The Sin-Bearing Savior: Isaiah 53:5-6

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Speaker: Pastor
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What Do We Actually Mean When We Say “Jesus Died for Me”?

We say it so easily, don’t we? Jesus died for me. It rolls off the tongue in prayers, in songs, in casual conversation among believers. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself what you actually mean by it? I don’t think that question is small. How you answer it “is going to indicate whether or not you really understand the gospel, the good news of who Jesus is and what he has done.”

This morning, in preparation for the Lord’s Supper, I had the privilege of continuing Pastor Mike’s study through Isaiah 52 and 53, a song written about Christ that explains how a holy God can forgive unholy people like you and me. Our focus was Isaiah 53:5-6, what I think might be the chorus of that song, the verse you’d keep returning to: “But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds, we are healed.” At the center of it all is this: Christ is our substitute, who “voluntarily took upon himself the guilt of sinners, stood condemned in their place, and absorbed the righteous wrath of God that they might be saved.”

We Are Worse Off Than We Think

Before we can understand what the cross accomplished, we have to understand what it was accomplishing something for. Verse six says “we all like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.” Notice the words “all” and “everyone.” This isn’t the condition of some people, the bad guys out there somewhere. It’s all of us. As I mature as a Christian, something strange happens: I become less sinful, and yet I feel more aware of my sin than I did decades ago. What that means is I become less and less impressed with myself and more and more amazed by grace.

This is why Paul could call himself the foremost of sinners. He wasn’t exaggerating. He simply knew his own sin better than anyone else could, just like you know yours better than anyone else does. And we must not soften what that sin deserves. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death, not inconvenience, not a rough season. If we minimize sin, we will trivialize the cross of Christ. That’s the whole danger of saying “nobody’s perfect” instead of naming what’s actually true about us.

Jesus Took Our Place and Our Punishment

Look again at verse five: “he was pierced for our transgressions.” Two small words in that sentence carry the entire weight of the gospel: “for” and “our.” Israel looked at the suffering servant and assumed he was being punished for his own sin. Verse four shows the reversal: we were wrong about him. He was pierced not for his sin, but for ours.

This is exactly what the Day of Atonement pictured in Leviticus 16, the two goats, the blood carried behind the veil, the sins confessed over the scapegoat and carried away into the wilderness. “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.” On the cross, Christ was not a martyr, not a victim, not merely an example. “He was a substitute in our place.” So stop trying to justify yourself with your tears, your resolutions, your church attendance. Your best day cannot pay for one sin. As Robert Murray McCheyne said, for every one look at sin, take ten looks at Christ.

Jesus Truly Saves

Verse five continues: “with his wounds we are healed.” I feel healthy today. I’ve been eating well, exercising some. But I know I’m sick. I was born with a fatal disease called sin, and it’s going to kill me, just as it will kill you. Yet by the wounds of Christ, I have been healed. I’ll still die physically, but I will not die spiritually.

So many of us, myself included, live as though Christ began our salvation but our effort and feelings have to finish it. That’s not true. On the days your heart is cold and your assurance is weak, the answer is still that Christ has done enough. The cross doesn’t merely make salvation possible. It actually saves.

God Planned It All

The final phrase of verse six is stunning: “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” This wasn’t an accident, not plan B, not divine improvisation. Before Judas’s betrayal, before Pilate’s cowardice, before the soldiers’ cruelty, it was the Lord’s redemptive plan. As Isaiah 53:10 says, it was the will of the Lord to crush him. That means the atonement is as secure as the purpose of God himself.

Discussion Questions

  1. When the speaker offered three views of the atonement, exemplar, substitute, and victor, which one had you leaning toward before hearing the passage explained, and why?
  2. The Day of Atonement pictured two goats, one slain and one sent away. How does that Old Testament illustration change the way you picture what happened at the cross?
  3. The speaker said, “as I matured, I became less and less impressed with myself and more and more amazed by grace.” Where in your own life have you noticed that shift, or where do you still resist it?

We do not come to the Lord’s table merely to admire a moral example or celebrate a cosmic victory. We come to remember a Savior who stood in the place of sinners like you and me. Whether you’ve walked with Christ for decades or you’re only now wondering what it means that he died for you, come and see him pierced for your transgressions, crushed for your iniquities, and know that by his wounds, you can be healed.

We hope you enjoyed the sermon and would love to see you in person. Plan your visit to Community Baptist Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee today!

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