yet God will bring about the deliverance. So much in the general for this act of Peter's.

And he smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear: the servant's name was Malchus. This servant of the high priest's, it seems, was the first man that stepped forth to lay hold upon Christ, and therefore Peter encounters him first, for as yet they had not taken Christ; for the text saith afterwards, Then the captains and the band took Jesus.' It seems, therefore, I say, that this man was the forwardest of the company, which he did either to please his master, or perhaps he was the officer to serve the arrest upon him in a formal way, as we do. Peter now falls upon him first, and cuts off his ear. Some think it was but the tip of his ear, for so the word signifies sometimes, but there is no ground for that, for Luke he calls it the whole ear.

He saith the servant's name was Malchus, which some fetch from the Hebrew root, which signifies one bought. Because as he was a servant, so perhaps his master had bought him with his money, or otherwise obtained him to be his servant. And as Caiaphas, his master, was (as appears by all the story) the greatest enemy of Christ, so this Malchus was the forwardest of all the rest to attach Christ. The obedience of the servant to the master in Scripture, is expressed by lending the ear, and by boring the ear; and therefore for his doing this out of obedience and zeal to his master, this punishment befalls him. But I pass over that.

Peter cut off his ear. It is certain that Peter aimed at his head, to have cleft that down, but God in his providence directs the blow so, that no more hurt was done but the cutting off the ear. It is strange it should not hit his shoulder, yet you see God guided it so that it did not.

Obs. The observation I have from this is only this, that God in his providence guides and directs blows, and all such casual things as these are. Such passages of providence there are, in guiding the motions of men's hands, and the motions of the creatures, oftentimes for the preservation of us in dangers. And how manifold experiences have we had of them! Who almost is there but in their lives have been either near being killed, and God hath come in by his providence, guiding and directing such accidents and occurrences, that they have been preserved! Especially those that are soldiers, they have found strange kind of shots that have been made, and how near they have come to kill them, and yet they have missed. Or else they have been near killing others in a casual way, and God in his providence hath prevented it. I say it is every man's case almost; we may see many examples of the providence of God in this kind. We see it here towards Peter, and it was a mighty providence; for had Peter killed this man, had there been a murder committed upon him, there had been such a ground of quarrel that they would have fallen upon all the disciples, and certainly have cut them to pieces; but Christ had prayed that they should go away free, therefore God in his providence guides Peter's blow, so that he strikes off nothing but the ear, though he aimed at his head; and Christ heals that ear too, that so his disciples might be all saved and delivered. So much for the tenth verse.

Verse 11. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?'

I have observed something before upon Christ's bidding him put up his sword, therefore I shall say little of it now. Jesus said unto Peter. Why unto Peter? For in Luke he speaks to them all not to draw their swords :

'Suffer you thus far,' saith he. But as he spake to them all, because they all asked him whether they should draw, so more particularly and personally to Peter, because he had sinned and did actually draw his sword; for that is the manner of Christ, to reprove those, and to have those reproved in a peculiar manner, that sin more peculiarly. He bids him put it up; he doth not bid him not to wear it, or not to use it, but to put it up only. But of that before.

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The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? In Mat. xxvi. 51-54, you shall find that Christ useth other arguments to his disciples to be quiet and to put up their swords. How shall the scriptures be fulfilled,' saith he, that thus it must be ?' that is one reason. What need I care for your help, cannot I pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels ?' and, all they that take the sword, shall perish with the sword.' All these doth Christ give as reasons to them to be quiet. But the apostle John, writing after all the other evangelists, inserts what they omitted; and he mentioneth here another reason, and, indeed, the highest reason of all the rest, Shall I not drink,' &c.

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From whence take this general observation, that there may be many motives and reasons in one action, many considerations that may keep a man from sinning in one action, though there be one more principal than all the rest, as this was the principal in Christ.

But why doth he use this argument to Peter more than to all the rest? Upon a double ground.

1. Because it had been Peter's sin to hinder him from suffering. And you shall see how his heart still rose against Peter for it. He had once before said, 'Master, spare thyself.' Christ calls him Satan for it; and he never called any of them Satan but Judas: Get thee behind me, Satan,' says he to Peter (Mat. xvi. 23). He saw Satan in it. And now again, when he was to enter into his sufferings, Peter's zeal was so high that he would have rescued him out of their hands if he could, and have kept him from suffering; therefore Christ in a special manner speaks to him.

Obs. To hinder one in any good, to hinder one in suffering when God calls him to it (though out of a foolish pity), how great an evil is it! With what a slight eye did Peter look upon this thing of Christ. He thought it was only a carrying of him to prison, and that the life of a man should be taken away. He saw not into the bottom of it; he was ignorant of the scope of all this, viz., that it was the saving of the world. Peter, though otherwise a good man, and a believer, he understood it not.

2. Christ speaks this to Peter, not only to lay open his sin in hindering him, but to lay open his own spirit. The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink ?' He doth not say, A necessity is laid upon me to drink this cup. He doth not say simply, My Father hath commanded me to drink it, but Shall I not drink it ?' It is a speech that implies that his spirit knew not how to do otherwise than obey his Father, as if there were such a natural principle in him, such an instinct that he could not choose but do it. Even just as Joseph said, Gen. xxxix. 9, 'How shall I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?' So Christ here, The cup which my Father hath given me, how shall I but drink it? It implies the highest willingness that can be. For still you shall find this to be John's design, to hold forth the willingness of Christ to suffer; that is his project. Therefore he singles out a speech that the other evangelists omit, which most of all holds it forth. He mentions not the necessity because of the law and because of his duty, or because the scriptures must be fulfilled. Others

had done that; but shall my Father give me a cup, and shall I not drink it? He doth here shew that he doth fulfil the commandment more out of love than any other principle, that he was led by the greatest spirit of ingenuity that could be, for I know not a speech of greater ingenuity than this is, The cup that my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?'

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My brethren, to fulfil the law of God out of a principle of love and ingenuity, it is a higher way of fulfilling it than merely to aim at the letter. Christ indeed had an eye to the command, yet that was not it that principally moved him. It is true, saith he, there is a necessity laid upon me, and the Scriptures cannot else be fulfilled, yet above all this I have a principle in me that moves me. It is my Father, he hath commanded this cup to me, how shall I not but drink of it? There is a further principle than merely obedience to the law that leads on a godly man, and led on Jesus Christ to obedience. For love, it is the fulfilling of the law; so it was in Christ, and so in his apostles, and in all his saints.

You read in other evangelists, that when Christ was in the garden, but a matter of half an hour before, he had earnestly prayed to his Father that this cup might pass. But when once God had set it on upon his spirit that it was his will that he should drink it, and that it was impossible in respect of his decree that it should pass from him, when God, I say, had intimated this to him in prayer, and he had submitted to it, then he says, 'Not my will, but thy will be done.' Now, you see how firm and strong his resolution was. He that had prayed against it before, when once he knew God's will, and submitted to it, now he longs to drink of it: 'Shall I not drink,' saith he, 'of the cup that my Father hath given me?' Will you have me go and overthrow the answer I have had of my prayers? Shall I break that resolution I have taken up and expressed in my prayer? Shall I not drink of the cup, when I have yielded and submitted to my Father?

When thou seest God's will determined, or when God hath cast thy heart in prayer one way, and he calls thee to suffer, and hath brought thy heart to yield, Oh! learn then to keep thy heart in that frame, to continue thy resolution, have no more risings against it! Christ, you see, had not but the highest ingenuity that ever was to it.

Therefore now, you that seek to God at any time by prayer for anything, and you have an answer, you have a resolution drawn forth in prayer, you have a bent, a bias of spirit clapped upon you in seeking God in some particular business, keep to it, hold to it. It is a mighty engagement to have had a man's spirit so and so framed in prayer, when a man can say, I have been afore God in prayer, and my spirit hath submitted, and I have been brought to such a resolution. Oh! take heed of breaking such resolutions! You have the highest engagement in the world to continue in them. Therefore, when you pray, mind those engagements that are in your hearts to God in prayer, and keep to them. Christ he came new from prayer now; he had prayed that the cup might be removed, when God had once set it upon his spirit that it was his will he should drink of it, and he had submitted to it, and resolved upon it, you hear of no more complaints, yea, you hear complaints on the contrary, that he should be hindered in doing it. How often, my brethren, do we come before God, and express ourselves against such and such a sin, we submit ourselves to such and such a way of self-denial, but when we are come from before God, how do our minds alter! You see Christ's did not in the greatest point that ever was; when he once had submitted, saith he, I have sub

mitted, and shall I not drink it?' He had not the least rising thought against it afterward. We come and engage ourselves against such a sin to God in prayer, and go away with our eyes scarce dry, and are tempted to it again. Oh! how should we think with ourselves, Shall I do that which I have prayed against? which I have engaged myself against? This was Christ's case here: shall I not drink it?' saith he. Nay, it is more emphatical, The cup that my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ?' He turns the words, the phrase is set in such a posture as hath the most emphasis that can be.

The cup which my Father hath given me. His passion is called a cup; so he himself calleth it, Mat. xx. 22 and Mark x. 38, 'Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of ?' speaking of his passion. And it is called a cup, not only because it was his demensum, the portion that was allotted him by his Father; for the manner of the ancients in feasts* was to set every man his cup, or portion of drink that was allotted him, by his trencher, as it were; as we now set bread, so they had every one his cup, every one his quantum or portion. And so indeed in Scripture, any portion of affliction or suffering that God doth set out to men, it is called a cup; as in Jer. xxv. 17, 'I took the cup, and I did give it from the Lord into the hands of all the nations, and made them all to drink of it.' So in Ezek. xxi. 31-33, and in Hab. ii. 16. And in many other places you have the cup put for the portion or measure of an affliction. But, I say, he calls it a cup, not only because it was his portion, but I rather think that which is in this place aimed at is, that it was his meat and drink to do the will of his Father. For, you see, Christ is hearty in submitting to his Father: It is the cup, saith he, which my Father hath given me, which speech (as I said afore) expresseth the highest willingness. Now, in John iv. 34, he saith, My meat and drink is to do the will of my Father, and to finish his work; and he looks upon this cup, when once he had prayed over it, as that which his Father had given him to drink; and therefore as it was meat for him to do his will, so it was drink to him, it was pleasant to him (in some respect sweetened by an angel) to take this cup and drink it off.

Obs. 1. First you see the sovereignty of God, to dispose of what cup he is pleased you shall have in your lifetime; which, you see, Jesus Christ here submitteth unto. For a cup it is not only taken for a portion of evil things, but for a portion of good things; and God disposeth unto several men several cups, and of several sizes, as he pleaseth. It is certain that the bitterest cup that ever was was disposed of unto Jesus Christ, therefore no man needs complain.

Obs. 2. Secondly, Christ did not look to what the Jews did, or the Roman band that was with them, that were now round about him, he eyes not them; but still he looks to God, eyes him: 'It is the cup which my Father hath given me.' Peter, you see, he looked only at the Jews as his adversaries. No; Peter (saith he), it is my Father's cup, there is a higher hand in it. So should we do in all our actions; as Job did when he said (Job i. 21), 'It is God that hath given, and God that hath taken away.' God hath bid him curse,' saith David of Shimei, 2 Sam. xvi. 10; 'therefore what have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah?' So here Christ carries himself. This is from my Father (says he), I will not have to do with these Jews; it is true I fall into these men's hands, but it is the counsel of my Father; as Acts ii. 23. This Christ looks to; and so, I say, should we do in all our sufferings.

* Stuckius' Antiq. Convival, lib. iii. c. 13.

Christ

Obs. 3. Thirdly, It is the cup which my Father hath given me. in his sufferings doth not look upon God as a judge. Nor do not you, my brethren, in any of your afflictions. Suppose you see the affliction answering your sin, yet look not upon God as a judge in it, but as a father. It is the cup which my Father hath given me, saith he; and we are to be conformable to him in afflictions. The greatest and bitterest sufferings be sweetened to us, looked upon as coming from a father. It was so with Christ; when he looks upon this as a cup given him by his Father, he looks upon it as his drink, and it is a pleasure to him to drink it off.

Obs. 4. Fourthly, Every man hath a set portion of affliction, every man hath his cup. It is the cup my Father hath given me to drink. Christ himself had his cup, his set quantity; he had a cup that was answerable and proportionable to the sins of those he suffered for; God put in a quantity for every man's sin, and Christ drank it off to the bottom; the sins and the wrath due for them was all wrung into this cup which Christ drunk off, and drunk off heartily. If thou hadst drunk off that cup, there had been eternity in the bottom, and thou couldst never have wrung out the dregs of it; but he drinks it off heartily, and he thinks much of Peter that went about to hinder him of it: Shall I not drink of the cup which my Father hath given me?'

How is his Father said to have given it him?

By decreeing it aforehand; for he had not yet taken it: he had entered into it indeed, he had tasted of it in the garden, but he was going on to taste more of it; and that cup which his Father by his decree allotted to him, he willingly takes and submits to it.

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And let me add this, whatsoever cup it be that God in thy life affords thee, take it, and go drink it off heartily; for whether thou wilt or no, if it be a cup he hath given thee, thou shalt drink it. In Jer. xxv. 15, ‘Go, saith God, to all the nations, and say unto them all, Drink of this cup; and if any of the nations shall refuse to drink it, tell them, that my people have drunk it, therefore they shall drink it.' Do not therefore only make a necessity of it, and because of a necessity submit, but do it out of that ingenuity that Christ did here; he did not submit merely out of necessity, but with all the willingness in the world, 'The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?'

CHAPTER VIII.

How Christ was taken and bound by those who came to apprehend him, and was thus led away by them, as the victims, or sacrifices, used to be to the altar.-That even this his binding hath an influence on our being loosened from those chains, wherein sin hath fettered us.

Now beginneth the first of Christ his outward sufferings, his sufferings from men; he had suffered from his Father before, in the garden, where now he was, when he sweat drops of blood.

Verse 12. Then the band, and the captain, and officers of the Jews, took Jesus, and bound him.'

In these words there are two things considerable:

1. The persons taking.

2. The person taken.