Isaiah 53:2 - Homilies By W.m. Statham

The depraved eye.

"No beauty that we should desire him." In this prophetic picture of the Christ the question arises, "Who hath believed our report?" What wonderful attestation history gives to this!—"He came unto his own, and his own received him not." Whether the words, "he hath no form nor comeliness," apply to the physical features of Christ, we cannot say; for the Jews had no "art." They interpreted the words, "Thou shalt not make to thyself … the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath," not as an injunction against "idols" alone, but against all statuary and all art. So, though we have the likenesses of the emperors on the Roman coins, and the Greek statues of Socrates and their wise men, we have no likeness of Christ or his apostles. But we do know the meaning of this, "There is no beauty that we should desire him."

I. THE EYE ADMIRES ONLY WHAT THE HEART LOVES . The beauty that eye desired was quite different. It was superficial and carnal, not inward and spiritual.

II. THE WORLD DOES NOT ALTER ITS TASTE . The classic virtues of paganism—pride, self-reliance, honour—are more prized by men of the world than patience, gentleness, pity, forbearance, and charity. Christ is not beautiful to the proud, nor to the selfish, nor to the ambitions and the vain. Only the pure in heart admire and love him!—W.M.S.