Jesus Suffered for Our Sin

Isaiah 53:4-6 says, "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." Over and over again you see it in the New Testament—the doctrine of the atonement.

These verses clearly describe the atonement as substitutionary. They zero in especially on the suffering of Christ. Both on the way to the cross and at the cross, Christ was smitten, causing great suffering. The story as it unfolds in the gospels concerning the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross is one of the most intense passages in the Bible. Christ was our substitute in that He received the judgment for our sin that we deserved to receive.

Note how this unfolds here in these verses: "He has borne our griefs" (v. 4a); He "carried our sorrows" (v. 4b); He was "stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted" (v. 4c); "He was wounded for our transgressions" (v. 5a); "He was bruised for our iniquities" (v. 5b); He was chastised "for our peace" (v. 5c); "by His stripes" our healing was made possible (v. 5d); "the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (v. 6c).

"Like sheep" who wander away from the fold, we have all "gone astray" (v. 6a) and we have all "turned… to his own way" (v. 6b). Still, Jesus suffered greatly out of a pure love for you. He paid the price for you that you deserved to pay. And He did it so you could live in fellowship with the Father.

"He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth" (v. 7). He suffered and died without protest. That is pure love.

"He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken" (v. 8). He took your sin upon Himself willingly. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13). "Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous" (1 Peter 3:18, NIV).

"And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth" (Isaiah 53:9). Literally fulfilled! Jesus died with the wicked, crucified between two criminals (Luke 23:32), and He was buried in a rich man's tomb (Matt. 27:57-60). Yet the truth is, it was all for you. Jesus died for you—for your salvation. Trust Him by faith. Amen.