The Lord Has Laid Our Iniquities on Him

Death of Jesus, Gospel, Grace, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, peace, Salvation 6 Minutes

Isaiah 53:6 says,

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.

Let’s think this verse through for a few minutes. Notice how it starts, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way…” This shatters any thought that we are good or well-intentioned and have just lost our way. We have all turned to our own way. We have rebelled. We haven’t just rebelled against human authority figures. We have rebelled against an infinitely holy God.1 We have rebelled against God, who is always good, just, and right.

Rebellion is always willful. A person cannot accidentally rebel against authority. Dictionary.com defines rebellion as:

  1. open, organized, and armed resistance to one’s government or ruler.
  2. resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition.

Rebellion against God is an open resistance or defiance of his authority. So, we have not accidentally found ourselves in rebellion against the Lord. Instead, we are willingly in opposition to him. What does that look like? We not only break his laws, but we refuse to honor him as God and worship him. Instead, we serve the creature, including ourselves. You can look at Romans 1:18-32 to see this laid out by the Apostle Paul.

This is what Isaiah was talking about in Isaiah 53:5 when he talks about our transgressions. Transgression could be translated “trespass.” The idea of a trespass is knowing the boundaries that should not be crossed and crossing them anyway. All of humanity has crossed the boundary line of God’s holiness.

Think about what leaders do when there is rebellion. A quick look at history shows that strong governments try to squash rebellions. Taking into consideration that God is the all-powerful Creator of the universe (Isaiah 40:9-31), there is no trying. He will squash rebellion. He will crush those who oppose him, including the ultimate rebel, the Devil (Revelation 20:10).

However, the last half of Isaiah 53:6 tells us that the Lord has done something incredible, and, in doing so, he has provided a way for rebels to be delivered from punishment, brought into peace, and healed of our spiritual sickness. The Lord has laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ our iniquities (sins).

The Hebrew word translated “iniquities” means “sin, wickedness, iniquity, often with a focus on the guilt or liability incurred, and the punishment to follow.”2 The Lord has not only laid our sins on the Lord Jesus, but he has laid the punishment for those sins upon him. The Lord Jesus took the guilt of his people on himself and faced the punishment we deserve for sin.

This thought is not only seen in verse 6. Look back at Isaiah 53:5:

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.

Take a good look! He was pierced. When did that happen? At the cross when his hands and his feet were nailed to the cross. When the crown of thorns was forced over his head. He was pierced by the spear being thrust into his side. Why did this happen? According to Isaiah 53:5, it was for our transgressions; it was for our willful acts of rebellion.

Look again! He was crushed for our iniquities. When did this happen? At the cross. He was crushed in a physical sense as the whips tore into his back, and as he slowly died the excruciating death of crucifixion. He was crushed in a spiritual sense when the Father abandoned him and he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46b).

Take another look! Upon him was the chastisement (punishment) that brought us peace. What was upon Christ? Not only the sin, but the punishment that sin deserved. Because he deserved it? No, but because he was a substitute. He stood in the place of sinners, taking on our guilt, and facing our penalty. Rebels are at war with God. There is no peace for them. They deserve swift judgment. They deserve to be crushed. The Lord Jesus was crushed and punished in the place of his people, so that we can have peace with God and escape the punishment deserved for sin (see also Ephesians 2:14-18; Colossians 1:19-20).3

Look once more! He was wounded, and with his wounds, we are healed.  We not only do wrong things, but we are spiritually diseased (even dead – Ephesians 2:1-3). Our problem flows from the core of who we are. The Lord Jesus was wounded on the cross. He was wounded physically by the scourging, the crown of thorns, the beating from the Roman soldiers, and the nails. He was wounded spiritually under the wrath of God. All the wounds were for our spiritual healing that he might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).

Our iniquity was laid on him that we might have peace, that we might be healed, and that we might be brought to the God against whom we once rebelled. God the Son faced the punishment we deserve so that we may be saved. He, the righteous one, died in the place of the unrighteous many, that he might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18, 2 Corinthians 5:21). He is the perfect substitute.

May Christ’s people seriously reflect on the high price our Lord paid for our redemption. May we sorrow over sin and rejoice in the Lord’s salvation. May we see in the cross of our Lord that God is holy and just. He crushed the Son in our place for our sin. May we see the cross as the greatest demonstration of God’s love for us (Romans 5:8). There the Lord Jesus died for us, even while we were still sinners.

If you have never turned to the Lord, you may be asking: How can I know my iniquities have been laid on him? How can I know that all my sins have been dealt with at the cross and there is no condemnation for me? Hear God’s Word today, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15).

“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31).

“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:8-13).

Everyone, including you, who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Notes:

  1. holy – set apart. God is holy in two major ways. First, he is set apart from all others as the one and only true God. There is no other God but the Lord (Isaiah 45:22). He is also set apart from sin; there is no sin in him (1 John 1:5).
  2. William D. Mounce, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 1007.
  3. This is called penal substitutionary atonement. The Lord Jesus Christ died in the place of sinners as their substitute facing the punishment they deserve for sins. The punishment deserved is the wrath of God, and Jesus’ death made atonement. He satisfied the wrath of God in his death when the Father crushed him as the substitute (Isaiah 53:10). This was a payment made for the sins of his people, his elect (John 10:11; Ephesians 5:25). In a time when individuals are rejecting this clear teaching of the Bible, it is required for men to take a stand on the truth. Therefore, I confess, by the grace of God, that I unashamedly believe in and personally depend upon the penal substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.
  4. Some try to claim this verse for physical healing. Clearly, this is not what Isaiah has in mind. Looking at the flow of thought so far, the wounding of Jesus Christ was for sin. It is true that someday, there will be no sickness or death (Revelation 21:1-8). However, this passage does not allow us to apply it to physical healing. Christ was wounded at the cross to bring us spiritual healing. This is how Peter applies it in 1 Peter 2:24, where he quotes Isaiah 53:5b.
  5. Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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