多數人都想避開喬治．蔡斯（George Chase）。他住在美國新英格蘭州的一個森林小屋，約14平方公尺。當地人一眼就能看出，或者說聞得出喬治家裡沒有衛浴設備。

有一天，一場颶風引發海水倒灌，淹沒整片海岸，沖毀沿海一帶的住宅區。許多倖存者從海灣往高處移動尋找避難所，其中有11個人全身濕透、瑟瑟發抖地來到喬治的小屋。喬治就將自己僅有的都與他們分享，供應飲用水、牛奶、薑茶和遮風避雨的地方。1938年的這場颶風過後，鎮民對喬治完全改觀。

以貌取人是很可悲的一件事，但這卻是人的本性。我們是否也會如此看待耶穌？是否根據古老的畫作，把祂想像成溫文爾雅，風度翩翩？然而，先知以賽亞將彌賽亞描述為「沒有佳形，也沒有威儀，好叫我們仰慕祂；⋯⋯祂像個被人掩面不看的人一樣；祂被藐視，我們也不重視祂」（以賽亞書53章2-3節，新譯本）。但祂卻為我們傾盡所有，甘心「擔當我們的憂患，背負我們的痛苦」（4節），甚至為你我捨命。

若我們因人的外貌而忽略他們美好的特質，是很可悲的事。然而，若我們藐視那位彌賽亞，否認祂是至高的上帝，那就更加可悲了！

Most people avoided George Chase. He lived in a twelve-foot square shack in the woods where New England’s Pawcatuck River meets Little Narragansett Bay. To the locals, it was obvious George didn’t have a bathtub. They could smell the evidence. 

One day a hurricane brought the Atlantic Ocean rushing over the seacoast, washing away the beachfront with its attractive homes. Survivors pulled themselves from the bay and began searching for refuge. Eleven of them, soaked and shivering, found it in George’s cabin. He gave them everything he had: water, milk, ginger tea, and shelter. After the hurricane of 1938, the townsfolk had a far different opinion of George Chase.

It’s sad when we make superficial judgments about others, yet it’s our nature to do so. We do that with Jesus too. We might picture Him as He’s portrayed in old paintings, serenely handsome. But the prophet Isaiah said of the Messiah, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him . . . . like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem” (Isaiah 53:2-3). Yet this man gave us everything He had. “He took up our pain and bore our suffering” (v. 4). He offered His life for ours.

It’s tragic when we miss the humanity of our fellow human beings. How much more tragic to miss the divinity of the One we despised!