Swninganin Death. the third Sunday inLent. kindof - '' Ser. 24. thathemight,feethem fatisfied ; bearingbin felfeiike a pittifull ludge, who fteetha poore debtor, but takesanoteof thedebtthat is tobepayd ; Wholly to fa.rgiue thefame theparty, not beeing fatisfied,could not (landwellwith his Iufice and tocondemnehe.t,wholly,could not lutewell with his Merese.- And thereforehe was bound iopay the debt for her. Supra dorfum meansfabricatterunt peccatores: Anotherletter Cayes, Scripfrunt. Heentred into bond for vs all But although it bemofl certain,that hewrote fume letters,orfomefentence, againR the firmes of tilde heraccufers (andtherefore the Greeke text fayth, Hocdigito fcribebat interra) yet what that was which bee then writ,thereis no certaintie thereof. And it is a great indiciun ortoken that they did not well vnder(land thofe Charaaes,becaufe vpon that writing th ey did not depart andgoetheir way. But vpon thofewords which ourSauiour afterwards faidvnto them; Dui finepecçato eft, Let himthat is withoutfrnne, And prefentlythereupon the Euange- li(r adderh, viudtenteshac Vinespoftodiumabÿt,That hearing thefe things, they went their way one after theother., Secondly, Saint_Aufien faith, That hewrote oftheground, forto lignifie that the namesof the Accuferswere not writ in Heauen. Alluding vnto that which he faidvntohis Difciples ; Rcioyce, betaufe yournames are written in heauen.- Or, for toChow that it_was he himfelfe,which with his òwn finger had writ the Law inthofe Tables ofProne ; and withall to intimate,that thenew Lawwas notto beewritten in ragged frone, bin infruit full ground ; not inthe roughneffeofthe Law. but in the foftneffe of Grace. And Saint Ambrofe in the Epillle formerly alledged,doth in amanner repeat the verie famewords. So that by all thefe cir- cumftances, it plainlyappeareth that hee noted them out tobee tranfgrefl'ours of the Law, and to bee fùch akindofpeople that had not the feareof God be- fore theireyes , bceing neither iu(r intheir Iudgements , nor tnercifull in their Wo rkes. Let himthat is withoutfnne,&c. Hehad recourfe to the rigour ofthe Law,by condemning theAdultere(fe tobe frond to death, whichwas an infamous kind ofdeath, Achan,Naboth, thofe falfe Iedges that wrongedSufanna, andgood SaintStaten fuffered in thiskind . He had recourfe likewife vnto his mercy , by abfoluing her ofthis her fine. For their condemningof herto be (toned, who were faultie in the fame kind themfelues,wasakind of abfoluingher. And this limitation (as Saint cyrillhath obferued it) wasiuridicall, and accordingvnto Law. Foras fhewas to be ironedby the Law, fothe wastobe (tonedaccording tothe Law ; But the Lames doc notpermit that thetranfgrefion ofthe Law,fbould bee rightedby thofe that are tranfgrepurs of the Law. So that when our Sauiour fayd, Let him that is among you withoutfinnecaft theft,: 1fione at her ; hee vnderftood by (innein that place, thefinneof Adulterie,forotherwife it had beenecontrariant aHionemintentare, and the reconuention had notbeene fo (troligandforcible. Whenthe Pharifees found fault with Chriffs Difciples for their not waffling of theirhands, he retorted theirowne weaponvpon them with a are&ves? And heretreating withhim touching thiswomans Adulterie, bee giues them thisanfwere, &uzfinepeccato eft,&c. Saint Auffenmakesaqueftion, whether the Adulterer himfelfewerethere or no t' And his refolution is,that the rcft were there. So that in theAccufers therewere two foule faults tobe fouñd, which are inexcufable. The one to let goe aDelinquent for particular intereft, andprivategaine, as wee read in the tMaccabees,ofPtolomeue hisfreeingof c..Menelaurfrom hisaccu- fation, notwithftanding hewas the caufeofall themifchiefe wherewith he was N n z chared. 423
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=