2. As he was not esteemed, so actually he was despised, and became an object of scorn and contempt.
[1 J He was despised and contenmed in their thoughts. They looked upon him as an abject, the Icaving-ofF or ofF-scouring of men ; they thought it was a disgrace for them to converse with him ; and there- fore Nicodcnms went to Chiist by night, John iii. 2, as being ashamed to be .seen in his company by day, ISo John ix. 22, the blind man's parents, that had received a great benefit by him, would make a lie rather than own him. It is said, ' These words spake his ])arents, because they feared the Jews : for ihe Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be \>\x\, oni oi the synagogue.' They thought him unworthy of their company, and tlieiefore every one hid his face from him, and would not seem to look that way.
[2.] ill their words they used all kinds of reproaches, they thought no name bad enough for him : John viii. 48, ' Say we not well, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil ? ' There was such a deadly feud between the Jews and the Samaritans, that to call a man a Samaritan was the greatest disgrace that could be, and the ready way to beget him public hatred. Here are two scandals fixed on Christ. — a Samaritan, and one that liath a devil ; the one reflecteth upon his per.son, the other on his doctrine. And that which is worthy of your notice is, that to that of his doctrine Christ answereth, but doth not care how they vilified his person. In Mat. xi. II), they call him ' a glutton, a wine-bibber, and a friend of publicans and sinners.' They looked upon him as an object of common scorn and hatred. So they
ISA. LIII. 3.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 2/51
accounted liini as an enemy to Cfesar ; anythin<^ that would make him obnoxious to dan<i;er and scorn. They likewise called him a deceiver : Mat. xxvii. 63, ' Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive.' Proud, insulting malice ! They would not call him by his own name, but as if he had been so notoriously guilty, that it was a sufficient descrij)tion of him to say that deceiver.
[3.] In their general carriage towards him. To any that seemed to own liim, they showed a great deal of contempt and scorn. Because the blind man acknowledged him, they cast him out, or excommuni- cated him, John ix. 34. So John vii. 52, by way of taunt they said, ' Art thou also of Galilee ? ' But chiefly their behaviour to his person was intolerable, and that in the last scene of his life : Mat. xxvi. 68. The rirde soldiers make him their game, and blinding him, say, ' Pro- phesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?' So it is prophesied. Mat. xx. 19, ' They shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him.' There is a special emphasis in these words — that he, being a Jew, should be delivered over to the Gentiles to be mocked, scourged, and crucified. Nothing was more vile and abominable, insomuch that they would not come into the place where Pilate sat judging, for fear of being contaminated : John xviii. 28, ' And they themselves went not into the judgment-hall, lest they should be defiled.' Therefore it was that Pilate went forth to them, for they would not come in. Look, as it was an aggravation of David's fiiult that he made Uriah to be slain with the sword of the children of Ammon, 2 Sam. xii. 9, so it was of the Jews' contempt, that they should deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged. Thus you see how he was despised, and looked upon as an abject.
3. A man of sorroius. This noteth the multitude of his afflictions, and the greatness of them. He was a man assaulted with all kinds of sorrows, and grievously afflicted with them. A man of soi-rows, that is, a man of miseries ; the aff'ection is put for the condition, because they left a great impression upon him. All kinds of sorrows he endured for our sakes, as scofi's, persecution, contempt, unkindness, miseries, hunger, thirst, faintness, and weariness. I might tire you with a woful variety of this nature ; the scriptures everywhere testify it. Let me briefly tell you, that they were as much as might fit him to be a mediator ; his sufferings are to be measured by his mediator- ship ; and then, they were such as might stand with the holiness of his person. Now, these sufferings were the more grievous to him, because his senses were most quick and smart ; and, therefore, he must needs, above other men, have a sensible apprehension of what was done to him. The best constitutions have the most vigorous affections ; and therefore, it could not be but that all these sufferings should leave very dolorous impressions upon the spirit of Christ. And, indeed, it is more than probable that he was so wasted with them, and they had so dried up the moistui-e and freshness of his countenance, that when he was little above thirty they thought him near fifty years of age : Jolm viii. 57, ' Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?' He was little above thirty; but griefs blasting his beauty, he might appear more aged than he was. Thus you see he