The Suffering Servant Pt 3

The Saints of God who take their
Bibles in terms of Isaiah 53. I really mean it this time. Isaiah
53. We have been working up to Isaiah
53. Because the section actually
starts back in Isaiah 52. We know it now as the fourth
in a series of servant songs. The fourth In a series of presentations
where Isaiah is essentially introducing the would be Messiah. By way
of a series of poems or songs there in chapters 40 through
66, there are four in number and we are in the fourth of those
servants songs. And in that, as I suggested to
you several weeks ago, Isaiah is painting a picture of Christ,
but not some. earthly piece, even as ornate
as some of the works throughout the centuries have been. This
is not a painting that we could look at with our eyes, but really
a painting that is done with words. As I suggested to you
several weeks ago, Hebrew poetry is a lot like impressionist paintings. where if you draw really close,
you can see dots of color placed here and there, and they almost
seem to be random. But as you step back, that painting
begins to manifest its true beauty. You begin to see the depth of
what is there, and that the dots are not haphazard. Every dot,
every placement of color of any hue has a purpose and together
forms a beautiful painting. Well, what I suggested to you
is that that’s how Hebrew poetry is, where the artist, in this
case, Isaiah, will dip in and place a little color here and
then a little color there. And as you draw near. You lose
the artistry, perhaps, but as you step back and gather it in
in its fullness, You see the rich picture that the artist
paints of our Lord Jesus Christ here in this setting. There are
some simple examples that I could give you. He introduces us to
the servant in verse three and then again comes back almost
at the end of the passage in verse 11 and reintroduces that
title the servant. There are many plays on words
throughout this passage. In verse 14, he points to the
fact that the servant would be high and lifted up and greatly
exalted. And then in verse 4, we suddenly
learn about this servant using the same exact words that it
was this servant who bore, lifted up our griefs. There are many
plays on words. There are many words that are
introduced only to be reused again. Later. Verses three and four, which
probably formed the heart of this entire song, contain the
greatest number of words that are again used elsewhere. Sorrows
is used in verses three and four to be acquainted or knowledgeable
with something as Christ was. is used not only in verse three,
but then again in verse eleven to be esteemed, valued to have
a value. Placed upon someone or something
is used in verses three and four to be stricken is used in verse
four and seven and then again in verse eight. The word transgressions
appears repeatedly, especially at the end of the prophecy to
be crushed is introduced to us in verse 5 and then reused again
in verse 11. Iniquities is throughout the
end of the prophecy. The artist is painting a picture
and he’s painting a picture using very much the same technique
as an impressionist painting might use. But as we step back. We see not a series of dots,
not what we would call in our day and age pixels. We see a
painting like no other. Painting of Christ. If you would. Begin this fourth song of Christ
in Isaiah chapter 52, beginning in verse 13. Isaiah writes, behold,
my servant will prosper and he will be high and lifted up and
greatly exalted. Just as many were astonished
at you, my people. So his appearance was marred
more than any man and his form more than the sons of men. Thus,
he will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths
on account of him for what had not been told them. They will
see and what they had not heard. They will understand. Who has
believed our message? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord been revealed? 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. 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.
We did not esteem him. Surely, our griefs He Himself
bore and our sorrows He carried, yet we ourselves esteemed Him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced
through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being
fell upon Him, and by His scourging, we are healed. All of us, like
sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way,
but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He was oppressed. He was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter
and like a sheep that is silent before his shearers, so he did
not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he
was taken away. And as for his generation, who
considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living
for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His
grave was assigned with wicked men. Yet he was with a rich man
in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was there
any deceit found in his mouth. But the Lord was pleased to crush
him, putting him to grief. If he would render himself as
a guilt offering, he will see his offspring, and he will prolong
his days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his
hand. As a result of the anguish of
his soul, he will see it and be satisfied. By his knowledge,
the righteous one, my servant, will justify the many, as he
will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot him a
portion with the great, And he will divide the booty with the
strong, because he poured out himself to death and was numbered
with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of
many and interceded for the transgressors.” I have suggested to you that
throughout this psalm, there are really five verses, five
sections, if you will, Some of you have received a handout.
There are more available if you would like one that just gives
you the layout of this fourth song. The first verse, which
we considered the last two Lord’s days, is the servants astonishing
reception. That against all odds, heathen
kings would look upon him and see him for what he was, the
savior provided for the world. But against that backdrop and
into a passage that will consider this morning, there was an astounding
rejection. The very people that should have
known Christ and known him for who he was and received him for
who he was, did not. There was an astonishing, astounding
rejection. The third to get to in the weeks
to come, the servants, amazing suffering. The section opens This entire
song opens with the fact that he was marred more than any man
and versus four through six will show us how amazing this suffering
was. Fourth verse. Points to the culmination
of that suffering with the servants awful demise. But we see throughout
this prophecy was introduced to us in the very first section
that this suffering the difficulty that Christ faced was not purposeless. Everything was for a cause. Everything had its purpose. It
was by God’s design that Christ would come and endure all of
these things. And in that fifth and final section,
we see the servant’s awesome sacrifice. It wasn’t just cruelty. It wasn’t just death. It was
death with a purpose. It was sacrifice for you and
for me. But we come to a new section.
We come. To the second section that Isaiah
begins to address, we have looked at his astonishing reception. That even though kings knew very
little about Christ beforehand, even though the nations were
not privy to all the information that Israel had received. Now. Christ was being received. that
he would sprinkle many nations that there would be no end to
the people that Christ would reach and touch and that even
kings, even those in high authority, even those seemingly impervious
to the grace of God would be touched. Their mouths would drop
and then once again close in astonishment. But we come to
a new section. We come to the servants astounding
rejection in verses one through three. There were essentially. Several things that the Old Testament
prophets had testified to and that Israel knew and should have. Really known well. They knew
that the Christ presented in the Old Testament. Would be a
suffering servant. They knew that, but they didn’t
have any clue what that really would play out to be like. And they knew that this suffering
servant would be ultimately glorified. But in all of the Old Testament,
in all of the prophecies, nowhere are those two thoughts blended
together more carefully and more divinely than here in Isaiah
53. I reiterate a couple of presentations
that we made in the introduction of this great section. When you
consider Isaiah 53, one referred to it as the profoundest thoughts
in the Old Testament revelation are to be found in this section. Another said that it’s one of
the best loved chapters in all the Bible. So vivid in detail
that one would almost think of Isaiah as standing at the foot
of the cross. Though we enter into a section
where we see Not the exalted Christ. But we see the suffering
Savior. The first part of that equation.
We see the servant’s astounding rejection. Glanced down, if you would, at
verse 53. Where it opens up with a question. Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the
Lord been revealed? 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. 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. He was the man of sorrows. He
was the man and you can’t play games with this word. He was
despised. He was hated. He was a hated man. Much like a common criminal who
had brought that hatred upon himself through his crimes. Even
in our own day and age, when someone does some particularly
vicious crime, we cannot help but fight back the hatred in
our own hearts for such a man. Christ came. He came as gently
as he could have come. And for that, he was hated, despised. This opening section opens with
a solemn acknowledgment of Christ’s unpopularity. We tend to think
of him, even in this day and age, as being somewhat popular, known
the world round, Many think that they’re doing him justice by
referring to him as a prophet. Some think that Jesus was just
a great guy. A good example to present before
men. Even some professing believers
seem to almost belittle Christ by making him out to be a buddy. One who is tremendously popular.
And in our day and age, even in Christian circles, Christ
If nothing else he’s popular. That wasn’t the case in Israel. It wasn’t the case as Isaiah
opens the second verse of the prophecy. Verse two of the song
says who has believed or verse one rather of the song says who
has believed our message. Now the question arises almost
immediately who is speaking. And to whom does our word our
refer who has believed our message and to whom is the arm of the
Lord been revealed. And throughout centuries there
have been those that debated who’s. Who is doing the speaking
here one of the most interesting thoughts is that this is the
nation of Israel speaking here. As if they had actually been
going about testifying, proclaiming about the Messiah who is coming.
We know that that was Israel’s job, but we know for sure they
haven’t done a very good job at it. I don’t believe that this
is the nation of Israel speaking. Who then is speaking? Who then
is asking and posing this question? Who has believed our message? I believe that it’s the prophet
who speaks. It’s the prophet Isaiah who laments
on behalf of all of the prophets that we have been giving out
this message of the Messiah, much like you and I might be
disseminating the gospel. And few and far between were
those that paid any attention to it. Few and far between were
those who really attended to the message and took it in and
considered it and pondered it and took the things into their
hearts and meditated upon them as truth. The nation of Israel had shamefully
rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a prophecy of it, but
it came true in time. This is not Israel lamenting
Sadly, that it had rejected the Savior, but now was coming around
to embrace. What God had provided. They hadn’t
put hope. In the news that had come, they
hadn’t put hope in the true Messiah, not as he would come. As one wrote, the heathen received
with faith the tidings of things which had never they had never
heard before. Whereas Israel has to lament
that it put no faith in the tidings which it heard long, long before,
not only with reference to the person and work of the servant
of God, but with regard to his lowly origin and glorious end. You see, that part of the message
Israel had deafened their ear to. To that part of the message,
Israel wasn’t prepared for that kind of a Messiah. Israel wasn’t
prepared for a messiah that was going to have to really suffer. It’s the prophet himself who’s
speaking. And the prophet himself laments who who has believed
our message, where are they? Where are they all? Where is
the people that God has sent a savior? To save. Scriptures have testified that
he was going to come. It’s recorded that Christ, when
he rose again, met with two men on the road to Damascus, and
it says that Christ, beginning with Moses and all the prophets. He explained to them the things
concerning himself in the scriptures, it was right there, it was right
there, all they had to do is open their Old Testament scriptures
and read Luke 26, 46, pardon me, 24, 46
goes on to say that it’s written that the Christ would suffer
and rise again from the dead on the third day that was pointed
out to them. It was clear it was abundantly clear. They should
have known that. In our consideration of Romans
in Chapter 10, this very verse is quoted. Remember, the section
there is talking about the astounding rejection that Christ had received
from his own people. And in verse 16 of Chapter 10,
Paul writes, however, they did not all heed the glad tidings,
just like in our day and age, you share the gospel with someone.
Not everybody responds favorably, in fact, very few, right? The
same thing was true In Paul’s day, same thing was true. Of
Christ. They did not all heed the glad
tidings for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed a report? They didn’t all listen to what
was considered to be good news. They didn’t all embrace the idea
of the Messiah and the suffering servant. That’s what Paul is
pointing to there. in Romans 10.16, that the Jews
essentially had refused the Gospel. They had refused the call to
Christ. They had refused the idea of
a suffering servant who would pay their penalty on the cross.
As one wrote, Israel practically, as any nation, had rejected Christ. Their rejection was due to their
proud, stubborn, willful unbelief. The message had been sent and
it should have been received. The opportunity for faith had
been given. The gospel was not a matter of
intuition, but of revelation. It was given by God to men. But it wasn’t received in faith. If you would, we have. Time this
morning, turn, if you would, to the Gospel of John. Turn to the Gospel of John and
specifically to Chapter 12. As much as I’d like to, we don’t
have to. We don’t have time to read a larger segment of this,
but I wanted to take you into the heart of. the rejection of
Christ. Into the very moment, one of
many, where Christ is actively rejected by those to whom He came. Look,
if you would, at verse 37. But though He had performed so
many signs before them, and when you think of them, They were
absolutely astounding sign. One for most people would have
done it. Absolute concrete proof that this man is special. And
I may not know exactly who he is now, but I’ve got to sit up
and take notice. I’ve got to look. I’ve got to
listen. I’ve got to learn. I’ve got to
humble myself before him. I’ve got to learn what he’s saying
to me. But in their case, they had many.
countless repeated testimonies from God Himself that this man
was the Savior. But though He had performed so
many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. And
that has a perpetuating, this is a snowball at the top of the
hill. Not only does it start with unbelief,
their unbelief only builds. Look at verse 38. This was to
fulfill the word of Isaiah, the prophet, which he spoke. Lord,
who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord
been revealed? This is a fulfillment of what
Isaiah had told would happen. You’re going to go. You’re going
to take the gospel and your own people. The Jews, the nation
of Israel, are going to reject it. They’re going to reject it
out of hand. The passage goes on. And for
the honor of God’s word itself, look at verse 39. For this reason,
they could not believe. For Isaiah said again, he has
blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts so that they would
not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart and be converted
and I heal them. Those things Isaiah said because
he saw his glory and he spoke of him. He knew who Christ was. He knew who the Messiah was and
he knew that the nation of Israel was going to reject him. Not to a man, as we studied Romans
9 through 11, not to the last soul who would call themselves
Jews, but by and large, the nation of Israel, the people first and
foremost for whom God came. Rejected. Consider also, though. Consider the wheeze if you will,
a verse two. That we should look upon him,
that we should be attracted to him, as well as the we of verse
three, that we did not esteem him. There was much confusion
with the commentators here. Who is this talking about? Who are these that are putting
themselves in this place and acknowledging that they have
rejected him? I would tell you that it’s the prophet himself.
placing himself with the people of God, acknowledging before
God that largely we as a nation have rejected you. Who has believed our message? What a sad lament that Isaiah,
just as we Come with the best news, the best report that the
world has ever received. That God has provided a Savior.
God has provided one who would pay the penalty, the full penalty
for sinners. That they need do nothing more
than place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and they are
saved. What? There is no better news. There is no better news for sinners. This word message, Shema, was
generally news, but it could be good or bad. But in this case,
it is the best news ever. Sad truth is. Christ did not met with reception,
the news had not met with reception, the gospel has not been met with
reception, and that’s the sad lament of every prophet. Let me take you to a forecast
that Christ made. Well, I’ll take that. I’ll take
you there in a moment. A rejection of the gospel, let
me take you to a place where Paul pointed back to these things
once again, First Corinthians chapter two. First Corinthians, chapter two,
Paul, likewise, just as he did in many places, pointed back
to these things, just as Christ had when he was on the earth,
he pointed to this rejection. First Corinthians, chapter two,
verse six. You know the passage well, and I would love to I’d
love to come back, I’d love to just park and preach this, but
we’ll take it in a brief reading. Verse six, Yet we who do speak
wisdom among those who are mature, a wisdom, however, not of this
age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away. But
we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, a hidden wisdom which God predestined
before the ages to our glory, the wisdom which none of the
rulers of this age has understood. For if they had understood it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. They were
blinded to it. But just as it is written, things
which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and have not entered
into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who
love them.” We’re blinded to the simple truth of the Gospel.
Back, if you would, to Isaiah 53. The prophet says, “…who has
believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord
been revealed. This idea of the arm of the Lord
is just the strength, the power, the might of God. The arm with
the sleeves rolled up, as it were, to extend and not just
exhibit, but really accomplish great things with His divine
power. It’s the arm of the Lord. It’s
the strength of God. And God in sending His Son was
really and truly accomplishing something. He was saving. sinners. And it’s the power here that
affects the salvation of his people. And he had exhibited
to the world, to the nations. This arm would extend down to
those nations and it would exalt ultimately Christ on high. It
would receive him in full. God’s power was not just a a
wishful thinking kind of a power was an effective kind of power. Considering the lack of Christ
popularity. And it was due in part to his
appearance and that that that smacks you and I even in our
21st century day and age that that it doesn’t sit well with
us. We still we love that little
picture that we saw in the 70s right. Picture presented to us
that that’s Jesus. He was a handsome guy. No, he
wasn’t. And that’s what this whole thing
is about. We’re fixated if that’s what we think of Christ, if that’s
where our mind tends to go, that really is an idol. It’s not that’s
not what it was about this picture that Isaiah is painting. for
us, not with colors, not with dots of color here and there
splattered to present some pristine photo, as it were, of the Lord
Jesus. He’s painting a picture with
words. The first thing that the words tell us about the image
of Christ was it was not overly handsome. He didn’t stand out
in a crowd for those purposes. Look at the first part of verse
two, for he grew up before him like a tender shoot, like a root
out of parched ground. Essentially, what Isaiah is doing
here is looking back and talking about the early days of Christ.
He’s looking forward by way of prophecy, but he’s talking about
the early days of Christ and he’s describing how this mighty
arm of Jehovah oversaw and implemented every part of Christ’s life,
and it says that it starts in almost obscurity. A tender shoot. You gardeners will recognize
this. You go out and one day your soil is fine. You come back
three days later and there’s all kinds of, right, tender shoots. They’re coming up and you look
at them, they’re innocuous. So you think. You come back three
days later and they are full-blown weeds, right? Well, that’s Christ. People looked at him. He was
a tender shoot. He was nothing to consider. No
big deal. You see, the Jews expected a
savior who was going to make a splash, he was going to make
a grand entrance, he was going to he was going to be known by
the world. He was going to come with great
pomp, everyone would see him and know immediately upon looking
at him that he was important, that he was the Messiah. But Isaiah says that he grew
up before God only. It was almost like only God.
The way it says here, it’s almost like God himself, his mother
not accepted. Only God was watching him. Only
God took notice. He grew up before God like a
tender shoot, like a root out of parched ground. God had his eye upon him. God
was watching. Luke two fifty two. Remember
in some of the fewest days and hours of Christ’s early life
ever recorded. It says of Christ as they exited
the temple. As a small boy it just records
that Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor
with God and men. That’s about all we know of Christ’s
early life. God watched him. God was watching him grow. He was a shoot. Just a spring
out of the ground. Born of that small family, a
poor family in Galilee. A place where nobody would think
that anything great would come. That’s the likeness that Isaiah
paints here to the desert place, desert ground. Something that’s
going to be great would not be expected to come from Galilee
of all places. Both of these ideas, this tender
shoot and this root out of a parched ground that Isaiah points to,
it just points to the unattractive character. Of Christ coming to
Earth, that it was lowly, that he was poor, that he was Obscure. As one said, the dry ground brings
out the miserable character of the external circumstances in
the midst of which the birth and growth of the servant had
taken place. The corrupt character of the
age, the enslaved and degraded nation given up to the power
of the world, ignorant to its cause, they looked at Christ
and they said he can’t possibly be anything. But Isaiah goes on. He has no
stately form or majesty that we should be that we should look
upon him nor appearance that we should be attracted to him.
This word stately this form is is it’s a fascinating word considering
the fact that we’re looking at an image of Christ painted with
words and not with color. The word form here that he had
no stately form No majestic form if you will. No attractive physical
form. He wasn’t a large strapping man. The word form was used ironically
of tracing an idol prior to its manufacture. I love that. What an interesting image. And
what an image that drives us away from trying to form a physical
picture of Jesus. He had no stately form. There
shouldn’t be any pictures. There wasn’t a drawing. God didn’t
pen down a drawing. Nor appearance. This form. stature of Christ
that wasn’t the issue at all. He had no stature that was an
imposing figure for the attention of mankind. He wasn’t a perfect
physical specimen of a man. The servant’s form, in fact,
if you remember back to the introduction, was horribly marred. Almost disfigured. It did not draw our attention.
It did not draw our eyes on his physical form. He had no stately
form or majesty. There’s another very popular
word in the Old Testament scriptures. Oftentimes it was associated
with the goodness of God reflecting the glory and the goodness of
God. We speak of God as majestic and well we should. But it was
used in many other ways as well. Some of you will wince at this
one. The glory of young men is their strength. And the honor
of old men is their gray hair. It was talking about glory. Using
that same word. The glory of old men is their
gray hair. The Proverbs 31 woman. Strength
and dignity are her clothing. She smiles at the future. It’s that dignity. It’s that
glory of a woman who is wise. It was used of Jerusalem. And
sadly, it was used so often of what Jerusalem had lost. Isaiah
5 for therefore, Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth
without measure and Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her
din of revelry, the jubilant within her descend into her. Same thing. Lamentations 1.6.
It was used of the tribes of Joseph as majestic. Psalm 21.5. His glory. Speaking of earthly
kings. His glory is great. Psalm 45. Gird your sword on high, O mighty
one, in your splendor and your majesty. It’s used of God. And as such, We might have expected
to see a physical manifestation of this in the one whom God had
sent. It’s used of God. The voice of
the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is majestic. Psalm 90 verse 16, let your work
appear to your servants and Your Majesty to the children. It’s
used over and over again in the Psalms of God 104, 111, 3, 145,
5. But check it, because it says
he had no stately form or majesty. He didn’t have an outward appearance.
He didn’t have an outward appearance that stirred men’s hearts. He
didn’t have an outward appearance that really drew people’s attention.
There’s somebody who’s presidential. There’s somebody to follow. We didn’t He didn’t have those
things that we should look upon him, and it’s a play on words,
just one of many in these opening verses. A play on words in contrast
with verse 15, which we had just considered. Kings will shut their
mouths on account of him for what had not been told them they
will see. You see, the heathen looked upon
Christ not with fleshly eyes, By God’s grace, they looked upon
him and they saw. They saw who Christ was. They
saw that he was the provision for sinners. But how sad it is
here that of the nation of Israel, it says that he had no stately
former majesty that we should look upon him. That’s what they
were looking for. That’s what they were looking
for all along. Heathen kings looked and were
astounded, but his own people couldn’t. He couldn’t draw a
passing glance because they were looking for the wrong things.
Remember, Israel had clamored for a king, and God provided
a king, King Saul. Oh, they liked King Saul. Listen to this. 1 Samuel 9, 2,
he had a son whose name was Saul. A choice and handsome man. This will sell. Put him on a
poster. This is our guy. There was not
a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel. From
his shoulders and up, he was taller than any of the people.
You know, it’s one of the fascinating tidbits that presidents tend
to be tall, right? Because that’s what people are
looking for. They want someone handsome. They
want someone with his hair combed right. They want someone with
his pants pressed, right? They want an image. David was
the same way. David was one that God had provided,
but even still God knew their hearts. He was ruddy with beautiful
eyes and handsome appearance for Samuel 1612. But not Christ. Not the picture
that’s painted. We do no disrespect to Christ
in quoting these words, these are the words of God himself.
Telling us about his son, that that’s not why he sent him. That’s
not what he wanted us to focus upon. His physical features,
the color of his eyes, how tall he was. One pastor said the entry he
made into the world, the character he wore in it, were in no way
agreeable to the ideas with the Jews had formed of the Messiah
and their expectations concerning him. But quite the reverse. You
see, they had their eyes on all the wrong things. And when Christ
came, they simply did not recognize him. And it’s no less true in this
day and age. It’s said of us. Paul says it in 1 Corinthians
1 26. Consider your calling, brethren. There were not many
wise, not according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.
God has chosen the foolish things of the world. How better to fit
with the Savior? We had no appearance that we
would be drawn to him. One characterizes it in simple
terms, he had no fixed looks. That loved to dwell upon him. He wouldn’t woo a crowd of women
by his looks. We saw him and there was nothing
in his appearance to make us desire him or feel attracted
to him. He dwelt in Israel so that they had seen him bodily
before their eyes, but in his outward appearance there was
nothing to attract or delight the senses. It was an astounding rejection.
He was rejected because they were looking for all the wrong
things. Who would believe the message
of the prophets? Not many. And in fact, it got
worse. Not only did they not receive
him, they flat out rejected him. They despised him. Look at verse
three. They hated him. He was despised and forsaken
of men. So repulsive became his appearance
so marred as prophet Isaiah had already pointed out. So plain
was it to begin with that it didn’t draw any attention and
when it only got worse, they hated him. He was despised. The word literally
means that they accorded very little worth, almost nothing
to his worth or value. He didn’t even have human value.
They didn’t even look upon Him and bestow upon Him the basic
human value, but instead heaped upon Him contempt. They heeded
Him for who He was, including for what He looked like. 2 Samuel 12.10 uses this word,
Therefore the sword shall never depart from your house because
you have despised Me. It basically points to the act
of how we treat and respond to God Himself. Herod Antipas despised Christ,
didn’t he? When Herod the King heard this,
he was troubled. No wonder he was troubled. Because he hated
Christ. He couldn’t wait to get his hands
on this so-called child. Chapter 2, verse 13 says that
when he had gone, he put on this ruse to go and worship the child.
But the child and his family were warned, get up, take the
child and his mother and flee Egypt and remain there until
I tell you for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy
him. He hated him to death. Herod
wanted nothing more than to put Christ to death. The devil hated
Christ. Luke Chapter 4 records that despicable
scene of the devil throwing all of his wiles at Christ. The devil
hated Christ and despised him. The Pharisees, not surprisingly,
once we’ve read our New Testament, we read this and we’re astounded.
But if we read this after we’ve read the Gospels, we see for
sure this has already proven itself out. They hated Christ. They despised Christ, the devil,
Herod, The Pharisees, the nation of Israel, hated Christ. Based
on their reception of him, that’s the only conclusion you can come
to. He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive
him. Instead, they despised him. The
demons hated Christ. Luke 4 records An amazing scene
where the demons are actually talking back to Christ. Leave
us alone. They cry. Christ was hated. Christ predicted
that he would be hated. Isaiah predicted that he would
be hated. And when Christ came, he echoed those sentiments. John
15 says that the world hates you know that it hated me before
I hated you. Jesus said, don’t be surprised,
but if they hate me and they hate you because they hate God. But he was not only despised,
hated, and that literally is how you’ve got to look at that
word. He was hated. He was forsaken. There are a
lot of us that maybe don’t like somebody really badly. I hope
you don’t hate anybody. Or perhaps there are people that
you can conjure up in your mind that you really don’t care for
all that much. But if they were lying in the gutter injured,
you would stop your car and help them, wouldn’t you? You know
you would. Not these. Not Christ. He was not only despised,
he was forsaken. The word means to cease to do
something, to refrain, to neglect, to fall back, to leave alone. the people of his own nation. One said the chief men of his
nation who towered above the multitude, the great men of this
world withdrew their hands from him. They drew back from him.
He had none of the men of any distinction by his side. They
forsook him. They wanted nothing to do with
Christ. They took a hands off policy
on Christ. Not only would they not help
him, They wouldn’t embrace him, they wouldn’t follow him. His own professing disciples.
Do you remember this scene? Jesus is preaching and in John
chapter 6 verse 64 it says, But there are some of you who do
not believe, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who
did not believe and who it was who would betray him. And he
was saying, for this reason I have said to you that no one can come
to me unless it has been granted from the Father. He dishes out
a little sovereignty of God to them. Maybe this will draw them
in. Do you know what their response
was? Oh, they hated him all the more
for that one. As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew
and were not walking with him anymore. That’s it. Undone. They hated Christ. And because
they hated him, they despised him. They despised him and they
forsook him. They walked away. They wanted
nothing to do with him. We know well, the patron saint
of forsaking the Lord, Judas himself, he forsook the Lord. The apostles, even the apostles,
it is said, they forsook the Lord. Now, you’ve got to say,
what on earth are you talking about? Jesus predicted it. When he said
in Matthew 26, verse 31, you will all fall away because of
me this night, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep
of the flock will be scattered. Jesus predicted it. In Gethsemane,
we should have had a heads up that it was coming when they
couldn’t even pray with Christ. But in Matthew, chapter 26, verse
55. It records one of the most shocking
scenes of Scripture. At that time, Jesus said to the
crowds, if you come out to me with swords and clubs to arrest
me as you arrest a robber. Every day I used to sit in the
temple teaching you and you did not seize me. But all this has
taken place to fulfill the scriptures of the prophets. And one last sentence. Then all
the disciples left him and fled. Even His own disciples, even
His apostles forsook Him. No wonder the following lines
they almost read as afterthoughts. A man of sorrows, inappointed
with grief. A man of sorrows. In all of its forms, Jesus knew
sorrow. He knew the heartache. He knew
what sin had done to the nation. He knew rejection. He knew the
pain of life. He knew difficulty, heartache.
Jesus is recorded in Luke 19 that when he approached Jerusalem,
he saw the city and he wept over it. For the very things that
we’re talking about, because they despised and rejected their
own Messiah. Acquainted with grief, acquainted
This word, if there’s any word mistranslated or under translated
in this entire section, it’s this one. Because for us, an
acquaintance of somebody you wave to, you don’t even know
their name. That’s not what Christ had with regards to grief. It’s
knowledge. Intimate knowledge. This is used
of the marriage relationship, right? This is intimate knowledge. Jesus was intimately knowledgeable
about grief. and heartache and difficulty.
Some of the older translations translate this word grief as
sickness. It’s not sickness literally here,
it’s heart sickness. It is the brokenness that comes
from not only mistreatment, but even just the difficulties and
heartache of seeing people in the distress of sin. Christ was
broken hearted. He lived a broken hearted life. One described it. This meaning
is not that he had it by nature, a sickly body falling out of
one disease and into another, but that the wrath instigated
by sin and the zeal of self-sacrifice burnt like the fire of fever
in his soul and body. So that even if he not had not
died a violent death. He would have succumbed to the
force of the powers of destruction that were innate in humanity,
did you get that? If Christ didn’t die on a cross,
he would have died of a broken heart just by bearing the difficulties
of men. That’s what he says. He was like
one from whom men hide their face, ashamed of him, like a
leper. Lepers, when they came into a
village, there was certain protocol that they had to follow. Leviticus 13, it says that a
leper who has the infection is closed, shall be torn, the hair
of his head shall be uncovered. He shall cover his mustache and
cry unclean, unclean. And that’s essentially how men
treated Christ. They looked away. Hideous, too
hideous to look at. It’s reported that time and again.
Time and again, Christ received this mistreatment, this ill treatment. No wonder at the end of the culmination
of this sad section on the standing rejection of Christ. It just
simply says we. Did not esteem him. And Isaiah
puts himself again in with his people. And he says we did not
esteem Christ, we didn’t treat him as he should have been treated,
we didn’t value him. Even the word worship. Do you
know where we get the word worship? It’s an English word. It It’s
a blend of two words worth ship, and it essentially is to assign
a value to esteem someone and to treat them accordingly. That’s
what worship is. So that’s a good check for our
worship. How are we esteeming God? What is God worth to us
in the worship that we bring him? The word is a simple one it.
It just is the employment of the mind. This is steaming. It’s
the use of the mind, and it could be used six different ways. The word could be used to talk
about planning, the word could be used about making a judgment,
mulling over thoughts in your mind, imputing having based on
that judgment. Now I’m going to bestow something
upon it, inventing accounting. But here it’s specifically it’s
making a judgment, evaluating something based on its worth.
meditating upon it and placing a value. And it says that. Once the math
was done, once the calculations had been made, once they had
pondered this. The esteemed Christ is worth absolutely nothing. And I would ask you. One thing
for us to look over our shoulders and criticize the nation of Israel. Lament, shake our heads at what
Israel had done with the Messiah. You know, the sad truth is there’s
a lot of truth in this passage, even for our own day and age,
isn’t there? What do we esteem Christ as worth Crowther said one time that worship
is all that we are reacting rightly to. All that He is. It’s only
valid object is the true and living God. As He has revealed
Himself in His Word, it must be perfectly balanced between
Spirit and truth. The Word of God and the heart. The bottom line is, how do we
value Christ? What do we esteem Him to be? Do we bring him down to earth?
Do we make him as worth nothing more than a good example? A good person? Is he merely just
a figure on the page to us? One mysterious character? Or
is he the Lord Jesus Christ who paid for your sin? Is he that
one who came and knew what He was coming to. Not just the taking
on human flesh, but the taking on of human abuse. The taking
on of being despised and forsaken by men, even the very men for
whom He came. And yet He came anyway. He came
for you and for I. He came for us to pay our penalty
on the cross. What value do you place on that? Infinite value. Let’s humble
ourselves before our Lord Jesus. Our merciful God, we humble ourselves before You.
And we know more than ever that we do not deserve Your goodness
and grace The kindnesses that You bestow upon us. And Lord,
so often we think of the homes that we have and the food that
we eat. But Your greatest blessing was the sending of Your own Son.
We did not deserve Him. And Lord God, how astounding
it is to us that Jesus knew, even if some foolish person should say that
he at least had a seven year, 700 year advanced warning by
Isaiah’s prophecies. Jesus knew from eternity past.
That he would come, that he would take on human flesh, that in
the midst of that, he would suffer untold abuses. And he came anyway. came anyway
for you and I. Father, we humble ourselves before
You. We rejoice in the Savior that You have provided as we
begin to get a better glimpse of who He was in His fullness
and a picture of what Christ was really like. Not a picture
painted with color, but a picture painted with words that despised
Christ. We place our infinite value in
Him. In Him alone. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.