Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
When you hear the word “Punishment” what do you think of? Maybe children and reprimands from parents, right? Most of us are probably of the generation when parents took discipline and punishment seriously and we have memories of bare bottom spankings or such, am I right? But what is it like when God punishes? Have you ever felt you were being disciplined or punished by God?
Come with me again as we sit with the prophet Isaiah about 2700 years ago in Jerusalem. He is writing one of the most powerful chapters in the entire Bible, Isaiah 53. I don’t believe Isaiah could have imagined the horrificness which actually happened to fulfill the prophetic words he was writing as the Holy Spirit of God spoke these words into His mind: “Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by God and afflicted.” (Is. 53:4) Who is Isaiah writing about? Who was this man punished by God and what crime had he committed which required an outpouring of God’s punishment upon him?
Of course from our vantage point in 2024 we understand this is a very clear description of what happened to Jesus Christ in Jerusalem about 25ad when He was betrayed by one of His disciples Judas; arrested by Jewish religious leaders; humiliated, falsely accused; tried in a late night illegal trial of the Sanhedrin; and sentenced to death for not denying that He was the Messiah, God incarnate! But how could Jesus deny the truth? Jesus was then handed over to the Romans and another trial with Pilate the Governor who found Jesus guilty of nothing, turned Him over to the people and they, led by those Jewish leaders, called for His execution through crucifixion. All of this was a travesty of justice and essentially was akin to a mob lynching. So, what does any of this have to do with being “punished by God, stricken by God and afflicted”?
Isaiah’s next statement gives us insight into that question: “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.” (Is. 53:5) It is in my humble opinion, one of the most significant, most powerful statements in the entire Bible! Do you understand it? Has this phrase changed your life?
‘He was pierced for our transgressions’ … it means the crown of thorns which pierced Jesus’ head, the nails which pierced his hands and feet, the beating which tore His body to shreds, were all not simply human torture, they were God’s justice punishment! Justice because that is what every human being deserves from God as punishment for our sin and rebellion against God! Hebrews 9:27 says: “Each person is destined to die once and after that to face the judgment of God.” Romans 6:23 states: “for the wages of sin is death…”; and 2 Corinthians 5:10 says “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” and Hebrews 4:13 says: “Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
Of course I could quote several other Scriptures, but we get it, don’t we? The great privilege of having a human mind to think, a heart to feel, the freedom of reason and choice and a will to pursue our own path, comes with the responsibility of being accountable to our Creator for how we use those freedoms, how we live our God given lives!
God’s justice is according to God’s Holy standard of PERFECTION. We are not compared to each other or to our parents or children. EACH human life is held accountable to God’s design of perfection for humanity! And thanks to our sinful nature with which we were all born, we all fall far short, every day, of God’s perfection standard, and therefore God’s holy justice and resulting punishment is fair!
But wait, you might be saying, wasn’t Jesus perfect? Jesus never sinned, did He? Jesus was not born with a sin nature inherited from his father Joseph since Joseph had no part in His conception, so what sin had Jesus committed which required God’s punishment? WHY was Jesus’ punished by His Father God?
Look again at that powerful statement Isaiah wrote: “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities…” Jesus took our place, HE took upon Himself, our deserved punishment, yours and mine and every human being who has ever lived and sinned! God punished His Son Jesus for my sin and yours and all human sin, even though Jesus had lived a perfect life and was Himself perfect, as God the Son! It’s the ultimate sacrifice which is why it’s called the ATONEMENT sacrifice.
John the disciple, Jesus’ close friend, wrote it like this: “This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an ATONING sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) But WHY? Why would Jesus be held responsible for my sin and yours? Why would God punish His perfect Son Jesus rather than pouring out on me and you the justice punishment we rightly deserve for our sin? That doesn’t seem fair or logical, does it?
Oh, my friends, that’s why the last part of Isaiah 53:5 is so critical to understand: “…the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” It’s the miracle of the GREAT EXCHANGE! Paul describes it with this radical statement: “God made HIM who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Jesus willingly, voluntarily allowed brutal, sinful humanity to reject Him, humiliate Him, persecute Him, mock Him and even KILL Him for only one reason! Do you know what that is?
Once resurrected from the dead, Jesus now is a qualified SAVIOR for any and every person! But what could Jesus save us from? From God’s justice PUNISHMENT that we each deserve for our sinful rebellion against God! But HOW? How could Jesus’ death 2000 years ago save you and me today in 2024?
Are you ready for this my friends? God placed on His perfect, incarnate Son Jesus, all the ugly, terrible sin of our world, ALL of it! And then God poured out His justice punishment for all that sin upon His Son Jesus who was bearing the sin. In fact, did you notice Paul wrote “God made HIM who had no sin to BE sin for us…” It means the sins of the world on Jesus were not simply like a coat or a wet blanket on Him! Oh no, our sin permeated His skin, His blood stream, His organs. The only thing it did not contaminate was His Spirit which was Holy.
Jesus became sin soaked, sin drenched, sin immersed. Fully contaminated by my ugly sin and yours and everyone’s! That’s why God’s outpouring of His wrath on sin-soaked Jesus was JUSTICE and fair and appropriate! Isaiah explained it like this in vs. 10: “It was the LORD’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, as the LORD makes His life an offering for sin…”
It’s almost too much to bear, too heavy to comprehend, isn’t it? That’s why even though we’re just scratching the surface and there is so much more for us to grasp, we need to pause here and let our mind soak in these remarkable realities about what Isaiah 53:4,5 explain to us about what happened to Jesus in His crucifixion and WHY!
Meet me here tomorrow and we’ll dig more deeply to understand how it applies to us, 2000 years later and what difference it can make for us! Here’s a song to help us reflect on these world changing truths! Have you embraced them my friends and how have they changed your life?
Today’s Scripture: Is. 53:4, 5.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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