unto him; and whereby the ministers of it become a sweet savour to God and men, 2 Cor. ii, 14, 15.3. The body being thus enwrapped was laid in Joseph's own tomb, a new one, in which no man had been laid; and this was cut out of a rock. As Jacob, the patriarch and type of Christ, was honourably buried by his son Joseph, so Christ, the antitype of him, and who is sometimes called Israel, was honourably buried by another Joseph, and he a rich man, which fulfilled the prophecy in Isai. liii. 9. Christ was laid, not in his own, but in another's tomb; which, as it is expressive of his meanness and low estate, who in his life-time had not where to lay down his head to sleep in, and at his death had no tomb ot his own to lay his dead body in; so it denotes, that what he did and suffered, and was done to him, were not for himself but for others; he died not for his own sins, but for the sins of others; and he was buried, not so much for his own sake, but for others, that they and their sins might be buried with him; and so he rose again for their justification; it was a new tomb in which Christ was laid, who wherever he comes makes all things new; he made the grave for his people quite a new and another thing to what it was; as, when he is formed, and lies, and dwells in the hearts of men, old things pass away, and all become new: and in this tomb was never man yet laid; and which, as the former circumstance, was so ordered in providence, that it might not be said that not he but another man rose from the dead; or that he rose not by his own power, but by the touch of another body, as a man once rose by the touch of the body of Elisha, 2 Kings xiii. 20. moreover his tomb was hewn out in the rock, as was sometimes the manner of rich men to do, to prepare such sepulchres whilst living for the greater security of their bodies when dead, Isai. xxii. 16. and this prevented any such objection to be made to the resurrection of Christ, that the apostles through some subterraneous passages got to the body of Christ and took it away; and to all this may be added, that at the door of this new tomb hewn out of a rock a great stone was rolled, and this stone sealed by the Jews themselves; so that no pretence could be made for a fraud or imposture in this affair. — 4. The tomb in which Christ's body was laid was in a garden; nor was it unusual for great personages to have their sepulchres in a garden, and there to be buried. Manasseh and Amon his son, kings of Judah, were buried in a garden, 2 Kings xxi. 18, 16. Christ's sufferings began in a garden, and the last act of his humiliation was in one; this may put us in mind of the garden of Eden, into which the first Adam was put, and out of which he was cast for his sin; and may lead us to observe, that as sin was first committed in a garden, whereby Adam and his posterity came short of the glory of God, so sin was finished in a garden; there it was buried, there the last act of Christ's humiliation for it was performed; and hereby way was made for our entrance into the garden of God, the heavenly paradise above. A garden is a place where fruit-trees grow, and fruit is in plenty; and may direct us to direct us to think of the hunts of Christ's death, burial and resurrection; who compares himself to a grain of wheat, which unless it falls into the ground and die, it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit, John xii. 24. such as redemption, reconci liation, pardon of sin, &c. as also that as Christ's remove from the cross was to a garden, so the remove of saints at death will be from the cross of affictions and tribulations, to the garden of Eden, the paradise of God, where there are pleasures for evermore. 5. The persons concerned in the burial of Christ, and attended his grave, were many and of divers kinds, and on different accounts: the persons principally concerned in the interment of him were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, both rich men; and though before they did not openly profess Christ, yet now being wonderfully animated, influenced and strengthened by the power and grace of God, boldly appear in his cause, and are not ashamed to own him, and act on his behalf, though crucified and slain and lay under so much ignominy and contempt. And this was so ordered by the wise providence of God, that it might appear, that though Christ was load ed with the reproaches of the multitude of the people of all sorts, yet he had some friends among the rich and honourable, who had courage enough to espouse his cause; and such faith in him, and love to him, as publicly to do the kind offices they did to him, in his greatest debasement and lowest state of humiliation. There were some women also who attended his cross, and followed him to his grave; and continued sitting over against the sepulchre, saw where he was laid, and how his body was laid there; and who went and prepared spi. ces to anoint it, and with which they came early on the first day of the week; but were prevented doing it by his resurrection from the dead; here the power and grace of God were seen in spiriting and strengthening the weaker vessels to act for Christ, and shew their respect to him, when all his disciples forsook him and fled; and this conduct of the women was a rebuke of theirs. Besides these, there were the Roman soldiers, who were placed as a guard about the sepulchre; and which not only gave proof of the truth of his death, and of the reality of his burial; but also of his resurrection; though they were tampered with to be an evidence against it. The continuance of Christ in the grave, was three days and three nights; that is, three natural days, or parts of them; which answered the type of Christ's burial, Jonas; who lay so long in the belly of the whale, Matt. xii. 40. Christ was buried on the sixth day, and so lay in the grave part of that natural day, and the whole seventh day, another natural day, and rose again on the first day and so must lie a part of that day in it; and in like manner, and no longer, it may reasonably be supposed, Jonas lay in the whale's belly. III. The ends, uses, and effects of Christ's burial, require some notice. 1. To fulfil the prophecies, and type before mentioned; for as this was predicted of him, it was necessary it should be fulfilled in him. - 2. To shew the truth and reality of his death; for though there were other proofs and evidences of it; yet this must be a very convincing one, since he was taken down from the cross and buried, not by his enemies, but by his friends, who would never bury him alive; nor, indeed did Pilate, nor would he deliver the body to them until he was certified by the centurion that he was really dead; and if any doubt could remain after that, it must be removed by the burial of himn. - 3. That it might appear, that by his death and sacrifice, he had made full satisfaction for sin, and a complete atonement for it; that as by his hanging on the tree, it was manifest that he bore the curse, and was made a curse for his people; so by his body being taken down from the cross, and laid in the grave, it was a token that the curse was at an end, and entirely abolished, agreeable to the law in Deut. xxi. 23.-4. To sanctify the grave, and make that easy and familiar to saints, and take off the dread and reproach of it: Christ pursued death, the last enemy, to his last quarters and strong hold, the grave; drove him out from thence, and snatched the victory out of the hand of the grave; so that believers may, with pleasure, go and see the place where their Lord lay; which is now sanctified, and become a sleeping and resting place for them until the resurrection-morn; and may say and sing, in the view of death and the grave; O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? For,- 5. In Christ's burial, all the sins of his people are buried with him; as the old man was crucified with him; that the body of sin might be destroyed, Rom. vi. 6. So being dead, that, and its deeds, are buried with him; these may be signified by the grave-clothes with which he was bound, and from which being loosed, he left them in the grave; signifying that the sins of his people, with which he was held, but now freed from, having atoned for them, would never rise up against them; being left in his grave, and cast into the depths of the sea, and, by the Lord, behind his back, so as never to be seen and remembered more; and which is emblematically represented in the ordinance of baptisın, designed to exhibit to view the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and of believers in him, Rom. vi. 4-6. Col. ii. 12. - 6. This is an instance of the great humiliation of Christ; not only to be brought to death, but to the dust of death. The body of man, when laid in the grave, is a vile body, mean, abject, and contemptible; it is sown in dishonour and weakness; and so was the body of Christ; he descended into, and lay in the lower parts of the earth, where death and the grave had dominion, and triumphed over him for awhile; and so did the enemies of Christ, as the enemies of the two witnesses will, over their dead bodies, saying, as in prophetic language; And now that he lieth, that is, in the grave, he shall rise up no more, Psal. xl. 8. But they were mistaken; though he died once, he will die no more; death shall have no more dominion over him; though whilst he was in the grave it had dominion over him; but now he is loosed from the cords and pains of death, and lives for evermore, having the keys of hell and death; and he is quickened and justified in the Spirit; and is risen again for the justification of his people: which is the next thing to be considered. OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST FROM THE DEAD. HAVING gone through Christ's state of humiliation, I pass on to his state of exaltation; which immediately took place on the ending of the former: these two are closely connected by the apostle, Phil. ii. 6-10. for having fully described the humiliation of Christ; he adds, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, &c. The several steps and instances of his exaltation are, his resurrection from the dead, ascension to heaven, session at the right hand of God, and his second coming to judge the world at the last day. I shall begin with the first of these; for the first step of Christ's exaltation is, his resurrec tion from the dead; God raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, 1 Pet. į. 21. This is one of the principal articles of the christian faith; a very important one, and on which the truth of the whole gospel depends. I. I shall first consider the prophecies and types of Christ's resurrection from the dead, and how they have been fulfilled. 1. Scripture-prophecies; and the apostle Paul takes notice of several of them in one discourse of his, in Acts xiii. 33-35.-1. A passage in Psal. ii. 7. Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee; which was not said to David; nor could it be said to any other man, since it never was said to any of the angels, Heb. i. 5. yet not so to be understood of Christ, as if his resurrection was the cause of his being, or of his being called the Son of God; since, before that, his divine Sonship was witnessed to by his Father, by angels, by men, good and bad, yea, owned by devils; and was the charge brought against him, for which the Jews said he ought to die. But the sense is, that by his resurrection from the dead, he would be declared, as he was, to be the Son of God with power; and the truth of his divine Sonship confirmed thereby; and so this prophecy fulfilled. — 2. Another prophecy of Christ's resurrection, is in Psal. xvi. 10. which is produced both by the apostle Peter, and by the apostle Paul, as foretelling the resurrection of Christ, Acts ii. 31. and xiii. 35-37. for as it is a proof that his dead body would be laid in a grave, and lie buried there for a time, as has been observed in the preceding chapter, so that it would not be left there, not so long as to be corrupted, but would be raised from thence. 3. Another scripture quoted by the apostle Paul, Acts xiii. 34as referring to the resurrection of Christ, and as a proof of it, is in Isai. lv. 3. I will give you the sure mercies of David; by David is meant Christ, as he often is called in prophecy, and by his mercies, the blessings of the covenant of grace, which are with him; so called, because they flow from the grace and of God; and which being put into his hands, are sure to all the elect through him; and particularly through his resurrection from the dead; for had mercy -- he died, and not arose again from the dead, the blessings of the covenant would not have been ratified and confirmed; the impetration of them is owing to his death; but the application of them to his resurrection from the dead; which, therefore, was necessary to make them sure. Besides these, 4. There is another passage, foretelling the resurrection of Christ, in Isai. xxvi. 19. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise; which is an answer to the complaint of the prophet, concerning the sad estate of his people, and are not spoken by him, but by the Messiah to him, the Lord Jehovah, in whom is everlasting strength, the desire of his people, the ordainer of peace for them, and the worker of their works in them; and who is acknowledged by them as being Lord of them, and who assures the prophet, that whereas he should arise from the dead, others should rise with him, as a pledge of the resurrection of his people at the last day; and which was fulfilled at the resurrection of Christ, when the graves where opened, and many of the saints arose from the dead, Matt. xxvii. 52, 53. or if the words are to be rendered, As my dead body; of, as sure as my dead body shall they arise: either way they predict the resurrection of Christ, of Christ's dead body; which is both the exemplar, earnest, and pledge of the resurrection of the saints. Once more,- 5. Another prophecy of the resurrection of Christ, and of its being on the third day, is, as is generally understood, in Hos. vi. 2. After two days will he revive us, &c. which words are thought to be spoken of the Messiah, whose coming is prophesied of in the following verse; and though they are expressed in the plural number, this may be no objection to the application of them to Christ, and his resurrection; since he rose again, not as a single Person, but as a public Head, representing all his people, who are therefore said to be raised up together with him, Eph. ii. 6. 11. Scripture-types; some of which are, 1. Types of the thing itself in general; or at least thought to be so; as the first Adam's awaking out of a deep sleep, when the woman was presented to him, formed of one of his ribs; the deliverance of Isaac, when his father received him in a figure as from the dead; the bush Moses saw burning with fire, and not consumed; the budding and blossoming of Aaron's dry rod; the living bird let fly, after it had been dipped in the blood of the slain bird, used in the purification of the leper; and the scapegoat, let go into the wilderness, when the other taken with it was slain.→→→ 2. Others are types of the time of it in particular; as well as of the thing itself; as the rescue of Isaac from the jaws of death, on the third day, from the time Abraham had the order to sacrifice him, and from which time he was looked upon by him as a dead man; to which others add, the preferment of Joseph in Pharaoh's court, on the third year from his being cast into prison by Potiphar; putting a year for a day, as sometimes a day is for a year; but the principal type of all, respecting this matter, as, that of the deliverance of Jonas from the whale's belly, when he had been three days in it, at least part of three |