Isaiah 53:3-4 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.

Jesus the man

If you were to do a word association game, what image or person would come to mind with the words, despised, rejected, suffering, pain.  If you had not just read the above passage, would you really think of Jesus?  Definitely it would be hard to associate these words with a savior or messiah.  In fact, our minds would think that he must have done something to deserve this disrespect.  But a Savior would be above reproach.  He would be loved and respected.

This passage messes with our perceptions of Jesus.  Yet, this passage reveals the depth of his humanity.  Jesus felt the pain of human existence down to his very core.  To be despised is the problem one has about our self worth.  Jesus was carrying the message of eternal life…yet he was seen as someone on the peripheral by the religious elite.  They asked can any good thing come from Nazareth?

Rejected!  Rejection. Not passive, but overtly physical, emotional and social rejection.  Jesus was rejected.  His message, His miracles, His attempts of love were all rejected.  To extend a gift in your hand and have it slapped away and trampled under foot, only begins to express the pain from being rejected.  Jesus felt this pain to his core. Alone, lonely, and misunderstood were feelings that Jesus was familiar with. 

Suffering was not a moment of pain, but the extended version.  He endured suffering.  He didn’t quit.  Jesus was acquainted with suffering when he experienced the loss of Lazarus.

Jesus can truly identify with human suffering.  He can identify with our suffering, our pain, our rejection.  His comfort is real, it is genuine, and empathetic.  He is the real deal.

Our savior understands us like no one else in the world.  He is ready to lift us up from our pain. He is the real deal.  SO, let him know how it hurts.  Feel the warmth of his embrace.

He loves you.