All Have Turned Away

All Have Turned Away

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 53:6

In Isaiah 53, we see a beautiful passage foreshadowing the sacrifice of Jesus. When we get to verses 5 and 6, we see the cause for his suffering. It comes from the sin of mankind. Isaiah tells us that every one of us has sinned against the Lord. Paul echoes this argument in Romans 3:10-19. Here Paul fights against the misconception that some Jews held. “I am righteous before God and deserve salvation outside of Christ,” they would say. Paul points out that multiple passages talk about the sinfulness of all people, and they are talking primarily about the nation of Israel. He concludes by explaining that no one is exempt from sin (Romans 3:23). Later on, he explains that the consequence for such sin is death (Romans 6:23).

How then are we able to stand before God? Fortunately for us, the Father laid our iniquities on His Son, so that we might receive forgiveness. Isaiah 53:5 tells us that by Jesus’ wounds we are healed. It is a startling image, almost as if you can see our wounds removed as the soldiers scourge Jesus. Our spirit renews as Jesus gives up His. 

Our sin gave us the mark of death. It also enslaved us and marked us as its own. We had no way to gain healing from sin. Instead of us dying for our sins, He died in our place. There was no other way that such forgiveness should happen. And so Jesus let the Jews and Romans put Him to death. He had the power to stop them at any time. Instead, he kept his mouth quiet, like a lamb before the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7). He let all of this happen to remove our iniquities from us.

As we mature in our faith, it is a temptation to become overconfident in ourselves. We may view ourselves as righteous and holy because of the actions we take. Satan uses this to cause us to forget our need for Jesus. That is why we have a weekly reminder of Christ’s actions. While we must always strive to live according to God’s will, we need to understand that no amount of future obedience can balance the cost of past sins. We were pitiful and without hope. But thanks be to God that  Jesus was willing to have our iniquities laid upon Him.

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 53:6