Meditations on the holy sacrament of the Lords last Supper Written many years sinceMeditations on the holy sacrament of the Lords last Supper Written many yeares since

Lastly, those things work strongly upon the memory, which do mainly concern, and are beneficial to man; there is no man, not dispossessed of reason, who in sickness doth forget the Physician, neither did ever man hear of any one starved because he did not remember to eat his meat.^a Beasts indeed I have heard of (but those very strange ones too) which upon turning aside from their meat have forgotten the presence of it; but never were any so forsaken by Nature as to forget the desire and inquiry after what they wanted: and the reason is, because wheresoever Nature hath left a capacity of receiving farther perfection from some other thing, there she hath imprinted an appetite to that thing: and there is such a sympathy between the faculties of Nature, that the indigence of one sets all the rest on motion to supply it. Now what thing was there ever more beneficial unto mankind than the Death of Christ? in comparison whereof all other things are as dross and dung. The^b name, and fruit, and hope of a Christian would be all but shadows if Christ ⟨p. 124⟩had not dyed. By his humility are we exalted, by his curse are we blessed, by his bondage are we made free, by his stripes are we healed, we who were vessels of dishonour had all our miseries emptied into him in whom dwelled the fullness of the Godhead.^c Whatsoever evils he suffered, ours was the propriety to them, but the pain was his,^d all that Ignominy and Agony which was unworthy so honourable a Person as Christ, was necessary for so vile a sinner as man.

Lastly, those things worke strongly upon the memory, which doe mainly concerne, and are beneficiall to man; there is no man, not dispossessed of reason, who in sicknesse doth forget the Physician, neither did ever man heare of any one straved because he did not remember to eate his meate.^a Beasts indeed I have heard of (but those very strange ones too) which upon turning aside from their meate have forgotten the presence of it; but never were any so forsaken by Nature as to forget the desire and inquiry after what they wanted: and the reason is, because wheresoever Nature hath left a capacity of receiving farther perfection from some other thing, there she hath imprinted an appetite to that thing: and there is such a sympathy betweene the faculties of Nature, that the indigence of one sets all the rest on motion to supply it. Now what thing was there ever more beneficiall unto mankinde than the Death of Christ? in comparison whereof all other things are as drosse and dung. The