Why Was Jesus Rejected (Isa. 53:1-3)

​‘Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 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. 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 asks two questions in verse 1, and they are questions that are often on the lips of preachers and others who tell the gospel in preaching and other forms of witness. Initially, the ‘us’ in verse 1 refers to Isaiah and other prophets living at that time about whom we know nothing. But others in the Bible use this first question as well. The apostle John quotes the first question and says about it that it was fulfilled in the rejection of Jesus by those who heard him (John 12:38), which suggests that included in the ‘us’ of verse 1 is Jesus himself as one of the speakers. After all, he had the same message for his hearers as true preachers and witnesses have. In addition, the apostle Paul quotes the same question in Romans 10:16 as he considers why he and others at that time had little gospel success among the Jews.

People sometimes say that if they had lived during the time when Jesus was living on earth they would have no difficulty in believing his claims. Yet these verses in this Servant Song say otherwise because they are a prophecy about people who did reject Jesus when he was here. The prophecy mentions two reasons for their rejection. But before we look at those reasons, we will briefly consider the complaint of Isaiah about his preaching (v. 1) because it is intriguing that a chapter which has been the means of bringing many to the knowledge of Jesus should have such a complaint.

Isaiah, the Forlorn Preacher

Sometimes we imagine that preachers with a special calling will have significant success. Isaiah had a very impressive calling by God to function as a prophet and its details are recorded in Isaiah 6. At that time, the Lord, who was Jesus in his pre-incarnate state (John 12:41), informed Isaiah that he would not see wide acceptance of his message (Isa. 6:9-13). He had been called to serve God during a time when the Lord was about to bring judgement on his people because of their sins, a judgement that was fulfilled in the Babylonian Captivity. Of course, Isaiah said much more about the Messiah and his kingdom, but it was still a difficult message that he brought to his contemporaries.

Nevertheless Isaiah had three comforts in addition to knowing that he was obeying the will of God. First, he proclaimed a great message about the coming Messiah and all the benefits he would bring, a message declaring mercy yet to displayed on a global scale. Second, he was aware, along with other Old Testament prophets, that he was in fact serving a future generation of believers who would appreciate his message (1 Pet. 1:10-12), and that future generation includes us if we are believers in him. Third, he appreciated the company of his colleagues in his calling (note the plural pronoun ‘us’); in the schools of the prophets there were those who shared his outlook and who could comfort one another. These comforts are not limited to Isaiah’s day, but have been known by many other preachers up to the present time.

Although Isaiah had received a divine commission that stressed divine judgement, he was not a stoic, unaffected by the rejection of his message. He felt in his heart the disappointment of few converts, he longed for his listeners to receive God’s mercy, and he regretted how little he saw of repentance in the outlook of his countrymen. Of course, he was faithful to the Lord and he will receive God’s commendation on the Great Day.

Who can understand the prophet’s pain? Obviously his fellow prophets would. Even more wonderful is the fact that Jesus would also experience this strange spiritual dilemma. Recall his response concerning Jerusalem, a city which he knew would yet receive divine judgement for rejecting him and his message: ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”’ (Luke 13:34-35). Those words are full of pathos, revealing the intensity of desire that was in his heart for their spiritual good.

Another who was aware of this combination of declaring divine judgement and having powerful concern for those facing it was the apostle Paul. His heart concern for his own people is expressed in Romans 9:1-3: ‘I am speaking the truth in Christ –I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.’ The challenge that comes to us if whether we have similar inner turmoil over those racing to a lost eternity.

The arm of the Lord

It is possible to regard the phrase ‘the arm of the Lord’ as referring to the divine attribute of power. In other biblical references, the idea of a divine arm occurs in such a way. When God called Moses to go to Egypt, he made this promise about his actions: ‘Say therefore to the people of Israel, “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment”’ (Exod. 6:6).

One of the psalmists of Israel, when acknowledging that it was God who gave the promised land to Israel, said ‘for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them’ (Ps. 44:3). Isaiah, when prophesying of the certain recovery of God’s people from Babylon, called out, ‘Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him’ (Isa. 40:10).

No doubt, one response to the description of the ingathering of the Gentiles in Isaiah 52:13-15 would be to say that it would require divine power to bring about the fulfilment. If the deliverer was a mere human ruler, then he would need the external help of divine power acting on his behalf. But what if the deliverer was God himself, even although described as his Servant in action? Would he have divine power in a manner different from all others who received it?

Was Isaiah’s message or report about the arm of the Lord being revealed in a unique and more personal manner rather than being a display of divine power helping an individual or a nation? Would the Servant not only have such power at times, or would he possess it personally? Is the phrase, ‘the arm of the Lord,’ a divine title of the Messiah? It would be hidden for a while before being revealed in astonishing ways.

Two reasons why Jesus was rejected

Isaiah here prophesies about repentant Jews who had seen Jesus, and he mentions two reasons that they would give for rejecting Jesus initially, for not recognising who he was as ‘the arm of the Lord’. The way they express their wrong conceptions shows that they now regret having had them. The first reason concerns the way of life of Jesus as a young person (v. 2) and the second reason concerns how he responded to what he saw around him by becoming the Man of Sorrows (vv. 3-4).

His way of life when young

Isaiah in 53:2 states that the Messiah would grow up conscious of God. The words ‘before him’ refer to the Father. From his youngest years, this unusual Child would live a holy life, a life marked by fellowship with God. Is this not the implication of his words to Joseph and Mary when they located him in the temple: ‘And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”’ (Luke 2:49). The story of Jesus in the temple is the account of a child/teenager who loved the Word of God, desired the instruction of the Word of God, enjoyed speaking about the Word of God, delighted to be in the house of God, and joyfully obeyed the commandments of God. When Luke wanted to show to Theophilus the uniqueness of Jesus, he focussed in the beginning of his gospel on the marvellous reality of Jesus’ deep and determined devotion to God as a child and as a teenager.

Further, Isaiah says that the Messiah would seem to be weak and fragile, like a young plant or a twig that is attached to a tree. This was obviously the case at his birth when Herod tried to have him killed. It is also the case that childhood is a time of fragility. Jesus was seen by people throughout those years and they were not impressed by what they saw.

Isaiah says that the life of the young Saviour was a miracle – he was like ‘a root out of dry ground’. The dry ground is a picture of the environment in which he lived. Israel, instead of being a fruitful field, was a dry ground spiritually. Yet although the ground was dry, out of it came a marvellous root. In the natural world we would not expect a tree to flourish in a desert. And we would not expect a Saviour to flourish in a nation that knew not her God or in a world that had departed from its Creator. But he did, because his life was lived in the presence of God and the Spirit of the Lord was upon him in a special way.

What effect did the wonderful young life of Jesus have on those who knew him? They were not interested. Their estimation was that ‘he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him’. In their assessment Jesus was not worth a second look. If a reporter had come to Nazareth and asked the local population concerning the name of the most promising child in their community, the name of Jesus would not have come into their heads. They expected nothing from the child they regarded only as the son of Joseph. Little did they realise, as they ignored him, that they were fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah.

We may not be surprised that the inhabitants of Nazareth did not pay much attention to Jesus. After all, how much attention do we pay to the opinions and practices of children? Yet surely we are surprised at the response of his four brothers and, at least, two sisters (Matt. 13:55-56). The Gospels indicate that they were not influenced for good merely because they lived in the same house as Jesus. What evidence this is of the need of the Holy Spirit for conversion when we recall that the holy influence of Jesus was unnoticed by his siblings!

The obvious deduction that stands out in this description is that Jesus looked very ordinary in the eyes of those who saw him often. There was nothing about him to attract the attention of the inhabitants of earth, but there was everything about him to attract the attention of heaven. The world never looked at him curiously or closely during those young years, but the heavenly Father did not cease to look at his lowly Son in Nazareth as he worked out from his heart a life of obedience to God’s law. As Luke says of him, he ‘increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man’ (Luke 2:52).

The man of sorrows

We move on to the adult years of Jesus and discover the second reason why he was rejected. The Saviour was despised and rejected because he was the Man of sorrows. This description reveals that Jesus was a man with spiritual feelings. It was not possible for the Saviour to find himself in a needy situation and remain ambivalent. In having this response, he revealed the genuineness of his humanity.

The name shows that sadness was not an occasional response by Jesus. Instead, it was a general feature that these observers noticed. Each time they saw him they noted that there was an air of sorrow about him. As we reflect on that, we can ask ourselves if we would want a Saviour who was unaffected by the sins he saw around him.

This sadness of Jesus was very full. He was acquainted with grief, a description that points to a deep experience. When we say of a person that he is an acquaintance, we are saying that we know him well. These onlookers assessed that Jesus and sorrow were intimate companions. Indeed, Spurgeon commented that Jesus and sorrow could have exchanged names.

‘Man of sorrows’ is a very striking title. It points to the identifying feature that marked Jesus in the strongest way. We refer to a good politician as ‘a man of the people’, that he is marked by his interest in and concern for those he represents. Or we refer to a trustworthy person as ‘a man of his word’, describing his honesty. In the opposite way, we refer to a scoundrel as ‘a man of no principle’ or to a cruel person as ‘a man with no pity’. Such descriptions point to the dominant features in their lives that are obvious to onlookers. The people who saw Jesus noted that a leading feature of his life was great sorrow.

As Spurgeon pointed out to his hearers, ‘We might well call Him, “a Man of holiness,” for there was no fault in Him. Or a Man of labours, for He did His Father’s business earnestly. Or, “a Man of eloquence,” for never man spoke like this Man. We might right fittingly call Him in the language of our hymn, “The Man of Love,” for never was there greater love than glowed in His heart. Still, conspicuous as all these and many other excellencies were, yet had we gazed upon Christ and been asked afterwards what was the most striking peculiarity in Him, we should have said His sorrows.’

Why was Jesus sorrowful? Many answers could be suggested. Jesus was sad because of the wrong priorities he saw in the lives of people he met. He was sad because of the plight in which sinners found themselves because of their sins. He understood the awful fate awaiting those who would suffer under the judgement of God, and he was sad. He saw humans as without a shepherd, rushing headlong down the broad road to a lost eternity, and this awareness made him a man of sorrows. This is why he wept over the city of Jerusalem, and no doubt over many another place.

Jesus was also sorrowful because of the awful burden that he was carrying and the terrible location to where he was heading. He was journeying to the cross bearing on himself a stupendous burden, one so heavy that its weight cannot be calculated. His destination was the cross of Calvary where he would suffer the wrath of God against the sins of his people. It is impossible to face suffering without some measure of sorrow. The anticipation of Calvary by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane was marked by great fear and concern.

How did Jesus cope with his sorrows? The writer of Hebrews tells us to imitate what Jesus did: ‘looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God’ (Heb. 12:2). In the midst of sorrows on earth, Jesus focused on the joys of heaven.

We should often recall what our sins cost the Saviour personally and repent of them. What was our biggest sin? It was the many times we imitated the onlookers in verses 2 and 3 and hid our faces from Jesus. When he came near us in the gospel message, we shut our ears and looked away. We refused to look with gratitude on the One who was offering us mercy.

And we should remember that his days of sorrow are over for ever!