From Living the Cross Centered Life, by C.J. Mahaney:
Suddenly, in the context of this promised rescue, Isaiah is describing someone totally unattractive and unimposing—not someone acclaimed, but someone “despised and rejected”; not someone who conquers, but someone who is “crushed.” (Isa 53:5) Reading this account for the first time, you would wonder: “Is this the guy who’s supposed to deliver us? Can this guy even remotely be ‘the arm of the LORD’ (Isa 51:9; 52:10; 53:1) Isaiah promised?”
No wonder Isaiah begins chapter 53 with these words: “Who has believed what they heard from us?” Who has believed? No one. And that includes us, for apart from divine revelation and the Spirit’s awakening, none of us would ever know genuine faith.
Human expectations of what a savior should be haven’t changed much down through the ages. Seven centuries after Isaiah’s prophecy, the apostle Paul would summarize people’s continuing misconceptions: “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to Gentiles.” (1 Cor 1:22-23) By divine design the gospel is foolishness to all who through pride are governed by the wisdom of this world, restricted to human observation and impressed only by outward appearance. (p 52)
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