Isaiah 53 (Part 2) – Isa 53:3

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Isaiah 53 (Part 2) – Isa 53:3

Isa 53:3 – He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

1. He is despised and rejected of men;
   1. Despised ppl. – Looked down upon, contemned, scorned.
   2. Contemn – 1. trans. To treat as of small value, treat or view with contempt; to despise, disdain, scorn, slight.
   3. Reject v. – I. 1. a. trans. To refuse to recognize, (allow,) acquiesce in, submit to, or adopt (a rule, command, practice, etc.); to refuse credit to (a statement). 2. To refuse to have or take for some purpose; to set aside or throw away as useless or worthless.
   4. Rather than being looked up to, respected, and accepted, the Lord Jesus Christ was looked down upon, contemned, scorned, treated as of small value with contempt, refused, and set aside as worthless by men.
   5. Jesus came unto His own, and His own received Him not (Joh 1:11).
   6. Many despised Jesus (Luk 10:16; Act 13:38-41).
   7. Jesus was treated with contempt, even when suffering tremendously (Mat 27:39-44; Psa 22:7-8).
   8. Jesus was rejected by men.
      1. The leaders of Israel rejected Jesus (Mat 21:42; Mar 8:31),
      2. The people of His own generation rejected Him (Luk 17:25; Joh 12:48).
      3. They would not have Him to reign over them (Luk 19:12-14).
   9. Jesus was scorned by His countrymen (Mat 9:24; Joh 19:15).
2. a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
   1. Jesus was a man of sorrows.
      1. Sorrow – 1. a. Distress of mind caused by loss, suffering, disappointment, etc.; grief, deep sadness or regret; also, that which causes grief or melancholy; affliction, trouble.
      2. Sorrow – 1. intr. To feel sorrow or sadness; to regret or grieve; also, to exhibit signs of grief, to mourn.
      3. Mourn – 1. To feel sorrow, grief, or regret (often with added notion of expressing one’s grief); to sorrow, grieve, lament.
      4. Jesus Christ was not a man who spent His life laughing and joking.
      5. He was likely melancholy much of the time.
      6. His joy came after His suffering and resurrection, not before it (Luk 24:26; Heb 12:2).
         • Prior to his death, Jesus was exceeding sorrowful (Mat 26:37-38).
         • Jesus expressed strong crying and tears when he suffered (Heb 5:7).
      7. Jesus also sorrowed because of loss that He experienced in life like the rest of us (Joh 11:33-38).
      8. Jesus wept over the coming destruction of Jerusalem (Luk 19:41).
   2. Jesus was also acquainted with grief.
      1. Acquainted ppl. – 1. Personally known; familiar, through being known. Having personal or experimental knowledge; possessed of personal knowledge, more or less complete. 1611 Bible Isa liii. 3 A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.
      2. Grief n. – 1. Hardship, suffering; a kind, or cause, of hardship or suffering.
      3. Jesus knew hardship and suffering through personal experience.
      4. Jesus suffered being tempted, but never sinned (Heb 2:18; Heb 4:15).
      5. Jesus suffered for our sins (Mat 16:21; Mar 9:12; Luk 22:15; Heb 2:10; Heb 5:8; Heb 13:12; 1Pe 2:21, 24; 1Pe 3:18).
      6. Jesus was grieved for the hardness of the hearts of the Pharisees (Mar 3:5-6).
3. and we hid as it were our faces from him;
   1. As adv. – 9. a. Introducing a supposition, expressed by the subjunctive mood: As if, as though. c. esp. in as it were: as if it were so, if one might so put it, in some sort: a parenthetic phrase used to indicate that a word or statement is perhaps not formally exact though practically right.
   2. Men hid their faces from Christ, so to speak, because He exposed their guilt, just as their first parents Adam and Eve did to God in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:7-8).
   3. Jesus shed light on the wickedness of the heart of man, and men hid their faces from that light (Joh 3:18-20).
4. he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
   1. Esteem v. – I. To estimate value; to value. 1. trans. To estimate the value of; assign (a value) to; to value, assess, appraise. 2. To attach value (subjectively) to. b. In favourable sense: To regard as valuable; to think highly of; to feel regard for, respect (persons or their qualities; now chiefly with reference to moral characteristics).
   2. The chief priests valued Jesus Christ less than a man (Mat 26:14-15 c/w Lev 27:2-3 c/w Psa 22:6).
   3. They valued him at the price of a slave (Mat 27:9 c/w Exo 21:32).
   4. Jesus made Himself of no reputation (Php 2:7).
      1. Reputation n. – 1. a. Opinion, supposition; also, the opinion or view of one about something. rare. (last used in 1530s) 2. The common or general estimate of a person with respect to character or other qualities; the relative estimation or esteem in which a person or thing is held.
      2. Men did not esteem Jesus highly, and He did not try to promote Himself to make Himself valuable in their eyes.