CHAP. LIII. V.1. * This chapter declares the circum- © stances of our Saviour’s sufferings so exactly, that it forms < zather a history of his passion, than a prophecy. And it is * so undeniable a proof of the truth of Christianity, that the “ bare reading of it, comparing it with the gospel-history, hath * converted some infidels.’ (Lowth.)—The prophet goes on, from mentioning the great success of the gospel among the Gentiles at the close of the preceding chapter, to predict the unbelief of the Jews. (Nore, lii. 11-13.) Apostles and evangelists, in the primitive times, may be considered as complaining of this ill success among their countrymen, and wondering at it: or the prophet, as a Jew and speaking in his own name and that of the ether prophets, anticipated, with astonishment and sorrow, this conduct of his nation. When Joha Baptist, Christ himself, his apostles, and others,
roclaimed the interesting report, that the long expected Messiah was come; though he most exactly answered to the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, and authenticated his mission by most stupendous miracles; yet few in comparison believed the report, and they were generally of the lowest and most despised persons in the nation. For this <* Arm of the Lorn,” which was employed to redeem his people, was not revealed to them, even when he lived among them: (Nofe, li. g—11:) because they were blinded by prejudice, and, for their sins, judicially left destitute of that powerful operation of God’s Spirit upon their minds, by which believers were enabled to see the Saviour’s glory, “‘ as of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace
CHAPTER LIII.
HO hath believed our “report? | from him; he was despised, and ™ wet Dest =i !s.
B. C. 706.
hk Deut. xxxii. ¢5,
esteemed him not. Matt sau 9 A Surely ‘he hath born our griefs, and. sis ae o Hf, 12,
e ° e 5, carried our sorrows; “yet we did esteem Matt. vii? 17:: ° > é Gal. ili, 38. himstricken, smitten ofGod, andafflicted, Heb, ix. as.
5 But 'he was ?wounded for Our, 18! John i. ¢.
transgressions, he was “bruised for our, 3% %.7
iniquities : "the chastisement of our peace. Bw, %:. | as upon him ; and with his § stripes we
Blatt. xx. 2a. pie iil, Qa—— are healed. | aa ae
6 ° All we like sheep have gone astray; ¢ we have turned every one to ’his own x way ; and the Lorn hath " laid on him, ii.'2 the iniquity of us all.
™m 10.°Gen. fii. 15, ‘ owe a i Pet. i. 24, pepecoe Oral ee @ Ps. cxix. 176. Matt. xviii. 12-14. Luke xv. $—7. Rom.ik. 1o—tIe. et. ii. 25. all to meet onhim. Ps, |xix. 4. :
Pp iv. 7. Ivi. Ll. Ez. iii, 18. Jam.v.20, § Heb. made the iniguities of ue a AR pe
*¢ and truth.” (Mores, John i. 14. Vi 99—47. Xil. 97—At- Rom. x. 12—17. 2 Cor. iv. 4—6.) |
V. 2, 3. The wickednesss of the Jews induced them ta reject Christ ; but various circumstances proved occasions of it. They expected the Messiah to spring from the avowed heir of King David, and to be openly known as born and educated at Bethlehem; and to come forth in a splendid manner, as a King arid a Conqueror. (Notes, Matt. xi. 2-6. Mark vi. 1—4.
Jokn vii. 4o—53.) But he was the son of a poor unnoticed virgin, and the reputed son of a carpenter, who were not generally known to be descended from David : he was brought up from Nazareth, and his birth at Beth- Ichem had cither been unnoticed, or was forgotten ; he grew up and lived a long time in obscurity, probably working as a carpenter; he then appeared as a poor man, ‘* who had ‘* not where to lay his head,” and attended by a few poor fishermen ; and he was an itinerant teacher, unauthorised by the priests and scribes. Thus instead ‘¢ of a Plant of ‘‘ renown,” (Nore, xi. 1.
Ez. xxxiv. 23—31,) he grew up before God, in such a manner, that he appeared as a tender shoot, whose root was in a dry ground, where it was never likely to come to any thing.
So that, notwithstanding the wisdom and grace of his words, the power of his miracles, and the holy beauty of his character, the Jews could find no form or comeliness in him, for which they should desire and welcome him as their Messiah. (Nore, Hag. ii. 6—g.) He was therefore generally despised and rejected by them ; this contempt and reproach further confirmed the prejudices of the people against him; and every , thing concurred in rendering him a man of sorrows and intimately acquainted with grief.
The people hid their faces from him, as ashamed to own him ; until at length his disciples denied or forsook him, and the Jews, as with one consent, preferred a murderer tohim. Or he hid his face, as one covered with confusion, or as concealing his glory-from them under this external abasement : so that, in every way, he was deemed undeserving of notice or estimation. (Marg.
Ref.)—‘ Some of the ancient fathers, from this text, * concluded our Saviour to have been deformed, an opinion ‘ in my judgment not at all probable : in the following cen- ‘ turies, a quite contrary notion was advanced, that Christ “ was a person of extraordinary comeliness.——We. may con- ‘ clude fod these contrary opinions, that the setting up of ¢ the image, or picture of Christ, was no part of religious ‘ worship in the early ages of Christianity.” (Lowrb.}
* 13 A ;
_ guilt.
B. C.-706.
a mut. xvi as. 7 Efe was oppressed, and he was af- XXVEL V2 ae U4, ° Mark xv. 6! flicted, “yet he opened not his mouth : min 9. dona he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
oi a2, a,and as a sheep before her shearers 1s
* Or Rugment; dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. but, Sic. Psexxi» = ETa was taken “from = prisou and
arg 1xix. A Ae Youn xix. 7, {POM judgment: and *‘who shall declare s Matt. 1. 1. Acts
° a ° { vii. 83. Rom. his generation ! for he was ' cut offout of
wie 4 ‘ ae
idan. ix. 26. the land of the living: for the transgres-
Habs fy eee sion of my people was t he stricken.
ihe asa «6 And he “made his grave with the —6y. Mark xv. 48—46. Luke xxiii, 50—53. John XIX, 36—4:2- | Cor. XV. 4.
cg
“V. 4—6. The prophet, in the name of all believers in every age, here breaks forth in admiration of the love of Christ, and of the mystery of his vicarious sufferings.
As every kind of discase and misery springs from sin; so when Christ endured hardship in alleviating these miseries, it might properly be considered as a fulfilment of this prophecy, and a part of his general design. (Note, Matt. viii. 16, 17.) He endured our griefs and sorrows, becoming a sufferer to redeem us from eternal sufferings ; and this, which should for ever endcar him to mankind, caused the Jews to mistake his character, and to suppose that. he was smittcn of God, because he was a most atrocious sinner; as Job’s friends construed his calamities intoa proof of his undetected He was indeed ‘* wounded,” but it was not for his own, but for our, transgressions ; he was crushed with most intense agonies of body and soul, but it was ‘¢ for our iniqui- ‘¢ tics.” To purchase our peace with God he, who was Holy and Beloved, consented to bear our punishment, as if it had been a fatherly chastisement ; (Nofe, Jobn xviil. 1o— 144) and his stripes avail for the pardon, and healing, or sanctification, of our souls. (Note, 1 Pet. ii. 18—25.
Marg. Ref.) All the elect people of God are brought to confess, and the whole cornpany of the redeemed in heaven will confess, that they had wandered from God, as sheep from the fold, and must have been devcured by Satan the roaring lion, if the good Shepherd had not come to seek them: every one of them has turned into that devious path, which was congenial to his depraved inclination ; but all had added thé guilt of rebellion, to the folly of forsaking their only Protector.
So-that the justice of God must be ‘satisfied, berore the criminals could be again reccived into his favour ani under his care: and therefore JEHovAH laid, or, $ caused to meet,” upon Christ the Surety, not the punish-men only, but the iniquity, of them all, imputing it to him, and requiring of him satisfaction for it. (Note, 2 Cor. v. 18—o1..—© The word (rendered carried,) signihes properly © to have iniquity laid upon one asa burden, which is the same «as undergoing the punishment of it.—So it is used Lam. ‘v.7, “ Our fathers have sinned and are not, and we have ‘¢ born their iniquities,” that is, we have been punished in ‘their stead.’ (Lau #4.)
V. 7. More literally, ‘« It was exacted, and he answer- “ed,” Our debt was exacte! of our Surety, and he be-caine answerable for it. And therefore, he opened not his mouth to plear for himself, but stood specchless befure man’s tribunal, that we miylit have a prevailing plea b_fore t.atut God. (Notes, Mutt. xxvi. 6368. xxvil. 11—18. Jobn 1x. q -12.) He was led, patient, gentle, and inno cen: lixe a lamb to be slaughtered for the food, or sacrificed for the offences, of others; and like a sheep we deprived
ISAIAH.
wicked, and with the rich in his # death: ; = Heb, death 0 because he had done no violence, neither ¢s.-1 pet, it. ee.
thou shalt ? make his soul an offering for , 1 John iv. 9. 10. sin, ’he shall see his seed, ‘ he shall sou! shall make prolong Ais days, and 4 the pleasure of,
Lpl.. 0.9. Heb. vii 27 ix. t4. 25, 26. %. I-12 mali. 1010s Uwe oe Jobn xi. 74, Heb. i. i.
35. Ea. xavii.@5. Dan. vii. 19, 14.» Lake i. 53. Acts ii. 24—@R. Rom. vi. 9. Rev. i. 18 div. L1—13. Ixii. S—5. Ps. Ixxii. 7. Ixxxv. 1o-—12 exlvii. 11. cxtix. 4. Jer. xxxil. 41. Ez. ees It, Mic, vd. 18 Zepl. aii. 17. Like xv. 57. 23, 24. Jobn vi. 37-40. Eph. i. 3. Ge 2 Thes.i. 1}.
of its flecce, that others may be clothed with it. (Note, Acts vill. 32—35.-
Lord into prison, and then after a time give him a fair trial, according to law and custom: but without delay, they delivered him to Pilate, and urged his immediate execution. Thus * he was taken from prison,” (being in confinement only a few hours,) ‘and from judgment; and who shalk ‘© declare his generation ?”’—The ancient fathers generally interpreted this of his miraculous conception, or his eternal generation. Who shall declare his descent from David, and: his birth at Bethlehem the city of David? Who shall shew, that he was not only the Son at David, but the only begotten Son of God. But the original word for gencratidn, is: seldom, if ever, used in this sense: so that modern interpreters generally dissent from the ancients ; and some render it, “ His manner of life who shall declare?” None
as it was customary in criminal causes.—But, as the word,.
B.C.706. .
Heb. iv. 15.° vit. 1 Jobn iil. 5.
y xii. 1. Matt. ili. ‘ xvii. Ss. .
Or, when his an offering for a Dan. ix. 2%.
Rom. vii. Se Q Cor, Vv. ale
-- oe er
V. 8. The chief pri.sts and scribes did not cast our
was called, or admitted, to bear witness to his character,
rendered ‘« generation,” commonly means the time during which an individual, or a number of contemporaries live ; the passage may mean, ‘* Who shall declare,, how long his ‘¢ age shall last?” ¢ Though he died for sin, yet after his ¢ resurrection he shall live for ever.’ ‘* Lam he, that liveth,. ‘© and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore, ‘© Amen: and have the keys of hell, and of death.” (Netes,. Rev. i. 12—20.) Other kings and priests finished their course by death; but he isa King and a High Priest for ever. But who stool forward, previous to his crucifixion, to declare this? For it pleased God that he should ‘¢ be cut ‘6 off out of the land of the living,” in a violent and illegal manner ; because, ‘* for the transgression of his people,” ‘* the stroke,” or punishment, ‘* was on him.”
V. 9,.10. A grave was appointed for him with the ‘¢ wicked ; but he was with a rich man at his death,” (or in- bis tomb, or, elevated place, as the word regularly de~ rived from another root may mean,) ‘ because he, &c.” As .our Lord was crucified between two thieves, it was doubtless intended, that he should be buried with them. Thus “© his grave was appointed with the wicked 5” but Joseph of Arimathea came and asked for his body, and Pilate, convinced that he had committed no crime, readily granted Joseph’s request.
Thus ‘* he was with a rich man at his death,” that is, till his resurrection: and this took place, contrary to. the intention of his enemies, ‘* because he had donc no vio= « lence, &c.” for otherwise Joseph would scarcely have re-= quested Pilate, and probably Pilate would not ‘have consented, to deliver up, the body ofacrucified malefactor.—The designed ovscurity of the prophecy renders its exact accomplishment the more rcmarkable. Some connect the latter clause with
B. C. 706. : 7 ’ @ Lake xxii, 44, 11 He shall *see of the travail of his
—S0, avi. S. soul, and shall be satisfied : ‘by his know-xia. Rev. v-9 ledge shall ® my righteous servant "justify
i's. many; ‘for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore * will I divide,him a por-
Phil. iii. 8—10. -@ Pet. i. ® $. iii,
38. g xiii. 1. xlix.3. i John iit. — h xiv. 03. Rom. iti, G2—s4. iv. 24, Qo. 0. 1. Os 19, 19. 1 Cor. vi, tt. Tit. iii. 6, 7+ i See un 4—ti.—8. 12. Mate. xx. 2a Heb. ix. 28. 1 Pet. $i. Qa fii, ta. Kk xlix, 24,25. hi. 18. Gen. tii. 15. Ps. it. 8. Dan. 1. 45, Matt. xii. 28, 29. Acts xxvie i8. ‘Phil. ii. Sil. Col. i. 19, 14. ii, 15.
Heb. ii, 14, 15. . what follows, and render it; *¢ Though he had done, &c ; yet < it pleased the Lor,” he had done no violence, neither ‘was any deceit in his mouth ; so that Pilate, when he delivered him to be crucified, declared that he found no fault ‘in him ; ‘ yet it pleased the Lorp to bruise him.” The Father, who was well pleased in him, yet took pleasure in bruising him with anguish of spirit ; because this was for the display of his own glory, and the honour of his law.
So that, he not only permitted his enemies cruelly to insult ‘and torment him ; but he put him to grief by his own hand, cand made “ his soul excecdingly sorrowful, even unto death.” Thus his soul, or life, was made an offering for sin: not only was his blood shed, as that of the sacrifices used to be ; but he endured the feeling of the wrath of God due to our sins, which the fire from heaven, consuming on the altar the ‘inwards or bodies of the sacrifices, typified.
In consequence of this, it was foretold, that he would see a numerous spiritual offspring, the fruit of all his toil and pain: for he would rise again from the dead, and then prolong his days; and ‘ the pleasure of the Lorp,” in converting and
¢
saving sinners, would prosper in his powerful and gracious
hands.—This is a prediction of his resurrection and subse- /
quent glory, equally clear with that of his sufferings. —The interpretation of the clause, ‘< It pleased the Lox p to bruise ‘¢him,” as given by many expositors, has been objected to ;
ecause the Septuagint does not use the same word in translating this passage, with which the Evangelist records the voice from heaven, ‘‘ This is my beloved Son in whom lam ¢¢ well pleased.” But when it is duly considered, that the Hebrew word is frequently used for the highest kind and degree of satisfaction ; the objection must vanish. {Nofes, xlil.
21. Ixii. 1—5. Gen. xxxiv. 19. Num. xiv. 8. Mic. vii. 18.) —‘ Chaphets notes the highest content that may be, to wit, ¢ delight ;—it is the same with evdoxewv.’ (Leigh.) The noun, directly formed from it, is used in the concluding words, <¢ The pleasure of the LorD, &c.”” (Notes, John xu. 23—
26. Luke xii. 32. Eph. i. 5. 9. 2 Thes. i. 11. Gr.) ..
V. 11, 12. Jesovan here declares that the Messiah should see such abundant effect of his agonies and death, ‘© the travail of his soul,” that he would be fully satisfied and rejoice in it.
His gospel would make known his person, love, 1ighteousness, atonement, and salvation: and thus ‘© by the knowledge of him,” he would justify ‘© many 3” ‘ having born their sins in his own body on the « tree’? © Because he had poured out his soul unto death,” _and, though perfectly righteous, had submitted to be numbered with transgressors, or malefactors, and to bear the sins of many, that he might become their Intercessor : therefore the Father would surcly grant unto him a large multitude of sinners to be saved and ruled by him, who before were the slaves of Satan, and must have continued to belong 10 that potent enemy of God and man; and he should have all power in heaven and earth, to enable him to rescue all, who had been given to him, and to complete their salvation, ‘Marg.
Ref.)—This prophecy, delivered at least seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, and coinciding so
CHAPTER LIII.
B. C. 706.
lion with the- great, and he shall divide; ps. xxii. 14. Phil. ti, 17. dfarg.
the spoil with the strong; because He wm mak xv 98: Luk ile S7e hath ' poured out his soul unto death: sxxies a%3s Mond he was numbered with the trans- LTim. i. 5,
n See on illiem Tit. ji. 4.
ressors ; and "he bare the sin of many, Hep. ix. 96. 24. a 5 Iv: ; I ike aii 3!, aud ° made intercession for the trans- Rem yh,
24. 1 John in L.
gressors, ; 5
exactly with the history of his sufferings and death; the reasons of them, as recorded and assigned in the New Testa- |
ment; and the effect of them, as it hath been evidently produced for almost eighteen hundred years, constitutes a most unanswerable demonstration not only of the truth ot the scriptures, but also of the great doctrines of the gospel. Nor is this in the least invalidated by the infidelity of the Jews, who, deeming this to be the word of God by Isaiah, can see nothing of Jesus init; but adopt the grossest absurdities imaginable, in order to make out some other interpretations: for ‘‘ the veil is upon their hearts, but when ‘¢ they shall be turned to the Lord, it shall be taken away.” (Note, 2 Cor. iti, 12—16.) Indeed their unbelief also is most expressly predicted, at the opening of the chapter; so that it may “turn to us for a testimony.”’—It has lately been publickly declared by a converted Jew ; that the Rabbics forbid the people to read this chapter, with dreadful denunciations.
PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. V. 1—7-
Whilst every vague, unimportant, and improbable, re- :
port is greedily drunk in by the absurd credulity of mankind ; the most interesting and completcly authenticated report of salvation for sinners, through the incarnate Son of God, is almost universally rejected or disregarded { We have to this day lamentable cause to complain, and to wonder, that - so few believe it: and we may profitably enquire, who they are that do so.
Not many of the noble, the wealthy, the learned of the world; not all, who are called by the name of Christ, and profess his religion; not the covetous, the sensual, the dissipated, the proud and ambitious, the cruel and oppressive: but a small company, who are poor in spirit, mourning for sin, renouncing the world, devoted to God, following after holiness, meck, peaceable, forgiving, inoffcn-sive, and benevolent ; yct despised, and reviled as their Saviour was.
Tothem, ‘* Christ, the Power of God and the ‘© Wisdom of God,” hath been made known ; his Spirit hath enlightened their minids.and humbled their hearts ; and thus they have scen his glory, and supremcly value his salvation. To others the whole appcars contemptible ;_ ‘‘ the preaching “6 of his cross is foolishness ;’’ and a life of obedience to his precepts is madness, or preciseness, a want of taste and
spirit, the result of bigotry and fanaticism, and a certain in- -
dication of a weak understanding and a narrow mind! They ‘<< see no form or comeliness in the character of Christ,’’ as delineated in scripture, and exemplified by his true disciples ; nor is there ‘any excellency in him, that they should desire” and seck after him: he is still despised in his people and rejected of men, as ta his doctrine and authority: and in very many companies of professed christians, cven in the most respectable circles, an open declaration of our faith in Christ, and love to his name and cause, would excite disgust and scorn. We may indeed well endure,our lighter sufferings; if he have taught us ta esteem all things but los. for
13 A-2
wi. C. 706. ‘. CHAP. LIV.
Predictions that the church shall le enlarged by the conversion of the Gentiles ; with promises of great honour and happiness to her, as espoused by God, 1—
5. ‘Encouraging assurances of deliverance from afftiction, perpetual mercy, prosperity, and victory over every enemy, to the church, and to every servant of God, 6—17.
alxii. 4. Cant. vii. 8 Gal, iv.
97. b xiii. 10, 11. xliv,
xhtx. 13. Iv. 19.33. Ps. Ixvii. . z eS GIN G, *O barren, thou that didst not va li. i ? : fa ° b ° 7 1 : 5 Caceres bear, > break forth into singing, and
him, and to love him who hath so loved us. He willingly
bare our griefs when we were enemies, and shall we repine
at bearing our cross for the sake of such a generous Friend ? Should we be treated as the vilest of mankind, and counted the peculiar objects of the divine abhorrence ; Iet us remember him, ‘* that endured the contradiction of sinners against ‘¢ himself, lest we be weary and faint in our minds.”’ Let us often retire, in contemplation, to Gethsemane and Golgotha: and, whilst we survey the sufferings of the Son of
- God, let us review our long catalogue of former and later
transgressions, and consider him as scourged, wounded, bruised, insulted, and crucified ; as agonizing, bleeding, and dying, under the load of our guilt. Thus we shall learn to hate, and to mortify, sin: we shall understand: our obligations to our gracious Friend, and be constrained by love to Five to his glory.
In this we areall concerned ; for we have all gone astray from God, though in different ways ; and we must all have perished, had not the good Shepherd come to seek and save us, and willingly born the load of our iniquity, which would have been «0 heavy‘for us to bear, and under which we must have sunk for evcr, as all unbelievers most certainly will.
Our debt was ‘exacted of him, and he paid «¢ the uttermost farthing ;” and in doing this, ‘* he was led *¢ as@ Lamb to the slaughter ;”’ and shall we, who deserve txe final wrath of God, be impatient, ‘ like @ wild dullina “¢net,’? under our light afflictions? Let us then prove, that we rely on his atonement alone, by copying his example of meekness and sibmission ; however we may be chastised of God, or oppressed and despised by men.
V. 8—12.
We may comfortably leave all the circumstances of our death to our merciful Saviour: he hath sanctified every way of dying and every place of sepulture, whether we make our grave with the wicked, or be with the rich and honourable in ourdeath. However we may suffer with evildoers ; yet if we do no violence and speak no guile, nothing can hurt us. If it should please the Lord to prove our faith and patience, by grievous and complicated distresses, or to cut us off by sudden, or violent death: the Redeemer’s atoning sufferings will secure a happy everit to us, and to all those who bear his image and partake of his Spirit. Being now risen from the dead, and ever living to carry on his work and plead our cause; “ the pleasure of the Father ‘6 prospereth in his hand."’ Hereis laid the firm foundation, on which the trembling sinner may rest his soul; for he beholds the true penitent, who humbly ventures nigh, to seck
ISAIAH.
B. C. 706. ° cry aloud, thou ¢haé didst not travail >. ~ - with child, ‘for more are the children‘ oi 2 ™
of the desolate, than the children of the '» ™ married wife, saith the Lorp. - :
-2 “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and 4 szuii, o. xt. let them stretch forth the curtains of, . 4.0 thine habitations: spare not, lengthen !%™; 3.2 thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes ; eer ae
-3 For ‘thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; fand x. is"ai. thy. seed shall mherit the Gentiles, and f xl. “1s Wy, 3. ®make the desolate cities to be inha- 9 bited. FO. ‘es ear
an interest in his atoning blood by faith in his name, with
that affection and complacency, with which the tender mother eyes her new-born infant, the fruit and recompence of all her anguish ; he then ‘* sees of the travail of his soul and
“‘ is satisfied.”’ These are the trophies of his victory, the pur=
chase of his blood, the monuments of his grace: for this he
poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with
transgressors; for this he continually intercedeth and pre-vaileth ; thus he destroyeth the works of the devil, and res-cueth the prey from the hands of that mighty one. Let us
bless the Lord for the knowledge of Christ, by which numbers in every age are justified :- let us pray and endeavour, ° that it may be extendcd to all our fellow sinners: and let us think no labour, hardship, or expence too great, by which
we may promote that cause, for which the Redeemer shed . his blood. ‘Thus we shall prove ourselves partakers of his © salvation, and make an acceptable return of gratitude for his unspeakable love.
NOTES.