every one of his Disciples the bread and the wine, as represent- ing his body broken, and his blood shed, for the remission of their sinsm." When Judas, with an armed band, came to apprehend him, he, by a word, beat them all backward to the ground, to shew that, in his subsequent surrender of himself to them, he acted voluntarily, and not from necessity". Thus in these, as in a variety of other incidents, he shewed, that neither by fraud nor violence could any man prevail against him ; but that, in every part of his work, he freely consented to sustain all that should come upon him.]
3. At the closing scene of his life —
[" He gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair, and went altogether like a lamb to the slaughter." If it had pleased him, " he could have called to his aid more than twelve legions of angels ; " any individual of whom would have been able to defeat his adver- saries, even if they had been a thousand times more numerous than they were0. " But how, then, should the Scriptures be fulfilled?" He had undertaken to save us; and therefore he would not, though he could easily have done it, save himself. And at the very moment that he surrendered up his life, " he cried with a loud voice," in order to shew that his nature was not exhausted, but that of himself " he had power to lay down his life," and did lay it down voluntarily , and not by constraint. And this very thing so struck the Centurion who superintended the execution, as to convince him that Jesus " was indeed the Son of Godp."
That Jesus raised up himself is also true. He had, in the very beginning of his ministry, declared, that " when the Jews should have destroyed the temple of his body, he would raise it up again in three daysq: and accordingly he did rise, as he had said. At the appointed time, also, he ascended up to heaven, and sent down his Holy Spirit to carry on the work on earth, whilst he himself should be carrying it on in heaven. Thus he has proved, that, in every part of his work, he has acted voluntarily, " having loved us, and given himself for usr."]
Let us now proceed to notice, II. Its acceptableness on the Father's part —
In my text, it is said, " Therefore the Father loveth me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again." Here again we must observe, that Christ speaks of himself, not personally, as the second
"> 1 Cor. xi. 23 — 26. n John xviii. 6. ° Matt. xxvi. 53.
p Luke xxiii. 46, 47. with Mark xv. 39. 'i John ii. 19.
' Gal. ii. 20.