KJV Isaiah 53:3 “A Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
NASB Isaiah 53:3 “A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
He Suffered as a Man
Some might succumb to the false idea that since the Lord Jesus was incarnate deity, He was shielded from emotion and did not experience it in the same way in which we experience it. This part of the statement is true — He did not experience it as we do. He felt it much more keenly.
He was More Sensitive to Sin than We
The Lord Jesus was a perfect man with perfect, fine-tuned emotions. He was like us physically, but not morally. He was without sin. As the late Sydney Maxwell used to say, “He was as much a man as I, but not such a man as I.” His emotions, such as love, joy, sorrow, kindness, a sense of justice, moral outrage, and goodness, were never compromised or dulled. As human beings, we have a limited amount of emotion that we can bring to bear on a situation. Our compassion and empathy are finite. A huge disaster does not allow us to feel individually for each person involved. Tragedies bankrupt our emotional bank. After a while, as tragedies sometimes pile up on top of one another, we become emotionally numb. We all have reached that point at one time or another.
The Lord Jesus was never emotionally numb. His emotions were always keen and appropriate. Our response to events is tempered by many factors, including our own life experiences, internal feelings, and our relationship with the one suffering. Nothing ever compromised His inner being.
He was more Aware of Sin and Suffering than We
How many people do you think you have encountered in life who, in response to your “Hello, how are you?” have returned a smile and “fine, thank you?” Yet behind the smile and the profession that all is well, there lay a broken heart, a crushed spirit, or a hopeless encounter. Yet we were never aware of the true burden that individual carried.
The Lord Jesus saw it all and felt the grief and sorrow Himself. One reason He felt it so keenly is that all sorrow can eventually be traced back to the entrance of sin into our world. The person encountered may not be guilty of any particular sin that brought the grief, but in its ultimate root cause can be found the awful reality of sin. He saw, as we fail to see, the dread effects of sin wherever He went. All around Him, like a rising ocean tide, He encountered sin’s dread invasion into human life. His own family was infected by the virus, as evidenced by their unbelief (John 7:3-5). His own village, Nazareth, rose up to cast Him over the brow of the hill. His own nation chose a murderer and thief demanding His death. The only refuge from all-encompassing sorrows He saw and felt was the presence of His Father. Little wonder that He rose early to seek that precious company.
He was More Perceptive than We
He was not only more aware of sin and suffering, He was far more perceptive in seeing its effects. He not only saw the actions, heard the words, and observed the consequences of sin, He could see into the hearts and minds of men. He would see the sinister motives, the deft manipulation, the lies and hypocrisy of neighbours and townsfolk. The smile that covered over a murderous intent, the half-truth that was disguised as truth, the feigned allegiance that was self-motivated — He saw beyond it all, as the human heart and its thinking were an open book to Him.
Imagine for a moment if you could look into the hearts of those who profess to be your friends and discover their real opinion of you? If you could get beyond their words and see what is motivating them? While sincerity may mark many of them, there will undoubtedly be those who are false. Think of the sorrow that would mean for you to endure. Our Lord endured that daily, perhaps moment by moment.
Youth Work – Heart Work and Hard Work
He was More Far-Seeing than We
We think we are very discerning. We see parents who fail to discipline their child, and we think of the child’s future. We see individuals involved in questionable business deals and wonder when they will reap what they have sown. We congratulate ourselves on our perception.
He saw far further than we, as He saw the eternal future of those who were living without God. He mourned over the eternal consequences of sin in each individual’s life. It was a sorrow that added to all His other sorrows. Above all, He saw souls that were given life to glorify God eternally, yet who would be lost and never accomplish that goal.
We are beginning to appreciate a little of what it meant for Him to be a Man of sorrows: suffering while living amongst men, and suffering as a real man.