Christ did not only come into our flesh, but also into our
condition, into the valley and shadow of death, where we were, and
where we are, as we are sinners.
That which would have been death to some--the laying aside of glory,
and the King of princes becoming a servant of the meanest form--this
he of his own goodwill was heartily content to do. Wherefore he that
was once the object of the fear of angels, is now become a little
creature, a worm, an inferior one, born of a woman, brought forth in
a stable, laid in a manger, scorned of men, tempted of devils, was
beholden to his creatures for food, for raiment, for harbor, and a
place wherein to lay his head when dead. In a word, he made himself
of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made
in the likeness of men, that he might become capable to do this
kindness for us, to give himself a ransom for us.
And it is worth your noting, that all the while that he was in the
world, putting himself upon those other preparations which were to
be antecedent to his being made a sacrifice for us, no man, though
he told what he came about to many, had, as we read of, a heart once
to thank him for what he came about. No; they railed on him they
degraded him, they called him devil, they said he was mad and a
deceiver, a blasphemer of God and a rebel against the state; they
accused him to the governor; yea, one of his own disciples sold him,
another denied him, and they all forsook him, and left him to shift
for himself in the hands of his horrible enemies, who beat him with
their fists, spat on him, mocked him, crowned him with thorns,
scourged him, made a gazing-stock of him, and finally, hanged him up
by the hands and feet alive, and gave him vinegar to increase his
affliction, when he complained that his anguish had made him
thirsty. And yet all this could not take his heart off the work of
our redemption. To die he came, die he would, and die he did, before
he made his return to the Father, for our sins, that we might live
through him.
When Christ betook himself to his ministry, he lived upon the
charity of the people; when other men went to their own houses,
Jesus went to the mount of Olives.