TO CHEW ON: "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." Isaiah 53:5
Isaiah 53:5 has to be one of the most moving verses in the Bible. In it we see God's Servant mutilated, stripped of any attractiveness, despised, rejected, and treated with utter revulsion as He bears sin. Not just someone else's sin, but "our sin."
Isaiah uses two words to describe sin: transgressions and iniquities.
["Transgressions - pesha means rebellion, transgression, trespass. Pesha comes from pasha which means to revolt, rebel, and trespass. … a trespass has to do with revolting against law, God or government and was a transgressing, that is, going b beyond established limits" - Dick Mills, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1072.]
[Iniquities - avon means evil, fault, sin, blame, moral crookedness and perversion.] It's the word that describes the inborn tendency to sin in which we are born: "Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me" - Psalm 51:5.
Here we see My Servant—whom we believe was Jesus—taking the punishment for our rebellion, revolt, trespass, evil, and moral crookedness. He is chastised, beaten, and crucified to buy our peace. He bears our sins and intercedes for us, the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12).
With this act, not only is our penalty paid but we are healed. I believe this healing includes all aspects. Jesus' death purchased our healing from rebellious crookedness along with healing from physical diseases.
May the enormity of what Jesus did never cease to impress us. May we never become casual or blasé about how He took my place and yours as the object of God's wrath against sin and made possible our health and wholeness.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for taking the punishment for my sin, and making it possible for me to be healed. Help me to cooperate with Your Spirit to make possible healing from my rebellious tendencies. Amen.
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 119:97-128
*********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment