As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
so shall he sprinkle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him…
– Isaiah 52:14-15a

Consider Jesus our Savior. Consider his suffering. He was beaten. A crown of thorns was pressed onto his head. He was scourged with a whip that ripped open his flesh forty times. He was hung on a cross with nails in his hands and feet. The extent of his suffering was so great that our passage tells us he didn’t even look like a man. He didn’t even look human, but rather a bloody mass of flesh hanging there on the cross. Consider his suffering.

And in his suffering, he sprinkles the nations. The high priest would sacrifice an animal and sprinkle the blood to cleanse, to purify, to make clean. And in the suffering of our Savior, his blood was spilt to be sprinkled on the nations, to cleanse us from our sins, to make us pure and clean. Consider his suffering that cleanses us from our sins.

And in his suffering, he shocks the nations. As people looked upon this suffering servant, they were astonished. They shut their mouths in shock and dismay at this spectacle of suffering. And yet the shock goes beyond the suffering to the salvation that flows from it – that we would be saved by his shed blood. How strange is this salvation!

And we ought to wonder. The cross can become so familiar to us. But stop and wonder at his sufferings on your behalf. Wonder at his incredible love that endured such suffering. Wonder at this great salvation that flows from his suffering. Stop and wonder.

Father, thank you for the suffering of Jesus that cleanses us from our sins.
May we wonder anew at his suffering and the shocking salvation
that flows from his blood.

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.
– Isaiah 53:3

Consider Jesus our Savior. Consider his suffering. He was despised and sentenced to die. He was rejected by his own people, forsaken even by his own disciples. He was a man of sorrows. He was acquainted with grief. He was familiar with suffering.

And what about you? Do you feel despised? Rejected? Forsaken? Do you know sorrows? Grief? Suffering? Jesus has been there. He knows how you feel. He knows the hurt you are experiencing. Our God is not a distant God who cannot be touched by our weaknesses. But he became one of us and can identify with us. And he did it because he loves us, because he cares about us. So in your trials run to him – he knows and he cares.

Father, thank you that Jesus can identify with us in our weaknesses.
Thank you that you care about us in our trials.
Help us to run to you and find rest for our souls.

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
– Isaiah 53:1a

The gospel goes out, but few believe. The good news is preached, but few respond. This verse is quoted in John 12:37-38 in reference to people’s response to Jesus’ ministry. Jesus was indeed despised and rejected by men (Isaiah 53:3). This verse is also quoted by Paul in Romans 10:16 in reference to the many who refused to believe the gospel message as he preached it. And we might yet quote it today in our own context – who indeed has believed what he has heard from us? The good news of Jesus is all too often despised and rejected by men.

And yet Calvin suggests that this verse is not merely describing the refusal of people to believe in Jesus back then or today. Rather, it is Isaiah groaning before the Lord and crying out – who has believed what he has heard from us? Isaiah proclaimed the message of the coming Suffering Servant, but most refused to believe. And so he groans before the Lord.

We too ought to groan before the Lord for those who have not believed. We too ought to cry out to Him on behalf of unsaved family and friends, our neighbors and our communities. We too ought to groan, cry out, plead with God to open blinded eyes that they might see Jesus and believe.

Father, help us to groan for the lost.
May we be faithful in crying out to you on behalf of those
who desperately need a Savior.

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 53:2

Consider Jesus our Savior. He was unimpressive to the people. He was a nobody, or so it seemed. He was not royalty. He was not wealthy. He wasn’t even a Roman – which in that day meant he wasn’t much. He was a common Jew – part of a defeated nation. And he wasn’t even from Jerusalem, but backwoods Nazareth. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? He hung around with sinners and tax collectors. Nothing impressive about that! When you looked at him, you didn’t see majesty or beauty. He was just a common person, someone like you and me. He was unimpressive.

And yet this young plant was the shoot that would come forth from the stump of Jesse; this root out of dry ground was the branch from Jesse’s roots that would bear fruit (Isaiah 11:1). This unimpressive man was the promised Messiah King! And “of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of host will do this” (Isaiah 9:6).

Father, help us to look beyond the unimpressive exterior,
and perceive the glory of our Messiah King.