I.

SERM. we should indict these, or any of these, of murder. Solum peccatum homicida; sin, and sin only, is the murderer. Sin, I say, either of the party that suffereth; or of some other, by whose means, or for whose cause, he is put to death.

15.

Now, Christ's own sin it was not that He died for. That Joh. 8. 46. is most evident. Not so much by His own challenge, Quis ex Lu. 23. 14. 14, vobis arguit Me de peccato? as by the report of His judge, who openly professed that he had examined Him, and "found / no fault in Him." "No, nor yet Herod," for being sent to him and examined by him also, nothing worthy death was found Mat.27.24, in Him. And therefore, calling for water and washing his hands he protesteth his own innocency of the blood of this "Just Man;" thereby pronouncing Him Just, and void of any cause in Himself of His own death.

!

It must then necessarily be the sin of some others, for whose sake Christ Jesus was thus pierced. And if we ask, who those others be? or whose sins they were? the Prophet

Isa. 53.4-6. Esay tells us, Posuit super Eum iniquitates omnium nostrum, "He laid upon Him the transgressions of us all;" who should, even for those our many, great, and grievous transgressions, have eternally been pierced, in body and soul, with torment and sorrows of a never-dying death, had not He stepped between us and the blow, and received it in His own body; even the dint of the wrath of God to come upon us. So that it was the sin of our polluted hands that pierced His hands, the swiftness of our feet to do evil that nailed His feet, the wicked devices of our heads that gored His head, and the wretched desires of our hearts that pierced His heart. We that "look upon," it is we that "pierced IIim;" and it is we that "pierced Him," that are willed to "look upon Him." Which bringeth it home to us, to me myself that speak, and to you yourselves that hear; and applieth it most effectually to every one of us, who evidently seeing that we were the cause of this His piercing, if our hearts be not too hard, ought to have remorse to be pierced with it.

When, for delivering to David a few loaves, Abimelech and the Priests were by Saul put to the sword, if David did then 1 Sam. 22. acknowledge with grief of heart and say, "I, even I, am the cause of the death of thy father and all his house;"-when he was but only the occasion of it, and not that direct neither

may not we, nay ought not we much more justly and deservedly say of this piercing of Christ our Saviour, that we verily, even we, are the cause thereof, as verily we are, even the principals in this murder; and the Jews and others, on whom we seek to derive it, but only accessories and instrumental causes thereof. Which point we ought as continually, so seriously to think of; and that no less than the former. The former, to stir up compassion in ourselves, over Him that thus was pierced; the latter, to work deep remorse in our hearts, for being authors of it. That He was pierced, will make our bowels melt with compassion over Christ. That He was pierced by us that look on Him, if our hearts be not "flint," as Job saith, or as "the nether mill-stone," will breed Job 41. 24. remorse over ourselves, wretched sinners as we are.

The act.

The act followeth in these words; Respicient in Eum. A II. request most reasonable, to "look upon Him"-but "to look To look upon Him," to bestow but a look and nothing else, which upon Him. even of common humanity we cannot deny, Quia non aspicere despicere est. It argueth great contempt, not to vouchsafe it the cast of our eye, as if it were an object utterly unworthy the looking toward. Truly, if we mark it well, nature itself of itself inclineth to this act. When Amasa treacherously was slain by Joab, and lay weltering in his blood by the way side, the story saith that not one of the whole army, then marching by, but when he came at him, "stood still and looked on 2 Sam. 20. + him."

12.

In the Gospel, the party that goeth from Jerusalem to Jericho was spoiled and wounded and lay drawing on, though the Priest and Levite that passed near the place relieved him not, as the Samaritan after did; yet it is said of them, they "went near and looked on," and then passed on their way. Lu. 10. 32. Which desire is even natural in us; so that even nature itself inclineth us to satisfy the Prophet.

Nature doth, and so doth Grace too. For generally we are bound to "regard the work of the Lord, and to consider the Ps. 28. 5. operations of His hands;" and specially this work, in comparison whereof God Himself saith, the former works of His "shall not be remembered, nor the things done of old once Isa. 43. 18. regarded."

Yea Christ Himself, pierced as He is, inviteth us to it.

I.

SERM. For in the Prophet here it is not in Eum, but in Me; not 'on Him,' but "on Me Whom they have pierced." But more fully in Jeremy; for, to Christ Himself do all the ancient writers apply, and that most properly, those words of the LamentaLam. 1. 12. tion; "Have ye no regard all ye that pass by this way? Behold and see, if there be any sorrow like My sorrow, which is done unto Me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted Me in the day of His fierce wrath."

Our own profit, which is wont to persuade well, inviteth Nu. 21.8,9. us; for that as from the brazen serpent no virtue issued to heal but unto them that steadily beheld it, so neither doth there from Christ but upon those that with the eye of faith have their contemplation on this object; who thereby draw life from Him, and without it may and do perish, for all Christ and His Passion.

1.

With attention.

And if nothing else move us, this last may, even our danger. For the time will come when we ourselves shall desire, that God looking with an angry countenance upon our sins, would turn His face from them and us, and look upon the face of His Christ, that is, respicere in Eum; which shall justly be then denied us, if we ourselves could never be gotten to do this duty, respicere in Eum, when it was called for of us. God shall not look upon Him at ours, Whom we would not look upon at His request.

In the act itself are enjoined three things: 1. That we do it with attention; for it is not Me, but in Me; not only " upon Him," but "into Him." 2. That we do it oft, again and again, with iteration; for respicient is re-aspicient. Not a single act, but an act iterated. 3. That we cause our nature to do it, as it were, by virtue of an injunction, per actum elicitum, as the schoolmen call it. For in the original it is in the commanding conjugation, that signifieth, facient se respicere, rather than respicient.

First then, not slightly, superficially or perfunctorily, but steadfastly, and with due attention, to "look upon Him." Respicient And not to look upon the outside alone, but to look into the very entrails; and with our eye to pierce Him That was thus pierced. In Eum beareth both.

1. "Upon Him" if we "look," we shall see so much as Pilate shewed of Him; -ecce Homo, that He is a Man.

And if He were not a man, but some other unreasonable creature, it were great ruth to see Him so handled.

2. Among men we less pity malefactors, and have most compassion on them that be innocent. And He was innocent, and deserved it not, as you have heard, His enemies themselves being His judges.

3. Among those that be innocent, the more noble the person, the greater the grief, and the more heavy ever is the spectacle. Now if we consider the verse of this text well, we shall see it is God Himself and no man that here speaketh, for to God only it belongeth to "pour out the Spirit of grace," it passeth man's reach to do it; so that, if we look better upon Him, we shall see as much as the Centurion saw, that this party thus pierced " is the Son of God." The Son of Mat. 27.54. God slain! Surely he that hath done this deed "is the child 2 Sam. 12. of death," would every one of us say; Et tu es homo, "Thou art the man'," would the Prophet answer us. You are they, [See the for whose sins the Son of God hath His very heart-blood Vulgate.]

shed forth. Which must needs strike into us remorse of a deeper degree than before; that not only it is we that have pierced the party thus found slain, but that this party, whom we have thus pierced, is not a principal person among the children of men, but even the only-begotten Son of the Most High God. Which will make us cry out with St. Augustine, O amaritudo peccati mei, ad quam tollendam necessaria fuit amaritudo tanta! 'Now sure, deadly was the bitterness of our sins, that might not be cured, but by the bitter death and blood-shedding Passion of the Son of God.' And this may we see looking upon Him.

5-7.

:

But now then, if we look in Eum, "into Him," we shall see yet a greater thing, which may raise us in comfort, as far as the other cast us down. Even the bowels of compassion and tender love, whereby He would and was content to suffer all this for our sakes. For that, whereas "no man had power to Joh. 10.18. take His life from Him," for He had power to have commanded twelve legions of Angels in His just defence; and Mat.26.53. without any Angel at all, power enough of Himself with His Ego sum, to strike them all to the ground; He was content Joh. 18. 6. notwithstanding all this, to lay down His life for us sinners. The greatness of which love passeth the greatest love that

K

I.

Joh. 15. 13.

SERM. man hath; for "greater love than this hath no man, but to bestow his life for his friends," whereas He condescended to lay it down for His enemies. Even for them that sought His death, to lay down His life, and to have His blood shed for them that did shed it; to be pierced for His piercers. Look how the former in Eum worketh grief, considering the great injuries offered to so great a Personage; so, to temper the grief of it, this latter in Eum giveth some comfort, that so great a Person should so greatly love us, as for our sakes to endure all those so many injuries, even to the piercing of His very heart.

2.

With iteration:

Secondly, respicient, that is, re-aspicient; not once or twice, but oftentimes to look upon it; that is, as the Prophet saith Renaspi- here, iteratis vicibus, to look again and again; or, as the Heb. 12. 3. Apostle saith, recogitare, "to think upon it over and over again," as it were to dwell in it for a time. In a sort, with the frequentness of this our beholding it, to supply the weakness and want of our former attention. Surely, the more steadily and more often we shall fix our eye upon it, the more we shall be inured; and being inured, the more desire to do it. For at every looking some new sight will offer itself, which will offer unto us occasion, either of godly sorrow, true repentance, sound comfort, or some other reflection, issuing from the beams of this heavenly mirror. Which point, because it is the chief point, the Prophet here calleth us to, even how to look upon Christ often, and to be the better for our looking; it shall be very agreeable to the text, and to the Holy Ghost's chief intent, if we prove how, and in how diverse sorts, we may with profit behold and "look upon Him" Whom thus we have "pierced."

First then, looking upon Him, we may bring forth for the first effect that which immediately followeth this text itself in this text, Et plangent Eum:-Respice et plange. First, 'look and lament,' or mourn; which is indeed the most kindly and natural effect of such a spectacle. "Look upon Him that is pierced," and with looking upon Him be pierced thyself; respice et transfigere. A good effect of our first look, if we could bring it forth. At leastwise, if we cannot respice et transfigere, 'look and be pierced, yet that it might be + respice et compungere, 'that with looking on Him we might be