the deep, and let down your nets to make a draught." That ship, which lent Christ an opportunity of catching men upon the shore, shall be requited with a plentiful draught of fish in the deep. It had been as easy for our Saviour to have brought the fish to Peter's ship, close to the shore; yet as choosing rather to have the ship carried to the shoal of fish, he bids, "Launch forth into the deep." In his miracles he loves ever to meet nature in her bounds; and, when she hath done her best, to supply the rest by his overruling power. The same power, therefore, that could have caused the fishes to leap upon dry land, or to leave themselves forsaken of the waters upon the sands of the lake, will rather find them in a place natural to their abiding: "Launch out into the deep." Rather in a desire to gratify and obey his guest, than to pleasure himself, will Simon bestow one cast of his net. Had Christ enjoined him a harder task, he had not refused; yet not without an allegation of the unlikelihood of success: "Master, we have toiled all night, and caught nothing; yet at thy word I will let down the net." The night was the fittest time for the hopes of their trade: not unjustly might Simon misdoubt his speed by day, when he had worn out the night in unprofitable labour. Sometimes God crosseth the fairest of our expectations, and gives a blessing to those times and means whereof we despair. That pains cannot be cast away, which we resolve to lose for Christ. O God, how many do I see casting out their nets in the great lake of the world, which in the whole night of their life have caught nothing! "They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity; they hatch cockatrices' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is trodden upon breaketh out into a serpent: their webs shall be no garment, neither shall they cover themselves with their labours." 64 O ye sons of men, how long will ye love vanity, and follow after lies?" Yet if we have thus vainly misspent the time of our darkness, let us, at the command of Christ, cast out our new-washen nets, our humble and penitent obedience shall come home laden with blessings: "And when they had so done they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, so that their net brake." What a difference there is bewixt our own voluntary acts, and those that are done upon command; not more in the grounds of them, than in the issue! those are ofttimes fruitless, these ever successful. Never man threw out his net at the word of his Saviour, and drew it back empty. Who would not obey thee, O Christ, since thou dost so bountifully requite our weakest services! It was not mere retribution that was intended in this event, but instruction also: this act was not without a mystery. He that should be made a fisher of men, shall, in this draught, foresee his success. "The kingdom of heaven is like a draw-net cast into the sea, which, when it is full, men draw to land." The very first draught that Peter made, after the complement of his apostleship, enclosed no less than three thousand souls. O powerful gospel, that can fetch sinful men from out of the depths of natural corruption! O happy souls, that, from the blind and muddy cells of our wicked nature, are drawn forth to the glorious liberty of the sons of God! Simon's net breaks with the store. Abundance is sometimes no less troublesome than want. The net should have held, if Christ had not meant to overcharge Simon, both with blessing and admiration. How happily is that net broken, whose rupture draws the fisher to Christ! Though the net brake, yet the fish escaped not: he that brought them thither to be taken, held them there till they were taken. They beckoned to their partners in the other ship, that they should come and help them." There are other ships in partnership with Peter: he doth not fish all the lake alone. There cannot be a better improvement of society than to help us in gain, to relieve us in our profitable labours, to draw up the spiritual draught into the vessel of Christ and his church. Wherefore hath God given us partners, but that we should beckon to them for their aid in our necessary occasions? Neither doth Simon slacken his hand, because he had assistants. What shall we say to those lazy fishers, who can set others to the drag, while themselves look on at ease, caring only to feed themselves with the fish, not willing to wet their hands with the net? what shall we say to this excess of gain? The nets break, the ships sink with their burden. O happy complaint of too large a capture! O Saviour, if those apostolic vessels of the first rigging were thus overlaid, our's float and totter with a ballasted lightness. Thou, who art no less present in these bottoms of ours, lade them with an equal fraught of converted souls, and let us praise thee for thus sinking! 66 Simon was a skilful fisher, and knew well the depth of his trade; and now, per ceiving more than art or nature in this draught, he falls down at the knees of Jesus, saying, "Lord, go from me, for I am a sinful man." Himself is caught in this net. | and by us. Give us ability and grace to He doth not greedily fall upon so unex- take; give men will and grace to be taken, pected and profitable a booty, but he turns and take thou glory by that which thou his eyes from the draught to himself, from hast given. the act to the author, acknowledging vileness in the one, in the other majesty: “Go from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." It had been pity the honest fisherman should have been taken at his word. O Simon, thy Saviour is come into thine own ship to call thee, to call others by thee unto blessedness; and dost thou say, "Lord, go | from me?" As if the patient should say to the physician, Depart from me, for I am sick. It was the voice of astonishment, not of dislike; the voice of humility, not of discontentment; yea, because thou art a sinful man, therefore hath thy Saviour need to come to thee, to stay with thee; and because thou art humble in the acknowledgment of thy sinfulness, therefore Christ delights to abide with thee, and will call thee to abide with him. No man ever fared the worse for abasing himself to his God. Christ hath left many a soul for froward and unkind usage; never any for the disparagement of itself, and entreaties of humility. Simon could not devise how to hold Christ faster, than by thus suing to him to be gone, than by thus pleading his unworthiness. O my soul, be not weary of complaining of thine own wretchedness; disgrace thyself to him that knows thy vileness; be astonished at those mercies which have shamed thine ill deservings. Thy Saviour hath no power to go away from a prostrate heart. He that resists the proud, heartens the lowly:"Fear not, for I will make thee henceforth a fisher of men." Lo, this humility is rewarded with an apostleship. What had the earth ever more glorious, than a legacy from heaven? He that bade Christ go from him, shall have the honour to go first on this happy errand. This was a trade that Simon had no skill of: it could not but be enough to him that Christ said, "I will make thee;" the miracle showed him able to make good his word. He that hath power to command the fishes to be taken, can easily enable the hands to take them. What is this divine trade of ours, then, but a spiritual piscation? The world is a sea; souls, like fishes, swim at liberty in this deep; the nets of wholesome doctrine draw up some to the shore of grace and glory. How much skill, and toil, and patience, is requisite in this art! "Who is sufficient for these things?" This sea, these nets, the fishers, the fisn, the vessels. are all thine, O God; do what thou wilt in us CONTEMPLATION V. THE MARRIAGE IN WAS this, then, thy first miracle, O Saviour, that thou wroughtst in Cana of Galilee? and could there be a greater miracle than this, that having been thirty years upon earth, thou didst no miracle till now? that thy Divinity did hide itself thus long in flesh, that so long thou wouldst lie obscure in a corner of Galilee, unknown to that world thou camest to redeem; that so long thou wouldst strain the patient expectation of those, who ever since thy star waited upon the revelation of a Messiah? We silly wretches, if we have but a dram of virtue, are ready to set it out to the best show: thou, who "receivedst not the Spirit by measure," wouldst content thyself with a willing obscurity, and concealedst that power that made the world, in the roof of a human breast, in a cottage of Nazareth! O Saviour, none of thy miracles is more worthy of astonishment, than thy not doing of miracles! What thou didst in private, thy wisdom thought fit for secrecy: but if thy blessed mother had not been acquainted with some domestical wonders, she had not now expected a miracle abroad. The stars are not seen by day; the sun itself is not seen by night. As it is no small art to hide art, so it is no small glory to conceal glory. Thy first public miracle graceth a marriage. It is an ancient and laudable institution, that the rites of matrimony should not want a solemn celebration. When are feasts in season, if not at the recovery of our lost rib? if not at this main change of our estate, wherein the joy of obtaining, meets with the hope of further comforts? The Son of the Virgin, and the mother of that Son, are both at a wedding. It was in all likelihood some of their kindred, to whose nuptial feast they were invited so far; yet was it more the honour of the act than of the person that Christ intended. He that made the first marriage in Paradise, bestows his first miracle upon a Galilean marriage: he that was the author of matrimony, and sanctified it, doth, by his holy presence, honour the resemblance of his eternal union with his church. How boldly may we spit in the faces of all the impure adversaries of wedlock, when the Son of God pleases to honour it! The glorious Bridegroom of the church | haps the bridegroom was not so needy, but knew well how ready men would be to place if not by his purse, yet by his credit, he shame, even in the most lawful conjunc- might have supplied that want; or it were tions; and therefore his first work shall be, hard, if some of the neighbour guests, had to countenance his own ordinance. Happy they been duly solicited, might not have is that wedding where Christ is a guest! furnished him with so much wine as might O Saviour, those that marry in thee, can- suffice for the last service of a dinner. But not marry without thee. There is no holy blessed Mary knew a nearer way: she did marriage whereat thou art not; however not think best to lade at the shallow channel, invisible, yet truly present by thy Spirit, but runs rather to the well-head, where she by thy gracious benediction. Thou makest may dip and fill the firkins at once with marriages in heaven, thou blessest them ease. It may be, she saw that the train of from heaven. O thou that hast betrothed Christ, which, unbidden, followed unto that us to thyself in truth and righteousness, do feast, and unexpectedly added to the numthou consummate that happy marriage of ber of the guests, might help forward that ours in the highest heavens! It was no rich defect, and therefore she justly solicits her or sumptuous bridal to which Christ, with Son Jesus for a supply. Whether we want his mother and disciples, vouchsafed to bread, or water, or wine, necessaries or come from the farther parts of Galilee. I comforts, whither should we run, O Savifind him not at the magnificent feasts or our, but to that infinite munificence of thine, triumphs of the great. The proud pomp which neither denieth nor upbraideth any of the world did not agree with the state thing? We cannot want, we cannot abound, of a servant. This poor needy bridegroom but from thee. Give us what thou wilt, wants drink for his guests. The blessed so thou give us contentment with what Virgin, though a stranger to the house, out thou givest. of a charitable compassion, and a friendly desire to maintain the decency of an hospitable entertainment, inquires into the wants of her host, pities them, bemoans them, where there was power of redress. "When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said unto him, They have no wine." How well doth it beseem the eyes of piety and Christian love, to look into the necessities of others! She that conceived the God of mercies both in her heart and in her womb, doth not fix her eyes upon her own teacher, but searcheth into the penury of a poor Israelite, and feels those wants whereof he complains not. They are made for themselves, whose thoughts are only taken up with their own store or indigence. There was wine enough for a meal, though not for a feast; and if there were not wine enough, there was enough of water: yet the holy Virgin complains of the want of wine, and is troubled with the very lack of superfluity. The bounty of our God reaches not to our life only, but to our contentment: neither hath he thought good to allow us only the bread of sufficiency, but sometimes of pleasure. One while that is but necessary, which some other time were superfluous. It is a scrupulous injustice to scant ourselves where God hath been liberal. To whom should we complain of any want, but to the Maker and Giver of all things? The blessed Virgin knew to whom she sued: she had good reason to know the Divine nature and power of her Son. Per But what is this I hear? a sharp answer to the suit of a mother: "O woman, what have I to do with thee?" He whose sweet mildness and mercy never sent away any supplicant discontented, doth he only frown upon her that bare him? He that commands us to honour father and mother, doth he disdain her whose flesh he took? God forbid! Love and duty doth not exempt parents from due admonition. She solicited Christ as a mother; he answers her as a woman. If she were the mother of his flesh, his deity was eternal. She might not so remember herself to be a mother, that she should forget she was a woman; nor so look upon him as a son, that she should not regard him as a God. He was so obedient to her as a mother, that withal she must obey him as her God. That part which he took from her shall observe her; she must observe that nature which came from above, and made her both a woman and a mother. Matter of miracle concerned the Godhead only; supernatural things were above the sphere of fleshly relation. If now the blessed Virgin will be prescribing either time or form unto divine acts, “Ö woman, what have I to do with thee? my hour is not come." In all bodily actions, his style was, O mother:" in spiritual and heavenly, "O woman." Neither is it for us, in the holy affairs of God, to know any faces; yea, "If we have known Christ heretofore according to the flesh, henceforth know we him so no more." O blessed Virgin, if, in that heavenly glory wherein thou art, thou canst take notice of these earthly things, with what indignation dost thou look down upon the presumptuous superstition of vain men, whose suits make thee more than a solicitor of divine favours! thy humanity is not lost in thy motherhood, nor in thy glory: the respects of nature reach not so high as heaven. It is far from thee to abide that honour which is stolen from thy Redeemer. There is a marriage whereto we are invited; yea, wherein we are already interested, not as the guests only, but as the bride, in which there shall be no want of the wine of gladness. It is marvel, if in these earthly banquets there be not some lack. "In thy presence, O Saviour, there is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore." Blessed are they that are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Even in that rough answer doth the blessed Virgin descry cause of hope. If his hour was not yet come, it was therefore coming: when the expectation of the guests, and the necessity of the occasion, had made fit room for the miracle, it shall come forth and challenge their wonder. Faithfully, therefore, and observantly, doth she turn her speech from her son to the waiters: "Whatsoever he saith unto thee, do it." How well doth it beseem the mother of Christ to agree with his Father in heaven, whose voice from heaven said, "This is my well-beloved Son, hear him!" She that said of herself, "Be it unto me according to thy word," says unto others, "Whatsoever he saith to you, do it." This is the way to have miracles wrought in us, obedience to his word. The power of Christ did not stand upon their officiousness: he could have wrought wonders in spite of them; but their perverse refusal of his commands might have made them incapable of the favour of a miraculous action. He that can, when he will, convince the obstinate, will not grace the disobedient. He that could work without us, or against us, will not work for us, but by us. This very poor house was furnished with many and large vessels for outward purification; as if sin had dwelt upon the skin, that superstitious people sought holiness in frequent washings. Even this rinsing fouled them with the uncleanness of a traditional will-worship. It is the soul which needs scouring; and nothing can wash that but the blood which they desperately wished upon themselves and their children, for guilt, not for expiation. Purge thou us, O Lord, with hyssop, and we shall be clean; wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow." 66 The waiters could not but think strange of so unseasonable a command, "Fill the water-pots." It is wine that we want; what do we go to fetch water? doth this holy man mean thus to quench our feast, and cool our stomachs? If there be no remedy, we could have sought this supply unbidden. Yet so far hath the charge of Christ's mother prevailed, that, instead of carrying flagons of wine to the table, they go to fetch pailfuls of water from the cisterns. It is no pleading of unlikelihoods against the command of an Almighty power. He that could have created wine immediately in those vessels, will rather turn water into wine. In all the course of his miracles, I do never find him making aught of nothing; all his great works are grounded upon former existences. He multiplied the bread, he changed the water, he restored the withered limbs, he raised the dead, and still wrought upon that which was, and did not make that which was not. What doth he in the ordinary way of nature, but turn the watery juice that arises up from the root into wine? he will only do this now suddenly and at once, which he doth usually by sensible degrees. It is ever duly observed by the Son of God, not to do more miracle than he needs. How liberal are the provisions of Christ! If he had turned but one of these vessels, it had been a just proof of his power, and perhaps that quantity had served the present necessity: now he furnisheth them with so much wine as would have served a hundred and fifty guests for an entire feast. Even the measure magnifies at once both his power and mercy. The munificent hand of God regards not our need only, but our honest affluence. It is our sin and our shame if we turn his favour into wantonness. There must be first a filling, ere there be a drawing out. Thus, in our vessels, the first care must be of our receipt; the next of our expense. God would have us cisterns, not channels. Our Saviour would not be his own taster, but he sends the first draught to the governor of the feast. He knew his own power, they did not: neither would he bear witness of himself, but fetch it out of others' mouths. They that knew not the original of that wine yet praised the taste, "Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." The same bounty that expressed itself in the quantity of the wine, shows itself no less in the excellence. Nothing can fall from that divine hand not exquisite: that liberality hated to provide crab-wine for his guests. It was fit that the miraculous effects of Christ, which came from his immediate hand, should be more perfect than the natural. O blessed Saviour, how delicate is that new wine which we shall one day drink with thee in thy Father's kingdom! Thou shalt turn this water of our earthly affliction into that wine of gladness, wherewith our souls shall be satiated for ever. 66 Make haste, O my beloved, and be thou like to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices." CONTEMPLATION VI.—THE GOOD CENTURION. EVEN the bloody trade of war yielded worthy clients to Christ. This Roman captain had learned to believe in that Jesus whom many Jews despised. No nation, no trade, can shut out a good heart from God. If he were a foreigner for birth, yet he was a domestic in heart. He could not change his blood, he could overrule his affections. He loved that nation which was chosen of God; and if he were not of the synagogue, yet he built a synagogue; where he might not be a party, he would be a benefactor. Next to being good, is a favouring of goodness. We could not love religion, if we utterly want it. How many true Jews were not so zealous! either will or ability lacked in them, whom duty more obliged. Good affections do many times more than supply nature. Neither doth God regard whence, but what, we are. I do not see this centurion come to Christ as the Israelitish captain came to Elias in Carmel, but with his cap in his hand, with much suit, much submission, by others, by himself: he sends first the elders of the Jews, whom he might hope that their nation and place might make gracious; then, lest the employment of others might argue neglect, he seconds them in person. Cold and fruitless are the motions of friends, where we do wilfully shut up our own lips. Importunity cannot but speed well in both. Could we but speak for ourselves, as this captain did for his servant, what could we possibly want? What marvel is it, if God be not forward to give, where wecare not to ask, or ask as if we cared not to receive? Shall we yet call this a suit, or a complaint? I hear no one word of entreaty. The less is said, the more is concealed: it is enough to lay open his want. He knew well that he had to deal with so wise and merciful a physician. as that the opening of the malady was a craving of cure. If our spiritual miseries be but confessed, they cannot fail of redress. Great variety of suitors resorted to Christ: one comes to him for a son, another for a daughter, a third for himself: I see none come for his servant but this one centurion. Neither was he a better man than a master. His servant is sick: he doth not drive him out of doors, but lays him at home; neither doth he stand gazing by his bedside, but seeks forth: he seeks forth, not to witches or charmers, but to Christ: he seeks to Christ, not with a fashionable relation, but with a vehement aggravation of the disease. Had the master been sick, the faithfullest servant could have done no more. He is unworthy to be well served, that will not sometimes wait upon his followers. Conceits of inferiority may not breed in us a neglect of charitable offices. So must we look down upon our servants here on earthı, as that we must still look up to our Master which is in heaven. But why didst thou not. O centurion, rather bring thy servant to Christ for cure, than sue for him absent? There was a paraiytic, whom faith and charity brought to our Saviour, and let down through the uncovered roof in his bed: why was not thine so carried, so presented? was it out of the strength of thy faith, which assured thee thou neededst not show thy servant to hin that saw all things? One and the same grace may yield contrary effects. They because they believed, brought the patient to Christ; thou broughtst not thine to him, because thou believedst: their act argues no less desire, than more confidence; thy labour was less, because thy faith was more. O that I could come thus to my Saviour, and make such moan to him for myself, Lord, my soul is sick of unbelief, sick of self-love, sick of inordinate desires: I should not need to say more. Thy mercy, O Saviour, would not then stay by for my suit, but would prevent me, as here, with a gracious engagement: "I will come and heal thee." I did not hear the centurion say either Come, or, Heal him: the one he meant, though he said not; the other he neither said nor meant. Christ over-gives both his words and intentions. It is the manner of that divine munificence, where he meets with a faithful suitor, to give more than is requested; to give when he is not requested. The very insinuations of our necessities are no less violent than successful. We think the measure of human bounty runs over, when we obtain but what we ask with importunity: that infinite goodness keeps within bounds, when it overflows the desires of our hearts. As he said, so he did. The word of Christ |