But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

                                                                                                                 Isaiah 53:5-6 

If there was one passage from the Old Testament that encapsulates the good news that we now have because of Jesus, it would be this one. Some 700 years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Isaiah was already speaking of what was to come. Tragically, some still do not have spiritual eyes to see this as speaking of Jesus but for those of who know Him and have received salvation by faith in His work for us, this passage has great significance. It summarizes the reason why we can celebrate our new life in Christ.

First, let’s look at the ugly, brutal side of the cross. Consider Isaiah’s words in describing what happened to Jesus:

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 

Jesus had nails driven through His hands and feet, thus the piercing. He was beaten so badly that it is said that he was unrecognizable as a human being, thus being crushed. Jesus humbled Himself, taking all of this suffering for us, thus the chastening. And He was whipped, flogged, and beaten, thus the scourging. This is the ugly, brutal side of the cross but all of this was done because of God’s love for the world and His desire to make a way for us to be reconciled to Him once and for all (Romans 6:10).

And so we celebrate the effects of the cross on everyone who believes. Consider these words:

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 

It was because of our transgressions, coming from the sin nature inherited from the time of Adam, that Jesus died (Romans 5:18). It was because of our iniquities that He humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant rather than exercising His right as God (Philippians 2:6). And because of His willingness to do all of this, we can now experience spiritual well being. Because of the scourging that He endured, we are now healed!

And now Isaiah declares the universal truth that everyone is in need of God’s grace and salvation and that the cross of Jesus makes a way for all of us to come to Him by faith. Consider the following:

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. 

All of us have turned away from God. The course of the world is one of hostility toward our Creator. Many refuse to humble themselves and declare that Jesus truly is Lord. Many see all spiritual talk as merely religious discussion. But what Isaiah is declaring in this passage is at the heart of the gospel…the good news of Jesus! Even though all of us have, like sheep, gone astray, “the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Jesus).” Paul puts it this way:

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more… 

                                                                                                           Romans 5:18-20 

Everyone is affected by the one sin of Adam therefore everyone has sinned. But God, through the cross of Jesus, has given justification and life to all who will come to Him by faith. When we admit our need and ask Him to do a saving work in our lives, He does! Whenever sin abounds in our life as a result of not keeping up with the demands of the Law, God’s grace “super abounds” and becomes more powerful than the worst of our sin. This is the good news!

Because of God’s grace and love for the world, He sent Jesus to accomplish something that we cannot achieve for ourselves. Because of the cross, we can experience a sense of spiritual well being and abundant life. Because of the cross, we are healed. Because of the cross, every iniquity and sin that we will ever commit has been placed on Jesus so that those who are saved will not face the consequences or condemnation that justly comes from those violations.

We are now declared sons and daughters of God and heirs to His kingdom. Our lives are spiritually transformed by the work of the Spirit and we are forever changed. This is what it means to be a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. And it is all made possible because of the good news of Jesus Christ declared so many centuries ago by the prophet Isaiah.

Let’s be a people who declare this amazing news today to everyone so that others may come to experience the grace of God in their lives as well!