By: Carole L. Haines
Today we will look closely at Isaiah 53:4 Let’s Read below from the New Living Translation.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses (griefs) he carried.
It was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)
In this passage, referred to often as The Suffering Servant, the words for griefs (weaknesses) and sorrows mean two different things. Most of us would consider them to be synonyms, meaning basically the same thing, but they are not.
Grief means, sickness, malady, disease or anxiety. It is used 24 times in the Bible and most often as the word sickness.
Sorrow means, physical or mental pain or anguish, pain of soul. It is used 16 times and most often as sorrow.
Jesus bore our griefs and our sicknesses, He took them away, lifted them from us, endured them for us, and forgave them. Jesus carried our sorrows, He bore them, was weighed down underneath them. Specifically, from Strong’s Concordance, it states “to receive the penalties which another deserved.
As I looked up all the original meanings, I realized that these verses in Isaiah 53 are not just different ways of saying the same thing. They are specific to what Christ suffered, each individual experience of His suffering had a specific and unique purpose.
I began to see and realize how there was intense power and deliverance for us when He carried that cross. When He lifted it up upon His own shoulders, He was lifting our sicknesses and griefs and carrying them to Calvary. He was weighed down under the heavy burden of our penalties, which we deserved, not Him. He bore our griefs. He carried our sorrows.
As we finish reading verse 4, we turn to how mankind viewed what was happening.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
Basically, after looking up the original language for key words, mankind passed a judgment on Him that He was getting exactly what He deserved.
O Lord Jesus, forgive us. You were getting exactly what WE deserved. You were the spotless Lamb of God sacrificed for us. There are no words that could ever express our gratitude for Your love and mercy. Even before the foundations of the world, the plan of salvation was set in place. Again, I say, before we were even created by Your mighty hand and You breathed Your own breath into mankind, You knew what it would cost You. How can any of us thank You for such love, such sacrifice. What a glorious redemption, what a beautiful salvation, what a merciful God you are. We praise you Mighty Savior. We worship and adore You. Take our lives and let them be Glorious transformations so that the World can see such love. Amen.
And now on this Holy Thursday, I will walk out to the cross in front of my home and remove the purple drape and replace it with the black, until that third day, when I shall drape it in white and Lilies for Victorious Resurrection. Jesus chose to lay down His life for us. He chose to suffer and die. He chose to lay in a tomb for three days. And He chose to rise again for us, for all mankind, for all who would believe His Good News. For such is the Love of God.
Four distinct wounds, four distinct afflictions of mankind. We will look at the four distinct wounds tomorrow morning. Be Blessed today and marvel at Him, as we gaze upon the Cross of Christ.
hisshadowings.com 