Despised, Rejected, Crushed, Afflicted

The past several years I have read Paul David Tripp’s Journey to the Cross during the forty days leading up to Easter. Last year the same passage struck me as it did this year: Isaiah 53. I’ve been chewing on some different thoughts this year in relation to this passage. First, let’s read Isaiah 53.

53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

8 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,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

9 And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.[1]

What are some of the descriptions we see of Jesus in Isaiah 53?

· No form, majesty, or beauty for men to look upon Him

· Took our chastisement

· Despised and rejected by men

· Wounded

· A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief

· Oppressed

· As one from whom men hid their faces

· Considered cut off from the land of the living

· Not esteemed

· His grave was with the wicked

· Stricken

· Experienced anguish of His soul

· Smitten by God

· Poured out His soul to death

· Afflicted

· Numbered with the transgressors

· Pierced for our transgressions

· Bore the sin of many

· Crushed for our iniquities

I daresay none of us would wish to be described this way and this isn’t even a complete list of all Jesus suffered. These are descriptions of intense suffering beyond what any of us, even those of us who have experienced deep suffering, can imagine. But, as I thought of these descriptions, I also thought of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:7-18. He shares some of the ways that he has been afflicted for the sake of the Gospel. Then he concludes with:

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.[2]

Go back to the descriptions of Jesus from Isaiah 53. Would you call them “light momentary affliction?” From a human perspective, we never would. Jesus’ life from the moment of conception was a life of suffering. His whole purpose in taking on flesh was to die for our sin, in our place, and rise to life again defeating sin and death. But what does the writer of Hebrews tell us?

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.[3] (Hebrews 12:1-2, emphasis added)

That should blow us away with awe and gratitude. Despised, rejected, crushed, afflicted but for the joy set before Him (our salvation), Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame. As in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Jesus focused on the unseen. He focused on the eternal. Jesus in being despised, rejected, crushed, afflicted, and in suffering, and dying in our place, for our sin is the One who ultimately prepared for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

Reflection

1. Take time to review the descriptions of Jesus in Isaiah 53. Consider what Jesus suffered for you that you might know the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

2. Spend time confessing your sin remembering your sin is the reason that Jesus suffered, died, and rose again.

3. Now devote time to praising and thanking God that He loved you so much that He sent Jesus to die in your place, taking the punishment your sins deserved. Praise and thank Jesus for willingly taking on flesh, suffering, and dying in your place that you might know the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 53. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Co 4:17–18. [3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Heb 12:1–2.