The second Exposition.
ANd thats ofn Hierome, ando Theophylact, who conceiue by the bodie to be meant Christ suffering, and dead vpon the Crosse: by the Eagles the Saints, whose gar∣ments are washed in the blood of the Lambe: and by the gathering together, the efficacie of his pas∣sions: Wheresoeuer the dead body is, as S. Matthew hath it; and in Iob, Wheresoeuer the wounded, or slaine is; which reading Th•ophylact keepeth, not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; to which alsop Beza doth assent, not the body, but the carcasse, to which the Eagles are gathered.
Holy Scripture proclaymeth that Christ suffe∣red, that Christ died for vs vpon the Crosse: witnesse theq Tormentors, that abstained from breaking of his leggs, because he was dead alrea∣dy; witnesse Ioseph ofr Arimathea, that petitio∣ned to Pilate for his body, wownde it in linnen cloathes, laid it in a graue, which was signed with the common signet, where it abode three dayes till the resurrection: witnesse himselfe, he bowed his head,s (saith the Scripture) and gaue vp the Page 11 Ghost: He bowed himselfe, whom the Crucifiers could not bowe; and gaue vp the Ghost, gaue it vnto his Father, who gaue it vnto him. Quod amittitur necessarium est,* quod emittitur volunta∣rium: In amission the act is necessarie, in emissi∣on voluntary: Quis ita dormit quando voluerit, sicut Iesus mortuus est quando voluit? Who could euer fall asleepe so when he would; as Christ died when he would?t Quis ita vestem deponit, quan∣do voluerit, sicut Iesus mortuus est quando voluit? Who euer laid aside his garment so, when hee would, as Christ stript himselfe out of his flesh, when he had a will so to doe? Quis ita cum vo∣luerit abijt, quomodo Christus cùm voluerit, obijt? Who so willingly departed any whither, as Christ out of this world, when he saw his time? according to that prediction of Esay, Oblatus est, quia voluit: whereof S. Bernard giues the reason; Ipse oblatio, & offerens; He was the Priest, and the Host; the sacrifice and the Sacrificer: Natus est, and datus est, passus est, and mortuus est: no rea∣son of his birth, and death, but his charity that made him will; his will answerable to his cha∣ritie.
In theu 40 Psalme: Sacrifice, and burnt offering thou wouldst not haue, but a body hast thou ordayned me: which latter clause though it answer not the Originall; yet the* Septuagint so translate it; the Apostle to thex Hebrewes so quotes it; andy S. Augustine so reads it.
A body hast thou ordayned me: a true body, not a phantasticall, as Manicheus; a terrestriall, not Page 12 a celestiall body, against Valentinus; a body that might really suffer, and not appeare to suffer, against Hilary;* a body like vnto our body, be∣cause the Host of our redemption was to be, & nostri generis socia, & nostrae contaminationis alie∣na, sayesa Leo; like vnto vs in nature, for whom he suffered; vnlike vnto vs in sinfull nature, for which he suffered.
The Deity was impatible; no passion, no sor∣row, no griefe, could fasten vpon the Godhead: the sting of death could not pierce the diuine substance: God could not suffer, could not be wounded, could not be nayled to the Crosse, could not dye;b therefore suscepit ex nobis, quod possit offerre pro nobis; He tooke that of vs, that hee might offer for vs: a body capable of the Crosse, of the passions vpon the Crosse, of the death of the Crosse.
He tooke it, and he offered it, like vnto the Moone, acceptam refero, all the light receiued from the Sunne by reflection, shee communicates vnto vs inferiour creatures: Verbum caro factum est, the Word was made flesh, there he tooke it; and that fl•sh w•nt the way of all fl•sh, for hee died; and so offered a body, that might, and did suffer; a body that might and did dye vpon the Crosse: His natiuitie was praeludium passionis, a passage to his passion: Borne hee was, that hee might liue; liue that he might worke; worke that he might suffer; suffer that he might die; die that we might liue, and be borne againe: and so came he from heauen to the wombe, from the Page 13 wombe to the Cratch, from the Cratch to the Crosse, from the Crosse to the graue: And thus 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 was turned into 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; a body into a dead body, He died for vs.
And though by death Christs body was with∣out soule; yet not without God.* The soule for a time was parted from the body; The Godhead neuer was distracted either from soule or body: The dissolution was in one of the natures, not of the natures: for if the natures had beene diuided, there had beene a double subsistence; and so by consequence a double person, which was the He∣resie of Nestorius: The Godhead is wedded to the Humanitie without all possibilitie of diuorce: Our Sauiours soule in his Agonie, felt not the presence of the Godhead; yet non soluit vnionem, though subtraxit visionem;* the vision was eclip∣sed, the diuine vnion was not dissolued: The bo∣die in the graue enioyes not the soule; yet though the soule departed, the vnion was not parted: The passion of Christ (saith S. Austen) was the sleepe of his Diuinitie: and by the like propor∣tion may I say, The death of Christ was the sleep of his Humanitie: yet heres the difference; In the passion, the Humanitie was forsaken of the Deity, but apparently; the body of the soule re∣ally: Life was separated, yet the Hypostasis remai∣ned. So great is the vnion betwixt God, and man, Vt nec supplicio possit dirimi, nec morte distingui;* That neither death, nor passions could breake it asunder.
The Schoolemen obserue, that there is Vnum Page 14 per vnitatem, and vnum per vnionem, The Father and the Sonne are one by consubstantiall vnitie: God and man are one by Hypostaticall vnion; In the Father, and the Son there is alius, & alius, not aliud, and aliud, a personall difference, but a naturall vnity: In Christ there is aliud, and aliud, not alius, and alius, a naturall distinction, but a personall vnion. The Godhead in one act assu∣med the Manhood both soule, and body, and as vna est assumptio, so vna est vnio, the vnion is but one; by vertue whereof he is vnited to soule, and body. For a demonstration hereof, Bonauenturec obserues in that vnion three things; 1. Actio vnibilis; 2. passio vnibilis; and 3. relatio vnibilis: the first is whereby God assumed man; so the Word was made flesh: the second, whereby the humanity subsisteth in the Deity: the third, as there is a double relation had to soule, and body: So Christ is vnited by one act, but yet by a double relation to soule, and body: double in power, in the assumption of the humanity: double in act, in the dissolution of the humane nature.
Thus we see the body without a soule by death, but not without the Godhead: disiointed, not disunited: dissolued in nature, not diuorced in person: So we haue seene the body made a car∣kas, let vs now see the collection, the gathering together.
Foure things in Christ to vs are very obser∣uant: 1. his calling; 2. his inuiting; 3. his ga∣thering; 4. and his drawing of vs: For the first he saith,d Venite ad me, &c. Come vnto me all Page 15 ye that are weary, and heauy laden, &c. For the second;e He sent his seruant at supper time, to in∣uite the guests, &c. For the third,f Ierusalem, Ierusalem, how often would I haue gathered thee together, &c. And for the fourth,g If I be lifted vp, will draw all after me. Oh the peruers∣nesse of man! Christ calleth; we stop our eares at the voyce of this celestiall Charmer: he inuiteth, but we make excuses: hee would gather vs, but wee would not: yet when these will not serue, (O rare mercy!) he draweth; Trahit inuitos,* & facit voluntarios: He draweth vs vnwilling, that he might make vs willing to be gathered.
I am now speaking of his gathering together, and see with what passion, and compassion hee speakes to Ierusalem: Ierusalem,* and O Ierusa∣lem, I would gather; and how often would I ga∣ther thee; gather thee as a Hen, and as a Hen her Chickens; her Chickens vnder her wings: The damnable obstinacy of the Citizens that did re∣fuse it.
See how opposite Christ is vnto Sathan: Christ he gathereth, the deuill disperseth: Christ gathereth as a Hen, the deuill disperseth as a Lyon; Christ vnder his wings, the deuill within his jawes.
The Prophet Dauids prayer was,h Protect me vnder the shadow of thy wings: then were Christs wings displayed, when his armes were stretched out vpon the Crosse; then were his armes, and body open to embrace thee; opened indeed, by the nailes, by the speare, by the thornes; and so Page 16 he did both cor, and brachia, and latus aperire, saithi Stella: opened all for thee, that heauen might be opened to thee; see the gathering to∣gether.
The Eagles then, the Saints must, and doe re∣sort to this body, and let it be our practice, to re∣sort vnto it, by a commemoration of his death, by an application of his merits.
[ 1] Let vs remember him who hath remembred, and thus remembred vs, as to call, to inuite vs, to draw, and to gather vs together. Domine quid est homo? Lord what is man? that thou shouldest thus remember him? Man, forlorne man: man, rebellious man: man, sinfull man: And, homo, quid est Deus? Man, what is the Lord? that hee should remember thee: the Lord that made thee, re-made thee: the Lord that gaue thee life, died for thee, &c. It was Opus sine exemplo, gratia sine merito, donum sine pretio, charitas sine modo, saies mellisluent Bernard: A worke not to be sampled, grace not to be merited, a gift not to be prised, charity not to bee measured: While the first A∣damk slept in the garden, Eue was framed: while the second Adam slept in the graue, the Church was formed: when the body was a carkas, were the Eagles gathered together.
[ 2] Let vs gather together his merits to vs, to make them efficacious;* That Iesus would be to vs a Iesus. This it is to build our nests in the clefts of the Rocke: The Rocke is Christ, the clefts are the wounds of Christ: to build our nests, is by interesting our selues through faith in his merits: Page 17 Vt illel sit salus in te, qui suscepit vulnera propter te: That he might be a plaister, an Antidote to thee, that was wounded for thee: and remember,m Non itur ad Christum, nisi per Christum: no flying to Christ but by Christ: therefore he saith,n I am the way, the life, and the truth. I am the way which leadeth to the truth; I am the truth that promise life; I am the life which I lay downe for the life of the world: Clamat errantibus, Ego sum via; clamat dubitantibus, Ego sum veritas: clamat lacescentibus, Ego sum vita:* Christ is the way for vs to walke, truth vs to direct, life vs to refresh.
These things considered, let vs take our Ea∣gles wings, that we may be safe vnder the prote∣ction of his wings; and flye vnto the body: So where the body is, shall the Eagles be gathered to∣gether: And thus much for the second expo∣sition.
