Prophecy 12: Isaiah 53:5

Daily Thoughts – December 16^th

Prophecy 12: Isaiah 53:5

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

Isaiah 53:5 and cross references

Have you seen the movie The Passion of the Christ? It represents the final 24 hours of Christ's life. From the Garden of Gethsemane to the tomb, concluding in the resurrection of my Savior. There are glimpses of His past filtered throughout the movie to reveal the miraculous grace and glory that He brought from the Father above. Most would agree though that the graphic depiction of the brutal scourging He received as punishment from Pontius Pilot was horrifying and grotesque. I've seen interviews with Mel Gibson and James Caviezel commenting that the reality of the beating was critical to the authenticity of the movie, and they wanted to get it perfect. Through enormous research they determined the weapons and tools that would have been used to inflict the punishment, and the movie is as real as it gets. If you have not seen the movie, my brief description will not do it justice, but imagine his back, sides, arms, and legs sliced deep with gashes in the flesh. Bone was visibly showing in many places, the blood pooling at his feet as he hung from shackles from the whipping stone in the center of the courtyard.

With this image in mind, can you understand Isaiah's prophecy foretelling of the Messiah's beatings? The Father above placed these words upon the lips of Isaiah 700 years prior to the birth of Jesus Christ.

Pontius Pilot executed the punishment which required his beating. Do you think Pontius Pilate was attempting to fulfill a prophecy in his decision?

The prison guards had to execute the punishment. Do you think they had knowledge of the prophecy from 700 years prior, and ensured to beat him beyond recognition to fulfill these prophecies?

After the beating, the people of Jerusalem demanded his crucifixion. Do you believe that the masses in Jerusalem conspired in order to fulfill the prophecy?

and finally, the centurion who thrust the spear into Christ's side as He hung on the cross. Is it possible that this Roman warrior was familiar enough with the ancient prophecies and did this in order to fulfill it?

The obvious answer to all of this are that these events happened by the hand of God's planning such that prophecies would be fulfilled by Jesus Christ alone. Accepting this, we now look to the results that are promised to us. So what does the prophecy say about why the Messiah would endure this scourging? "... for our transgressions...for our iniquities...brought us peace...we are healed." Jesus Christ came so that we would be forgiven, healed and receive peace from the Father, who was willing to let His own Son be crushed, beaten and killed. That is the most unbelievable love that could ever be shown, and it was given for you.

Knowing that God loves you this much there is nothing you can do to deserve it, but it is given regardless. This is what is known as grace, and it is available to all of you if you are only willing to accept it. The denial of His love and grace, means you are denying the very sacrifice He made and thereby denying the results provided by that sacrifice.

- Rich

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