"He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him." Isaiah 53:3 NAS

In the last two devotionals we looked at how our Savior Jesus was marred and the degree at which He was marred. This was because of our sins and it was His physical appearance that was marred. Here in this verse we can see how His heart was marred because of our sin.

It is hard to imagine that the great and mighty Creator and sustainer of all things took on the body of man with all it's limitations minus our sinful nature of course to be despised and forsaken (Is. 40:28, Col 1:16).

This is an incredible thing to try to put to reason and to truly understand the depth of God’s love. We know God is love because of what He did for us and also of course because His word tells us that He is love.

In 1 John 4:16 it says, “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." It is one thing to recite John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” as the reason for the sending of the Son. It was because of His great love for us.

It is quite another to consider the cost of what it really meant for God the Father to do the sending of His Son Jesus Christ. Actually we are to be thoughtful of this as we are told in Hebrews 12:3 which actually says, "For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself..."

Consider this that the heart of Jesus was marred with being despised and forsaken so that you and I could come freely to Him and be received as His son’s and daughters. This gives us great comfort to know that Jesus knows better than any other person our pains, sufferings and rejections.

To be despised and rejected goes to the core of our hearts. When we are despised and rejected it can leave us feeling marred and disfigured within our hearts. At the center of our core is the desire to be loved and accepted.

This is a God created desire that only He can truly fill. Jesus was despised and forsaken more than any other because of the hostility of sinners. This brings Hebrews 4:15 alive when it says, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses…”

We have all been despised and forsaken at one time or another by someone we love. Jesus knows exactly how we feel because He was despised and forsaken by everyone that He loved and cherished. Today remember this and consider it and then give you’re rejections to Him.

He will take them on Himself and remind your heart of how much He loves and accepts you. In the next devotionals we will look more at the marred heart of Jesus that was despised to the core. Have a blessed weekend.

In Christ -Always Accepted, Never Rejected,
Adam