An Atonement Predicted: Isaiah 53:4-6

It's a familiar story, told in this instance by singer-songwriter Michael Card in his book, A Violent Grace.

A friend of mine and his buddy were sitting together in a foxhole during the Korean War. Their patrol had been assigned to sweep for concealed mines. As they sat together, sharing a candy bar, an enemy hand grenade flew through the air and landed between them. Without hesitation, my friend's partner threw aside the last piece of candy bar and flung himself on the grenade. His courage saved my friend's life.

Card adds this thought: "Jesus fell on the grenade, as it were, for me." And not just for Michael Card, but for me, and for you.

"The atonement is the work Christ did in his life and death to earn our salvation" (Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine). Simply put, Jesus Christ took our place.

Perhaps nowhere is this truth seen more clearly than in Isaiah 53:4-6. Take a minute to read the passage, preferably aloud. Notice the number of times in these three verses that Jesus absorbs the punishment we deserved.

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; ...he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.... (A)nd the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Now read it again, this time putting your name in wherever there is a pronoun, "our" or "we" or "us." The truth is literally hammered home time after time: it was we who deserved to suffer and die, but Christ took our place.

This is so much more than simply saying, Jesus died for our sins. As true as that is, it fails to capture the depth and extent of the atonement's effect. Jesus Christ felt the weight of "our griefs and... our sorrows."

Why do we grieve, and why are we sorrowful? Because of sin. Because we mess up our lives by our own sin, and we suffer when sinned against. Jesus knows this, and carries that burden for us. In the process, "he was wounded" and "he was crushed."

Recall the account of his humiliation and torture and agonizing death. This was the eternal Son of God undergoing everything that I deserved and nothing that he deserved. The grenade he fell on had my name on it, and would have separated me from God forever, but Jesus willingly took that on himself.

"Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed." Thanks to the atonement, peace is now available--peace with God, which is our greatest need, and peace with those around us. What a gift! What grace and mercy! We have peace. We have healing. (See Matthew 8:17 for the New Testament commentary on verse 4.)

And what is our "contribution"? Isaiah answers that question in verse 6: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way." Every one--without exception. It is our sin that made the atonement necessary. Praise God for the merit of Christ, who alone could have earned our salvation!

by Tim Bowditch