5th Wednesday (March 20). Bewildered but grateful

Prepare to Listen.  The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
 
Prayerfully Read Isaiah 53:4-6
4Surely he has borne our infirmities
   and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
   struck down by God, and afflicted.
5But he was wounded for our transgressions,
   crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
   and by his bruises we are healed.
6All we like sheep have gone astray;
   we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him
   the iniquity of us all.
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
There’s a contrast in these verses between what the Servant (think Messiah Jesus) did for the people (think you and I) and how ‘we’ respond.  Did you notice?  Look again at verse 4—first two lines about Messiah; next two about the people.  How does this affect you?  What emotion does it evoke?
 
The first word, surely, suggests surprise in Hebrew.  Despite being despised, rejected, considered of no account, a nobody who attracted little attention (v. 3), Messiah is actively involved, doing something decisive for his people.  It’s surprising, bewildering, and should move us to be “lost in wonder, love and praise.”[1]  But instead, writes the prophet, “we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.”  While the we in the verse meant Israel, we can see ourselves in this we.
 
The same contrast appears again in verses 5 and 6.  The Servant (Messiah) was wounded for us, bore punishment intended for us.  And what did we do?  We went astray like mindless sheep, following the crowd following the populist leader whose way is more comfortable and less demanding than Jesus’ way.  We turned to our own way, that rejected the costly way of Jesus.  As a result, “the LORD has laid on him [not us] the iniquity of us all.”
 
The contrasts are bewildering.  After all we, the recalcitrant and disobedient people of God have done, Christ, the Servant took upon himself all that belonged on us.  God never gave up on us.  When we think about it, it ought to bewilder us, and also make us grateful.
 
What bewildered and surprised you in these verses?  Does it evoke gratitude?
 
Prayerfully Respond
I am bewildered, Lord at the way you chose to redeem your world, including me.  All that I can do is thank you and seek to live your way, not mine.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Be bewildered and grateful.
[1] Charles Wesley’s hymn, “Love Divine all Love’s Excelling.”