A Man of Sorrows, Isaiah 53:3; Mark

This post concerns Jesus depicted in Isaiah and in the gospel of Mark as a man of sorrows.

‘A Man of Sorrows’ describes the values for us of Mark’s gospel, Isaiah 53:3. “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;”

Opening Mark allows one to see the ultimate fulfillment of the suffering savior of Isaiah 53. Over one-third of Mark shows the agony of the final week of Jesus’ life. Jesus illustrates an understanding of human pain, betrayal by close associates, and ultimately standing alone to go to the cross.

During His life Jesus showed the true meaning of greatness. When James and John asked to occupy great positions in Christ’ kingdom, He defined greatness for all to see, Mark 10:44-45. “…whoever… great among you must…your servant, and whoever would…first among you must…slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to…served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus truly exhibited greatness in His personal life.

Likewise, the gospel of Mark shows the failures of His disciples. At His arrest, they all left Him so that he had to stand trial alone.

At Jesus’ trial, Peter denied that he was a disciple three times. Then the rooster crowed and fulfilled the prophecy that Jesus had made about Peter. That caused Peter to weep bitterly as the enormity of his failure appeared to him.

Despite the failure of His disciples, this gospel shows Jesus overcoming sickness, disease, the oppression of the Jews, and physical storms. Once when Jesus and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee a storm caused fear by the apostles, but not Jesus, Mark 4:40. “He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”  Then, He calmed the storm.

Mark wrote all this to stress the greatness of Jesus. Jesus remains great still today. Reading and studying the gospel of Mark can strengthen our faith in Jesus as the only Son of God.

So, what did we learn?

1.Mark shows the fulfillment of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53.

2.Jesus defined greatness as service.

3.Mark shows the mistakes of the disciples.

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