VeR. 19.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 5
Prov. viii. 31, * Eejoicing iu the habitable parts of the earth, and my delights were with the sons of men.' When the incarnation was passed, then he longed for tlie time of his passion: Luke xii, 50, ' I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished ! ' So willing was he to do and suffer that whereunto he was sent : Luke xxii. 15, * With desire have I desired to eat this pass- over with you before I die ; ' that passover, because it was the last, the forerunner of his agonies. His heart was set upon that work. His be- haviour in his death showed how willingly he did undergo it : John xiii. 1, 'Having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end ; ' then was his bitter work, but that did not abate his love. The heathens counted it a lucky sacrifice that went to the altar without struggling and roaring ; certainly Christ did meekly suffer what was imposed on him for the expiation of our sins : Isa. liii. 7, ' He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.' A swine whineth and maketh a noise, but a sheep is dumb; this was the emblem chosen to represent Christ's meekness and patience. Salt cast into the fire danceth and leapeth with a kind of impatience, but oil riseth up in a gentle flame; so Christ suifered, not only with patience, but delight. He did not lay down his life by constraint, but died by con- sent : John X. 18, ' No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself ; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again.* Now this endeareth our obligation to him, that he would consecrate himself to the work of the mediatory office, and to that end assume the human nature into the unity of his person, and so willingly condescend to all that sorrow and pain that he was to endure for our sakes, and offer himself up as a sacrifice for our sins ; being for a while without the actual sense of his Father's love : ' My Qod, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? ' Mat. xxvii, 46.
But more distinctly let us consider the greatness of his sufferings, his willingness to endure them.
1. The greatness of his sufferings. His passions, take them in the very letter, were sore, but they were heightened by the delicacy of his temper ; never any man suffered as he did, because never such a man. A blow on the head is soon felt because it is a principal member, and so more sensible than other parts of the body. A slave is not so sensible of blows and stripes as a nobleman of a tender and delicate constitution. Our Saviour Christ was of a more delicate consti- tution than any other; his body was immediately framed by the Spirit in the Virgin's womb. Lawrence on the gridiron, Stephen when stoned, could not be so sensible as Christ on the cross. None of the martyrs suffered what he did. Cln-ist had a particular knowledge of all sins committed in the world, past, present, and to come, and a par- ticular sorrow for them; which was the greater by how much the more he prized the honour of God. His love towards him was infinite, his hatred to sin infinite, his aj)prehen8ion of his Father's displeasure clear ; all which made his soul heavy to the death. Our sins were more burdensome to him than his own wounds. No man's understanding is 80 great as to apprehend what Christ felt ; Christ himself can only give us an account of the greatness of his sufferings. David confessed
G SERMONS UPON JOHN XVI I. [iSeR. XXX III.
' that his sins were more than the hairs upon his head ;' yet he saith, ' Cleanse me from secret sins ;' implying many had escaped his notice and knowledge. How gref^t was the burden of Christ, that was the Lamb bearing the sins of the whole world ! Neither did Christ suffer pains only for sins, but to make a purchase of spiritual blessings ; and yet the price exceeded the value of that which was bought.
2. His willingness to suffer for us. Christ was so set upon his passion that he called Peter Satan for contradicting it : Mat. xvi. 23, ' Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou art an offence to me.' When Jonah saw the storm he said, ' Cast me into the sea ;' this storm was raised for his own sake ; but when Christ saw the misery of mankind he said, Let it come on me. We raised the storm, Christ was cast in to allay it ; as if a prince, passing by an execution, should take the malefactor's chains and suffer in his stead. Christ bore our sorrows ; he would have this work in no other hands but his own. His earnest- ness to partake of the last passover showeth his willingness ; he had such a desire to see his body on the cro^s, that Judas seemed too slow, not diligent enough. Christ saith, John xiii. 27, ' That thou doest, do quickly.' It is not an approbation of his sin, but a testimony of his love ; every day seems long. If Christ had been to suffer so much for every man as he did for all mankind, he would have done it ; there wanted but a precept, there wanted not love ; his heart was much beyond his sufferings, as the windows of the temple were greater and more open within than without, 1 Kings vi. 4. If Paul, that had but a drop of grace, could ' wish himself accursed from Christ for his brethren, his kindred according to the flesh,' Rom. ix. 3, how much more willing was Christ ! Surely then we should as readily consecrate ourselves to his service. Christ saith, ' Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God,' Heb. X. 9 ; and it becometh every christian to make an unbounded resigna- tion of himself to God : Acts ix. 6, ' Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?'