He Was Despised

By José de Madrazo Agudo (1781-1859) [PD]
-Isaiah 53:3

"He was despised", is hard for me to believe, when I love Jesus and see who he is.  People who despised him obviously did not see who he was.  

Despise means "look down upon".  It also means to devalue or have contempt for.  

The world is a place of despising.  We look down on one another.  When Jesus came on the scene, he experienced this.  

He was despised as a teacher.  They misunderstood him and they criticized him.  John Wesley wrote this, in his book on The Sermon on The Mount:
He could not fail to be accused of being a teacher of novelties. He was called an introducer of a new religion. (ch. 7, first page)
"He was despised".  If I am in the least bit despised, I am in good company, because he was despised.  He is still despised.

"To despise", the Hebrew meaning here, originally; means "to hold in low esteem".  The end of the verse, "We didn't value him", expresses this.  The lack of valuing and despising go together, in using someone for our selfish needs.

To despise Jesus is to use him for my selfish needs, while not valuing him; as in, "What does he want from me?"  I don't care, if I just want stuff from him.  That is despising.

Not bowing, not taking up my cross, and seeing him as a commodity, is despising Jesus.  Ignoring his "hard words" is despising him.  Trusting in his grace, his unconditional love, and his forgiveness; while not giving my whole life, my everything, to him is despising him.  That person does not hate him, but in truth, does not value him, if you look at the actions of their life.  That's despising.

Hypocrisy, double-standards, being a-law-unto-your-self, and living a life where you say, "do as I say and not as I do", is despising him.  That person does not hate him, but despises him.  Jesus' commands and his teachings are inconvenient and painful.  We call him Lord, but don't do what he says, because we despise him.

If you don't die to your self and if you don't take up your cross and follow him, then you will despise him.  You will not value him.

The only way to live the life of esteeming him and living in adoration of him, not just in what you say, sing, and pray, but in how you live, how you treat all the people on your path and how you even treat your self, with authentic godly love from Jesus; is to bow your life to the king and let him live through you.  It is that simple and seemingly impossible, unless you let it be done to you by and through his grace.

He was despised, but he had dignity through Father's love and that love is given to us as well.  Though people despise us - they don't hate us, but they devalue us and use us as a selfish commodity for their selfish needs; God gives us dignity and worth.

When God spoke from heaven, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased", that was the opposite of despising.  That was commendation, adoration, love, praise, and massively honoring.  When God sees Jesus in our lives, Jesus living out our lives or us living our lives in him; that is how he feels and what he says.

He was despised.  That's a fact.  It is something to ponder.  He will be despised today and we do not want to be one who does take part in that.  And if it happened in his life, it will happen to us.  Nothing to be surprised about.