and glory arises to believers from the fragrance of this unction, which diffuses itself on every side. It was anciently no inconsiderable part of the magnificence of Kings that whereever they went, they spread around them an extensive and delightful perfume." Antiochus Epiphanes discovered great profuseness in this respect; for when one of the people accosted him in these words, "Happy art "thou, O king, who sendest forth so sweet a perfume," he replied; "As to this, truly I shall always gratify, " and give you full satisfaction;" and instantly caused a vessel containing about two gallons, full of the most precious ointment, to be poured upon his head; from which so vehement a fragrance arose, that it immediately attracted, and brought together to the spot, a great multitude, from the forum itself, and from the remotest parts of the city. But Christ, by the commu

This is related from Polybii, lib. xxvi. by Athenæus, lib. x. pag. mihi 438. Compare also Athen. lib. v. p. 194.

[blocks in formation]

Compare John xii. 3.

nication of his anointing, performs far greater wonders on believers. He causes them to diffuse the fragrance of their odour through the whole world, and, by the sweetness of their conversation and the undissembled probity of their lives, to allure not only to the admiration, but also to the love, the reception, and the profession of Christianity, a countless multitude of men, called forth far and wide from their habitations. Nay, the odour of those garments which they receive from the ivory palaces of Christ, is not merely to men, but even to God himself, " as the smell of a field which the "LORD hath blessed."

XVIII. An interesting story, after having pervaded the whole of the East, has lately reached the ears of Europeans. It is reported that in the month of October, in the year 1655, certain Maronite shepherds, whilst they were feeding their flock on the mountains of Nebo and Abarim, frequently observed, that several goats wandered abroad, and kept at a considerable distance from the flock for two or three days, and that, when they returned, their hair had a singularly pleasant smell. The shepherds thought proper to inquire into a circumstance so surprising. Committing themselves, therefore, to the direction of the goats, they came to precipices of an immense depth, within which they found a small but most delightful valley, the descent to which was very difficult, through rocks that to appearance had been torn up from it by an earthquake. There they discovered an exceedingly sweet-smelling cave, and, in the middle of it, a sepulchre of fresh-looking stone, having several characters inscribed upon it. The astonished shepherds, having retraced their steps, spread

Gen. xxvii. 27.

wide around them a sweet odour proceeding from their bodies and their otherwise sordid clothes; and, being struck with the singularity of the matter, related to the Patriarch of the Maronites 66 on mount Lebanon all that they had seen and found. The extraordinary sweetness of the odour seemed to confirm their account. Two priests were, therefore, sent to the spot, who found the monument, on which were inscribed, in Hebrew letters, these words, MOSES THE SERVANT OF THE LORD; and who, with a delusive joy, persuaded themselves that they had found the sepulchre of Moses the Prophet, which God had so carefully concealed.* This story indeed has more the appearance of fables than of truth. But the sweet odour which was rashly believed to proceed from the sepulchre of Moses, is, in reality, exhaled from the sepulchre of Christ. All his sheep are attracted by it; and they find it so abundant, that, when returning from the sepulchre of Christ, that is, when enriched with the merits of his death, they are a sweet savour of Christ, both to men and to God."

XIX. Further, as Christ was, by his unction, installed into his three offices, the prophetical, the sacerdotal, and the regal; so those who derive the name of Christians from him, are in their measure, prophets, priests, and kings. I say, in their measure; for these offices in Christians, are, doubtless, of a kind and order widely different from the offices of Christ. Since his whole Mediatorial function consists in these offices, they can no more be shared with others than his mediation itself. But these designations, as conferred upon us, bear an analogy to the offices of Christ, which though neces

* See Horni Histor. Eccles. p. 262.

w 2 Cor. ii. 15.

66 See NOTE LXVI.

« הקודםהמשך »