Rejected
Isaiah 53:3 , “fHe is despised and grejected of men;
hA man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
And ||†iwe hid as it were our faces from him;
He was despised, and kwe esteemed him not.” [1]
I. Despised
A. Revealed
B. Reviled
II. Depressed
A. Regret
B. Remorse
III. Discounted
A. Repulsed
B. Removed
Introduction: Two Sundays ago we celebrated Palm Sunday. It was to commemorate the day that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah when He rode into town on an unbroken donkey colt. Last Sunday we few celebrated Easter for what it truly is. Easter is that Sunday morning after the betrayal of Judas Iscariot. It was after the weakness shown by Jesus’ closest friends when He needed them the most as He was considering what was before Him. It was after the capture by the Roman Soldiers and the beating and mocking that came from a trial when the crowd decided to save the guilty and crucify the guiltless.
Some churches forego their normal Wednesday evening services during crucifixion week. They instead meet that particular Thursday evening before Easter. Traditionally Maundy Thursday observances include communion to commemorate the Last Supper that Jesus had with His disciples. Much of John’s gospel concerns the last week of Jesus’ earthly life.
Today we will go back to the idea that was mentioned in the introduction of our Palm Sunday message. If we had a Maundy Thursday service this would be the message. It is essential for Christians to understand the tragedy of the cross that happened between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. All that Jesus came to this planet for in our place happened during that one fateful week. We must understand what it is that Jesus dreaded so much in the garden of Gethsemane which caused Him to sweat, as it were, droplets of blood.
There have been many ideas and theories as to what He prayed so intently over. Some believe wrongly that He was fearful of death on the cross. Some believe that Jesus, since He had always been so directly connected to Our Heavenly Father, dreaded the time when Jesus would not feel as nearly to His Father’s presence. Another theory which seems to be gaining popularity is that Jesus was deeply concerned that He would not be able to get through everything as a human being. He was after all God the Son. He could have called twelve legions of angels and they would have protected Jesus from evil. He knew that would not accomplish what He came to do.
This preacher now feels that it was Jesus’ understanding that His connection to His Father would not have the same familiarity because He could only take our place if He went through everything that He did as a human. He dreaded that His Father’s presence would seem to fade as He took our sin. Yet He did not want to have made the journey a failure in culmination of the crucifixion. He had to go through it with the sin of mankind. Perhaps it is a combination.
Whatever it is we must understand the price that was paid for our pardon. We must not only consider that Jesus came into town on a donkey one Sunday and the next Sunday He arose from the dead. We must consider what the passion of Christ cost Jesus. We must consider all that He went through that Passion Week so that we can understand that with everything we are now, we are His.
If we can do that then maybe we will understand that there is nothing more important in this life than to give Him a reason to be proud to call us His family; His church! That is more important than any petty personal problems that get in our way of worshipping Him.
Scripture: The scripture today is Isaiah 53:3. Please stand if you’re able.
Prayer: Let us pray. Be seated.
Message: Listen as we read Isaiah 53 in it’s entirely. It starts out with the question who will believe and to whom is the strength of the Lord revealed. There was nothing regal about the way He came. He wasn’t any more beautiful than other babies.
Then comes the fact of the matter; our focal verse for today’s message. Instead of realizing Him as royal, the ones who He came to save actually rejected Him. He was despised even though He had been revealed through prophecy and now there Jesus was to take their place. They saw Him and instead of being drawn to Him they were reviled at the sight of Jesus.
Isaiah spoke of Jesus as the man of sorrows. We discussed Gethsemane and the sweat droplets of blood. Jesus knew that there would be rejection from Our Holy Heavenly Father. God The Father is holy and cannot and will not tolerate sin. Jesus as God knew what was to come for Him. He knew that He was fully man and fully God. He was depressed over that which He knew was coming. In His humanity He wanted His closest friends to stay awake and watch for Him as He prayed. They could not even do that for Jesus. Was He depressed? Are you ever depressed? Do pastors get depressed when they see the church turn away? It is human nature to get depressed over depressing things. Do not be confused over clinical depression and normal depression. Jesus was sorrowful. Of course He was depressed.
He understood grief. When we hurt Jesus hurts. George Beverly Shay sang a song with Guy Penrod before He died. It is simply titled, “Does Jesus Care.”
As a human Jesus was nearly overwhelmed with grief. But was He remorseful over anything? Maybe not. Besides, Jesus did everything that He was sent here to do. Yet there was that time when He was standing looking towards Jerusalem that He said this as recorded in Matthew 23:37, “O oJerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that pkillest the prophets, and pstonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have qgathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens runder her wings, and ye would not!” [2]
Do you think that Jesus is ever depressed over what we, His church, do today?
What did we do when the world said assembling together was not safe but going shopping and doing other things that we decided was OK as long as we stayed apart and wore a mask? We did exactly what Isaiah prophesied! “And ||†iwe hid as it were our faces from him;” [3]
We hid as it were our faces from each other too. Now that the politicians are allowing us to expose our faces again people are still staying away from the place where they might see Jesus. People are watching others in churches on TV or on-line and some are reading even these sermons on-line but people are still hiding their faces from Jesus. The Church as the body of believers that come together as a family, who only have faith in our God and our Lord; it is slipping into obscurity. He was despised and we esteemed Him not. Neither are many esteeming His church as a place to be safe.
The majority of folks that once would not have missed attending church may not even understand themselves why they are discounting assembling. Many will say that they are believers. Maybe so! In Mark 9:23 the man waiting for Jesus to save his son from demons said this, “Lord, I believe; ohelp thou mine unbelief.” [4] This should be our prayer for those who are believing in everything except Jesus.
Jesus was discounted as an imposter. He was, is, and always will be the Messiah yet the ones who should have known Him rejected Him. They were repulsed by Jesus and were glad when He was removed from this earth. He will not be removed from us as long as we trust Him. He cares. Oh yes He cares.
Prayer: Let us pray
Please listen and pray as pastor sings "Does Jesus Care" with no accompaniment.
f See ch. 49:7. Comp. Mark 9:12.
g Ps. 39:4 (Heb.).
h Comp. Heb. 4:15.
|| Or, he hid as it were his face from us.
† Heb. as a hiding of faces from him, or, from us.
i Comp. Ps. 69:8. ch. 50:6.
k John 1:10, 11.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Is 53:3). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
o To ver. 39, Luke 13:34, 35.
p See ch. 21:35.
p See ch. 21:35.
q 2 Esdr. 1:30. Comp. Deut. 32:11, 12.
r See Ruth 2:12.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Mt 23:37). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
|| Or, he hid as it were his face from us.
† Heb. as a hiding of faces from him, or, from us.
i Comp. Ps. 69:8. ch. 50:6.
[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Is 53:3). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
o So Luke 17:5.
[4] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Mk 9:24). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
