I come now to the next part, the nature and way of our deliverance : ' The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquities of us all.' Our sin and punishment is transferred to Christ. The point is —
Dod. That the way that God taketh to acquit poor sinners is to lay the guilt and punishment of sin on the back of his own Son. ' The
324 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [IsA. LIII. G.
Lord hath hiid on him the iniquities of us alh' Wliat the phrase im- })orteth I dill in })!ut discover in givin<; you the dilleront readings of it in several translations. Four especially you may take to set it off to your thoughts.
1. That of the Septuagint, irap^BooKev avrov rat? afiapriah — he delivered him over to our sins. It is hard and sad with a man to be delivered over to be torn by wild beasts, to be delivered to perse- cutors, to be burned in the flames, to be stretched on a rack, to be broken on a wheel, and other tortures. But it is far more hard and evil to be delivered over to sins. Especially for Christ, who was in- flamed with a desire to please God ; there is nothing more abhorrent from his nature than the filthiness of sin. And therefore, though you should suj)pose him to be delivered over to the most exquisite pun- ishments that the world or the wit and malice of man can invent, yet it is nothing in respect of his being given over to sins. So the spittings, scourgings, buffeting, his cross, and all, were but as a flea-biting in respect of his being given over to our sins. God delivered him to Pilate. The Jews could have done nothing if power had not been given them from above. But to be delivered over to the power of our sins, what a heavy thing was this for Christ ! And therefore the expression doth in part reach what is meant here by God's laying it upon Christ.
2. That of Junius and others. Fecit ut in enm incurrerent peccafa nostra. Our sins did rush upon Christ ; they would fain destroy him, as an enemy pusheth sore to destroy their enemy. We read of a company that came out to take Christ witli swords and staves, and a soldier that fiercely run him through. Ay ! but brethren, there is another com- pany that came rushing, and would fain destroy him, and that was your and my sins. We came forth with swords and lances, and, as it were, run him through.
3. Another version has it, Traduxit in eum, or, as with us, he ' laid it on him.' Do but consider what it is to have sin laid upon any. It is to be bound over to death and destruction ; it is to put that upon a man that will be his certain ruin : 1 Kings xiii. 34, ' And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.' When sin is laid upon a man, it will undo him.
4. Others take our marginal reading, Occurrcre fecit in eum : he made our sins to meet in him ; that raiseth it a little higher. Though one sin be enough to ruin a man, yet all the sins in the world were as it were concentred in Chri.st to overwhelm his soul, and to fill it with a great deal of terror ; and indeed he stood in much danger of a great condenmation unless he could satisfy God's wrath. Thus you see, from the several readings, what may be gathered out of this expression. And I the rather note it, because the Spirit of God useth a word here that hath so many significations. Out of all you may gather a delivery of Christ over to that which was most contrary to him, which seized uj)on his soul, and settled there, and brought hini to tiie death of tlie cross, and would not leave him till he had fully expiated and satisfied for it, even our sins.
But I come more particularly to set out the thing that is intended
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTi'-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 325
here by the Holy Ghost in this expression : but * he hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.'
There are two things in it — one implied, which is a taking off sin from the creature ; and the other more formally expressed, which is a putting it upon Christ.
First, therefore, I shall show you how far it is taken off from the creature. But, for the understanding of both, you must know there are three things in sin : —
1. The fault or offence against God.
2. The guilt or obligation to punishment.
3. The blot or sinful inclination, or vicious disposition to sin.
1. I begin with the first. For the offence, it is as if it were never committed. The creature, when justified and sanctified, is as free as if it had never sinned, which is intimated in divers expressions of scripture. I will give you a few places : Jer. 1. 20, ' In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and shall not be found ; and the sins of Judah, and there shall be none, for I will pardon them whom I reserve ; ' Isa. xliv. 22, ' I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins.' They are exhaled and dried up by the beams of mercy. And Jer. xxxi. 34, ' I will remember 3^our sins no more.' It is quite gone from the creature : Num. xxiii. 21, 'He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel ; ' Ps. li. 9, David prayeth, ' Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.' God doth so cover the sin as if it were not at all ; his carriage to the soul is as if there were no sin. As a holy and just God, he cannot behold it with approbation ; and therefore, as a merciful God, he doth as it were cover it from his eyes. Whereas, on the contrary, when God punisheth sin, he is said to set iniquity before him : Ps. xc. 8, ' Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance ; ' Ps. cix. 15, ' Let them be before the Lord continually.' God in love will not take notice of the offence.