We Esteemed Him Not

Meditation

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

(Isaiah 53:3)

Imagine your sorrow if you were the richest person ever, and you left behind the comforts of your paradise home to come pay the debts of all your wayward children that you love. They have utterly no way of paying their debts, but it changes nothing in how they think of you. Now imagine they were unappreciative to the point of treating you like a common criminal. Imagine now they want to kill you and bury your memory, as if you never existed. How would that make you feel? I know I would be crushed in spirit. Jesus knew all this would happen to him, but he loved us so much, he came anyway.

This passage was written approximately seven hundred years before Christ was born but it is as accurate and tear-jerking as if it were written yesterday. The book of Isaiah is, of course, part of the Old Testament. The OT is filled with prophecies about the coming messiah. God was preparing his people, through prophets like Isaiah, he was going to be giving them a savior. He was also making known that the messiah was going to be rejected by the very people he was coming to save.

I used to think, how foolish these Jews were to reject Jesus when he came to them. How many more miracles should he have performed to get them to follow him? I’m told, there are over three hundred prophecies about Jesus in the OT. How many more did they need? Not all of them describe a servant Savior, many portray a conquering King. I suppose that's the Savior they wanted, one that would free them from the bondage to Rome. Then, I remember it took me until I was 44 years old before I understood, and I had the entire Bible, Old and New Testaments, available to read. To be honest, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have rejected Jesus back then also.

He is the God who created us; who loves us to the point of dying for us. Why do we treat him like he’s no better than a self-deluded, lunatic? The unbelieving world despises Jesus, more so today than ever. If he were to come today, for the first time, he would be treated just as badly. As his follower, I have to be different than the unbelieving world. If I really love and follow him my life has to be a testimony of what Christ’s love looks like. To show my gratitude for his sacrifice, I will do my best to live by his example.

Prayer Time

Lord God Almighty, who is greater than you? Who else has grace in abundance and unending mercy? You know all of our pains because you have experienced them all and more through the life and sacrificial death of Jesus. He knew from the beginning that the end of his earthly walk would be horrendous and yet, he willingly followed your will. We thank you for his life and example that we can follow in our daily lives. We know, through our own lives, that life is full of distress. People we love die, others just walk away, but no matter why they are no longer a part of our lives, it’s painful. Jesus came to save all of us and the very people who should have known him, despised and rejected him. Even to this day, Lord, the unsaved will reject his offer of salvation. They despise him for his selflessness and they despise us for trying to tell them why they need him as much as we do. Father forgive them for their obstinance and soften their hearts that they too will repent and follow Jesus. It in his name, we pray. Amen!