Love the Unlovely

3 days ago, I listened to a reading of Isaiah 53 by a friend, and since that morning there has been one verse that has stuck around in my head, it's one of my favourite verses in this chapter, and it is the second part of verse 2 which says: "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him". There's something about this verse that I love so much, and I will try to explain why this verse means so much to me.

In Isaiah 53, Isaiah was prophetically speaking about Jesus. When I think of what Jesus did on the cross for us, my first thought is always of how terrible the agony must've been for Jesus, to be seperated from the Father for 3 days, to be in utter darkness, carrying the weight of our sins, basically the sufferring of his soul. It's a thought we can never truly comprehend, a thought so terrible it makes me shudder! (And let us not forget too, how terrible that must`ve been for the Father too, to be separated from His Son whom He loves, and to willingly give up His Son for us).

But before that even takes place, verse 2 tells us that there was nothing 'lovely' about him and Isaiah goes on in verse 3 to say that: "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

So often the world thinks of Jesus as being so beautiful and lovely especially now as Christmas approaches and we sing about the 'little baby Jesus sleeping in a manger, laying down his sweet head'. Yet, the world forgets that this sweet little baby, is the same Jesus, that had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, and that he was despised and rejected by men, a man familiar with sufferings.

This baby Jesus came to our world on a mission. He came to identify with us in our humanity, to offer us a better life and to point the way to the Father, He shared in our sufferings, He took upon himself the weight of our sins, He didn't look like a Brad Pitt male model, there was nothing special about His appearance, He more likely looked like an ordinary man, that would walk past you in the street and you wouldn't even notice.

Yet Jesus was beautiful: in loving the unlovely; in sharing in our sufferings; in carrying our trangressions; in allowing the suffering of His soul so that our souls could find freedom that we didn't deserve; in being oppressed and afflicted in silence for our sakes; in being pierced and crushed for our iniquities; in taking our punishment so we can have His peace; He truly is beautiful! In choosing to not use His divinity to ease the pain, so that He could identify with our suffering, He truly is majestic!

So this Christmas season, remember that it is the coming of this Jesus, that is the true reason for the season. If you are suffering, if you are despised by men, if there is nothing in your appearance that others would desire, remember that Jesus loves you. Remember that you are the reason He came to earth, that He wanted to share in your sufferring, and give you hope and comfort in the power of his resurrection, in what He defeated on the cross for you. To give you a gift of eternal life, and as we receive what He gives us and reflect on His beauty, may we be changed and be made beautiful in His likeness.

And for those of you, who are not suffering, who are loved by others and are lovely in appearance, may you remember to give a little love this Christmas and remember to love the unlovely, and if you look hard enough, you may even find Jesus in those that the world despises.

Isaiah 53:2-7 (New International Version)

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.