Isaiah 53:3 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
1) Christians will say that the Old Testament refers to a suffering and rejected Messiah but this is incorrect. Nowhere does the Old Testament describe a Messiah that would suffer and be rejected! All clear messianic prophecies (prophecies that actually reference a King or Messiah) describe a mortal, conquering king who would rule over an idyllic, utopia. Christians are fond of using Micah 5's Bethlehem prophecy for Jesus; why do we see nothing in this prophecy about this Messiah's rejection and death (a seriously important detail to overlook)? Zechariah 9 is commonly referenced by Christians as a Messianic prophecy but here again we see a conquering king with no mention of rejection, suffering or execution.
2) The word "grief" in this verse is the Hebrew word Choliy and only means disease. Examples include De 7:15, De 28:59, De 28:61. The word was deliberately mistranslated in order to keep the prophecy in line with the Jesus myth. Was Jesus acquainted with disease?
3) Who is speaking here? If we read back to 52:16 we will see that it is the Gentile Kings. "...Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand." Did the Gentile Kings despise and not esteem Jesus? If this is the Jewish populace then it is still incorrect as Jesus was not "despised and forsaken" by the general populace, only by Jewish and Roman leadership.
4) Who is this "rejected and forsaken one"? This imagery never identifies the subject as Messiah, King, Branch of David or Son of God. Instead the subject is identified as the Lord's servant. Who is the Lord's servant? Well the logical thing to do is to page back through Isaiah and see if he tells us who God’s servant is. Sure enough Isaiah reveals that God’s servant is Israel: Isaiah 41:8-9, 42:1, 43:10, 44:21, 45:4, 48:20, 49:3. As an example: Isaiah 49:3 And said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” Nothing cryptic or puzzling, Isaiah says straight out that Israel is God’s servant.
5) Do we find references to a forsaken or afflicted one anywhere else in Isaiah? Yes we do, and each time it refers to Israel. For example Isaiah 49:7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel {and} its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, "Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You."
6) There are many parts of this prophecy that could not possibly refer to Jesus.
Isaiah 53 is positively and absolutely imagery of a conquered Israel. I do a full verse by verse dissection of Isaiah 53 HERE
Verdict: Stolen Prophecy. This is actually imagery of a conquered Israel with promises of rewards if they manage to survive their tribulations.