know this man whence he is, but when the Meffias comes, no man knoweth whence he is. This to be fure was no just exception in reason 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 seem to refer to some prophecy of the Old Teftament, which did seem to assert so much. If they meant that his extraction should 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 should conceive and bear a fon, and so understood that he should be without father; this was really true, though they thought that he was the son of Jofeph. And if he affirmed that he had no father, he did sufficiently justify it by his miracles; that being as easy to be believed poffible by a divine power, as the miracles which he wrought; which yet they could not deny, because they saw them. 2. Another prejudice against his extraction was the meanness 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 son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James and Joses, and Simon and Judas? and his sisters are they not all with us? whence then hath this man these things? and they were offended at him. And fo likewise John vii. 15! How knoweth this man letters, having never learned ? A strange prejudice and most unreasonable! They could not believe him to be an extraordinary perfon, because his parents and relations, his birth and breeding were so 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 person, and divinely assisted, who all on the sudden, without the help and assistance of education, gave fuch evidence of his great wisdom and knowledge, and and did such mighty works. This could not be im puted to his breeding, for that was mean; therefore there must be something 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 respect of his extraction, was grounded upon a spiteful and malicious proverb, concerning the country where our Saviour was brought up, and they suppofed 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 ariseth no Prophet. But it feems Nathanael, who was a good man, was easily taken off from this common prejudice, when Philip said to him, come and see. 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 seems the Jews laid great weight upon it, as if this alone were enough to confute all his miracles; and, after they had shot this bolt at him, the business were concluded clearly against him. But prudent and confiderate men do not use to give much credit to ill natured proverbs, the good or bad characters which are given of countries, are not understood to be universally true, and without exception. There is no place but hath brought forth fome brave spirits, and excellent persons, whatever the general temper and disposition of the inhabitants may be. Among the Grecians, the Beotians 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 Anacharsis an eminent Philosopher. The Idumeans were aliens and strangers to the covenant and yet Job, one of the best men that ever was, came from thence. God can raise up eminent persons from any place; Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, and an idolatrous people. Nay, as our Saviour tells us, he can out of stones 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 necessary to make a man a prophet, that th he should be bred in a good air. If God sends a man, it matters not from what place he comes. Secondly, Another head of exception against our Saviour, was the meanness of his outward condition, so contrary to the universal 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 possest 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; so that nothing could be a greater defeat to their expectations, than the mean and low condition in which our Saviour appeared; so that upon this account they were almost universally offended at him. But this prejudice was very unreasonable. For neither did their Prophets foretel any such thing, as the temporal greatness of the Messias: But on the contrary most exprefly, that he should be despised and rejected of men, that he should be a man of sorrows and sufferings, and at last be put to death; which was directly contrary to what they expected from their ill grounded tradition. Thirdly, Against his miracles they made these two exceptions: 1. That he wrought them by magical skill, and by the power of the Devil. Which was so exorbitantly unreasonable and malicious, that our Saviour pronounceth it to be an unpardonable fin; and for answer to it, appeals to every man's reason, whether it was likely that the Devil should conspire against himself, and assist any man to overthrow his own kingdom: For it was plain, our Saviour's doctrine was directly contrary to the Devil's design ; and therefore to assist 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 sign from heaven. Matth. xvi. 1. it is said, They desired him to shew them a sign from heaven, It seems they expected that God should give some immediate testimony to him from heaven; as he did to Elias, when fire came down from heaven, and confumed 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 saved himself. And becaufe he did not answer their expectation in this, they concluded him an impoftor. Now what could be more unreasonable, when he had wrought so many other and great miracles, perversly to insist upon some particular kind of miracle which they fancied? as if God were bound to gratify the curiosity of men, and as if our Saviour were not as much declared to be the Son of God, by rising again from the dead, as if he had come down from the cross. Fourthly, As to his conversation, they had these three exceptions : 1. That he used no severity 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 those rigorous restraints upon himself in these matters, which many, that were esteemed the most religious among them, used to do. But he plainly shews them, that this exception was merely out of their prejudice against him. For if he had come in the way of austerity, they would have rejected him as well. They were resolved to find fault with him whatever he did, Matth. xi. 16. Whereunto shall I liken this generation? John the baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he hath a Devil. He lived in a more austere and melancholy way, he came in the way of righteousness, used great strictness and severity in his habit and and diet, and this they took exception at. Our Saviour was of a quite contrary temper, and that did not please them neither. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, 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, so peevithly and perverfly disposed.. 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 reason to be angry, or think it strange, if he conversed with his patients, among whom his proper employment lay. 3. They objected to him profaneness in breaking the fabbath, and that surely was plain, that he could not be of God, if he kept not the Sabbath-day. The truth was, he had healed on the fabbath-day. To this our Saviour gives a most reasonable and fatisfactory answer, that furely it was lawful to do good on the fabbath-day; that that was but a positive institution, but works of mercy are natural and moral duties; and God himself had declared, that he would have even his own institutions to give way to those 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 rest and refreshment of man, and therefore could not be presumed to be intended to his prejudice. The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Fifthly, Another great prejudice against him, was, that persons of the greatest knowledge and authority among them did not embrace his doctrine, John vii. 48. Have any of the rulers or Pharisees 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 sway very much with us, and over-rule us in doubtful cafes but but not against plain and |