The Suffering Savior

Isaiah 53:2b-6, 10: "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all . . . . it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer."


Wedged between the chapter of hope of deliverance of the righteous remnant from bondage (Isaiah 52:11-12) and the chapter of blessed realization of their entrance into the promised land of God (Isaiah 54:3) is the catalytic chapter for the salvation of the redeemed . . . namely the sacrifice of the Messiah for the sins of the world.


What is telling is the way in which the Messiah was presented to the world to be made the perfect atoning sacrifice for our sins (I John 2:2). He did not come as a glorious King in magnificent splendor to be worshipped by His creation; rather, He came in such a way that He would be despised and rejected by men. To be sure, Jesus did not present Himself with the attractiveness that so often sways people in ascribing a person's worth. His physical presentation was not impressive nor was his social positioning noteworthy to give Him advantages in life. I believe that God revealed Himself this way, so that He could relate to the despised and rejected in society. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus was "tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin." Had Jesus entered the world as an attractive Savior, He would never have experienced the pain of rejection that so many unattractive people continuously endure in their superficially-driven world.


What is telling is that Jesus' redemptive work through rejection was seen by his contemporaries as evidence of God's judgment. Whereas Jesus was subjected to ridicule and ultimately execution by the will of God (see John 10:18), who was fulfilling His plan of reconciliation, the people thought that Jesus must have done something utterly detestable for such intensity of judgment to befall Him. Still, the Savior pressed on to redeem those who would yield to Him as Lord. It truly is the amazing love of God that He would desire to "crush" the Savior in order that we might have peace and healing.


Let us never forget Our Wonderful Lord and Savior who through the Only Sufficient Sacrifice of Himself coupled with His Magnificent Display of Power over Death has afforded to us the blessedness of imputed righteousness. What we must do is respond to this offering through contrition, confession, and submission.