Pierced for our Iniquities: The Love of God in Action

I have one point to make in this paper. “Christ died for you and you should never take it for granted.” We take things for granted when we become accustomed to having them, they become commonplace. We take things for granted when we forget how valuable they are, how much they cost. I want you to see the cross of Christ as God sees it. The cross of Christ is not a mere historical event that occurred 2,000 years ago, it is an event that should color the way you see the world. It is an event that should affect the priorities that govern your life. It is an event that should shape your character and impact your relationships. The cross of Christ is not just an historic event, it is a personal foundation upon which you can build your life.

In Isaiah 52, we are commissioned to share the good news to a world that is barraged by bad news. The world of today is a world thirsty for peace, for love, for purpose. In fact, that is the picture, literally, that God paints for us when He commands His people to take the good news to Zion. Zion literally means “parched place.” God essentially tells them to go to that parched place and tell the inhabitants that their God reigns and that living water is available.

In Matthew 23 Jesus calls the Pharisees and Scribes hypocrites. Pharisees and Scribes were the religious elite who based their religiosity on memorizing and teaching the law. If anyone should have known about the Messiah Isaiah wrote about, it should have been them. But their unbelief prevented them from accepting the obvious interpretations that pointed to a divine savior, a divine rescuer. Passages such as Isaiah 9:6, where the Messiah is called “mighty God,” or Isaiah 53:11b-12, where His work is described as “bearing the sins of many” and suffering “death,” are clear. They accepted neither implication. They rejected Jesus because He claimed to be God’s literal Son, equal with the Father, and because He predicted that He would die for the sins of Jew and Gentile. To them, both claims were blasphemous. Instead of seeking God’s grace through His provision, they were committed to earning God’s favor through keeping the law. Jesus called them hypocrites because they overlooked their own violations of the law. They overvalued themselves and their efforts at self-righteousness and undervalued God’s holiness. They wanted God to honor their efforts instead of honoring Him for His.

Regardless of what they believed, Isaiah is very clear about the nature and work of the Messiah. Isaiah 53:1-12 is remarkably clear and concise in its description of the person and work of the Messiah. As we read this together, ask yourself, How did the Pharisees and Scribes not see the truth about Jesus Christ? “Who has believed our message? To whom will the Lord reveal his saving power? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins—that he was suffering their punishment? He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and fill him with grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs…. And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins…. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.” Combined with Psalm 22, Isaiah 53 clearly describes a savior who will literally suffer and die for the sins of people, Jew and Gentile.

The coming of Christ was a work of God. To convince the world that the cross was actually a work of God, God declared exactly how it would happen. Seven hundred years before that star would rise in Bethlehem, 500 years before Rome would even become a world power, God instructs Isaiah to describe in detail the key events of the cross, to prophesy about the mission and future work of Christ. A prophecy is the future told in advance by God through a prophet. God does this to validate what is happening. Isaiah 48:3-5: “I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’”

Calvary is not just where forgiveness can be found but it is where we see God’s colossal hatred of our rebellion. It took the innocent and vicious suffering and death of God’s own Son to make the way for forgiveness to be possible. There was no other way! A holy and just God could not, cannot, overlook sin. Nor can He merely decide by His sovereignty to forgive those who make the most religious effort. “After all, He is God, can’t He do what He wants?” The answer is “Yes!” He can do what He wants. But recognize that His parameters for decision-making are different than yours and mine. His decision-making comes from a core that is a perfect harmonization of holiness and love. A mere declaration of pardon based on nothing more than a divine decision is open to criticism. The price for sin must be paid or justice will be violated. Violate justice and you are no longer holy. Based on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, God can forgive without violating His holiness. “Yes,” God can do what He wants and aren’t you glad His love moves Him to want to forgive you and bless your life! Calvary is the result of that love. Without that divine love you have no hope!

Calvary was not just about God satisfying His holiness ‘requirements’. It was where the depth of His love for humans, and all of creation, shone forth. Does a disinterested sovereign talk like God does in Isaiah 49:16? “I will not forget you. I have engraved your name on the palm of my hand.” God is vastly different from any image you have of powerful kings and despots. This engraving idea goes back to the high priest who was directed by God to take twelve stones and engrave the name of each of the sons of Israel on them and put them into the breastplate of the High Priest who wore it when he went into the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement to offer shed blood to atone for the sins of the people (which prefigured Christ at Calvary), that he might bear the names of the sons of Israel that they might be forgiven and spiritually healed. When the soldiers pounded those nails into Jesus hands your name was there. As His spirit left Him in death and blood dripped from His side your name was there. He did it for you, as well as Himself! You were on His mind. Calvary frees Him to bless your life. Jesus says, “You no longer need that high priest, I am your high priest and I have written your names on the palm of my hand.” How then, in light of this, in light of who Christ is and what He has done for us, shall we live? What difference does it make? Live each day in light of the cross. Do not trample that glorious act of God under your feet by living as if it never happened!