John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 50:6

"I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting." — Isaiah 50:6 (ASV)

I exposed my body to the smiters. With the reproaches, jeers, and insolence of wicked men, he contrasts the unshaken courage that he possesses, as if he had said, “Whatever resistance may be attempted by the despisers of God, yet he will baffle all their insults, so that he will never regret the labors he has undertaken.” Yet this passage plainly shows that ministers of the word cannot faithfully perform their office without being exposed to conflict with the world, and even without being fiercely attacked on all sides. For as soon as Isaiah says that he has obeyed the command of God, he also adds that He has exposed his body to the smiters. The faithful servants of God, when they administer the doctrine of the word, cannot escape from this condition but must endure conflicts, reproaches, hatred, slanders, and various attacks from adversaries, who detest the freedom of advising and reproving that they must use.

Let them, therefore, arm themselves with steadfastness and faith, for a fierce battle is prepared for them. And not only does he describe the persecutions of wicked men, but also the reproach of the world. This is because wicked men want to appear to have good reason for opposing ministers of the word and persecuting their doctrine, and wish that these ministers should be regarded as criminals and evildoers, and exposed to universal hatred and detestation. For these reasons, they attack them with various slanders and do not refrain from any kind of reproach, as we know well enough from experience today, when our adversaries call us heretics, deceivers, seditious persons, and attack us with other slanders that were also directed against Christ and the Apostles (Matthew 27:63; John 7:12; Acts 16:20).

My face I did not hide from shame and spitting. He not only says that open and external foes spat and inflicted blows on him, but he also alludes to the slanders that he is compelled to bear from foes from within, those who belong to the household. For out of the very bosom of the Church, wicked men and despisers of God always arise, who insolently attack the prophets. Those who wish to serve God must be prepared to endure all these things calmly, so that they may walk through evil report and good report (2 Corinthians 6:8), and may despise not only banishment, beatings, imprisonment, and death, but also reproaches and disgrace, though these may sometimes seem harder to endure than death itself. While this doctrine belongs to all believers, it belongs especially to teachers of the word, who should go before others and be, as it were, standard-bearers.