576 { Of the PAssIoN,. Sermon 3• how 'through lo)le it might behumbled, as exalted throughpowrr, beyond tbc uttermo!l that mans wit can comprehend. :The Sha,u; And this is the Crejfe heendured. And ifall this might have beene e 11 : dured,fa/)lo honore,wichout fhame or difirace, it had been fo much the lelfe. Butnow,there is afurther matter yet eobe added, and that is jhame. It is hard to fay, of thefe two, which is the harder to beare ; which is the greater Crojfe, the Croffeor Jhame. Orrather, it is notpard. There is n~ meane party in mifery, but, if he bee infulted on, his being ihfulred 00 more grieves him,than doth the miferie it felfe : But,to the noblegenerou; natun!, to whbm bzttrefle honoru eft majm omni alio intereJSe, the rvalueof hishonour is above all rt!alue; to him, theCrojfe is not theCrofle: jhame is the (rofe. And any high,and heroic~Zll Spirit bearerh any griefe more'ea: ·ssairi. 31·4· fily, than the~riefe of contemptuom and contumelio~ tifage. KingSaNI fueweditplainly, whochofe rather, torunneuponlm vwnefrvord, thaa to{alli11to the hands ofthe Philiftines,who (he knew) would ufe himwirh Iud.I6,)s.. skorne, as they had done Sampfon before him. And even hee (Sampfm 3 ' ! too) .rather to fit down between the pillars and endure this, pulleddown houfe and all, as well upon his ownehead, as theirs that fo abufed hitn. Shame then, is certainly the worfe ofthe twaine. Now in his death,it i1 not ealie to define, whetherpai11e or fhame had the upper hand : whethec greater, Crucia.tmor Jcanda!um [rucis. - · Was it not afoule difj,race and fcat!dafl to offer Him the jhameofthat fervile bate punifhment ofthe rvbip; not to be offered to any but to jlaw1 andbond-men ? Loris ? liber fum (faith bee imhe Comedie, in great dif– daine: as ifbeing free-home, hee held it greatskorne to have thawncena; Phi!. 2.7• med to him.)YetJhame of being put out ofthe number offree-borne men; he dejpifed; even the fuame of being in forma feni. . . That, thatis fer1>ile, may yet beehoweft : Then, was it not yet amore Joule dlfgrace andJcandall indeed, to appoint Him, fot His death, thacdf hone[{, that foule deatb, the death of Malefactors, and ofthe wod1: fore of them?Morteturpiflim1 (as themfelves termed it) themof'r.jhamefull oppro· briotU deat/1ofall other, that theperfons ate fcandalom that fulfer it; To take Him M atbiefe, to ha11g Him betTveene two thee'm : nay,tocount Himworfe than the worf'r. thiefein the Gaole; to fay and to cry, Vi)lad3arabb,u, P,ereat CH R 1sT us, Save ~4rabb.uand hang CH It 1 s T ? Yet; thisJham~ Ele~ deJPifed too, ofbeingin forma malefici. . . . Ifba[e,ifdifhoneft, let thefe two ferve : ufe Him not difgracefully, make Him notaridiculum caput, powte not co11tem}'t uponHim. That did thf)l too : and ajhame it is to fee thejhamefull cariage oftheinielves all along the whole TtagedyofHisPafSion. Was ita Tragedie, oraPafoontroW ?~ 'Pafioll it was: yet by their behaviour it might feem a may-game. .The1r. jhotttingandOtlt:cries;their harryi11g ofHim about,from .4nnM toCatapluw; from him toPil4te. fromPilatetoHerod; and from him toPilatt agame: "'---·-· · -·-- ' - ------- --- - -- ·-- - ·· ---- -- On~
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