Isaiah 53

Due to their exceedingly great wickedness, they would not believe in him, as the Lord shows in these words, "Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" And afterward, "Hearing you shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive, for the heart of this people has become desensitized." Therefore, knowledge was taken from them, because when they saw, they overlooked, and when they heard, they heard nothing at all.

Are we correct in understanding God's right hand to be the one of whom Isaiah says, "And the arm of the Lord, to whom has it been revealed"? That, you see, is the only Son, whom the Father did not spare "but handed him over for us all." And thus he stretched out his right hand on the cross, and the earth devoured the godless, when they thought of themselves as victorious and of him as despicable in defeat.

If we should understand "hand" as power, the power of the Father and the Son is one; but if we should understand "hand" as it was said through the prophet, "And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" the hand of the Father is the Son himself.

For just as it is your arm through which you work, so his Word was called the arm of God, because through the Word he constructed the world. For why does a person, in order to construct something, stretch out his arm except to directly execute his will?

Look and see that he alone is Father and his arm is the Son, and there are not two but one, a person and his arm. Not understanding or noticing how the words of one thing are transferred to other things on account of some similarity in everyday speech concerning visible and well-known things, how much more when ineffable things are spoken in some way, which are said in such a way to be impossible [in another way]? For a person calls another person "his arm" through whom he does whatever he does. And if he is taken away, he mourns and says, "I have lost my arm." And to the one who took him away, he says, "You have taken my arm away." We can thus understand how it can be said that the Son is the arm of the Father through which the Father works all things. Failing to understand this, we remain in the shadows of error, just like those of whom it was said, "To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"

The first thing, then, is that a man possess Scripture, not like a Jew who is content with the rind. For instance, a certain Jew was reading one day this passage from Isaias: "Who would believe what we have heard?" He was reading it literally and was quite unable to relate it to anything nor to make any sense of it, and therefore he cast the book on the ground, begging loudly that God confound Isaias, because it seemed to him that what he said could not stand.

God truly put his arm around the prodigal son when he clothed his Son in human flesh. Then he exclaimed and said to all, "Take my yoke on you." Whoever accepts the yoke of Christ is embraced as with the arm of a father and is known to be reconciled with God.

For Christ is of those who are humble-minded, and not of those who exalt themselves over His flock. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sceptre of the majesty of God, did not come in the pomp of pride or arrogance, although He might have done so, but in a lowly condition, as the Holy Spirit had declared regarding Him. For He says, "Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have declared [our message] in His presence: He is, as it were, a child, and like a root in thirsty ground; He has no form nor glory, yea, we saw Him, and He had no form nor comeliness; but His form was without eminence, yea, deficient in comparison with the [ordinary] form of men. He is a man exposed to stripes and suffering, and acquainted with the endurance of grief: for His countenance was turned away; He was despised, and not esteemed. He bears our iniquities, and is in sorrow for our sakes; yet we supposed that [on His own account] He was exposed to labour, and stripes, and affliction. But He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; [every] man has wandered in his own way; and the Lord has delivered Him up for our sins, while He in the midst of His sufferings opens not His mouth. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before her shearer is dumb, so He opens not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away; who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. For the transgressions of my people was He brought down to death. And I will give the wicked for His sepulchre, and the rich for His death, because He did no iniquity, neither was guile found in His mouth. And the Lord is pleased to purify him by stripes. If you make an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord is pleased to relieve Him of the affliction of His soul, to show Him light, and to form Him with understanding, to justify the Just One who ministers well to many; and He Himself shall carry their sins. On this account He shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoil of the strong; because His soul was delivered to death, and He was reckoned among the transgressors, and He bare the sins of many, and for their sins was He delivered." [Isaiah 53:1-12] And again He says, "I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All that see me have derided me; they have spoken with their lips; they have wagged their head, [saying] He hoped in God, let Him deliver Him, let Him save Him, since He delights in Him." [Psalm 22:6-8] You see, beloved, what is the example which has been given us; for if the Lord thus humbled Himself, what shall we do who have through Him come under the yoke of His grace?

May your right hand with which you fashioned the world bring light to the world. "To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" May your right hand with which you formed humanity take on a human body and save human persons.

Who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? And he shall go up like a sapling before him, and like a root out of a thirsty land: there is no form in him, nor comeliness: and we saw him, and there was no appearance, and we desired him. Despised and the lowest of men, a man of sorrows, and knowing infirmity; and his face was as it were hidden, and despised: whence we did not esteem him. Truly he bore our sicknesses, and our sorrows he carried: and we thought him as it were a leper, and struck by God, and humbled. LXX: Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We announced as a little child before him, as a root in a thirsty land. There is no form in him nor glory, and we saw him, and he had no form nor comeliness: but his form was without honor, and failing beyond the sons of men. A man in a stroke, and knowing how to bear infirmity, for his face is turned away, despised and not esteemed. He carries our sins, and suffers pain for us, and we esteemed him to be in pain, and in stroke, and in affliction. After the words of the Father, by which he had announced to the world that his Son would come, and before the scandal of the cross, of which he was going to say, His appearance shall be without glory, and his form beyond the sons of men, he had put first the glory of the resurrection, He shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high, so that the glory of the resurrection might go before the humility of the cross: now the choir of the Prophets answers that it has fulfilled its office and, as far as lay in it, has announced to all his arm and power. And in saying, Who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?, it signifies how rare believers from among the Jews are.

At the beginning of the chapter, in which according to the Seventy it is said, Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed (Rom 10), a testimony which the apostle Paul also uses to the Romans, expounding it of the Lord's passion, Lord is not found in the Hebrew, but was added to make clear the person to whom it is said.

Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? [Isaiah 53:1] Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? [Isaiah 53:1] So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Now he would most certainly have said "your arm" if he had not wished us to understand that the Father is Lord and the Son also is Lord.

Who has believed. Here he begins to set out the remedies against the aforesaid impediments.

And first, against their sin, he promises the passion of Christ;

second, against their lowering, he promises exaltation: give praise, O you barren (ch. 54);

third, against their poverty, he promises free enjoyment of goods: all you that thirst (ch. 55).

Concerning the first, he does two things.

First, he shows the height of the mystery, for the report of it is not easily believed: who has believed our report, of these things about Christ which we have heard from you: we have heard a rumor (Obad 1:1); O Lord, I have heard your hearing, and was afraid (Hab 3:2); nor is it easily seen: and to whom is the arm of the Lord, that is, the Son of God, the power of God, revealed: and have you an arm like God? (Job 40:4).

Note on the words, to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? (Isa 53:1), that Christ is an arm:

first, for scourging demons: with the arm of your strength you have scattered your enemies (Ps 88:11[89:10]);

second, for supporting the weak, above: he shall take up the lambs with his arm (Isa 40:11);

third, for defending the faithful: with his holy arm he will defend them (Wis 5:17).

For it is incredible that God, the Son of God, should be spoken of and preached as having suffered these things. For this reason they are foretold by the prophets, lest any doubt should spring up in those who are about to believe.

Therefore, Christ is both the great mountain and the small mountain: truly great because He is the great Lord and His power is great; small because it is written: You have made him a little lower than the angels. Wherefore also Isaiah says: We beheld Him, and He had no form nor comeliness. Nevertheless, He became less from great and greater from less. Less from great, because, when He was in the form of God, He emptied Himself and took the form of a servant; greater from less, because Daniel says: And the stone which was cut out of the mountain, became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

And that the Lord Himself was uncomely in aspect, the Spirit testifies by Esaias: "And we saw Him, and He had no form nor comeliness but His form was mean, inferior to men." Yet who was more admirable than the Lord? But it was not the beauty of the flesh visible to the eye, but the true beauty of both soul and body, which He exhibited, which in the former is beneficence; in the latter-that is, the flesh-immortality.

What therefore does the prophet say in these words?… For he confesses what we also have announced, that is, we have foretold unceasingly that he will come in due season. But perhaps someone shall say in response, "What then if God who is the Word should come down from heaven, covered in divine glory and resplendent in unapproachable light, and appear to those on earth as one who cannot be looked at because of his ineffable glory?" Indeed, when he visited the earth in the form of fire on Mount Sinai it was dark and gloomy, and storms and fire burst from on high along with smoke, and there were many other things that so completely terrified [the Israelites] that his appearance was unbearable to those who saw it. In fact, it was so unbearable that the Israelites called for a mediator, saying to Moses, "Speak to us, and do not let God speak lest we die." So, as Isaiah says, it is no wonder that the one who shall appear should be hard to look at. Why then do the prophets say that unbelief is without excuse and rebellion is unjustifiable when there is no form or glory to his appearance? For he was not, it says, in a form or glory that befits the divine. For he emptied himself, taking on the likeness of humanity, and being found in the appearance of a man he humbled himself. And we say this not merely from hearing the reports, but we have gazed with our own eyes on the one proclaimed. For human things are in every way small, cheap and worthless compared with the divine, supreme, eminent and illustrious beauty of that nature that is above all things. For it is said in the Psalms, "You are the most beautiful among the sons of men." And our text here adds, "more rejected than all people," speaking of his appearance, as if to say that there are to be seen among people of distinction some which are distinguished by their fine radiant appearance … but Emmanuel was not among them, reduced instead to someone who was despised and lowly. This message is true, for he did not come from the holy virgin mother in opulence, but through all that is lowly and humble so as to raise up the humble and to bless those who seem worthless. And anyway, what need does God, who is Lord and king of the universe, have of human splendor?

For he whom you now treat with contempt was once above you. He who is now man was once the uncompounded. What he was he continued to be; what he was not he took to himself. In the beginning he was uncaused; for what is the cause of God? But afterwards for a cause he was born. And that cause was that you might be saved, who insult him and despise his godhead, because of this, that he took on him your denser nature, having converse with flesh by means of mind. While his inferior nature, the humanity, became God, because it was united to God and became one person because the higher nature prevailed, [this happened] in order that I too might be made God so far as he is made man. He was born—but he had been begotten. He was born of a woman—but she was a virgin. The first is human, the second divine. In his human nature he had no father, but also in his divine nature [he had] no mother. Both these belong to godhead. He dwelled in the womb—but he was recognized by the prophet [John the Baptist], himself still in the womb, leaping before the Word, for whose sake he came into being. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes—but he took off the swathing bands of the grave by his rising again. He was laid in a manger—but he was glorified by angels, and proclaimed by a star and worshiped by the magi. Why are you offended by what is presented to your sight, because you will not look at what is presented to your mind? He was driven into exile into Egypt—but he drove away the Egyptian idols. He had no form or comeliness in the eyes of the Jews—but to David he is fairer than the children of humankind. And on the mountain he was bright as the lightning and became more luminous than the sun, initiating us into the mystery of the future.

For this reason [it is, said], "Who shall declare His generation?" since "He is a man, and who shall recognise Him?" But he to whom the Father which is in heaven has revealed Him, knows Him, so that he understands that He who "was not born either by the will of the flesh, or by the will of man," is the Son of man, this is Christ, the Son of the living God. For I have shown from the Scriptures, that no one of the sons of Adam is as to everything, and absolutely, called God, or named Lord. But that He is Himself in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, and Lord, and King Eternal, and the Incarnate Word, proclaimed by all the prophets, the apostles, and by the Spirit Himself, may be seen by all who have attained to even a small portion of the truth. Now, the Scriptures would not have testified these things of Him, if, like others, He had been a mere man. But that He had, beyond all others, in Himself that pre-eminent birth which is from the Most High Father, and also experienced that pre-eminent generation which is from the Virgin, the divine Scriptures do in both respects testify of Him: also, that He was a man without comeliness, and liable to suffering; that He sat upon the foal of an ass; that He received for drink, vinegar and gall; that He was despised among the people, and humbled Himself even to death and that He is the holy Lord, the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Beautiful in appearance, and the Mighty God, coming on the clouds as the Judge of all men;—all these things did the Scriptures prophesy of Him.

Therefore, beloved, have in your mind God's providence (which from the beginning until now is dispensed with foreknowledge) as some excellent medicine for weakened eyes, and keep its recollection with you at all times. Ponder, consider, and be taught by these things, that you may learn to hold the remembrance of the greatness of God's honour in your soul, and thus find life eternal for your soul in Jesus Christ our Lord, Who is become "the Mediator between God and men," as being the Uniter in His two natures. The orders of the angels cannot approach the glory that surrounds the throne of His majesty, yet He has appeared in the world for our sake in a mean and humble form, as [Isaiah] said: "We beheld Him, that He had no form nor beauty." It is He that, being invisible to all created nature, put on a body and fulfilled the economy for the salvation and life of all the nations that were cleansed by Him, and to Him be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.

"For he grew up before him like a child," like a child dear to his Father, he says, because he will be dear to God. But "like a root out of the ground," which is deprived of water, he will also be deprived of life at the moment of the passion. In fact, God wanted these evil things to befall him. Others have seen these words as referring to the apostles who, like candid and young children, believed in him and did not refrain from knowing him, as the scribes and the Pharisees did. According to Qatraya, this points to the fact that Simeon had already blessed him in the temple before God when he was yet an unborn child. Or this: The Son offered our nature before God, like a child, and made it pleasing before God.

And as for what follows, He shall go up like a sapling before him, for which the Seventy translated, We announced as a little child before him: for sapling Symmachus translated branch, to show the man assumed, who came forth from the virginal womb. Of him he adds: Like a root out of a thirsty land. For thirsty Aquila translated pathless, to show the privilege of virginity: that he was created without any human seed from an earth previously untrodden. This is he of whom we read above too: A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall go up from his root (Isa 11:1), so as to signify his birth and his going up in the world. But if he had no form nor glory, but his form was ignoble and failing beyond the sons of men, or, as it stands in the Hebrew, despised and the lowest of men, how is it said in the Psalms: Gird your sword upon your thigh, O most mighty, in your beauty and comeliness (Ps 44 [45]:4)? This is easily resolved. He was despised and ignoble when he hung on the cross and, made a curse for us, bore our sins, and said to the Father: God, my God, why have you forsaken me (Matt 27:46)? But he was glorious and comely in appearance when at his passion the earth trembled, the rocks were split, and, as the sun fled, the elements feared an eternal night. Of him the bride too says in the Song of Songs: My kinsman is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands (Song 5:10). White in the fullness and purity of his virtues, ruddy in his passion, of which we shall read later: Who is this who comes up from Edom, tawny are his garments from Bozrah; chosen out of thousands in the resurrection, so that he who was the firstborn of all creation might become the firstborn from the dead.

For not by any means in working wonders only was He wonderful, but even when merely showing Himself, He was full of great grace; and to declare this the prophet said, "Fair in beauty beyond the children of men." And if Esaias saith, "He hath no form nor comeliness," he affirms it either in comparison of the glory of His Godhead, which surpasses all utterance and description; or as declaring what took place at His passion, and the dishonor which He underwent at the season of the cross, and the mean estate which throughout His life He exemplified in all respects.

Further: He did not first give "commandment to depart unto the other side," nor until He had healed them. For surely they could not have borne it. As therefore on the mountain they not only continued with Him while exhorting them, but also when it was silence followed Him; so here too, not in His miracles only did they wait on Him, but also when He had ceased again, from His very countenance receiving no small benefit. For if Moses had his face made glorious, and Stephen like that of an angel; consider thou our common Lord, what manner of person it was likely He would appear at such a time.

There are, indeed, admitted to be recorded some statements respecting the body of Jesus having been "ill-favored"; not, however, "ignoble," as has been stated, nor is there any certain evidence that he was "little."

It is possible also in another way to see a twofold coming of Christ, that is, the coming of the Word into the soul. First indeed the untrained and those then beginning to know Christ, because they cannot see the brightness of his beauty, say: "we saw him, and he had no form nor comeliness, but his appearance was without honor". Now the unhonored appearance of the Word is the foolish preaching about Christ, when we preach Christ born and crucified. But the second coming is the coming of Christ among perfect men, concerning whom the steward of his word says: "but we speak wisdom among the perfect". And these perfect ones have become lovers of his beauty and beseech the Word, that he gird upon himself his rational sword and set it about the mystery of the fleshly nativity, which is called mystically the thigh. For disciples of this kind praise the beauty and comeliness of the Word, and to this second coming is joined the consummation of the age in the man coming to perfection and saying: "but far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world".

Second, he describes the order of the deed.

And first, he sets out a similitude as to his exaltation: and he shall rise up, in being born from the womb of his mother, in rising from the dead, in ascending from the earth into heaven, and into the faith of the gentiles; as a tender plant, which increases in height and is multiplied in width, above: and there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root (Isa 11:1). And as to his humanity: and as a root out of a thirsty ground, that is, out of ground without moisture, which seems unbecoming because of its dryness; thus he also arose from his mother without the moisture of man: I am the root and stock of David (Rev 22:16).

Second, he sets out the explanation of the similitude: there is no;

and first, as to his humiliation;

second, as to his exaltation: he was taken away from distress (Isa 53:8).

Concerning the first, he does two things:

first, he describes the humility of Christ;

second, his meekness in humiliation: he was offered (Isa 53:7).

Concerning the first, he does three things:

first, he describes the office of his humility;

second, the contempt of him in humiliation: and his look was as it were hidden (Isa 53:3);

third, the fruit of his humiliation: but he was wounded (Isa 53:5).

Concerning the first, he does two things.

First, his humility is shown as to the hiding of his majesty: there is no form in him, as to abundance of interior goods; nor comeliness, as to abundance of exterior goods: for form properly concerns beauty as to symmetry of members, but comeliness concerns beauty as to harmony of color and other surrounding things. Indeed, he had form, for you are beautiful in form above the sons of men (Ps 44:3[45:2]); but it lay hidden because of the infirmity he assumed; he had comeliness, for strength and beauty are his clothing (Prov 31:25), but it lay hidden because of the poverty he observed; thus Song of Songs 2:14: let your voice sound in my ears: for your voice is sweet, and your face comely. And therefore, we who were then unbelieving and afterward were converted, in whose person he speaks, have seen him, bodily, and there was no magnificent sightliness, according to what is said that, the form of Priam is worthy of rule.

Also on the words, tender plant (Isa 53:2), that Christ is a rod:

first, for striking: a star shall rise out of Jacob and a rod shall spring up from Israel: and shall strike the chiefs of Moab (Num 24:17);

second, for supporting: your rod and your staff, they have comforted me (Ps 22[23]:4);

third, for setting right: the rod of thine uprightness (Ps 44:7[45:6]).

Also on the words, root out of a thirsty ground, that Christ is a root,

first, because he is hidden: to whom has the root of wisdom been revealed? (Sir 1:6);

second, because he supplies nourishment: he shall be as a tree that spreads out its roots towards moisture (Jer 17:8);

third, because he supports the entire tree: you bear not the root (Rom 11:18).

Nor is even his death passed over in silence: on the contrary, it is referred to in the divine Scriptures, even exceedingly clearly.… He suffers it not for his own sake but for the immortality and salvation of all, and the counsels of the Jews against him and the indignities offered him at their hands.… O marvel at the loving-kindness of the Word, that for our sakes he is dishonored, that we may be brought to honor.

Christ's deformity is what gives form to you. If he had been unwilling to be deformed, you would never have got back the form you lost. So he hung on the cross, deformed; but his deformity was our beauty.

A man sees the slaughter of bodies, he grieves greatly. He therefore who sees the slaughter of souls, how can he restrain himself from tears? I know the infirmities of others: I ought to suffer with them. Isaiah: "We have seen him, a man of sorrows and knowing infirmity." There is no spirit of the knowledge of God in that member when it sees a member of its head wounded and does not grieve with it. David grieved over the death of Absalom, who nevertheless had persecuted him. There is therefore the grief of compunction for oneself, and the grief of compassion for one's neighbors.

One of the holy Evangelists said that when our Lord's time of suffering drew near, he began to weep and grew sad. Yet by nature he was the only-begotten Word of the Father, being immune from sufferings and grief and the like. Nevertheless, he accommodated himself to our nature and showed himself empty of all [his divine qualities] in the face of the anxiety of the threatening onslaught of his trials. Through all these trials he declared himself to be similar to us, so that he emerges not (as some are fond of saying) as a shadow or specter seen on the earth but as a real human being.

Doubtless there is an older and better hero-worship than this. But the old hero was a being who, like Achilles, was more human than humanity itself. Nietzsche's Superman is cold and friendless. Achilles is so foolishly fond of his friend that he slaughters armies in the agony of his bereavement. Mr. Shaw's sad Caesar says in his desolate pride, "He who has never hoped can never despair." The Man-God of old answers from his awful hill, "Was ever sorrow like unto my sorrow?" A great man is not a man so strong that he feels less than other men; he is a man so strong that he feels more. And when Nietszche says, "A new commandment I give to you, 'be hard,'" he is really saying, "A new commandment I give to you, 'be dead.'" Sensibility is the definition of life.

And what he adds, A man in pain, and knowing how to bear infirmity, or a man of sorrows, and knowing infirmity, shows the true body of a man and a true soul, he who, knowing how to bear infirmities, overcame them all by his divinity. And his face was hidden and despised, so that the divine power was concealed by the human body; of whom it was said above: You are a hidden God, and we did not know.

Second, his humility is shown as to the exposing of his infirmity: that we should be desirous of him, expecting with desire that he should come as a great redeemer: behold the desired of all nations shall come (Hag 2:8). Both great in dignity, against which, we saw him despised, inglorious, and the most abject of men, because he suffered the most shameful kind of death: let us condemn him to a most shameful death (Wis 2:20); I am the most foolish of men (Prov 30:20). And great in prosperity, against which, we found him a man of sorrows, as though poor and full of sorrows: O all you that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow (Lam 1:12). Great also in power, against which, we found him acquainted with infirmity, through experience: for although he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives by the power of God (2 Cor 15:4).

And his look was as it were hidden. Here he shows the contempt of him in his humiliation.

And first, as to his majesty hidden in the removal of honor: as it were hidden, his majesty hidden under the infirmity of flesh; whereupon we esteemed him not, not devoting to him the honor that was due him, above: verily you are a hidden God (Isa 45:15).

Note on the words, the most abject of men (Isa 53:3), that Christ was the most abject:

first, because of the bitterness of his sorrow: O all you that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow (Lam 1:12);

second, because of the shamefulness of his death: let us condemn him to a most shameful death (Wis 2:20);

third, because of the greatness of the charge imposed upon him: I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not with me (Prov 30:2).

Note also on the words, a man of sorrows (Isa 53:3), that Christ was full of sorrows:

first, because of the necessity of disease, above: from the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein (Isa 1:6);

second, because of his pouring out of graces: and of his fullness we all have received: and grace for grace (John 1:16);

third, because of our obligation: for to this end Christ died (2 Cor 5).

[To bishops.] For as yours is the burden, so you receive as your fruit the supply of food and other necessities. For you imitate Christ the Lord; and as he "bore the sins of us all on the tree" at his crucifixion, the innocent for those who deserved punishment, so also you ought to bear the sins of the people your own. For concerning our Savior it is said in Isaiah, "He bears our sins and is afflicted for us." … For do not you imagine that the office of a bishop is an easy or light burden.

"But not what I will, but what you will, Father," It is not as if the Father's will was one thing and the Son's another. [Christ is referring to] the utterance of our weaknesses, however faithful, which our Head transformed into himself, when also he bore our sins.

We did not reckon him to be much or wonder who he was then. He was, however, the Savior of our souls, the healer and purifier of all sin. Therefore it continues, "He bore our sins … though we reckoned him struck down by God and humiliated," as Aquila has it.… We like babes had this opinion of him while he suffered these things for us, so as to save us from all disgrace … he was wounded and became a curse for us … he became a peace offering … who was through all his life a sin offering in word and deed.

"He was made flesh" seems to be equivalent to that in which it is said that he was made sin or a curse for us, not that the Lord was transmuted into either of these—for how could he? But because by taking them on him he "took away our iniquities and bore our infirmities."

Therefore, when it is said that he was "troubled in spirit," that "he was sorrowful in soul," that "he was wounded in body," he places before us designations of susceptibilities proper to our constitution, in order to show that he was made man in the world and had his conversation with [people], yet without sin.

How could one say that the body of the Lord [Christ] is void of soul and understanding? For perturbation and grief and distress are not the properties either of a flesh void of a soul or of a soul void of understanding; nor are they the sign of the nature of immutable divinity or the index of a mere phantasm; nor do they mark the defect of human moral weakness. But the Word exhibited in himself the exercise of the affections and susceptibilities proper to us, having endued himself with our passibility, even as it is written, that "he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." For perturbation and grief and distress are disorders of soul; and toil, and sleep and the body's liability to wounding are infirmities of the flesh.

He truly bore our sicknesses and sins, and suffers pain for us, not in seeming, that is, τὸ δοκεῖν, as an old and a new heresy suppose; but he was truly crucified. He truly suffered pain, saying in the Gospel: My soul is sorrowful even unto death (Matt 26:38). And: Now my soul is troubled (John 12:27). And we thought him unclean, or in pain, as the Seventy translated; for which Aquila and Symmachus put leprous, Theodotion scourged. This, in other words, by Hebrew idiom is understood as leprosy, according to what is written in the psalm: And the scourge shall not come near your tent (Ps 90 [91]:10). And the sense is: We thought him struck by God for his own sins, he who was humbled for our sake and crucified with robbers. Where Symmachus translated Ἐν ἁφῇ ὄντα, that is, in leprosy, Aquila put ἁφημένον, that is, leprous; which many, not understanding, take to mean abandoned, and others read καθήμενον, that is, sitting.

And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. [Isaiah 53:4]

Now the Greeks are accustomed to use for "carry" a word that also signifies "to take away." … Whatever were the cures that Jesus effected, he is mine.

And next he teaches the forms of dishonor and shame, "A man being in sorrow." He points out the nature that received the suffering, for his body was nailed to the cross, but his divinity made the passion its own. "And he was familiar with sickness." This was said about his humanity. For to be courageous and philosophical touches not divine but human nature. "For his face was turned away. It was not valued or appreciated." The three translators render it this way, "And like a hiding of the face from him, he was made nothing and not appreciated." That is, he hid the divine energy and chose suffering and did not seek vengeance on others. For as he was on the cross he said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." This teaches us the reasons for the passion: "He bore our sicknesses and suffered for us." Symmachus translated, "Indeed, he personally has taken on our sicknesses and endured our pains." We deserved death for those sins we had committed, and having received this penalty, he received death on our behalf.

Second, as to his exposed infirmity, he sets out the sign of his infirmity: truly, as true man, he has borne, suffered, our infirmities, infirmities, such as hunger and thirst, and carried our sorrows, of sense, in suffering and sadness; or, our infirmities, our sins, he has taken from us; or in our place, he has suffered punishments: he bore our sins in his body upon the tree (1 Pet 2:24). And he sets out the contempt: and we have thought him as it were a leper, unclean and a sinner, and therefore, struck by God, for his sins, as to the punishments he suffered, and afflicted, as to the ignominies he endured: for your manifold wickedness and your infinite iniquities (Job 22:5); they abhor me (Job 30:10).

Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. [Isaiah 53:5] For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

It did not say, "He remedied our infirmities," lest, as being external to the body and only healing it, as he has always done, he should leave people subject still to death. Rather, he carries our infirmities, and he himself bears our sins, that it might be shown that he has become human for us, and that the body that in him bore them was his own body.

Alone did he assume the penalties of our wicked deeds, not when we were half dead but even when already altogether foul and stinking in tombs and graves.

Kish, who is called harsh, signifies not only his elect, but also the Redeemer himself. For no one was harsher toward himself than he. For the prophet, indicating the severity of this harshness, says: "Truly he himself bore our infirmities, and he himself carried our sorrows" (Isa. 53:4). For to die is not to suffer for mortals, who are subject to the suffering of a condemned nature. He therefore was exceedingly harsh toward himself, who had nothing in himself by which he might suffer; but in order to free us by suffering, he graciously assumed that by which he might be harsh toward himself and be able to suffer.

But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our crimes. The discipline of our peace was upon him, and by his bruise we have been healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, each one in his own way has turned aside: and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because he himself willed it, and he did not open his mouth. LXX: But he was wounded for our sins, and was weakened for our iniquities. The discipline of our peace was upon him: by his bruise we have been healed. All like sheep have gone astray, man has gone astray in his own way. And the Lord handed him over for our iniquities, and he, because of affliction, did not open his mouth. We, he says, thought him a man of sorrows, or, according to the Seventy, to be in pain, and struck by God, and bearing his own sins. But he was wounded for our iniquities, saying in the psalm: They dug my hands and feet (Ps 21 [22]:18), so that by his wound he might heal our wounds; and he was bruised, or weakened for our crimes, so that, made a curse for us, he might free us from the curse. For cursed is every man who hangs on a tree (Deut 21; Gal 3). Hence the discipline of our peace is upon him. For what we ought to have endured for our crimes, he suffered for us, pacifying through the blood of his cross both the things that are on earth and the things that are in heaven. For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, dissolving the enmity in his flesh, and by his bruise we have been healed (Eph 2). From this it is plain that, just as his scourged and torn body bore the marks of injury in weals and bruises, so his soul too truly suffered pain for us, lest it be believed that in Christ there was truth in part and falsehood in part (Rom 3).

But he was wounded. Here he sets out the fruit of his humiliation or of his passion.

And first, he assigns the moving reason: but he was, not as we thought, but wounded, by thorns, nails, and lance, for our iniquities, taking them away, he was bruised, by scourges and blows. Or he was wounded, as to where the previous verse says: he was struck; he was bruised, as to where it says: afflicted: the breath of our mouth, Christ the Lord, is taken in our sins (Lam 4:20).

Second, he shows the consequent usefulness in the reconciliation of peace: the chastisement of our peace, that is, he endured the chastisement of correction for us, and through this peace we have access to God: for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son (Rom 5:10); and in the restoration of broken health: by his bruises, which he had from the scourges, we are healed: by whose stripes you were healed (1 Pet 2:24); who forgives all your iniquities: who heals all your diseases (Ps 102[103]:3).

Isaiah says [about Christ], "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all," that is, to correct our iniquities and set them right. For that reason, he alone is able to forgive our sins, he who has been appointed by the Father of all as our educator, for he alone is able to separate obedience from disobedience.

All, he says, like sheep have gone astray, and we have needed the mercy of God, saying in the psalm: I have gone astray like a lost sheep (Ps 118 [119]:176); the sheep which in the parable of the Gospel was carried back on the shoulders of the good and careful Shepherd (Matt 18). And who these sheep are, the following verse shows: Man has gone astray in his own way; or each one has turned aside in his own way, to follow his own error, and, forsaking the right way, to hold differing opinions about the Crucified. The Lord, however, has laid on him the iniquity of us all, or handed him over for our sins, so that what we could not bear through the weakness of our strength, he might carry for us, he who was offered because he himself willed it.

He bore the sum of human evils and every form of transgression, as well as their recompense and punishment. And as if he were our debtor, the only-begotten Word of God, coming into the world alongside us, fulfilled every law and all righteousness and did not stumble over sin but received it willingly so as to change our punishment into peace and harmony. For undergoing temptation he carried our rebukes and punishments, and by faith we make our own his sufferings, and dying together with him we are saved by grace. He was not delivered by force but as an act of obedience.

The offenses of all were not equal, and there was not only one way of being impious; for the idols of the Egyptians and those of the Phoenicians were not the same, those of the Greeks were different, and those of the Scythians were something else. Nevertheless, although the forms of error were different, we had all in a common manner abandoned the true God, and by this we resembled sheep who have gone astray and are exposed to the wolves.

Third, he shows the imminent necessity on our part, for all are sick, and thus all need a physician, and no one else can offer a sufficient remedy: for there is no distinction of Jew and Greek, for all have sinned and do need (Rom 3:22–23) penance; all we like sheep have gone astray: for you were as sheep without a shepherd (1 Pet 2:25).

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. [Isaiah 53:7-8] And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

For this is the price of our liberty, as Peter says, ye were redeemed with the precious Blood, not indeed of a lamb, but of Him Who came as a lamb, in meekness and humility, and redeemed the whole world with the one offering of His Body, as He himself says, I was brought as a lamb to the slaughter. Wherefore John also says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

[Christ] kept silent while he was concealed, because "in humility his judgment was taken away." He kept silent while he was concealed, because he was thought to be only human. But as God he will come openly; and as our God, he will not keep silent. So what about you? You were saying, "I want him to come."

Because he has come hidden, our God, that is, Christ, will come manifest. "And he will not keep silence." What does it mean, "will not keep silence"? Because he had first kept silence. When did he keep silence? He was judged in order that there might be fulfilled that which the prophet had also predicted: "As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer, without voice, so he opened not his mouth." Therefore, if he were unwilling to suffer, he would not suffer. If he did not suffer, his blood would not be poured forth. If his blood would not be poured forth, the world would not be redeemed.

The Ethiopian eunuch who met Philip (Acts 8:27–38) was reading Isaiah 53. He did not know whether in that passage the prophet was talking about himself or about someone else. Philip, in answering his question, 'preached unto him Jesus'. The answer, in fact, was 'Isaiah is speaking of Jesus'. We need have no doubt that Philip's authority for this interpretation was Our Lord. (Our ancestors would have thought that Isaiah consciously foresaw the sufferings of Christ as people see the future in the sort of dreams recorded by Mr Dunne. Modern scholars would say, that on the conscious level, he was referring to Israel itself, the whole nation personified. I do not see that it matters which view we take.)

Though he was guilty of not even a slight sin, for no serpent could make a mark on this rock, he was condemned. He suffered with patience the insults, blows, crown of thorns, scarlet robe, and the other mockeries enumerated in the Gospel. Although guiltless, he endured it in order that filled with patience he might come to the cross "as a sheep for sacrifice." Although he could have returned the injury to his adversaries, he bore it all with kindness.

He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer, so was he dumb. The Ethiopian eunuch on reading this passage asked Philip to interpret it to him, and he at once explained that it was spoken by the Prophet with reference to the Lord Christ.

For the spiritually dead and unholy Caiaphas asked him, "I put you under oath to the living God to tell us if you are the Chist, the Son of God." And he answered him right away, saying, "From now on you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven." And then Pilate asked him whether he was king of Israel, and Christ replied, "You say so." Pilate was complacent with the madness of the Jews and had Jesus beaten, and he ordered his soldiers to put him between two thieves in his suffering of death on the cross. So what the prophet said was true: "Because of his affliction he did not open his mouth." But he suffered a myriad of afflictions from the time of his arrest onwards, suffered insolence and spitting and the beatings of mindless underlings and other things beside these that could be wickedly arranged, before he was brought to Pilate.

He prays, but he hears prayer. He weeps, but he causes tears to cease. He asks where Lazarus was laid, for he was man; but he raises Lazarus, for he was God. He is sold, and very cheap, for it is only for thirty pieces of silver, but he redeems the world, and that at a great price, for the price was his own blood. As a sheep he is led to the slaughter, but he is the shepherd of Israel, and now of the whole world also. As a lamb he is silent, yet he is the Word and is proclaimed by the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He is bruised and wounded, but he heals every disease and every infirmity. He is lifted up and nailed to the tree, but by the tree of life he restores us, yes, he saves even the robber crucified with him. … He dies, but he gives life, and by his death, he destroys death. He is buried, but he rises again; he goes down into hell, but he brings up the souls; he ascends to heaven and shall come again to judge the living and the dead.

For he endured the cross not by necessity but by will, saying in the Gospel: The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it (John 18:11)? And to Peter, who was scandalized at the name of the cross, because he did not know the mystery and trembled with human fear: Get behind me, Satan, you are a scandal to me, for you do not savor the things that are of God, but those that are of men (Matt 16:23). Otherwise, if he had not been offered by his own will, he who could point out and foretell the traitor, and said to the Apostles, All of you will be scandalized in me this night, could have avoided those who had been sent against him; but he went to meet them fearlessly, and offered himself of his own accord, saying: Whom do you seek (John 18:4, 6)? And at once they fell backward; for they could not bear the voice of God present before them. And beautifully he added: And he did not open his mouth. When Pilate said, Do you not speak to me?, he would not answer. Or according to the Seventy: Afflicted, he did not open his mouth. Or according to Symmachus and Theodotion, hearing, he did not open his mouth.

As a sheep he shall be led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer he shall be dumb, and he shall not open his mouth. From distress and from judgment he was taken away. Who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off from the land of the living: for the crime of my people he struck them. And he shall give the ungodly for burial, and the rich man for his death: because he did no iniquity, nor was there deceit in his mouth. And the Lord willed to bruise him in infirmity. LXX: As a sheep he was led to the sacrifice, and as a lamb dumb before its shearer, so he did not open his mouth. In humiliation his judgment was taken away. Who shall declare his generation, for his life is taken from the earth? By the iniquities of my people he was led to death; and I will give the worst men for his burial, and the rich for his death. For he did no iniquity, nor was there deceit in his mouth: and the Lord wills to cleanse him from the stroke. This testimony, when in the Acts of the Apostles the Eunuch of queen Candace was riding in his chariot (Acts 8ff.) and, reading it, did not understand it, he understood when Philip interpreted it of the passion and name of the Savior; and at once, baptized in the blood of the lamb of whom he was reading, he deserved to be called a man, and was sent as an Apostle to the nation of the Ethiopians. He, then, who was offered to Pilate because he himself willed it, and did not answer, so that, condemned, he might mount the gibbet for us, was himself led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer he was dumb. For Christ our passover has been sacrificed (1 Cor 5), whom John the Baptist pointed out, saying: Behold the lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). He too is often mentioned in the Apocalypse of John the Evangelist as the lamb that was slain (Rev 5). He speaks of himself in Jeremiah (Jer 11): But I was like an innocent lamb, led to the sacrifice, and I did not know. For though he knew no sin, he was made sin for us (2 Cor 5). And as a lamb, when it is led to the sacrifice, does not resist, so he suffered by his will, that he might destroy him who had the dominion of death (Heb 2), humbling himself unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil 2). This is the lamb in whose figure a lamb was sacrificed, whose blood, smeared on the doorposts, put to flight the destroyer of Egypt (Exod 12); who not only redeemed us with his blood, but also covered us with his wool, so that he might warm with his garment us who were freezing with unbelief, and that we might hear the Apostle saying to us: As many of you as have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ (Gal 3:27). And in another place: Put on Christ Jesus (Rom 13:14).

When this one came from heaven to earth for the sake of the one who suffers, and had clothed himself with that very one through the womb of a virgin, and having come forth as man, he accepted the sufferings of the sufferer through his body which was capable of suffering. And he destroyed those human sufferings by his spirit which was incapable of dying. He killed death which had put man to death.

For this one, who was led away as a lamb, and who was sacrificed as a sheep, by himself delivered us from servitude to the world as from the land of Egypt, and released us from bondage to the devil as from the hand of Pharaoh, and sealed our souls by his own spirit and the members of our bodies by his own blood.

This is the one who covered death with shame and who plunged the devil into mourning as Moses did Pharaoh. This is the one who smote lawlessness and deprived injustice of its offspring, as Moses deprived Egypt. This is the one who delivered us from slavery into freedom, from darkness into light, from death into life, from tyranny into an eternal kingdom, and who made us a new priesthood, and a special people forever.

This one is the passover of our salvation. This is the one who patiently endured many things in many people: This is the one who was murdered in Abel, and bound as a sacrifice in Isaac, and exiled in Jacob, and sold in Joseph, and exposed in Moses, and sacrificed in the lamb, and hunted down in David, and dishonored in the prophets.

This is the one who became human in a virgin, who was hanged on the tree, who was buried in the earth, who was resurrected from among the dead, and who raised mankind up out of the grave below to the heights of heaven.

This is the lamb that was slain. This is the lamb that was silent. This is the one who was born of Mary, that beautiful ewe-lamb. This is the one who was taken from the flock, and was dragged to sacrifice, and was killed in the evening, and was buried at night; the one who was not broken while on the tree, who did not see dissolution while in the earth, who rose up from the dead, and who raised up mankind from the grave below.

Now those who are saved are called sheep because of their meekness, which they learned from him who says: "learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart," and because "even unto slaughter" they were ready to come, imitating Christ, who "was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the one shearing it, without voice" — and not simply "without voice," but "before the one shearing it, without voice," that is, before the one taking away what is his own and plundering it.

And hearken unto the prophet who also proclaimed our Lord with his simple teaching, and who likened Him unto a lamb and a sheep, the most innocent of all animals: "Like a lamb was He led to the slaughter, and like a sheep before the shearer He was silent." The lion and the wolf and bear are crafty, together with the other wild beasts, because craftiness was mingled with their evil nature when they were made; but sheep and lambs and ewes are simple and innocent in their ways and movements, and to them was our Lord likened, and by their name are believers called. Our Lord did not liken Himself unto a lion, which bringeth suffering and death, and He did not call His flocks by the names of wild animals, which by the nature in which they were created are cunning in respect of evil things, but He was called "lamb" and "sheep", and being meek like unto them He was led to suffering and to death, for "like a sheep before his shearer He was silent", and thus He in His humility opened not His mouth. And we may be sure that the word of the prophecy is true in fact, for when they took Him, He was quiet; and when they judged Him, He was silent; and when they smote Him, He complained not; and when they condemned Him, He disputed not their judgment; and when they bound Him, He moved not; and when they smote Him on His cheeks, He murmured not; and when He was stripped of His garments as a sheep at its shearing, He cried not out; and when they gave Him gall and vinegar, He cursed them not; and when they fastened Him to the wood, He raged not at them; and when Simon wished to throw off the simpleness of the sheep, and took a sword to avenge the insult of his Master, He rebuked him, and commanded him to carry it in its sheath, saying, "Put back thy sword into its place", for I have no need of thy help. The doctor and teacher of all wisdom stood before the judge, and He refrained and answered not a word. He kept the command of simplicity that He might confirm the prophecy, "He was led as a lamb to the slaughter." They led Him as One who was speechless, and they took Him round about from one place to another, and they drove Him from place to place, and they dragged Him from one judge to another. He stood before Annas and was silent, and until he adjured Him He spake not; He was questioned by Pilate and was silent, and until He heard from him the words, "Art thou the king of the Jews?" which made known to Him that he suspected Him of being a rebel against Caesar, He answered them not a word. They carried Him to Herod, who wishing to see and hear from Him great things asked Him questions temptingly; and there also He stood silent and spake not, and He returned no answer to His questioner. He was esteemed a contemptible man who knew nothing, and a fool who had no answer to give. The Jews and priests thought this because they wished it; but He forsook not the simpleness of a lamb, and the law of simplicity He left not.

It was fitting for him to heal like by like and to recall the other wandering sheep by becoming a sheep himself. He became a sheep, without being changed into one, or without being altered or without quitting his own essence.… For, according to Isaiah, he was sheared as well as slaughtered. For he endured death in his humanity. But as God he remained alive and impassible and gave the fleece of his body to the shearers.

He was offered. Here he shows his meekness in suffering.

And first, he sets out the meekness itself,

and first, as to his voluntary offering of himself: he was offered, to God the Father as a victim for us, because it was his own will: I will freely sacrifice to you (Ps 53:8[54:6]);

second, as to his patient suffering: and he opened not his mouth, as if contradicting and contending; also before Herod he responded nothing (Luke 23:9): from the mouth of the Most High (Lam 3:38).

Second, he sets out a similitude: as a sheep to the slaughter, because he was slaughtered without resistance, and as a lamb, because he suffered injury without contradiction: I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim (Jer 11:19).

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; not begotten of things which are not, but of Him who is the Father; not in a corporeal manner, by excision or division as Sabellius and Valentinus thought, but in a certain inexplicable and unspeakable manner, according to the words of the prophet cited above: "Who shall declare His generation?" Since that His subsistence no nature which is begotten can investigate, even as the Father can be investigated by none; because that the nature of rational beings cannot receive the knowledge of His divine generation by the Father. But men who are moved by the Spirit of truth, have no need to learn these things from me, for in our ears are sounding the words before uttered by Christ on this very thing, "No man knoweth the Father, save the Son; and no man knoweth who the Son is, save the Father."

For he it is who proceeded from a virgin and appeared as man on the earth and whose generation after the flesh cannot be declared. For there is none who can tell his father after the flesh, his body not being of a man but of a virgin alone. Thus, no one can declare the corporeal generation of the Savior from a man in the same way as one can draw up a genealogy of David and Moses and of all the patriarchs.

The Son of God, who is also the Son of man, our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Father without mother, created every single day; born of his mother without father, he consecrated this particular day [Christmas Day]; invisible in his divine birth, visible in his human one, in each of them wonderful. Thus it is difficult to judge about which of the two the prophet is more likely to have prophesied, "Who shall tell the tale of his begetting?"—whether of that one in which, never not born, he has the Father co-eternal with himself; or of this one in which, born at a particular time, he had already made the mother of whom he would be made; whether of that one where he was always born, since he always was. Who, after all, will tell the tale of how light was born from light, and they were both one light; how God was born from God, and the number of gods did not increase?

If you think this to be referred to the human generation by which he was born of a virgin, look into yourself and ask your soul whether the prophet would dare to declare the divine generation if words failed him for the human one.

To sum up, Christ was born both of a Father and of a mother; both without a father and without a mother; of a Father as God, of a mother as man; without a mother as God, without a Father as man.… "Who will recount his begetting," whether that one without time or this one without seed; that one without beginning or this one without precedent; that one which never was not, or this one which never was before or after that one which has no end, or this one which has its beginning in its end?

This sheep is equally called shepherd and says "I am the good Shepherd." By his manhood he is sheep; by his divine loving-kindness he is shepherd.

Those who do not understand the manner of begetting may mislead you when they say, "Who can speak of the birth of the Lord?" First, "who" or still more "no one" does indeed seem to signify men. Only the Holy Spirit can grasp or explain this manner of begetting. That is why we ourselves with the permission of God the Father and of Jesus Christ our Lord have set it forth. Certainly it is not a hopeless enterprise, but we have described it as by a miracle. Next, supposing that the manner of begetting is unknown, we speak of substance when we say that the Father and Son are of the same essence (homoousios).

And as for what follows, From distress and from judgment he was taken away, or as the Seventy translated, in humiliation his judgment was taken away: it signifies either that from tribulation and judgment he ascended victorious to the Father; or that he, the judge of all, did not find the truth of judgment, but without any fault was condemned by the sedition of the Jews and the voice of Pilate. Hence the Prophet marvels that the God of all handed himself over to suffering. Of which Paul speaks: For if they had believed, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8). There follows: Who shall declare his generation? This is understood in two ways: for either it is to be taken of his divinity, that it is impossible to know the mysteries of the divine birth, of which he himself speaks in Proverbs, Before all the hills he begot me (Prov 8:25), according to what we read elsewhere, Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor (Rom 11:34)? that is, no one; or of the Virgin's giving birth, that it can be explained only with difficulty. Indeed, when it was said to Mary by the Angel, You shall conceive and bear a son, she answered: How shall this be to me, since I do not know a man? To whom the Angel in turn: The Holy Spirit, he says, shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you (Luke 1:31, 34, 35); so that the mysteries of this birth are told only by the Angel or by the Evangelist. Its narrator is most rare, according to that saying: Who is wise, and he will understand these things? understanding, and he will know them (Hos 14:10)? But if a prudent reader answers in silent thought: And how is it written, No one knows the Son but the Father, and no one knows the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal him? and he who knows the Father and the Son can surely also declare the mystery of the generation: let him hear that it is one thing to know and another to utter, because often what we conceive in the mind we cannot unfold in speech. Therefore the saints too can know the mystery of the divine birth in the body by faith rather than tell it. Otherwise the Apostle too, caught up into the third heaven and into paradise, heard words which a human tongue can by no means utter (2 Cor 12). But the Spirit too intercedes for us with unutterable groanings. Of him, then, whose generation either no one or hardly anyone can declare, the life was taken away from the earth, so that he might live not on earth but in heaven. Or he was cut off from the land of the living, so that there might be fulfilled of him what is written in the Apocalypse of John: I am the first and the last: I who was living, and was dead: and behold, I live for ever (Rev 1:18); so that after the life he lived on earth, dead to the earth, he might live in heaven for ever. And what is joined to this, For the crime of my people he struck them, or, according to the Seventy, by the iniquities of my people he was led to death, has a double sense. For either by his death he struck the persecutors and the criminals of his people; or because of the greatness of the sins of the people which he always held as his own peculiar people, he was led to death, so that by his death he might call them back to life.

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ. In Isaiah we read: His generation, who shall declare it? Let us not think, then, that the Gospel is contrary to the prophet, so that what he said was impossible to utter, this one begins to narrate; for there it is said of the generation of the divinity, here of the incarnation. And he began from the things of the flesh, so that through the man we might begin to learn of God.

The birth of our Lord and Savior, whether that of his divinity from the Father or that of his flesh from his mother, surpasses the power of human eloquence. As a result, the saying ("Who will recount his generation?") may rightly be referred to either.

He was taken away from distress. The humility of his passion having been set out, here he begins to set out the glory of his exaltation, which is the reward of his passion, as it says in Philippians 2:9: for which cause, God also has exalted him.

And first, as to his escape from dangers;

second, as to vengeance against his enemies: and he shall give the ungodly (Isa 53:9);

third, as to the justification of men: if he shall lay down (Isa 53:10);

fourth, as to his victory over the rebellious: therefore will I distribute to him (Isa 53:12).

Concerning the first, he does two things.

First, he sets out the reward: he was taken away, in the resurrection, from the distress, of his passion, and from the unjust judgment, by which he was judged by others: the just is delivered out of distress (Prov 11:8).

Second, he sets out his merit, setting out the worthiness of the sufferer, so that the merit of the passion is measured from the condition of the person: his generation, his eternal generation which was from a father without a mother, or his generation in time, which was from a mother without a father, who shall declare, as if to say: no one by natural reason, though somewhat by divine inspiration: who saw him, and shall declare him? (Sir 43:35). And he sets out the suffering inflicted on him: because he is cut off, through death by the Jews, out of the land of the living, out of this life: come, let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living (Jer 11:19). And he sets out the acceptance of this suffering on the part of God the Father: for the wickedness of my people have I struck him, that is, allowed him to be struck: Christ also died once for our sins (1 Pet 3:18).

Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth [Isaiah 53:9]: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT THE PROPHET ISAIAH SAYS OF CHRIST, “HE COMMITTED NO SIN,” WHILE THE APOSTLE, ON THE CONTRARY, SAYS, “HIM WHO KNEW NO SIN, HE MADE SIN FOR US” (Isa. 53:9; 2 Cor. 5:21)? — As far as the sense is concerned, the questions are different, but the words are similar: in one respect they are alike, in another they differ. “He made” and “did not make” are opposed; “knew not” and “did not commit” are similar. The prophet spoke in the person of Christ, because “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth”; but the Apostle speaks of the person of God the Father, who made Him, that is, Christ, who knew no sin, “sin for us.” This must be understood in two ways. First, He made Him sin by willing that He be incarnate, so that He whom fate did not touch should take a body from sinful flesh; by this He is said to have been “made sin.” Then, by offering Him for sins, He made Him sin. For in the Law the victim offered for sins was called “sin.” Therefore Christ did not commit sin, as the prophet says; but by the Father He Himself was made sin, as has been shown. And what is it to offer Christ for us, if not to grant power to those who wished to kill Him? This was allowed because it would be for our benefit that He should be the cause of descending to the lower regions, to damage hell of souls. For it is an excessive and unheard-of sin to have killed Him who not only had not sinned in any way, but had also granted life to many. By this sin the Devil was made guilty and lost the boldness to contradict. A similar passage is read in the Epistle to the Galatians: among other things, “He was made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). By whom was He made, if not by the Father? For by God’s judgment the cross of Christ is a curse upon the Jews: the death of the Savior cries out their sin. Therefore He allowed Himself to be crucified, so that His passion might profit us, that as we go forth with His sign, we may not be held by the second death. For death fears even His servants, by whom it has been conquered.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT THE PROPHET ISAIAH SAYS OF CHRIST, “HE COMMITTED NO SIN,” WHILE THE APOSTLE, ON THE CONTRARY, SAYS, “HIM WHO KNEW NO SIN, HE MADE SIN FOR US” (Isa. 53:9; 2 Cor. 5:21)? — With regard to the point at issue, not only do the words differ, but the persons are different. “He made” and “did not make” are opposed. But since what is said to have been made is not understood as having been made by Him who is declared not to have made it, it cannot be called a contradiction. For the statement of the prophet refers to the person of Christ, but that of the Apostle to the person of the Father. For God the Father reconciled the world to Himself through Christ; and therefore it came about that He, that is, Christ, was made sin. For this is what “He made Him sin” means: He gave Him into the virginal womb, that He might be born as man, made sin in respect of the flesh, because flesh is the flesh of sin, namely that one whom fate and condition did not touch, to bring forth as man. Therefore He was born for this, that He might be offered as a victim for sinners. He is said to have been made sin because, according to the Law, the victim offered for sins was called “sin.” There is a similar passage of the Apostle to the Galatians speaking of the Savior: “Made a curse for us”; (Gal. 3:13) the sense is the same: “He was made sin or a curse for us for our sake by God the Father, who allowed Him to be killed by the Jews, so that, because of their unbelief, they might be disinherited in our favor, with others brought in to take their place; as the Savior says, ‘The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation that produces its fruits’” (Matt. 21:43). For everything that God allows is said to be done by Him: because if He did not allow it, it would not happen. Therefore the Lord says to Pilate, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above” (Jn. 19:11). Therefore He is said to “give” power, not by infusing it, but by permitting it, so that when a wicked mind receives power according to its will, it becomes guilty: as the Jews who, in killing the Savior, made Him their curse by God’s judgment. For the cross of the Savior is a curse upon the Jews. It is not like the victim that was offered for sins, which cleansed the one who offered it; but rather, the offered Savior becomes stain and sin for those who offer Him: while justification comes to those who dissent, so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus. For the offering of the Jews benefited the Gentiles who did not fall away from faith in Jesus Christ.

David alone of the prophets prophesied with an instrument, called by the Greeks the "psaltery." … But this psaltery has the source of its musical numbers above, in order that we, too, may practice seeking things above and not suffer ourselves to be borne down by the pleasure of melody to the passions of the flesh. And I think that this truth, too, was signified deeply and clearly to us in a prophetic way in the construction of the instrument, namely, that those who have souls well ordered and trained have the way ready to things above. And again, an instrument having the source of its melodious sound in its upper parts may be taken as like the body of Christ and his saints—the only instrument that maintains rectitude; "for he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." This is indeed an instrument, harmonious, melodious, well-ordered, that took in no human discord and did nothing out of measure but maintained in all things, as it were, harmony toward the Father; for, as he says, "he that is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth; he that comes from heaven testifies of what he has seen and heard."

He gave the ungodly for his burial, and the rich man for his death; or the worst men for his burial, and the rich for his death: signifying both peoples, so that in the evil and the worst, who before had no knowledge of God (Rom 9), the multitude of the nations is shown; in the rich, to whom belonged the Testament and the Lawgiving and the Prophets, the Jewish people is pointed out. Therefore the Lord suffered and was buried for this reason, that he might gather to himself a Church from both peoples. Or this must be said: that the Scribes and Pharisees, and Sadducees, the priests and high priests, who formerly reigned among the people and abounded in excessive wealth, God handed over to the Romans after the Lord's passion, and subjected to everlasting servitude. He for whose burial and death the ungodly and the rich were handed over did no iniquity, nor was deceit found in his mouth. This can be understood of no man at all, that he sinned neither in deed nor in word, as Scripture says, No one is clean from filth, not even if his life has been of a single day, and, all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned aside in his own way (Job 25), except of him who bore our sins, and suffers pain for us, and was wounded for our iniquities, and afflicted for our crimes, by whose bruise we have been healed. Expounding this testimony about him, Peter the prince of the Apostles also says: For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps; who did no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth; who when he was cursed did not curse, and when he suffered did not threaten (1 Pet 2:21ff.).

In reality, the people were subject to another curse, which says, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all that is written in the book of the law." To this curse, I say, people were subject, for no person had continued in or was a keeper of the whole law. But Christ exchanged this curse for the other, "Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree." … It was necessary for him who is about to relieve us from a curse to be himself free of it. But he received another instead of ours. Therefore Christ took on himself just such curse and thereby relieved us from the curse. It was like an innocent person deciding to die for another sentenced to death, and so rescuing him from punishment. For Christ took on him not the curse of transgression but the other curse, in order to remove that of others. For "he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth."

Then to show that the court was corrupt and the sentence unjust, he went on to say, "In his humiliation his legal trial was taken away," that is, no one judged justly in his case.

And is not one ashamed to say that God is not crafty or deceitful? Concerning him, however, in respect of the flesh, it might be reasonable [to say it].

If you wish to look at the mind behind his appearance, you will find it to be an ocean of compassion for humanity residing there. For he saved them, the most foul people who gloried in their wealth and those condemned to death from their deeds, as they trusted and received the death of the Savior which was a ransom for them, offering them, in place of the tomb and death, eternal life and incorruptible everlasting life.This verse shows the unrighteous rage of the devil when he unleashed himself on our Savior. For although there was no sin found in his being according to the flesh, but that flesh remained sinless, the devil as if [Christ] were a sinner killed him and in so doing manifested the totality of his wickedness. But for this very reason came salvation for those who had fallen into sin. Receiving the sufferings due to us, [Christ] made them his own and so from a standpoint of faith it is said that he became a curse for us himself. And it is said that they make gifts not with sacrifices but with feeling and repentance, and thus they receive a spiritual healing as they trade not only their present life. Once the only Son of God made our salvation his own prize when he took a body and endured sufferings on our behalf. And his Father rightly said that he took away [Christ's] pain as our healing and purifying, that our illumination was shown to be his light just as we grow into the knowledge of God and understanding with our behavior changed for the better and converted in the intelligence of God. Since the only-begotten Son of God acted in every way according to the paternal command and filled every thought with obedience, it was characteristic of him that the Savior should wrap a towel around himself and fill the basin with water and be of service in every way.

And he shall give the ungodly. Here he sets out his vindication against his persecutors.

And first, he sets out their reward: and he shall give the ungodly, the Jews into the hands of the Romans, for his burial, because they had him guarded in the tomb: the wicked is delivered up for the just (Prov 21:18).

Second, he sets out his merit as to the innocence of his life: because he has done no iniquity, as to sins of deed, neither was there deceit in his mouth, as to sins of word: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth (1 Pet 2:22). And as to the obedience of his death: and the Lord, the Father, was pleased, and he was obedient to the Father unto death: becoming obedient unto death (Phil 2:8); the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Cor 1:25).

And the Lord willed to cleanse him from the stroke which he had received when pierced by the soldier's lance. Or to bruise him in infirmity and wound; of which he himself also said: For they persecuted him whom you struck (Ps 68 [69]:27). And through Zechariah God says: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered (Zech 13:7). Therefore his suffering was not of necessity, but of the will of the Father and of his own, he who said to him: O God, to do your will, I have willed it (Ps 39 [40]:9). Of which we also read above: He was offered because he himself willed it.

If he lays down his soul for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be directed in his hand. Because there has labored his soul, he shall see, and be satisfied: by his knowledge he himself, the righteous one, shall justify my servants who are many, and he himself shall bear their iniquities. LXX: If you give an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed: and the Lord wills to take away his soul from pain, to show him light, and to form understanding; to justify the righteous one who serves many well: and he himself shall bear their sins. According to the Hebrew this is the sense: If he whom the Lord willed to bruise, or to cleanse, lays down his soul for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, which he sowed in good ground. Of which it is written in the Gospel: The sower went out to sow; and again: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field (Matt 13:3). And the will of the Lord shall be directed in his hand, so that whatever the Father willed may be fulfilled by his powers, as he says to the Father: I have kept in your name those whom you gave me. I have guarded them, and none of them has perished except the son of perdition (John 17:12).

According to the Seventy this is said: O you for whose sins the Son of God was led to death, you who, the worst men and rich in evil, were given for his burial and death: if you are willing to do penance, and to offer for your sins a sacrifice pleasing to God, a contrite spirit, your soul shall see a seed of long time, the Lord the Savior himself. Of whom it is sung in Psalm 88 (89): His seed endures for ever, and his throne like the sun in my sight. And again: I will establish his seed for ever and ever, and his throne like the days of heaven. Which in other words Gabriel says to the Virgin: Behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, who shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord shall give him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:31, 32). For the Lord wills to take away from pain the soul of him who had said, My soul is sorrowful even unto death (Matt 26:38), so that the shame of the cross may be tempered by the glory of the resurrection.

"His soul will see his offspring grow." On the day after his suffering, the spiritual conception of that indescribable, indwelling birth came. The divine power was vindicated in accordance with the promises to Abraham in the undoing of death-bearing sin and the access to redemption. And where the [LXX] text has "And the Lord wills to alleviate his soul from its suffering," Symmachus renders, "And the will of the Lord prospered in his hand." And this fits the Savior well. He gave light to himself so that others would be illuminated through his being just, but he also gave understanding. For the spirit of wisdom and understanding was resting on him to give others understanding and "to justify those worthy of being justified." Others interpret in this way: the Lord wills to turn the sorrow on the cross to gladness through revealing himself to those who had once been deceived in darkness who were now being transformed into light. For as Paul said, "We who were once darkness are now light in the Lord" and "recreated in understanding," as though being changed from glory into glory.…God is said to have made one new humanity from two peoples, that is, to have made a transformation. For the Only Begotten considered our salvation to be his own reward. By taking a body, he thus suffered on our behalf. And so, it was necessary for the Father to make the "alleviation of suffering"—which is said about Christ—our healing and to make his light our illumination, exchanging what we had for something better as we were recreated in the understanding of God. For Christ did not come to be served but, as he said himself, to serve the working out of the plan of our salvation in his incarnation.

Having thus proclaimed in advance the iniquity of the people, he addresses to them an exhortation to repent—for he saw in advance those among them who, after these events, would have the faith. Of this number was the divine Paul; of this number were the three thousand men and the many thousands—and he says, "If you can give an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived offspring." If you acknowledge your impiety, and if you request salvation, you will obtain life eternal; for this is what he has called "long-lived."

If he shall lay down. Here he sets out that, through him, the justification of men was completed.

And first, he sets out the reward for the sorrow of his death: if he shall lay down his life, of his own will: I lay down my life (John 10:17), he shall see a long-lived seed, until the end of the world, sons for him reborn out of the power of his death: unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remains alone. But if it die it brings forth much fruit (John 12:24–25); and the will of the Lord shall be directed, fulfilled, in his hand, in his work: this is the will of God, your sanctification (1 Thess 4:3).

If the Lord of heaven and earth underwent all his sufferings for us, how then do you make a difficulty to minister to such as are in want, who ought to imitate him who underwent servitude, and want, and stripes and the cross for us? We ought therefore also to serve the brethren, in imitation of Christ. For says he, "He who will be great among you, let him be your minister; and he who will be first among you, let him be your servant." For so did he really, and not in word only, fulfill the prediction of "serving many faithfully."

He has bought us with his own blood. He endured the cross, despising its shame, so that he might win our salvation. Therefore bow your necks to his yoke. For your soul will see the fruitful seed, that is, you will be sharers in those being kept for eternal life, that is, the saints who have been enriched with the hope of eternal life. For there was no idea of the resurrection of the dead among the Greeks, and the mystery until now was not set forth. They all but said that the breath in your no nostrils is smoke that is burning. All the ashes will disappear, and the spirit like a weak person will be dissolved.

And he shall see an everlasting seed, and the will of the Father shall be directed in his hand, because his soul labored for a long time, finding no rest among the Jews, and saying in the Gospel: Foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head (Matt 8:20). And in this same Prophet: I have labored, bearing it (Isa 1:14). Because, then, he labored, he shall see the Churches rise up in the whole world, and shall be satisfied with their faith. Indeed, when, hungry and thirsty, he had sat down by the well of Jacob (John 4) at midday under the scorching sun, he would not use the food that had been bought, because he was already satisfied with the faith of the Samaritan woman and of the city of Shechem coming out to him. In this sense he said among the eight beatitudes: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt 5:6). By his knowledge, that is, by his doctrine, he himself, the righteous one, who did no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, and the servant of the Father, who had taken the form of a servant and had served the will of the Lord, shall justify many who believe from the whole world. And he himself shall bear their iniquities, which they could not bear, and by whose weight they were crushed.

And to show him light, so that he may see all enlightened through him. And to form with understanding, him being understood, upon whom the spirit of wisdom and understanding shall have come down. And to justify the righteous one, who has served many well; for he came not to be served but to serve (Matt 20), washing away in Peter's feet (John 13) the sins of all the Apostles. He appeared in the flesh, was justified in the spirit. Of him Judas the traitor too confesses: I have sinned, betraying righteous blood (Matt 27:4). And Pilate's wife: Have nothing to do with that righteous man: for I have suffered many things today in dreams because of him. And it is to be noted that he was not justified so that from being unrighteous he might become righteous; but the righteous one is justified, not so that he might begin to be what he was not, but so that what he was might appear to all. This righteous one suffered for the unrighteous, that he might offer us all to God. Of him it is said to the Jews: And you denied the holy and righteous one, and asked that a murderer be granted to you (Acts 3:14). And their sins, he says, he himself bore, as a physician bears the sicknesses of the sick; of him the healthy have no need, but those who are ill (Luke 5).

[David] predicted that Christ would rise again. "You will not leave my soul in hell, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption." Isaiah expressed the same thing in a different way. For he said, "The Lord wishes to cleanse him from his wounds, to show him light, to justify the righteous one who served many well."Isaiah established that the slaying of Christ was a ransom for humanity's sins when he said, "He has borne the sins of many." And he will free humankind from demons, for as Isaiah said, "He will divide the spoils of the strong." And the same prophet spoke out clearly that Christ did this through his death when he said, "Because his soul was delivered up to death." That Christ would be put in charge over the whole world he revealed by these words of his, "He shall inherit many."

However, I will show [Marcion] the death and burial and resurrection of Christ all indicated in a single sentence of Isaiah, who says, "His sepulchre was removed from the midst of them." Now there could have been no sepulchre without death and no removal of sepulchre except by resurrection.… "He shall divide the spoil of many, because he poured out his soul to death." For here is set forth the cause of this favor to him, even that it was to recompense him for his death.

And the reward for the labor of his teaching: because his soul has labored, in preaching and discoursing, he shall see, the gentiles converted to him, and be filled, as though having what he intended: I have meat to eat which you know not (John 4:32).

Second, he sets out his merit as to the exercise of preaching: by his knowledge, that is, his teaching: justified freely by faith (Rom 5:1); Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:69); and as to the torment of death: he shall bear their iniquities, that is, the punishments for their iniquities, above: I have made you, and I will bear (Isa 46:4).

Three men were crucified in the same place, the Lord in the middle, because "he was reckoned among the wicked." They placed the two robbers on either side, but they were not crucified for the same reason. They were flanking Christ as he hung there, but they were far removed from him in reality. They were crucified by their crimes, he by ours.

Christ suffered a most universal passion, a most bitter passion, a most ignominious passion, a death-dealing passion, yet one that was life-giving.

He suffered also a most ignominious passion, both on account of the gibbet of the cross, which was the punishment of the worst criminals, and on account of the company of the wicked, namely the thieves, with whom He was reckoned.

Because the swelling of pride sometimes rises inwardly from presumption, and sometimes outwardly from ostentation and the praise of others: therefore, to remedy all pride, Christ suffered both kinds of ignominy, both in himself as the one suffering and in the company he had in his passion.

Concerning the robbers who were crucified with him it is written, "And he was numbered with the transgressors." Both of them were before this transgressors, but one was so no longer. For the one was a transgressor to the end, stubborn against salvation; who, though his hands were fastened, struck with blasphemy by his tongue. When the Jews passing by wagged their head, mocking the crucified and fulfilling what was written, "When they looked on me, they shook their head," he also reviled with them. But the other rebuked the reviler; and it was to him the end of life and the beginning of restoration, the surrender of his soul a first share in salvation.

"Therefore I will divide him a portion among the many," among the many who will eat his body and will drink his blood. "And he shall divide the spoil with the strong" … he calls "the strong" the holy apostles, among whom he divided the nations to be ruled, which he had taken away the power of the devil.

If you are a Simon of Cyrene, take up the cross and follow. If you are crucified with him as a robber, acknowledge God as a penitent robber. If even he was numbered among the transgressors for you and your sin, do you become law-abiding for his sake. Worship him who was hanged for you, even if you yourself are hanging; make some gain even from your wickedness; purchase salvation by your death; enter with Jesus into paradise, so that you may learn from what you have fallen.

Therefore I will allot him very many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong: because he handed over his soul to death, and was reckoned with the wicked: and he bore the sins of many, and prayed for the transgressors. LXX: Therefore he shall possess many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong: because his soul was defiled in death, and he was reckoned with the unrighteous, and he took up the sins of many, and for their iniquities he was handed over. He gives the reasons why after his passion Christ obtains many rewards. Because, he says, he suffered, and did all the things which the preceding discourse described, and himself bore the iniquities of many: therefore I will allot him very many, so that, in place of Jacob, the portion of the Lord, and Israel, the line of his inheritance, they may believe in him, coming from the East and the West, and recline in the kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matt 8): when that is fulfilled which is written: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession (Ps 2:8). Of which we also read in this same Prophet: There shall be the root of Jesse, and he who shall rise to rule the nations, in him the nations shall hope (Isa 11:10). These very many were once held by the strong; and under the figure of the ass and the colt they had many masters, to whom the Apostles said: The Lord has need of them (Matt 21:3). These were strong before Christ took up a human body and, having overcome the strong man, plundered his house. So he handed over and divided the prey of the strong to his Apostles, so that Peter, James and John became the princes of the circumcised people, and Paul and Barnabas were sent to the nations, separated in place, not in mind, and stood under one Lord in different battle lines, so that by the victory of both columns they might raise a triumph to the Savior. Hence those who say that the dispensational contention between Peter and Paul (Acts 15) was truly a quarrel and a struggle, so as to satisfy the blaspheming Porphyry, and who assert that the ceremonies of the old Law are to be kept in the Church of Christ by those of the stock of believing Israel, ought also to expect a golden Jerusalem in the thousand years, so as to sacrifice victims and be circumcised, so as to sit on the sabbath, sleep, be filled, get drunk, and rise up to play: a play which offends God. We have said this on account of what is now prophesied: And he shall divide the spoils of the strong (Isa 53:12). According to what is written in another place: When the heavenly one divided kings in it. And again: The king of the hosts of the beloved, and the beauty of the house, to divide the spoils (Ps 67 [68]:13). Indeed, of the apostle Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, it is said according to the Hebrew: Benjamin a ravening wolf: in the morning he shall eat, and at evening he shall divide the spoils (Gen 49:27). Of these too we have already spoken before: They shall rejoice in your sight, as those who rejoice at harvest, and as those who divide the spoils (Isa 9:3), dividing among themselves the Churches of Christ in the whole world. Therefore he shall receive very many nations, he who came to proclaim release to the captives, and led captive the captivity formerly held by the devil and the demons, and gave it as a gift to men and to believers, because he handed over his soul to death and was reckoned with the wicked, or unrighteous (1 Cor 9). For if his Apostle became to those who were without law as one without law, though he was not without law but was under the law of Christ, why should not Christ too have been reckoned with the unrighteous, that he might redeem the unrighteous from sin and become all things to all, that he might save all? For he bore our sins in his body (1 Pet 2), fastening them to the wood of the cross, that he might blot out the handwriting which we had made to the devil and his angels, written by the hands of the soul, that is, by its works. Of these the apostle Paul speaks: And you, when you were dead in sins and in the desires of the flesh, he made alive with Christ, forgiving us all sins. And blotting out the handwriting that was against us, which was contrary to us, he took it out of the way, fastening it to the cross: despoiling the principalities, he put the powers to shame, triumphing over them confidently (Eph 1:2; Col 2:14, 15). And the unrighteous with whom he was reckoned, the Evangelist Mark understands as the robbers, writing: And they crucified with him two robbers, one on the right, and the other on the left. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says: And he was reckoned with the unrighteous (Mark 15:27). This can also be understood more deeply, as the Lord says of himself: I am reckoned with those who go down into the pit: I have become like a man without help, free among the dead (Ps 87 [88]:4). For he was truly reckoned among sinners and the unrighteous, so that he might go down to the underworld, which in many places of the Scriptures is called the pit, and set free those bound in prison. He was handed over for our sins, and rose again for our justification (Rom 4). And he was of such clemency that he prayed on the cross for the transgressors, nay rather for his persecutors, and said: Father, forgive them: for they do not know what they do (Luke 23:34).

Hear, at least, what God says to the Jews, "As my child Isaiah walked, naked and barefoot, so shall the children of Israel walk into captivity naked and barefoot." He wishes, therefore, to remind you by your appearance that the devil held sway over you, and he brings you to the recollection of how lowly born you were before regeneration. Hence, you stand not only naked and unshod, but you even stand with upturned hands to confess God's future sovereignty to which you draw near. You are all the spoils and booty of war. Isaiah mentioned these spoils long ago, before our release from troubles, when he prophesied as follows, "He shall divide the spoils of the strong."

And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. [Isaiah 53:12] And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. [Isaiah 53:12] And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.

For "he is justified." Either we have been made just, or he is admitted to be just by those who attacked him and enslaved him, to reveal the full injustice of their judgment at that time.… "Yet he bore the sins of many." … For taking them to himself [Christ] then took off the cloak of our sin. And in this way "he justified many," that is, the nations. For there was previously one nation, Israel, whereas those from the nations came in many shapes, whom, making his own, he calls his inheritance, saying, "The Lord said to me, You are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask from me, and I will give you the nations as an inheritance, and the ends of the earth will be your possession."

The inheritance of the Son is all those who believe in him. They are rightly called the spoil of the devil. This occurred when the only Son in his wonderful dispensation made everyone to participate in the knowledge of the Son and the Father. They were released from error and from the tyranny of the devil, whom they previously thought to be too strong. They are rightly said to have been made an inheritance, those who became a part of him when the devil was plundered.

Therefore will I distribute. Here he sets out his victory over his enemies.

And first, he sets out the subjection of the enemies: therefore will I distribute to him, as if to say: I will give him his part, very many, who will believe in him; and the spoils of the strong, that is, those held captive by demons, he shall divide, among his disciples, setting different disciples over different nations: he shall carry off the treasure of every desirable vessel (Hos 13:15); the king of powers is of the beloved, of the beloved; and the beauty of the house shall divide spoils (Ps 67:13[68:12]).

Second, he sets out the reason for their subjection as to his death: because he has delivered his soul unto death; and as to the kind of death he endured: and was reputed with the wicked: and there were crucified with him two malefactors (Luke 23:32); I am counted among them that go down to the pit (Ps 87:5[88:4]).

Third, the salvation of those made subject to him: for he does not subject them to himself like a tyrant to abuse them, but to save them: and he has borne, taken away, the sins of many, efficaciously, although sufficiently of all, and has prayed for the transgressors: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).