Day 5: He did it

Isaiah 53 says:

“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrow, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (NIV)

This passage particularly emphasizes that the sufferings of Jesus on the cross so vividly described there were substitutionary - it was not for his own sake. There's a form of speech in the Hebrew language here used which particularly emphasizes the "he". It places all the emphasizes on the "he,"- "He took all our infirmities," "he was pierced for transgressions, he was crushed for iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him," "we all have gone astray," "the Lord has laid on him the iniquity on us all."

So we see that everything that came upon Jesus on the cross was not due to Him. The judgement, the punishment, the humiliation, the shame was due to us. But though it was due to us, by divine appointment, it came upon Him, upon Jesus. In Him the entire evil inheritance due to the sin of the Adamic race was exhausted. He left nothing that He did not take upon Himself. He bore every burden, he was totally our substitute, he was our God-appointed representative, Son of Man, bearing in himself the imperfect nature of humanity, and all humanities’ problems, grieves, and agony.

Isaiah 53, verses 7, 8, and 9, continue:

“He [this Son of Man] 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 her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 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.”

There are various things emphasized there, all of which applied with perfect accuracy to the trial and the death of Jesus. First of all his innocence is consistently emphasized. Also it's emphasized that he did not attempt to defend himself or to plead his own cause - he did not justify himself, he did not defend himself, he was the lamb led willingly to the slaughter.