Mission Devotional Day 7
Wounded for our transgressions
Mission Devotional Day 7
READ: Isaiah 53
This portion of the book of the prophet Isaiah functions at different levels of meaning. Some see Israel as the suffering servant. Others identify the servant with the prophet. Nevertheless, it is easy to understand how the early Christians understood this text as pointing ahead to the Messiah, to Jesus. In fact, it is one of the Old Testament texts that the New Testament most often references.
The Bible uses different images or metaphors to describe how God in Christ acted to restore a right relationship between people and their creator. One of the most powerful metaphors of the atonement asserts that Jesus died in our place, taking upon himself the punishment that we as sinners who have turned from God deserve. In Romans 3:23-26, the Apostle Paul sets it out in this way: “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.”
John Calvin especially sees the reference to Christ in Isaiah 53:5-6: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
In this chapter, we see many other correspondences with the life of Christ as recorded in the gospels. We see the good news in a God who acts out of love to save us, not because we deserve it but because his very nature is love.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Paul writes that we are justified by God’s grace as a gift. Do you find yourself at times trying to justify or save yourself? If so, to what do you attribute that impulse?
Isaiah 53:11 states, “Through him the will of the Lord will prosper.” How does Chapter 53 describe the will of the Lord? In what terms?
PRAYER
Loving God, at times it is hard for us to believe what we have been told about your love. As you spoke through the prophets to prepare your people for your gracious action, help us to be prepared to share with others your sacrificial love. Amen.