Written by Paul J Bucknell on March, 31, 2022
MGL3 Isaiah 53:1-3, The Difficulty of Christ’s Life, part 3 of The Making of a Godly Leader
The Godly Leader Endures through Hardship (Isaiah 53:1-9)
The Fourth Servant Song, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, has five stanzas, three verses each. This exposition and application of Isaiah 53:1-9, the second section, incorporates stanzas 2-4 and broadens our understanding of the hardships godly leaders often endure by viewing Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. Christ’s experience gives us insight into how He, our Leader, endured various kinds of hardship. The many difficulties that Jesus faced did not hinder His ministry but enabled Him to perfectly complete His Father’s work.
Introduction
Not too long ago, I was going through a very difficult time. Just when I thought it could not get any worse, one or two more things compounded the problem. I felt as if I was a log that was being split, being readied to burn.
If you are unfamiliar with the process, you must remember that a whole log does not burn properly without being split into three or more pieces. Sometimes, I take an axe and drive it right through the log in one fierce blow.
At other times, however, I need to work much harder at splitting it by using a metal wedge. Woods are either soft or hard, having curved or straight grains. Sometimes it takes ten or more strikes to drive the shaft down through the middle of the difficult logs. In these cases, before it actually splits, I often hear the wood crying out with crackling sounds. The rupturing from the intense pressure increases, until it finally gives way and breaks apart. The Servant here in Isaiah 53 is broken, split, and torn asunder. Often we only think about Christ’s suffering on the cross, but this passage also gives us insight into the difficulties Jesus endured before the final throes of pain and suffering—something Christian leaders can easily identify with.
I am glad this arduous process only happens occasionally. At times, one wonders whether one will make it out alive. Anyone who has been in such dire circumstances will surely agree that there is a desire to be anywhere else, rather than where others can exploit our vulnerabilities.
But the choice is not usually an option at that point. Our task, job, and situation at times mandate a walk through the “valley of the shadow of death” (Ps 23:4). This was true of the Servant who made Himself totally available.
I have heard several people tell me that they do not dare to be totally available—just in case the Lord would call them to such and such a place. How sad. They, like rotting logs, sit on the sidelines decaying, fit for no good use.
A. The Difficulty of Christ’s Life (Isa 53:1-3)
“1Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” 2For 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. 3He 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”” (Isaiah 53:1-3)
This second stanza, Isaiah 53:1-3, consists of three verses, revealing the dreadful degree of Jesus’ sufferings.
1. Christ’s message was doubted (Isaiah 53:1)
“Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1)
Not only are we looking at what Christ did on the cross but also what He endured to reach it. Verse by verse, we discover difficult aspects of Christ’s difficult life. Reading of the Gospel’s miracles, healings, and powerful words can cause us skip over the details of His trials described here. Christ’s suffering; the sufferings pictured in Isaiah 53, deepen our appreciation of His faithful service.
Jesus’ sufferings might be more extreme than anything we face. But the kinds of affliction He faced are similar to the ones His servants often endure, like the rejection of the message God gives. We don’t often think that Christ suffered this problem but He did. “Who has believed our message?” This is the typical evangelism or missiological question that is again and again brought up today. Like Paul shared in 1 Corinthians 1:18-19, people hear the gospel but reject it for many reasons. Only those who discover God’s mercy and power to deal with their sinful hearts will believe (1b), but let’s first think about how people rejected Christ’s message.
Rejecting the message of the Son of God results in much greater consequences than having our words dismissed. Rejecting Christ’s words is spurning Christ Himself. It’s hard, though, to see people turn from the kind-hearted, giving Servant.
The Servant proclaimed and lived out God’s special message of love and grace (John 1:17-18). “The arm of Yahweh” depicts both God’s strength and His offered intervention. Christ did not doubt the validity or authority of God’s message. His faith enabled Him to consistently offer the Father’s love to an unlovely, hostile people. He longed for their warm response but often saw hardened, unbelieving hearts.
The people’s rejection reflected their unbelieving hearts. Jesus’ large audiences cause us to miss the indifference people had toward His message. When a speaker draws huge crowds, we assume there is a good response. The average preacher welcomes large crowds, assuming responsive hearts, but Jesus was not like this. Jesus knew what was in the people’s hearts and did not entrust Himself to His hearers.
“But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man” (John 2:24, 25).
When Jesus sharpened His message, the crowd practically vanished, leaving only a few disciples. People were drawn to Jesus’ miracles, not to the truth (John 6:26). When He spoke openly, even His disciples rejected Him. “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore” (John 6:66).
When people reject the Gospel message, it is His message they reject. But for Christ, it was a personal rejection, not only against what He said but of His care for them. This was tremendously difficult for Him at times. Do you remember when Jesus’ approached Jerusalem? What did He do? He wept over their rejection, “And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it” (Luke 19:41).
We are Christ’s ambassadors and ought to faithfully proclaim God’s Word, no matter people’s responses—whether our circumstances be warm like the Bereans or hostile like the Athenians. We need to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim 4:2). Follow Christ’s faithful example of declaring God’s Word, despite people’s responses.
2. Christ was personally avoided (Isaiah 53:2)
“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” (Isaiah 53:2).
The Servant Jesus did not start His life or ministry as one would expect for someone sent from heaven. Isaiah describes Him as a small “tender shoot” in dry, harsh ground rather than a majestic, flourishing tree. A shoot is a sprout, marking its small, unimpressive beginning. A person might step on a shoot and easily crush it—even without knowing it. The sprout, lodged in parched ground without water, was even more vulnerable to being crushed.
What a contrast between a small vulnerable sprout and a great tree with tall, thick far-reaching branches, towering far above. God sent His Servant as a tender shoot.
We observe this in Christ’s birth scene. He was born in the small town of Bethlehem rather than in the nearby respected city of Jerusalem. He was born in an unwelcome, dingy circumstance, placed in a manger. There was nothing particularly impressive about Him.
We like to point to our college degrees, our heritage, our wealth, our social status, etc., but Jesus had none of these. He was not born in a palace nor brought up under some famous rabbi or Pharisee like the Apostle Paul. Paul, impressed with Jesus’ example, considered these acclaimed associations as rubbish (Phil 3:8). Jesus did not start off with a few extra steps ahead of us. If anything, God placed Him at a distance behind us. People should have treated Jesus as royalty, but He was unrecognized.
“To them, a Galilean peasant, living and dying in a little country on the very fringe of a great civilization, seemed like a frail plant, growing in a parched ground, altogether lacking the majesty and beauty that they would have expected to find.”
Jesus’ Unimpressive Features (Isaiah 53:2)
Verse 2 ends by announcing the Servant’s uncomely looks; the Messiah was physically unattractive. He didn’t have the looks that many associate with success. Was He ugly? Isaiah boldly states that, “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him” (Isaiah 53:2).
What a pity that we have contorted our understanding of Jesus’ looks with pictures that make Him attractive and pleasant looking. Being less attractive than the average person, the Master of the Universe walked an undesirable path to communicate that the Servant’s success did not depend on His physical features, attractiveness, education, wealth, or status. He refused the head start that all of us wearingly seek.
Fortunately, all we need, like Christ, is God’s call on our lives and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Our confidence must not rest on our giftedness but on the filling of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2). If we are weak, poor, ill, lame, or have difficulty speaking, we share in Christ’s weakness. Our success is not rooted in our handsomeness or straight teeth but our availability and our intimacy with God.
3. Christ was socially rejected (Isaiah 53:3)
“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” (Isaiah 53:3).
If anyone thought Isaiah miswrote the first two verses, the Servant’s description here allays those thoughts. Isaiah poignantly describes the Servant’s social rejection. It wasn’t just the rejection of the Servant’s message but Himself. God made mankind to be social, kind, and accepting, but God’s special servant held none of these awards.
Just consider the stigma surrounding His birth. His little town in Galilee was not like our mega-cities where no one is accountable—quite the opposite. Everyone knew what was happening to everyone. Now Joseph and Mary had special dreams from God to direct them. That was fine, but their neighbors didn’t have the dreams. What did they think? His family faced social rejection, forming a very unpleasant start.
His kindred people not only persecuted Jesus from His birth but He also faced social ostracism by those who should have applauded Him. Consider the social religious elitists coming to Jesus, parading their highly esteemed status before Him. Instead of welcoming Him as the Messiah, they despised His birth, His lack of education, His accent, etc. They said, “Where is He from?” “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). He wore average clothes rather than the nice flowing robes. Without an esteemed education, others were not inclined to associate with Him. On and on it went.
He was forsaken of men, sorrowful, “despised, and we did not esteem Him.” His life was not easy, normal, or enviable. Making things worse, people should have listened to their Creator, seen His humility, and welcomed His love—but alas. Nothing like this.
Approaching Christ’s death, everyone turned away from Him. The Messiah came to accomplish earth’s greatest work, but every last one of His disciples turned away from Him in His greatest hour of need. Again, we can be deceived by the great throngs surrounding Jesus, but He suffered great rejection—even by those who professed a love for Him and His teaching.
Summary
This portrait of Jesus radically differs from what we often see or think. Jesus had no status, no attractable message, no cash handouts, no good looks, nor anything envied in society.
So why did God send His glorious Son in such a way? Here are three reasons.
(1) Jesus’ main mission was to die for sinners. He could not let respectability interfere with His mission.
(2) Jesus, the Pioneer of our faith, showed us how to humbly live out God’s will despite fierce opposition. No matter how bad it gets for us, it was always worse for Him. We can hang in there and persistently follow Him, being thoroughly encouraged by Jesus’ example.
(3) The world admires beauty, status, stature, influence, and wealth. Jesus proves these things are not important for a successful ministry. Only the Holy Spirit’s anointing and a persevering spirit are needed to obey the Father. “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit; and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district” (Luke 4:14).
Jesus’ success stemmed not from His position in the world but from the powerful Spirit of God upon Him. Jesus’ words strike us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” Admittedly, we need to deal with this concept of image in our lives and ministries. We must refuse the world’s adulation and single-mindedly seek the power of the Spirit of God. We need to steer ourselves away from the world’s images and sounds to hear God’s Words and emulate Him.
