Isai. liii. 12. — Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong ; hecause he hath poured out his sotd unto death : and he was numbered with the transgressors ; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
976.1 fruits of Christ's death. 425
IT is at this time, as it has also been in all former ages, an objection frequently urged against the true disciples of Christ, that few, if any, of the wise and noble embrace their sentiments. When our blessed Lord himself ministered on earth, it was asked with scornful triumph, " Have any of the rulers and of the Pharisees believed on him ?" But, if we confess, with the Apostle, that " not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called," we must resolve the diffi- culty into the sovereign will of God, who has " chosen the foolish and weak things of the world, to confound the wise and mighty, and the base and contemptible things of the world, to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence." There is, however, a period fixed in the divine counsels, when the great and mighty, as well as others, shall become obedient to the faith : and to that event the prophet directs our attention in the text. According to the present translation indeed the Lord Jesus is represented as dividing the spoil in concert with the great : but it should rather be translated, " I will divide him the great for a portion, and he shall divide the strong for a spoil*" Agreeably to this sense of the words, we are led to view him as a victorious monarch triumphing over all the potentates on earth, and both seizing them for his spoil, and enjoying them for his portion.
In illustrating this passage, it will be proper to consider,
I. The promise made to Christ —
The conversion of the world to Christ is a frequent subject of prophecy : whole chapters are occupied in describing itb: we are told that the power of godli- ness shall one day pervade all ranks of people " from the least even to the greatest ;" and that kings will account it their highest honour to be " the nursing- fathers of the Church, and queens her nursing- mothers." This was fulfilled in part in the Apostles' days, when many persons of rank and power embraced
a See Vitringa in loc. or Bishop Lowth. b Isai. xlix. and lx.