Isaiah 53:5

Isaiah 53:5

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. 

I have been a Christian for a number of years. I know this verse, I have repeated it many times with my children and many more times in Sunday school with other people’s children. I know what it means. But when I read it recently, it hit me a little different. The weight of this verse bore a heaviness on my heart that I hadn’t felt when reading it before. 

Jesus, the son of God, fully understanding what Hewould have to endure for me, chose this path because He loves me. 

Read that again. Jesus had a body just like you and me, flesh, blood, tendons, muscles, bones, and nerves. He felt pain just like you and me. He knew what He was going to go through. He knew the price my sin was going to cost Him and He willingly took out Hiswallet. His body cashed the check that was written on my overdrafted account. 

He was pierced for our transgressions, every unlawful, ugly, shameful, act I’ve committed was a blow, of the hammer, on the spikes that were so viciously driven into his flesh, splitting muscles, tendons, nerves, and bones. Every lie, every unkind thought, was crack of a whip, tearing into the flesh of Mary’s son, spilling His innocent blood on the ground He created. This man…He was perfect. He lived with sinners yet committed no sin. 

The peace I have been searching for my whole life cost Him His. I have scars where physical, emotional and mental, wounds caused by others have healed. He chose to have His body desecrated so my soul could find the way home. 

I have been sitting with this verse for about 6 months now. I have been mulling it over, giving these wordsspace to penetrate my heart deeper than before. They have left an ache in my soul. A mark if you will, similarly to not being able to rewind time and unsee something. The gravity, there are truly no words to adequately describe. There are even fewer words to describe the selflessness of the choice Jesus made. 

It has taken me 6 months to write these words, and the depth of this act, I still lack the words for. 

I’ll be pondering this verse for the rest of my days, wondering how I can truly show my gratitude.