Chapter VIII
How Christ u as taken and bound by tJiose who came to apprehend him, and was thus led away by them, as the victims, or sacrifices, used to be to the
altar. That even this his binding hath an influence on our being loosened from those chains, wherein sin hath fettered us.
Now beginneth the first of Christ his outward sufferings, his sufferings from men ; he had suffered from his Father before, in the garden, where now he was, when he sweat drops of blood.
Verse 12. Then the band, and the captain, and officers of the Jews, took
Jesus, and bound him.
In these words there are two things considerable :
1. The persons taking. 2. The person taken.
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The persons taking, are the band, and the captain, and the officers of the Jews.
The person taken, is Christ himself. And then here is what they did with him, they took him, and they bound him.
* Then the officers, and the captain, and the band took Jesus, and bound him.
It is said that all of them took him. Certainly all of them at that instant could not lay hold upon him ; but his being taken is ascribed unto them
all, because they all rushed upon him at once with a violence. His throw
ing of them down backward afore had made them afraid, therefore they break forth with violence, and they did all environ him and compass him
about, and in that respect it is said they all took him.
You shall find in Ps. xxii. (which psalm we may indeed call a crucifix, it
being as clear a story of the crucifying of Christ as Mat. xxvi. is) ; in that
psalm, the first thing in the story of his sufferings mentioned there (for the
rest are prayers) is, Many bulls have compassed me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round, so ver. 12. And again, ver. 16,
* Dogs have com
passed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. The title of that
psalm (as some out of the Hebrew read it) it is the hind of the morning ; so he calls himself, and they like so many hounds here came round about him in a ring to apprehend him : Dogs, saith he,
* have compassed me, which hath an allusion to the title of the psalm.
Here is likewise, you see, a particular mention of the persons, here is the
band, and the captain, and the officers of the Jews ; both Jews and Gen
tiles, which I shall give you observations upon anon.
There is one particle, which is a very small one, but there is much in it : Then. Then the captain, and the band, and the officers of the Jews took
Jesus. Some read it (and rightly too) Therefore the captain, &c. Why therefore ? Because that he had afore offered himself willingly to them,
they could not else have taken him. There is a great deal of emphasis in
that little particle, as there is in every tittle of the Scripture. No man, saith he, John x. 18, is able to take my life from me except I lay it down. These men whom he had thrown down to the ground had never been able
to have laid hands on him, had he not expressed himself willing. Have
I not told you, saith he, that I am the man ? And he shewed his will
ingness too in his expression to Peter, Shall I not drink of the cup which my Father hath given me to drink ? And therefore the band, and the
captain, and the officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him.
All the other evangelists do not tell us that they bound him when they
first took him. Matthew tells us indeed, chap, xxvii. 2, that they sent him bound from Caiaphas, the high priest s hall, to the common hall to Pilate. But that he was bound at the first taking, and that by them that took
him, we are beholden to John for this circumstance. Now, the reasons of
their binding him (I speak now by way of historical interpretation of the
words) are these.
1. Because Judas had bid them (as Matthew tells us) to hold him fast, Whomsoever I shall kiss, saith he, that same is he, hold him fast, Mat. xxvi. 48. For Judas he knew the power of Christ, he was privy to
his going through the midst of a whole press of men when they would have thrown him down from off the brow of a hill ; therefore, saith he, when
you take him, hold him fast ; and therefore they bind him, and they took him and bound him with that cruelty, that the disciples all ran away.
2. They bound him likewise as one that was worthy of death, and so
CHAP. VIII.J OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 225
thereby to prejudge his sentence. Such the Jews did use to bind, as Jerome says. And it was that which is mentioned, ver. 24, as one great
ingredient that had influence into Peter s denial of him, and persisting in
it the second time, that he was sent bound from Annas, and continued still bound afore Caiaphas, and so thereby saw there was no hope for him of
life, and so the more easily drawn and tempted to deny him.
3. They bound him likewise that they might cast shame upon him, that
they might lead him bound, which was proper to malefactors. And, 2 Sam.
iii. 33, 34, David s speech of Abner implies it : Died Abner as a fool, as
a malefactor ? Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters. Now our dear and blessed Lord and Redeemer, he died like a vile person in outward appearance ; his hands and his feet were bound, at least his hands were bound. And that which might further move them to deal in
this manner the more violently with him, was the fetters that he had cast upon them. And therefore in Ps. ii. 1-3 (which Peter quoteth in Acts iv. 25, and applies to the crucifying of Christ), he mentioneth that as the reason :
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing ? They are mightily provoked ; why ? Come let us break their bands asunder.
Christ and his disciples had extremely bound them and their consciences ; now they are even with him, they clap fetters and bands upon him.
4. They did it likewise in a way of trophy ; and therefore you shall find
in Mat. xxvii. 2, when they had bound him, they led him away from the
high priest s house, in a kind of triumph, to Pilate the governor.
So you have the historical opening of the words, They took Jesus and bound him. And in all this, and so likewise in whatsoever befell Christ in
his sufferings, there was a further mystical meaning, which I term so in
respect of those hidden ends in it. Therefore in the next place we will con
sider what was the mystery of all this. There was nothing befell Christ in
his passion, but it was both to fulfil prophecies, and it was for something answering thereunto in us as the cause thereof ; and in the merit of it, and
the benefit by it redounding to us, it hath a suitable influence into some
thing about ourselves.
First, All that befell Christ was to fulfil the types and prophecies that went
of him. The great and most eminent type of Christ in his sufferings was
Isaac, who was the son of the promise, as Christ was the promised seed. And in Heb. xi., the apostle makes him a figure of Christ s resurrection ; and as in his resurrection, so in his offering to death. Now the first thing that Abraham did to Isaac, when he was to offer him up as a sacrifice, was, he took him and bound him ; so saith Gen. xxii. 9. And Christ here, whom Isaac typified, in his death as well as in his delivery from death, was bound.
The sacrifices of the old law, they were first led bound to the priest, and then bound to the horns of the altar, and there slain. So was Christ here. And so for Christ his taking ; for I hero put both together. The ark was a type of Christ, and that you know was taken by the Philistines ; so is Christ now.
Adam, he likewise was his type. There was an allusion in the sufferings of Christ in the garden, unto the first temptation in a garden. Adam, you know, sinned in a garden. Christ he suffered in a garden ; there doth the
agony meet him, and there he was taken. And what was the first outward
* The woman took of the
act of sin ? How was it put forth ? Gen. iii. 6,
fruit of the tree (having first plucked it off with her hands), and gave it to her husband, and he took it and did eat thereof. In answering to this, VOL. V. P
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Christ, the second Adain, his hands are bound while he was here in the
garden. And as his being bound, so also this his being taken by them was foresignified. Thus in Mat. xxvi. 56, when it is said they took him,
it is added, That the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Now do but look in the margin of your Bibles, what scripture is quoted there ? What is the place of Scripture that the translators of the Bible refer to in
that verse ? You shall find it to be Lam. iv. 20, and there it is said, The
breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord (the Messiah, the Christ, for so anointed signifies in the Hebrew, the Christ of the Lord), he was taken in their pit, of whom we said, under his shadow we shall live among the heathen. This book of the Lamentation, though it was made upon occasion of the captivity, yet because the foundation of the captivity was
laid in the taking away of that good king Josiah for after his death that
people had never a good day, they never thrived so that book relates to him. And it is clear that the Lamentations were made in relation to Josiah, as well as to the captivity, by that in 2 Chron. xxxv. 25,
* And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah (and these Lamentations in this book, you know, are
* and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel, and behold they are written in the Lamentations ; that is, in the book of the Lamentations. Now of Josiah it is said,
the Lamentations of Jeremiah) ;
* He was taken in their pit, so we translate it ; but others, and the Septuagint
agrees with it too, He was taken in their sins. The sins of that people were the cause of his death, which is said to be in the valley of Megiddo, 2 Chron. xxxv. 32. But whether is Josiah a type of Christ or no, that our translators should
refer the taking of Christ to the fulfilling of this prophecy in the Lamen-
titions ?
For that you have Zech. xii. 10, 11. He saith there, that he will pour upon the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of prayer and supplication (speaking of the time when they should acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the Messiah) and (saith he)
* they shall look upon me whom they have pierced (meaning the Messiah), and they shall mourn for
him, &c. And ver. 11, In that day shall there be a great mourning in
Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon, in the valley of Megiddon. Now that mourning there was for Josiah, for there he was taken and arrested with a deadly wound, whereof he died, and was taken and slain in the sins
of that nation, and to that do our translators refer us ; and you see he was
a type of Christ too, he had kept a passover, as Christ had done, a little
afore this. They promised themselves to live safely under his shadow, even
as the disciples promised themselves that Christ would presently restore the
kingdom unto Israel ; but he was taken in our sins, and our sins were the bands that fettered him.
Secondly, As all this was done to fulfil the types and prophecies ofjhim, so we shall see that our deserts were the cause of it, and that his being bound hath an influence to loose us from something with which we were bound. For there was nothing befell Christ in these sufferings, nothing was done to him, but what answers to something which we had done, and which was to be done toward us.
1. Our sins were the cause of his binding. Therefore in Ps. xl. (which also is a psalm of Christ, for it is, part of it, quoted by the apostle in Heb. x. and applied uuto Christ, Sacrifices and offerings thou wouldst not have ), saith he at ver. 12,
* Innumerable evils have taken hold upon me; mine
CHAP. VIII.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 227
iniquities have compassed me about. It is plain, my brethren, that Christ
speaks this psalm of himself; he reckoned all our sins as his own, and by virtue of our sins encompassing us about, and taking hold of us (which in
the garden they did) it is, that these men take hold of Christ, and bind
him, he standing now in our stead. For the truth is, Christ he could, like
Samson, have broken all these cords asunder. What weakened him ? It was because he was fettered with our sins.
* Mine iniquities, saith he
* have taken hold upon me ; and therefore these came all about him like bees, like dogs, and seize upon him. We were Satan s captives, therefore was he theirs. In sinning against God we break
(confessing ours to be his),
all bands, as the expression is, Jer. v. 5, therefore is he bound. Our sins took hold of him first, and then the band and the officers had power to take
him and bind him.
2. Consider the answerable fruit and benefit of it arising to us. Hereby we were all bondslaves to sin and Satan : 2 Peter ii. 19, Of whom a man
is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. We were led captive by Satan at his will, so saith the apostle, 2 Tim. ii. 26, Rom. vii. 23. Sin
it ensnareth a man : Prov. v. 22, His own iniquities shall take the wicked
himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. And we were not only in the bands of iniquity (as the expression is Acts viii. 23), but we should have been reserved, as the devils and his angels are, in chains of darkness. Such an expression the Scripture hath in the epistle of Jude :
< The angels which kept not their first estate, he hath re served in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day; and Peter, Epistle 1, chap. iii. ver. 19, speaks of spirits in prison, which were once disobedient in the days of Noe. Chains ofjthe everlast
ver. 6, he saith,
ing wrath of God, and of guilt, should have bound us over to the great day, bound, and bound hand and foot, as you have it in Mat. xxii. 13,
* Take him, and bind him hand and foot, and cast him into everlasting darkness. This was our condition ; and now because we are bound with these chains, to the end that we might be set free and loosed from them, is Christ bound. For it is a certain rule, what should have been done to us, something cor
respondent was done to Christ ; and the virtue and excellency of his person was such, though it was done to his body, it bringeth us freedom from the
like due to our souls ; and by his being thus bound and led, he himself
afterward, when he ascended, led captivity captive. You have a place ex
press to this purpose, and it is a place that plainly speaks of Christ, for it
is applied unto him by the apostle in 1 Cor. xv. 55 ; the place is Hosea
xiii. 14, I will ransom them from the power of the grave ; I will redeem them from death : death, I will be thy death ; grave, I will be thy de
struction. But what goes before this ? See ver. 12, The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up. God had bound up Ephraim and his iniquity to
gether for hell ; saith he, I will ransom them. And how doth he ransom them ? The truth is, by being bound himself; he standeth bound before God his Father (for he deals with his Father in all this, he doth not deal with the Jews here), and in God s intentions, those fetters that were to be
laid upon us were laid upon him, and so he cometh to free us by virtue of himself being bound ; and thus as we should have been arraigned before the
judgment-seat of God, so was he before Pilate. The analogy holds all along in his sufferings.
Therefore you shall find the scripture follows this metaphor. In Zech.
ix. 10, he tells us, by the blood of the covenant we are delivered, being prisoners of hope. And in Isa. Ixi. 1, and Luke iv. 18, he is said to be
228 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK Y.
anointed to preach liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. And the like you have in Isa. xlii. 7, I have
given thee for a covenant of the people, &c., to bring out the prisoners from
the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. Hence
is it that, when he comes to convert a man to God, he is said to bind the
strong man ; Mat. xii. 28. Whence is it that Christ hath this strength in him (I mean meritoriously) ? Because he himself was bound ; it is by virtue of that that the strong man is bound.
3. Lastly, Will you consider the heart of Christ all this while ? For under
his sufferings it is good to consider that. Certainly Christ s heart was sen
sible of his sufferings in every particular ; none was ever so sensible as he. Why, you shall find how his heart took it, by that speech of his whilst they were a-binding of him. Matthew tells us, chap. xxvi. 55, that he said to
the multitude at that time, Are ye come out as against a thief, with swords and staves for to take me ? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and you laid no hold on me. And now they did. And Luke he tells us
further, chap. xxii. 52, Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of
the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Are ye come out, as
against a thief, with swords and staves ? What ? to bind me as a thief? To deal so dishonestly with me ? This is mentioned as a thing that grieved him, and soaked into his very soul. The dishonour of it did. So to be bound and led was most dishonourable. Thus 2 Sam. iii. 33, 34, David, when he lamented over Abner, expresseth it,
* Died Abner as a fool dies ? That is, as a bold person, a malefactor, by justice, and law convicted :
* Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters, as of malefac
tors it was used to be ; yet this was done to Christ : his hands were bound
in, as of a bold person, and so he was led to death. So in Judas his be
traying of him, What ? thou ? saith he, my familiar friend, that didst eat bread with me, dost thou lift up thy heel against me ? That was it that
did sink into his spirit. And in that Ps. xl. 13, you shall see how this
< Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me ; innumerable evils have compassed me about, so that I am not able to look
act of theirs pierced his soul,
up. His iniquities took hold of his very soul, while they were encompassing him about like dogs. And Ps. xxii. 12, Be not far from me, for trouble is
near. He saw them coming. All this affected the heart of Christ ; for
the psalms lay open his heart, as the evangelists do the outward story. So much now both for the historical opening of the words, and also for that which is the mystery of it. I will now come to an observation or two from
all this that was done to our Lord and Saviour Christ, and from the persons that did it.
Obs. 1. First, from the persons that did it, they are, you see, all here
enumerated, The band, and the captain, and the officers of the Jews. And Luke saith, there were some of the chief priests there (and by chief
priests were meant the heads of the Levites, of which there were twenty-
four), and the captains of the temple, as well as the captain of the Eoman
band, and some of the elders of the people. And it is said of them all, that
they took him (though all could not lay hold on him), because they all
consented to it, because they all gathered round in a ring about him, that he might not escape. Observe, that God takes notice particularly of every one that has any hand (yea, he doth ascribe the act to them if their con
sent be but to it) in persecuting his people, as he did here of these that
persecuted Christ, for there is the same reason of both ; they are all named,
all the sorts of them are enumerated. He takes notice of any one that
CHAP. VIII.] OF CHKIST THE MEDIATOR. 229
doth but cry Aha ! at any thing that is done against a child of God ; as Edom
that cried Aha ! and poor Tyrus, in Ezek. xxvi. 2, because she cried Aha ! and said she should be replenished, she should have the trade now Israel was destroyed, God takes notice of it, and threatens ruin to her for it.
Obs. 2. But, secondly, God did so order it, that in all the sufferings of
Christ, both Jew and Gentile had a hand in them, in every particular action that did befall him. Here was the captain of the Roman band, and the officers of the Jews, and here were the high priests and elders of the people, at the
taking of him ; both the ecclesiastical and civil state. So likewise when he was condemned (for the evangelists carry it along through all the story), there was Pilate the governor, he must have a hand in it ; and there was Herod that was the king of Galilee, he was sent to him also ; and there were the Roman soldiers ; and there were the high priest and the rest of that Sanhedrim. Ecclesiastical state, civil state, Jews, Gentiles, all have a hand in every particular of the suffering of Christ.
Obs. 3. Thirdly, From the consideration of Christ s being bound, take this meditation : let no affliction (for all afflictions are called bands by the apostle
: Remember those that are in bonds, as if ye were bound with
them, Heb. xiii. 3), let no band, I say, be thought too much by you. Be
willing to be bound for Christ, if he call you to suffer ; you see he was will
ing to be bound for us. And never let the vileness of the persons trouble
you, which indeed would even make one s stomach rise, that such should have to do with a man ; consider the Lord of life was apprehended and bound by the basest and vilest sort of men ; for commonly such are those that are employed in such offices. He was taken by the rude soldiers, that
certainly handled him rudely and with violence ; for it is said in Zech.
xiii. 7, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. Now they all ran away when he was bound, therefore they smote him.
Obs. 4. And then again consider, while Christ was bound, all that whole city, the Pharisees and the Jews, they were free. Whilst wicked men do enjoy all liberty and freedom, the church is bound ; so Christ him
self was.
Obs. 5. And then further, we should therefore prize all the liberty and freedom that the gospel affords us, because they are all fruits of
Christ s being bound ; Christ s being bound was it that purchased all our
liberties.
Obs. 6. Lastly, Let the bands of his love draw our hearts, for, as I said
afore, he could have broken all these cords, as Samson did those with which he was bound ; but the cords of love bound him as well as the cords of our
sins. It was these cords fastened him to the cross, more than the nails ;
yea, and bound him there more than our sins did,* or else he would never have suffered himself to be bound. As Paul went up bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, bound up in the bands of love, which made him willing to be bound outwardly, therefore he calls himself the prisoner of Christ, and
to have the bands of Christ upon him, to be the bondman, the vinctus of
Christ ; so doth Christ, he is bound with the cords of love, so they are
* I drew them with the cords of a man, with the bands
called : Hosea xi. 4,
of love. Oh let the love of Christ bind us and constrain us (as the phrase
is 2 Cor. v. 14), to bring every high thought into subjection, into captivity unto him ; so he was for us. And so much for this first circumstance, or this
first beginning of the outward sufferings of our Lord and Saviour Christ, his
being bound : And they bound him. * Qu. our sins bound him more than the cords did ? ED.
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Verse 13. And they led him away to Annas first : for he was father-inlaw to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.
The Scripture doth put much, as upon his being bound, so upon his being led away. And, my brethren, as we go along in opening of these sufferings of Christ, carry in your thoughts still the^person to whom all this was done ;
it was our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Every thing he did in a way of
suffering, how great must it be, think you, when nothing befell him but what was appointed him by his Father, and that in relation to the taking away of our sins !
They led him away. The truth is, his being led up and down is noted in the story as one eminent thing in his suffering, and therefore is not to be
passed by. Those that have made the topography of Jerusalem and those
places, do account it to be seven miles that he was led up and down from
first to last afore he was crucified, which was an exceeding great indignity to him. They hurried him first from the garden to Armas s house ; from thence (as another evangelist tells us) he was led to Caiaphas ; Matthew
tells us he was led from thence to Pilate, to the common hall ; from Pilate he was led to Herod ; from Herod he was led back to Pilate again ; from
Pilate, when he had sentenced him, he was led to the cross. Thus was our Lord and Saviour Christ tossed up and down, and there is particular men
tion made of them all, which could not choose but put him to a great deal of pain and trouble.
And, my brethren, do but consider, do but think of any person that is~a
person of worth, that should be hurried thus up and down from place to
place, with his hands manacled, all the people following him, using all manner of indignities to him ; think of one that you praise and value, either
for the gospel s sake or otherwise ; I say, do but think of such a one, and then behold our Lord and our Saviour Christ in all his tossings and leadings up and down. I remember there is this expression in one of the psalms,* 1 am as a grasshopper, saith he, because he was thus hurried and turmoiled from place to place, his heart was sensible of this.
But what is the mystery of this ? For still let us look to the inward
part of it, as well as to the history of itself.
First, There was a type in it, for every sacrifice was first led to the high
priest, and then offered, Lev. xvii. 5. So Christ, being to be made a sacri
fice for sin, he is carried to the high priest. In the way he goes to Annas, indeed, but afterwards from him he was led to Caiaphas, who was high
priest that year. And to make up the type more full, which is a thing ex
ceedingly observable, it is said in Is. liii. 7, that after our sins were laid upon him, and that the iniquities of us all did take hold on him, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter. Now you must know that the garden from whence he was led stood at the foot of the mount of Olives, beyond the brook Cedron ; and the gate which was next to that place, through which he was to go into the city, was called the sheep-gate, for it was nigh the
temple, which stood on that side of Jerusalem ; and the sheep and oxen (but
especially the sheep, for they sacrificed most of them) that were to be sacri
ficed, were fed in the meadows and fields of Cedron ; and from thence they were led through that gate to the temple to be sacrificed, which therefore was called the sheep-gate. To make up the type therefore more full, and
that you may see how the Scripture opens itself in these things, he is led
* It is not easy to ascertain the expression that the author refers to. There is no such expression in our version, nor do we know of any that could be so rendered. -ED.
CHAP. VIII.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 231
as a sheep to the slaughter, to be a sacrifice for sin (for so the prophet saith he was), even through the sheep-gate.
My brethren, all we like sheep have gone astray (so the prophet saith), and because we had taken our wills in sin, and went whither we would, therefore Christ is bound and led away. It was all because of our wander
ings. He was led away as a sheep to the slaughter, therefore, in Heb. xiii.
20, it is said he was brought back again, he having been first led away as here to death, as he was brought back again through the resurrection ; it is a phrase that hath relation to his being led away. How are we tossed to and fro, hurried up and down with divers lusts, with every wind of our inordinate affections ! Our Lord and Saviour Christ was therefore led from place to place, posted up and down.
And in all these leadings of his, God still would have both the civil and
ecclesiastical state to have a hand and some interest in every sort of his
sufferings. He was led to Annas, that had been high priest, and then to
Caiaphas, that was the present high priest they were the
4chief of the church, as it may be called and then to Pilate, the Roman governor, and then to Herod, the king of Galilee. All the powers that were then in Jerusalem and over Jerusalem, and in those countries, he was brought afore them all, that they might all have a hand and a concurrence in his ruin, that God
might make his sufferings every way complete, that all these might cast dishonour and disgrace upon him. For as honour depends upon the honourer that is truly honour when a person of worth honoureth one so God would have the disgrace and contempt that was cast upon Christ to depend upon the worth of the persons that dishonoured him. There
fore, whatever was excellent in that state, either of kingly power or ecclesi
astical, whatsoever pretended to wisdom or justice, or learning, or religion, God ordered it that all these should have a hand in the condemnation of
Christ, and so they had. The eminency of learning and religion was
amongst the chief priests, they professed it and pretended to it; of justice, in Pilate ; of excellency and kingly power, in Herod. All these concurred.
Therefore, if the saints in after ages find that they are condemned by all
sorts, let them not wonder at it.
And, lastly, he was led out of the garden, whither he used to go for the
enjoyment of communion with his Father (for the evangelists say that to
that place he did often resort to pray) ; and indeed it was his paradise, where he had infinite sweet fellowship and communion with God. Now,
as Adam was driven out of the garden, out of paradise, where he had communion with God, as a punishment for his sin, so is our Lord and
Saviour Christ led out of this garden, which, I say, was to him a paradise, and carried to die and to offer up himself a sacrifice for sin. And so much now for his leading
: they led him. To Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high
priest that same year.
For the opening of the historical meaning of these words, I shall do two
things.
1. Shew who this Annas was, as the text here holds him forth.
2. Open the reasons why he was led first to him.
1. Who he was. Josephus, who writes the story of these times, calls him Annanas. Certainly he was the greatest man amongst the Jews (of a Jew), and of the most illustrious family, which will appear thus. He himself had been high priest formerly: so you have it, Luke iii. 1, In the fifteenth year of Tiberius, Annas and Caiaphas being high priests,
232 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK V.
the word of the Lord came unto John, &c. And the high priest was the
supremest officer, and in highest place among the Jews, though the Komans had the civil power in their hands. Here, you see, his son-in-law
Caiaphas, who married his daughter, or otherwise his son-in-law, was high
priest after him, himself still living ; and after Caiaphas, Josephus tells us, that Eleazar, a son of his own, was high priest also. So that his family was the greatest family among the Jews that lived at Jerusalem, being thus greatened by having the high priesthood successively amongst them, for so they had ; therefore, in Acts iv. 2, you read of Annas and Caiaphas, and John and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high
priest, were gathered together against the apostles at Jerusalem. They followed their old trade still ; and as they had their hands imbrued in the blood of Christ, so in the apostles too. Now, to this man is our Lord and Saviour first brought.
2. Why brought to Annas first ? Some say because he being so great a man, and his house lying in the way to Caiaphas (as indeed it did, if we may believe the new description of Jerusalem, and the relation of those
that have visited it, for they say we have first shewn you the house of
Annas, and then the house of Caiaphas), he was therefore led thither first. But surely that is not all the reason. It is a circumstance not mentioned
by any of the evangelists but by John, and therefore here must be some other ground for their leading of him first to the house of Annas. For we read in Mat. xxvi. 57, and in Mark xiv. 53, that all the chief priests, and
the elders, and the scribes, were assembled at Caiaphas his house, attend
ing the issue of Judas his plot, and waiting when Christ should be brought thither. For them therefore to interrupt their going directly to Caiaphas his house, where all the council was set, and to carry him first to the house of Annas, it must needs be for some special reason. To me therefore there
are these two reasons of it.
The first is that which is expressly mentioned by John himself here in the
text, for (saith he) he was father-in-law to Caiaphas ; which implies that
Caiaphas, either because he honoured his father-in-law, who was the head
of that great family, had given some secret order to the officers to lead him
first thither, or rather indeed, because they would gratify that great man, who was the chief of them that had been high priests, and withal because
they would gratify Caiaphas too, whom they knew they should please by doing this honour to his father-in-law. They carried him to him as a sight, as a spectacle. Lo, here we .have him that is the great enemy to the high
priest s office, that would subvert the law, and pull down the temple ; this
is the prey we have looked long for. And as in a way of gratification Pilate afterward sent him to Herod, so in a way of like gratification he is here
carried to Annas first, sent to him as a gift to cheer and glad his heart. As in Rev. xi. 10, in allusion to the death of Christ (for that chapter carries on that allusion), speaking of the witnesses being killed in that
place where our Lord was crucified, he saith, They shall rejoice over
them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them ; so here, when they had gotten Christ, that had tormented them so, they were so glad they had got him, that in mer riment Caiaphas gives order to have him carried to Annas, as a gift and
gratification to him ; and so Pilate sent him to Herod. Thus to shew
their joy and triumph, they send our Lord and Saviour Christ thus bound from one to another. Lo, here is the man that would destroy the law, and then all our honour must down ; we have him now fast enough. For in-
CHAP. VIII.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 233
deed there is nothing that more pleaseth the revenge of people malicious
against Christ or against his saints, than to see them in their hands, and
* Come, say they in Ps. ii. 3,
to see them under, and to see them down.
let us break their bonds, and cast away their cords from us. And cer
tainly this circumstance is on purpose mentioned by John, as an aggrava tion of the sufferings of Christ, that they not only carried him to the high
priest, but to gratify this wretched man, that was his desperate and most
deadly enemy, whom they knew not only hated him, but that of all other men this sight of Christ being taken and bound would be most acceptable to him, they carry him to his house first of all. This, I say, aggravateth the sufferings of Christ the more.
But, secondly, he was carried thither also that there might be an appro bation visible before all the people, of Annas his approving of the fact, he
being the greatest family of all the rest amongst the Jews. Therefore the 24th verse of this chapter tells us, that Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest ; that was all he did ; he did not command them to unloose
him, but approved what they had done in taking and binding him, and in a way of approbation sent him bound to the high priest s hall, which was a matter of great prejudice unto Christ, and served a little also to take the
envy off from Caiaphas.
My brethren, what a great deal of do is here about a poor man, in view a carpenter s son ! And how glad were the great ones of the world when
they had got him down ! And so it hath been in all ages, the getting down of a poor saint, it hath been the greatest glory to men carnal, as if they had done so great a matter. When they have gotten the witnesses down, as one day they will, they make merry and send gifts one to another. The
poor disciples all this while were a-weeping, while they were making merry ; so Christ himself said it should be : John xvi. 20, The world shall make
merry, but you shall weep.
If therefore at any time we should be made spectacles unto men for Christ s sake, and should be thus served as Christ was, than which there
is nothing more grievous to a great spirit, for misery and shame is more than death to a king, and Saul would not fall into the hands of the Philis
tines, lest they mock me, saith he, 1 Sam. xxxi. 4 ; if, I say, any of us should be so served, made a spectacle to angels and men, as the apostle
saith, 1 Cor. iv. 7, do but remember how they led our Lord and Saviour Christ up and down as a trophy, as a sight to cheer and gratify those that were his enemies. So much for this, that he was sent to Annas first, that was father-in-law to Caiaphas. Of Caiaphas it is said, He u-as high priest that same year. There are some that would make both Annas and Caiaphas to have been high priests together, because in that
place, Luke iii. 2, it is said that John did baptize in the time when Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. But the meaning of that is this, that they were high priests in their order ; in the beginning of John s
preaching Annas was high priest, and after him succeeded Caiaphas.
But why is it said he was high priest that same year ?
It is a thing which John observeth, and none else. He useth that phrase by way of emphasis; you have it twice repeated in the llth chapter: ver. 49, Caiaphas being high priest that same year; and ver. 51,
* He
being high priest that year. And you see it noted here, and noted with an
emphasis. Now that it should be twice noted in one chapter, within the compass of two or three verses, and here again, there must be some spe cial reason for it. It is not that the high priest s office did go year by
234 OF CHEIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK V
year, as mayors in incorporate towns do with us, a new one chose every
year. It is clear by the story of Josephus, that Caiaphas was seven years (some say more) high priest. It is therefore added,
* He was high priest that same year, though he was more years besides, yet it fell out that he should be high priest that year, when under his authority, and by his
power in a more especial manner, and by his counsel, the Lord of life should be crucified.
And yet withal, 2. It is to note and to hold up this before our eyes, the
great corruption that was about the priest s office when Christ was cruci
fied ; for in Num. xxxv. 25, and so in Josh. xx. 6, you shall find that
according to God s institution the high priests were not to be removed, but he was to continue in that office during his life. And likewise he was to be the eldest son of the family of Aaron. Now to shew that this was out
of course ; for the truth is, the Jews being oppressed by the Syrian kings, and afterwards by the Romans, they sold the high priesthood as them
selves pleased, and put in new ones as often as they would, contrary to the institution of God at first ; to shew, I say, the corruption that was then amongst them, this is particularly noted with an emphasis, Caiaphas was high priest that same year, though Annas, that had been high priest, was yet alive.
To give you an observation or two from this. He was high priest that same year
: and if you read John xi. 51, By reason that he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation.
The observation I make from thence is this : that if a man be in a place that is an office instituted by God, though he came into it corruptly, and
is not such a one as ought to be in it, yet whilst he is in ;it, God doth more or less accompany him according to his own institution. This
instance here is clear for this ; for it is certain that the high priests then were not lawfully called to that office ; for there were three circumstances which made their calling unlawful (I do not say unlawful in itself for the
: 1. They were not of the
substance, but unlawful for the act of calling)
tribe of Levi, and of the eldest sons of Aaron ; for so the institution was, it
should have gone by birth, as in Exod. xl. 15. 2. They had not the place for their lives, but were changed and altered at pleasure. 8. They were chosen by the Roman praetors, and by Pilate the Roman governor, and so
it was ordinarily bought and sold for money. Yet notwithstanding Christ, he comes to that worship which this high priest performed, though he came
into the place corruptly ; and the acts which he performed (he being in the room of the high priest) were valid. I say, the acts he performed as high
priest (though unlawfully called), when he went into the Holy of holies
every year, they were acts of worship, and they were valid. Why ? Because the office itself was a place of God s institution. For otherwise Christ had not had opportunities to have fulfilled the whole ceremonial law, if that the
going in of this high priest into the Holy of holies had not continued and been in use ; but it is clear it continued ; for it is said, Paul went up to the feast, that is, the great feast, when the priest went into the Holy of
holies. Christ, you know, he was to fulfil the whole ceremonial law, which he could not have done if he had not come to that feast which was once a
year, for there was a curse upon him that did not, his soul should be cut
off from the congregation ; and upon that day the high priest went into the Holy of holies, and performed those great acts of worship, that was to be done. If Christ had not been present at this feast, and at these perform ances, he had not fulfilled the law ; surely, therefore, when the high priest
CHAP. YIII.J OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 235
was doing his office, Christ was present, and did communicate in this case with this priest, and with these Jews ; and yet this man had not a lawful
calling to the high priesthood, for the manner of it ; but because for the substance of his calling it was lawful, and he was in that office, the acts he did were valid. Even as it is in the laws of this kingdom ; although Richard the Third came into the place of being king unlawfully, yet because when he was in it, it was that lawful place settled by this state, therefore the earls that he made, or the barons, or the acts of parliament that he
confirmed, they were all valid ; for whilst he was in that place, the place was
it (being that which was settled by the law) that gave a validity to all such
acts of his. So it is here. And therefore let it never be said, that because ministers are not oftentimes so called to their places as they ought to be, come not in so rightly as they should, by the choice of those whom it
depends upon, that therefore they are not lawful ministers ; lawful in this
sense, that the acts they do are valid, and are ministerial acts. And indeed
it were a hard case if the lawfulness of all men s being baptized, or receiv
ing the sacrament, or the like, should depend upon the lawfulness of the man s being called to his place. It depends upon the office that Jesus Christ hath instituted in his church, and so far forth as there is anything of his institution, he will follow it with his blessing. The ordinances of
Christ, the validity of them doth not depend upon the lawful call of the minister ; and therefore it is no argument to say, such a man had an unlaw
ful calling to the ministry in that place where I was baptized, therefore my baptism is invalid. For the act and manner of his call may be unlawful,
yet he being in that place, he is for those acts a lawful minister of Christ, and his acts are so accounted by God. So it was here. Caiaphas being in the room of the high priest, the acts he did were acts of the high priest, and were valid. And yet farther, to shew that God himself respected him
as high priest, God put into his mouth that prophecy ; therefore it is said
in John xi. 51, This spake he not of himself, but being high priest that
year, he prophesied. So that God himself was with him as high priest, though for the manner of his calling to this place he was not lawfully and
truly the high priest.
Obs. 2. Then, again, another observation that I may make from hence is
this. This Annas, it is said, was father-in-law to Caiaphas. You see now
by this, how dangerous it is oftentimes to the souls of others to be linked
in affinity with men that are carnal and wicked. How many a man s soul
is undone by his father-in-law, or perhaps the father-in-law by the son : or the husband by the wife, and the wife by the husband. In all likelihood these two here, Annas the father-in-law, and Caiaphas the son-in-law, are both mentioned as having drawn one another into this great conspiracy against our Lord and Saviour Christ, and joining the more heartily in it, the one engaging the other in this wicked design. And therefore men should very much consider into what families they marry, for if into a wicked family, it may be an occasion of much evil to them. Men are drawn
to much wickedness, or strengthened in much wickedness, by their rela
tions, as Annas and Caiaphas were here for the crucifying of Christ, having this relation of father-in-law and son-in-law.
Obs. 3. Lastly, these two, Annas and Caiaphas, they are here noted out
in a peculiar manner above all the rest of the Pharisees, as the most emi nent enemies, and those that did most malign our Lord and Saviour Christ. Observe that God takes special and particular notice of those that are the most eminent enemies of Christ and his saints. Still you see Annas and
236 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK Y.
Caiaphas are mentioned : certainly it is according to their hatred ; these two had a deeper malignity against Christ than other of the Pharisees had ; and therefore you read of them again in Acts iv. 6. Annas the
high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, they are all reckoned
up, they had their hands imbrued in the blood of Christ, and they
go on ; and that is the curse of it, that the same men should finish up their iniquity, by laying hold of the apostles too. And in a more special manner you see there is an emphasis put upon Caiaphas, for it is said, He was high priest that same year. It is noted out as the greatest curse
that could befall that wretched man, he having so much malignity in his
heart against Christ, that it should be his lot to be then high priest, when he had opportunity enough to vent it. So that men of much malice against the people of God, to them doth God give oftentimes most power, and
dignity, and ability to do most mischief. Caiaphas he is put into the high
priesthood, and the providence of God ordereth it so that this man had a more special enmity against Christ, as the next words imply
: It was he
that gave the counsel that one man should die for the people, and that man must be Jesus Christ. And so I come to handle that.
Verse 14, Now Caiaphas was lie that gam counsel to the Jews, that it was
expedient that one man should die for the people.
It implies that Caiaphas was the first man that made the motion to have
Christ put to death, and that with the strongest and most taking plausible reason that could be supposed.
In handling this verse, I shall do two things.
1. Open the words.
2. Give the reasons why they are brought in here.
1. And, first, to open the words. Now Caiaphas was he that gave coun
sel to the Jews, that it was expedient for one man to die for the people. The words, you see, refer to an act formerly done by him. You are there
fore to have recourse to John xi. 49, 50, where you shall find the same
thing recorded ; only there it comes in as a prophecy, here as a counsel
given by himself. You know nothing (saith he there ; he speaks it like
a carnal proud high priest, as if he only had knowledge, taking the glory of this counsel to himself), nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And
this (saith John) spake he not of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation. And yet that he did
speak this of himself too, is clear by these words in the text ; for it is
brought in here as his great sin, and a brand is put upon him for it : This is
he, saith the text ; even as a brand was put upon Ahaz, 2 Chron. xxviii. 22, This is that king Ahaz, so, this is that wicked Caiaphas; this is he that was the first contriver, the first man that made the motion, that gave the
counsel to have Christ put to death.
It is strange that one and the same act should be from the Spirit of God, and called prophecy, and said not to be spoken of himself, and the same act
to be of himself, and called counsel, and one of the greatest sins that hath
been committed. But the meaning is this, that however he had a most
wicked end in this speech, yet notwithstanding, the Holy Ghost (before he was aware) guided his tongue to speak (though he knew it not) that which was a truth, and indeed a prophecy. He spake this not of himself, saith
John, that is, not knowing or intending to prophesy, for as it came from him it was spoken out of spleen, and malice, and hatred unto Christ. And
CHAP. VIII. ] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 237
yet he took upon him to speak like a high priest ; You know nothing at
all, saith he ; I am now the high priest, and I deliver this to you as an
* that it is expedient for one man to die for the people ; and the
oracle,
* This he spake not of himself: but, being high priest that year, he prophesied ; not that the high priests used to prophesy, or that he himself used to pro phesy, but being high priest that year, an emphasis lies in that, wherein
Holy Ghost intended his words should be spoken as the high priest.
Christ was to be crucified, God raised up that ordinance of high priesthood above the ordinary use of it, he being the highest person in that state. And you see he delivers it as a state axiom, and yet with extreme cunning :
It is fit, saith he, that one man should die for the people. He doth not say that it is fit that Jesus should die (he doth not express it so at first), or that this man should die, who is a rebel or a blasphemer, but it is fit one man (let it be him or any one else) should die for the nation ; and what is one man s life to the nation ? And so consequently he implies, that seeing it is this man s lot to disturb the state, and to endanger it by bringing in the Komans amongst us, it is fittest that he should die, rather than the people should perish. And yet if you mark it (to shew the wickedness of his speech yet further), though he puts a public face upon
it, and pretends the preservation of the nation, yet the thing he aimed at was the preservation of the clergy only ; and that moved him so much.
Saith he, You consider nothing at all, that it is expedient for us that one man should die.
* It is expedient for us, that is his expression ; for us that are or shall be high priests ; our calling will down unless this man be taken out of the way.
So much for the opening of the words. Now, secondly, to give you the reasons why he (having said it before in
chap. xi. 50) brings it in again here in this place. 1. It was to set a brand of maliciousness more eminently upon this
Caiaphas than upon any man else ; "and to shew also what an accursed man he was in this, that the motive or the reason that should stick with them all, why they should so fixedly resolve to kill Christ (for, you must know, this speech was first spoken at a consultation they had about taking of him), should come first from him. To set, I say, a note and a brand
upon Caiaphas in a more eminent manner, is this circumstance here by the Holy Ghost inserted, he being the most desperate and malicious enemy of Christ amongst all the Pharisees ; for certainly God chose out the wickedest man among all the Jews to be in the place of the high priest that year, that he and his father-in-law, Annas, should eminently have their hands in
his crucifying.
2. It likewise comes in here to shew upon how slight grounds our Lord and Saviour Christ was crucified ; it was merely but upon politic considera
tions (as to them), and that upon but imaginary suppositions neither, that the nation must perish else ; for so as it came from Caiaphas it was meant, though God guided it to be a prophecy. And so it clears the innocency of Christ so much the more, that the high priest himself, in his counsel about
putting him to death, should only go upon this politic reason, that it was
fit one man should die for the nation. They only did it as a state busi
ness, and that, I say, but upon a mere imagination that the Romans would
else come and take away their place and nation.
3. It is premised unto all the other sufferings of Christ that follow, and
it is inserted here in that passage of the story of his leading to Caiaphas, to shew that there was no equity to be expected in all their proceedings
OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK V.
against him Why ? Because they had resolved, before ever they took
him, to put him to death, and that upon a state consideration ; and there
fore they would be sure to keep to their own resolutions, whether he were innocent or not innocent, whether they could convict him or not convict him. And Caiaphas having spoken so peremptorily, Ye know nothing at
all, neither consider that it is expedient for one man to die for the nation, he being the great oracle in this business, he would certainly prosecute Christ, according to his own words ; therefore there was no favour to be
expected. And to this end also doth the Holy Ghost record it here.
4. But to me the chiefest reason is this. You know it was foretold of Christ that he should not die for himself; so you have it in Isa. liii. 4,
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows : yet we did esteem him stricken of God and afflicted ; so did the apostles and those that beheld him. It was not for himself that he was stricken and afflicted ; no, there was something else in it, it was for others :
* He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, and he was wounded for our transgressions, &c. Now, to the end that you should not only have a word of Scripture for this, but a testimony also even from the mouths of the Jews, and from the mouth of the high priest himself for it, hence, therefore, is the Holy Ghost so diligent to record this passage, that it is expedient that one man should die for the people ; which, though Caiaphas meant one way, God meant another way ; and therefore it is added, and not for that nation
only, but that he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. And therefore, as it was a counsel in Caiaphas, it was a prophecy in God. And so you have the reasons why this passage comes in here. Now to give you some observations out of it.
Obs. 1. You see here what mischiefs and sins state policy ofttimes puts
great men upon. How much state interests prevail to move men against the saints, and the purity of religion. State policy here was the cause of the death of Christ. And yet this very act of theirs, in crucifying the Lord
of life, brought mischief upon the state. Here is Caiaphas, he brings the most authentic state axiom that was ever brought. It is but a small
matter, saith he, it is but one man s life, and it is better for one man to die than the state should perish. He did it, I say, out of the greatest worldly wisdom that ever man did, and yet you know what followed. By this we may come to understand that place in 1 Cor. ii. 8, where, speaking of the
* We speak the wisdom of God in a mys
crucifying of Christ, saith he,
tery, which none of the princes of this world knew ; for had they known
it, they would not have crucified the Lord of life ; but, saith he, as for the wisdom of this world, and of the princes of the world, it comes to
* The wisdom of this world is fool
nought, for (as it is, chap. iii. ver. 19),
ishness with God, for it is written, he taketh the wise in their own crafti
ness. By the princes of this world it is evident that he means the Jews, the Pharisees, and the rulers, Pilate and Herod, and the rest that put Christ to death ; this great Sanhedrim here, Annas and Caiaphas, and their
fellows, and Pilate ; for he went on the same worldly principle too, for whenas the Jews told him that if he did not put Christ to death he was not
Caesar s friend, the text saith, Therefore when Pilate heard that saying, Go crucify him, saith he ; it was state policy did it. They all thought they were so wise in putting Christ to death upon this state axiom ; and it was a fair one. This wisdom, saith the apostle, came to nought ; God made the wisdom of the world foolishness ; for, alas ! were ever men befooled as
these men were ? For this very crucifying of Christ was their ruin, that
CHAP. YIIL] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 239
brought the Romans upon them. Yea, if you read Josephus and others, you shall find that that which strengthened them to rebel against the Romans was their very looking for the Messiah, and the prophecies they had, that about that time the Messiah should come.
Ohx. 2. A second observation that I make upon this is this, that a state
is not to put a man to death merely and simply for the public good, unless he is an offender. For here this state maxim the Pharisees and Pilate took
up, and used as the great plausible argument to the people ; yet it being
against a man s life, supposed innocent (whether they knew him to be the
Christ or not), it is noted as a high and mighty injury, and as an act of
the greatest injustice in them. It is the greatest instance this that can be, that no evil is to be done that good may come by it. An innocent man is not to be put to death, nor innocent men to be injured or wronged (if they be innocent) for a public good. A man s life is not to be taken away merely to save a state. Indeed, if a case of necessity lie, so as that a man offer himself freely up for the saving of a state, as some noble Romans have done, that is another matter ; but to condemn a man to death simply to save a
state, ought not to be.
Obs. 3. You may observe, that carnal men, when they would prevail with others to do anything, they will speak to their very lusts. All their
hearts here were on fire against Jesus Christ ; Caiaphas now speaks the
highest reason to the lusts of the Jews that could be, invents a reason upon which they should put him to death, a most plausible one, colours it over
so cunningly as might take with all the people. It is better, saith he, that one man be put to death, than that the whole nation should perish ; he knew
this would move them all, and all that is in them. I say he gave counsel
to their lusts ; and so you shall have carnal men to do, speak to men s lusts, and vent their own lusts too, vent their own malice ; for so Caiaphas did.
It is expedient for us, saith he, for us that are the priests, but puts it
upon the people, that one man should die for the people. Obs. 4. Observe hence likewise, what a dangerous thing it is to be the
first mover in any great wickedness. Here you see Caiaphas, because he was the first that gave counsel against Christ, he is noted out in a way of
* This is he that gave counsel that it was expedient for one man to die for the nation. He did it cunningly and
eminency, with this brand upon him,
plausibly, but God for all that took notice of it, and lays this great load upon him, This is the man. Therefore, I say, to be the first mover and leader
in a wicked business, as Annas and Caiaphas was in the great business of
crucifying Christ, is a dangerous thing. And you see one wicked, cunning man
will carry the whole. Caiaphas here spake such great reason, that he carried them all ; but such men, of all others, that are the counsellors in evil, and
that are the first counsellors in evil, though they glory and pride themselves in
* You know nothing at all, saith he such men will God brand, as he branded him here, and their damnation shall be
it as certainly as this man did,
great at last. Poor Caiaphas, there was another that gave counsel that Jesus Christ should be put to death afore thou didst, and that was God the
Father; for in Acts iv. 28, Both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. There was not only his wisdom, his counsel, but his hand, his power in it, though it was the
greatest sin in the world. Yea, God the Father had given counsel to Christ himself to do it, before ever Caiaphas had spoken
* I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel. And what was the counsel he
: Ps. xvi. 7,
240 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK V.
gave him ? He bade him die for his people, and he would raise him up ; and therefore my reins instruct me in the night season, saith he ; that
night when he was in the garden, and when he was before Pilate, God s counsel was to him to do it, beforehand, and he blesseth God, that gave him that counsel. This psalm is a psalm in relation to Christ, and it is
spoken of his death and resurrection.
Obs. 5. Lastly, observe this, that oftentimes the speeches of great per sons (as of fathers concerning their children, &c.), which they do not speak
prophetically, as in their intentions, yet they are so in the event. As Homer brings in the dream of Agamemnon. So Pharaoh dreamed, and Nebuchadnezzar dreamed. Yet oftentimes princes and others do utter
speeches that have a prophetical meaning in them in the conclusion. It is
dangerous therefore for a man to curse himself, to wish this or that upon himself, for whilst thou dost it in a corrupt passion, out of a corrupt heart, God may turn it to a prophecy ; therefore take heed of such speeches upon all occasions. And so much for this 14th verse.