Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, April 14, 2024
“Sad, isn’t it,” she called out to us as she strode by, making it more a pronouncement than a question.
I stared after her as she and two companions continued their brisk walk down our neighborhood trail.
Sad? What did this stranger see as sad? And sad enough to call forth her comment?
It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and my husband and I were gazing fondly, as is our wont, at a neighbor’s backyard tree we’ve dubbed The Hummingbird Tree. Other birds frequent it, but we most enjoy the big, raucous blue jays and the tiny, whirring hummingbirds. We had watched both cavort around the tree this day and were quite content.
So why this sad? My husband and I exchanged perplexed glances, and then he ventured a possible answer. “Maybe she was looking at the bareness of the tree . . .”
I considered this. True, the tree had not yet leafed out in lush greenery, but we thought of this as an advantage. It was much easier to spot the small birds when they were perched on bare branches.
And yet, the tree we enjoy visiting at least once a day must be what our passer-by called “sad.” “Bleak” must be in the eye of the beholder, as well as beauty.
And yes, this reminds me of Jesus. You, too?
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
(Isaiah 53:1-7 NIV)
This prophetic passage about Jesus could be described as sad, but I believe stronger words are in order: desolate, heartbreaking, sacrificial.
As I read through the passage a second time, I decided to pull out single words about Jesus. Then, I realized, I must go on to a second, shorter list – a list about us.
He:
Despised
Rejected
Suffering
Pain
Punished
Stricken
Afflicted
Pierced
Crushed
Wounds
Oppressed
Slaughter
Lamb
We:
Sheep
Transgressions
Iniquities
Peace
Healed
Call it what it is: Love, isn’t it?