Root Out of Dry Ground

"For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not. (Isa. 53:2-3)

Isaiah had already written of the glory and majesty of the future Kingdom, so this description of the future King must have seemed incongruous to those who would later read his words. And nearly three-thousand years later, I will admit that I am as amazed as they must have been. This picture of the Son of God on earth is so far removed from what He was in eternity past, and what He will be in eternity future, that it defies comparison.

Verse two says of Him that He would seem to be simply "a root out of dry ground"; His mother and "father," common folk, who added neither prestige to His station in life or beauty to His features. Isaiah tells us frankly that there would be no beauty in Him that would inspire anyone to desire Him. God, Who created all beauty, chose not to clothe Himself with it; and those who were impressed only with beauty were not impressed with Him. In fact, they hid their faces from Him. He was not only "rejected," but worse, "despised." No wonder He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." No one ever lived Who deserved more acceptance than He, yet no one experienced more rejection. (Jno.1:11).

Verse eight asks, "Who shall declare his generation?" What could come of such a plain looking, despised, and rejected Man? Well, for one thing, says Isaiah, God would one day see "the travail of His soul" on Calvary, and be satisfied. So much so that it would result in the justification of many (v.11).

One day, the world will discover that the One Who appeared to be only "a root out of dry ground" was, in reality, "the Root of David" (Rev.5:5). And on that day when He returns King of kings and Lord of lords, I, who am one of those justified ones, shall see His face, and make no mistake; to me it will be beautiful.