Serm. XXVII. Dead Saints, and Perfecuting the Livirz . 197 hitnfelf; as if he had faid, therefore I, who am the Wifdont of God declare unto you. But this is not very probable, our Saviour no where elfe in the GofpeI fpeaking of himfelf in any fuch Style ; tho' St. Paul calls him the Power of God, and the Wifdom of God. Others think that our Saviour here refers to fome Pro- phecy of the Old Teftament, to this purpofe ; therefore the Wifdom of God bath faid, that is, the Hoy Spirit ofWifdom, which Infpired the Prophets in the Old Teftamert. But this Conceit is utterlywithout ground ; for we find no fuch Paf- âage, oar any thing to that Senfe, in anyof the Prophets of the Old Teftament. But the nioft plain and fimple Interpretation is this, therefore bath the Wifdom of Godfail, that is, the moll Wife God path determined to fend among you fuch Meffengers and Holy Men, and I forefee that ye will thus ahufe them, and there- by bring Wrath and Deftrufion upon your felves. And whereas our Saviour fays in St. Matthew, behold Ifend unto you Prophets ; it is very probable, he fpeaks in God's Name, and that it is to be underftood, behold Pays God, Ifend Untoyou. And this Phrafe ofthe Wifdorn of God, for the m fl Wife God is very agreeable to other Forms of Speech, which we meet with in the Jewifh Writers ; as, Dicit norma judicii, the Ride ofJudgment fays, that is, the moll fuft andRighteous God; which ferves very well to explain the Phrafe in the-Text, Therefore faith the Wifdom ofGod, . Iwill fend them Prophets and Apoftles. By Apofles is here meant, all forts of Divine Meffengers : For fo St. Matthew expref eth it, Ifend unto you Prophets, andWife-men, andScribes ; that is, feve- ral Holy and Excellent Men, endowed with all forts of Divine Gifts; Prophets, andWife-men, and Scribes, which were the inoft glorious and admiredTitles a-, mong the Jews. Andfome of them they(hallflay and perfecute. St. Matthew expref3:eth it more particularly, forceof themye (hall kill and crucifie ; as it was afterwards fulfilled in the two James's; and Stephen, who were Hain by them, and in Simon the Son of Cleophas, and before hitn in Jefus the Son of God, who were Crucified ; and fameof themye(hallfcourge inyour Synagogues, as we read they did to Peter and ohm ; and perfecute them from City to City, as they did Paul and Barnabas. he fending of thefe Meffengers of God among the Jews, and this ill ufage of them, the All-wife and All-knowing God had determinedand forefeet'. II. Who this Zacharias was, here mentioned by our Saviour. And there are îo many of them, (no lefs than Four of this Name) to whom it may with forme probability be applyed, but efpecially to Two of them, that it is very hard to de- termine which of them our Saviour means. Three Zacharias's are mentioned. in Scripture, and one more in the Hiftory ofJofephus. There was Zacharias they Father of John the Bapt ; but whofe Son he was, we do not read ; and tho' of his Death the Scripture is filent, yet there are two Traditions about it ; one that he was flair byHerod's Officers, becaufe he would not tell where his Son, John the Bapt/ was, when Herodfent for hint. But the Credit of this relies upon very doubtful Authors. The other is mentioned by feveral of the Fathers, and the fubftance of it is briefly this ; that there being a Place in the Temple, where theVirgins by then-delves ufed to Pray, the Virgin Missy com- ing to that Place to pray among the Virgins, was forbidden, becaufe fhe had had a Child; and that Zacharias for maintaining her Virginity, was fet upon and killed between theTemple and the Altar. But this Tradition is rejefted by St. Jerome; and I doubt there is little ground for it. Zacharias, one of the leffer Prophets, was the Son of Barachias, which agrees fo far with St. Matthew's defcription of him : But there is no mention in Scrip- ture that he was fain ; nor could he well be in the Temple, whichwas but building in his Time ; the' the Author of the Targum fays, that Zacharias the Son of Ido, wasflair by the Jews in the houfe of the Lord's Sanlivery, on the day of the Propitiation ; becaufe he admonifht them not to do Evil before the Lord. Now Zacharias the Son of Barachies, was the Grand-Son of Ido ;.but yet, .I think, this was only lapfe of Memory, and that he means Zachary in the Chronicles, who was flaira by Joafh. And
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