Yes—Jesus' appearance was marred beyond human recognition because of both physical torture and the spiritual burden of the world's sin.
Isaiah 52:14 prophesied that His visage would be marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men. Les Feldick teaches that the Roman soldiers' physical abuse—scourging, crown of thorns, spitting, beating, and crucifixion—joined with God laying the sins of the whole human race on Jesus, left Him so disfigured that He did not even appear human. This explains both Mary's last memory of Him on the cross and why she mistook the risen Jesus for the gardener (Clips 1, 2, 4, 5).
Isaiah 52:14 — This is the key prophecy that directly states the Messiah's visage would be so marred that His appearance would be worse than any man's—the verse Les repeatedly uses to answer this question.
Isaiah 52:14 states, "As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men." The prophecy says that many were astonished at Him because His appearance was marred beyond comparison with any other man. The Gospel accounts also record physical abuse that contributed to this condition. Matthew 27:28-30 says the soldiers "stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head."
Les explains that Jesus' disfigurement had two causes. Physically, the Roman soldiers mocked and abused Him—stripping Him, pressing a crown of long thorns onto His skull, spitting on Him, striking Him with a reed, and scourging His back until it was "like hamburger" (Clips 0, 5). Les also says the burden of sin was placed on Jesus, and that spiritual weight added to the awful condition described in Isaiah 52:14 (Clips 1, 2, 7). Les connects this to the resurrection morning. Mary's last mental picture of Jesus was of a man so disfigured He was almost inhuman. When she saw a perfectly normal-looking man in the garden, she assumed He was the gardener. He had been healed of all that abuse and now looked normal, though He still retained the nail prints (Clips 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Matthew 27:28-30 records that the soldiers stripped Jesus, put a scarlet robe on Him, wove a crown of thorns and set it on His head, put a reed in His right hand, mocked Him, spit on Him, and struck Him on the head. Les adds that the crown of thorns was made of long, humongous thorns pressed down on His skull, and the scourgings left His back like hamburger (Clips 0, 5). These beatings happened before the crucifixion and were part of the reason His appearance was so marred.
Les ties Mary's failure to recognize Jesus to her last memory of Him on the cross: He was so disfigured He did not even appear human (Isaiah 52:14). In John 20:15, Mary supposed He was the gardener. Les explains that after the resurrection Jesus' body was healed of all that abuse and looked normal, so Mary could not connect the same Person with the One she had seen die (Clips 1, 2, 4, 5).
Les is clear that physical abuse alone is not the whole answer. He says the load of sin had been laid on Jesus, and God laid on Him the sins of the whole human race, making the crucifixion a curse rather than a beautiful event (Clips 1, 2, 7). In Les's teaching, the spiritual burden combined with the physical mutilation to produce the marred appearance the disciples remembered on resurrection morning (Clip 3).
Soldiers' mockery and torture
Les describes the mocking and physical violence before the crucifixion—stripping, scarlet robe, crown of long thorns pressed onto His skull, reed, spitting, and beating—as part of the physical disfigurement Jesus endured.
Disfigurement defined
Les states that Jesus was so disfigured by physical mutilation and the burden of sin that He was not recognizable as a human being, and connects this to Mary's failure to recognize Him.
39 lashes and the load of sin
Les focuses on the 39 lashes, streaming blood, and the load of sin laid on Jesus, and says Isaiah describes Him as more disfigured than any human being in history.
Resurrection body vs. cross memory
Les explains that the disciples could not believe what they saw because their last view of Christ on the cross was so disfigured it did not appear human, whereas He now stood whole.
Mary's last mental image
Les points out that Mary's last view of Jesus was the awful, unsurpassed disfigurement of the cross, so a normal-looking gardener did not register as Jesus in the pre-dawn darkness.
Physical abuse before the cross
Les lists the scourgings, crown of thorns, and ripped-out beard as physical injuries that made His death appearance awful—and the last picture Mary had of Him.
Isaiah 52:14 prophecy
Les reads Isaiah 52:13-14 directly, showing God's prophecy that the Messiah's visage would be marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men.
Crucifixion was a curse
Les teaches that the crucifixion was not beautiful: it was a curse because God laid on Jesus the sins of the whole human race.
Isaiah 52:14: As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
This is the prophecy Les cites to show that the Messiah's appearance would be marred beyond human comparison.
Matthew 27:29: And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
The crown of thorns and mockery were part of the physical abuse that contributed to the disfigurement.
Matthew 27:30: And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.
The soldiers' spitting and striking continued the physical abuse before crucifixion.
John 20:15: Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Les uses this verse to show Mary's last memory of Jesus' disfigured face kept her from recognizing the risen Lord.
Isaiah 52:14 prophesied that His visage would be marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men. Les explains this happened through the combination of Roman physical torture and the burden of the world's sin placed on Him (Clips 1, 2, 6).
Yes, according to Les. He says that by the time Jesus gave up the ghost, He was so disfigured He wasn't even recognizable as a human being. That is what Isaiah meant when he said no man had ever been so disfigured (Clips 1, 3, 4).
Les says her last mental picture of Jesus was the horrible disfigurement on the cross. In the pre-dawn darkness, a normal-looking man standing before her did not match that memory, so she assumed He was the gardener (Clips 1, 2, 5).
Watch the Teaching: Why the Temple Veil Tore — Matthew 27 Explained