Facing Jesus

  Isaiah 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.

  This verse is astounding. To be precise the entire chapter is astounding. But, for this blog, I will focus on this one verse.

  It disturbs me to think about how I rejected Jesus. I have also suffered some rejection and it has caused me to be painfully aware of what Jesus faced.

  Jesus did not face rejection because of his sin. He had none. But rather, He was rejected for others sins. Men despise the fact that they are not good enough and that God had to pay for their sins. They reject His payment.

  "Man of sorrows" is so very descriptive. Jesus' sorrow was tremendous. It literally came out of His pores. He wept for the people. They were blind just as I have been.

  This grief that is mentioned gives me another cause for pause. In my life I have had much grief. The pain of bearing my sin seems overwhelming at times. This same sin Jesus bore on the cross. No wonder He was full of grief.

  The verse also says that He was despised and we esteemed Him not. This statement should send chills down your spine. How many times have we not esteemed Him? How about His people? The bible clearly teaches that we are to esteem one another. How can we do that when we don't esteem Jesus. Or, how can we esteem Jesus and not esteem one another? It is quite the pickle.

  Perhaps if we remind ourselves that Jesus died on the cross because we were such great people. We have never failed. We, in fact, are all God wants us to be. Therefore, when others fail, clearly God wants us to push them aside. Surely God wouldn't expect us to sacrifice of ourselves for people who don't serve God as good as we do. God only expects us to love others who love us. Forget serving in a church where people aren't as holy as we are, God demands churchs to be perfect just like we are.

  Hey, don't freak out! If I was as good as you are I wouldn't be writing this! Many think that last paragraph was what I believe to be true. It was sarcasm. If it were true, why was Jesus a man of sorrows? He could have just found people like you and me, and been a man of joy.

  Hello? Anybody there?    

  Another point made by this verse is about hiding our face from Him. I am not sure I understand this statement. I assume it is talking about turning away from Him while He was being punished for our sins. The problem I have is, how can I help but turning away? How could I watch my saviour be crucified for what I did?

  Let me explain with a story from my life.

  At times I was not a good employee. Big shocker that is! On those occasions my boss had to pay for what I had done. If I failed to do my job correctly or even at all, it was my boss that had to pick up the tab. I was ashamed. At no point in my life have I ever wanted to go to the boss, look them in the eye, and take responsiblity. This, I think, is what the verse is talking about. I turn to Jesus and allow Him to pay for my failure and sin. 

  Please understand, it is extreemly hard to imagine watching Jesus pay the price. But the punishment is so great I don't want to pay it. In fact I can't. I simply can't afford to bankroll my sins and failures. I am bankrupt.

  By placing my sins upon Jesus, He has taken the shame away. I will always be guilty of the sins but I won't be ashamed. There is a huge difference.

  Jesus did not pat me on the back and say, "Oh well, you failed, it will be ok, let me fix that". No, He clearly showed me the enormous price that must be paid. It is very humbling to see someone else pay for something they shouldn't be paying for. I am tired of running up the bill.

  So that is what hiding my face from God means to me. I should "face" Him and say "Thank you".  I should never take lightly my own sin. My sin placed Him on the cross. I hope I can esteem Him better than I have.