5. Fifth Sermon
FIFTH SERMON
I saiah, Chapter LIII 9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
*** The Prophet continues here the doctrine we have already seen — namely, that there was such enmity between God and us that there was no way to appease his wrath except that Jesus Christ should answer for it to the very end. For the more the Son of God suffered, the more we may gather from it how enormous our faults are, and in what detestation God holds them; since
(as we have said, and shall yet recite) there is nothing superfluous or useless in the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. And thus, inasmuch as he
was grievously afflicted, he testified to us on the one hand his infinite goodness and the love he bore us; but we must also contemplate what our iniquities deserved before God. Now it is said here that, besides what has already been recited, our Lord Jesus Christ was exposed to every mockery and reproach of the wicked, and that they made their triumph of it; for by this word "grave" there is no doubt that the Prophet meant to express that Jesus Christ was subjected to every insult, and that God willed as it were to abandon him for a time, so that men might have full license to vilify him — as is shown us in the history of the Gospel.
For not only was Jesus Christ crucified, but all stuck out their tongues against him, and hurled their taunts, and even urged him to despair as much as it was possible. And this had already also been said in Psalm 22, that the vilest and most wretched should stick out their tongues against him. And we hear also their words: "He saved others; let him save himself if he can. And why does he not call upon his God? We shall see if he loves him so much."
Behold, then, how our Lord Jesus was wounded by the wicked, and men gave themselves over against him in all fury. And this is so that before God we might obtain such grace that all our reproaches might be hidden; and although Satan accuses us, and has cause to, nevertheless everything that might shame us is buried. Since this is so, then, that our Lord Jesus was willing to endure all the blame and reproach of men, it is so that before God all our shameful acts might be hidden and not remembered.
When the Prophet speaks here of the rich, it is as if he named the most violent, those who give themselves free rein to everything. For we know that when men are in credit, and have much wealth, they make themselves feared and dreaded, and always abuse their power. One will find very few who keep themselves in sobriety and moderation, and who are humane,
when they have the means to do evil. As for the poor, though they have much haughtiness in them, they are nonetheless restrained by force, and so the evil that is hidden will not appear. But the rich, and those who have the means, throw off all restraint, and think everything is permitted to them. In short, the Prophet meant to say that our Lord Jesus was as it were put into the hands of men, so that he might be so vilely treated that they would not even deign to reckon him among the most contemptible, but that he was as a worm of the earth, and all mockeries were addressed to him. Behold, in sum, what is treated in this first part.
Now he adds at the same time that nevertheless he had done no violence — to show that the Son of God, being innocent in his own person, was willing to receive all our burdens, by which we would have been overwhelmed; for no mortal creature could be found able to sustain what was borne and suffered by our Lord Jesus Christ. And thus again the Prophet declares to us that it was not for his own deserts, nor because he was guilty of anything, that men were thus his enemies and cruel toward him, and exercised every tyranny upon him — but it was for our sake. And indeed, if we contemplate the life of our Lord Jesus, we shall find nothing that gave anyone occasion to make any attempt against him. It is true that the Chief Priests say to Pilate that if he had not been a malefactor they would not have brought him before him. Yet if one inquires into the misdeeds of Jesus Christ, it is that he did good to the whole world — for he gave sight to the blind, made the lame to walk, healed the sick, raised the dead, fed the hungry crowds; in short, one sees nothing but all the riches of the goodness and mercy of God displayed in him.
How, then, was he so cruelly persecuted by men? This must come from elsewhere. This is why the Prophet brings us back to our faults and offences
when he speaks of the integrity of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we must not think that the Prophet here meant simply to justify the Son of God. It would be too thin a doctrine to say, "Behold, he was guilty of nothing, but conducted himself in such a way that he ought to be loved and honoured by all the world." This is quite true, but it would be too cold a doctrine, as if our Lord Jesus needed to be excused, and to be exempted from all blame.
But the Prophet has looked far higher — namely, to join these two articles he sets forth here: that God thus exposed his only Son to every reproach and insult, and yet that he was innocent. If men had risen up against him and this had not happened by the providence and counsel of God, one would say they were driven by some rage, and yet we would not find the cause; but it is said, "It is the hand of God." For although the Priests, all the Jews in general, and the soldiers were incited by the devil to belch forth such blasphemies as we read in the Gospel against our Lord Jesus, nevertheless they did not do this without God having ordained it, says Isaiah. We must not fix our gaze only on men, to say, "They have done this or that," but it is a judgment of God, as if he were seated on his judgment-seat, willing to deliver his only Son into the hands of tyrants and wicked men, and willing that he be thus struck down in every reproach, so that not one shame should fail to fall upon him. When, then, it is said not only that men did not spare our Lord Jesus Christ, but that God his Father did (as it is also said in St.
John, that God so loved the world that he willed to declare this in the person of his Son, exposing him to so bitter a death for us) — if we thus lift up our eyes to recognise that nothing was done in the person of our Lord Jesus
Christ that was not determined by God, we must conclude that if Jesus Christ was innocent (as is the truth), then our sins were shown there to the eye, and that all the blame and reproach cast upon him ought to have come
upon us. Let us recognise, then, that we are worthy that all creatures should arm themselves to demand vengeance against us; and even though they have neither mouth nor tongue, they nevertheless stand as if to uncover all our shame and all our vices, so that we might be confounded, both before heaven and before earth.
This, then, is what we must observe firstly: for either God tormented his only Son at random, or else he must show us the enormity of our sins, and what we have deserved — namely, that we should be blamed from every side. It is true that we cannot bear anything of the sort; we are so delicate that if our honour is touched, we would at once wish to strike back in fury; but this is because we do not look at what we are, and do not judge whether it is rightly or wrongly that we are blamed. Now let us note that although the reproaches we had deserved were abolished in the person of our Lord
Jesus Christ, we nevertheless have need for God to spur us to repentance, and that when we will not of our own free will enter into examination so as to be ashamed of ourselves, he raises up men to come and awaken us — and the more we try to cover ourselves with vain excuses, the more he brings forward our reproaches, so that they may be known. St. Paul, among the fruits of repentance, sets this one — that in thinking of our past life, we should lower our eyes, groan before God, and be ashamed of ourselves. And who does this, indeed, in such perfection as one ought? Rather we seek by hypocrisy to forget our faults, and God wishes to bring them back into our memory and account, seeing that we wish thus to hide them by subterfuges.
But meanwhile let us note that we may now come and present ourselves before God and his Angels, being assured that our faults shall not be brought forward, and that our shameful deeds shall not be uncovered, since our Lord Jesus was thus blamed — and this is not by chance, nor did men
usurp anything against him apart from the will of God; but it is because God had so established it, and it was a just judgment. Now since our Lord
Jesus is righteous, he must indeed bear our burdens upon him, since he is thus afflicted. And thus, let us know, first, that we are worthy of every reproach; and yet, nevertheless, that we are absolved of it, since he has acquitted us of it, and satisfaction has been made in his person. Behold, then, why and to what purpose the innocence and integrity of the Son of God is spoken of here. It is not to bring forward some excuse as far as it concerns him, but it is to make us feel what we are, and where we would have had to go, had we not been rescued and redeemed from it.
Furthermore, wishing to express a perfection so full that nothing may be said against it, the Prophet says that no deceit was found in his mouth. Now as St. James says, a man must indeed be perfect if not even a vicious word escapes him, since the tongue is so fragile above all things; and although we are far too prone to every evil, yet he who could restrain his hands and his feet, and could rule himself in his whole life so that only fear of God and every virtue is seen in it, will still not be able to hold his tongue so well that some levity, some carelessness, lie, or feint is not perceived in it. In short, it is said that in our Lord Jesus Christ no deceit was found, to show that in all his deeds and in all his words he was a mirror of holiness. Now it is certain that all the miseries we endure are the fruits of our sins. For if we had remained in the integrity in which God had placed our father Adam, all blame would cease in the world and would be abolished; it is, then, the fruit of our sins when we are blamed. Thus we must conclude that, since not the least blemish in the world was found in our Lord Jesus Christ, he bore the punishment we had deserved and merited.
And this is also why the Prophet adds that God willed to afflict him with infirmity. This word "infirmity" extends far in Scripture; for it carries with it all the things that render men contemptible — as we see in several passages. If there is poverty, sickness, weakness, or contempt; if a man has no grace, whether to speak well or to act well, if he has no bearing, no skill
— this is called infirmity in Scripture. In short, this brings us back to what the Prophet had touched on above — namely, that our Lord Jesus was as it were disfigured, and that no appearance was found in him for which he might have any reputation among men. Not that he did not always have certain marks by which to be honoured as the only Son of God, but this was so obscured by what he endured that he was seen as so infirm that there was no power in him, and it did not seem he was endowed with any grace for which he ought to be prized. And we must also recollect what has been recited — namely, that he was struck and beaten by the hand of God, that he suffered the horrible anguishes of his judgment, that he bore in his body torments as terrible as anything could be; and beyond that, he was vilified by men, as if he were not worthy to be counted among the most wretched.
Behold, then, how the Son of God was afflicted.
Since this is so, let us recognise that since God did not spare him, he has spared us on our part; and yet meanwhile he has given us occasion to humble ourselves, so that we no longer hold our heads high, and no longer presume to justify ourselves, or cast our sins behind our backs, but daily think on them, and be confounded, seeing the recompense that has been made for it. For is this a small thing? If there were a poor malefactor who had committed every theft and brigandage, and, after he had known his misdeeds, there were the son of a King brought to judgment to bear the punishment, and the malefactor were absolved and altogether acquitted —
should he jeer and mock, seeing that the King's Son must die and bear the pain for him? Now we are spared: behold Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, who is imprisoned, and we are delivered; he is condemned, and we are absolved; he is exposed to every shame, and we are established in honour; he descends to the depths of hell, and the entry is opened for us to the Kingdom of heaven. When, then, we hear all these things, is it a matter of remaining asleep, of pleasing and flattering ourselves in our vices? Let us note well, then, the intent of the Holy Spirit, and always weigh this word — that it is God who willed to afflict him — as if he said that we should not think that our Lord Jesus abandoned himself as it were to chance, so that the wicked could torment him thus at their pleasure; for they could do nothing without the counsel of God — as St. Peter also treats it in Acts: "God," he says, "has carried out what his hand and his counsel had determined." Thus, not without cause, the Prophet always brings us back to this: that we must lift our senses to God, and recognise that, being Judge of the world, he willed to take satisfaction for our sins and offenses in the person of his only
Son, so that we might be acquitted of them; and that not without cause was Jesus Christ thus roughly beaten, so that we might walk with our heads held high, and that we might know that God does not wish to keep in mind all our foul deeds, which made us as it were detestable before him. And when we have known this, we shall have profited greatly, not merely for a day, but for the whole time of our life. For truly this is a doctrine to which we must apply ourselves so thoroughly that, even though it seems we know it well, we shall not fail to take pains to conform ourselves to it more and more.
And this is also why the Prophet adds, for fuller expression, that he shall lay down his soul in satisfaction for sin — that is, that Jesus Christ will
forget his own life for the redemption of men and for the price of their faults and iniquities. Now here again the Prophet sets before us the voluntary obedience of the Son of God: for as he said the Father willed to afflict him, so now he says that on his part he made himself willing for it, and that he was not forced to it, but came forward to be a true sacrifice. For it was always the custom that sacrifices be presented to God by men — indeed with a free will and devotion, as one says. It was, then, necessary likewise that our Lord Jesus should offer and give himself up to the death he endured. And (as was declared yesterday) without this our rebellions would not have been repaired before God; but when he laid down his soul
— that is, when he made himself ready and prepared to suffer the condemnation that was owed to us — behold how in his death we may have full confidence of salvation. And he himself declared this in St. John: "No man taketh my life from me," he says, "but I lay it down of my own accord." It is true that his life was taken from him when he was crucified, and we see with what inhumanity and rage those who crucified him were driven; but nevertheless they could attempt nothing against him, even had they wished it and striven for it, except insofar as all this was done according to the ordinance and decree of God the Father, as we have already declared, citing this passage from Acts: "They have done nothing but what thy hand and thy counsel had established." But beyond this, our
Lord Jesus at the same time consented and acquiesced in the sentence given against him in our name; and behold how he laid down his soul.
Now the Prophet adds notably, "for sin." This word is applied to all sacrifices, because he who had committed some offense, coming to ask pardon, brought his sacrifice and discharged himself upon it — as if he protested: Alas, my God, behold me guilty of death before thee, I am a
criminal; to bear the punishment due me would be impossible for me — it would rather be a burden to overwhelm me entirely; but behold the remedy
— I ask thee for pardon by means of the sacrifice here offered thee. This is why they were called "Sins" — namely, because the curse that men had deserved, and under which they would have been utterly overwhelmed, was as it were discharged and laid upon a calf or a sheep, or whatever was offered. Now all this was done in figure under the Law. Thus, our Lord
Jesus Christ is called Sin, in that he suffered our curse, so that we might be blessed by God his Father. And let us not think that this derogates from his majesty — rather he deserves all the more to be magnified by us — as St.
Paul also speaks of it in his second Epistle to the Corinthians, saying that he who knew no sin was made sin for us, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. There is no doubt that St. Paul there meant to declare the fruit of the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, as is shown us here by the Prophet. Behold, then, Jesus Christ, who is innocent, without spot or blemish. Since this is so, he must indeed have borne another's burden. Now he bore it in such a way that he was made sin — that is, he sustained our curse. And how? So that now we might have righteousness to answer before God. For the obedience of our Lord Jesus
Christ is like a cloak that covers all our iniquities; and then his blood is our purging, when we are plunged into it, and are sprinkled with it by the Holy
Spirit, as St. Peter speaks of it.
We see, then, now what is contained here. And behold again how, in order to detest our vices and to have horror of ourselves, we must think on what the Son of God endured; for it is so strange a thing that we ought to be ravished by it — that he who is the fountain of all righteousness was made sin; that he who is blessed, and who sanctifies all things, even to the Angels
of paradise, was made a curse. When one speaks thus, we find this thing hard and strange, and yet we do not have the sense and prudence to apply it to our own instruction. For since the Son of God went so far, could we have found a remedy anywhere else? It is certain that no; and we can easily judge that there was no man, no Angel, nothing whatsoever that could rescue us, but that we needed to have our refuge in the Son of God. And all the more execrable was that devil (who has been executed here) — Servetus: for he falsified and polluted the Bible, in saying that all this was prophesied of Cyrus, a pagan, an idolater; and he stripped our Lord Jesus Christ of what is so properly his own, when, as Isaiah had painted this as it were in a picture, the moment Jesus Christ was crucified, things could not have been clearer, more plain. And this devil went to such an enormity that he stripped our
Lord Jesus Christ of all his dignity and office, and said it was a pagan who suffered for the people — indeed, that through his ambition he fought, and through his avarice, and that for that he received his wages. But this is a terrible falsification of this beautiful Prophecy; and indeed, that sense which this wretch invented was never conceived by any living creature. For although there have been many heretics who have gone astray in perverting the doctrine of holy Scripture, nevertheless they never went so far. But it was necessary that every sign of reprobation should be in this unhappy creature. Thus, all the more must we note well, when the Prophet brings us back to our Lord Jesus Christ, that it is so (firstly) that we might be confounded in ourselves, and then that we might magnify the inestimable goodness of our God, in that he willed that his only Son should be ordained as sin for us; and that our Lord Jesus Christ did not refuse this, but, as one forgetting himself, had such care for our salvation that he was willing to descend to the very depths of horror, in order to sustain all our curse.
Now from this we must also retain that there is no other means of being acquitted before God, save that the satisfaction of the sacrifice, which was offered once for us, should come forward. It is true that the world always wants to invent I know not what to pay God (as we have already said above), and we see this well enough among the Papists, who have many petty trifles to appease the wrath of God. And indeed, they say we cannot be absolved without satisfaction, for even though God, by his free goodness, remits our guilt, the punishment nonetheless remains, and is retained, until each one has acquitted himself. And behold on what purgatory is founded
— for since we cannot satisfy in our lifetime, and there always remains some remainder or arrears, we must, they say, bear the pain outside of this world, and it must serve to pay God. Behold the lies and dreams of Satan, by which the poor world has been seduced. All the more, then, must we note well this doctrine — namely, that just as under the Law God had not said, "You shall serve me in such a manner and such as seems good to you," but had appointed sacrifices and ordained the ceremonies contained in the Law, and one had to abide there without inventing some new service or means to acquire grace — so likewise today we must content ourselves with the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that it is the sole means by which God will be gracious and favourable to us, and by which also we shall be received and adopted by him. This, then, is notably what the Prophet meant to express.
Now he says that he shall prolong his days, and that he shall see a lasting age, and that the will (or the good pleasure) of God shall prosper in his hand. He brings us back again to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we might be all the more assured that we can come to him: for had he remained in death as one vanquished, we could not be justified and vivified
by his grace. How would death of itself bring righteousness, if it stood alone? And how also would it bring life? But since, with the sacrifice of his death, there is the resurrection, then we have full confidence. We see how victory has been acquired for us over sin, that we might be reputed righteous; and death is as it were abolished in us, so that life may reign there. It is true that this refers first to the person of the Son of God, as we have already declared, that he died according to the infirmity of his flesh, but the heavenly power of his Holy Spirit was shown in his resurrection — as also he gave this testimony: "Destroy this temple, and I will rebuild it in three days." Thus, behold how the Son of God, as to his person, saw a great age; for he was not raised merely to show himself to the world for a little time and to die again, but, after having manifested himself to his disciples, after having made them witnesses of his resurrection, he ascended into heaven, and was exempted from the frailty of the human condition. This, then, is how we may found our confidence in him, seeing that he has all lordship over death, and that he has even conquered the devil, and triumphed over him — indeed to such a degree that, after having offered himself in sacrifice, he was received and exalted to this power and empire, of which we have made mention above.
Now meanwhile we must also note that all this belongs to the whole body of the Church, for Jesus Christ does not wish to be separated from it. And indeed, it is said that he shall have seed. It is true that we are called brothers of Jesus Christ, for we cannot be children of God on any other title. He who is beloved and only must receive us, and must join us so fully to himself that by adoption we have what he alone has by nature; but this does not prevent us from being, meanwhile, as children begotten of his seed. For what is the true seed of the Church? It is true that it is the Word of the
Gospel, as St. Peter shows. And indeed it is here that is verified what we have already seen in the fortieth chapter, that the Word of God abides eternally, because by it we are made incorruptible, when the Word of God profits in us, as it is given us by the Holy Spirit. Behold, then, the seed by which we are regenerated to heavenly life. But we must still come to our
Lord Jesus Christ. For how does the Gospel have this office and property of begetting us as children of God? It is because the blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ was a true seed to give us life.
Thus, not without cause it is said here that he shall see an age of long duration. And so we must again conclude that the good our Lord obtained in his resurrection was not for himself in private, but that it was to make us partakers of it, and to call us into his company, since we are members of his body. Now meanwhile we are admonished not to seek even a single drop of life in ourselves, but to take it wholly from our Lord Jesus Christ. How, then, shall it be that God will recognise us as his children? How shall we have a place in the Church? How shall we be reckoned of his flock? We must come back to this: that we communicate with our Lord Jesus. Behold how God accepts us to himself, behold our birth, behold our first origin. Let men now go boast of their free will, by which they imagine themselves prepared to receive the grace of God. For he who is not yet formed in his mother's womb, what industry can he have to make himself of value? Let us know, then, since our principle, and our first creation, is that we be begotten in Jesus Christ, that we can do nothing, and that nothing proceeds from our own power, but that we have everything from the free goodness that is communicated to us in him. Behold, in sum, what we must retain.
And meanwhile also, so that we may take a still better relish for his death and passion, it is said, because he laid down his soul for sin (that is, for
satisfaction or for sacrifice), that he shall see his seed. For we show well enough that we wish to efface all hope of salvation, if we do not magnify the goodness of God in the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. And indeed, those who through pride disdain to rest upon Jesus Christ because he was crucified, show well that they do not know the purpose of it: for without this, what would we be? There would be no Church in the world, there would be no salvation; in short, there would be no hope of good; we would be all confounded, all lost and damned without any remedy, except that Jesus Christ laid down his soul and thereby acquired us. And this is also why Scripture so often shows us that we have been purchased at a very dear price. Behold, then, what we must retain.
Now he says (finally) that the good pleasure of God shall prosper in his hand. The word the Prophet uses signifies a human will and a free favour; for it would not be enough for our Lord Jesus merely to execute the will of God, but it must be a will of love, in testimony of his fatherly affection.
Moses well executed the will of God in publishing the Law; and yet behold the thunders and lightnings that terrify everyone — there is nothing but threats of death. And why? Because the Law could bring nothing but wrath.
Men needed to feel there a horrible condemnation, and to be terrified. But there is another will of God, which was declared in Jesus Christ — that he willed to receive us to himself in his pity, and willed to abolish our sins, and to acquit us of the damnation in which we were. This, then, as to the property of this word which the Prophet uses here, when he says the good pleasure of God shall prosper.
Now there follows further "in his hand," which signifies that Jesus Christ must be minister and dispenser of the grace of God for our salvation. It is true that God could well have rescued us from death by another means; but
he did not will it, nor was it good so; wherefore he established our Lord Jesus Christ, so that by him we should be redeemed and reconciled — in short, that by him we should obtain what is required for our salvation.
Let us now come to gather the sum of this statement. It is said that the good pleasure and the free favour of God shall prosper in the hand of Jesus
Christ. And why does the Prophet speak thus? Because we are inclined to distrust, and also because we have many obstacles that make us lose heart, the Holy Spirit comes forward and declares to us that, whatever happens, the grace of God will come to its effect and will be accomplished. However much, then, the devil schemes to prevent the death and passion of our Lord
Jesus Christ from profiting us, and from producing its fruit in us; however much, on our part, we are so malicious and perverse as to turn away from it, so that it seems we would wish to make it useless — nevertheless God will overcome by his infinite goodness. In sum, the Prophet meant to say in this passage that not only was the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ sufficient for the salvation of the world, but that God will make it prevail, and that we shall see its fruit, and shall feel it and even experience it. From this we must gather that there is always a Church in the world, and that the devil may well scheme and make every effort to overthrow the building of God, but whatever happens, Jesus Christ must prevail, and the grace of which he was minister and dispenser must profit and be fulfilled among men. And this is what is said in Psalm 2: "Why do the kings of the earth rise up? And why have they made plots with the peoples?" Nevertheless, God must in the end carry out his counsel. It is true they will scheme much, but he who dwells in heaven will laugh at them until he displays his arm in his wrath. Thus, let us note well that here the Holy Spirit has meant to assure us that the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ will always have its
efficacy, so that the Church of God may endure, and never be ruined by the assaults, storms, and whirlwinds that its enemies may raise against it with their chief, Satan. And even this word "prosperity" is used to show that God will make the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ flourish, so that it may bear fruit more and more; and when it seems altogether annihilated, that God will raise it up again, and overcome all that might hinder it from reaching its goal.
And furthermore, we ought also to apply this to each one of us, and not doubt that although we drag our wings and are still held captive under sin,
God will nevertheless deliver us from the captivity in which we are, will complete what he has begun in us, and will correct what is still lacking. And how? We must come to our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is he who puts his hand to it, as the charge is committed to him, and he has received this office from God his Father. Let us be content, then, that since he is ordained minister of our salvation, there will be no failure that he will not accomplish by his means, since it is thus determined. Now meanwhile let us apply to what St.
Paul adds in the passage we have cited, what is shown here, so that we may be partakers of the fruit of the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ — that is, to listen to the message that is daily brought to us. For it would not suffice that Jesus Christ had suffered in his own person, and that he was made sacrifice for us; but we must be certified of it by the Gospel — that we receive this testimony, and do not doubt that we have righteousness in him, knowing that he has made satisfaction for our offences. And that upon this we should wait for God to continue his work through this Redeemer, and to continue it in such a way that it be increased more and more, until he has brought it to its end and its issue.
Now let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of our good God, in acknowledgment of our faults, praying to him, etc.