Pierced

Today I want to do something a little different. I want us to read Isaiah 53. Paul David Tripp included it in his devotional Journey to the Cross. I agree with him that this is a good passage to meditate on especially this time of year. It is a prophetical summary of Jesus’ suffering, death, burial, resurrection, and the resulting blessings for sinners who trust in Jesus’ atoning work on the cross alone.

Rather than me breaking down these verses, I want you to read through them several times and answer the reflection questions as you prepare your heart to remember Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection this Easter weekend.

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

9 And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors. [1]

Reflection

1. Write down all the descriptions you read of Jesus and what He endured on our behalf and in our place.

2. What are the results of Jesus’ suffering, death, burial, and resurrection found in verses 10-12?

3. What personally impacts you the most from this summary of Jesus’ suffering, death, burial, and resurrection?

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 53:1–12.