For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:2-6)

What We Did To Jesus

God sent His only begotten Son to the world they created to give His Son a ransom for the price of redemption. Only through the suffering of Christ would man find hope from the wrath of God. All the blood of animals would not take away the stain of rebellion from sin and reconcile the heart of man with God. The measure of sin demanded the greatest sacrifice in the greatest manner of suffering known to man. It would not be a miracle that would save man or an easy path to cleanse the stain of sin from the world. Jesus would suffer like no other because He was God, sinless, perfect and innocent and death was the final price He had to pay on the cross. It was the will of the Father Jesus die and He fulfilled with word of prophecy to become the slain lamb but it is imperative that all men know the reason Jesus died: personal accountability of every man. Isaiah declares the suffering Savior as one who was despised, rejected, smitten by God and afflicted, wounded, bruised and by stripes carried out the will of God but the reason was because of what I have done to Jesus. The event of His death took place two thousand years ago and all men that now live bear the shame and reproach of the guilt for what was done to the Son of God. He bore my grief from the darkness of my sin. Jesus carried my sorrows because I inflicted the ravaging pain of rejection. The Lord was stricken from the plague of my sin. My transgressions wounded Him, all my iniquities bruised Him and the chastisement of my peace was upon Him. Jesus was scourged by the Romans who served my guilt as if I was the one who held the whip in my hand. It is easy to blame the soldiers long ago for what happened to Jesus and to place all blame upon the Jews for rejecting Jesus until one realizes that every man had a hand in the death of Jesus. I killed Jesus.

Isaiah says that we all turned to our own way. What Adam and Eve did in the garden was to choose their own desires above the will of God. Sin is always an expression of self-worth and pride to be our own gods to determine what is right and wrong. John defined sin as the transgression of the law of God. Jesus died as a sacrifice for my rebellion to the word of God. No man has lived without sin save Jesus Christ making all men accountable for the death of Jesus. What Isaiah describes is what I have done to the Son of God as if I were present at the death of Jesus. I must take responsibility for the actions that I have done that brought about the death of Jesus in a manner that is personally accountable so that I can see how large the gift was given by God. Until I realize what I have done to Jesus that caused His death it will be difficult to understand the unfathomable grace of a loving Father. The early church fulfilled the instructions of Jesus to remember the sacrifice of Jesus each first day of the week as a memorial and reminder of who killed Jesus. Thinking about the Lord’s Supper is a proper time to reflect upon why Jesus died – MY SIN. Partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine is more than eating a little crust and sipping some juice. It becomes personal accountability for the reason the Son of God died on a cross. My sins put Him there and His love kept Jesus on the cross. The Father has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. Me and my sins and you and your sins.

Jesus poured out His soul unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. He bore the sin of many but He bore my sins especially and He made intercession for the transgressor: ME. My sins nailed Jesus to the cross. The scourging, mockery and shameful treatment of the Son of God were done by the will of my hand. I stand guilty of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. There is no other person to blame. Satan cannot be blamed for what I have done. Jesus did not die for a few souls but all souls that have rebelled against the will of the eternal God and that includes me at the top of the list. Paul was not the chief of sinners because I am the chief among sinners. The cross has my name written all over it. Under the title placed by the Romans is my name. Jesus knows my name because He knows my name as the reason He suffered and died. I did all those terrible things to Jesus and all because of my sin. Allowing this image of God’s love to forgive me is where the grace of God removes the guilt of sin. We hid our faces from Him and He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Jesus died on the cross for my sin. In the resurrection the Father brought hope to my life in showing me His eternal forgiveness to remove my sin and to lift me up to glory. I was lost but now I am found. Thank you Jesus for your love to save me from my sin. Even in the face of all the reasons Jesus died He is willing to forgive me. I find peace and hope in the forgiveness of Christ’s blood to take away my sin and make me whole again. It is important to know what I have done to Jesus and more important to know what Jesus has done for me. Thank God for His eternal grace.