But He Was Pierced For Our Transgressions & He Was Crushed For Our Iniquities; The Punishment That Brought Us Peace
By His Stripes We Are Healed
ISAIAH 53:3-5
“He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:3-5 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/isa.53.3-5.NKJV
How could anyone of the Old Testament times understand the idea of Jesus Christ dying for our sins; actually bearing the punishment that we deserve?
The animal sacrifices of Old Testament times suggested this idea, but it's one thing to kill a lamb, and something quite different to think of God's only begotten Son, the chosen servant to be the Lamb.
But God was putting aside the certainty of time to allow the people of Isaiah's day to look ahead into the suffering of the future Messiah and the resulting forgiveness made available to all people.
Isaiah speaks of Israel straying from God and compares them to wandering sheep. Yet God would send the Messiah to bring them back into the fold.
Today, we have the hindsight to see and know the identity of the promised Messiah who came and died for our sins. But if we knew all that Jesus did for us and still reject Him, how much greater is our sin than the Israelites who could not see what we have seen?
Have you given your life to Christ Jesus, the "good shepherd" (JOHN 10:11-16), or are you still going your own way like wandering sheep?
Today, Jesus continues to bear our grief, He carries our sorrows when we totally submit to Him in repentance and give them to Him.
Despite the fact that we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, He was wounded for our transgressions (our betrayal toward God and others), He was bruised for our iniquities (immoral or grossly unfair sinful behaviour); The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
Like lost sheep we went our own sinful way, yet God laid upon Him (Jesus), God in human form (PHILIPPIANS 2:6), the iniquity of us all.
It’s impossible to fully understand the deep never ending love God has for His people and the extremities He has done to save all who believe on Him; those who turn away from sin toward God. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
John 15:13 NKJV
Jesus suffered the gruesome pain and humiliation of the cross even though He never sinned, simply to justify a new life in Christ to all who believe.
He paved a way where there was no way, and the impossible became possible with God (19:26).
Furthermore, He sent His Holy Spirit to help us in our walk with God (JOHN 14:15-18) and is the seal of our redemption (EPHESIANS 1:13).
Furthermore, the promise of salvation is to all peoples, “For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””
Romans 10:11-13 NKJV
But, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.”
Isaiah 53:1-12 NKJV
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
