Sermon 17

ISAIAH 53:2, 3. Verse 2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness: and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Verse 3. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

In the former verse the Prophet has asserted the rarity and scarcity of believing the gospel, and receiving of Jesus Christ offered therein, Who has believed our report? says he, who has made Christ welcome? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? to whom has this gospel been made effectual by the power of God for the engaging of their hearts to him?

In these two verses he gives a reason as it were of this, which runs upon these two. 1. The low appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ in respect of his outward condition, it has no outward beauty, splendor nor greatness to commend it, but is attended with much meanness, and with many afflictions. 2. The itching humor of men who are taken up with worldly grandeur, or greatness and glory, and make little account of anything that wants that; as if he said, it is no wonder that Christ get few to believe on him, and that few receive this gospel, for he will not come with much worldly pomp and grandeur, which the men of the world greatly affect and are much taken up with.

To open the words a little, we shall first consider the matter of this reason, and then the consequence of it; or what influence it has on men's offending at Christ, and continuing in their unbelief; only we shall premise two or three words to both.

That which we premise first is this, that the He that is here spoken of, is our Lord Jesus Christ, who in the New Testament has this text applied to him, for although there be no He so expressly mentioned in this chapter before, yet in the 13th verse of the former chapter, to which this relates, the He that is spoken of here, is called the Lord's Servant; and it is said of him that He shall be exalted and extolled, and made very high; and it is not unusual to speak of Christ singularly by a relative without an antecedent, as Song of Solomon 1:2, Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; because Christ to believers is so singular an one, that whenever he is spoken of by way of eminence and excellency, as here, they cannot mistake him, or take another for him. Secondly, this want of form and comeliness, is not to be understood of any personal defect in our Lord's human nature, but in respect of, and with reference to the tract of his life, and what accompanied his humiliation, to wit, that it was low and mean, without that external grandeur, pomp and splendor of outward things, which the world esteem to be comeliness and beauty. 3. Where it is said, He shall grow up before him, etc., it relates to the hearers of the report of the gospel concerning him, or to the man that believes not the report spoken of before; and so relates to the words of the first verse, Who has believed our report? Which is certainly meant of the man that hears of him, and to whom he seems nothing worth, because of his mean and low outward condition; for if we should apply it to God, we cannot see how it will so well infer the scope, and be the reason of the unbelief asserted formerly, for which end it is brought in here.

We come now to open the words a little, and here we would know that Christ's low condition is two ways set down in these two verses. 1. In verse 2, in respect of his want of the abundance of the things of this world. 2. In verse 3, in respect of the accession of outward crosses and afflictions; for not only does he want credit, respect, and esteem, but he has contempt, despite, and reproach; not only wants he great riches, but he has poverty, and is in a poor and low condition. The first verse expresses him negatively, to be no worldly great man; the second verse expresses him positively, to be a mean and despised man. 1. Then these words, He shall grow up as a plant out of a dry ground, are expounded by the words following, He has no form nor comeliness; for as shrubs or scrogs growing up out of dry ground shrivel and wither, when trees planted in a fat soil, are fresh, fair, and beautiful. So shall it be with Christ when he comes forth (says the Prophet) to the eyes of the world, he shall, as it were, be like a scraggly shrub on a moor's edge. Our Lord had personal and much divine comeliness in him, as we may see (John 1:14), where he says that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. But the comeliness here spoken of, is that outward state, pomp, and splendor which great men in the world use to have, which Christ wanted. This is confirmed by the following words, And when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him; there is in men naturally a delight and complacency in that which is beautiful to the natural eye; but (says he) there shall be no such thing seen in Jesus Christ when he comes, and therefore no great wonder that few believe on him. And that he says We, it is either according to the phrase used in Scripture, to make some hard thing digest and go down the better with the hearers, of which the speaker is not guilty; or it is his expressing what is the humor generally in all men naturally; as if he had said, had even we who are elect and godly no more but carnal eyes, we would think no more of Christ than other folk do, for we should get no satisfaction to carnal reason.

The second thing whereby his low condition is set out, is in these words, He is despised and rejected of men, &c. Not only shall he want that which carnal hearts and eyes seek and look after, but he shall be so very low, that men shall set him at nothing, mock, and reject him: and what wonder then that he be not believed on? A man of sorrows; as for the tract of his life, it shall be spent in sorrows. And acquainted with grief; he shall not be a man that shall be a stranger to crosses, griefs, and heaviness, but he shall be familiarly acquainted with them, and they with him. And we hid as it were our faces from him; a consequent of the former. As men will not give their countenance to them whom they despise; so, says he, we shall think shame to see or look at him. He shall be the object of men's contempt and scorn, and we shall not so much as countenance him. He shall be despised and set at nothing by Herod and the Roman Soldiers. And we esteemed him not; that is, we the people of the Jews, who owe him more respect, esteemed him not. And hence he concludes, that it is no wonder that but few believe on him. And so in the words following he goes on to describe his humiliation, and to remove the offence that might be taken at it, Surely he has borne our griefs, &c. As if he had said, there is no such cause to scare and stumble at Christ for his lowness and base outward condition; for it was not for himself, but for us that he became so low, and therefore it did not become us to think so little of him. His griefs and sorrows are human infirmities that he subjected himself to for our sake. For the wrath of God which he suffered for us is spoken of afterwards. And because there is great difference between Christ's bearing of infirmities, and our bearing of infirmities, he being like to us in all things, except sin: I shall for clearing of this, name three distinctions given by divines when they discourse of this purpose.

1. They distinguish and put difference between the taking on of infirmities, and the contracting of infirmities. The taking on of infirmities, is the assuming of the effect without the cause; of the infirmity without the sinful defect. Contracting of infirmity is the drawing on of the defect, with, and by the cause. Now, we draw on the cause with the effect, Christ took on the effect, but he had no sinful defect in him to draw on such infirmities. He might have taken on the nature of man without the infirmities, if he had so pleased, but he took on the nature and infirmities without the cause. 2. They distinguish between these infirmities which are simply natural, such as man might have had though he had never sinned, and these infirmities which flow from man's nature, as fallen and corrupted. The first sort may be called Passive, and look to suffering, as to be hungry, thirsty, weary, sensible of that which hurts the body. The second sort may be called Active, and are sinful, as flowing from sin, and tending to sin, as inclination to ill, and indisposition to good, dullness as to the understanding of God's mind, &c. Our Lord took on the first sort of infirmities that are simply natural, and may be without sin. But he was free of the other that implies corruption in the nature. He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin says the Apostle (Hebrews 4:15). 3. They distinguish infirmities, in these that are called natural and common to all men, as men, and these that are personal and acquired, as flowing from some defect in generation, or are drawn on by some intemperance, grossness in the life and conversation. As some families are subject to diseases that come by generation. Others draw on diseases by whoredom, drunkenness, and the like. Now our Lord was free of these last, because being conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin, there was no defect in his generation. And being blameless in his life and conversation, he could acquire none of these infirmities. And therefore the infirmities which he bore are of the first sort; that is, such as are common to all men, and to men as men. And hence we think it probable which some say, that as our Lord was not sick, so he was not capable of sickness, being so perfect in his constitution or complexion. Which makes for the glory of grace, and says, that our Lord needed to die a violent death, there being no principle in him tending to a natural death, though notwithstanding he did most willingly to satisfy justice for sinners. And this may serve to explain these words, that he was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs.

We come now to observe some things from the words, and first, from the condition our Lord is described to come to the world in; Observe, that the Messiah, the Lord's servant that was to redeem his people, was to become man. This is here supposed and prophesied of, as the first step of his humiliation — he is called a man; and it is an aggravation of it that he was to be a man of sorrows. Or taking our Lord Messiah to be already come, we may take the observation thus: that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the eternal Father, is also a true and real man. A common truth, yet a truth fundamental to the Gospel, of which we are not to think the less or the worse because it is a common truth. When the fullness of time came (says the apostle, Galatians 4:4), God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the Law; who, as it is in Philippians 2, thought it no robbery to be equal with God, yet took upon him the shape of a servant, and was made in likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient, etc. So Hebrews 2:14, it is said of him that since the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, etc. And verse 11: both he that sanctifies, and they that are sanctified, are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. And verse 16: he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham; therefore in all things it behooved him to be made like his brethren. He was made even like us in all things except sin. And if we look to the way of grace, there was good reason for this, that the Redeemer of sinners behooved to be man. First, if we consider the interposed or adjoined threatening to the covenant of works — the day you eat you shall surely die — there must be a satisfaction to justice, and the curse threatened must be borne. Second, the curse must be borne by man; the nature that sinned must die; the party offending must satisfy in his own person, or in a guarantor. And third, by our Lord's becoming man: first, he came to have a right, as being near of kin to sinners, to redeem them; and second, by this the Law has right to pursue and exact the debt of him; and third, by this, grace has access to commend the Redeemer of sinners to sinners (Hebrews 2:17-18). And Hebrews 4:15-16: therefore in all things it behooved him to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest, etc. And that we have such a Redeemer makes God, to say so, trustworthy, and grace to have access (1 Timothy 2:5): there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, and this gives man access to step in to God. Fourth, this makes the mystery of godliness to shine the more radiantly, and the wisdom and love of God to shine the more conspicuously through it (1 Timothy 3:16): without controversy great is the mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh. And John 1:14: the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, etc.

Use 1: It serves to be a prop and foundation to our faith. We may say of this truth, as the apostle, speaking of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:15), says: if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is vain. If Christ were not man, our preaching and your hearing were in vain. First, by this we have an evidence that our Lord is the true Messiah who was to become man. Second, by this we see a clear way how he was liable to our debt, and how his satisfaction is communicable to us. And third, in this also we see a main and most attractive argument to draw sinners into Christ for the actual application of his purchase: our Lord Jesus is man, our brother, and made of a woman, made under the Law. This puts a sweetness and loveliness on the mediator, to commend him to sinners, for the engaging of their hearts to him.

And therefore as a second use of it, seeing there is a man-mediator: first, we pray you, men and women, neglect not such a salvation as is to be had by his becoming man, but let this argument prevail with you to make use of him, that he is a true man. And we may say, when this Son of Man comes in the clouds to judge the world, it will be one of the greatest aggravations of the sin of unbelievers, that he came thus low as to be a man for the good of men, and yet was not made use of by them. Second, sinners that would be at him may on this ground be confident and cheerful; the steward of grace is a friend, he is a man, their brother, and claims kindred to them that honestly aim to do the will of his Father. Whoever shall do the will of my Father, says he (Matthew 12), the same is my brother, sister, and mother. Sinners wrong Christ and themselves oftentimes when they shy away from this cordial consolation that by Christ's becoming man is allowed on them. Indeed if we were immediately to go to God, who is a consuming fire, it were no wonder that we stood at a distance; but when God is in the mediator Christ, God man to reconcile the world to himself, as the word is in 2 Corinthians 6, let us, as the apostle says (Hebrews 4, last verse), come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Make this use of it, because he is a friend that sits on the throne. —

Secondly, observe that our Lord Jesus did not only become man, but a man in an exceeding low and afflicted condition; it had been much to the Son of God to have come in the shape of man, though he had been Emperor of the whole world, but he thought not that meet; for since it was his errand in his first coming, not to judge, but to save the world, he came not to be ministered to, but to minister; and therefore (John 13:12) he washes the feet of his disciples. We may take both the branches of the doctrine together: our Lord Jesus not only became man, but he was a man without all worldly grandeur and pomp, in a low and mean condition; and not only did he want that grandeur, but he had much affliction, shame, and sorrow in the place of it. Need we to prove this? Any who are acquainted with the history of the gospel know it; he was for the whole tract of his life, not only in a low condition, but a man of sorrows, griefs, and afflictions; under much persecution, contempt, and reproach. We might instance this: 1. In his birth. 2. In his life. And 3. In his death. The meanness and lowness of his condition, and the afflictions he met with appear clearly in all these, wherein you may behold the glory of grace and of truth; for the more low he became, the more does the glory of grace shine, and the more also does the glory of truth, in that he fulfilled all righteousness.

1. Then for his low condition, and that first in his birth: he was not born of any of the greatest queens; however the birth of Mary was noble, yet she was in a mean condition, for the time espoused to a carpenter. He was not born in a great palace, but in a common inn, which too being taken up with guests, his mother was thrust out, or constrained to betake herself to a stable, where our blessed Lord is brought forth, and laid in a manger, crib, or stall, out of which the beasts eat their meat for his cradle. There the Lord and heir of all things is laid, and has no other cradle; neither was the room hung with rich hangings and tapestry, as the rooms of great ones use to be. 2. In his life he was low, for no sooner is he born but his mother is forced to flee away with him to Egypt; he dare not be seen. And when he returns, he cohabits with and serves his supposed father and his mother, was obedient to them, ran their errands, and worked their work; therefore he is called, (Mark 6) the carpenter. There is no outward nor worldly pomp and grandeur here; and thus he was for the space of 30 years. And then when he came to his public ministry, he has no great folks for his followers and disciples, but a few poor fishermen; over and above whom he does not exalt himself loftily, but humbles himself to wash their feet, and to serve them. And to hold forth this a little further, you may take notice of some Scripture expressions to that purpose, as namely that of (Luke 9:58): Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has not where to lay his head. That of (John 1:10-11): He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not; he came to his own, and his own received him not. Though he could have made a thousand worlds at a word, yet so low was he, that he had not a foot of ground to lay claim to, or to lean his blessed head on. And if we look to (Luke 8) we will find that he was provided for in his necessity by some few women, such as Mary Magdalen, Joanna, Susanna, and others, who ministered to him of their substance; he lived upon the charity of others. And yet (2 Corinthians 8) by his poverty he made many rich. And when he went from place to place, his diet was often being sought, neither do we read of any great cheer he had, but of some barley cakes and fishes; and often the disciples were sent to seek for meat for him. And 3. when it comes to his death, O, how very low is he brought there? When he is crucified, they hang him up between two thieves, as the most notorious malefactor of the three; and he could hardly come under greater reproach than was cast upon him at his death. And as a dead man being really dead, he is laid in the grave and buried, as if death had gotten the victory over him; and so he dies a most shameful death, after he had lived a most mean and abject life.

2. For his afflicted condition, it is clear if we consider what troubles did accompany him in his life, and at his death. No sooner was he born, but (as I said) he is persecuted by Herod, so that himself and his parents must needs flee down to Egypt, and they being but poor folks, had to in so long a journey meet with many difficulties. That they were but poor may be seen by Mary's offering after her purification. And when he came forth in his public ministry, at his very entry to it he was most terribly tempted of the devil, taking occasion of his hunger after long fasting. And all along the exercise of it, what contradiction did he meet with from the scribes and Pharisees? How did he travel on his feet from place to place? Often subject to weariness and fainting; sometimes men will not so much as give him lodging, which he suffers patiently, and rebukes his disciples for their impatience and preposterous zeal, (Luke 9). Many calumnies and reproaches were cast upon him; he was called Beelzebub, a deceiver, a friend of publicans and sinners. How did some of his friends according to the flesh snarl at him, and offer to bind him as a mad man? What plots and conspiracies were laid and made to take away his life? And when it came to the upshot of all, Peter shamefully denied him, and all the other disciples forsook him, and fled. Many other things befell him, as may be seen in the history of his sufferings, written by the evangelists. We read that he wept three times, to let us know that it was his frequent and familiar exercise. And a little before his death, we read that he was in a great agony, and did therein sweat blood, and offered prayers with strong cries and tears. But we read not that he did laugh, or that ever any worldly mirth was found in him, which clearly makes out this truth: that he was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.

For Use, It would take the tongues of Men and Angels to speak of it, it being the most remarkable and soul-refreshing subject that ever the world heard of, even that of which the Angels sing (Luke 2:10-11): Good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people, that to you is born in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord: And this shall be a sign to you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Sure we should not sing less, but more than Angels, Men being more concerned than Angels in these things. And therefore, 1. Behold, believe and wonder, that he that was rich became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich; that he that was Lord of all, became servant to all; that he that was the infinite God, the express image of his Father's person, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God, yet humbled himself and became of no reputation, and took on him the form of a servant, etc. Behold (we say) believe, and wonder at this, 1. In respect of the cause it came from, to wit, everlasting love, He did and suffered all this most willingly, there was no constraint on him; But as it is (Psalm 40), He delighted to do his Father's will; He had power to lay down his life, and to take it up again. 2. In respect of the end, it was not to add to his own glory; for as God, his Glory being infinite, it was not, neither was capable of diminution or addition, but he became poor that we might be made rich, He was a man of sorrows, that we might be made to rejoice, he wept that we might laugh, he wanted that we might have. Is not this love stooping thus low to be wondered at? Was there ever the like heard of? That God the great Party offended should come so low to recover the despicable Parties offending; and that even while they were rank enemies to him? God commends his love to us, says the Apostle (Romans 5:8), that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us; And says himself, John 15, Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends; But when we were enemies Christ died for us. Were it then an unsuitable use of this doctrine, to be beholding, believing, and wondering at his love, and to be often thinking and saying, What is man that God should be so mindful of him, as to send the Heir of all things his own Son into the world, as his great Ambassador and Commissioner, to negotiate a peace between himself and rebel-sinners, which he was to purchase by becoming so very low, and by suffering so very much?

2. See in this the great evil and hurt of sin, and the difficulty of making peace between God and a sinner who has provoked God; Is it a little matter that made our Lord condescend and stoop so low? O! if folk knew the evil of sin; And that before Justice could be satisfied, the Son of God had to become Man, and a deeply humbled Man; The Sword of his avenging Justice had to awake against him, and smite the man that was his fellow, rather than that sin should go unpunished, and Justice should want satisfaction. Beware carelessly to boast and brag of mercy, or to think it easy to make your peace with God; And remember that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

3. See in this, much condescending in our blessed Lord Jesus, and a motive as well as a copy of patience in him, who is content to be made of a woman, made under the Law, who submits himself to the Law, and takes on a mean and afflicted state of life in the world. It's a wonder that Christ's members should take so ill with a mean, suffering, and hard lot, seeing their lot is far, very far from the contempt, reproaches, sorrows, weights and griefs that accompanied their Head and Lord. And it's a shame that believers' minds and hearts should be set so much on these things, that he who was and is their Lord and Master, and the Heir of all things, possessed so little of; or that they should place their happiness in whole or in part in the enjoyment of these things, or their misery in the want of them. More patience under the Cross, under watchings, weariness, reproaches, etc. would become us much better, our blessed Lord Jesus had a great many more.

4. See this to be not only a motive to patience in respect of outward things, but a stepping stone and ground of encouragement to go forward to Christ with every want spiritual and temporal. It's much that our Lord became Man, but it's more that he became a man under griefs, afflictions, sorrows, and temptations, and was subject to death itself. And that he has bowels of sympathy from experience of these temptations, vexations, and sorrows, as they are sinless, as is clear from Hebrews 2 and 4 at the close. He knows what hunger, thirst, poverty, contempt, reproach, and persecution are; He knows what it is to be set upon with the violence of a temptation, though there was no sin in him to comply with it.

5. See here a most real Savior, since he is a suffering Savior. Why did our Lord become thus low? But that he might come under the curse, in the several degrees of it, for the satisfying of justice for our sins; and see in every piece of Christ's suffering a reality of the grace and love of God; a reality in the covenant and bargain of redemption; a reality in Christ's satisfying of justice, and performing his engagement according to the tenor of that transaction. And seeing there is a reality in this Savior, and in his suffering and satisfying of divine justice, and in the price that he paid to the full; put not this Savior again to open shame, as the word is (Hebrews 6:6). Trod not the Son of God under foot, neither account the blood of the covenant an unholy thing. Do not despise the Spirit of Grace, as it is (Hebrews 10:29). He has suffered enough already, let him not be a sufferer again. O, grieve him not by your unbelief, but give him credit by adventuring your souls on him upon his own terms; yourselves will have the advantage and he the glory. This is the pure simple truth of the Gospel. Do not only receive it as a truth, but receive him that it holds forth, and let your hearts close with him, and your faith feed upon him, who became poor, that you through his poverty might be made rich. Happy they for evermore who are made rich through his poverty, and miserable are they, and much more miserable eternally will they be whose practice says that they think they have another way to be happy than by his sufferings and satisfaction, and so disdain and reject both him and it.