252 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [IsA. LIII. 3.
was a man of sorrows. I tlo not touch upon tlie last scene of his death, the sorrows of his life justly give him that character.
4. Acquainted with grief. It was not only now and then, hut it was always miserable with him. Acquaintance with a thing or person implieth the usualness of it. Now, Christ was acquainted with grief, that is, accustomed to it, never freed from it. As soon as he began to live he began to suffer. He was exiled, and forced to Hy into Egypt as soon as he was a month old, and ever afterward hunted up and down by the ])harisees. Trace him through all the scenes of liis life, from the cradle to the cross, from the stable to Golgotha, and you shall see that grief was his familiar — he had no other companion. It is an observation in that letter that Lentulus sent concerning him (if that letter be not forged), Visits est Jlere sccpe, ridere nunqucim — he was often seen to weep, never to laugh, being always acquainted with grief. And in regard of those cruel persecutions that did constantly attend him, he is called in the title of that })salm that sets out the misery of his life, Ps. xxii., ' The hind of the morning;' see the title, 'A psalm concerning Aijeleth Shahar,' that is, Christ, who was always from the very morning hunted and worried by the dogs. He complaineth of it in that psalm, ver. IG, 'The dogs have compassed me.' The dogs hunted him in the morning early and betimes. Herod, one of the dogs, as soon as he was born, endeavours to murder him. So at the time of Christ's death the Holy Ghost giveth us this circumstance : John xviii. 28, ' That they led Christ from Caiaphas unto the judg- ment-hall, and it was early in the morning.' The bloodhounds were up to worry him betimes in the morning. Well, you see Christ was acquainted with grief, even early, from his first breath to his last gasp, from his lying in the cradle to his consummatinn est on the cross. Kay, it is very observable, that in the short glory of iiis transfiguration lie was not without sorrow, for even then he remembered his death to come, as you shall see, Luke ix. 31 ; when Moses and Elias appeared to him in glory, ' They spake of his decease, which should be accom- plished at Jerusalem.' In the midst of his glory he would remember his death. And therefore, you see, well might the prophet use the expression acquainted loith cjrief. So much for the determination of the point, to prove to you that Christ's state of life was so miserable in the world.
I shall now show you why he was so miserable. Why did he under- go all these sorrows ? It is a profitable question ; as the former for our meditation, so this for our faith. The causes cither respect God or the creature.
First, In respect of God ; and so it was : —
1. That his promises might be fulfilled. God had foretold it so by the prophets: Mark ix. 12, ' It is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.' Now this sentence is nowhere jn one proj)het, but the meaning is. It is the constant drift and result of all that is written concerning the Messiah, that he must suffer many things, and be counted as nothing ; though he alludeth specially to this chapter and the 22d Psalm. This was so far from being a scandal against Christ, that it rather confirmed him to be the Messiah, for lie was just such a one as was promised and prophesied of.
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2. That he might declare his obedience to God's decrees and appoint- ment. It is said, Heb. v. 8, that ' He learned obedience by the things that he suffered.' He did by experience find what it was to have a Father whom he must obey, though otherwise he were every way equal to him. But the excellency of his person exempted him not from suffering ; for, having taken our debt upon him, his holy life was a part of his obedience to his Father, but his sufferings showed a higher degree of it, which made him a full and complete mediator. To obey God in the ordinary way of our actions is a common lesson to every holy person ; but Christ's obedience was chiefly tried by his sufferings, because, being without sin, he never deserved it. Thus much in respect of God.
Secondly, In respect of men ; and so —
1. That he might set off his love to us. Usually they are dearer to us that have suffered anything for our sakes, than they that have otherwise done us good. And therefore Christ, to set off his love, spent a miserable thirty-two years and upwards in the world, and after- wards died a terrible death ; and that not for himself, but for us. Some say it was to merit liis own glory ; but it is not good to divert the stream, or any part of it, from that channel in which Christ intended it should run : Dan. ix. 26, ' The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself.' Christians, all his sufferings were for you.