THE TWENTY-SIXTH LECTURE.

OF THE BURIAL OF CHRIST.

MARK, CHAP. XV.

44. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead, and called unto him the centurion, and asked of him, whether he had been any while dead?

45. And when he knew the truth of the centurion, he gave the body

to Joseph,

46. Who bought a linen cloth, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen cloth, &c.

JOHN, CHAP. XIX.

38. And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews) besought Pilate that he might take down the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him license. He came then and took Jesus' body.

39. And there came also Nicodemus, (who first came to Jesus by night,) and brought of myrrh and aloes mingled together about a hundred pound.

40. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wrapped it in linen clothes, with the odours, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

THE last day, well-beloved in Jesus Christ, we entered into the history of the burial of the Lord Jesus, and we heard that the burial came by a request made to Pilate, the Roman deputy for the time. The request-maker was one Joseph; he is set down and

described by all the four Evangelists, in all his properties. He was a man of Arimathea, a town in Jewry. He was a rich man, and also an honourable and grave counsellor. Then, as concerning the qualities of his person, "he was a good and an upright man," who lived uprightly in the world; and yet he had a further respect than unto this life, for " he waited constantly for the kingdom of God." And, therefore, when Christ came into the world, and took upon him that great office of the Mediator betwixt God and man, he enters into his school, and became his disciple, howbeit, for fear of the Jews, he durst not manifest himself, but lurked secretly for a time, even to this time that it came to the burial of the body of Jesus, and then he shows himself to be a disciple of Christ. In that council which was against the Lord, he was a councillor; but he would neither give counsel, nor consent to the condemning and slaying of Christ. Thus much ye heard before concerning this man and his properties. Then we heard how he goes forward boldly to Pilate, to seek the Lord's body. He lurked before, so long as Jesus was in the world working such wonders as never man wrought, and speaking with such a grace as never man spake with. But now when he is dead, he comes out boldly and goes to Pilate, and he manifests himself, to let us see that Jesus, in his death, had greater force to draw the souls of men unto him than he had in his life; for from that death there came so sweet and sensible a smell to the souls of sinners, that it drew the souls of sinners unto him, namely, the heart of this man Joseph; so that he comes out boldly, as said is, and he goes to Pilate, and requests him to give him the body of Jesus to be buried. Thus far we heard the last day. Now, this day, we have Pilate's answer to

Joseph's request.

Pilate wonders that he was dead so soon; and for the more certainty, he calls a centurion, and asks him if he was dead already. The centurion affirms that he was dead already. Pilate grants the request. After this we come to the manner of his burial. We shall go forward as time shall suffer, and God shall give us grace. "Pilate wonders that he was so soon dead." This wondering of

Pilate, no question, imports, that the death of Jesus was extraordinary. It was not after the common fashion of men that were crucified, for men who were crucified they used to hang long on the cross before they yielded the spirit, days and nights; and in end, ere they yielded the spirit, the life was taken from them by violence, they were broken on the cross. So Pilate hearing that the Lord was so soon dead, he wondered as at an extraordinary thing. There are sundry things that testify that death of Jesus to have been extraordinary. As, first, that mighty and loud voice and crying which the Lord uttered on the cross immediately before he yielded the spirit; for who will give a loud cry at the yielding of his spirit? for, at the point of death, when nature fails, it is a rare thing to find a man to have a voice or a word. Next, the yielding of his spirit so suddenly, when by the power of nature he might have lived longer. Last, this wondering of Pilate testifies, that his death was extraordinary, and that there was a power in Jesus which controlled nature. When nature would have kept life, the divine power puts it out. In a word, this wondering testifies that the death of Jesus was the death of God,-the death of a man, but God in the man, glorious and blessed for evermore.

Now, it is said, Pilate understood of the centurion that Jesus was dead, when he granted the request of Joseph, and gave the body to him to be buried. First, I see Pilate is a good justitiar ;' (the Roman justice was a good justice, the Roman justitiars were good ;) he showed himself to be a good justitiar in this: a man condemned to die, he would not give him out of his hands till he knew perfectly that he was dead. The judge should not give a man out of his hands to any till he know he be dead; justice requires that. "If they did so to the green tree," the Lord himself says, "what shall they do to the withered ?" If so precise justice was kept on the innocent, what shall become of the reprobate, who must suffer every point of justice? Lord, save us from that justice of the reprobate! I put it out of doubt, this justice kept on Jesus is a lively image of that justice that shall be kept on the reprobate. Thou shalt not escape

1 i. e. Judge in criminal matters.

Luke xxiii. 31.

one point of that justice, but thou shalt suffer in thy carcase the extremity, if thou be not participate of his blood. Another thing is to be marked in Pilate; I see a part of humanity in him: he grants the dead body humanely. And surely this was by the fashion; for the bodies of crucified men were not given and yielded at the request of men; as their death was ignominious, so was their burial. I put no doubt the conscience of the innocency of Jesus never left him, and the conscience of his innocency made him to be so easy to grant the body of Jesus at the request of Joseph. Brethren, if this matter had been in the hands of Caiaphas, and the priests, and the scribes, and the elders, they would not have been so ready to have given the body to be buried; for as they sought to shame him in his death, so would they in his burial: they had buried him like an ass, and casten him out like a beast. So who is this that dishonours the saints of God in their burial? It is not Pilate, or an ethnic, or Turk, or Pagan; it is hypocrite professors, hypocrites, Caiaphas, it is false priests, knaves, with a coloured religion; it is the counterfeit high priests, those shavelings, those monks and friars, who murder the innocents. There was never bitterness nor gall of heart like their bitterness, who will call themselves the kirk, (they are a false and a deceiving kirk,) they have not been content to martyr the dear saints of God, (that bloody massacre shall never go out of memory, it shall be recent to their perpetual shame, and they shall pay for it one day,) but they have raised up the bones of the dead to burn them. The vessels of dishonour seek the dishonour of the vessels of honour; but shame and confusion shall light upon them, when the saints of God shall get honour. The Lord save us from them, and that judgment which they shall receive! We go now to the manner of the burial. Look the loving affection of this holy man, Joseph ;-would to God we could learn at him, who loved the dead Jesus so well, to love

1i. e. Contrary to.

*This is better expressed in the Latin Commentary. Vasa scilicet ignominiæ plerumque in hac vita afficiunt ignominia vasa illa gloriæ, quæ ipsa tandem, cum vasa gloriæ gloriam suam obtinebunt, æterna afficientur ignominia.-P. 1021.

him now living and glorified in the heavens! When he hath gotten the body of the Lord, he takes it and puts it not in a foul cloth, he takes not an old sheet, but he buys the cleanest linen and finest1 that could be gotten; and the Spirit of God notes that it was "a fine linen cloth," which had never touched any man's body before; then he wraps the body of Jesus in that winding-sheet. I suppose it was with his own hands, (for we read of none other that touched him,) for he thought his own hands over unworthy to wind such a precious and glorious body.

Now, brethren, as the burial of the Lord was honoured by an honourable man, who was the burier of him, so it was honoured with a clean winding-sheet, which is a piece of the honour of the burial. But look to this man's doings better. When he procures leave to bury him, he departs not and leaves another to bury him. He says not, "I have done enough, I have gotten his body, he has other friends than I here, he has his mother, and his disciples, and other women, who came with him out of Galilee, and others, let them bury him, and do the rest to him." No, he says not so. So this is a commendable thing in him, who, having gotten leave to bury him, he perfects the work, he will bury him himself with his own hands. Let us learn at Joseph. If we put to our hands to the work of Jesus to honour him, (woe to him that honours him not!) if thou begin to do him any service, leave not off whilst thou have ended it. Count not that which thou hast done, as men do; who will say, "I have professed, I have suffered for religion more than the best of them." But when thou art running that race, never look over thy shoulder until thou comest to thy race's end; and say thou art an unprofitable servant, suppose thou hadst done never so much; go forward, the crown is not in the midst of the

It will be observed, that in the translation, at the head of this Lecture, (Mark xv. 46,) the expression is simply, a linen cloth." Here the editors follow the Latin, sindon, (which also occurs in the Greek original,) “ a fine linen cloth,” as in our version-an epithet omitted, it may be observed, in our translation of the same word, in the parallel passages of Matthew and Luke. The text also refers to an epithet from Matthew xxvii. 59, a verse not yet quoted, “a clean linen cloth."