Have you ever been to a flea market or a garage sale? It’s amazing what you can buy there. I guess what they say is true: one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.
In Isaiah 53:3, Isaiah tells us that the Messiah will be rejected. He says, “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
The word “esteem” is a Hebrew word that means “to reckon; to count worthy; to ascribe value.” And with it is the word, “not.” We did “not esteem Him.” Literally, it is saying, we considered Him to have no value. We thought He was not worth paying anything for. We reckoned Him valueless.
Judas sold Christ for 30 pieces of silver. Others have sold Him for a lot less than that. Still others have relegated Him to the junk heap of old and irrelevant religions. So, let me ask you a question: What value do you put on Him?”
When we lived in western Michigan we were surrounded by a lot of antique malls. I discovered that it’s amazing as to what people are willing to pay for things. Collectors often determine value by how scarce an item is. Sports cards, stamps, coins, dolls, furniture – their worth is determined by what people are willing to pay. So perhaps the worth you attach to Jesus is what you are willing to pay, in terms of time and energy and resources. What is your estimate of His value? The songwriter put it this way: “Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.”
They esteemed Him not – they considered Him to have no value.
Say – those who truly love Him esteem Him highly. He is priceless!