8 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XXXIII.
through the eternal Spirit to God/ Heb. ix. 14. la his human nature principally he was the sacrifice ; for it is said, Heb. x. 10, ' We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.' The godhead could not be offered, for who can offer himself, or any other thing to himself ? And, besides, the thing sacrificed must be slain, for it is blood shed which was given to God upon his altar. In this respect it is said by Christ, John vi. 51, ' The bread which I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.' And when he had instituted the eucharist in memory of this great sacrifice, he mentioneth his body broken and given, and his blood shed. Yet because the priest and the sacrifice is one, the value of this sacrifice ariseth from the divine nature. It is ' the blood of God,' Acts xx. 28, that is, of the person who was God.
Fourthly, The persons interested, ' For their sakes.'
1. Negatively, not for himself; he needed it not, he had no sin to expiate, nor happiness to purchase anew. The scripture never speaks of Christ's doing anything for his own sake, but still of his love to us. His incarnation was for us : Isa. ix. 6, ' To us a child is born, to us a Son is given.' His obedience was for us : Gal. iv. 4, 5, ' But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.' His death was for us: Dan. ix. 26, * The Messias shall be cut off, but not for himself.' Our Lord died, not for himself, but for his people ; Isa. liii. 4, 5, ' Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.' He was made nothing for himself, but all things for us. Christ's merit for himself is an unworthy doctrine. Bellarmine saitli, Christus prmter ea bona quoi sids laborihus peperit, meruit etiam sihi corporis gloriam, et nominis exaltationem. But if Christ were to merit for himself, his obedience was not voluntary, but due ; and what could be merit which was not from his conception due to him ? It is true Christ solaced his human soul with the consideration of consequent glory : Heb. xii. 2, ' For the glory which was set before him, he endured the cross, and despised the shame, and is set down at the right liand of the throne of God.' But we cannot thence infer a merit. A prince dis- guised in a foreign country may solace himself with the honour and happiness he shall enjoy at home : Phil. ii. 9, ' Wherefore God hath also highly exalted him.' Alo^ ' where/ore,' noteth a consequent in order of time : Christ was * first to suffer, and then to enter into glory,' Luke xxiv. 26.
If you say, Christ, as man, was bound to be subject, as a reasonable creature, to God his maker ; as the son of Abraham, he was compre- hended in the covenant made with that people : — I answer —
[1.] If his human nature was bound to be subject, yet not his per- son, actiones sunt suppositorum. The human nature was taken into his person, and the divine nature could do more to free the human nature than the human nature to oblige the person to obedience. Christ pleadeth his freedom as God's son : Mat. xvii. 26, ' If of strangers, then are the children free.'
VeR. 19.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 9
[2.] The human nature, as a creature, was to be subject to God, and guided by him, as being an inferior ; but whether to a law of God is justly doubted ; for the law is given to mere men for their weakness, for the instruction of good and the restraint of bad; and therefore his being s abject to the law was voluntary, and not neces- sary ; if it were necessary, there could be no merit in it : Luke xvii. 10, * So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants ; we have done that which was our duty to do.'
[3.] Again, Christ voluntarily brought himself into this condition merely for our sakes ; as a man that removeth his dwelling into another country for his friend's sake, while he is in that country, he is bound by the laws of it, but merely for his friend's sake ; or, as a surety, free before, when he cometh into bonds, he must discharge the debt, but all is for his friend's sake ; so Christ ' was made under the law ' Gal. iv. 4. He that makes himself a servant to free his friend is bound to service ; yet his making himself a servant is meri- torious. In short, if Christ had done aught for himself, he had been his own redeemer, mediator, and saviour. Clirist came into the world, sanctified his nature, lived and died for our sakes ; it is for our benefit and behoof, to effect our salvation. His human nature needed no- thing but what might accrue to him by the dignity of his person.