Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:4 NIV

Chapter fifty-three of the Book of Isaiah is perhaps the most astonishing of all prophecies concerning Jesus Christ. In vivid detail, Isaiah predicts the life, death, suffering, and saving grace of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. These words are a portion of that prophecy. They begin the second stanza of one of the most hard hitting, insightful scriptures of the Old Testament.

To understand how completely Isaiah’s words foretell the life of Christ and how he took up our pain, we only have to read the chapter verse by verse. Consider the two verses that follow in Isaiah 53:5-6 which read, “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. WEB”

The Love of Christ

Jesus said to his disciples in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. WEB” On the cross, Jesus did just that. He took up our pain, bore our suffering, and died for our sins. The Lord received the punishment we deserve, interceding between God and man on our behalf. As we read in Isaiah 53:11, “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. KJV”  

In obedience to the will of God, he took up our pain. Our Savior bore our sins, rejection, and ridicule. God transferred the shame we earned through our own transgressions to his own sinless Son. The religious leaders of that time considered his punishment just but our sinless Savior rose from the dead, proving his worth in the resurrection having defeated sin and death. 

Yesterday’s Devotional: Bless Those That Curse You