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 53:3 NLT
Do you ever wonder if Jesus understands the pain of rejection? I assure you He does! He understood sorrow and felt the deepest level of grief. Not only did He experience rejection when He took on flesh and walked the earth, He still does, every time we turn our back on Him and look the other way.
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down… But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. Isaiah 53:4a, 5 NLT
How much does Jesus love you? Enough to step up and carry your weaknesses and experience your sorrow so you don’t have to. We are rebellious, we choose to sin, yet He takes our punishment upon Himself. We deserve to be crushed and experience the pain that follows our sin, but Jesus took the beating instead. He felt the pain of the whip so we could be healed and set free from the power of sin.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:6-7 NLT
Jesus could have called angels to rescue Him from the cross, but He chose to endure it for my benefit and your benefit. He looked ahead in time, saw our sin, and quietly endured the pain of the cross.
Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. Isaiah 53:8 NLT
I’m convicted and challenged by this passage and the sad commentary that no one cared. It begs the question, how much do I care? If we truly appreciate the pain that Jesus bore for our sins, how is it that we still struggle with sin? It’s unimaginable that Satan can still deceive us with the deceptiveness of sin! Yet that’s why we need grace, that’s why Jesus came.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. Isaiah 53:11 NLT
We have no righteousness of our own. That’s why we fall again and again. But He loves us too much to leave us in a state of condemnation so He made it possible for us to be counted righteous. He bore our sins at great cost to Himself. No one will ever love you more than Jesus!