full of the expression, for Christ seems to speak there by vray of excel- lency ; this was his choice dish, the diet that suited with his appetite. God hath vouchsafed us great store of creatures, but some meats we relish better than others ; as Isaac loved his venison, that was meat for his tooth. And when we come to a feast, every one saith of the dish he most affects, This is my meat ; so Christ seems to speak, ' My meat,' by way of eminency ; that is the dish I affect, that my soul longs to taste of ; it is to do my Father's work, and to be employed for the salvation of sinners. Nay, yet further ; Christ seems to speak by way of a])propriation, ' My meat ; ' that is, mine alone ; he alone tasted of this cup. At this table none eat but he, none was to taste of his Father's wrath but he, none was to drink of this bitter cup but he. Again, Luke xii. 50, ' I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished ! ' The baptism Christ speaks of there was the baptism of blood, to make a laver of his own blood. He was about to make a bath for sinners, to wash our garments "white ; and he thought he never could soon enough empty his veins, and go to the last work wherewith our redemption was to be accomplished, to close up all with his death : I am straitened and troubled in spirit till the time come. Another emphatical expression we have, Luke xxii. 15, ' With desire have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.' Why was Christ so earnest to eat that passover ? Because it was the last ; it was a passover that was sauced with gall and vinegar, much more sharp than that which the Jews offered him upon the cross ; it was the immediate forerunner of his agonies and bitter sorrows in the garden ; yet ' With desire have I desired it.' It is a Hebraism : Oh ! my soul vehemently and earnestly hath longed for this time. Another expression we have. Mat. xvi. 22, 23. Peter had dissuaded Christ from suffering : ' Be it far from thee. Lord ; this shall not be unto thee.' Christ rebuked him, ' Get thee behind me, Satan ; ' compared with Mark iv. 10. With the same indignation that he rebukes the devil tempting him to idolatry, he rebukes Peter dissuading him from suffer- ing. His heart was set upon the work of our redemption, therefore Peter is thus rebuked. Another expression of his willingness is his bidding Judas hasten his work : John xiii. 27, ' What thou dost, do quickly.' Certainly it was not out of an approbation of his sin, but a testimony of his love ; the sooner the better. Christ, when he con- sidered that poor creatures had souls to save, and all was not finished ; thought the traitor was too slow, for he desired to get his body upon the cross, and finish all his work for our salvation. Again, his behaviour at his death showed his willingness. Christ had the command of legions of angels, but would not suffer one disciple to draw his sword. He might have prevented all, and have withdrawn himself from their fury, for he foreknew what would befall him. He had been discoursing with his disciples, and encouraging them to bear the trial patiently, yet doth not forsake the place of his usual resort ; he goes to the garden where he knew Judas would betray him, being willing to despatch all. One expression more we have, which gives you an account of his patience in suffering : Isa. liii. 7, ' He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth ; he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.'
VeR. 14.] SERMONS UPON TITUS II. 11-14. 24S
The poor slieep when under the shearer's hands is meek and dumb, and the lamb goes to the slaughter without howling and crying ; so doth the Lord Christ go to the altar quietly without struggling.
II. For the grounds of this willingness. They are his own love and his obedience to his Father's will. Sometimes it is said that Christ gave himself, and sometimes it is said that God the Father gave Christ. Christ gave himself : Gal. i. 4, ' Who gave himself for our sins.' God the Father is said to give him : John iii. IC, ' God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son.' In some places it is made an act of his own personal love : Gal. ii. 20, 'Who loved me, and gave himself for me ; and Eph. v. 25, ' Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it.' At other times it is made to be an act of obedience : Phil. ii. 8> ' He became obedient to death, even the death of the cross ; ' and John X. 18, ' This commandment I received of my Father.' Indeed there was a concurrence of both, of love in Christ, and obedience to his Father.