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the devil stirred up the storm, hoping thereby to drown Christ and his disciples, as he had destroyed Job's children in a tempest before, Job i. 18, 19 ; but though Satan had malice and will enough to do it, yet he had not power ; yea, though Christ slept in his human nature, yet was he awake in his deity, that the disciples being in danger might cry unto him more fervently, and be saved more remarkably. And as Jesus slept, so he was also weary: John iv. 6, ' Now Jacob's well was there ; Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well : and it was about the sixth hour,' about noon. In the heat of the day Christ was weary. Christ took on him not only our nature, but the common infirmities thereof, and he is to be as seriously eyed in his humanity as in the glory of his godhead. Therefore it is re- corded that he was weary with his journey ere half the day was spent ; and that through weariness ' he sat thus on the well ;' that is, even as the seat offered, or as weary men use to sit, &c. But, in a word, he was conceived, retained so long in the virgin's womb, born, circumcised, lived about thirty years on earth, conversed all that time with men, suffered, died, and was crucified, buried, rose again, ascended, and sat down with his body at the right hand of God, and with it will come again to judge the world. Now what do all these things speak out, but that Christ hath a true body ? and who in their wits will assert that all this could be done in, and upon, and by, an imaginary body ? But,
(2.) Secondly, The several denominations that are given to Jesus Christ in Scripture do clearly evidence the verity and reality of his human nature. He is called (1.) The son of the virgin, Isa. vii. 14: (2.) Her first-born son, Luke ii. 7 : (3.) The branch, Zech. iii. 8, and vi. 12: (4.) The branch of righteousness, Jer. xxxiii. 15, and xxiii. 5 : (5.) A rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots, Isa. xi. 1 : (6.) The seed of the woman. Gen, iii. 15: (7.) The seed of Abraham, Gen. xxii. 18 : (8.) Tlie fruit of David's loins, Ps. Ixxx. 36, and cxxxii. 11 ; Acts ii. 30: (9.) Of the seed of David according to the flesh, Eom. i. 3 ; 2 Sam. vii. 2 : (10.) The lion of the tribe of Judah, Rev. v. 5: (11.) The seed of Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 14: (12.) The seed of Isaac, Gen. xxvi. 4 : (13.) A son born to us, a child given to us, Isa. ix. 6 : (14.) The son of man. Mat. viii. 20, andxvii, 13; Rev, i. 13 ; Dan, vii. 13 ; John iii. 13 : (15.) He is called the man Christ Jesus, 1 Tim. ii, 5 ; 1 Cor. xv. 21, ' Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.' God's justice would be satisfied in the same nature that had sinned: (16.) God's Son made of a woman. Gal. iv. 4 : (17.) Man, 1 Tim. ii. 5 ; the man Christ Jesus : (18.) The son of David, Mat. i, 1 ; Mark xii. 35. ' How say the scribes, that Christ is the son of David ?' In that the scribes and Pharisees knew and acknowledged, according to the Scripture, that Christ should be the son of David — that is, should be born and descend of the stock and posterity of David according to the flesh, — hence we may easily gather the truth of Christ's human nature, that he was ordained of God to be true man as well as God, in one and the same person; for else he could not be the son of David. Now, that he must be . the son of David, even the scribes and the Pharisees knew and acknowledged, as we see here ; and this was a
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truth which they had learned out of the Scriptures ; and not only they, but even the common sort of Jews in our Saviour's time : John vii. 42, some of the common people spake thus, ' Hath not the Scrip- ture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David?' And the Mes- siah was then commonly called the son of David, Eom. i. 3. So then, Christ being of the seed of David after the flesh, he must needs be true man as well as God ; for which cause he was incarnate in the due time appointed of God ; that is to say, he being the Son of God from everlasting, did in time become man, taking our nature upon him, together with the infirmities of our nature, sin only excepted, John i. 14. Now thus you see that the eighteen denominations that are given to Christ in the blessed Scriptures do abundantly demon- strate the certainty of Christ's human nature. But, ,
(3.) Thirdly, Christ took the lohole human nature. He was truly and completely man, consisting of flesh and spirit, body and soul ; yea, that he assumed the entire human nature, with whatever is proper to it. Christ took to himself the whole human nature, in both the essential parts of man, soul and body. The two essential and con- stitutive parts of man are soul and body ; where these two are, there is the true man. Now Christ had both, and therefore he was true man.
[1.] First, Christ had a true human and reasonable soul. The reasonable soul is the highest and noblest part of man. This is that which principally makes the man, and hath the greatest influence into his being and essence. If, therefore, Jesus Christ had only a human body without a human soul, he had wanted that part which is most essential to man, and so he could not have been looked upon as true and perfect man. 0 sirs ! Christ redeemed and saved nothing but what he assumed. The redemption and salvation reach no further than the assumption. Our soul then would have been never the better for Christ, had he not taken that as well as our body. Hence said Augustine,^ Therefore he took the whole man without sin, that he might heal the whole of which man consists, of the plague of sin. And Fulgentius, to the same purpose : 2 As the devil smote by deceiving the whole man, so God saves by assuming the whole man. If he will save the whole man from sin, he will assume the whole man without sin, saith Nazianzen. The Scriptures do clearly evi- dence that Christ had a real human soul : Mat. xxvi. 38, ' My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.' Every word is emphatical : ' My soul; his sorrows pierced his soul, and 'sorrowful round about,'even to death, irepikviro'i — that is, ' heavy round about,' Ps. xxii. 16. Look, as the soul was the first agent in transgression, so it is here the first ])atient in affliction. * To death;' that is, this sorrow will never be finished or intermitted but by death. ' My soul is exceeding sorrow- ful.' Then Christ had a true human soul ; neither was his deity to him for a soul, as, of old, men of corrupt minds have fancied ; for then our bodies only had been redeemed by him, and not our souls, if he had not suffered in soul as well as in body. The sufferings of his body were but the body of his sufferings ; the soul of his suffer-
^ Aug. de civ. Dei, lib. x. c. 27, p. 586. * Fulgent, ad Thrasymund, lib. i. p. 251.
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