Embracing the Man of Sorrows

We all desire to be significant. None of us want to be perceived as less than how we see ourselves. Our quest for significance can drive us to seek external validation in hopes of elevating our status in the eyes of others. Perhaps this desire manifests in trivial pursuits, like finding out which famous person shares your birthday. Maybe, in your genealogy research, you have discovered a notable ancestor. There is a peculiar sense of validation in knowing we have something in common with someone famous.

It is a rare exception when we highlight the “John Smiths” in our genealogy. Unless there is something to gain by holding onto their coattails, we tend to focus only on those who enhance our image, while glossing over those who do not. Yet, those who identify with Christ will find that according to Isaiah, there was nothing about Christ that should draw us to him. Listen to how Isaiah describes the one who is to come.

 “Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.” (Isaiah 53:1–3)

Possibly you have heard these words before, but our image of Jesus is often not reflected in these words. However, if we fail to take Isaiah’s words to heart as we consider Jesus, it is like fudging our genealogy to create a family tree that only highlights those who put us in what we believe to be a more favorable light. Consider just a couple of Isaiah’s descriptions of the coming Messiah.

First, we are told that there is “nothing to attract us to him.” Are we not generally attracted to beautiful people who will improve our perceived status? Yet, “He was despised and rejected.” This is certainly not someone that we would cling to. Moreover, he was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.” Rarely do we seek to associate with those who are filled with grief – we want to be around those who lift our spirits, not bring us down. Finally, “He was despised, and we did not care.” Jesus is called “a man of sorrows” because of the suffering He endured, and rather than responding with thanks, we respond with indifference.

Philippians 2 illustrates how Jesus “became nothing” so that we could live. He first suffered by leaving the glories of heaven to enter the world as a human. Then, He endured all the hardships that humanity experienced and ultimately suffered the wrath of God as the sin-bearer. Hebrews 2:18 states, “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Listen to how Isaiah 53 continues, “Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.” (Isaiah 53:4–5a) Peter cites these verses from Isaiah, saying, “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

What a profound thought – “By his wounds you are healed.” It was because we could not save ourselves that God sent his son to die for our sins, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) This Sunday is Palm Sunday when we remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. On Friday we remember his death on the cross. And finally, on Easter, we remember his resurrection that gave us the eternal life that we needed.

This Easter, will you look afresh at the man on the cross whom God raised from the dead to bring you forgiveness for your sins and give you eternal life? Listen to what Isaiah goes on to say, “It was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants.” (Isaiah 53:9b-10a)