Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
(Isaiah 53:1-3)
Walking amidst a crowd of marketgoers, it’s easy to get lost. I am nothing but a mere consumer myself, to shop for fish, or dates, or olives, or chickens, or goats, or sheep, or doves; I find I am another face in this crowd. You can hear the constant buzz of shoppers and friends and neighbors. I watch the people who pass by me to the right, as more of the same walk along side me on my left. Some glance at me, but most look the other way when my gaze meets theirs. Their faces are fresh, their hairs are clean; unmarred by the sweat that this day at the marketplace will bring. Some are so concerned with their lives; they wonder how they will survive if customers do not buy, while the shoppers wonder how they will survive paying such hefty prices for survival. Some hardened faces are hardened with a look of constant concentration, always weary that their fellow countrymen will take advantage of them. Groups of young women have already gathered, watching their mothers shop, or talking and laughing with their young women friends. A religious leader’s boisterous voice can now be heard loud and clear down the street, and it sounds as though he’s coming this way. Ah, yes, here he is, giving shillings to those poor blind and maimed sitting just outside the market. He prays loudly so all can hear, and a dirty, lame, beggar dives at his feet to thank him for his holiness and mercy. This gathering is not one of silence. Here, I am not in a crowd of silent onlookers but in a crowd of life and vitality. For this is what life consists of, and I am among them…just another man, buying just another fish, or olives, or chicken, or goat, or sheep.
Today when I pray, I will pray for these who I pass by and those who pass by me. I will pray that God’s will be done. Someday I will be baptized among them, I will be crucified for them, and I will be glorified by them; though I once shared glory with my Father, I am no better than they. Today, I will silently pray, because not one of them recognizes me for who I am; but I recognize them for all they are. I’m just another face in this crowd of marketgoers, and shepherds, and Pharisees and tax collectors-those who God has sent me for.
I hope that I can see others as Christ might have. Many didn’t even acknowledge who He was, but that didn’t matter to Him. May I never take other’s lack of acknowledgement of me as reason to not acknowledge Christ to them.
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