Isaiah clearly foretold the attitude of many in Israel regarding their Savior. Ironically, in rejecting these very words as a prophecy of the Messiah, his people were fulfilling them by despising and rejecting him.
Some of his own family members failed to accept him as Messiah at first (John 7:5); people in his hometown tried to kill him (Luke 4:16–30); his own countrymen rejected him (John 1:11); one of his best friends betrayed him (Luke 22:48). In the end “all the disciples forsook him, and fled” (Matthew 26:56), and his enemies demanded his execution (Matthew 27:22–23). The people of Israel would hide their eyes from their God and not esteem his salvation (compare 1 Nephi 19:7–9).
Prophecies of the Messiah
Why would Jews generally reject Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah? Glance through the following sample of prophecies to understand what concept of Messiah should have prevailed among his own people (emphasis added):
Genesis 49:10. “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah … until Shiloh come.”
Numbers 24:17. “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel.”
Psalm 22:1. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Psalm 22:16. “They pierced my hands and my feet.”
Psalm 34:20. “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.”
Psalm 69:21. “In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
Psalm 118:22. “The stone which the builders refused is become the head.”
Isaiah 7:14. “A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, … Immanuel.”
Isaiah 9:6. “Unto us a child is born, … and the government shall be upon his shoulder.”
Isaiah 9:7. “Of his government … there shall be no end.”
Isaiah 50:6. “I gave my back to the smiters.”
Isaiah 53:5. “He was wounded for our transgressions.”
Isaiah 61:1. “Anointed me to preach good tidings”
Jeremiah 23:5. “A King shall reign and … execute judgment and justice.”
Daniel 9:26. “Shall Messiah be cut off”
Micah 5:2. “Bethlehem … , out of thee shall he come forth … to be ruler in Israel.”
Zechariah 9:9. “Thy King cometh unto thee … riding upon an ass.”
Zechariah 11:13. “I was prised at … thirty pieces of silver.”
Zechariah 13:6. “I was wounded in the house of my friends.”
All of the prophetic suggestions of royalty, rulership, and kingship would eventually be fulfilled at the Lord’s second coming; meanwhile, look again at the other passages for what kind of a Messiah he would be at his first coming.