'There is no beauty .....' - by Eileen Padmore
On a recent visit to 'the Land', our bus deposited us at a quirky shop just outside Bethlehem. Amongst a mix of hand crafted items and tacky tourist trophies I found this carved head of Christ. Although repelled, I kept coming back until it became mine in exchange for cash that I'd intended to keep in my pocket - a case of heart over mind. The carving spoke to me of a well remembered phrase from Isaiah 53:2 - one that had perplexed me from childhood: ' ..... there is no beauty that we should desire him.' I use the King James version because that's the way I remember it. The context is prophetic. It concerns the suffering servant: the promised Messiah who we know as Jesus of Nazareth, carpenter, son of Joseph, born of the virgin Mary, son of man, son of God. 'There is no beauty that we should desire him.' Really? Can this be true? The Contemporary English version leaves no doubt: 'He wasn't some handsome king. Nothing about the wa...