Despised and Rejected, a Man of Sorrows

A study in Isaiah 53

For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

Our Precious Lord Jesus, Our Savior truly was “tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).  Jesus was just as tender and vulnerable as the rest of mankind.  Like a Root out of Parched ground.  Jesus is a root so deep that He came to us in an a barren and deserted land.  He sprung up seemingly like a flower in the cracks of a concrete highway.  He gives life to the driest desert, in the most barren of places, He brings healing and hope.  Into places like the human heart.

He had no stately form.  He was neither beautiful nor handsome.  No one would have given him a second look.  He had laid aside His Majesty in heaven and come down to dwell among us as Emmanuel.  Yes, the very Word of God that spoke at the beginning of creation and made mankind; He is the Word made flesh, God with us.  Jesus knows what it is like to be an outcast, unaccepted by the “in” crowd.  He knows deep loneliness

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. (John 1)

⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ( Philippians 2)

Jesus was not outwardly attractive.  He was not one of The Beautiful People of His day. He emptied Himself, took on a plain outer appearance.  But Oh, the Beauty inside was just beyond all comprehension.  No one would be distracted by a Handsome face,  but we would be drawn to His pure, good and perfect heart.  Man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart.  Jesus personified this truth.

³ He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Jesus knows what it is to be scorned, despised, looked down upon, misjudged, falsely accused.  He knows what it is to be left out, uninvited, cast aside by others.  Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17) Despised and forsaken, a Man of sorrows; Jesus knows the deepest pains we have ever experienced in relationships.  Because He known and experienced all this, He is able to comfort us in all the rejections, hurts, disappointments.  He truly is a Merciful and Faithful High Priest to us.  Let us worship this Beautiful and Majestic Lord and Savior of ours.

Thank You Jesus, We praise You, for Your example of trusting the Father, forgiving others, and loving those who have hurt us deeply.  O Precious Man of Sorrows, we come to You with our own sorrows and ask for Your Gentle, Healing, Restoring touch.  Make us more like you, Jesus.  Make us more like You.