In an iconic scene from the original 1977 “Star Wars” movie, we see Obi Wan Kenobi use his Jedi powers for the first time when he protects droids named RD-D2 and C-3PO from the Stormtroopers. Obi Wan, Luke Skywalker, and the two droids were stopped at a checkpoint and about to be captured when Obi Wan simply waved his hand and said, “These aren’t the droids you are looking for.” He used this Jedi mind trick to force the Stormtroopers to allow them to go, and the droids, Luke, and the Rebellion were saved.

That scene comes to mind when we read Isaiah’s prophecy that a messiah would come and not look like what the people were expecting. Isaiah’s messiah would not be a handsome warrior who would lead the people to victory over their oppressors but rather would come with no splendid form or desirable appearance. Rather than a tall sturdy tree, this messiah would grow like a young, tender plant surviving in dry ground. This messiah would serve as a suffering atonement for the nation of Israel and would be despised and rejected for his efforts.

Isaiah 53 (Common English Bible)

Who can believe what we have heard,
    and for whose sake has the Lord’s arm been revealed?
² He grew up like a young plant before us,
    like a root from dry ground.
He possessed no splendid form for us to see,
    no desirable appearance.
³ He was despised and avoided by others;
    a man who suffered, who knew sickness well.
Like someone from whom people hid their faces,
    he was despised, and we didn’t think about him.

It is easy to put on our New Testament glasses and see this as a direct prophecy about Jesus. He was planted in the dry ground of Galilee under Roman occupation. Luke 2:52 tells us that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, in favor with both God and people. The strong and mighty arm of the Lord revealed Jesus as our Savior even though his humble beginnings countered that notion. Jesus was rejected throughout his entire ministry, was spat on and vilified at his crucifixion, all the while taking upon himself the diseases, griefs, and sorrows of the world.

Verse 4 serves as the take-away for our learning today. It was our sickness he carried. It was our sufferings that he bore. He packed up the sorrows and grief of the world and carried them upon his back all the way up to the cross so that we didn’t have to. And we rejected him. 

⁴ It was certainly our sickness that he carried,
    and our sufferings that he bore,
    but we thought him afflicted,
    struck down by God and tormented.

One of the ways that we reject him is to take back the sorrows and sufferings that he carried and carry it ourselves. When we believe Satan’s lie that our sin is too great to be forgiven and continue to beat ourselves up over past transgressions, we effectively despise Jesus and turn away from what he did on the cross.

Jesus carries all those diseases away, throwing them as far as the east is from the west. He makes us whole through the forgiveness of sin and the grace of redemption. Are you struggling with the past? Release it. This is the Messiah you are looking for.

Flower Growing in Concrete by Michelle Robertson