The second half of Isaiah 52:13 says that Jesus will be exalted and lifted up and very high. Actually, the Lord Jesus has been exalted already (Phil 2:9).
Isaiah 52:14 continues by saying that many will be astonished at Him: "Even as many were astonished at Him— / His visage was marred more than that of any man, / And His form more than that of the sons of men." The Hebrew word for mar here means to disfigure. The word visage denotes the appearance and also refers to the face or facial expression, the countenance. This was Isaiah's poetic writing. In such a poetic writing Isaiah portrayed Christ in the New Testament sense. He was exalted and lifted up and is very high, and He has acted prudently and has prospered in every way. Today even the opposers of Christ respect Him. They all know that Christ is a great One. But when we meet Him, we will see that His face was marred, or disfigured. Christ was disfigured for us.
On the one hand, Christ is now glorified, but on the other hand, He still bears the impress of His being disfigured for us. Today the Jews might know Christ somewhat as the glorious Christ, but they do not know the disfigured Christ. We believers know the disfigured Christ much more than the glorified Christ. We were saved not only by a glorified Christ but also by a disfigured Christ. A so-called picture of Jesus popular among Christians today portrays Him as a handsome man. However, Christ our Savior was not that handsome; rather, He was disfigured. Isaiah said that many people were astonished at this.
According to people's concept, Jesus is great, high, stately, and glorified. Who would think that Jesus would be such a disfigured One? After I preached the gospel in China, many learned ones, after listening to the message, came to me and said, "Is this Jesus? We thought that Jesus Christ was a great man, a great figure. Is this disfigured One, this marred One, really Jesus?" Yes, this is Jesus. If He were not so, He could never save us; He could never be our Substitute on the cross. This is something astonishing.