I would say that Isaiah 53 is one of my favorite passages in the bible. It contains a description of Jesus that is not found anywhere else:
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
3 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.
For me, the description “A man of sorrows” has taken on new meaning. I never really understood why Jesus was described this way, until just recently. In the last couple of years I have experienced more loss than in all the rest of my life put together. First, I lost my dog Benny. He was the first dog I ever owned and I watched him grow old, and experience a lot of adversity. He went bind, was attacked by maggots, and died of a breathing disorder. The whole thing made me sad, and was a prediction of things to come. Around the same time, I witnessed my mother in law die of cancer. Then, my dad got Alzheimer’s. I watched him lose his mind and not really understand what was happening to him. I also witnessed him suffer, a lot. It was an agonizing experience for all of us. After my dad died, my father in law died next, of stomach cancer. Add to this watching my own government turn against me and put my freedom at risk, all because I am a Christian. After all these deaths of people close to me, I recently lost my job. My job was very valuable to me. It gave me prestige, because it was a very good high paying job. Around the same time as I was losing my job, I was also losing my health. Like my dog Benny, I am having difficulty breathing. I find that I do not want to work because of this, and am not looking for another job. Fortunately, I was well compensated by my company, and have enough money to live on. Lastly, I have lost a most valuable thing, something that I cannot talk about yet. This latest loss has been particularly hurtful. All this loss has helped me experience fellowship with God. From Philippians 3:10:
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death
I believe all this loss has taught me an aspect of God that most people don’t really think about very much, how much God is hurt by our idolatry and sin. In fact, the many passages in the “prophets” section of the bible pertain particularly to God’s hurt and frustration with us. As I experienced loss, over and over, I remembered these passages from scripture where God is talking about his own hurt and loss from dealing with us. Here is a typical passage from Jerimiah 2:27-28
27 Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to Me,
And not their face;
But in the time of their trouble they will say,
‘Arise and save us.’
28 “But where are your gods
Which you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you
In the time of your trouble;
For according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah
You can hear the hurt and frustration God expresses here when we turn toward idols and away from God when things go well. I have felt the same hurt and frustrations myself as I faced loss after loss in my life. While not anywhere near the same level of loss (but not defeat!) God has suffered (especially on the cross) I did experience some fellowship with him. This has given me a new perspective on my relationship to him. As I was in prayer (because I was hurting) I heard the still small voice of God saying to me: “You think you have it bad? Imagine what I experience with billions of people turning against Me!” He, of course is right, I do not suffer anywhere near as much as he did and is, for us. Praise God! I think God has put me through this time of loss to help me see things from his perspective, and I thank him for it.
