Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
I was watching a TV drama the other day and was almost shocked to see the apparent realism portrayed. It was of London, if my memory serves me correctly, (and at my age that is up for debate) back in the middle ages when plagues were sweeping through and decimating populations. The contrast to our clean, freshly painted (even if it is spray paint) cities was stark.
So let’s set the scene. The character was walking through a poor section of the city. Shacks and filthy housing blocks were everywhere. People were dumping both their trash and their sewage out the windows and onto the street. Animals were pulling cars and other animals were just roaming around the streets. Side yards were barn yards. The fires’ smoke filled the air.
Now combine all that smell together. Not the scent that you put in perfume bottles, is it? The smell is so great that it causes your eyes to water.
Now you come across someone whose body is being eaten by whatever disease of the day is ravaging the city. It is not like they know about bacteria and proper hygiene. They don’t even know what PPP is. They don’t have any masks. So once a sore breaks through the skin puss and filthy simply pour out. (Sorry for the details, but getting the right picture is important.)
And as you look at this poor creature without a hope in the world, you realize that this is a human being instead of just a pile of rot. Their face is so disfigured that you turn away in disgust. The smells have overcome you. The abject poverty has pricked your conscience. And now the ravages of the disease has all but stripped this person of the last vestiges of their humanity.
Few of us here in the United States have ever seen anything like this first hand. We might have seen it in the movies, but not right in front of us. The smell of death and decay leaves a lasting impression, one that doesn’t wash away with soap and water.
As our Scripture text from this very famous verse is read we now get a picture of this level of disgust. They turned away from this Suffering Servant with the same disgust as that diseased individual. They didn’t even want to look at Him, because the ravages of sin’s weight was about to fully land on Him.
And Jesus went through this for us. The One who was Holy bore the whole weight of our unholiness. All the filth and stain that was ours and the rest of humanity’s was put on Him. The rejection that was ours by birthright was taken by Him who knew the intimacy with the Father as one with Him.
So next time you hear this passage, remember these images portrayed here and fall to your knees and remember what Jesus did for us.