2. By several passages in the history of Christ's life.
[1.] His longing for it before it came. When a man desireth a thing, he is impatient till he obtain his desire ; every minute is tedious till he doth enjoy it : Luke xii. 50, ' I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished ! ' That baptism was the laver of his own blood. Earnestness of expectation straiteneth joy, and a man cannot let out his spirit upon other things till he hath what he waiteth for. ' How am I straitened ! ' saith Christ. He con- sulted with himself, that thou, and I, and others, have souls to be saved, and therefore he would not do otherwise : Luke xx. 15, ' With desire have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer/ The earnest and vigorous bent of his desire is shown in that expres- sion, ' With desire have I desired.'
[2.] In not preventing it when he knew it. Many are cast una- wares upon danger, but Christ knew it, and foretold it before he came to suffer : Luke xviii. 32, ' Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished: tlmt he shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on.' He knew which way tlie divine decrees and predictions ran, yet he went to Jerusalem. He could have kept himself safe from danger, yet he offered himself to it. It was in his power to have commanded twelve legions of angels, but the scripture saith it must be so. He could have kept himself and his disciples safe too, for he had power enough : John x. 17, 18, ' I lay down ray life, no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself : I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.' Unless he had been pleased to lay it down, no man could have taken it from him. Voluntarily he submitted to it. Creatures do things out of necessity, because they cannot do other- wise, but Christ might have prevented it, for he knew it before: John xviii. 4, ' Therefore Jesus, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and saith unto them, Whom seek ye ? '
[3.] His cheerful casting himself upon it: John xiv. 31, 'Arise, let us go hence.' Presently, upon the end of that sermon, Christ went
340 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 7.
into tlie garden, where he is taken. So he saith to Judas, John xiii. 27, ' What tliou doest do quickly.' Not to encourage him to the evil in his treasonable fact, but to show how willing he was to undertake our redemption.
[4.] In submitting to his Father's will in his highest agonies and conflicts : Luke xxii., ' Not my will, but thine be done.' Here was no murmuring, but a sweet submission and acquiescence at the ap})oint- ment of God. Many may seem to submit to God till they come to be pinched with the soreness of the trial. It is then you may discern and try your readiness in submitting to God's will.
[5.] By his silence. When he heard the false witnes.ses, he held his peace and answered nothing, Mark xiv. Gl ; so Mat. xxvii. 13, 'Then saith Pilate unto him, hearest thou how many things they witness against thee ? and he answered him never a word ; ' so Mark XV. 5, * But Jesus yet answered nothing, so that Pilate marvelled : and he questioned him in many words, but he answered him nothing.' Christ holdeth his peace, that we might speak and have boldness with the Father, and taketh the accusation patiently, that he might break it off from us. His not answering was to show our guilt ; and yet he carried it so that nothing could be clearly proved to impeach his owu innocency: Mat. xxvi. 62, 63, 'And Jesus held his peace, and the high priest arose and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing ? ' Not as if his silence did (as it doth in others) come from suppres.sed anger, or scornful stubbornness, but patience and meekness : ' He opened not his mouth.' Not a malicious taunt, or proud reproach, nor angry threatenings ; nothing but silence, nothing but what argued oppressed innocence.
[6.] By forbidding all violence that might seem to hinder this in- tention : Mat. xxvi. 52, ' Then said Jesus unto him, Putu]) again thy sword into its place.' If he opened his mouth, it was to forbid vio- lence, and to pray for his persecutors: Luke xxii. 51, 'And he touched liis ear, and healed him.' Every one of these things showeth a sweet submission, and readiness, and willingness in Christ to suffer for us.
Now the reasons why it must be so are tliese ; —
1. That he might be fit for the Mediatorship, that all things might come freely and sweetly to you from his Father. He offered himself willingly, that thou mayest have mercies willingly. All wicked men's blessings seem to be extorted from Providence ; they have them, as it were, invito Deo: Hosea xiii. 11, '1 gave thee a king in mine anger.' So the murmuring Israelites had quails in anger : Ps. Ixxviii, 31. Now Christ went willingly, that his own people might have everything from the heart of God as well as his hand : Jer. xxxii. 41, ' I will rejoice over them to do them good.' One of the conditions, as divines ob.serve, how it may stand with the justice of God to punish the innocent for the nocent, i.s, if he be willing ; for God could not have extorted our debt of Christ, unless he had been willing. When Paul would take Onesimus his debt uj)on himself, Philemon might justly require it of him : Pliilem. 18, 19, 'If Onesimus hath wronged thee aught, ])ut it upon my account, and I will repay it.' It would n(jt stand witli God's justice to force the ob- ligation upon Christ, but Christ voluntarily engageth himself ; if these