2. Second Sermon
SECOND SERMON
I saiah, Chapter LIII 1. Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness, and we have seen that there was nothing to be desired in him. 3. He is despised and rejected among men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, so that men hid their faces from him with contempt, and we esteemed him not. 4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, etc.
*** We began to treat how, although the Gospel was to be published throughout the whole world, it would nonetheless be very poorly received by the greater part; and how the Prophet declared this so that the children of God should not be dismayed at seeing the unbelief of those whose ears had been struck by the doctrine of salvation, and who nevertheless refused entirely to accept it. For it is a strange thing that God should call men to himself, and
strive to win them in so gentle and gracious a manner as anything could be, and that nevertheless men should turn away from him, and knowingly refuse to come to the salvation thus offered them. It seems this should be impossible; yet we see it nonetheless by experience. This is why the Prophet Isaiah cries out that when God, as it were by trumpet-blast, wishes to publish his Gospel, there will nevertheless be but a small number of believers. He adds the reason: that God must indeed reveal his power, in order to give faith to those who by their natural sense would always be unbelieving. This is the cause why we see so many people reject the Gospel, why there are so many who are disgusted by it and conceive such a scandal at it that they would rather resemble those who thus defy God than approach him peaceably. What is the cause of this, I ask, except that we imagine faith to be within the power of every man? But the Prophet shows us that although God commands his Word to be published to all — that is, to the good and to the bad — nevertheless he works in a secret manner in his elect, as if making them feel his arm and his power. Let us note well, then, that when the Gospel is preached, it will be like a useless sound until our Lord shows that it is he who is speaking; for he does not do this good to all. Behold, then, the power of God which is hidden from the reprobate; and thus, it is a privilege God grants to few — to those whom he has elected and adopted to attain eternal life — when he declares to them that the Gospel is the doctrine of salvation, a certain truth to which one must hold fast.
Behold, in sum, what the Prophet Isaiah meant to touch on in this passage.
Now upon this we must be fortified and armed against the objection that the devil sets before our eyes, when we see so many people resist the Gospel — indeed the greatest, even those who have some reputation in the world; for then it seems to us almost that this is not the word of God. And why? We
depend far too much on men — behold how our faith is shaken. Let us therefore overcome all that is of the world, and recognise that when God speaks, we must submit ourselves to him — and even if no one keeps us company, but all were our enemies, let us not for that fail to accept in purity of faith what God pronounces. And moreover, so as not to be too astonished that men are so perverse as to war against their God, against him who created them, against him who has even declared himself their Redeemer — let us know that this is not given to all, and that faith is a singular gift that God reserves as a treasure for those he has elected, and let us recognise that our duty is to hold fast to him — knowing, nevertheless, that none of us has given himself faith by his own motion, but that God has enlightened us and given us eyes by his Holy Spirit, and in so doing has declared to us his power — that is, he has given us a living sense of it in our hearts, so that we know it is not from men that the Gospel proceeds, but from him. Behold, in sum, what we must retain from this passage. In short, let us boldly defy the unbelief and obstinacy of all those who are rebellious against God, and walk where he calls us, and accept the good he offers us, so that we are not guilty of that ingratitude which the Prophet here accuses and condemns in all those who will not obey the doctrine of the Gospel. Now hereupon he shows that men do not deign to believe in Jesus Christ, because they see him as disfigured. We know that our Lord Jesus is called a stone of stumbling and offense, because men come to strike themselves against him.
Yet he was given by God his Father for another use — namely, that we should be founded on his grace, and that he should be as a stone to support us all, for there is no other support and firmness but him. We are, then, all wavering, and even hell is open to swallow us up. Thus behold our salvation, which has no foundation in this world, but we must be supported
in our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is why, in the eighth chapter, when it is said he would be set as a precious stone, and the Temple of God would be built upon it, a foundation stone to support the whole edifice, the Prophet also added that to the kingdom of Judah and to the house of Israel he would be a stone of stumbling.
Following on this, it is now said that our Lord Jesus shall be as a small shoot, as a root growing in a dry and sterile ground, that he shall be despised — men will see him and not deign to look at him; each shall turn away his face, and shall hold him in detestation. This shows how few people will believe the Gospel, for we always seek to have some fine appearance before our eyes; we want everything to shine. Now God has proceeded in another way in willing to redeem us: for (as St. Paul says) since the world could not profit from the wisdom of God when he declared himself Creator — so that by looking at heaven and earth one could come to him — he changed his method, and used as it were a kind of foolishness to teach us. For (as I have said) we ought indeed to have been taught by that admirable wisdom of God which appears both high and low to the whole world, but we were made dull to it. God, then, used as it were a folly, when he sent his only Son, subjected him to all our infirmities, had him rejected by the world, born in a stable, and all his life he was like a poor labourer; and in the end we see all rise up against him, and there was such a rage that he was held in detestation, and was made everyone's enemy, and in the end they crucified him. Now that death was accursed of God, and he was not only disfigured by the blows, the spittings, and the crown of thorns, but he was made a curse when he was hanged between two thieves, as if he were the most detestable creature that had ever existed or been known. Now this kind of death was terrifying, because it was accursed in the Law. Behold
how he was disfigured; for this means became a scandal to men. And this is why the Prophet notably says that men will not believe the Gospel, because men cannot conceive that this is reasonable, and cannot in any way approve that the only Son of God, who is the Lord of glory, should be exposed to such reproach and ignominy; they cannot come to terms with this eternal counsel of God, which was from all eternity. We now see the Prophet's intent.
Now upon this he says that nevertheless he shall be exalted: even if from the beginning there is no appearance of it, God will make him grow, and one shall see with the eye, he says, that although he is in a desert land, although he is a small shoot, he shall nonetheless not fail to grow, and to flourish in all glory, for God will put his hand to it. And then he brings us back to our sins, to remove the scandal we conceive through the perversity of our own spirit. So that we may not refuse to come to our Lord Jesus
Christ, seeing him thus disfigured, the Prophet shows us the reason why.
For truly, if we have once recognised our sins, and have apprehended the wrath of God along with them, then we shall come to our Lord Jesus Christ, and the desire we shall have to be rescued by him will make us all the more inflamed to receive his death and passion; for we shall know that it is a necessary remedy for the evil that is in us. Behold, then, in sum, the procedure the Prophet follows here. Now when he compares our Lord Jesus
Christ to a shoot, and to a root that is in a desert and sterile land, it is to show that the beginnings would be small, and that no account would be taken of it — indeed that the whole world would hold it in mockery and laughter. Already in the eleventh chapter he had compared our Lord Jesus
Christ to a shoot, saying that he would come forth from the stock of Jesse, who is the father of David. Because then the royal house was cast down,
and had no more dignity, he said it would be as in olden times, when Jesse was a rustic man, having his sons as herdsmen and shepherds of the fields.
That house was then obscure, without any reputation; and moreover it was like the trunk of a tree that had been cut down, on which one would tread, with no appearance of anything. Jesus Christ, then, was like a small shoot; but it is said afterwards that he would grow in such a way that he would give shade to the whole world.
Here too the Prophet shows that it was necessary that our Lord Jesus be thus despised from the beginning. For if this had not been notably declared, one might rightly have been scandalised at seeing the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ so contemptible in the world's eyes. For it had been said that there would always be someone seated on the throne of David, and that this
Empire would flourish as long as there was sun and moon. Now behold that royal house as it were razed and annihilated; and who would think the promise fulfilled in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, for there was no longer any appearance that it should be restored to its estate? But when it is said that this house shall be as it were altogether ruined, and that there shall be no more pre-eminence, nor sceptre, nor crown, and that men would almost be ashamed to see such ruin and confusion — when all this is declared by the Prophets, then we have good entry, namely, Jesus Christ.
And we must not be astonished, as at some new and unknown thing, if Jesus Christ appears in so lowly a manner. And indeed, it is not in this place alone that the Holy Spirit has spoken thus. We see what is said by Amos, that God will raise up again that throne which had before been ruined, as this passage is also cited in the fifteenth chapter of Acts, to show that our
Lord Jesus would begin to reign when it pleased God to repair what had been confused. And it had been notably said that this Kingdom would be as
trodden underfoot along with the royal crown, and that there would be no head to bear it, until the Redeemer should come into the world. All these things, then, ought to confirm us, so that we do not find it strange that the beginnings of our Lord Jesus Christ were so small.
Furthermore, by this word "dry ground" the Prophet means that our Lord Jesus will not seem to grow any more than a tree in a desert, where there is neither moisture nor anything else. Behold him, then, as a disfigured tree, for lack of being nourished and drawing substance and moisture from the earth. Now it is said that Jesus Christ will be thus from the beginning, to express that there will be no means here below to increase him, but that he will take his growth from on high, from the secret power of God his Father, and that he will not be aided by the world's side, for there is nothing but sterility there — and this was not only so at his birth, but must be applied to the whole course of the Gospel. It is true that already it was a sign that Jesus
Christ was a small shoot, when he found no place to lodge among men, but was as it were shut out and banished from all company, and was raised in such poverty that one could not tell if he was a man. This already served to prepare the faithful to recognise that Jesus Christ would be rejected and contemptible in the world's eyes; but the chief instance was when he appeared to preach the Gospel and to execute the charge committed to him by God his Father. Then they began to say: Is this not the son of a carpenter? And do we not know how he was brought up? And in what school did he learn to be so great a doctor? And even his own relatives, seeing him so hated, wanted to make people believe he was out of his mind, and that he must be bound and shut away, so that they themselves would not all be stoned; for they saw well that this hatred would fall on the whole house. Finally, behold Jesus Christ crucified. It seemed the Gospel was
buried with him, and that its memory must be utterly extinguished. Who would have said that the Apostles could thus advance the doctrine of salvation? Behold poor idiots, who never knew what letters were, who had not been trained in the holy Scripture, who had no eloquence nor skill whatever; and moreover they were lowly men, to whom no one would deign to lend an ear, even had they spoken like Angels. In this, what does one see but a desert? Where are the great pomps and preparations to make kings and princes submit to the Gospel? But on the contrary, behold drawn swords, fires lit to prevent this doctrine from having its course.
Thus, one sees clearly that it is as if, in a desert land, a small stick had been planted. And who would say that there ought to grow from it a tree to cover the whole world, so that everyone might find refuge there? Who could imagine this, seeing such beginnings? Thus, not without cause, the Prophet Isaiah declares that the world, which is too much given over to pomp and grandeur, will not deign to look upon Jesus Christ, but will hold him as despised, since he is a shoot, a small twig, having come forth from a sterile land, where there is neither water nor moisture nor any vigorous substance. Now this is notably shown to us so that we should not be turned away or discouraged by such a scandal, but that we should promptly come to our Lord Jesus Christ. When, then, it has been declared to us how the Gospel was to be preached in the world, and we still see the like today — namely, that the Church will be only like a small handful of people whom men will esteem as rabble, and that we ourselves shall be an abomination to those who today have all the vogue in the world — let us not for that lose courage. For we see how our Lord Jesus Christ appeared from the beginning; and if he still wishes his Kingdom to be preserved today in the same manner, this ought not to prevent us from ranging ourselves alongside
him. And recognizing that the foolishness of God (as St. Paul speaks of it) has surpassed all the wisdom of men, let us not be so presumptuous as to oppose this, but let us recognise that as God willed to annihilate his Son, so also he willed to exalt him above the heavens; and let us find good what he has ordained in his counsel, and acquiesce in it.
Furthermore, let us note well this phrase, that he shall grow up before him, whatever may be. If through our pride and our contempt we imagine we can trample Jesus Christ underfoot and hold him under the earth, this is an abuse; he will grow in spite of all the unbelief, malice, ingratitude, and rebellion of men — yes, but this shall be before God. Now it is true that he grows also before the faithful, for they adore him in all obedience and recognise that the sovereign name God has given him well deserves that all should bend the knee before him. But the Prophet has notably said that he shall grow before God, as if making a balance between men, who strive to overturn the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and to keep it as it were suppressed, and God his Father, who will lend him his hand, and will bring it about that nothing shall hinder him from attaining the fruit of his glory and majesty, to which he has been called. Here, then, is the natural sense of these words: that our Lord Jesus is like a shoot — indeed, if one looks to outward appearance — and is in a desert, because there are no worldly means to make him grow; but whatever the case, he shall grow. And how?
Before God. Let us, then, no longer be astonished when men mock the doctrine of the Gospel, and it is held in reproach because of the pride that is in all unbelievers; but when we see the enemies of the truth so arrogant, lifting their horns against our Lord Jesus Christ, and even battling against him with all fury, let us turn our gaze away from that; let us not be so foolish as to despise the Son of God because the praise he deserves is not
rendered to him by the blind, and those who are wholly possessed and bewitched by Satan — let us rather look to God, and then we shall be well edified in our faith.
For since Jesus Christ thus increases in the presence of God his Father, it is right that on our part we should magnify him, and render to him what belongs to him — in short, that we should learn to rest wholly upon God, and then we shall be able freely to defy the world. And although the world takes no account of the Word of God, we shall not fail to render full obedience to it, as we owe it to him. And why? Because God will be more to us than an infinite multitude of gainsayers, who might turn us away from coming to our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is very necessary for us today, for (as we have touched on) we see the greatest of this world, and those reputed the wisest, nonetheless waging war against the Gospel; and those who boast of being the greatest supporters of the Gospel, those who are not content merely to be called Christians but wish to surpass all others, as it were, in superlative degree — such people, I say, are nonetheless as instruments of Satan to abolish the truth of God and to set themselves against our Lord
Jesus Christ and his Word. If this astonishes us, let us note well what is said here — that if we see men so obstinate and hardened in not receiving the Son of God when he presents himself to them, we must defy them, even the greatest of this world; for they are but filth compared to God. It is true that, according to their present estate, they will have such majesty that it will seem everything must tremble beneath them; but if we can lift our thoughts to God, and cast our gaze there, it is certain that all these worldly fanfares will be nothing to us, no more than a straw. Behold, then, how our faith must rise, so that nothing we see here below may prevent Jesus Christ from having his authority over us.
Behold, then, what we must retain from this passage. And indeed, since God works in strange and incomprehensible ways, this ought to confirm us all the more. If the Gospel were preached by people of great renown, so that kings and princes submitted to it, so that estates everywhere held to it, and it were concluded, "Behold, this is where we must stand, here is a heavenly truth, and we must conform to it," and each on his own side favoured it and applied to it all his strength and abilities — this would be like a rich soil well cultivated, where trees and vines were planted, wheat sown, everyone helping, sparing nothing. When, then, a land were thus cultivated, had rain in season, and were constantly tended, in short, where no pains were spared
— well, this would be natural; one would not perceive that God had put his hand to it. But when today we see the contradictions and resistances raised to suppress the Gospel; when we see how many tongues are set against it
(for today not only these hypocrites throughout the Papacy praise themselves like whores to blaspheme against God and his Word, but we shall even see such rabble among ourselves); and then again we see how cruelty is exercised against the poor children of God, and new plots are hatched daily to forge one edict upon another, in order to annihilate this doctrine altogether; we see the mockeries of all the profane, who today stick out their tongues and would abolish all religion — when, then, we see all these things, we must indeed conclude that God is triumphing, and that the doctrine is victorious and proceeds from him. This, then, ought to serve as our confirmation, when we see that there is nothing in this world to advance the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ and the doctrine of his Gospel, but rather everyone retards it; and yet it does not fail to find entry and to have its course. Meanwhile, we are convicted of ingratitude if we turn this into a scandal, seeing that God calls us to himself, and shows us that it is he who
is at work; whereby we must conclude that it is a miracle when the Gospel thus prospers. This, in sum, is how we ought today to practice this doctrine.
Now there is more still: that Jesus Christ was to be disfigured. The Prophet has already said he would be like a small shoot; but this is more — that he would be despised, rejected, that no one would deign to look at him, that there would be nothing in him to be desired. This is to show that our
Lord Jesus in his person, as we have already shown, was to be vilified by the world and to suffer all ignominy, as if he had been rejected not only by men but by God as well. Now to seek our salvation — so desirable a thing
— in one who has no attraction in himself, seems to be an absurdity. Yet we must overcome this temptation in order to come to Jesus Christ. And this was very necessary, first because of the Jews, who had always awaited an earthly Kingdom, for this was a nation full of avarice and pride, so that they thought God could not show himself merciful toward them except by heaping up all the riches of the world for them, and making them live in delights and pomps. Behold what sort of redeemer they hoped for. Yet God had well warned them that the Redeemer would be like a small shoot, that he would be rejected by the world. And this warning was necessary not only to them, but today to us as well; for this scandal remained even after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, as St. Luke speaks of it, that the Gentiles held Jesus Christ in mockery, and the Jews armed themselves with venom and malice against him, and dashed themselves as against a stone of stumbling. And still today we see such examples in our own time. All the more must we retain this doctrine — that it was necessary for the Son of God to be thus without form or beauty, that there should be nothing in him for which he should be prized — I mean in men's opinion — for we must always note what is said in the first chapter of St. John, that the glory of the
only Son of God appeared in him, but there were many blind who did not recognise it. Thus, when the Prophet Isaiah declares that Jesus Christ will be as it were altogether disfigured, that there will be nothing but deformity in him, he thereby signifies that men will not be able, by their natural sense, to know that he has been sent for their salvation, and that he has all power both of life and death, and that all fullness of righteousness, wisdom, and holiness are in him. Men, I say, will not be able to conceive this in their minds. Thus, we must take this passage: for although our Lord Jesus performed miracles that testified to his divine power, nevertheless he did not cease to be disfigured, and the unbelievers saw nothing of it. Thus, this passage of the Prophet has always been fulfilled — that Jesus Christ had no beauty to attract men, for it is not spoken here only of his face, but the Prophet, in his name, speaks of the whole condition of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
It is indeed said in Psalm 45 that he was to be exalted in beauty, above the whole human race; but that beauty is spiritual, according to what we have already said, that the glory of the Son of God appeared in him — indeed, to those who had eyes and could contemplate it. Behold, then, our Lord Jesus
Christ who has surpassed all men in beauty, for God gave him infallible marks by which it was known that he was truly the living image of God his
Father. There is, then, ample reason to magnify our Lord Jesus Christ, but this was hidden from the world. Thus, we must always come back to what the Prophet says, that everyone turned his back on him, that everyone shut his eyes to him, as to a detestable thing. What? To seek my life in death, to seek my hope in one who could not save himself, to seek my strength in one who was so weak — who could do this? In short, we know, and each of us experiences it too much, that as our Lord Jesus Christ was abased in his
death, so also our faith will stumble unless it is sustained from elsewhere.
When, then, it is a matter of resting upon our Lord Jesus Christ, of having all our refuge in him fully, of having our trust as it were fastened there, we look and say: What? I see him so annihilated in his death that it seems to us all is over.
Now we must come to what the Prophet sets before us here: that, having been struck down in death, God has exalted him above all creatures. And this also ought to lift our faith even to heaven. Whatever the case, let us learn not to be scandalised, seeing that the Son of God was crucified, and that in his own person he suffered all reproach, and that still today he is disdained in his members, all manner of insult heaped on him — let this not turn us away, but let us always remain firm in the faith of his Gospel. Now since this combat is difficult, the Prophet brings us back to the reason why our Lord Jesus suffered, for truly we could never rest on the Son of God until we have known the fruit that comes to us from his death and passion.
And why? At first sight (as I have said) it will be condemned as folly, that he who is the author of life should be a mortal man, that he should die — and not by a simple death, but an ignominious death accursed of God — that he should be hanged on the gibbet like a brigand. When, then, we see all this, it is certain we shall be seized with disdain, and shall never be able to come to Jesus Christ. But here is the true remedy: that we know why he died, how his death has profited us, and the good we receive from it — then all scandals will be abolished. For example: if I am troubled with vexation when I consider that the only Son of God was as it were trampled underfoot and made detestable before men, I must enter into myself; for if I look only at Jesus Christ, I shall turn away from him and take no account of him; but if I look first at myself, and then come afterward to him, then what he
suffered will be of good savour to me. How so? If I consider that I am a poor sinner, and that I have provoked the wrath of God against me, so that he must be my adversary and my judge — if, then, I think of my sins, and thereupon come to conceive how horrible and dreadful a thing is the wrath of God, and that he should be my Judge to overwhelm me — then I shall come to say: Now then, what means have you to make peace with God?
Can you bring him anything that could satisfy, even for the least offence you have committed? Alas, no. Though I circled the whole earth and sea, would I find any recompense? Could the Angels of paradise help me in this? It is necessary, then, that Jesus Christ appear in my name, and constitute himself my surety and my guarantor.
Behold how the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ will no longer be turned into folly for us, but we shall conceive that since we were thus accursed, and there was no remedy to find grace before God, since we had thus provoked him, and he was contrary and hostile to us, it was necessary that we be subject at the same time to Satan and his tyranny, until Jesus
Christ delivered us from it. Behold, I say, how we shall begin to magnify the infinite goodness of our God, and to hold our sins in detestation, and to be as utterly confounded as anything could be. Behold also how the scandal we imagine, and that each forges for himself concerning the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, will soon be effaced — namely, when we enter into ourselves, and make a good examination of our sins, and recognise that we are so detestable to God that he himself must come, in the person of his Son, to make satisfaction for it, and to repair our iniquities, so that by this means we may be reconciled to him.
Behold, then, the order the Prophet follows here. He says on the one hand that Jesus Christ will have neither form nor figure, and that nothing will be
found in him to be desired — indeed, that looking at him from afar, one will be astonished at him. But having said all these things, he adds: yet he was afflicted for our sins — as if he said: Poor blind people, you take no account of the Son of God, and each by his own ingratitude shuts the door on himself, so that you cannot approach him to obtain the salvation he brings you. What is the cause of this? It is that you have not known your sins, so as to humble yourselves — everyone is asleep, indeed stupid, and nourishes himself on his vain flatteries. But look at yourselves in your poverty and filth, and then you will be ashamed of your condition, and will recognise that there is no other means but for Jesus Christ to mediate there, and to take upon his own person what made you enemies of God, and to be there your surety, to constitute himself as it were a poor sinner, to take all your burdens and carry them himself. When, then, you think on all these things, you will take a good taste for ranging yourselves with the Son of God, and you will no longer stop at your vain fancies; you will no longer be scandalised that Jesus Christ so annihilated himself, when you recognise what condemnation you had deserved, and what recompense and satisfaction was required for it.
For the rest, the Prophet notably says, "We have seen him, and we despised him," to show that our Lord Jesus will be despised and rejected not only by some number of people, but by the greatest multitude — indeed by that people who claimed him as their own. For the Prophet, placing himself among the number of those who rejected our Lord Jesus Christ, looks to his own people — that is, the Jews from whom he was born — and beyond that he also wishes to show that this was the common opinion, and that almost everywhere Jesus Christ was rejected. Thus we are all the more fortified, so as not to attach ourselves to the fancy of men, when we see not
merely a hundred unbelievers, but that they will come in great crowds and with great armies, that they will come by the millions, and that among a hundred one will scarcely find three or four who peaceably range themselves with our Lord Jesus Christ — when we see this, let us nonetheless not fail to hold fast to him. Behold, in sum, what we must retain from this passage. For today we would like to count the votes, and many weak people look and say: What? There is only a small handful of people who believe the Gospel; if I outnumbered them, I would still willingly join
— but that I should go and place myself with so small a portion, leaving the greater multitude, what would that be?
Now to cut off such objections, the Prophet says there will not be merely four or ten, but that nearly everyone in general will refuse to obey our Lord
Jesus Christ. And indeed, there is no doubt that he means particularly to indict the Jews here, for we have already cited from the eighth chapter that he was to be a scandal to both these houses — that is, to the line of Abraham. Behold, then, the people who were God's above all others, and who, it would seem, ought to have recognised their Redeemer. For to whom was Jesus Christ promised? To the Jews, as it is said that he is a minister of the circumcision, in order to fulfil the promises the fathers had received.
The Jews, then, ought to have been altogether accustomed to Jesus Christ before he appeared in the world, and to receive him without any difficulty; yet it is said that they rejected him — even the builders themselves, that is, the leaders who had charge of the people. And this is found still today, for it is not only the Turks and the pagans who reject Jesus Christ, but those who usurp the name of Christianity and falsify it, and even those who make profession of the Gospel are often profane men, mockers of God, and villains, who would wish that all doctrine of salvation were abolished, and
if they retain it still, it is only for shame before men. Whatever the case, Jesus Christ will be despised and rejected; and if this had not been foretold, we might be shaken in our faith. But this statement of Isaiah ought to be for us like a staff to support us — indeed like a firm rock — when we see the whole world dashing itself against our Lord Jesus Christ: some defying him and rising up in all fury against him and his doctrine, others mocking and sticking out their tongues to hold all religion in contempt. Let us, then, persist nonetheless steadfastly in our faith.
It is true that it would be greatly to be desired that Jesus Christ be contemplated from afar, and that everyone submit themselves to him, as he is the true mirror and pattern of all holiness; but nevertheless, the more we see the world reject him, the more our faith ought to be confirmed. For how can we discern that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the world? Let us look at what is said of him by all the Prophets. And indeed, behold the true mirror in which we must contemplate the glory of the only Son of God — behold the true witnesses God has sent from heaven to mark out for us what our Redeemer was to be, namely, that he would be rejected by the whole world, and that everyone would rise up against him. Since this is so, let us accept him on this condition; and let us not doubt that when it seems we must be altogether overwhelmed, and trampled underfoot by the audacity and pride of the wicked, God will nevertheless magnify our Lord Jesus
Christ, and will strengthen our faith by his Holy Spirit, so that it shall be victorious to the end — and that as our Lord Jesus has conquered the devil, as in the end he and all his followers must be made his footstool, so too he will make us triumph with him, to trample underfoot all those who persecute us, and who today rise up in such fury against us, and who even despise and defy him.
Now let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of our good God, in acknowledgment of our faults, praying to him, etc.