me afterwards.

On Peter's confidence, Jesus foretells his fall.

293

but thou shalt follow ing? Jesus answered him, I tell thee, Peter, SECT. Whither I am going thou canst not directly fol- clxxi. low me now; for thou art intended for service John in my church for many future years: but let it XIII.36. suffice thee, that thou shalt follow me afterwards

I follow thee now? I

in the same way, and dwell perpetually with 37 Peter said unto me. Peter said to him, in a transport of eager 37 him, Lord, why cannot and tender affection, Lord, why cannot I follow will lay down my life thee now? Whatever difficulties and dangers may be in the way, the prospect of them does not discourage me; for I will most willingly lay down my life for thy sake, and had much rather die than part with thee.

for thy sake.

38-Jesus answered

down thy life for my

But Jesus answered him, Wilt thou indeed so 33 him, Wilt thou lay readily lay down thy life for my sake? Alas, thou knowest not thine own weakness, or thou wouldst never talk thus confidently.

sake?

LUKE XXII. 31

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

And the Lord added with great earnestness, Luke and said, O Simon, Simon, I must tell thee, that XXII.31 an hour of terrible trial is just at hand, which will press harder than thou art aware on thee, and on all thy companions here: for behold, Satan, as in the case of Job (Job ii. 4, 5), has requested of God a permission [to assault] you all by furious and violent temptations, that he may toss you up and down, and sift [you] like 32 But I have prayed wheat in a sieve: (compare Amos ix. 9.) But 32 fail not; and when 1, foreseeing the danger to which thou, Peter, art converted, wilt peculiarly be exposed, have graciously prestrengthen thy bre- vented thee with the tokens of my friendly care,

for thee, that thy faith

thou

thren.

and have prayed to my Father for thee, that he
would communicate to thee such supplies of
grace that thy faith may not utterly fail, and
sink under the violent shock it is to receive:
and let me now exhort thee, that when thou art
returned from those wanderings, into which I
know thou wilt fall, to the paths of wisdom and
duty, thou wouldst be sure to make it thine
immediate care to strengthen thy brethren; and
do thine utmost, all the remainder of thy days,

to

A Thou shalt follow me afterwards.] I am ready to think our Lord here obliquely hints at what he afterwards farther signified in his command to Peter after his resurrection, when he ordered him to follow him (John xxi. 18, 19, sect. cci); namely, that Peter should die on the cross for his sake; which ancient history assures us that he did. See Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib, iii. cap. 1.

e When thou art returned, &c.] Ko
πολύ επέστρεψας, ςηριξον της αδελφος σε. I
cannot think the authorities which the
learned Elsner produces (Observ. Vol. I.
p. 276, 277) sufficient to induce us, with
Sir Norton Knatchbull, to translate these
words, Do thou, some time or other, con-
vert and strengthen thy brethren.-For the
signification of nippay, see Acts ix. 35;
xi. 21; xiv. 15.
O o 2

f Make

294

Reflections on Christ's care of his apostles.

clxxi.

SECT to engage all over whom thou hast any influence, to a steady adherence to my cause, in the midst of the greatest difficulties.

Luke

XXII.33

And such was still the confidence that Peter had of his own stedfastness and zeal, that he said to him, with renewed eagerness and warmth, Lord, what I said but now is the deliberate sentiment and resolution of my heart: lead me therefore whither thou pleasest: for I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death itself, and whatsoever I may suffer by continuing with thee, none of the most eruel of thine enemies shall ever be able to part us.

33 And he said unto

him, Lord, I am ready

into prison, and to death.

to go with thee, both

34 And he said,

unto thee] Peter, the

crow

that thou knowest me.

But Jesus, that he might convince him of his weakness, and prevent his ever trusting in his [Verily, verily, I say own heart again, said to him, Peter, I know the cock shall not sincerity of thine intention, yet I most assuredly this day, before that say unto thee, It shall not be the time of cock- thou shalt thrice deny crowing to-day, before thou shalt be so terrified at the faces of these enemies whom thou now defiest, that thou shalt thrice deny that thou so much as knowest me, and shalt solemnly disclaim all regard to me. (Compare Mat. xxvi. 34, and Mark xiv. 30, sect. clxxxi.)

[JOHN XIII.-38.]

IMPROVEMENT.

Luke

ALAS, how ready are we to forget ourselves; and how much xxii. 3. safer are we in Christ's hands than in our own! How frequently do we resolve like Peter, and in how many instances do

f Make it thine immediate care, &c.] I can see no objection against taking the charge in this comprehensive sense: and as I question not but Peter, after he had wept his fall so bitterly, as we know he did, applied himself to rally his dispersed brethren, and to prevent their fleeing from Jerusalem, till the third day was over, in the morning of which he was up betimes, and early at the sepulchre of our Lord: (see John xx. 2, 3, sect. cxciv.) So indeed the strain of his epistles shews his long and affectionate remembrance of this solemn charge. Many passages of the first are peculiarly intended to animate his Christian brethren to a courageous adherence to Christ amidst the greatest dangers, 1 Pet. i. 6, 7; ii. 19, 20; iii. 14-18; iv. 12-19; v. 8, 9, 10; and the second has several cautions to guard them against the seductions of error, in some instances more to be dreaded than the terrors of the severest persecution. 2 Pet. i. 10, 12; ii. 1, 2, 20, 21; iii. 2, 17.

we

As

g It shall not be the time of cock-crowing to-day.] A careful perusal of sect. clxxxi. compared with this, will shew why I have not here brought in the account which Matthew and Mark have given us of Christ's admonitions to Peter and bis brethren on this head; which appear to be the renewal of this some hours after. it is plain from thence and the event, that the cock actually crew before Peter's third denial, we must certainly take the words of Luke and John, as in this version, for the common-time of cock-crowing, which probably did not come till after the cock which Peter heard had crowed the second time, and perhaps oftener. For it is well known those vigilant animals, on any little disturbance, often crow at midnight, or before it; though they do not come from their roost till about three in the morning, which was usually called the cock-crowing. (Mark xiii, 35) See Dr. Whitby's note on Mat. xxvi, 34.

Christ, after supper, institutes the eucharist.

295

clxxi.

we fall like him! We see the malice of Satan, and how eagerly he SECT. desired to try the apostles, and even to sift them as wheat: we see also the gracious care of our Redeemer, who, foresceing the danger 31 of his servants, laid in an unsought remedy, to which they respec- 32tively owed their security, or their recovery.

Let us rejoice that the great enemy is under such restraints, and can have no power against us, unless by permission from above. Let us rejoice that Christ is a constant and invariable Friend to his people; and still appears as an Advocate with the Father, and as a tender faithful Shepherd, watching over them for good, while Satan is seeking to devour them. (1 Pet. v. 8.) If at any time that adversary get an advantage over us, let us endeavour in the strength of Divine grace an immediate recovery; and when restored, let us exert ourselves to strengthen our bre--32 thren for surely it is most reasonable that we, who are surrounded with such various, and such sensible infirmities, should have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way. (Heb. v. 2.)

In this instance, as in all others, let us be mindful of the dying John charge, the new commandment of our dear Lord; and let us shew xiii. 34 upon all occasions this distinguishing badge of our relation to him, even our love to each other. So will our profession be adorned, and the Son of man be farther glorified, by the conduct of his 31 servants on earth: so shall he at length glorify us with himself, and after a short absence call us to follow him into those regions of perfect love which must of course be the seats of ever-36 lasting joy.

In the mean time, send down, O gracious Emmanuel, thy Spirit of love on all thy followers; that we may no longer glory in the little distinctions of this or that party, but may shew we are Christians by this resplendent ensign of our order! May we bind 35 it on our shoulders as a mark of honour, and wear it as a crown upon our heads; that the spirit of hatred, reproach, and persecution may vanish like an unwholesome mist before the sun, and it may again be universally said, as of old, Behold, how these Christians love one another! Amen.

SECT. CLXXII.

Christ, at the conclusion of the passover, institutes the eucharist.
Mat. XXVI. 26-30. Mark XIV. 22-26. Luke XXII. 19, 20.

MAT. XXVI. 26.

AND as they were eating, Jesus took

bread, [LUKE, and

SUCH

MAT. XXVI. 26.
was the admonition that Christ
gave to
Peter, and such was his discourse with his'

SECT. clxxii.

Mat.

gave disciples while they were at supper: and now, XXVI.

296

Mat.

He distributes bread and wine as his body and blood.

it, and gave it to the

disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, [LUKE, which do in remembrance of is given for you: this me.] [MARK XIV. 22, LUKE XXII, 19.]

SECT. as they were eating, or just as they had finished, gave thanks,] and clxxii. the paschal supper, Jesus took a cake of bread; blessed it, and brake and having in a solemn manner given thanks to XXVI. his heavenly Father, and blessed [it], that is, hav26 ing implored the Divine blessing on it, and on the ordinance then to be instituted, that it might in all succeeding ages tend to the edification and comfort of his people; he brake the bread into several pieces, and gave some of [it] to each of the disciples present, and said, Take this bread, and eat it with reverence and thankfulness; for this is my body, that is, it is the sensible sign and representation of my body, which is freely given, and is speedily to be broken, bruised, wounded, and even slaughtered for you. Do this hereafter, in your assemblies for religious worship, in a pious and affectionate commemoration

a Just as they had finished the paschal supper.] Maimonides and other rabbies tell us that it was a rule among the Jews, at the end of the supper, to take a piece of the lamb for the last thing they eat that night. (See Ainsworth, as quoted before, note e, p. 274.) If this custom was as old as Christ's time, it would make this action so much the more remarkable. It would plainly shew that the bread here distributed wasa very distinct thing from the meal they had been making together; and might be, in the first opening of the action, a kind of symbolical intimation that the Jewish passover was to give way to another and nobler divine institution.

b Blessed it] It is not expressly said in the original that Christ blessed it, that is, the bread (nor indeed that he brake it); but it is very reasonable to imagine that this thanksgiving was attended with a prayer that the Divine blessing might accompany the bread. And it is so very plain from 1 Cor. x. 16, that the apostles taught Christians to bless the cup, that I cannot but wonder that one of the most accurate and penetrating writers of our age should scruple to allow that Christ blessed the sacramental elements. The same word is used in Mat. xiv. 19. Mark vi. 41. viii. 7. and Luke ix. 16. where it is certain an extraordinary blessing attended the bread and fishes in answer to his prayers. (See also Mark x. 16. Luke ii. 34. and Gen. ii. S. Septuag.) It would indeed be absurd to interpret this of his conferring a virtue on bread so set apart, to work as a charm, either on men's bodies or souls; but I hope few Christians are so ill instructed as to imgine this to be the case in the eucharist; and all wise and faithful ministers will, no

of

doubt, be solicitous to preserve them from so wild and mischievous a notion.

c This is my body ] When I consider that (as a thousand writers have observed) on the same foundation on which the Papists argue for transubstantiation from these words, they might prove, from Ezek. v. 1-5, that the prophet's hair was the city of Jerusalem; from John x. 9. and xv. 1, that Christ was literally a door and a vine; and from Mat. xxvi. 27, 28, and 1 Cor. xi. 25, that the cup was his blood, and that Christ commanded his disciples to drink and swallow the cup; I cannot but be astonished at the inference they would deduce from hence. Had Irenæus or Epiphanius reported such a thing of any sect of ancient heretics now extinct, one would have been so candid to human nature as to suppose the historian misinformed. As it is, one is almost tempted to suspect it to be the ef fect of arrogance rather than error; and to consider it as a mere insolent attempt to shew the world, in the strongest instance they could invent, what monstrous things the clergy should dare to say, which the wretched laity should not dare to contradict; nay, which they should be forced to pretend they believed. In this view the thought is admirable, and worthy the most malicious wit that ever lorded it over the heritage of God. But it may deserve some serious reflection, whether it be not an instance of infatuation, to which God has given them up, that it may be a plain mark to all that will use common sense, of the grossest error in a church which claims infallibility; and may not be intended by Providence as a kind of antidote against the rest of its poison.

After

His blood is shed for the forgiveness of sins.

297

clxxii.

of me, that you may keep up the memory of my SECT.
dying love, may openly profess your depen-
dance on my death, and impress your hearts Mat.
with a becoming sense of it. (Compare 1 Cor. XXVI.
xi. 24.)

And in like manner, after they had supped, he 27 also took the cup, that is, another cup different from that which he had before divided among thanks, and gave it to them (Luke xxii. 17. p. 275); and when them, saying, Drink he had given thanks to his heavenly

all drank of it.] [MARK ther, and implored his blessing upon it, as a
XIV. 23.] [LUX* solemn sacramental sign, he gave [it] to them,
XXII. 20.-]
and said, Drink ye all of it, that is, of the wine
which it contains: and accordingly they all
drank some of it. For, said he to them, as he 28
delivered it into their hands, This cup of wine is
a representation of my blood, [even] of that
or the new testament] blood which is the great basis of the new cove-
[in my blood), which is nant, [or] is itself the seal of the new covenant,
shed [LUKE, for you
and] established in my blood, which is shed for you,
[and] for many more, as the great ransom to be