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 (Isaiah 53:4-6).

These words are fulfilled in the passion and death of our Lord, Jesus the Christ. He bore our griefs, our sins, and carried our sorrows and guilt to the cross. By nature, we do not esteem Him for this, or praise Him for this, but rather we reject Him, and He is in this act of atonement afflicted by His Father and suffers His full wrath. He was pierced for our transgressions, and by His wounds we are healed. Why did this happen? Why was Jesus slain for us? Because we like sheep have gone and continue to go astray. Because we are conceived and born in sin and because we actively sin and turn away from God the Father, Jesus then had the iniquity of us all laid upon Him. Jesus took the death we deserve and died for the sins we commit. Jesus is the Lamb willed to be slain for the salvation of all mankind. We would be wise and blessed to inwardly digest these words from Isaiah and memorize them in every trial and terror of conscience.

We would be wise to memorize this passage because the devil is always going to try to tempt us to doubt Jesus love for us. He is going to tempt us to doubt these words from Isaiah. He is going to tempt us to believe that Jesus didn't die for all our sins, or that Jesus didn't suffer all the wrath of His Father. The devil tempts to look somewhere else besides the wounds of Christ the Crucified for our comfort, for our salvation, for our forgiveness. May the devil be gone so that we look only in the wounds of Jesus and in there find our salvation and life. By Jesus wounds we are healed, we are rescued from sin, death, world, and the power of the devil. By Jesus' wounds we have life and forgiveness. By Jesus' wounds we are redeemed and have life forever in heaven.

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam drowned anew so that you hear only the voice of your Savior Jesus who says, "Look to My wounds, there is your sin. You are healed, you are forgiven," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog,

Pastor Hull