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And Buried.

WHEN the most precious and immaculate soul of Christ was really separated from his flesh, and that union in which his natural life consisted was dissolved, his sacred body, as being truly dead, was laid up in the chambers of the grave: so that as we believe him dead, by the separation of his soul; we also believe him buried by the sepulture of his body..

And because there is nothing mysterious or difficult in this part of the Article, it will be sufficiently explicated when we have shewn, first, That the promised Messias was to be buried; and secondly, That our Jesus was so buried as the Messias was to be.

That the Messias was to be buried, could not possibly be denied by those who believed he was to die among the Jews; because it was the universal custom of that nation to bury their dead.* We read most frequently of the sepulchres of their fathers; and though those that were condemned by their supreme power were not buried in their fathers' graves, yet public sepulchres there were appointed even for them to lie in; and not only they, but all the instruments which were used in the punishment, were buried with them. And yet besides the general consequence of death among the Jews, there was a perfect type in the person of Jonas: for as that prophet" was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so was the Messias, or the Son of man, to be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matt. xii. 40.)

Nor was his burial only represented typically but foretold prophetically, both by a suppositive intimation, and by an express prediction. The Psalmist intimated and supposed no less, when speaking in the person of the Christ, he said, My flesh shall rest in hope, for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." (Psal. xvi. 9, 10.) That flesh is there supposed only

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* It is observed by Tacitus of the Jews, in opposition to the Roman custom: Corpora condere, quam cremare, e more Ægyptio.' Hist. 1. v. c. 5. As of the Egyptians by others: Θάπτουσι δὲ Αἰγύπτιοι μὲν ταριχεύοντες, Ρωμαῖοι δὲ καίοντες, Παίονες δὲ εἰς τὰς Xiuvas piπTOVVTES. Laert. Pyrrh. p. 258. But the Jews received this custom no more from the Egyptians than from the Persians, whom they may be rather said to follow, because they used not the Egyptian ταρίχευσις: neither were they more distinguished from the Romans than from the Grecians, who also burned the bodies of the dead. Διελόμενοι κατὰ τὰ ἔθνη τὰς ταφὰς, ὁ μὲν Ἕλλην ἔκαυσεν· ὁ δὲ

Πέρσης ἔθαψεν· ὁ δὲ Ἰνδὸς ὑάλῳ περιχρίει· ὁ δὲ Σκύθης κατεσθίει· ταριχεύει dè ò Aiyúπriç. Lucian. Tepi Tέvlovs, §. 21. Although therefore it be not true, that the Jews received their custom of burying their dead from the Egyptians, because Abraham at the first purchased a burying-place; yet it hath been observed, and is certainly true, that their general custom was to inter. Philo, one of their writers: "Avėpúπois kai πãoi xepoainis οἰκειότατον ἡ φύσις χωρίον ἀπένειμε γῆν, οὐ μόνον ζῶσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποθανοῦσιν, ἵν' ἡ αὐτὴ καὶ τὴν πρώτην ὑποδέχηται γένεσιν, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ βίου τελευ ταίαν ἀνάλυσιν. 1. i. in Flaccum, ad fin.

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such, that is, a body dead; and that body resting in the grave, the common habitation of the dead; yet resting there in hope that it should never see corruption, but rise from thence before that time in which bodies in their graves are wont to putrefy. Beside this intimation, there is yet a clear expression of the grave of the Messias in that eminent prediction of Isaiah, "He was cut off out of the land of the living, and he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death." (liii. 8, 9.) For whatsoever the true interpretation of the prophecy be (of which we shall speak hereafter), it is certain that he who was to be cut off, was to have a grave: and being we have already, shewn that he who was to be cut off was the Messias; it followeth, that by virtue of this prediction the promised Messias was to be buried.

Secondly, That our Jesus, whom we believe to be the true Messias, was thus buried, we shall also prove, although it seem repugnant to the manner of his death. For those who were sentenced by the Romans to die upon the cross, had not the favour of a sepulchre, but their bodies were exposed to the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field; or if they

*So the Midrash Tillim anciently expounded it, My flesh shall rest in hope after death; add

Tepi Erep. Hymn. xi. 65. This pu-
nishment did appear in the mythology
of Prometheus; who though he were

-by some represented simply as de אר' יצחק מלמד שלא שלט ing

yinin 1 that Rabbi Isaac said, he taught by these words, that the moth and worm should have no power over him. Whence by the argument of St. Peter, it must be understood not of David: for his flesh saw corruption; nor of any other but the Messias. And although the Rabbins are wont to say, that the worms shall never eat the just, in opposition to the last words of Isaiah; yet they must confess there is no difference in the grave: and therefore that worm must signify nothing else but the corruption of the body. Well therefore are those words paraphrased by Didymus: 'En' ¿λñídi kateokKwoεv ἡ σὰρξ, διὰ τὴν εὐθέως ἐσομένην ἀνά

στάσιν.

+ To this custom Horace alludes: Non hominem occidi. Non pasces in cruce corvos,'

Epist. 16. 1. i. ver.48.

t

t

And Juvenal:
'Vultur, jumento et canibus cruci-
busque relictis,
Ad foetus properat, partemque cada-
veris affert.'
Sat. xiv. 77.
So Prudentius:

Crux illum tollat in auras,
Viventesque oculos offerat alitibus.'

oμúrns, by others particularly he is
described as aveoтavowμivos, espe-
cially by Lucian, who delivers him
προσηλούμενον, κρεμάμενον, προσπατ-
ταλευόμενον, ἀνασταυρούμενον, ἀνασκο-
λoπičóμεvov. And Tertullian speak-
ing of Pontus, from whence Marcion
came: 'Omnia torpent, omnia rigent:
nihil illic nisi feritas calet, quæ fa-
bulas scenis dedit, de sacrificiis Tau-
rorum, et amoribus Colchorum, et
crucibus Caucasorum.' Adv. Marc.
1. i. c. 1. He touches the subject of
three tragedies, Medæa, Iphigenia in
Tauris, and Prometheus Vinctus, or
rather Crucifixus. As therefore the
eagle there did feed upon his liver, so
were the bodies of crucified persons
left to the promiscuous rapacity of
carnivorous fowls. So true it was of
them what Augustus once said:

Cuidam sepulturam petenti respon-
dit, jam illam in volucrum esse pote-
state.' Suet. c. 13. Nor were they only
in the power of the fowls of the air,
as Prometheus was, whom they durst
not hang too low, lest men should
succour him: ovre yàp Taπɛivòv kai
πρόσγειον ἐσταυρῶσθαι χρή, says Vulcan
in Lucian for that reason, c. 1. but or-
dinarily they hung so low upon the
cross, that the ravenous beasts might

escaped their voracity, to the longer injury of the air and weather.* A guard was also usually set about them, lest any pitying hand should take the body from the accursed tree, and cover it with earth.+

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Under that custom of the Roman law was now the body of our Saviour on the cross, and the guard was set: there was "the centurion and they that were with him, watching Jesus." (Matt. xxvii. 54.) The centurion returned as soon as Christ was dead, and gave testimony unto Pilate of his death; but reach them, as Apuleius describes: Patibuli cruciatum, cum canes et vultures intima protrahunt viscera.' de Aur. Asin. 1. vi. ad fin.

And which is farther thus expressed by Valerius Maximus: Putres ejus artus, et tabido cruore manantia membra, atque illam lævam, cui Neptunus annulum manu piscatoris restituerat, situ marcidam, Samos lætis oculis aspexit.' l. vi. c. 9. Thus were the bodies of the crucified left: ut in sublimi putrescerent. Quid? Cyrenæum Theodorum Philosophum non ignobilem nonne miramur? cui cum Lysimachus Rex crucem minaretur, Istis, quæso, inquit, ista horribilia minitare purpuratis tuis: Theodori quidem nibil interest, humile an sublime putrescat.' Cicero, 1. i. Tusc. Quæst. c. 43. And so they perished, as the Scythians generally did, according to the description of Silius Italicus, J.

*So the bodies were often left upon the cross till the sun and rain had putrefied and consumed them. As when the daughter of Polycrates did see her father's face in a dream, to be washed by Jupiter, and to be anointed by the sun, when he hung upon the cross, it was performed. Пoλvкpárns de avaкpepáμevos ÉπETÉλee nãσav Tv ὄψιν τῆς θυγατρός· ἐλοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ Διὸς ὅμως ὅοι, ἐχρίετο δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ hλíov, áveis avrÒS ÉK TOŨ σwμATOÇ ikμáSa. Herod. Thalia, c. 125. Of which Tertullian, de Anim. c. 46. Ut cum Polycrati Samio filia crucem prospicit de Solis unguine et lavacro Jovis.' xiii. 485.

'At gente in Scythica suffixa cadavera truncis Lenta dies sepelit, putri liquentia tabo.' Thus whether by the fowls or beasts, or by the injury of time or weather, the flesh of those that were crucified was consumed; as Artemidorus observed, who concluded from thence, that it was bad for the rich to dream of being crucified: Τοὺς δὲ πλουσίους βλάπτει· γυμνοὶ γὰρ σταυροῦνται, καὶ τὰς σάρκας ἀπολλύουσιν οἱ σταυρωθένTEC. Oneirocr. l. ii. c. 58.

+ As appeareth by that relation in Petronius Arbiter : ' Imperator Provinciae latrones jussit crucibus aligi— Proxima autem nocte, cum miles qui cruces asservabat, ne quis ad sepultu ram corpora detraheret, &c. And when that soldier was absent: 'Itaque cruciati unius parentes, ut viderunt laxatam custodiam, detraxere nocte pendentem, supremoque mandaverunt officio. Satyr. c. 111. Where we see the soldier set for a guard, and the end of that custodia (which the Greek lexicographers do not well confine to the στράτευμα τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ imuεipevov), to keep the body of him which was crucified from being bu

ried by his friends. Thus when Cleomenes was dead, his body was fastened to a cross (another example of the ignominy of this punishment), by the command of Ptolemy; ‘O dè IITоλεμαῖος, ὡς ἔγνω ταῦτα, προσέταξε, τὸ μὲν σῶμα τοῦ Κλεομένους κρεμάσαι καταβυρσώσαντας. Where κρεμάσαι is again to be observed as taken for ἀνασταυpuvai, for not long after in the same author it follows: 'OXiyau de voteρov ǹμéραις, οἱ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Κλεομένους ἀνεσταυ· ρωμένον παραφυλάττοντες εἶδον εὐμεγέθη δράκοντα τῇ κεφαλῇ περιπεπλεγμένον, Kai ȧTокρÚTTоνта тÒ πроσшжоν, we unδὲν ὄρνεον ἐφίπτασθαι σαρκοφάγον. Plutarch. in vit. Cleom. c. 38. Where we see a guard set to keep him from burial, and the voracious fowls ready to seize on him, had they not been kept off by a serpent involving his head. Thus were soldiers, upon the crucifixion of any person set as a guard, τὸν ἀνεσταυρωμένον παραφυλάττοντες, οι τηροῦντες, 6 et crucem asservantes, viz. ne quis ad sepulturam corpus detraheret.'

the watch continueth still. How then can the ancient predictions be fulfilled? How can this Jonas be conveyed into the belly of the whale? Where shall "he make his grave with the wicked, or with the rich, in his death" (Isa. liii, 9.) of crucifixion? By the providence of him who did foretell it, it shall be fulfilled. They who petitioned that he might be crucified, shall intercede that he may be interred. For the custom of the Jews required, that whosoever suffered by the sentence of their law, should be buried, and that the same day he suffered.* Particularly they could not but remember the express words of Moses, "If a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree; his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day." (Deut. xxi. 22, 23.) Upon this general custom and particular law, especially considering the sanctity of the day approaching, "the Jews, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath-day, besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away." (John xix. 31.) And this is the first step to the burial of our Saviour.

For though by the common rule of the Roman law, those that were condemned to the cross were to lose both soul and body on the tree, as not being permitted either sepulchre or mourning; yet it was in the power of the magistrate to indulge the leave of burial:‡ and therefore Pilate, who crucified Christ because the Jews desired it, could not possibly deny him burial when they requested it; he that professed to find no fault in him while he lived, could make no pretence for an accession of cruelty after his death.

Now though the Jews had obtained their request of Pilate, though Christ had been thereby certainly buried; yet had not the prediction been fulfilled, which expressly mentioned "the rich in his death." For, as he was crucified between two thieves, so had he been buried with them, because by the Jews there was appointed a public place of burial for all such as suffered as malefactors.

Wherefore to rescue the body of our blessed Saviour from consulis: Corpora corum qui capite

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מצות עשה לקבור את כל Matdamnantur cognatis ipsorum neganda הרוגי בית דין ביום ההריגם

mon. Tract. Sanhed. e. 15. So Josephus : Τοσαύτην Ἰουδαίων περὶ τὰς τα φὰς πρόνοιαν ποιουμένων, ὥστε καὶ τοὺς ἐκ καταδίκης ἀνασταυρουμένους πρὸ δύναντος ἡλίου ἀνελεῖν τε καὶ θάπτειν.

De Bell. Jud. 1. iv. c. 18.

+ Non solent autem lugeri (ut Neratius ait) hostes, vel perduelliones damnati, nec suspendiosi, nec qui manus sibi intulerunt, non tædio vitæ, sed mala conscientia.' Digest. 1. iií. tit. 2. l. Liberorum.

† So Ulpianus, 1, ix. de Officio Pro

non sunt: et id se observasse etiam Divus Augustinus libro decimo de vita sua scribit. Hodie autem eorum in quos animadvertitur corpora non aliter sepeliuntur, quam si fuerit petitum et permissum; et nonnunquam non permittitur, maxime majestatis causa damnatorum.' So Paulus, l. i. Sententiarum: Corpora animadversorum danda sunt, Obnoxios criminum diquibuslibet petentibus ad sepulturam gno supplicio subjectos sepulturæ tradi non vetamus.' Cod. l. iii, tit. 43, 1. 11.

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the malicious hands of those who caused his crucifixion, "there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, an honourable counsellor, a good man and a just; who also himself waited for the kingdom of God, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews: this Joseph came and went in boldly unto Pilate, and besought him that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave, and commanded the body to be delivered: he came, therefore, and took the body of Jesus." (Matt. xxvii. Mark xv. Luke xxiii. John xix.)

Beside," there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, a man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, a master of Israel:" this Nicodemus came" and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.” (John iii. 1. 10. xix. 39. 40.)

And thus was the burial of the Son of God performed, according to the custom of the people of God. For the understanding of which there are three things considerable; first, What was done to the body, to prepare it for the grave; secondly, How the sepulchre was prepared to receive the body; thirdly, How the persons were fitted by the interring of our Saviour to fulfil the prophecy.

As for fulfilling the custom of the Jews as to the preparation in respect of his body, we find the spices and the linen clothes. When "there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious, and she brake the box, and poured it on his head;" Christ made this interpretation of that action, "She is come beforehand to anoint my body to the burying." (Mark xiv. 3. 8.) When Christ was risen, "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary brought the spices which they had prepared, that they might come and anoint him." (Mark xvi. 1. Luke xxiv. 1.) Thus was there an interpreted and an intended unction of our Saviour, but really and actually he was interred with the spices which Nicodemus brought. The custom of wrapping in the clothes we see in Lazarus rising from the grave; for "he came forth bound hand and foot, with grave-clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin." (John xi. 44.) In the same manner when our Saviour was risen, "Simon Peter went into the sepulchre, and saw the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself." (John xx. 6, 7.) Thus, according to the custom of the Jews, was the body of Christ bound in several linen clothes with an aromatical composition, and so prepared for the sepulchre.*

• There are four words in the Gosὀθόνια, κειρίαι, and σουδάριον. The pel expressing the linen clothes in Evdov is used by three evangelists, which the dead were buried, Eivdov, as what was brought by Joseph: Kai

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