Miami Gardens church of Christ

3 He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. [Isaiah 53:3-5, ASV]

Several weeks ago I had a conversation with a brother in Christ who proceeded to share with me all the trials and tribulations of this life he was experiencing. He indicated life was unfair, and he is getting more than his fair share of troubles. Yes, it was not good. After we had shared scriptures and encouragement to each other, I asked him to show me his nail prints. He paused, smiled and then he got my point.

All too often in this life with its constant barrage of temptations, we as God’s children and servants can get caught up with the nuisances of simply existing on this side of life.

We can sometimes be overcome by all the “tests” of life. We can start to immerse ourselves in pity and ask why me?

When we reach this point in our lives, this is probably the best of times to simply reflect back on the ultimate suffering servant. We need to sometimes simply close our eyes, and Place ourselves in the position of Christ, prior to the crucifixion.

We need to never forget why Jesus suffered; it was not for Him but for us that he suffered. Note the use of “our” in verses 4 and 5 as in “our griefs”, “our sorrows”, “our transgressions”, “our peace”, and “our healing”.

Because of the sins of Adam, mankind had found itself hopeless. We had ALL sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). God being the changeless God He is required a penalty of death for sin, and God’s justice required that the penalty be paid; otherwise man would have been eternally lost. There however, was no one earth that could pay it. As with metaphor from Abraham, God provided the sacrifice in the person of his only Son. (Genesis 22:2 & 8).

"Borne our griefs" in Isaiah 53:4 in the Hebrew are literally translated "borne our sicknesses"; however, this is not to be interpreted as a reference to Jesus' suffering from all our sicknesses, but to His healing all diseases. It was to make this point clear that the translators rendered the word "griefs."

In the phrase "we did deem him stricken of God, and afflicted ..." (Isaiah 53:4). There is a condemnation of the whole human race in this phrase. This is a very common tendency among men to attribute all the sorrows on earth to the fault and sins of the suffering people. This trait is often noted in scripture. The parents of the man born blind, asked, "Who sinned this man, or his parents, that he should have been born blind?" (John 9); and the citizens of Malta attributed Paul's snakebite to the supposed criminality of the apostle (Acts 28:4). This logic would have rendered the punishments (and eventual death) of Christ would have been the result of Christ’s sins. Inasmuch as Christ had no sins we now render this line of thinking as without basis.

The order issued by Pontus Pilate to have Christ chastised (Isaiah 53:5). May have brought joy to the Jews and a since of dutiful pride to the Romans, but this command and resultant actions was set in place long before this time in history. Over two centuries earlier Isaiah gave this specific prophecy of the Christ. Never should we forget this chastisement was for "our sins" and for "our peace". Even the Roman Procurator declared upon the occasion of his command that it was not indeed for anything that Jesus was guilty of; and he declared him innocent on that very occasion!

In Isaiah 53:5 the term "Stripes" is reference to the chastisement. In our cultural and society today no treatment of criminals can become to come close to the level of brutality that accompanied such "scourging." Archaeologists have found remnants of the old judgment seat of that might have been used by the Romans to dispense their punishment on Christ. Imagine a truncated pillar upon which our Lord might have been chained, while two Roman soldiers, standing one on each side, with the brutal whips made lethal and bloody by small pieces of bone or glass chips attached to the cords of the whips, applied the awful blows and punishment, first to the back, and then after turning the victim over, to the chest and face, each soldier smiting the victim with all his strength, and taking time about with their blows, tortured the victim within an inch of his life. It was no wonder the Lord succumbed under the weight of the cross. After this chastisement, Pilate was certain the Jews would declare that he needed no more punishment; and so he brought Jesus out and presented him to the mob, saying, "Behold the Man"! How wrong was Pilate's underestimation of the hatred of that Jewish mob for Christ? (Luke 22:22, 23)

In the statement "Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all ..." (Isaiah. 53:6) it cannot be made any clearer that Christ died for the sins of all men. An innocent just man, with no sin; offered Himself to bear the sins of us all.

The next time we come down on ourselves, and ask why me? Let’s remember the servant who suffered for us. Let’s get on with the work we have been charged by God to do (Matthew 28:20). When the trials of this life come our way as a result of doing God’s will, then we can say as Paul did “Henceforth, let no man trouble me; for I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus.” (Galatians 6:17, ASV).

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