-October 15, 2023-
Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin…” (Isaiah 53:10a).
Today’s verses are sacred and holy. Isaiah 53 written hundreds of years before Christ, was prophetic of our Savior’s death and glorification. He portrays His sorrow, suffering, and substitution at Calvary. There on that old rugged cross He was bruised by God and man.
The word bruised is found in both verses; it can be translated “crushed.” We trace this crushing all the way back to Genesis 3:15, where God told the serpent, the devil, Satan, “And I will put enmity between you and your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” This prophesy was was fulfilled. When Satan through the Jews and Romans crucified Him. They struck His body, but they couldn’t touch His soul. It was like the bruising of the heel. Jesus through His death and resurrection bruised Satan’s head, effectively defeating Him completely and eternally.
The punishment Jesus endured was horrific. He suffered, bled, and died in our place. Isaiah tells us that He was despised and rejected; bore our griefs and sorrows; was wounded for our transgressions; bore the sin of many; was oppressed and afflicted; led as a lamb to the slaughter, and cut off from the land of the living.
As painful as crucifixion was, it could not compare to His spiritual sufferings. He was smitten by God and afflicted. God poured out His wrath on Him and He bore the curse of sin for us. God turned His back on Him when He bore our sin, guilt, and shame. So dreadful and devastating was the penalty of our sins that He bore, that God caused a deep darkness to permeate the sky from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, which was from noon to three o’clock in the afternoon.
Let us approach Him today with awe and reverence, worship and praise to the One who loved us and died for us. God’s was pleased to bruise Him because His death brought about our forgiveness of sin, salvation, and eternal life by grace through faith in Him.
Have a blessed day singing praises to God, hearing the Word of God, and having fellowship with one another. Stay safe and healthy.
Dying in our place, by His mercy and grace,
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 