"OUR SUFFERING SAVIOR" (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 3/24/26

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7-9)

Isaiah 53 is all about a suffering servant, one who would be despised and abandoned in this life but would ultimately bear the iniquities of many only to be crushed by God and finally sit beside Him in glory. Although not named in the chapter, it’s so obvious that this prophesied servant was and is our Lord Jesus. He was rejected in His generation and was killled on the cross by His Father for the transgression of His people, who were healed by those stripes.

We see here (vv. 4-9), an account of the sufferings of Christ as well as their design. It was for our sins and in our place that He lost His life. We know that our sins deserve death, but we are saved from this earned ruin by laying our sins on this suffering servant. The atonement the Savior bought on our behalf is the only way to be saved.

He was injuriously treated by the Jews, both in body and mind, with their blows as well as their accusations. The servant was afflicted and judged by God because of the sins laid on Him by imputation, making Him responsible to answer for them. The debt owed was required, the payment was called for, and Jesus answered- clearing our accounts fully. He suffered all this and still didn’t open His mouth against the oppressors, nor against the justice of God and the demand it made of Him. He paid the debt, and bore the punishment without any dispute or hesitation.

After He had suffered and died, satisfying divine justice completely, He was laid to rest in the grave. Upon His rise from death, He was acquitted, justified, and declared righteous; with an angel being sent from Heaven to free Him from the tomb. Although the wounds suffered by this Savior were heinous, the wonderful things accomplished there were too awesome to be declared by the mouth, or described by the pen of man.

By a violent death was He cut off from the land of the living, as if He had been a vicious criminal, though it wasn’t for his own sins that He was judged. Instead, He was slain for the faults of the many; being stricken, not only with the scourges of the whip but with divine justice, on account of God's elect. This shows why the wickedness of His age could not be declared: our suffering Savior was innocent and gave it all nonetheless. Human minds can’t fully comprehend why an innocent person would pay for the transgressions of others, even of God's covenant people.

Even though Christ did not die for His own sins, He was willing to die and be judged like a sinner. This was Christ’s own act and He willingly yielded up himself to the death and burial condition of the wicked. In His death, however, He was said to be rich because, as Pilate determined when Joseph of Arimathea came for His body, Christ had committed no crime. Our sins were the thorns in Christ's head, the nails in His hands and feet, and the spear in His side. He was delivered to death for our offences and by those sufferings, He purchased for us the Spirit and grace of God: to blot out our corruptions. It becomes much easier to endure the lighter sufferings of this life if we realize that Christ dealt with worse on the cross. He became the very thing He hated most, so we might be spared from the wrath of God.