God’s Definition
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when he cried to Him for help, He heard. Psalm 22:24
Despised – David’s psalm is only one description of the most despised person to ever live. Isaiah completes the picture in chapter 53. The Servant of God is despised and rejected by all men! This is more than we can imagine. How is it possible that Jesus, innocent and willing to sacrifice Himself, is held in contempt by every human being?
The answer to this question depends entirely on the definition of the Hebrew word bazah. It means more than a hostile and disgusted attitude. The word always implies an external action along with the mental intention. To despise is to act against someone. In Hebrew thought, this action has a unique referent. It always involves God. Why? Because God is the One Who defines what it means to despise someone. Despising is acting against God’s chosen or God’s community or God Himself. Sin is really despising God’s Word, considering it of no value and disdaining it. When I oppose His Word or His people, I fit the definition of despising.
How can the Servant of God be despised by everyone? Because every one of us has acted against God’s chosen one by refusing to obey and submit to Him. When we chose to sin, we slapped Jesus in the face, pouring contempt on His sacrifice for us. The reprobates and degenerates didn’t push the crown of thorns on His head. You and I did, the ones who now realize that our ego glorification meant despising Jesus.
Now notice that this verse says God has not despised the afflicted one. If God defines bazah, God also judges who is despised and who isn’t. God’s judgment works like this: What you give out to others, you get back. Those who despised God’s chosen One will themselves be despised. They will be the recipients of hostile rejection, disdain and contempt. They will be reduced to insignificance by the God they slandered. God defines the meaning of “despised,” and in the process, He passes judgment on all those who fit the definition. Until we came to Jesus in abject repentance, that definition included you and me.
We learn one more crucial bit from this word. In this world, the righteous are despised. Why? Because the unrighteous reject God, and in their rejection, they cast disdain on those who serve God. You cannot hate the Master and love His servants. Nor can you love the Master and hate His servants. So, if you thought that being called to serve the King meant your life would be filled with welcomed embrace and joyous acceptance, think again. Jesus said that the world hated Him – and it will hate you. He wasn’t lying. To refuse to obey God is to despise God and all of His children. In this world, the one who obeys God will suffer. But it’s OK. God decides the final outcome for the “despised.”
The body (the ekklesia) exists to encourage us through the inevitable disdain of the world. Have you touched the heart of one of your fellow travelers today? He is trudging the road under the weight of rejection. Go lift him up. He needs it.
