Isaiah 53 Devotional

Wounded in Our Place

“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 stripes we are healed.”Isaiah 53:5 (BSB)

Isaiah 53 is written as a confession. The Servant was despised, rejected, and familiar with grief, and the speakers looked away, assuming God was punishing him (53:2-4). Then the truth dawns. The suffering they misread was for them: their rebellion, their guilt, their healing (53:5). Every one of us has wandered off in our own direction, and the LORD laid the whole weight of that guilt on him (53:6).

He went silently to his death, though he had done no violence (53:7-9). Most startling of all, this was the LORD's will. His life became an offering for guilt, and after his anguish he sees light again and makes many righteous (53:10-12). When a man reading this passage asked whom the prophet meant, Philip told him the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:32-35). Peter says Christ took our sins on himself at the cross so that we could live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). The weight you could never lift has already been carried, so you can lay it down.

To think about: What guilt are you still carrying that the Servant has already carried for you?