against the Lord, and against his Messiah or Anointed, (Psalm ii. 2. Acts iv. 25, 26, 27.) As he had before been prevailed on by these rulers to order the crucifixion of Jesus; so he is now further solicited by them, to endeavour to prevent his resurrection from the dead. It was not indeed his own interest, that it should be said he had allowed of the crucifixion of so innocent and holy a man, who afterwards rose again from the dead. Therefore he very willingly consents that a party of Roman soldiers, at the expence of the chief priest and elders, should watch the sepulchre, and secure it in the best manner, as the Jews themselves should direct. The chief priests were overjoyed when they obtained this permission, and posted a guard before the sepulchre; and lest they should be bribed to open the tomb, they took the precaution even to seal the stone. Thus, they thought themselves sure of having prevented the resurrection of Jesus, and that they had secured his sacred body in the bands of corruption. These their wicked contrivances were predicted in scripture long before; for the Messiah is introduced in the Psalms, making this complaint: They devise my hurt, and now that he lieth, [say they] he shall rise up no more,' (Psalm xli. 7, 8.) But what a miracle of Divine wisdom! how deep soever the devil lays his snares, God baffles him by his own instruments; for all these dispositions of our blessed Lord's enemies serve only to confirm the truth of his resurrection, which his heavenly Father had long before sealed and decreed. In order to make his triumph more illustrious, God so directed contingencies, that the enemies of Christ should receive advice of his resurrection from their own watch; who now with ghastly countenances and trembling limbs come and acquaint them, that Jesus, without any human aid, had broke open the sepulchre, and come forth quite alive; and that at the same time a heavenly effulgence, and a terrible earthquake, had very near struck them dead; so that they were obliged, as soon as they were able, to fly away in confusion from the sepulchre.Such was the behaviour of our Saviour's friends and enemies at his burial. By way of a closer application of this narrative of our Saviour's interment, we shall here insert a hymn, composed on that subject, and illustrate it with a short paraphrase on every stanza. 1. Thou, who my sins (a heavy curse!) From thence wast to the tomb consign'd 2. O glorious type, by which the curse By faith we claim the heav'nly prize 3. Now hast thou drank the bitter cup And cloth'd us with thy righteousness, 4. Thy sacred word, which never fails, The lion's den, th' enormous whale* 5. Thou like a fruitful corn of wheat Whence thou shalt rise, and with thee bring 6. Even in thy darksome grave I see Which in full blaze on the third morn * Daniel in the lion's den, and Jonah in the whale's belly, prefigured the burial of Christ. 7. Since then my Saviour did descend 8. As in the font, I die to sin, Grant I may rise, and with thee mount 1. Thou, who my sins (a heavy curse!) From thence wast to the tomb consign'd Here our thoughts are directed from our Saviour's sepulchre to Mount Golgotha. For in order to reap any real benefit from the consideration of our Lord's burial, we must reflect on the character and quality in which he hung on the cross, before he descended into the sepulchre. He hung on the cross as the Lamb of God, bearing both the burden of our guilt, and the load of our punishment and curse; so that by undergoing this painful, ignominious death, he might atone for our sins, and satisfy the Divine justice for the innumerable offences committed against it. Now as this Lamb of God was taken down from the cross, and deposited in a sepulchre, it is a certain proof that he has suffered all the punishment he deserved on our account; that he has discharged the immense debt, abolished the curse of the law, and by the shedding of his precious blood, satisfied the Divine justice. For if justice had any further claim on this sacred person, it never would have permitted him to be taken down from the cross, and honourably interred. But as God not only permitted, but even raised up a man of wealth and distinction to be the instrument of it, it is, as it were, a public declaration, that justice had no further demands 2. O glorious type, by which the curse By faith we claim the heav'nly prize In these words we are reminded of the following passage in the Divine law: And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree; his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day, for he that is hanged is accursed of God, that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance,' (Deut. xxi. 22, 23.) That this precept alluded to Christ, who was to be hanged on the cross as a curse for us, we are informed by St. Paul, in these words: 'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree,' (Gal. iii. 13.) What a wonderful ordinance of providence was this! While an Israelite was hanging as a curse on a tree, the whole community of which he was a member, the whole land of Israel in which he lived, was polluted and accounted unclean. But God, by allowing that such a one should be taken down in the evening and buried, fignified, that his justice was for that time satisfied, by the punishment of the transgressor; and that the land, where God had thus manifested his wrath, was again reconciled to him. Jesus bore our curse on the cross; but, in the evening, he was taken down 1 from it according to this injunction of the Divine law; which was a token that the curse was removed, and the land was again clean. Now he, who by faith enters into fellowship with Christ, becomes a partaker of his death and burial, and all the precious fruits accruing from both of them. Such a person is consequently looked on by God, as if he himself had been buried, discharged from the demands of the law, and entirely freed from the curse. Know therefore, ye penitent believers who are in this happy state, that you are clean in the sight of God, and that there is no longer any curse or condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, (Rom. viii. 1.) The curse is abolished and done away by the perfect innocence of your Mediator. Your heavenly Father is reconciled to you by the sufferings of Christ who hung on the cross; and satisfaction having been made to his justice by your surety, he has discharged you from all further claims. Only approach the throne of grace, repent of your sins, believe in Christ, and obey his precepts; and ye shall inherit a blessing, instead of a curse. 3. Now hast thou drank the bitter cup And cloth'd us with thy righteousness, The burial of Christ is a kind of intermediate state between his death and resurrection, and serves as a confirmation of the truth of both. For, from the burial of Christ it is evident, First, That he really died, and that there was no collusion in the manner of his death. Now if he really died, then it is certain that he tasted death, and consequently that he really overcame death. Hence it appears, that death had not an absolute power over Jesus the Son of God; nevertheless, Christ having encountered him, it was overcome by him, and swallowed up in victory. The Prince of Life has extracted |