The Suffering Servant: The Imagination Despised and Rejected

Isaiah 53 speaks of a figure “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” While traditional interpretations have positioned this as a prophecy of a physical Messiah, Neville Goddard taught that the Bible is not literal history but a psychological revelation. The Suffering Servant, he said, is not a person of flesh but a symbol of God’s imagination in man—the very power by which we create our world, yet which suffers because it is unrecognised.

The Imagination That Suffers

Neville wrote and spoke plainly: “Christ is the human imagination, and until man discovers this for himself the Bible will make no sense to him whatsoever.”
In his lectures, he often described the Suffering Servant not as someone else, but as God Himself, taking on the role of man’s own creative power—becoming us, and bearing the full experience of our imagined states.

“Isaiah was not writing about a man of flesh, but was telling an eternal, immortal story. God himself is the suffering servant. He so loves you, he will not alter your imagination. If you imagine some horrible thing he will fulfill it, and because you have to experience all that you imagine he will suffer with you.”
— Neville Goddard, “The Forming of Christ in You”

Here, God is not watching from a distance but is embedded in you as imagination. And because He will not violate your free use of imagination, He suffers with you when you misuse it. The suffering comes not from any weakness in the imagination, but from the way it is treated—ignored, doubted, or misdirected.

“He Hath No Form Nor Comeliness”

The Suffering Servant “has no form nor comeliness… we hid our faces from him.” This is exactly how Neville described society’s attitude toward imagination: it is not taken seriously. We revere facts, appearances, logic, and external validation—yet all the while the imagination within quietly shapes our reality.

It is despised because it appears soft, subjective, invisible. Yet this invisible power is the source of all visible outcomes.

“You are His suffering servant, who is Himself.”
— Neville Goddard, “A Riddle”

The paradox is that we ourselves are this Servant. Imagination is not something we merely use—it is our true identity. When we forget this and claim to be shaped by external circumstances, we "despise and reject" the servant within.

“Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs”

This line is central to Neville’s explanation of how imagination mirrors our inner state. Whatever you dwell upon—whether in fear, desire, bitterness or hope—your imagination takes it on and expresses it. It “bears your griefs” because it outpictures your beliefs.

The suffering, then, is the result of our own assumptions. If we assume limitation, our world will reflect it. The imagination does not judge; it accepts and fulfils. That acceptance is its 'meekness'—not weakness, but divine faithfulness.

“With His Stripes We Are Healed”

In Neville’s system, the ‘stripes’ are the consequences of imaginal activity—what happens when your assumptions take form. Every painful experience is the outpicturing of an inner state once held. But this is also the path to redemption. Once you understand the principle, you can begin to consciously assume the feeling of your fulfilled desire—and be healed.

To Neville, the crucifixion was not defeat, but the fixing of an idea in imagination. It is the decisive moment when one assumes a new identity and lets the old self die. The resurrection is the natural result: your outer world eventually aligns with your inner conviction.

Recognition Transforms Suffering

The Suffering Servant becomes exalted not through endurance alone, but through recognition. Once you realise the Imagination is Christ in you, you stop placing power outside yourself. You become responsible for your assumptions—and therefore capable of transformation.

“Christ in you is your hope of glory. When you know that your imagination is Christ, you are free.”
— Neville Goddard