A Man Despised and Rejected

Isaiah 53:3 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.

Jesus began His years of ministry as a young man, and many were drawn to hear Him because of the miracles He performed. Many became true believers and followers of Jesus, but the majority of the people rejected Him—especially once He began to declare Himself the Son of God. They were completely blind to the truth of the scriptures and thought He was blasphemous for even suggesting such a thing.

The spiritual leaders of the nation in particular despised Him. They were threatened by the popularity He gained through the working of His miracles, and they resented the fact that He performed these miracles on the Sabbath. They were so tied in to legalism, that they had totally perverted the intent of the law. Because of the power these leaders exerted in society, many were afraid to step out in faith to follow Jesus; they were afraid of the repercussions.

“a man of sorrows…grief” – There are many incidents in the New Testament that speak about the Lord’s compassion for the people. He felt their pain, their grief. Most of His miracles were miracles of healing that relieved pain and suffering. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus was in agony in the garden of Gethsemane before His arrest. He didn’t want to endure the cross, yet He wanted more to do the Father’s will.

Mark 14:35-36 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

“we hid…our faces” – I believe this has to be a reference to having to turn from the view of a man that was beaten beyond recognition.

“despised…esteemed him not” – Even Pilate could find no fault in Jesus. He yielded to the will of the crowd to protect his own position.

Matthew 27:24-25 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

The people were determined to crucify the Savior, to the point of cursing their own children if they were wrong.

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

“borne” = lift, suffer, carry (away), forgive, pardon, wear
Webster: Carried; conveyed; supported; defrayed.
“defray” = 1. To pay or discharge; to serve in payment of; to provide for, as a charge, debt, expenses, costs, etc. 2. To avert or appease, as by paying off; to satisfy; as, to defray wrath.

“griefs” – anxiety, disease, sickness, weakness

I thought the definitions from the Hebrew and Webster were especially helpful. The word borne not only included the idea of carrying and suffering, but the idea of forgiveness and pardon. The word defray was particularly specific. Jesus averted God’s wrath from us by paying our sin debt and satisfying God’s justice. As I continued to think on this verse, I realized that our griefs, anxieties, diseases, sicknesses, weaknesses and sorrows are a result of sin. This thought immediately led me to a verse in 1Peter.

1Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

By baring our sins in His body on the cross, He was also baring our griefs and sorrows. The main point being—Christ died in my stead. He sacrificed Himself to give me an abundant life.

Although I am making personal application (which I can’t help but), I am reminded that Isaiah is speaking to the Jewish people specifically. The Jewish leaders and all those that supported them in their determination to crucify the Lord felt justified in their actions. They assumed that He was getting His just punishment and judgment from God.

“esteem” = “to plait or interpenetrate, i.e. (literally) to weave or (gen.) to fabricate; figuratively, to plot or contrive (usually in a malicious sense); hence (from the mental effort) to think…”

This certainly wasn’t what I expected when looking up the Hebrew for esteem. This seems to paint a very descriptive word picture of what was going on in the minds of the Pharisees in particular as they sought to get Jesus killed. They were weaving a fabricated story with malicious intent to bring about the death of an innocent man. In doing so they positioned themselves as defending God by judging the One they considered a blasphemer.