Day 250 · Year 1 · The Story of Scripture
Wounded for our transgressions
Seven hundred years before the cross, Isaiah saw it.
Today's passage
Isaiah 53:4-6
4Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
Berean Standard Bible · public domain
Reflection
Isaiah 53 is the Old Testament looking forward to the cross. The Servant takes what we earned and gives us what he earned. 'He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities… and by his stripes we are healed.' If you are dragging guilt with you today, read this slowly. The trade has already happened. The penalty you cannot pay was carried by Someone who could. Your part is not to add to the payment; it is to receive the result.
From the great tradition · paraphrased
Martin Luther · Reformers · 16th c. · Germany
Luther called this the 'great exchange' — our sin laid on Christ, his righteousness laid on us — and insisted that the guilty heart finds peace nowhere else.
Paraphrase only. Scripture, not any teacher, is the authority.
Think it through
- List what the Servant takes from us in verses 4–5.
- What does verse 6 say about every one of us?
- What guilt are you still carrying as though the trade had not happened?
A prayer to pray
Name the specific guilt you are carrying. Thank Christ for taking it, and ask him for the peace the trade was meant to bring.