Day 208/365- Isaiah 53:4-6

"The Suffering Servant"

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6 NLT)


We have seen the great commission in the book of Isaiah. God has always been about the nations. Now we see the subject of that commission, the Gospel. Hundreds of years before Christ would suffer on the cross we see that suffering in the prophecy of Isaiah. We see this part of the gospel so clearly here.

The gospel is like a diamond. It is multifaceted. It has many dimensions. It has depth and an intricacy that we can never fully grasp. If you look at it from one angle you see a beautiful display of God & his work. Another view shows you a whole other perspective. We see redemption, adoption, forgiveness, atonement, & many more facets in the gospel.

So how did Isaiah talk about something that was yet to happen? Did he know who he was talking about? Did he know God's plan?

These questions are hard to answer but there is no doubt that Jesus is the subject of Isaiah 53. The main focus is his substitutionary suffering. This person in Isaiah 53 is not suffering because of something he has done. He is not suffering for his own wrongdoings or sin. He is suffering for the rebellion of another. He is suffering because of someone else. He is suffering in the place of someone.

And this is precisely what Jesus did.

It wasn't his sin that drove him to the cross, because he never sinned. It wasn't because of him that he suffered. It was in our place. He took on sin that wasn't his so that we could take on righteousness that's not ours. He took the punishment for our rebellion against God. He took the righteous wrath of God that we deserved.

And this punishment, his very wounds led to our healing. He was ripped open, we were mended. He was struck down, we were lifted up. He was rejected, we were accepted. He didn't deserve what he got & we don't deserve what we get in him.

It is only in Christ's substitutionary sacrifice in our place that we have life & hope!