Messiah: Vicarious Sufferer

“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 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 are healed. 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 53:4-5. NKJV). “And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’ And they divided His garments and cast lots…And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (Luke 23:33-34, 38. NKJV).

Jesus, Messiah, Vicarious Sufferer. Can we begin to comprehend this title for our Lord? The meaning of the word “vicarious” is “serving instead of or for someone else.” The truth is, you and I should have been the ones undergoing the indignities of the trial and crucifixion, the inhumane death of our Lord. We are the guilty ones—covered with sin and unworthy to approach God—but He “bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.” For us he was “smitten, afflicted, wounded, bruised.” The punishment (chastisement) rightly due us was placed upon Him. Every stripe He endured should have been for me. This personalizes His vicarious suffering. I can hardly bear to think of the price He paid for my salvation. Like wandering sheep who lost our way, we stood condemned at the foot of the cross, but Jesus, looking upon His persecutors then, and all of us since, prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” And the amazing truth is that His vicarious suffering was accepted by God!

He was the Lamb led to the slaughter, the Sheep before shearers, complaining not at all, the Silent Sufferer, “for the transgressions of My people He was stricken” (Isaiah 53:8b). Read all of Isaiah 53 and thank God for the Vicarious Sufferer. Just as Jesus endured what Isaiah predicted in vicarious suffering for us, so he also prophesied, and rightly so, the triumph of the Vicarious Sufferer: “He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand…By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:10b-11, NKJV). In recent years we often hear, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” And, indeed, He is. From His coming as a Baby in Bethlehem to His death, resurrection, and ascension back to the right hand of God, where He lives to make intercession for us, His vicarious life, death and victory were purposed for redemption. Isaiah got a marvelous glimpse through the Holy Spirit and wrote about Him centuries before Jesus came and suffered. Now we have the whole picture in His Word. How can we but believe and act on the Truth? “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NKJV). Praise be to God!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, December 14, 2010