A sermon preached at the christening of a certain Jew at LondonA sermon preached at the christening of a certaine Iew at London

If he, whom ye have slain, be not the very son of God, if ye believe verily, that he, whom ye deride, and scorn at with that your reproachful and despiteful name, Talui, ¹were but a very natural man, why do ye not therefore restore his dead body unto us? or why do not your soldiers and hired ⟨image 35⟩watchmen yield his corps again, for the guarding whereof they received from you so special a charge? If they can not, what else importeth the grave being found empty? What else signified the horror and amazed nesse of your armed watchmen, who being terrified with strangeness of fearful sights fled away so timorously, but that ye may be enforced will ye, nil ye, to confess this Christ Jesus to be very Messiah, who having entered upon the possession of the kingdom of David,² as in the right of his own peculiar inheritance, reigneth now in all eternity, and having vanquished all power of death, sitteth now triumphantly upon the throne of his Father David, to order and establish his Fathers kingdom, with judgement and Justice from henceforth even for ever and ever? I would fain learn now, what that your obstinate rebellion is able once to mutter against this? First, where no mistrust of peril is feared, there is no guard usually charged: And what suspicion of danger might your forefathers conceive of him after they had murdered him? Debate the matter with your selves somewhat more substantially, ⟨image 35⟩why any such fear might grow in the dead body of this one silly person more then in •ny other. But I will not urge you any more herein: only in this point I would fain be resolved. Howe happened that the sepulchre being so strongly covered with a stone of so huge weight, so firmly ensealed with the seal of the high Priest, so straitly fenced with the force of armed knights, was so shortly found empty? You will say, That his disciples crept thither privily, and stale away the body of Jesus perdie, whiles your soldiers were snorting in a deep and sound slumber. Well then. And who I pray you saw the disciples the mean time whiles your watchmen slept so soundly? If their eye lids were overladen with such a dead slumber, that they could not perceive this: with what face shame you to affirm, that your watchmen saw them no? If they did see them, how chanced that being harnessed, they withstood not such silly unarmed wretches?