August 3: Thoughts on Isaiah 53:5-6

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
~ Isaiah 53:5-6

That's the story, laid down in the Old Testament, of the Suffering Servant. Isn't it amazing that God revealed such a detailed, accurate prophecy of Jesus Christ to Isaiah, around 700 years prior to Jesus' birth? You can read the rest of Isaiah 53 here. It's eerily accurate - well, at least it would be eerie if we didn't know that God was involved. (On a side note, how strange-looking is the word eerie? Never noticed that before.)

"but he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities"

He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Wow. His hands and feet were pierced by nails on the Cross and He was crushed because we sinned.

"the punishment that brought us peace was upon him"

We deserved the punishment, but rather than having to pay the price, He paid it for us. He exchanged His excruciating pain - even unto death - for our peace, because He loves us. And we can have peace, because He's taken our punishment and we're promised peace in return. The Word of God promises peace because God is the God of peace - because to bring peace, He gave His all.

"by his wounds we are healed"

Jesus was beaten heartily before He was put onto the Cross. He was severely wounded even before the nails were driven into His hands and feet. Before He was beaten, He was stressed out to the point of sweating blood. Because our Lord was physically hurt in such a way, we are now promised healing.

This healing is twofold. First of all, because of the Lord's suffering, we are promised spiritual healing. We are promised freedom from the prison of sin. Secondly, we are promised physical healing. Jesus did many miracles involving bodily healing while He walked the earth, and I just don't believe that all that ended when He ascended into Heaven. I believe it's still the same as it's always been: if we have faith, we may be healed (see Mark 5:34; Mark 10:52; Luke 17:19; and Luke 18:42).

"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way."

This is a good reminder. We've all turned from God's way and to our own way at one point or another. It's part of our sinful nature to do so. We've all sinned. We've all fallen short. It makes no sense to argue about who killed Jesus. Even though maybe some of the Jews were the ones pushing hard for His execution, in reality every single one of us killed Jesus, by sinning and making His death on the Cross necessary for our redemption.

"and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all"

Jesus didn't sin. But He took the load of our sins away from us, took them upon Himself. He held the world on His shoulders, the heavy burden of the sins of every human being who ever had walked or would walk the earth. And He bore it all just for us.

He urges us to come to Him, to let Him take our burdens away from us (see 1 Peter 5:7) in exchange for His burdens, because His yoke is easy and His burdens are light (Matthew 11:28-30). It doesn't seem fair, does it? He's done nothing wrong, yet He offers to take all our sins and burdens and worries upon Himself.

Boy, am I ever glad God's not fair by the world's standards.