SERMON XX. PROOFS AND REASONS OF THE SUFFERINGS OF THE SON OF GOD. (PREACHED ON GOOD-FRIDAY.) Isaiah liii. 3—6. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our fuces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. THAT this passage contains a direct prophecy of Jesus Christ is so plain, that I can scarcely conceive any serious objection to be made to it. The principal doubt which is likely to arise in the mind is, that it is so literal and particular as to seem to be rather an history interpolated into the text after the events had taken place, than a prophecy delivered seven hundred years before them. But this doubt is instantly removed, by considering that the Jews, the grand enemies of Christ, were the very persons to whom the preservation of this prophecy was entrusted; that they acknowledge it to be genuine, and have never suggested a doubt of its authenticity. If, then, it is genuine, to whom can it relate? It would be a waste of time to attempt to confute the interpretations that have been given by the Jews of late years, by which it is made to apply to Hezekiah, to Jeremiah, &c. It will here be sufficient to observe, that as in a lock consisting of numerous wards, that key alone is the true one which fits all the wards; so in prophecy, that only is the true interpretation of any prediction which fits every part of it; and the more numerous and uncommon such parts are, the more manifest is it, in the case of a perfect coincidence, that the true interpretation has been given. I say, the more uncommon; because if events are foretold which cannot possibly apply but to a few persons, the interpretation is then proportionably limited. If, for instance, a prophecy should relate to a king, this would narrow the range of interpretation to those who bore the kingly office: if to a king who had died a violent death, this would narrow it still more; if that death was inflicted by his own subjects, it would reduce still more considerably the number of persons to whom it could be applied. But, in the present case, there are circumstances so very peculiar, that they can be applied to one person alone. The person here spoken of was to be the servant of God, the arm of the Lord, the subject of prophecy. Yet when he came into the world, he was to be despised and rejected of men; he was not to be received as the Messiah; he was to be put into prison; he was to be brought as a lamb to the slaughter; many were to be astonished at him; his visage was to be marred more than any man's; he was to be numbered with transgressors, and cut off by a judicial sentence out of the land of the living; his grave was appointed with the wicked, yet his tomb was to be with the rich man. And his sufferings were to be of no ordinary kind, and inflicted for no common cause. He was to be wounded for our transgressions, and smitten for our iniquities. Jehovah was pleased to put him to grief, and to make his soul an offering for sin, though he had "done no wrong, nor was any guile found in his mouth." But after God had thus made his soul an offering for sin, then he was to revive again; to prolong his days; to erect a spiritual kingdom; to sprinkle many nations; to be advanced above kings, who should shut their mouths before him; to be exalted and extolled, and be very high; to see and be satisfied with the effect of the travail of his soul; to justify many by his knowledge, and to make intercession for transgressors. Now of these particulars it is evident, that most of them can be applied only to a few persons; some, from their very nature, to none but such a divine and extraordinary person as Jesus Christ; but that to him all are applicable in the plainest and most literal sense. We may conclude, therefore, that if the real import of any prophecy is clear and indisputable, that of the text is so when it is made to refer to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But I did not intend to touch, except incidentally, on the Person to whom this prophecy points. My principal object is to direct your attention to that part of the prophecy which explains the reason why the Messiah was permitted to endure sufferings. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement" by which "our peace" was to be effected "was laid upon him, and by his stripes we are healed." That there should be a Divine Personage who, with any degree of propriety, could by be styled, in a peculiar sense, the son of God-that he should take upon him our nature, and suffer death upon the cross-is a fact so extraordinary, so entirely out of the common course of things, so unlike any thing else in the world, that we may justly require the strongest evidence of the fact, and expect also some explanation of its cause. I. The evidence of the fact is to be collected from the accumulated testimonies of prophecy, from the acts and declarations of our blessed Lord, and from the decisive witness of the Holy Spirit, after the resurrection of Christ, in his various and miraculous influences. 1. How much the spirit of prophecy is the testimony to Jesus, we need not remark, after the striking and literal description given of him in my text. It is sufficient to observe, that the attention of mankind was directed towards this illustrious Person by a regular chain of prophecy, continued from the creation of the world. Other persons have been the subjects of prophecy, but of a single unconnected prophecy. Who but Jesus was ever the subject of prophecies, extending from the first record of inspiration to the ceasing of the prophetic spirit under the Jewish dispensation? Who, like him, was the subject of multiplied, distinct, and detailed prophecies; in delivering which the prophets were elevated to the highest tone of inspiration; and displayed the sublimest sentiments which the imagination could conceive, in the loftiest strains which language could dictate? Who but Christ had the universal testimony of the whole chorus of prophets? For to him all the prophets give witness. The harp of prophecy seemed to be formed only to celebrate Jesus; and the sacred melody of its highest and most celestial tones was directed to Him, as its inspiring theme, its object, and its glory. 2. And when our blessed Lord at length appeared upon earth, every circumstance relating to him, every action of his life, proved that he was a person totally different from the ordinary children of men. Who but himself was born in a supernatural manner? Whose birth was celebrated like his by multitudes of the heavenly host |