When we look at the Gospels and read the life of Christ, we may miss this fact about the world as we find our minds and hearts captivated by the story of the love of Jesus, and his miracles of healing and power. This is why this verse in Isaiah which is prophetic of the coming Messiah is so important. This verse is a commentary on the reception Jesus received in our world. We have the same commentary expressed in John 1:10,11 where we read "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." 'His own' in this scripture speaks of the attitude of the Jews to Jesus who was their promised Messiah.

There are two directions for our thoughts in this sermon which will come together in an application to our lives. The first is an understanding of the world, and the other is the experience of Jesus from this attitude of the world.

Our text reads 'He was despised and rejected of men'. By men we must understand the world. The apostle John writes in the last chapter of his first letter that the whole world is in the control of the evil one. By the world in this context the apostle means human beings, men and women and children. Using the idea of the world in this context, it is not the planet earth, nor the animals and vegetation, but 'homo sapiens', men and women who dominate and live on this planet earth.

1. The world's estimation of Jesus, the Servant.

Our text speaks of human beings despising Jesus - He was despised. He was despised in the first instance because he was born into a poor family and in a low social class. Although both Mary and Joseph had royal ancestry, at the time Jesus was born to Mary they were working class, albeit Joseph was a skilled carpenter. The world in its wisdom despises those less rich and of poor social class. I have no doubt that Jesus was born into a poor family for his incarnation, so that he could be seen to identify with all, and not just those privileged in a worldly sense, and that he came to be the Saviour of all. However this meant the world despised him.

Jesus was despised by mankind, not chiefly because he was poor, but because he was good and because he spoke the truth. We read in John chapter 3 and verse 19 "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil." Human nature is fallen, and there is a corruption with which all of us are born, that leans towards evil rather than good. We do evil naturally, but we have to work hard to do good. How easily we are selfish, proud, lacking in love, angry and so on, apart from the many ways we fall short of absolute honesty and integrity. This inborn corruption, due to humanities fall into sin and into the dominion of Satan, turns away from goodness and despises it.

Goodness is boring, but also it challenges our thinking and acting, and thus there is an in-built distaste and rejection to it within us. We approve of goodness, and because the image of God is not entirely lost, and we still aspire in some measure to be good, but real goodness, as was seen in Jesus, we hide from. This distaste of goodness is seen in the way we venerate riches and success and cleverness, and despise the poor, the unsuccessful and the simple.

Jesus was despised by the Jewish authorities in his day because he was not of the religious elite, and they resented the fact that he spoke the truth and challenged there corrupt system, which bolstered up the superiority of the religious elite.

Jesus was also rejected. When human beings despise someone, they reject that person. They turn away from a person in contempt or as not worthy of regard. The world looked down and still looks down on Jesus with contempt. There is a general acceptance that Jesus was a good man, but the world despises him because of what it feels was his weakness. Being good like Jesus in the world's estimation is to be exploited, cheated and cut out. In the case of Jesus the world sees Jesus as silly to have got himself killed for being so loving, and the world not only despises such people, but rejects such attitude and action as folly.

Our text speaks of the world as having a very low estimation of Jesus - they esteemed him not. This the end result of the world's attitude to the goodness and love of Jesus. The world feels that such goodness is all very well, but that it is the way to loss, and it is stupid not to stand up for yourself, and return evil for evil, and retaliate. The world despises the way of Jesus to overcome evil with good, even though it is found that love is the only power that actually overcomes evil.

This attitude of the world of despising and rejecting Jesus is an indictment upon the world. The world thinks that it is so wise. The world thinks that wisdom is increasing and we are more wise than our forebears in history. Yet the Bible�s testimony is that the world in its wisdom knew not God, and this is the indictment of the world.

Jesus, the Servant of God, was the Son of God and is the Son of God. Although his deity was veiled in flesh, and in his outward appearance the world saw a man, yet in his life, his words, his actions, his power, and his teaching, Jesus showed and proved that he was God. This is the indictment of the world. In all its vaunted pride, the world is ignorant of true beauty and goodness, and is blind to the one who created the world and gave us all that we have and are.

The indictment of the world is that the world rejected its creator and its God, and could not see or accept Him. This is the indictment that continues down history. The world rejects and despises God. Far from loving God, the world actually lives in contempt of God, and this was seen so clearly in the world's attitude to Jesus when he became incarnate, and all down history in the way Jesus is rejected. The world will worship anything or anyone rather than Jesus the true and only God.

The world does not recognise it, but in this rejection there is great and terrible loss. Jesus came to save the world and to deliver us from darkness and bring us into the light of God's glory and love. Jesus came to save us from sin and all its consequences. He came to save us from the wrath of God and from hell in eternity, though the world in its folly ridicules the idea. The world loses all this salvation by rejecting Jesus, but the world's loss is more direct. The world's seeks happiness and fulfilment. The unhappiness and dissatisfaction in the world is because we are in darkness and under the dominion of the evil one. It is our rejection of Jesus that perpetuates the horrors of the world and unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

The loss of the world is that it rejects the Saviour who alone can bring true joy and fulfilment. It is only when we are reconciled to God that we find ourselves and life becoming meaningful. In rejecting Jesus we reject the only one who can save us from our sin and the corruption within us, and bring us to God and into God's love, so that we again enjoy the life our creator meant for us, which is to enjoy God and glorify him. By rejecting Jesus the world loses true happiness now, and condemns itself to eternal loss in the life to come. By rejecting Jesus the world plunges itself into the misery we see all around us, and leaves no hope of deliverance from this horror in the life to come, but seals up for itself a worse fate in eternity.

In his life here on earth, when the Son of God became incarnate in order to save us from our sin and misery, Jesus experienced sorrow. There was and is no sorrow like unto his sorrow. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, or as the New International Version of the Bible puts it 'familiar with suffering".

1. Extent of Christ�s sorrow

We are dealing here in this verse with the experience of Jesus due to the attitude of the world to him. This was a large part of the suffering of Jesus, but not the whole. There were other great sufferings our Saviour bore for us, but it is the suffering caused to the Servant by the attitude of the world to himself that we are looking at in this verse.

We read in Hebrews 1:2 that God appointed Jesus, his only begotten Son, "heir of all things" and also that "through Him God made the universe". Jesus became flesh and dwelt amongst the creatures he had created, over whom he ruled, and to whom he provided all things for life and happiness. Yet his creatures despised him and rejected him.

The Lord of Glory became human and emptied himself of all glories of his heavenly existence and entered the comparative muck heap of the world humanity had corrupted. He came into the world in this sacrificial way out of pure love, compassion and mercy. He came to save us from the corruption we had brought upon ourselves and to restore us to the glory we had lost by our sin. He came to suffer our pain in our place in order that we might be saved from that just punitive suffering. There was no love like the love of Jesus, yet his creatures despised and rejected him.

Jesus knew this would be his experience before he was incarnate, yet he did not shirk the pain or the sorrow. All of us know something of the sorrow and pain of rejection by others and by the despising of others. We only suffer this in a small degree and from relatively few. Jesus suffered this rejection for us to the utmost dregs, and not just from a few but from us all, for even his disciples all left him at the time of his greatest need and he had to tread the winepress of God's wrath against sin, and go to the cross and bear the sin of the world, alone.

To be alone is one of the greatest sorrows of human experience. Not to be loved by anyone and to be without any friends in the world, and to know everyone rejects and despises you, is an horrific sorrow and pain. Yet this was the experience of Jesus in his sacrificing of himself to save us. The hurt is made worse when the despising comes from those we have loved, helped and blessed. Jesus was despised by those whom he had created, poured out blessings upon, and whom he had come to save from their folly and evil.

Jesus suffered this for you and for me, nor can we opt out of the blame, for we have all, times without number, been guilty of rejecting him. However his love, grace and mercy has never, never failed us, and never, never been withdrawn. How infinitely great is the love of Jesus for his redeemed.

2. The understanding of Jesus

Jesus has suffered in every point like we humans� suffer, and so he is able to help and succour those who suffer and sorrow and are in the pain of rejection.

It is part of the wonder and completeness of the work of salvation which Jesus has done for us that there is no part of human blame and suffering that Jesus has not borne for us in full. It is also an aspect of his complete Saviourhood that Jesus has suffered in every way like we have suffered, has been tempted and tried in every way like we have, and so can sympathise and understand all our sorrow and pain, and help us in our time of need. Because Jesus has suffered the totality of sorrow, there is no suffering we may experience which he is not able to identify with, and no sorrow which he has not already worked healing.

Sorrow in this life has to be borne by us. It is not erased completely by the victory of Christ, the suffering Servant; but because he suffered and sorrowed in our place we are sure of several things. Firstly that in our sorrow we have a Saviour who understands and can sympathise with us. Secondly our Saviour is always watching over us and is with us to strengthen us and to bring us through the sorrow and suffering safely. Thirdly because of the victorious saving work of Jesus, we are sure that we will be brought through the sorrows of this life into the eternal heavenly realm where sorrow and sighing have passed away. Let us place all our trust and hope and confidence in Jesus.

Firstly, let us confess that we are guilty of this rejection of Jesus. Everyone of us before we came to know the Saviour's love 'esteemed him not'. Like all who have sinned, Jesus suffered that rejection to save us, and did not cast us off. Let this truth and realisation keep us in humble thankfulness before him.

Secondly, let us understand the love, mercy and grace revealed in this sorrow of Jesus. Jesus willingly and voluntarily came into this world to redeem us, knowing before he came that he would be despised and rejected of men and a man of sorrows. This thought did not cause him to shirk this task of love, nor did it cause him to give us up and refuse to help us. Let us adore him for such grace and love.

Thirdly, if we have come to love the Saviour and to esteem him as our glorious Lord and God, let us still face the fact that our love is poor and weak, and our esteem for him is far less than is his due. The person of Jesus and his sacrifice of love for us demands my soul and life and my all. Let us repent of our lack of esteem, and seek by his grace to give him the honour due to him.