Attractive?

Depends on How You Look at it…

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
 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.   

Isaiah 53:1-3 (NIV)      

I have always been struck by this passage from Isaiah. The writer anticipates the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, and he paints a picture of him that many would not recognize. This Messiah is one who “had no beauty or majesty.” Nothing in his appearance would draw people to him. In short, he is not the one people were looking for to redeem the land of Israel and Judah. 

In fact, he was “despised and rejected” by mankind. He was a man of suffering, familiar with pain. In other words, he was not the typical ruling king who would claim a land from the Roman Empire- (especially since that wasn’t really the plan anyway). People held him in low esteem and rejected him. Yes, he was a surprise Messiah!

He was exactly the opposite of what worldly standards demand of a conquering hero. And, of course, that is exactly what we should expect from a God who confounds the proud and lifts up the marginalized. God is not interested in the outward appearance. He is interested in a transformed and humble heart.

I think that is pretty awesome.

Prayer: Lord, you confound the proud in order to determine hearts attuned to your plans, Amen