“Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Isaiah 53:1-3
Who believes what the Scriptures say of Jesus? Who believes that He is the long-promised Messiah and the Savior of sinful mankind? Writing some 700 years before the birth of Messiah Jesus, Isaiah the prophet spoke of His coming, His sufferings, death, and resurrection, and of His rejection by the people. And these words still hold true today!
Jesus, the arm of the LORD, the promised Messiah and Savior of the world, grew up before the LORD God humbly, “as a tender plant,” and in an unexpected time and place, being born of a virgin named Mary and growing up in Nazareth of Galilee “as a root out of a dry ground.” His form and appearance were nothing unusual so as to draw people to Him or permit them to recognize Him as the Messiah. And, as Jesus carried out His ministry, calling upon all to repent and believe the good news of forgiveness and life in Him, He was despised and rejected.
The religious leaders of Israel hated Him and viewed Him as a threat to their system of worship and sacrifice. The religiously conservative Pharisees hated Him because He pointed out their inner transgressions and failures to keep God’s law by loving Him first and foremost and then also loving their neighbor as themselves. The liberal Sadducees hated Him, for He pointed out their unbelief and rejection of the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. Many of the common people recognized His great power and longed to see His miracles, but still, for the most part, they failed to recognize Him as the holy Son of God, come into this world a true man to save sinners.
And what is different today? Who believes and recognizes that this Jesus is the LORD God Himself in human flesh? Who comes to Him in repentance and trusts that in Him there is forgiveness and life everlasting?
The Jesus of the Bible is a threat to many of the religious leaders of our day, for He did not teach that we can get to heaven by our good deeds, our religious works and church services, by church membership, or by charitable contributions to worthy causes. Jesus still calls upon all to repent of their sinful ways and turn to Him in faith for forgiveness and eternal life!
The Jesus of the Bible is too merciful for many of the religiously conservative, for He associated with the worst of sinners and offered them forgiveness and life through faith in Him. On the other hand, He is too zealous for the truth for the religious liberals of our day, for He taught the absolute truth of Scripture and yielded not a jot or tittle of God’s Word to popular opinion, holding to the Genesis creation, a bodily resurrection, a final judgment, and a literal heaven and hell.
Though Jesus came into this world to take our place under God’s law, to bear our griefs and sorrows, and to suffer and die in our stead, He is still “despised and rejected of men.” We hide our faces from Him and neglect the great salvation He has won for us by His innocent sufferings and death on the cross.
Instead of taking the time to consider Jesus — who He is and what He has done for us — we value Him lightly and neglect the gracious gift of forgiveness and life which God desires to give us through Him. Instead of considering the pain and anguish He suffered for us when He bore the guilt and punishment for our sins, we turn our heads and walk away in apathy and unbelief.
Yes, the inspired words of Isaiah, the prophet, still hold true today, but, more importantly, they reveal to us the truth about who Jesus was and is. They point us to Jesus, the Messiah and Savior rejected by men. They tell us what He suffered in our stead to save us from the punishment we so deserve. They offer to us forgiveness and life through faith in Jesus’ name!
O dear Jesus, forgive me for not recognizing You for who You are and for all that You suffered in my stead that I might look to You in faith and have forgiveness for all my sins and life everlasting with You in heaven. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]