The Gospel According to Isaiah
Part 4: Despised and Rejected
Isaiah 53:1-3
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Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Music: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Robert Robinson and John Wyeth (Public Domain.) Arranged and performed by Ginger Manning. Recorded and mastered by Gordon Manning.
The Gospel According to Isaiah
Part 4: Despised and Rejected
Isaiah 53:1-3
Click here for Journaling Through Prayer: A Helpful Guide to a Deeper Prayer Life.
Click here for A Catechism for the Church.
Click here for Journaling Through the Scriptures: A Bible Study Method.
Click here for The Sermon on the Mount: Practical Lessons from Jesus.
Click here for Introduction to Preaching: Preparing an Expository Sermon.
Check out our official store here! All proceeds from sales in the store go back into the ministry to continue bringing the podcast, blog, and more things in the future.
Please go to www.redriverministries.org for more information on what we have going on in the ministry.
Remember to subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode. Also, please leave us a review in your favorite podcasting app. We would love to hear from you.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Music: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Robert Robinson and John Wyeth (Public Domain.) Arranged and performed by Ginger Manning. Recorded and mastered by Gordon Manning.
The Gospel According to Isaiah
Part 4: Despised and Rejected
Welcome back.
If you are able to follow along in your Bible, we will be in Isaiah chapter fifty-three.
So far in our study into the gospel according to Isaiah, we have discovered the true identity of the Suffering Servant.
We learned that Isaiah is speaking here of Jesus of Nazareth.
We also learned that He was to have a future kingdom; one in which He was to rule with perfect wisdom.
We saw that He would be high and lifted up and exalted by God the Father.
Then, in our last study together, we discovered how the world reacted to the revealing of the Suffering Servant.
We saw how Jesus, when He was revealed as the Messiah, that He was taken, arrested, beaten, and mocked.
In fact, we learned that He was so beaten that He was beyond recognition as a human being.
How did the people respond to this?
They responded by being astonished.
We learned that the word translated astonished here means that they were not only surprised by what they saw, but they were also ashamed of what they saw.
It is the same feeling we get when we look upon Jesus and see what He suffered because of our sins.
We then learned that the Word of God is being fulfilled right before our eyes.
Every time a sinner comes to salvation, we see part of our passage come to pass.
Today, we are going to further investigate the reaction of the people to the revealing of Jesus as Messiah.
Even deeper than that, we are going to look at how they responded to Him during His ministry, as well as during His crucifixion.
Today, we are going to look at the first three verses of Isaiah chapter fifty-three.
Let us read together.
Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Isaiah 53:2 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.
Isaiah 53:3 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.
Let us pray.
Father God, what a privilege and an honor it is for us to come together to study Your Word. We thank You that You have chosen us to be Your children and that we get to know who You are because we have Your Word. Open our minds to understand what You have written, open our hearts to learn. Let us learn from You and the Holy Spirit today. We ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
As we begin this chapter, we must remember that it is a continuation of what we have been studying from chapter fifty-two.
Those last few verses of the previous chapter are the beginning of a new thought in the book, it was just divided very strangely when the chapter and verse divisions were put into place, at least in this case, since they divide ideas.
I understand they were put into place for ease of use and readability, for which I am thankful, but sometimes they are just in the wrong place, and it is too late in the game to go in and change it now.
As we look at verse one, this becomes perfectly clear.
Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
What is Isaiah talking about here?
What is it that he has said that he is asking about being believed?
Well, if we remember one of the key rules of interpreting the Bible, we will look at the context of the passage to help us answer our own questions.
That means we have to go back into what we know as chapter fifty-two and look at the verses we have already explored in our previous studies.
Isaiah is wanting to know who believes what he has already spoken about the Suffering Servant, because he is about to say a lot more.
If those who are listening to Isaiah’s prophecy, or those of us who are reading it today, do not believe what he has already said, it will be even more difficult to believe what he is going to say concerning the Suffering Servant going forward.
Isaiah also asks the question, “To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”
When we consider the events of history, the unfolding of God’s plan from eternity past to send The Son into the world for the sins of mankind, we have to ask the same question Isaiah asks here.
We think about the plan of salvation working out from the beginning of time, through Adam and his sons.
We consider how, as time went by, mankind had become so vile and corrupt that God decided to erase the entire human race, except for one man and his family; and we know that it was all part of the plan to reveal the arm of the LORD.
After the flood, when man began to repopulate the earth, the race stopped spreading out and settled in one city where they decided they would build a tower to reach the heavens.
That was not what God told them to do, so He had to intervene, again, so that mankind would spread out over the earth.
Still, it was all part of the plan.
When we read about the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and we learn all of their exploits, their good and their bad, and we understand that it is still part of the plan.
Especially when we read about how God raised up a deliverer for His people in Moses, and we read through the rest of the Pentateuch and through the book of Joshua, we see that God really did have a plan to reveal the strength of His arm and His salvation to His people.
Then we turn the page, and we learn that the people decided to go back to doing things the way they wanted, and things were bleak for them.
However, when the people turned back to God, He would bless them and send someone to deliver them again.
He did this time and time again, because He has always had a plan.
As we continue through the history of the people of God, we see that kings would be faithful and sinful.
We see that the people would be faithful and sinful.
We also see that God is always faithful and never sinful because He has always had a plan to bring His Son into the world.
God the Son would come into the world, He would suffer at the hands of cruel men, die, be buried, and rise again.
But the most important thing that Jesus did was that He took on all the sins of all mankind when He was on that cross.
This is what Isaiah is talking about when he speaks of the arm of the LORD.
It is the salvation from sin that Jesus brought to us when He became the sacrifice for sin that day.
As we move forward in our study, I want to bring one thing to your attention.
For the next several verses the lens of the prophecy changes.
If you will notice the pronouns, we, our, and us are prominent for a little while.
Also, you will notice the use of past tense verbs.
These things are important to us as students of the Bible because it lets us know who is speaking and from what perspective.
I want to let you know that for the next several verses, Isaiah is speaking through the mouth of the people of Israel; he is speaking as if he were the nation of Israel, looking back at what Jesus did for them.
With that in mind, let us look at the next couple of verses.
Isaiah 53:2 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.
Isaiah 53:3 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.
Here we see that the nation of Israel, those who were around when Jesus came to earth, looked at Him as if He were any other man.
They look back and see that He grew up “like a young plant.”
In other words, Jesus was just like any of the rest of their children in that He was born and matured.
We have already looked at this in our study previously when we saw that Jesus grew in wisdom as a child.
Next, they talk about Him being a “root out of dry ground.”
The people of Israel would be very familiar with this kind of figure.
When traveling through the desert, it is not uncommon to come across a tree that is growing out of what seems dry ground.
However, these trees have extremely deep roots which have tapped into an underground water source.
This is what they are comparing Jesus to in this verse.
They are saying that He came up as something familiar, something that we have seen a thousand times before.
“He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.”
Again, they are saying, “He was nothing spectacular, just like any other Jewish boy who grew up in our part of the world.”
Jesus did not look like a revolutionary or a world leader.
He certainly did not come to Earth looking like God.
Instead, He came looking like everyone else around Him, because He was like everyone else around Him.
Jesus is not only the second person of the Godhead, the eternal Son of God, but He is also human in nature.
When He was born through Mary, God was born in human flesh.
Jesus is fully God and fully man at the same time.
That is why He was nothing remarkable to look at, because He looked like everyone else.
I’m sure it would have been easy to convince the entire nation of Israel had He only come in His divine nature, but He did not do that.
That was not the plan that was laid out from before time began.
Isaiah 53:3 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.
How many times was Jesus looked upon by those around Him and rejected?
When He was ministering in Nazareth, He was unable to do many miracles there because of the people’s unbelief.
Why did they have so much unbelief?
Because Jesus grew up right there among them.
They were familiar with Him to the point that they hindered His ministry.
Not only did the people in Nazareth reject Him, but the religious leaders of the day most certainly despised and rejected Him.
It was the religious leaders who, on numerous occasions, sought to kill Jesus.
It was the religious leaders who continually questioned and ridiculed Jesus during His ministry.
It was the religious leaders who sought out ways to vilify Jesus with the people, even going so far as to calling Him a demon at one point.
It was, in fact, the religious leaders who paid Judas Iscariot thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus.
It was the religious leaders who had Jesus arrested in the garden.
It was the religious leaders who put Jesus through a trial in the dead of night, had Him beaten, mocked Him, and turned Him over to Pontius Pilate.
By far the worst tragedy of the tale of the religious leaders was how they were able to turn the people against Jesus because of their influence over them.
Yes, Jesus was despised and rejected.
As the people of Israel look back and see that fact, they are shocked and come to shame, knowing what they did to Him.
Yes, Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
One of His friends betrayed Him to the religious leaders.
Nine of those remaining close to Him have scattered and are hiding.
One of the two remaining has denied Him.
Only one friend stands close to Him as He is facing the most difficult part of His life and ministry.
There were other occasions when mass droves of people left Jesus.
In Luke chapter ten we see that Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples into the surrounding towns and villages.
Yet, after they return to Him and He talks to them a moment, we do not hear anything else about them.
What happened to them?
Where did they go?
Did they return home?
Did they continue following Him?
We do not know.
We do know that in John chapter six many disciples turned away and no longer walked with Him because of His teachings there.
If you think for one moment that this did not cause Jesus some sorrow and grief then you have never experienced the heart-wrenching pain that comes from having friends leave you, stop talking to you, or betray you.
Jesus was so despised while He was on Earth, that people would not look at Him, especially during the crucifixion.
He was so familiar to the people that they would not look on Him as anything other than another man, certainly never as the God man.
Peter had the first revelation of this in Matthew chapter sixteen.
Matthew 16:13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
Matthew 16:14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Matthew 16:15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
Unfortunately for everyone else, none of the religious leaders of the day had the same revelation.
Instead, they were convinced that Jesus was a threat to their authority and that threat had to be dealt with quickly and severely.
Instead of seeing Jesus as the Messiah, the One who had come to redeem them from their sin and bring them back to God the Father, the religious leaders saw Him as a person leading the people away from their religion.
You see, their religion had become bigger than God.
Their religious duties had become idols.
Their adherence to the Law had overshadowed their love for God and for each other.
The high priest had become such a lofty status that the person holding that station was looked at as the mouthpiece for God, whatever he said was as important as if it had come from God.
All of this sounds too familiar to me.
Studying church history, we see the same thing happen time and time again.
If you look at the history of the Roman Catholic Church throughout the middle ages, and even up to today, this scenario rings so many bells.
The Pope is seen as the voice of God on Earth; whatever he says holds as much weight as Scripture.
Believers must adhere to the sacramental system to prove they are saved and their love for God and for each other.
Saints are venerated and prayed to in order that they might pray for us; Mary being the chief of the saints because she was the mother of Jesus is exalted to a status of sinlessness herself, making her nearly equal with Jesus.
The truth is, every one of these practices is not only anti-Bible, but they are anti-God.
If anyone ever tells you that the Roman Catholic Church is the true church and you cannot be saved without being part of it, just know that you are better off being as far away from it as you can get.
I give glory to God alone that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, as revealed in the Scripture alone.
We are drawn to the Father by the Spirit, forgiven by the Father through the work of the Son, and sustained and sanctified by the Spirit.
These simple, yet wonderful, truths are what we hold to daily.
Unlike those ancient Israelites, we can look at Jesus and know who He is and what He has accomplished for us.
We know that we are saved because of His work.
We do not reject Him; instead, we accept Him and His love for us.
We do not despise Him; instead, we love Him and look to share Him with the rest of the world so that others may come to know what we have to come know and understand about Him.
We see Him for who He is, the King of kings and the Lord of lords; we know that He is high and lifted up, exalted above all things and that He has been given the Name that is above all other names.
One day He will return and establish His kingdom here on Earth and we await that day with excitement because we know that in that day, all sin will finally be put to death.
There will be no temptation because the tempter will be defeated once and for all.
These are the truths we hold onto.
This is the day we await.
Until that day we will continue to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let us pray.
Father God, it is with great humility and thankfulness that we come before You. Humility that You have given us Your Word, thankfulness that You have forgiven us. Once again, we thank You for the opportunity to study Your Word together. Keep us and sustain us by Your Holy Spirit each day. We ask these things in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Thank you all and may God bless you richly in the mercies of Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit.