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anointed," Psalm 2:2. Such councils we had many in our times; I know not whether we may call them councils, or struma tantum civitatis, an ulcerous bunch, raised by the disorder and distemper of the city.

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5. For Peter's denial and abjuration; whilst these things were thus acting concerning Christ, a sad accident happened to his servant Peter; at first a damsel comes to him, and tells him, Thou wast with Jesus of Galilee," Matth. 26:69. And then another maid tells the by-standers, "This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth," verse 71. And after a while, they that stood by spake themselves, "Surely thou art one of them, for thy speech bewrayeth thee," verse 73. q. d. Thy very idiom declares thee to be a Galilean; thou art as Christ is, of the same country and sect; and therefore thou art one of his disciples: Peter thus surprised, without any time to deliberate, he shamefully denies his Lord. And, 1. He doeth it with a kind of subterfuge, "I know not what thou sayest," verse 70. He seems to elude the accusation with this evasion, I know not thy mean. ing, I understand not thy words, I skill not what thou sayest, verse 72.

At the next turn, he goes on to a licentious boldness, denying Christ with an oath, "I do not know the man." And, lastly, he aggravates his sin so far, that he grows to impudence, and so denies his Lord with "cursing and swearing, I know not the man," verse 74. Here is a lie, an oath, and a curse: the sin is begun at the voice of a woman, a silly damsel, not any of the greatest ladies, she was only a poor serving maid that kept the doors; but it grew to ripeness, when the men-servants fell upon him; now he swears, and vows, and curses himself if he knew the man. O Peter, is the man so vile that thou wilt not own him! hadst thou not before confessed him to be Christ, the Son of the living God? And dost thou not know him to be man, as well as God? Say, is not this the Man-God, Godman, that called thee and thy brother Andrew at the sea of Galilee, say ing, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Is not this he whom thou sawest in mount Tabor, shining more gloriously than the sun? Is not this he whom thou sawest walking on the waters, and to whom thou saidst, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the waters?" Matth. 14:28. How is it then that thou sayest, "I know not the man?" Surely here is a sad example of human infirmity: if Peter fell so foully, how much more may lesser stars? And yet, withal, here is a blessed example of serious thorough repentance; no sooner the cock crew, and Christ gave a look on Peter, but he goes out and weeps bitterly, verse 75. The cock was the preacher, and the look of Jesus was the grace that made the sermon effectual: O the mercy of Christ! he looked back on him that had forgot himself: he revives his servant's memory to think on his Mas ter's words; he sends him out to weep bitterly, that so he might restore him mercifully to his favor again.

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Use. Let us learn hence, to think modestly and soberly of ourselves; yea, Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall," 1 Cor. 10:12. If Peter could first dissemble, and then lie, and then forswear, and then blaspheme and curse, O let "not us be high-minded but fear," Rom. 11:20. And in case we fall indeed, as Peter did, yet let us not des pair as Judas did, but still, upon our repentance, let us trust in God. When Christ looked on Peter, he wept bitterly; notwithstanding our sins are great, yet one look of Christ is full of virtue, and enough to melt us into tears: O let us not sink in despair, but look up to him, that he may look down on us. *Pliny tells us of some rocks in Phrygia, that when

* Plin. Hist.

the sun doth but shine upon them, they send out drops of water, as if they wept tears; Peter signifies a rock, and whilst Peter persisted in his sin of denying Christ, his heart was hard as the rock; but when Christ the Sun of righteousness looked upon him, his heart was softened, and he dropped tears continually. Such is the virtue of Christ's look, "It turns the rock into a standing water, and the flint into a fountain of waters," Psal. 114:8. Lastly, Let us not decry repentance, but rather be in the use, and prac tice, and exercise of it; is not here a gospel precedent? †Clement, an ancient writer, of whom Paul makes mention, Phil. 4:3. expresseth Peter's repentance to have been so great that "in his cheeks he made (as it were) furrows, in which, as in certain channels, his tears run down." The text tells us he wept bitterly, and Clement adds, "That while he lived, as often as he heard a cock crow, he could not but weep, and bewail his denial." David is another like example, "All the night, said he, I make my bed to swim, I water my couch with tears," Psal. 6:6. David makes mention of his bed and couch, because there most especially he had of fended God: it was on his bed that he committed adultery; and it was on his couch, that he designed and subscribed with his own hand, that Uriah must die; and hence it is, that he waters his bed and couch with his tears; the very sight of his bed and couch brings his sin into his remembrance, as the very hearing of the crowing of a cock ever after awakened Peter to his task of tears: that repentance is a gospel duty, we have spoke elsewhere, O take heed of decrying it! as we are often sinning, so let us often repent, it concerns us near to be frequent in this duty of bewailing sin, and turning to God.

6. For the abuses and derisions of the base attendants offered to Christ, the evangelist tells us, "Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him, and others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee?" Matth. 26:67,68. And as Luke adds, "Many other things blasphemously spake they against him," Luke 22:65. What those many other things were, it is not discov. ered, only some ancient writers say, That Christ in that night suffered so many, and such hideous things, "That the whole knowledge of them is reserved only for the last day of judgment." Mallonius writes thus, "After Caiaphas and the priests had sentenced Christ worthy of death, they committed him to their ministers, warily to be kept till day; and they immediately threw him into the dungeon in Caiaphas' house, there they bound him to a stony pillar, with his hands bound on his back, and then they fell upon him with their palms and fists." Others add, "That the soldiers not yet content, they threw him into a filthy dirty puddle, where he abode for the remainder of that night;" of which the psalmist, "Thon hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps," Psal. 88:6. "And I sink in the deep mire, where there is no standing," Psal. 69:2. "Behold the bed which is Solomon's," Sol. Song 3:7. or rather which is Christ's, for a greater than Solomon is here: behold the flourishing bed, wherein the King of saints doth lie, surely a place most sordid, full of stench; his other senses had their pain, and his smell felt a loathsome savor, in this noisome puddle.

+ Flevit quidem tanta lachrimarum inundatione ut in maxillis profundos fulcos haberet, per quos quasi per quosdam canales aut aquaeductos lachrimae ejus defluebant. Clem. Quoties galli cantum audiebat, in lachrimas prorumpebat, per totum vitae tempus negationis culpam frequenter adeo planxit. Idem.

Hier. ut citat. Guliel. statione tertia Christi patientis. Mallon. de flagellatione Christi, c. 6. Landul. de pass. & alii.

But we need not borrow light from candles, or lesser stars: the scripture itself is plain; observe we these particulars.

1. They spit in his face: this was accounted among the Jews a matter of great infamy and reproach; "And the Lord said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days?" Numb. 12:14. We ourselves account this a great affront, and so did Job, 30:9, 10. "I am their song, yea, and their by-word; they abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face." Oh that the sweet face of Christ, so much honored and adored in heaven, should be defiled and deformed by their spitting! Oh that no place should be thought so fit for them to void their excrements and drivel in, as the blessed face of Jesus Christ. "I hid not my face (saith Christ) from shame and spitting," Isa. 50:6. I used no mask to keep me fair, though I was fairer than the sons of men, I preserved not my beauty from their nasty phlegm, but I opened my face, and I set it as a butt for them to dart their frothy spittle at.

2. They buffet him; we heard before, that one of the officers struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, but now they buffet him; some observe this difference betwixt rapisma and kolaphas: the one is given with the open hand, but the other with the fist shut up; and thus they used him at this time, they struck him with their fists, and so the stroke was greater, and more offensive; "By this means they made his face to swell, and to become full of bunches all over." One gives it thus, *"By these blows of their fists, his whole head was swollen, his face became black and blue, and his teeth ready to fall out of his jaws." Very probable it is, that with the violence of their strokes, they made him reel and stagger, they made his mouth and nose, and face to bleed, and his eyes to startle in his head.

3. They covered his face, Mark 14:65. Several reasons are rendered for it, As, 1. That they might smite him more boldly, and without shame. 2. That they might not have that object of pity in their view, it is supposed that the very sight of his admirable form, so lamentably abused, would have mollified the hardest heart under heaven; and therefore they veiled and hoodwinked that alluring drawing countenance. 3. That they might not see their own filth in his face; however his beauty was winning, yet they had so bedaubed it with their beastly spitting, that they began to loathe to look upon him, "It was a nauseous sight, (saith one) and enough to make one spew to look upon it." But whether his splendor or his horror occasioned this veil over his face, this is most certain, that it veiled not their cruelty, but rather revealed it, and made it manifest to all the world.

4. They smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, "Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee?" To passs away that doleful, tedious night, they interchangeably sport at him, first one, and then another gives him a stroke, (we usually call it a box on the ear) and being hoodwinked, they bid him "guess who it is that smote him." Some reckon these taunts amongst the bitterest passages of his passion, nothing is more miserable, even to the greatest misery, than to see itself scorned of enemies. It was our Saviour's case, they used this despite for their disport: with a wanton and merry malice, they aggravate their injury with scorn, q. d. "Come on, thou sayest thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, and therefore it is likely thou art omniscient, thou

*Colaphis illi tuber totum caput facies livida fecit & excussit deutes.
+Nauseam ipsis spectatoribus faeditas illa provocabat.

knowest all things; tell now, who is it that strikes thee; we have blindfolded thee, that thou canst not see us with thy bodily eyes, let thy divinity, guess, tell, prophecy, who is it now that smote thee last? Who gave thee that blow?" O impiety without example! Surely if his patience had been less than infinite, these very injuries would have been greater than his patience. In the way of application.

Use 1. Consider Christians whether we had not a hand in these abuses: For, 1. They spit in the face of Christ, who defile his image in their souls; who reject his holy and heavenly motions in their hearts. 2. They buffet him with their fists who persecute Christ in his members, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." 3. They cover his face that do not readily and willingly confess their sins, that extenuate their frailties and imperfections with counterfeit pretexts. 4. They mock and scoff at Christ, that scorn and contemn his messengers and ministers, Luke 10:16. "He that despiseth you, despiseth me," saith Christ. O that we would lay these things to our hearts, and see and observe wherein we stand guilty of these sins, that we may repent.

2. Consider, Christians, and read Christ's love in all these sufferings; O unheard of kindness, and truly paternal bowels of pity and compassion! who ever heard before, of any that would be content to be spit upon, to wipe their filths who spit upon him? That would be content to be beat and buffeted, to save them from buffets who were the buffeters? That would be content to be blindfolded, that he might neither take notice of, nor see the offences of them that blindfolded him? That would be content to be made a scorn, to save them from scorn that shall scorn him? Christians! you that take your name from Christ! How should you admire at the infiniteness and immensity of this love of Christ! Was it a small thing, that the wisdom of God should become the foolishness of men, and the scorn of men, and ignominy of men, and contempt of the world for your sins' sake. O think of this!

And now the dismal night is done, what remains, but that we follow Christ, and observe him in his sufferings the next day. The Psalmist tells us, "Sorrow may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning," Psa. 30:5. Only Christ can find none of this joy neither morning nor evening, for after a dismal night, he meets with as dark a day; what the passages of the day were, we shall observe in their several hours.

CHAPTER II.

SECTION I.

Of Christ's Indictment, and Judas' fearful end.

ABOUT Six in the morning, Jesus was brought unto Pilate's house; "Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment, and it was early, John 18:28.-When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas which had betrayed him hanged himself," Matth. 27:1,2,3,4,5. O the readiness of our nature to evil! when the Israelites would sacrifice to the golden calf, "They rose up ear ly in the morning," Exod. 32:6. If God leave us to ourselves, we are as

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ready to practise mischief, as the fire is to burn without all delay. But on this circumstance I shall not stay; the transactions of this hour I shall consider in these two passages, Christ's indictment and Judas' fearful end. In Christ's indictment we may observe, 1. His accusation. 2. His examination.

In his accusation we may observe, 1. Who are his accusers. 2. Where he was accused. 3. What was the matter of which they do accuse him. 1. His accusers were "the chief priests and elders of the people," Matth. 27:12. The very same that before had judged him guilty of death, are now his accusers before the temporal judge: but why must our Saviour be twice judged? Was not the Sanhedrim or ecclesiastical court sufficient to condemn him? I answer, he is twice judged, 1. That his inno. cency might more appear; true gold often tried in the fire, is not consum. ed, but rather perfected: so Christ's integrity, though examined again and again by divers judges wholly corrupt, yet thereby it was not hurt, but made rather more illustrious. 2. Because his former judgment was in the night, and a sentence pronounced then, was not reputed valid: it is said of Moses, that "he judged the people from the morning unto the evening," Exod: 18:13. for until night no judgment was protracted. 3. Because, said the Jews, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death," John 18:31. These words had need of exposition; we know Moses' law prescribed death to the adulterers, idolaters, blasphemers, man-slayers, sabbath-breakers; but now the Romans (say some) had come and restrained the Jews from the execution of their laws; others are of another mind, and therefore the meaning of these words, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death," may be understood (say they) in a double sense. 1. That it was not lawful for them to put any man to such a death, as the death of the cross; Moses' law was ignorant of such a death; and the following seem to favor this interpretation, "That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spake, signifying what death he should die," John 18:32. We read only of four sorts of deaths that were used amongst the Jews, as strangling, stoning, burning, and killing with the sword; crucifying was the invention of the Romans, and not of the Jews.-2. That it was not lawful for them to put any man to death at such a time; on this day was celebrated the Jews' passover, which was in memory of their de liverance out of Egypt; so that now they had a custom to deliver some from death (the case of Barrabbas) but they could not now condemn any one to death; hence it was, that after Herod the Jew had killed James, he proceeded further to take Peter also; yet, during the days of unleavened bread, he delivers him to be kept in prison, "intending (saith the text) after Easter to bring him forth to the people," Acts 12:4. Pilate a Gentile was not tied to these laws; and therefore they led Jesus "from Caiaphas, unto the hall of judgment, or unto Pilate's house."

2. The place of the accusation was at the door of the house; "They would not go in to the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the passover," John 18:28. See what a piece of supersti tion and gross hypocrisy is here! they are curious of a ceremony, but make no strain to shed innocent blood; they are precise about small matters, but for the weightier matters of the law, as mercy, judgment, fideli. ty, and the love of God, they let them pass; they honor the figurative passover, but the true passover they seize upon with bloody and sacrilegious hands.

3. The matter of which they accuse him. 1. That he seduced the people. 2. That be forbad to pay tribute to Cæsar. 3. That he said he

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