38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.



Ver. 38. Groaning in himself] To consider, belike, the woeful effects of sin that brought death into the world, even on the best; and makes them a ghastly and loathsome spectacle, so that Abraham desires to bury his beloved Sarah out of his sight. Believe me who have made trial of it, saith Augustine, open a grave, and in the head of the dead man ye shall find toads leaping that are begotten of his brain; serpents crawling on his loins, that are bred out of his kidneys; worms creeping in his belly, that grow out of his bowels. Mihi experto credite, quod apertis sepulchris in capitibus invenielis bufones saltantes generatos ex cerebro. (Serm. 48.) Ecce quid sumus, et quid iam erimus: Ecce in quod resolvimur: En peccati originem et foeditatem! saith that father.