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. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 53:1-3 and 1 Peter 2:4-10
The penitent Jews (who are saved in the last days) continue to look back and admit that, in their earlier ignorance, their nation rejected and despised the Suffering Servant instead of receiving Him. We see this specifically mentioned by Matthew when Jesus visited the synagogue in his hometown:
“And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home’ (Matt 13:57).
The word translated “despised” is the Hebrew word bāzâ. When we use the word “despised” in English, there is an emotional component. The Oxford Dictionary translates despised as to “feel contempt for” making the word part of how we feel. In Hebrew, there is no emotion in bāzâ. It means to consider something worthless or unworthy of attention. It’s just simply not worth my time. Or better yet, a total waste of my time.
This is not the first time Scripture has prophesied of the Messiah being despised:
” the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who was despised (bāzâ) and abhorred by the nation” (Isa 49:7).
“But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised (bāzâ) by the people” (Ps 22:6).
Jesus told a parable of the Ten Minas that revealed the attitude of the Jews towards him. Jesus sets up the parable:
“A man of noble birth (Jesus) went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants (the Jews) and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ He was made king, however, and returned home.” (Luke 19:12-15).
The Jews despised Jesus and many still do to this very day. Their hatred for Jesus was intense and many rabbinic writings since then including the Talmud speak of Jesus with utter contempt. No man has ever been forsaken or rejected more than Jesus.
The Hebrew word for “rejected” is ḥādēl which is best translated as vacant. There is nothing there where something ought to be. The idea here is that Jesus was abandoned. The word ḥādēl implies leaving something before it reaches its conclusion. When Jesus came into the world, people would follow him for a while. But their interest in him was self-serving.
When Jesus revealed his true identity as the Bread of Life and that he wasn’t merely here to heal and feed people, he exposed their motives for following him and they abandoned him:
“Jesus said to them …, ‘The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.’ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him (John 6:61-66).
And of course his apostles abandon him when he was arrested and crucified. No one came to his defense. In the end, he was completely rejected by all mankind. But fortunately for us it didn’t end there. The Psalmist says it like this:
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22).
The Jews rejected Jesus but God raised him up so that we could be saved. By God’s grace we are a chosen people who accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior to receive God’s mercy. We are God’s special possession called to declare the praises of Jesus.
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:4-5, 9).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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