Isaiah 53:1-7
“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.“
Isaiah 53:1-7 NIV
This paints a somber picture of what Jesus went through on the cross. It describes Him being beaten, crushed and whipped. Jesus went through all of this so that He could pay the price for our sins. This suffering was selfless, Jesus didn’t need to go to the cross for His sake. He did it out of love for you and me. And because of it, Jesus is the only way to be saved.
This beautiful passage in Isaiah chapter 53 is loved by all who have trusted Christ for salvation. It is a wonderful truth that confounds our understanding and belies the credibility of man, that God in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ should come to earth and die on the Cross to pay the price for our sins.
It staggers the mortal mind to realize that for our well-being He was despised and rejected by men, and for our sake became a man of sorrows and fully acquainted with grief. For our benefit, He was born in the likeness of man and lived a sinless life so that He could be made sin for us and take the full force of God's wrath upon Himself in our place.
Jesus was the One Who was despised and rejected of all men. He was a suffering servant, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Yet before we were saved by grace through faith in Him we just couldn't care less. We who were born dead in trespasses and sins, held Him in low esteem and were indifferent to the tremendous sacrifice He made on our behalf. And yet while we were still sinners, God gave His only begotten Son to die on the Cross for your sin, and for mine, and for the sin of the whole world.
Christ was the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. The Father purposed to send the beloved Son of His love to be slaughtered as the sin-sacrifice for all who would believe on His name. And Christ loved the Church so much that He willingly gave Himself up for her, and meekly offered His life as a ransom for many. The Lord Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb of the most High God: "And the Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all."
Christ's sacrificial work on the Cross at Calvary, which includes His substitutionary death, burial, and Resurrection as laid out in Scripture, is the single most spectacular event that has ever taken place in time and into eternity for by it, God opened up the way of salvation for whosoever will believe on the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The Son of God came to earth to reclaim ruined sinners from a lost eternity and to provide a way back into fellowship with our Heavenly Father and all that is good and perfect and wholesome and holy.
He bore rejections and ridicule on our account. He received scoffing and shame in our place. Through His shed lifeblood, our pardon for sin was secured and sealed, and life-everlasting was the gracious gift that we received and all we had to do was to believe on His name.
For all of us who have trusted Christ as Saviour, these poignant words can pierce our own hearts as we begin to understand that the sinless Son of God was willingly afflicted, bruised, pierced, and crushed with wounds that we merit. He died a death that we deserve, as the burden of our sin was laid upon the sinless Son of Man, our Kinsman- Redeemer.
The Lord Jesus suffered cruel treatment and gave up His life willingly so that all who believe on Him might not perish but be given peace with God, and have His inner peace guarding our hearts: "For by His stripes we are healed," not a healing of the body, but an everlasting healing of the spirit and the forgiveness of sins.
By His death and Resurrection, the Lord Jesus paid the enormous price for our sins and broke the power of sin and death in our life forever, returning us into fellowship with the Father. We are accepted by God, because of Him.
May we choose to stay close to Him all the days of our lives, not going astray, tempted by the empty, glittering, hollow trinkets of the world, but walk in His way, to His glory. Jesus went through all of this so that He could pay the price for our sins. This suffering was selfless, Jesus didn’t need to go to the cross for His sake. He did it out of love for you and me. And because of it, Jesus is the only way to be saved!!!
Father thank you for this day and for Your Son Jesus obedience unto death, and His humiliation as a Man Who had no exciting outward appearance or desirable human attributes to commend Him to the children of men for whom He died. Lord pour out Your abundant blessings over my friend and family be their portion. Lord we are awestruck by Your amazing grace and eternal beauty. Lord help us today to remember the price that was paid to purchase our redemption. Lord use us today to be bold witnesses of the resurrection it’s Friday but Sunday’s coming. Be a blessing. Love ya
Father, we love You amen !
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