“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

A second golden verse in the Bible

When we speak of the golden verse of the Bible, we actually mean the verse from John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

 

For me, the verse from Isaiah 53:5 has also become a golden verse. Whenever we read this verse at communion, a shiver runs through me. I am deeply moved by what a momentous event took place on Golgotha. Jesus was wounded and crushed for my sins. God himself came to this earth to take the punishment for my sins and my failures upon himself.

This is something very personal and involves a very close relationship. Jesus loved me, who lived in terrible sin, so much that He came down from heaven to this earth to take these sins against a holy God upon Himself and receive the punishment for them. Jesus endured all the cruel blows with the murderous scourge because He took my punishment upon Himself.

Jesus also bore the shame of being cast out and despised by the whole world for me. The crown of thorns with which people mocked Him clearly shows that He truly bore our punishment as King of eternal glory. The terrible, painful, and agonizing death on this cross had to happen so that my sins could be punished and atoned for before the living God.

The wages of sin is death – and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins , the Word of God tells us very clearly. That is why Jesus had to walk this difficult path and die this horrific death for me personally. It is chilling to imagine the suffering Jesus endured there. I simply cannot describe it any other way, and there are not enough words to adequately describe this execution.

And yet, within all this cruelty lies a great comfort and blessing: the punishment was laid upon Him so that we might have peace. The peace we are privileged to enjoy today is the fruit of Jesus' suffering. We can look joyfully and hopefully to heaven and confidently face the future. And this is because Jesus took our punishment upon Himself, and we may stand as righteous before the heavenly Father. This is also expressed very clearly in a hymn we often sing at Holy Communion: "Heaven stands open, heart, do you know why, because Jesus fought and bled for it."

Another aspect of this verse has become very precious to me, namely, that it really happened this way. The punishment was upon Him; that is an irrefutable fact . Not possibly or perhaps, but absolutely certain and without any doubt. Every person who lives in this faith in Jesus Christ has this rock-solid foundation in their life.

The punishment was on Him. And this truth fills us with profound peace and a joy that both humbles our hearts and makes them almost burst with joy. God had so much grace and love for us that He conceived and carried out this plan for our salvation. Every person on this earth has the opportunity to receive this grace through faith and to walk through life with this deep peace.

His wounds, His pain, and His death fill our hearts with awe and joy because through them we have peace and healing of body and soul. Many Christians go through life joylessly because they don't heed this second golden verse of the Bible. God took our punishment upon Himself and gave us peace and freedom. Let us be sincerely grateful to Him for this and experience joy in this salvation every day. Let us joyfully join David in saying: “I will praise the Lord at all times; his praise will continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1).

Ernst Fischer
Municipality of Cloppenburg