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. — Isaiah 53:3
Each and every day, we are forming opinions. It starts at the beginning of our day, where we form an opinion of how our day will go. We form an opinion of the traffic that we may drive in, the food that we eat, and the places that we experience. We also form an opinion of the people that we meet.
I am not talking about racism or discrimination, but I am talking specifically about we make a decision of how we feel about someone in our interactions with them. Think about the last time you had an interaction with someone like an employee at a store or wait staff at a restaurant. You formed an opinion of them based on your interaction with them and the service that they provided.
Just like we are forming an opinion about all of these things, we have formed an opinion about the Savior of the world. Isaiah outlines what the world thinks of Him in these verses of Isaiah 53. He tells us that the Redeemer was despised and rejected. He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief as the world rejected Him. Later on, Isaiah describes how He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
For all mankind, He suffered. Yet, so many have formed an opinion of Him that leads them to reject Him. They are not judging Him based on what He did for them. They are judging Him based on other Christians or their own abilities. They judge Him based on false multiple levels of false pretense, yet He still suffered for them. I cannot read beyond this chapter without reflecting on the words of P.P. Bliss. He wrote, “Man of Sorrows what a name for the Son of God who came. Ruined sinners to reclaim: Hallelujah, What a Savior!
What do you think of the Savior? Can you say along with the words of that great hymn what a Savior? Or is your opinion that you have no need for Him? It’s a choice that we all must make.
