Jesus Became “Ugly” for Me!

Isaiah 53:2-10 

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 

Perhaps some of you are aware the “attractive” people earn higher wages and are most likely to hold positions of leadership.  Statistics confirm that physically attractive people are less likely to receive traffic citations and more likely to receive lenient decisions in our judicial system.  People are more drawn to “cute” babies; and it is practically impossible to find an attractive person who did not enjoy their high school experience (i.e. they were always invited to the homecoming and senior prom). 

In fact, most people do not want to identify with being unattractive, even if they feel that way.  This is one of the reasons why we spend billions of dollars annually on beauty products (men are not excluded from this phenomenon).  Then, along comes Jesus Christ. 

 The Scriptures do not lend any description of Jesus’ physical attributes: His height, build, skin color or hair texture are never mentioned.  His message, however, resonated.  The miracles He performed drew throngs and His ministry still stands today. 

In a culture that places so much emphasis on physical attraction, why is the Bible mostly silent on this subject?  Consider the following.  God told Samuel that people focus on the outward appearance, but God looks at our hearts (I Samuel 16:7).  I also propose another thought.  All of us have some not too attractive parts of our lives.  It may not be physical, but we have some attributes that are not endearing: bad temper, unforgiving spirit, mean disposition, bitter, disobedient, rebellious, hateful, lying, gossip, favoritism, and the list goes on.  Even the Apostle Paul had a thorn he asked God to remove three times; but God told him His grace was sufficient.  Then along comes Jesus. 

The Crucifixion was not a pretty sight.  In fact, the practice of crucifying people was so brutal, Rome would not allow its citizens to be subjected to that form of punishment.  Jesus shed a tremendous amount of blood.  He was beaten to the degree that His back was probably opened with lacerations.  Theologians believe His beard was probably torn off and most believe He was naked (the normal practice to further humiliate the person being punished).  In the text, Isaiah says there was no beauty in Him and no one wanted to be like Him. 

The prophet continues to say that we counted Him as being stricken or smitten of God.  However, it pleased the Lord to bruise Him for our sake.  In other words, all the ugly, unattractive, ungodly things about me, Christ became those things for me.  Maybe you don’t like some of your physical attributes, but He will beautify the meek with salvation. 

My friends, we owe our Savior our worship, our praise, our gratitude, and a holy, dedicated and righteous life.  He became all of those things we do not like.  In the words of the prophet: “…but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquity; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes, I am healed”! 

I bless you in the name of the Lord! 

And from Mrs. Pruitte, the entire Holiness Tabernacle family, and myself – Happy Resurrection Day!