Isaiah 52:13-15 (NLT)
“See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. And he will startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about.”
We don’t know exactly what Jesus looked liked. Artists have guessed throughout history, but many have depicted him as a white man (due to many European influences in art). These verses describe the face of God’s servant, describing it as disfigured and that he may not even seem like a man. This reminds me of Luke 24:13-32 after Jesus had resurrected from death. He is walking along the road to Emmaus and those who have just heard about his death talk to him but they do not recognize him. The Bible says that God stopped them from recognizing him, but many have also wondered if there was something about his post-death appearance that made him look unfamiliar even to those who had seen him before.
In today’s verses we have an odd juxtaposition: someone described as “disfigured” yet that same one will be exalted and will cause kings to understand things they have not yet understood. Will he startle them because he does not seem like a person who would on an earthly level garner much attention or praise? Will he defy our human expectations of what a “leader” should look like?
You may not think you are all that beautiful, or talented, or worth a whole lot. But all of the earthly reasons that contribute to you feeling that way are all things God does not care one tiny bit about. He made you, so he likes you. He has a knack for taking what the world discards and turning it into a beautiful masterpiece. He looks into the deepest caverns of your heart to mine the gold that is hidden there. These verses may mean that Jesus was or is an ugly man. If he was, God made him that way intentionally to astound the world and to redefine where glory comes from. Any glory that you have in your life either comes from God lifting you up or from the world building up your pride. Humility is where the real spiritual beauty is found.