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But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all To fall on Him. --- Isaiah 53:5-6 NASB V5 - How could an Old Testament person understand the idea of Christ dying for our sins---actually bearing the punishment that we deserved? The sacrifices suggested this idea, but it is one thing to kill a lamb, and something quite different to think of God’s chosen servant as that Lamb. But God was pulling aside the curtain of time to let the people of Isaiah’s day look ahead to the suffering of the future Messiah and the resulting forgiveness made available to all people. V6 - Isaiah speaks of Israel straying from God and compares them to wandering sheep. Yet God would send the Messiah to bring them back into the fold. We have the hindsight to see and know the identity of the promised Messiah, who has come and died for our sins. But if we know all that Jesus did and still reject him, our sin is much greater than that of the ancient Israelites, who could not see what we have seen. Have you given your life to Jesus Christ, the “Good Shepherd” (John 10:11-16), or are you still going your own way like a wandering sheep? --- Life Application Study Bible notes PRAYER Dear Lord, You still came to us knowing that You will be rejected, despised and live in pain on earth. There are no words to adequately express our gratitude for what you’ve done, for how you willingly suffered not only on the cross but throughout your earthly life just to redeem us. You chose the path of loving us to Your death. Knowing this, we fall at Your feet and worship You. May we continually humble ourselves before you! In Jesus’ name Amen