SERMON X.

PREACHED MAY 6, 1770,

JOHN xiii. 8.

Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

To comprehend the full meaning of these words (which, as we shall see, are of no small importance) we must carefully attend to the circumstances of the history, which gave occasion to them.

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The chapter begins thus-Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out

of this world to the Father, having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them to the end.

We are prepared by these words to expect something, on the part of our Lord, very expressive of his love for his Disciples.

The season, too, is critical, and must excite our attention: it was before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world to the Father; in other words, just before his crucifixion.

There is, indeed, some difficulty in fixing the precise time, when the transaction, now to be related, happened. I take no part in the disquisition, because it is not material to my purpose, and would divert me too much from it. It is enough to say, that it was, at most, but the evening before the Paschal supper was celebrated, and therefore but two days before Jesus suffered.

The history proceeds -" And supper being ended (or rather, as the text should have been translated, the time of supper being

come) the Devil having now put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God and went to God; he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments, and took a towel and girded himself. After that, he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the Disciples feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

Thus far all is clear. Jesus condescended to wash the feet of his Disciples; a ministry, very common in the East, and usually performed by servants, in discharge of their duty towards their masters, or, by inferiors, at least, in testimony of respect towards their superiors; as is abundantly plain from many instances...

This then was ONE end of this washing. Our Saviour meant it as a lesson of humility and condescension to his Disciples. But was it the ONLY, or the chief end? That is the point we are now to consider.

Let it be remembered, then, that nothing was more familiar with the Jews, than to convey an information to others, especially if that information was of importance, by natural, rather than artificial signs, I mean by deeds, rather than words; as every one knows, who has but dipped into the history and writings of the Old and New Testament. The transaction before us, if understood only as a lesson of humility, is a lesson conveyed to the Disciples in this form ".

Now, this way of information by action was occasionally made to serve Two contrary purposes: either to give more force and emphasis to an instruction; or, to cloathe it with some degree of obscurity, or even ambiguity. For actions, speaking to the eye, when the purpose of them is by any means clearly ascertained, convey the most lively and expressive information: on the other hand, when it is not, they are somewhat obscure, one thing being to be collected by us from another; or the information is even ambiguous, as the action may signify more things than one.

u See more on this subject in the DISCOURSE on Christ's driving the merchants out of the temple, at the end of the next volume.

Sometimes, the primary sense is declared, or easily understood; while, yet, a secondary sense, a less apparent one, but more momentous, is, also, intended.

This, upon inquiry, may be the case before us. Christ's washing the feet of his Disciples obviously conveys this instruction, which is asserted, too, in express words—that, as he, their lord and master, washed their feet, so they ought also to wash one another's feet. But another, and far more important, instruction may be conveyed in this action, though it be not so fully and explicitly declared. It may, I say, be conveyed: from laying all circumstances together, we shall be able to form a judgment, whether it were, indeed, in the Agent's intention to convey it.

First, as I said, the narrative of this transaction (which, take it as you will, was clearly designed to be an information by action) is prefaced in a very extraordinary manner. Jesus, knowing that his hour was comeknowing too that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God, proceeded-to

x Ver. 14.