Have you ever had that gnawing feeling in your gut when you’ve done something wrong? Perhaps, you had been caught and awaited the consequences of that action? I remember one of those times when I cheated on a French exam. The teacher caught me and pulled me out of class. That gnawing in my gut was not for fear of the consequences I would reap with the teacher; rather, it was what I knew awaited me at home when my dad found out.
In Isaiah 53, seven hundred years before Jesus was born, we read about how He would take the punishment and the consequences of our sin. He experienced in His own body the penalty for our sins so that our sins wouldn’t have to be exposed before God at judgment. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, we get an opportunity to be in relationship with God since sin no longer separates us.
This is only possible because Jesus come to earth as a man. The heavenly Messiah became one of us (Isaiah 53:2). John 1:14 says that Jesus became human and dwelt among us. This Person would know pain and suffering, just like us. The good news of Isaiah 53 is that Jesus took on not only our sin but the consequences of human sin.
How does it make you feel to know that Jesus came to humanity for the purpose of saving us from our sin?
What is your response to what Jesus did? How do you respond to such a generous gift?