AUGUST 22, 2024
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:5-7)
Nowhere else in all the Old Testament is it so plainly and fully prophesied that Christ ought to suffer and then enter into Glory as in this chapter. But to this day, few discern or will acknowledge that divine power that goes with the word. The authentic and most important report of salvation for sinners through the Son of God is disregarded. The low condition he submitted to and His appearance in the world was not agreeable to the ideas the Jews had formed of the Messiah. He was expected to come in ready for war, and instead, He came humbly, silently, and insensibly. More than 600 years before Christ was born, His death was prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah through divine revelation.
Christ was tormented and afflicted with grief on our behalf. He was slain on account of our sins. It was a common belief that the Messiah would be violently put to death and there was an idea of a painful piercing, referring to some infliction of wounds on the body and not to mere mental sorrows. The obvious idea would be that there would be some penetrating wound that would endanger or take life. Applied to the actual sufferings of the Messiah, it refers undoubtedly to the piercing of His hands, feet, and side. The prophet places himself among the people for whom the Messiah suffered these things and says that He was not suffering for His sins but on account of theirs. Isaiah keeps up the idea that it was not because of any sin He was guilty that He suffered – an idea that is all over the New Testament.
He was to be broken to pieces, bruised, crushed, and under such a weight of sorrows on account of our sins that He was, as it were, crushed to the earth. The chastisement by which our peace is affected or secured was laid upon Him; He took it upon Himself and bore it so that we might have peace. The word ‘chastisement’ properly denotes the correction inflicted by parents on their children, designed to amend their faults. Our Redeemer endured the sorrows needed to secure our peace with God.
It is only through these bruises that we can be healed. The Messiah would be scourged, and health would be imparted to our souls by that scourging. The Redeemer, in place of mankind, is adapted to save the world and will arrest, reclaim, and redeem all who shall ever enter into Heaven.
“All we like sheep have gone astray…” This is the penitent confession of those for whom He suffered. It is an acknowledgment that they were going astray from God, who laid on Christ the iniquity of all. We had all gone on the path that we chose. We were like sheep with no shepherd, wandering where they please, with no one to guide them. As a race, we have become selfish, following our pleasures – each one living to gratify his passions.
But, the Lord placed on His Son the iniquity of us all. We need to understand that this doesn’t mean that He became a sinner or was guilty in the sight of God, for God always regarded Him as an innocent being. It can only mean that He suffered as if He had been a sinner; or that He suffered that which, if He had been a sinner, would have been a proper expression of the evil of sin. He was oppressed and suffered patiently, not even opening His mouth to object. God demands the debt, and the great and righteous One makes payment for it. The fact that He did not open His mouth in complaint was utterly remarkable and made the merit of His sufferings much more significant.
It was for our sins and in our stead that our Lord Jesus suffered. We have all sinned and come short of God’s glory. Sinners have their beloved sin, their evil way, of which they are fond. Our sins deserve all griefs and sorrows, even the most severe. We are saved from the ruin, to which by sin we become liable, by laying our sins on Christ. This atonement was to be made for our sins. And this is the only way of salvation. Our sins were the thorns in Christ’s head, the nails in His hands and feet, the spear in His side. He was delivered to death for our offenses. By His sufferings, He purchased the Spirit and grace of God to mortify our corruptions, which are the distempers of our souls.
The close of verse 12 says, “…and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” As a high priest, Jesus presents the merit of His atoning blood before the throne of mercy and pleads for His people. There will be no more sacrifice for sin, and there will be no other advocate and intercessor.
Come and see how Christ loved us! We could not put Him in our stead; He put Himself in. Thus, He took away the world’s sin by taking it on Himself. He made Himself subject to death, which is the wages of sin. While we survey the sufferings of the Son of God, let us remember our long transgressions and consider Him as suffering under a load of our guilt. Here is a firm foundation for the trembling sinner to rest their soul upon. We are the purchase of Christ’s blood and the monuments of His grace; for this, He continually pleads and prevails, destroying the works of the devil.
Speak Your Mind