4. Fourth Sermon
FOURTH SERMON
I saiah, Chapter LIII 7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
*** The Prophet, having declared to us that we must each look to himself and to his own faults, in order to take a right taste for the death and passion of our
Lord Jesus Christ, now adds that what he suffered, he suffered not by force but of his own free will — as indeed, without this, we would not be justified, and the reconciliation would not be made between God and us: namely, if Jesus Christ had not repaired our transgressions by his obedience.
For if the death of the Son of God had been forced, and he had not
submitted to it voluntarily, it would not have been a sacrifice to efface our faults — as St. Paul also brings us back to this, saying that our rebellions were abolished by the obedience of one man. What was the cause that made
God our enemy, and still makes him so, except that we never cease to offend him? He created us to enjoy us peacefully; but when we refuse to bear his yoke, he must detest us and disown us as his creatures, and rightly so.
Now, then, this is why it is said not only that our Lord Jesus was chastised for our faults and iniquities, but that he did not open his mouth, and there was no contradiction in him; but, knowing that he was ordained to this, and that such was the eternal counsel of God his Father, he showed himself obedient even unto death. Thus, when we wish to feel still better the power of the death and passion of the Son of God, let each of us think in how many ways he has contravened the will of God and his justice. We shall find that we never cease to make war on him, as if we knowingly wished to defy him. We ought not, then, to wonder that we had need of such a remedy — namely, that the Son of God, to bury the memory of all our rebellions, should render himself obedient in our place. It is true that our Lord Jesus spoke before Pilate his judge; but this was not to escape death — rather he offered himself to it, and even refused to accept any occasion of being absolved, because it was necessary that he be condemned in our name.
It is not, then, without cause that the Prophet says he was as one dumb, and compares him to a sheep or to a lamb, looking to the figure of the ancient sacrifices; for when we are told of the death and passion of our Lord
Jesus Christ, we must take it as a sacrifice by which God was appeased, since sins (as we have shown above) cannot be abolished before God except by such means. And indeed, when under the Law men wished to ask pardon
for their faults, the sacrifice always had to be added. They could bring no recompense of their own; but God declared to them that it was enough that they founded themselves on the promise given them of the Redeemer. Thus, so that the Jews should know that Jesus Christ was to fulfil all that was then figured in the Law, this name of Lamb is notably attributed to him, and under one figure the Prophet has comprehended the whole — as if he said that Jesus Christ, in his death and passion, would first abolish all our iniquities, in that he submitted himself to the will of God his Father; and then, secondly, that he would be sacrificed as a lamb, so that by the shedding of his blood all our blemishes might be washed and cleansed.
Now, when we are reproved for the many faults we commit, and must feel the wrath of God, let us have recourse to what is set before us here — namely, that our Lord Jesus Christ, not without cause, was unwilling to reply, however extreme the afflictions he endured, and although God displayed upon him all rigour, nevertheless he peaceably suffered it all, so that by that obedience we might be reconciled.
Meanwhile, we are also exhorted to conform ourselves to his example — not that we can in all perfection humble ourselves before God, but we must strive toward it. I say, when it pleases God to chastise us, and we feel great harshness in his hand, and it seems to us that we are too hard pressed, we must nevertheless keep silence, and confess that God is just and equitable, and let no murmur be heard from our mouth; but rather let us glorify God in keeping silent — indeed as poor sinners who are convicted of their crimes and have no reply. Behold, then, how St. Peter applies this passage — namely, that when we are afflicted by the hand of God, indeed even persecuted by the hand of men, we should not fail to bear patiently the injuries done to us, knowing that God wishes to test us, or else wishes to
punish us for our faults. And let us take care not to allege frivolous excuses, as many do, who put forward their weakness, and that they are too feeble and cannot keep quiet while God presses them with great anguish. We must nevertheless be conformed to the Son of God, for he is our mirror and pattern — not (as I have said) that there can be equal virtue in us, but even though we do not approach him, we must still tend toward it. And further we see that David, being a fragile man as we are, did not fail nevertheless to practice this doctrine — as he says on the one hand: "Lord, knowing that it is thy hand that is thus laid heavy upon me, I have kept silence." And in another passage: "Well, since the reins were loosed to my enemies, I have suffered patiently the injuries and outrages they did me."
Behold, then, what we must retain from this passage: namely, that as the Son of God was dumb, to give glory to God, and did not contradict or reply in all his afflictions, so too we shall suffer God to chastise us when it pleases him, or to test our obedience by loosing the reins to the wicked so that they persecute us. Now it is impossible to attain to this until we have this doctrine well settled — that when our Lord Jesus was silent before God his Father and before men, he thereby repaired all our faults and rebellions.
Furthermore, when we are told that by his silence he acquired righteousness for us, we see that such silence brings with it also this benefit: that it served to maintain our cause, and that he is now our advocate before God, ever having his mouth open — that is, having his intercession ready to remedy all the offenses we have committed. For inasmuch as he suffered himself to be persecuted to the end without answering, he acquired for himself this office: that if we are convicted in our consciences before God, and must submit to condemnation, and have no answer with which to excuse ourselves, we shall nevertheless be defended by him, and God will judge us
as innocent, since our faults have thus been repaired. Behold, then, at which end we must begin, and then we shall have better courage, and shall be much better disposed to keep silence when we are thus afflicted by the hand of God.
Now the Prophet further adds that he was taken up out of anguish, or out of prison (for this word carries that meaning), and out of judgment. Some expound this as though Jesus Christ had been snatched from death by a sudden violence; but rather we are told that he was not vanquished in death, but that by the power of God his Father he was raised up. It is already a great thing that we know our Lord Jesus suffered for our salvation, and that, having examined our lives, we feel that without such a remedy we were damned and lost; but if only his death and passion were spoken of, we would still be in doubt and scruple. For how could we hope he would give us life, if he were himself overwhelmed in death? We would perceive no divine or heavenly power, without which we cannot conceive a firm trust in him; we would see there only weakness that would astonish us.
Just as, then, the Prophet has spoken above of the fruit that the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ brings us, he now adds that this is because he shall be raised up by the power of God his Father. He was, then, taken up
(he says) from anguish and from judgment. And although he was condemned, this was not because God abandoned him in his need, but he was exalted to have sovereign Empire, and to have dominion over all creatures. And this is also what St. Paul shows us in the first chapter of Romans, saying that he was declared the Son of God in his resurrection. For if we look at Jesus Christ only in his life, as he conversed here below among men, and then in his death, we shall not find in him what is required for our salvation. It is true that the miracles he did, the doctrine he
preached, and the other signs he showed, were indeed sufficient to declare him the Son of God — were it not that we are too weak in faith. But we would still remain always confounded in perplexity, when Jesus Christ presented himself as an ordinary man, and even despised; and then when we would see him in the end subjected to that accursed and so ignominious death. But when we pass from death to the resurrection, then we know that our Lord Jesus has acquired victory for us. And this is what St. Paul says in the other passage of the second to the Corinthians, that if he died in the weakness of his flesh, in the power of God his Father he is risen. Thus, the order the Prophet follows here tends to this end: that we should not doubt that our Lord Jesus has life in his hand, and that he is lord and master of it, since this has been declared in his person. Let us know, then, that the Son of God was annihilated for us; and let us know at the same time that he was not thereby stripped of his power — and that if he kept it hidden for a little while, we have of it a sure testimony in his resurrection, so that there is no excuse for us not to rest our trust fully in him, and boldly to defy the devil and sin, since Jesus Christ has triumphed over them, and the hand of God has sustained him to free him from anguish, and from there he was exalted to be lieutenant of God his Father, and (as I have already said) to have sovereign empire in the world. This, then, is in sum what we must retain when it is said that he was taken up from prison and from judgment.
Now it was indeed necessary that our Lord Jesus should descend even to the abysses before being exalted to the glory of the heavens; for if he had appeared only in his majesty, how could we today be assured that our sins are forgiven us? We would see the Son of God, who is the fountain of life, but he would be as it were separated from us, and we would have nothing in common with him, we could not approach him. Moreover, we would
always have occasion to despair, since we are guilty of infinite faults. If, then, our Lord Jesus had descended to the abysses without being lifted up to the heavens, what would that be? We would remain always as poor, terrorstruck people, and would be in endless and ceaseless disquiet; we would be in a horrible torment, seeing that the wrath of God would always be upon us. But when it is said first that he was condemned and suffered terrible anguish, so that we might be freed from it, and that, having peace with God
(as was treated yesterday), we might now know that he loves us, is favourable to us, and receives us in mercy — when, then, we know that Jesus Christ was taken up from that, we may also well conclude that this was to draw us to himself, so that we might be partakers of the glory given him by God his Father.
Furthermore, we must also note what the Prophet adds: "who shall declare his generation?" For by this he wishes to show that the resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ has its effect and its power in perpetuity, and that it is not a temporal thing that flows away and soon vanishes. And this too is very necessary, for some have taken this "generation" to mean the eternal generation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in that he was begotten of God his
Father from all eternity. Others have pulled these words of the Prophet this way and that; but on close examination there is no doubt that he wished to show that the loftiness given to Jesus Christ was not for himself and his own person alone — and further, that it was not for one day only, but that he has acquired for us a permanent life, as St. Paul says, that he died once to sin, but now lives to God and shall never die again. By this he declares to us that the sacrifice our Lord Jesus offered ought to fully content us, since he has thereby sanctified us with all perfection. There was, then, no need for the Son of God to suffer several times; but since he had this power in
himself to efface once for all our iniquities, let us have our boldly refuge in his death and passion, and let us not doubt that it always retains this vigour to reconcile us to God.
Now the life into which our Lord Jesus has entered is truly heavenly, for he has a perfect condition, in which there is nothing to be said against it; and when St. Paul says that he lives to God, it is in that he is now exempt from all our miseries, and from the condition he had before taken on of being a mortal man. Jesus Christ, then, has stripped off all that, and is now separated from all human frailties — indeed, so that we might hope for the same in ourselves, who are his members. Let us note, then, first, that the Prophet has here declared that our Lord Jesus is not risen in order ever again to be subject to death, but that he has acquired a permanent life. And secondly, that this was not for his person alone, but for his whole Church — as when it is said in the Psalm that God has ascended on high and taken the spoils of his enemies, to show that when our Lord Jesus was exalted after his death, the whole benefit returned to the profit and common salvation of the Church. That he has conquered Satan and sin, then, was so that we might be delivered from them, and might enjoy the fruit of such a victory, and make it our triumph.
Behold, then, in sum, what we must retain from this passage. Now the whole matter is that we know how to apply it well to our own use. When, then, it is said that the Son of God was taken up from anguish and from condemnation, let us learn, when we are tempted to some despair, to set
Jesus Christ before our eyes, knowing that he passed through this, and that God his Father held out his hand to him so that he should not be overwhelmed, and that this was in our name. Thus, we have the means to come out of our anguishes, having Jesus Christ as our captain, and
following his steps, since all that was accomplished in him, as in our head, belongs to us, and its effect will show itself in each believer. And when it is spoken of his "generation," this is so that we may know that he will have the power to maintain his Church to the end, for he does not wish to be separated from his body. It is true that his condition is quite different from ours, until we are drawn away from this world; but yet he is always the firstborn from the dead, he is the firstfruits of those who must rise. Let us recognise, then, that the Son of God, not only in his essence and divine majesty is immortal, but also in his flesh and in his human nature, and that this is so that the Church may always be preserved in this world, and never perish. We must, then, be assured of the permanent estate of the Church when we are founded on this passage.
It is true that we shall see great troubles, and it will often seem that the Church of God must perish; for it takes but one storm to arise, and the waves will be so great and so terrible that men will say, "It is finished, all is lost." And we see this by experience. What appearance is there that the Church of God is maintained, when it is thus assailed on every side? When there are so many assaults, does it not seem that it must be utterly overwhelmed? But nevertheless, we must come back to the Head. And since the age of our Lord Jesus Christ has no end, and there is no change that could hinder him from always having regard to the well-keeping of his
Church, even though there be temptations far greater and more violent than they are, let us be nonetheless assured. And this must not be applied only to the whole community of the faithful, but also to each of us. Let us know, then, and be well persuaded, that although our life is but a breath, and we are ready at every minute to be extinguished, we nevertheless have a permanent life, in that we are members of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
furthermore, let us learn at the same time how to pass through this world, since it is so that this present life we now enjoy is not our true life, but a passage through which we must run swiftly, until we have arrived at the rest of our inheritance. Behold, then, how, in hoping for eternal life, we must quit all this, which is nothing but a shadow; and our senses must not be entangled in all that appears to us, and that could make us remain in this world — for all who cling to it, it is certain that they thereby separate themselves from the Son of God, and make themselves unworthy of having any part or portion in his eternity. Let us, then, withdraw ourselves from this world, if we wish to be joined to the Son of God.
Furthermore, so that this doctrine should have still more vigour and force upon us, the Prophet cries out — he does not merely pronounce that the age of our Lord Jesus Christ will be eternal, but he throws himself, as it were, like a man utterly astonished: "Who shall declare his age?" Thus, we are admonished to fight against every temptation, and if we are sometimes hindered here and there, if we are, amid the turmoil, almost cast down, that we should nevertheless resist and take pains to press on, until we come to what is here shown us — namely, that the age of our Lord Jesus Christ cannot be known by human sense, nor can it be expressed by mouth. And to do this, we must likewise be warned to pass beyond all our own thoughts when it is a matter of trusting in our Lord Jesus Christ, and following him so as to partake of the heavenly inheritance he has acquired for us. It is not a matter of stopping at our own opinion and fancy in order rightly to treat this doctrine, as if it could be debated by human speech. Let us recognise that our faith, although it depends on hearing, will never be assured unless it receives testimony from God and his Holy Spirit — indeed a testimony that surpasses all that could be expressed by man's tongue. For this cause we
must not be held back by our own apprehensions, to judge as seems good to us, but must know that it is an admirable and incomprehensible secret that the only Son of God became a mortal man, and submitted himself to death, so that we might be exempted from it; and that now, amid our frailties, we nevertheless do not fail to have a permanent life, which we possess by faith, until it is manifested to us at the last day, at his coming. Behold, in sum, what we must retain from this passage.
Now again the Prophet adds that he was cut off from the land of the living, and bore the stripes that were due to his people. This is a confirmation of what we said just now — namely, that the age of our Lord
Jesus Christ was not for his person alone, but for the whole body of the Church, to which he is united, and with which he has, as it were, an inseparable bond. For the Prophet shows us that without this we would have to say that the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ would be useless.
Now this is an unbearable blasphemy, to think that the Son of God descended into the world, and endured a death so cruel, and that the judgment of God thus fell upon his head, that he bore the punishment of our sins, that he was reputed the greatest malefactor in the world, and yet that this brought no profit to his faithful — one would say it had been like a game. The Prophet, then, brings us back to this: that we should well consider to what end and purpose our Lord Jesus was thus beaten and struck. This did not come about by chance, as has been declared above. And we must not merely look at the hand of men, and of those who unjustly slew him, but we must lift up the eyes of our faith to that counsel of God by which he had ordained that Jesus Christ be sacrificed, in order to acquire for us the remission of our sins. Since this is so, then, we must always conclude
that Jesus Christ did not suffer for himself, but that he endured and suffered the stripes that were due to us.
Now here, first, we are exhorted to enter into knowledge and examination of our sins, when the death and passion of our Lord Jesus is set before us. It is true that there God displays the infinite treasures of his goodness; as indeed, when St. Paul treated of how we have been justified by our Lord
Jesus Christ, and, resting upon his death and passion, may now boldly present ourselves before God and glory that he will always hold us as agreeable to him — St. Paul, I say, after having treated this doctrine, that although we are poor sinners, we shall never be cast out by God, but he will bear with us because he receives us in the name of his only Son, adds: "I beseech you, my brothers, by the bowels of the goodness and mercy of God." In which he shows that in what Jesus Christ suffered, we have a testimony of the infinite love of God — as if he uncovered his heart to us, and set before us his very bowels to testify to us how dear we are to him, and how precious our souls are to him.
But this should nevertheless not lull us to sleep, so that each is content in his sins; for the more God has shown himself liberal in the person of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the more we ought to feel, on the other hand, how great an enormity there is in our being enemies to him, and warring against his justice, defying him against us. For the grace God shows us in our Lord
Jesus Christ must always draw us to repentance. Today the Papists try falsely to slander the doctrine we preach — namely, that we must be saved by the free goodness of God, and that we must have our refuge in Jesus
Christ, knowing that it is there we have all perfection of righteousness. Yes, they say, and so everyone will live according to his own appetite, and no longer scruple to offend God? Now it is true that these dogs can bark in
such a way, since they have never tasted what the remission of sins is. For these hypocrites make full mockery of God and of all religion, and have never apprehended what it is to have transgressed the Law of God. And we see also how they think to acquit themselves. If they have sung a mass, if they have mumbled, if they have made some little trifles and petty foolery, behold God who ought indeed to be appeased, as a child with a little rattle.
Behold, then, how these mockers of God can well blaspheme against the doctrine of the Gospel. But when we have known our sins, and to what end the inestimable grace of God is preached to us, it is certain we shall be touched with repentance, and shall be mortally wounded with horror and dread, seeing that God is contrary to us, since we have provoked his wrath.
And this is what the Prophet meant to say here, that Jesus Christ bore the stripes that were due to us. By which he shows that we shall never truly feel to the quick what the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ has profited us, unless we are deeply touched there — at having offended our
God, and having made him our judge and enemy, until we are reconciled to him by his pure goodness. Now this is often enough shown to us in holy
Scripture; but the whole matter is that we apply our mind and our study to it.
Whatever the case, we see that our Lord Jesus Christ calls only those who are burdened and labouring. By this he excludes all those who are asleep in their iniquities, who flatter themselves in them, or who cast themselves headlong without any fear of God. Those, then, who are thus given over entirely to evil cannot approach our Lord Jesus Christ; this is a certain thing. For who will give us entry to him, save the voice by which he invites us? The same is true of those who blind themselves in their pride and presumption, who make themselves believe they are righteous in
themselves; it is certain that for them too the door is shut, and that they cannot hope that our Lord Jesus Christ will bring them any relief. And why?
"Come to me," he says. And to whom? To the whole world. It is true that he indeed calls the whole world, but he distinguishes: "You who are burdened and labouring." After having called all those who have need of his help, he shows that none can be partaker of it unless he is burdened and labouring.
When, then, we feel our burden, and groan under it, knowing that we can bear no more, behold how the way is made and opened for us to come to our Lord Jesus Christ, for he has his arms outstretched to receive us. As we shall also see hereafter, he was sent to preach to those who are cast down in heart. We must, then, be sacrificed in this manner in order to be conformed to our Lord Jesus Christ. It is true that the sacrifice he offered is our full hope — that is, that we must presume to add nothing of our own to it. Jesus
Christ has fully acquired salvation for us in that he was sacrificed to God his Father; but meanwhile we must be threatened by the judgment of God, and know how enormous a thing it is that we, poor worms of the earth, should rise up against the majesty of him who created us, that we should violate his justice, especially since we are in this world to serve and honour him. Let us, then, feel this vividly in ourselves, so as to come to our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Now it might seem at first sight that the Prophet had here added a strange reason, in saying, "because he was cut off from the land of the living." For, that Jesus Christ might be exalted, and now reign in heaven and on earth, it does not seem that the means would be proper, that first he should have to be as it were cut off — for he had, before the creation of the world, always this glory in which he now is, as he protested in the seventeenth chapter of St. John. Jesus Christ, then, acquired nothing new as to his divine essence.
Now to be as it were overwhelmed in death is not the passage to attain to heavenly glory; to be condemned by a mortal man is not the way to be constituted Judge of the world. But nevertheless, God has willed thus to work beyond human sense; and we must not bring here our own opinion, as if we could find fault with this counsel, which we know to be the cause and source of our salvation — but must, in all humility, glorify God that he willed that his Son should be thus cut off from the land of the living. Now the Prophet notably speaks as if Jesus Christ had been utterly abolished — and he has not meant to express merely a common death, but one that was for his extermination, so that it was as if his memory had been fully abolished and effaced. For although all men must die, and are thereby cut off from the land of the living, yet this was seen as something special in our
Lord Jesus Christ: that his death was to exclude him from the ranks of men.
For there was ignominy in it (as we have said); there was the curse of God; and moreover, there were, at the same time, the depths of hell — not that Jesus Christ was swallowed up in them, but nevertheless he battled against the anguishes of death.
Thus, it is not without cause that the Prophet sets him forth here as having been abolished from among men. But whatever the case, by this means he acquired a majesty in this nature he had taken from us, so that today, being our brother, he does not fail also to be our Judge. And this is how St. Paul speaks of it, that he made himself obedient unto death — indeed unto the death that was accursed. In saying that he made himself obedient, he notes what we have already declared from the Prophet — namely, that what our
Lord Jesus Christ endured was voluntary. And because we are guilty before God and are his enemies, it is said that Jesus Christ subjected himself — he who had all mastery and authority, he took the form of a servant, he took
the condition of those who were under the yoke, as St. Paul says. Behold, then, how in his whole life he made himself obedient, and was willing to be under the Law. And not only that, but although he had horrible apprehensions of death, even to sweating blood and water, even to saying,
"My Father, if it be possible, let this bitter cup pass from me" — nevertheless he restrains himself: "Thy will be done" (he says), "and not mine." Now upon this St. Paul adds that for this cause God his Father has exalted him, and given him a name that is above every name, so that today every knee bows before him. Let us know, then, that Jesus Christ, even in our nature, has a sovereign majesty, so that we may come to him in full confidence; for by what right is he Judge of the whole world? It is because he has not only made himself our brother, but also offered himself to be our surety, and has borne all our iniquities; he was beaten and struck by the hand of God, so that we might be delivered from the stripes we had deserved. For this cause he is now exalted, so that we may boldly approach him. Now it is true that the wicked and the devils, in spite of their teeth, must feel how the Son of God is above them, for all his enemies must be trampled underfoot. But on our part we must render him a voluntary homage, and peaceably range ourselves with him, and recognise the majesty given him in his human nature, so that we may have something with which to glory against sin.
Now that this is understood of the person of Jesus Christ appears well enough from what St. Luke recounts, that the Eunuch, having come to worship at the Temple of Jerusalem, was reading this passage, and that it was expounded to him by Philip, who was sent by God and carried off by the Angel expressly, to come to this man who was seeking God, but as a poor blind man who as yet had no knowledge. Yet this passage was so
expounded to him that with a single preaching he was converted to our Lord Jesus Christ, and asked and required to be baptized in his name. This ought to touch us deeply, for firstly we are admonished that even if at first we cannot have the pure understanding of the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of what the fruit is that we ought to gather from what is preached to us daily, we must not for that despair — but rather seek in Scripture what is unknown to us, and God will stretch out his hand to us, and, having pity on us, will direct us to the true goal. And since this poor man, who exercised himself in the reading of the Bible and did not know what it meant, was converted to our Lord Jesus Christ, let us take care not to fall asleep, but rather follow what is said in the Psalm: "Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Thus, let us so taste the doctrine that is here preached to us, that we may be brought to our Lord Jesus Christ, and receive him so that we hold to him in true constancy of faith, that we may profit by it and be confirmed to the end; and that, having truly humbled ourselves, we may come and present ourselves to our God to ask him pardon; and notwithstanding our unworthiness, that we should not fail to lift up our heads, and to conceive a true certainty that in the name of this great
Redeemer we shall be accepted by God. And although he was overwhelmed for a little while, let us return to this point: that nevertheless he was exalted above the heavens, so as to draw us to himself — as he himself says in St.
John, in the twelfth chapter, "When I shall be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself."
Now let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of our good God, in acknowledgment of our faults, praying to him, etc.