‘He was despised and rejected by men,
A man of sorrows, and humiliated by grief,
And as one from whom men hide their face,
He was despised and we esteemed him not.'
He will not only be unattractive humanly speaking, but also despised and rejected. When He reveals Himself men will laugh and deride (compare the use of the root of ‘despised' in Isaiah 37:22), they will sneer at Him, they will dismiss His words and His claims. He will be written off by ‘those who know' as a charlatan.
‘Rejected by men.' The verb translated ‘rejected' means transient, fleeting, lacking, and therefore not up to standard in men's eyes.
‘A man of sorrows, and humiliated by grief.' He will walk sorrowfully and in grief. For He bears in Himself the knowledge that men are rejecting His Father, and the means of their own salvation. He will grieve at the hardness of men's hearts (Mark 3:5). He will carry the burden of the world (Mark 8:12). The verb yatha‘ (‘to know') can also mean ‘to be humiliated' as witnessed at Ugarit.
The reference is not to a gloomy person by nature, but to One Who faces a world of gloom. It is intended to be in contrast with the idea of royalty as pleasure seekers and hedonists. Not so this One, for He has come to deal with the needs of the world and He sees them as they are, and bears their burden on His shoulders.
‘And as one from whom men hide their face, He was despised and we esteemed Him not.' Literally ‘there was as it were a hiding of face from Him'. Men will be ashamed to be aligned with Him, they will keep away from His company for fear of what the world might say (John 6:66; John 7:13; John 12:42. Even Nicodemus came by night - John 3:2). Thus was He despised and not given the esteem that was His due. And besides He did not fit the expected pattern (John 7:12; John 7:27; John 7:35).
So He will come from a poor background, He will not be striking to look at, He will not wear clothes of majesty, He will not be highly esteemed, He will not be a pleasure seeker but serious minded, He will not fit into men's preconceptions. All this is a condemnation of how men think, and illustrates their false sense of values. For those who knew Him and gave Him a fair hearing recognised His worth, and listened, and humbled themselves before Him. And that was how God saw Him. Man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
It was from this that Satan would tempt Him to free Himself (Matthew 4:1-11). If He were but to say the word He could be lifted out from it in a moment. He could instead receive the kingdoms of the world. Had he not come to receive a Kingdom? Yes, but it was to be received through humiliation.