365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 138: Man of Sorrows

Man of Sorrows

"He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care." (Isaiah 53:3 NLT)

Sometimes our culture that so highly values cheerfulness and optimism does not know what to do with the Man of Sorrows. 

But if Jesus is to be everything else He is, He must also be this.

How could Jesus be our Shepherd if His heart never broke with sorrow for the lost sheep? How could He be our Healer if His heart never broke with sorrow for the sick? How could He be our Redeemer if His heart never broke with sorrow for the imprisoned? How could He be our Friend if His heart never broke with sorrow for the lonely?

But He was and is, because His heart did and does.

Finally, Jesus took the ultimate source of our sorrow—our sin and the separation from God it causes—upon Himself. He had never known what the weight of sin felt like. He had never known anything but perfect fellowship with Abba. Yet He allowed the heavy sin of the whole world to pierce His head, and he chose to endure the terrible moment when His own Father turned away. The Man of Sorrows had to do this, because there was no other way.

But because He did do it, this glorious promise from Isaiah 35:10 is not just wishful thinking but an absolute certainty: "The ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."