know this man whence he is, but when the Meffias comes, no man knoweth whence he is. This to be fure was no juft exception in reafon against him. For what if his extraction were known, might he not be from God for all that? They owned Mofes for the greatest Prophet that ever was, and yet it was, very well known from whence he was. But they feem to refer to fome prophecy of the Old Teftament, which did feem to affert fo much. If they meant that his extraction fhould be altogether unknown; they knew very well and believed the contrary, that he was to be of the line of David, and to come out of Bethlehem. If they referred to that prophecy, that a virgin fhould conceive and bear a fon, and fo understood that he fhould be without father; this was really true, though they thought that he was the fon of Jofeph. And if he affirmed that he had no father, he did fufficiently juftify it by his miracles, that being as eafy to be believed poffible by a divine power, as the miracles which he wrought; which yet they could not deny, because they faw them. 2. Another prejudice against his extraction was the meannefs of his parents and breeding. This you find mentioned, Matth. xiii. 54, 55. Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's fon? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James and Fofes, and Simon and Judas? and his fifters are they not all with us? whence then hath this man these things? and they were offended at him. And fo likewife John vii. 15; How knoweth this man letters, having never learned ? A ftrange prejudice and moft unreasonable! They could not believe him to be an extraordinary perfon, because his parents and relations, his birth and breeding were fo mean. He had been brought up to a trade, and not brought up to learning: whereas in reason, this ought to have been an argument just the other way; that he was an extraordinary perfon, and divinely affifted, who all on the fudden, without the help and affiftance of education, gave fuch evidence of his great wifdom and knowledge, and and did fuch mighty works. This could not be im puted to his breeding, for that was mean; therefore there must be fomething extraordinary and divine in it. Thus another man who had been free from prejudice, would have reasoned. 3. The most unreasonable prejudice of all, in re fpect of his extraction, was grounded upon a spite ful and malicious proverb, concerning the country where our Saviour was brought up, and they fuppo fed him to be born; and that was Galilee, John i 46. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? and John vii. 41. Shall the Meffias come out of Galilee and v. 52. Search and look, for out of Galilee arifeth no Prophet. But it feems Nathanael, who was a good man, was easily taken off from this common prejudice, when Philip faid to him, come and fee. He bids him come and fee the works he did, and then refers it to him, whether he would believe his own eyes or an old proverb However, it feems the Jews laid great weight upon it, as if this alone were enough to confute all his miracles; and, after they had hot this bolt at him, the bufinefs were concluded clearly against him. But prudent and confiderate men do not ufe to give much credit to ill natured proverbs; the good or bad characters which are given of countries, are not understood to be univerfally true, and without exception. There is no place but hath brought forth fome brave fpirits, and excellent perfons, whatever the general temper and difpofition of the inhabitants may be. Among the Grecians, the Boeotians were esteemed a dull people, even to a proverb; and yet Pindar, one of their chief Poets, was one of them. The Scythians were a barbarous nation, and one would have thought no good could have come from thence; and yet that country yielded Anacharfis an eminent. Philofopher. The Idumeans were aliens and ftrangers to the covenant and yet Job, one of the best men that ever was, came from thence. God can raife up eminent perfons from any place; Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, and an idolatrous people. Nay, as our Saviour tells us, B. 3 be can out of ftones raise up children unto Abraham. The wife God, in the government of the world, does not ty himself to our foolish proverbs. It is not neceffary to make a man a prophet, that he fhould be bred in a good air. If God fends a man, it matters not from what place he comes. Secondly, Another head of exception against our Saviour, was the meannefs of his outward condition, fo contrary to the univerfal expectation of the Jews. The Jews from the tradition of their fathers, to which they (as the Church of Rome does at this day) paid a greater reverence than to the written word of God, were poffeft with a strong perfuafion, that the Meffias, whom they expected, was to be a great Prince and conqueror, and to fubdue all nations to them; fo that nothing could be a greater defeat to their expectations, than the mean and low condition in which our Saviour appeared; fo that upon this account they were almoft univerfally offended at him. For But this prejudice was very unreasonable. neither did their Prophets foretel any fuch thing, as the temporal greatnefs of the Meffias: But on the contrary most exprefly, that he should be defpifed and rejected of men, that he should be a man of forrows and fufferings, and at last be put to death; which was directly contrary to what they expected from their ill-grounded tradition. Thirdly, Againft his miracles they made these two exceptions: 1. That he wrought them by magical skill, and by the power of the Devil. Which was fo exorbitantly unreasonable and malicious, that our Saviour pronounceth it to be an unpardonable fin; and for anfwer to it, appeals to every man's reafon, whether it was likely that the Devil fhould confpire against himself, and affift any man to overthrow his own kingdom: For it was plain, our Saviour's doctrine was directly contrary to the Devil's defign; and therefore to affift him to work miracles for the confirmation of it, must have been been apparently against his own interest, and to the ruin of his own kingdom. 2. They pretended that though he did many great works, yet he gave them no fign from heaven. Matth. xvi. 1. it is faid, They defired him to fhew them a fign from heaven, It feems they expected that God hould give fome immediate teftimony to him from heaven; as he did to Elias, when fire came down from heaven, and consumed his enemies; and particularly they expected, that when he was upon the cross, if he were the true Meffias, he should have come down and faved himself. And becaufe he did not anfwer their expectation in this, they concluded him an impoftor. Now what could be more unreasonable, when he had wrought fo many other and great miracles, perverfly to infift upon fome particular kind of miracle which they fancied as if God were bound to gratify the curiofity of men ; and as if our Saviour were not as much declared to be the Son of God, by rifing again from the dead, as if he had come down from the cross. Fourthly, As to his converfation, they had thefe three exceptions: 1. That he used no feverity in his habit or diet,' took too much freedom, as they thought; came eating and drinking, that is, he freely used the creatures of God, for the end for which they were given, with temperance and thanksgiving; and did not lay thofe rigorous reftraints upon himself in thefe matters, which many, that were efteemed the most religious among them, used to do. But he plainly fhews them, that this exception was merely out of their prejudice against him. For if he had come in the way of aufterity, they would have rejected him as well. They were refolved to find fault with him whatever he did, Matth. xi. 16. Whereunto fhall I liken this generation? John the baptift came neither eating nor drinking, and they fay be hath a Devil. He lived in a more auftere and melancholy way, he came in the way of righteousnefs, ufed great strictnefs and feverity in his habit and and diet, and this they took exception at. Our Sa viour was of a quite contrary temper, and that did not please them neither. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they fay, behold a wine-bibber and a glutton! So that let our Saviour have done what he would, he could not have carried himself fo as to have escaped the cenfures of men, fo peevithly and perverfly difpofed. 2. That he kept company with publicans and fin- ners. To which exception nothing can be more reafonable than our Saviour's own answer; that he was fent to be a physician to the world, to call finners to repentance; and therefore they had no reafon to be angry, or think it ftrange, if he converfed with his patients, among whom his proper employment lay. 3. They objected to him profaneness in breaking the fabbath, and that furely was plain, that he could not be of God, if he kept not the fabbath-day. The truth was, he had healed on the fabbath-day. To this our Saviour gives a most reasonable and fatisfactory anfwer, that furely it was lawful to do good on the fabbath-day; that that was but a pofitive inftitution, but works of mercy are natural and moral duties; and God himself had declared, that he would have even his own inftitutions to give way to thofe greater duties, that are of natural and eternal obligation. I will have mercy and not facrifice. And then from the end of the fabbath; the fabbath was made for the reft and refreshment of man, and therefore could not be prefumed to be intended to his prejudice. The fabbath was made for man, and not man for the fabbath. Fifthly, Another great prejudice against him, was, that perfons of the greatest knowledge and authority among them did not embrace his doctrine, John vii. 48. Have any of the rulers or Pharifees believed on him? So that here was the infallible rule and authority of their church against him. There is no doubt, but the example and authority of our guides ought to fway very much with us, and over-rule us in doubtful cafes ; but not against plain and |