The Savior Bore the
Penalty for Man’s Sin
4Yet it was our grief He bore, our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, for His own sins! 5But He was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace; He was lashed—and we were healed! 6We—every one of us—have strayed away like sheep! We, who left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet God laid on Him the guilt and sins of every one of us![1] (Isaiah 53:4–6)
God’s Servant, The Savior, Bore the Penalty for The Sins
of The Human Race.
Note the word surely in verse 4. A sharp contrast is being drawn between Christ bearing our sins and the unbelief, hostility, and rejection of the Messiah mentioned in verse 3. The thought here is, “Surely He bore the grief and sorrow due our flesh, the penalty for our sins.” No matter what people may think or believe, the fact is that Christ suffered and paid the ultimate penalty for our sins.
Remember that this prophecy was given more than seven hundred years before Christ came to earth. Yet note the guarantee God gives concerning the coming of the Messiah. Although He was speaking about a future event, He spoke in the past tense, as though the event had already taken place. Being omniscient and eternal, God naturally saw into the future. Therefore, He could speak in the past tense, guaranteeing that His prophecy would be fulfilled. His Servant, the Savior, would definitely come, and He would pay the ultimate penalty for Sin.
A. How Sad
It Is That So Many in Christ’s Day Reacted Against Him, Rejecting, Mocking, And
Even Crucifying the Savior. A Number Felt That He Was Justly Executed as A
Criminal (V. 4).
During His trial and crucifixion, they thought He was being executed for His own sins, for having broken the law of both God and man. Various religionists believed that His sufferings in life and on the cross were due to His sins and were proof that the hand of God’s judgment was upon Him. In their minds, Christ was being “stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” He was indeed “smitten by God, and afflicted,” but not for His own sins. God put His Son to death for the sins of the world, including the sins of His enemies, the very ones who were rejecting and crucifying Him.
It was for our sins that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. When Christ came to earth, He bore all of our grief and sorrow, our infirmities and weaknesses—not only on the cross, but also throughout His entire life. Daily, Christ bore the penalty for our Sin, suffering on our behalf, identifying with us, and experiencing all the trials and temptations of life that continually confront us. The apostle Matthew even says that Christ’s bearing our infirmities and sorrows applies to His healing ministry (Mt. 8:14–17, esp. 17).
In another
verse, Matthew says that “the Son of man [Christ] came not to be ministered to,
but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:28). In
this one statement, Matthew summed up the entire ministry of Christ.
First,
Christ came to minister to us, identifying with our grief and sorrow, our
infirmities and weaknesses. Throughout His life, He experienced the suffering,
the trials, and the temptations that we face.
Second, He came to give His life as a ransom for us. He gave Himself up to pay for our Sin so that we might be set free from Sin and death and be given the wonderful privilege of worshipping and living with God eternally.
All our sufferings on earth are due to our flesh and the corruptible world in which we live. They are the result of Sin, the penalty for Sin, and the consequences of Adam’s Sin (Ro. 3:23). That is not to say that every person who is suffering physical pain is being punished, but as Scripture says, when Adam sinned, death with all its corruption entered into the world. When Adam and Eve bore children, those children inherited their parents’ sinful nature. And so, the sin nature with all that it entails was passed on down to the entire human race (Ro. 5:12). Because we all Sin and come short of the glory of God, we bear the consequences of grief and sorrow, weaknesses and infirmities (Ro. 6:23).
V “For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God” (Ro. 3:23).
V “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin; and so, death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned” (Ro. 5:12).
V “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Ro. 6:23).
B. The
Truth Is That Christ Died for Us All (V. 5).
We deserve to pay the penalty for Sin, for we are the ones who have broken the law, both of man and of God. At the very least, every one of us has mistreated other people or had evil thoughts. And we have broken the Ten Commandments. Thus, we stand accused before God. He has pronounced the verdict—guilty—and the sentence is spiritual death, eternal separation from Him. But there is wonderful news: God has not executed judgment upon us. He executed His judgment upon Christ. It was Christ who died to pay the penalty for our sins.
Note The
Emphasis Throughout These Verses: God’s Servant, the Savior Jesus Christ,
died for our transgressions
and iniquities.
Transgressions (tesha) are acts that cross over a line
drawn by God. To transgress means to revolt, rebel, rise up against, and reject
God. It means Picture violating or ignoring a posting of No Trespassing on a piece of property. A transgressor deliberately
disregards the warning and chooses to sin.
Iniquity (adown, or awon) means the perverse, crooked, moral evil that lies within the human heart and nature, which means that we are sinners by nature.5 As Warren W. Wiersbe says, we are sinners both by choice and by nature.6 Simply stated, Christ died for all our transgressions, for our sinful nature, as well as for the sins we choose to commit day by day.
Note the word wounded or pierced. Christ was wounded for us on the cross when His hands and feet were pierced by nails (Ps. 22:16; Lu. 24:39–40) and when a spear was thrust into His side (Jn. 19:31–37; Re. 1:7; Zec. 12:10). Also note the word bruised, or crushed. It was the heavy weight of our sins that crushed the very life out of Christ.
C. The
Purpose of Christ’s Death Was Twofold (V. 5b–6).
First, He Died
to Provide Peace and Healing for Us (V. 5b). Sin contaminates God’s
presence and separates us from God. Because God is holy and perfect, He can
have nothing to do with Sin. Consequently, a great barrier or gulf separates
sinful people from God. And no one can climb the barrier or bridge the gulf,
for a sinner is unacceptable to God. God loves the sinner, but He hates the Sin.
He hates Sin…
Ø
because it is Sin that has brought so much
brutality, wickedness, and death into the world
Ø because it is Sin that alienates man from God, putting hostility between them and making them enemies. It is this alienation that causes some people to curse God and His Son Jesus Christ and others to deny or defy God.
It Was for This Very Reason That God Sent His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, Into the World. Christ Came to Make Peace Between God and Man. By giving His Son to die for the sins of the world, God demonstrated His great love for people. By dying on the cross, Christ provided the way for people to be reconciled with God. Peace with God is possible. If people will turn from their sins and approach God through Christ, believing that Christ died for their sins, God will accept them. No longer does God have to seem far away, unconcerned, and out of touch. No longer does the barrier, the separation, have to exist between God and us. Through Christ, we can be reconciled to God and have peace. Christ forgives our Sin and saves us from the coming judgment that will fall upon all the enemies and rejecters of God. Oh, the wonder of it all! “By His stripes, we are healed”—spiritually healed.
V “The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus
Christ: (he is Lord of all:)” (Ac.
10:36).
V “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ro. 5:1).
V “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And
all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of
reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us
the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though
God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled
to God. For he hath made him to be Sin
for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”
(2 Co. 5:17–21).
V “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who
hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his
flesh the enmity, even the law of
commandments contained in ordinances;
for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one
body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Ep. 2:13–16).
V “And, having made peace through the blood of
his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were
sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled: In the body of his flesh
through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his
sight” (Col. 1:20–22).
V “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted” (He. 2:17–18).
Second, Christ
Died to Deliver Us from The Penalty for Going Astray, Which Is Death (V. 6; Ro.
6:23). Note that God compares people to sheep, for sheep have a tendency to
go astray. It is also within the very nature of people to wander, to reject God,
and break His commandments. Three aspects of our human nature cause us to
drift away:
Ø
By its very nature, our flesh lusts after the
things of this world (1 Jn. 2:15–16). Desiring and coveting more and more is a
constant battle faced by the human soul. The flesh constantly lusts for more
and more: a second helping of cake, a larger house, more wealth or power, more
recognition or honor. The flesh lusts for sex, even if it involves adultery,
fornication (extramarital sex), or some form of abnormal, illicit sex. Such sinful
behavior is what Scripture calls the lust
of the flesh.
Ø
In looking around, we see things that are
attractive, desirable, enticing, or valuable. And we want what we see, even if
it is wrong and sinful. This is what the Scripture calls the lust of the eyes.
Ø The pride of life also causes us to go astray. Our selfish desire for recognition, honor, position, power, and fame is sinful because it exalts us above others for selfish purposes. Position, power, and fame are to be used to serve and help others, not to exalt ourselves over them or to accumulate and hoard wealth.
When sheep go astray, they are in danger of getting lost, being attacked, or dooming themselves. Within our very nature, there is a tendency for us to go astray, following the lusts of our flesh and eyes and pursuing the pride of life. When we do this, we run the risk of getting lost and forgetting the way back to God. Furthermore, when we turn away from the Lord, one enemy after another will attack us through mockery, ridicule, or charges of hypocrisy. And, of course, getting lost can doom us to eternal separation from God.
D. But
There Is Wonderful News: Christ Died to Deliver Us from The Sin of Going Astray
and From Its Penalty, Which Is Death. This He Did by Bearing Sin for Us.
It was for this very reason that Christ died. Note exactly what Scripture says: God “laid on Him” the iniquity of us all. Our sins were actually lifted off of us and placed upon Christ. He bore the weight and the penalty of Sin for us. This is what is known as the substitutionary, vicarious death of Christ. He died as our Substitute, in our place, and on our behalf. Because He died for us, we are delivered from the experience of death. When we are ready to leave this earth, quicker than the eye can blink, God will transfer us right into His presence. One moment we are in this world, and the next moment we are in heaven, standing in the very presence of God.
V “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep” (Jn.
10:11).
V “For when we were yet without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one
die: yet peradventure for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God
commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us” (Ro. 5:6–8).
V “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Ro. 6:23).
V “For I delivered unto you first of all that
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures” (1
Co. 15:3–4).
V “And as it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment: So, Christ was once offered to bear the sins of
many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without
sin unto salvation” (He. 9:27–28).
V “Who his own self bare our sins in his own
body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:
by whose stripes ye were healed” (1
Pe. 2:24).
V “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in
the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (1 Pe. 3:18).
V “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin” (1 Jn. 3:5).[2]
How could an Old Testament person understand the idea of Christ dying for our sins—actually bearing the punishment that we deserved? The sacrifices suggested this idea, but it is one thing to kill a lamb, and something quite different to think of God’s chosen servant as that Lamb. But God was pulling aside the curtain of time to let the people of Isaiah’s day look ahead to the suffering of the future Messiah and the resulting forgiveness made available to all people.
Isaiah speaks of Israel straying from God and compares them to wandering sheep. Yet God would send the Messiah to bring them back into the fold. We have the hindsight to see and know the identity of the promised Messiah, who has come and died for our sins. But if we know all that Jesus did and still reject him, our Sin is much greater than that of the ancient Israelites, who could not see what we have seen. Have you given your life to Jesus Christ, the “good shepherd” (John 10:11–16), or are you still going your own way like a wandering sheep?[3]
[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible,
Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
5 James
Strong. The New Strong’s Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990),
# 6588, 5771.
6 Warren
W. Wiersbe. Be Comforted, p. 138.
[2] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters
36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible.
Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
[3] Life Application
Bible Notes. 2007. Tyndale.
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