THE SUFFERING SERVANT

“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah‬ ‭53:4-6‬‬)

No one has ever suffered as Jesus suffered. Crucifixion was one of the most torturous methods of execution ever devised. But, others were crucified—two men on either side of Him—who suffered just as much physically. Our Lord suffered hell—the punishment deserved by all of us—and not for His own sin, for He had none. He bore the full fury of the wrath of God for our sin—all of it!

We cannot imagine a holy Being who had never known sin becoming sin. We cannot fathom being Godforsaken by One who was eternally in fellowship with His Father. We cannot grasp what it would be to experience hell for all mankind of all ages as He did.

Jesus, the Suffering Servant was our substitute. Repeatedly, Isaiah reminds us, that it was “our griefs,” and “our sorrows,” He bore. It was “our transgressions,” and “our iniquities,” for which He suffered. It was to secure, “our peace” and “our healing,” that He abandoned His. Because we are “like sheep that have gone astray,” the spotless Lamb was excluded from God’s presence, so we might be included in it!

What wondrous love!  What amazing grace!  I think of the words of a song my late father wrote,

“Lord, take me back to Calvary;
Let me see Your wounded side,
Where You bled and died for me.
Let me hear, ‘It is finished,’
Salvation’s plan is now complete;
Lord, I pray, ever remind me;
Take me back to Calvary.”