“Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide his spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
Isaiah 53:11-12
Every time I read these verses in Isaiah, they stir my heart to amazement. There’s just something about the contrast seen in verse 12 that makes me pause in wonder.
Jesus—the perfect, holy, sinless Son of God—was numbered with the transgressors of God’s holy covenant. He poured out His soul to death. He bore their sin. Our sin. And He now lives to intercede for those same transgressors.
It just amazes me. A spotless, innocent Lamb, slaughtered for the sins of others, numbered among them. Enduring anguish and scorn and shame. A Lamb who rose victorious and now reigns in all glory and power, and who lives to make intercession for us.
Out of that anguish, Jesus is satisfied to see sinners and transgressors—enemies and children of wrath—ransomed for God and made righteous, brilliantly displaying the incomparable glory of His grace.
Near the end of His time on earth, our Savior set His face toward Jerusalem, knowing all that would happen there. He set His face like a flint and did not hesitate to accomplish what the Father had sent Him to do. Jesus Christ pressed on for joy, for our redemption, for the glory of God the Father. He has conquered. And His name is now exalted, higher than any other name. His is the only name by which we are saved. (Luke 9:51, Isaiah 50:7, John 12:27, Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 2:9, Acts 4:11-12)
Our Lord put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Because His sacrifice is enough to accomplish this victory, in us and in all of creation, once and for all. (Hebrews 9:26)
He saves to the uttermost. He lives to make intercession for us. For me. For you. For the transgressors, among whom He humbled Himself—the holy, majestic King—to be numbered. (Hebrews 7:25)
Lord Jesus, You bore our sins. All of them. Not one did you let slip by unnoticed. All have been dealt with in perfect justice, as the wrath of God was poured out on You. They have been nailed to the cross with our Savior. Our only hope. Thank You for Your willingness, for Your determination. Thank You for reaching into the mire to draw us out and for cleansing us from all unrighteousness. May we each walk through our days, abiding in Your presence and never leaving Your feet. Remembering always the sacrifice You made which saves us—the sacrifice that gives us life.
“Blessed is the one who transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”
Psalm 32:1-2
“[Christ Jesus], though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:6-11
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth…
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and weath and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
Revelation 5:9-10, 12
In Pleasant Places 