The Jews pretend that he was calling for Elijah.

47 [And] some of

415

upon my soul, and which thou knowest I have SECT. done nothing to forfeit?

exci.

Mat.

Jesus by the use of these words, borrowed them that stood [by] from the beginning of the twenty-second psalm, XXVII. there, when they beard that, said, [Behold] gave the spectators a useful hint that the whole 47 this man calleth for of it referred to him; and it might well have led Elias. [MARK XV. them to observe how many passages of it had

35.]

then a literal accomplishment in him: but if

this was any part of the design, it was not ap-
prehended by them; for the Jews took them in
a different sense, and some of them that stood by
there, hearing [that] sound of Eli, said in a
scornful and insulting manner, Behold, this
[man], who has been used to talk as if he had
earth and heaven at command, resolves to keep
up the air of the Messiah to the last, and there-
fore calls for Elijah his forerunner, as if he had
any authority to bring that great prophet down
from paradise to his assistance'.

Immediately after this doleful cry, Jesus John
knowing that all the grievous and terrible things XIX. 28
he had to suffer in the way to death, were now
upon the point of being perfectly accomplished,
and finding himself parched with a violent
drought, as the consequence of what he had so
long endured both in mind and body, that the
scripture might be fulfilled (Psal. xxii. 15, and
lxix.

h Why hast thou forsaken me?] The pious and judicious Lord Chief Justice Hale has a strange reflection on these words; "We may (says he with reverence conceive, that at the time of this bitter cup, the soul of our blessed Redeemer was for the present overshadowed with so much astonishment and sorrow, as to overpower and cover the distinct sense of the reason of his sufferings, at least in some measure and degree." (Hale's Contemplations, Vol. I. p. 72) But the sense given in the paraphrase is much more natural. Thus in a most humble and affectionate manner he reminds his heavenly Father, that he was only by imputation a sinner, and had himself done nothing to incur his displeasure. I choose not, with Dr. More (in his Theological Works, p. 292), to render it How far, or to what degree, hast thou for saken me! because though this would be a just version of, the Greek word val, which answers to it in Matthew, is not liable to such ambiguity.-I conclude with adding, that this interruption of a joyful sense of his Father's presence (though there was, and could not but be, a rational ap

prehension of his constant favour, and high
approbation of what he was now doing),
was as necessary as it was that Christ should
suffer at all. For had God communicated
to his Son on the cross those strong consola-
tions which he has given to some of the.
martyrs in their tortures, all sense of pain,
and consequently all real pain, would have
been swallowed up; and the violence done
to his body, not affecting the soul, could not
properly have been called suffering.

i And some of them that stood by, &c.]
Whether this was, as Dr. Edwards (Exercit.
p. 196—203), and Mr. Cradock (Harm.
part n. p. 256), suppose the mistake of
some Hellenist Jews, who did not under-
stand the Syro-Chaldaic language; or whe-
ther it proceeded from his being raised so
high, that, amidst the rude noise around
him, they did not distinctly hear; I do not
pretend to say. Perhaps the malice of those
who did hear what he said, might misre-
present his words, to prevent any serious
reflections on the psalm from which they
were taken, and to expose him to farther
contempt.

416

cxci.

In his thirst, they give him vinegar to drink.

SECT. Ixix. 21), where the Messiah is described as cry- the scripture might be ing out, “My tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and fulfilled, saith, I thirst. John in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink,"

Xix. 28. to shew that he endured all that had been fore

29

XXVII.

told concerning him, said, I thirst.

29 Now there was.

gar,] and put it upon

his

Now there was set, as usual on such occasions, a vessel full of vinegar near the cross; and im- set a vessel full of vinegar: [and straightmediately upon his mentioning his thirst, one of way one of them ran, them ran, and took a spunge, and filled [it] with and took a spunge, this vinegar; and putting it round [a stalk of] and filled it with vinehyssop, which they had fastened on the top of a hyssop [on a reed], kind of cane, or large reed, they put it up to his and put it to mouth, and in a contemptuous manner gave it mouth, [and gave him to drink.] [MAT. Mat. him to drink. But the rest of them that stood XXVII. 48. MARK by, said, Let [him] alone, and let us see whether XV. 36.—] 49 Elijah, whom he has just been calling upon, The rest said, [Let a will come and save him from the cross; [and] in- lone,] let us see whedeed he must take him down quickly, if at all. ther Elias will come So little were their hearts affected with this pre- him down.] [MARK to save him, [and take ternatural darkness, which had continued now XV.-36. three hours; and thus cruelly did they insult him, even in his expiring moments, which had been most inhuman, though he had really been the vilest malefactor.

John

XXIII.

46

MAT. XXVII. 49.

JOHN XIX. 30.

had received the vine

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, XIX. 30 and thus had perfectly fulfilled the prophecies When Jesus therefore relating to his sufferings, he said, It is finished; gar, he said, It is finishthe important work, for which I came into the ed. world, is now completed, the demands of the law are satisfied, the justice of God is atoned, LUKE XXIII. 46. Luke and my sufferings are now at an end. And And [when he had crying out again with a great and strong voice, cried again with a loud which plainly shewed that much of the strength voice,] he said, Father, of nature was yet in him; he said, with a lively into thy hands I commend my Spirit: and faith and holy joy, Father, for so I will still call having said thus, he thee, though that claim is thus derided by mine [JOHN,bowed his head, enemies, I am now coming to thee, and into and gave up the ghost.] [MAT. XXVII. 50. thy hands I commit my departing Spirit, deposit- MARK XV. 57. JOHN ing it with thee as a sacred trust, which I am XIX.-30.] confident thou wilt receive and keep. And when he had said thus, declining his head, he voluntarily dismissed or delivered up his Spirit, and expired'.

A vessel full of vinegar.] It is well known that vinegar and water (which mixture was called posca) was the common drink of the Roman soldiers: perhaps therefore this vinegar was set here for their use, or for that of the crucified persons, whose

And

torture would naturally make them thirsty.

1 He dismissed or delivered up his Spirit, and expired.] The evangelists use different words in expressing our Lord's death, which I a little wonder that our translators render

Jesus dismisses his spirit, and the earth trembles.

while the sun was

the rocks rent; [MARK

45.]

417

cxci.

MAT. XXVII. 51. And behold, God by a very awful and mira- SECT. And behold [LUKE, culous interposition, avowed the relation which darkened, the vail of his Son claimed, and evidently appeared to Mat. the temple was rent in take the charge of that dear and excellent Spirit xXVII. twain [LUKE, in the which Jesus so solemnly recommended to him:51 midst], from the top to the bottom; and the for immediately upon his death, [while] the sun earth did quake, and was still darkened, as was observed before (ver. XV. 38. LUKE XXIII. 45), the veil of the temple, which separated between the holy and the most holy place, though made of the richest and strongest tapestry, was miraculously rent in two in the midst, from the top to the very bottom; so that while the priest was ministering at the golden altar, it being the time of evening sacrifice, the sacred oracle was laid open to full view: God thereby declaring, as it were, the abolition of the whole Mosaic ritual, which depended on a distinction between those two parts of the temple; and intimating that a passage was opened into the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, which was now poured out on mount Calvary, And at the same time, to increase the terror, the earth trembled even to the very spot of ground on which the temple stood, and several of the rocks in the 52 And the graves neighbouring parts were torn asunder"; And 52

were

in the same manner, he yielded, or gave up
the ghost. Mark and Luke say
he expired; John, wagidane to viupa, he
yielded up his Spirit; but Matthew's lan-
guage is yet more singular, aprine TO TIREDME,
he dismissed his Spirit (as the same word
an is used, Mat. xiii. 36. Mark iv.
56. xi. 6, and elsewhere). Now this ex-
pression seems admirably to suit our Lord's
words, John x. 13. No man taketh my life
from me, but I lay it down of myself, &c.
(see the paraphrase and note there, p. 86),
shewing, as the strong cry which so much
impressed the centurion did, that he died by
the coluntary act of his own mind, accord-
ing to the power received from the Father,
and in a way peculiar to himself, by which
he alone, of all men that ever existed, could
have continued alive even in the greatest
tortures, as long as he pleased, or have re-
tired from the body whenever he thought
fit. Which view of the case, by the way,
suggests an illustration of the love of Christ
manifested in his death, beyond what is
commonly observed; inasmuch as he did
not use this power to quit his body, as soon
as ever it was fastened to the cross, leav-
ing only an insensible corpse to the cruelty
of his murderers, but continued his abode
in it, with a steady resolution, as long as
it was proper; and then retired from it

some

with a majesty and dignity never known,
or to be known, in any other death; dy-
ing, if I may so express it, like the Prince
of life.

m While the priest was ministering at
the golden altar, &c.] This being so high
a day, it is probable that Caiaphas himself
might now be performing the solemn act of
burning incense just before the veil; which
if he did, it is inexpressibly astonishing
that his obdurate heart should not be im-
pressed with so awful and significant a
phenomenon. There is no room to doubt,
but many of the other priests, who had a
hand in Christ's death, saw the pieces of
the veil; which, considering its texture,
and the other circumstances, must as fully
convince them of the reality of this ex-
traordinary fact as if they had actually been
present when it was rent.

n The rocks were torn asunder.] Mr. Fleming tells us (in his Christology, Vol. II. p. 97, 98), that a deist lately travelling through Palestine was converted, by viewing one of these rocks, which still remains torn asunder, not in the weakest place, but cross the veins; a plain proof that it was done in a supernatural manner.-Sandys, in his excellent Travels, p. 164, has given an accurate description and delineation of this fissure; aud Mr. Maundrel in his

Journey

418

SECT. cxci.

Mat.

The graves open, and many bodies of saints arise.

53 And came out of

some of the tombs there were opened by the earth- were opened, and maquake: and, which was much more astonishing, ny bodies of the saints which slept, arose, a little while after, while the monuments conXXVII. tinued unclosed, many bodies of those holy men 52 who were sleeping there were raised from the 53 dust of death, And came out of the tombs after the resurrection of [Jesus], and entered the graves after his reinto Jerusalem, the holy city, and appeared unto into the holy city, and many; attesting the truth of that important appeared unto many. fact, and declaring their own rescue from the grave, as a kind of first fruits of his power over death, which should at length accomplish a general resurrection,

Mark XV.39

surrection, and went

MARK XV. 39. And when the centurion

And when the Roman centurion, who stood over-against him, and guarded the execution, which stood oversaw that he so cried out with such strength of against him, saw that voice, and such firm confidence in God, even at he so cried out, and the moment when he expired; [and] also saw [LUKE, and saw what gave up the ghost what was [then] done in so miraculous a man- was done, he glorified ner, in those amazing prodigies that attended God, saying, Certainly his death; he glorified God by a free confession man], truly this man a righteous of his persuasion of the innocence of Jesus, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man; [yea], notwithstanding all the vile reproaches which

Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 73,
74, tells us, that it is about a span wide at
the upper part, and two spans deep; after
which it closes, but opens again below (as
may be seen in another chapel below con-
tiguous to the side of Calvary), and runs
down to an unknown depth in the earth.
He adds, that every man's sense and rea-
son must convince him that this is a natural
and genuine breach.

Many bodies of holy men were raised.]
That ingenious writer Mr. Fleming, who
abounds with a vast number of pcculiar
conjectures, thinks that these were some
of the most eminent saints mentioned in
the Old Testament; and that they appear-
ed in some extraordinary splendour, and
were known by revelation, as Eve's ori-
ginal and relation was to Adam, or Moses
and Elijah to the disciples at the transfigu-
ration. He ventures particularly to con-
jecture who they were; but does not men-
tion David among them. (Fleming of the
First Resurrection, p. 29-38.) But Mr.
Pierce (on Colos. p. 68) maintains, that it
is very improbable that, had other saints of
former ages risen, David should have been
excluded; and since Acts ii. 34, proves
that he did not now rise, he concludes,
that the saints who rose were some who died
but a little before, perhaps such as had be-
lieved in Christ, and were well known to

have

this was

was

surviving disciples. It was to be sure a most surprising event, and Dr. Whitby supposes, John v. 25, was a prophecy relating to it.]

P And came out of the tombs after the resurrection of Jesus, &c.] Consequently it secins that the tombs stood open all the sabbath, when the law would not allow any attempt to close them. What an astonishing spectacle! especially if their resurrection was not instantaneously accomplished, but by such slow degrees, as that represented in Ezekiel's vision: (Ezek. xxxvii.) Yet I do not take upon me to say that it was so; for it is unprofitable too particularly to conjecture on such circumstances which are not recorded. For this reason also I pretend not to say what became of these persons; though, as one can hardly imagine they either immediately returned to their graves, or that they continued to live on earth (because it is only said, they appeared to many), it seems most natural to imagine they ascended into heaven with, or after, our Lord: perhaps from some solitude, to which they might be directed to retire during the intermediate days, and to wait in devout excrcises for their change, for surely, had they ascended in the view of others, the memory of such a fact could not have been lost.

9 Certainly

The terrified spectators are convinced he is the Son of God.

54. And they that were with him, watch ing Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, and they feared greatly,

419

cxci.

was the Son of God. have been cast upon him, truly this man was SECT. [MAT. XXVII. 54. what he declared himself to be, even the Son of -LUKE XXIII. 47.] MAT. XXVII- God himself 4. And the soldiers also that at- Mat. tended the centurion, even they that were with XXVII. him guarding Jesus on the cross, seeing the earth-54 quake and those other things which were now done, feared greatly, and said in like manner, Truly this Jesus of Nazareth, whom we have been thus insulting and murdering, was the Son of God; and his heavenly Father will certainly avenge his quarrel very terribly on us, and on the whole nation of the Jews, who have delivered him to us.

saying, Truly

was the Son of God.

this

LUKE XXIII. 48.

came together to that

48

And all the multitude that were come together Luke And all the people that on this remarkable occasion, to see this doleful, XXIII. sight, beholding the spectacle even some of those who but a little bethings which were fore had been insulting him in his dying agodone, smote their their nies, when they saw the things which were done,

breasts and returned.

returned, beating their breasts for sorrow and
remorse; in terrible expectation that some sad
calamity would speedily befall them and their
country, for the indignities and cruelties they
had offered to a person for whom God had ex-
pressed so high a regard, even in his greatest
distress.

IMPROVEMENT.

xxii 1.48.

AND surely we, when we return from such a view of it as this, Luke have reason to smite upon our breasts too, and to be most deeply affected with what we have heard and seen in this lively descrip

Certainly this was a righteous man, &c.] The most learned Mr. Wasse of Aynho (whose death since the publication of my first colume is an irreparable loss to the commonwealth of letters) has a dissertation on these words of the centurion, in the first number of the Bibliotheca Literaria, to which I am indebted for several hints in the paraphrase on these verses; but I have ventured to depart from him, in not entirely incorporating Mat. xxvii. 54. with Mark xv. 59. and Luke xxiii. 47. as the two latter only mention the effect of this surprising sight on the centurion, while Matthew give us also an account of the effect it had upon the soldiers, who very probably might repeat the words their officer had spoke but just before, in expressing their sentiments on this occasion.—I shall only add, that Elsner, in a very learned note on this place, has shewn that some of the Heathens had a notion among them, that prodigies, especially storms and earthquakes, VOL. VII.

3 G