Turning Our Backs on the World, Not God
In two short months, we will once again memorialize the suffering and death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We will rehearse the events of that Passover – washing each other’s feet, partaking of the bread and wine – as well as deepening our understanding of the meanings they hold for each of us. This annual observance reattaches us to our Savior and renews our path to a vibrant relationship with the Father and His Son.
However, Christ’s death was only the culmination of His physical life. He lived over 33 sinless years in the world apart from His Father. It is that entire sinless life that allowed Christ to fulfill our need for a perfect sacrifice. His sinless life serves as an example of the expectations we should have regarding our daily challenges. Isaiah 53:1-3 gives us some insight into Christ’s complete life.
Isaiah 53:1–3 (NLT) Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
Due to the many Old Testament prophesies, the Jewish people were expecting the Messiah’s appearance. John the Baptist’s ministry warned the people they were to prepare themselves through recognition and repentance of their sins so they may be able to stand before Him. Their expectation was a dynamic king of the line of David with all the pomp and circumstance. One who would stand against and save them from Rome, their tyrannical captors. The Jewish preconceived notions about God were a source and cause of much anguish for Christ.
- “Who has believed our message?”
When people saw Christ, a lowly carpenter who hung out with lowly fisherman and common folk, they could not accept Him, and many refused Him as Christ.
- “To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm?”
Since they perceived Christ as weak, they could not perceive Him possessing the power of God to save them. They could not understand because it was not revealed to them (Matthew 16:17).
- “My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground.”
The people expected to witness a king that grew up into the man that they imagined. Instead, Christ did not grow up before men but before His Father who viewed Christ as a lonely tender plant in the midst of a dry, austere, desert world. His Father was “well pleased” with His Son (Matthew 3:17, 17:5; Mark 1:11). However, the world had difficulty identifying with Christ.
- “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.”
Unlike Saul and David, Christ had no handsomeness nor great physical stature. There was nothing about Christ that one would be physically drawn to Him.
- “He was despised and rejected.”
Though Christ’s countenance was not strong or handsome, it was not why he was rejected and despised. It is because of the world’s preconception of God. Christ did not fit the mold. When Christ claimed to be the Son of God, they thought it sacrilege and despised Him. They could not see His heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
- “A man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.”
Since Christ was “tender”, He recognized all the pain and helplessness caused by sin. While we never read that Christ laughed, we do read that He wept over Jerusalem. He always continued to serve those in need. He walked in this dry world alone with only His Father.
- “We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.”
Christ did not live up to the world’s expectations, so He was abandoned by the world.
As each of us approach the Spring Festival season and focus on Christ’s sacrifice, we need to expand it to include His entire life and apply it to ourselves. Christ’s patient endurance in the face of this world is an example to each of us. Instead of turning our backs on Christ, we must turn our backs to the world.
Bill Hutchison
