Lent 2025 Day 39: Fri 18 Apr
Isaiah 53:4-12
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
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.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
…For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah the prophet sets down words he probably doesn’t fully understand, and their deep truth will sit for many years waiting for their fulfilment. They reveal a man who would suffer, not for the sake of it, but to bring about forgiveness and restoration to you and me.
Jesus paid for our sin. He did not resist arrest but allowed his captors to take him. He was sentenced to death though he had done no wrong.
Was Father God cruel to put his son through this? He could have saved Jesus the shame, the agony, the slow death. Why did it take so long? Jesus died not only under his own weight on that cross, leading to the inexorable point where he failed to draw breath, but also under our weight, because we were also there with him, hanging on his neck, clinging onto his body, weighing him down.
The wrongs you won’t face up to; the lingering bitterness at the way the world has treated you; the irrepressible envy of the better lives others are living; the hurtful sentiments you culture towards those who have hurt you – all of these lie heavily on the shoulders of the one who died for the sins of the world, past, present and future.
The Scriptures had to be fulfilled this way, not because Father God is cruel, but because he is loving. He laid our sin on his Son, and his Son willingly accepted.
Isaiah does not name Judas in this prophecy. It’s all of us who betrayed Jesus.
Are there aspects of your life that you feel can never be brought to Jesus?
We talk about laying things down at the foot of the cross. Where should we lay our sins?
Father God, you loved the world so much you gave us your Son, Jesus. Lead me to know and accept his redeeming love in all aspects of my life, and to trust in the promise of eternity with him. Amen
2:35:13 Herr, wir haben gedacht (Chor)
66b. Chorus I & II Lord, we have remembered that this deceiver said, when he was still alive: “I will rise again after three days.” Therefore, order that the tomb be guarded until the third day, so that his disciples do not come and steal him, and say to the people, “he has arisen from the dead,” and the newest fraud would be worse than the first one!
66c. Evangelist Pilate said to them:
Pilate You have guards there; go and guard it as you see fit!
Evangelist They went forth and protected the tomb with guards and put a seal on the stone.
67. Recitative BTAS (Chorus I) and Chorus II
Now the Lord is brought to rest.
– My Jesus, good night! –
The weariness is over, that our sins have given him.
– My Jesus, good night! –
O blessed bones,
see, how I weep over you with repentance and regret,
since my fall has brought such anguish upon you!
– My Jesus, good night! –
Lifelong, thousand thanks to you for your suffering,
since you held my soul's salvation so dear.
– My Jesus, good night! –
Ends at 2:38:45
Paul