Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But 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. All 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. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:4-12)
There is no greater healing than the permanent, eternal healing of our sins and transgressions against God. In re-reading the Gospel of Mark this week for my own personal growth, I am amazed again and again by the awesome, unexplainable healings that Jesus offered to people, and that some people demanded. The deaf and mute could hear and speak, the lame could walk, withered hands were restored, even the dead were raised; all truly miracles and rich, wonderful blessings for those who received them and for their families, friends, and neighbors. Yet, the prophet Isaiah heard the word of the Lord about the healing that really mattered: Getting right with God and ourselves. In this word about the coming crucifixion and its pain and agony, there was One coming Who would bear our infirmities, carry our diseases, be "wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities," whose punishment made us whole, and whose bruises made us "healed." That eternity-wide gap between God and us because of our sins was closed by Jesus. Jesus paid a terrible price by His suffering and death, but because of God's love, all sins, yes, all sins, even mine, and even yours, dear friend, were paid and removed. Their memory may haunt us, but for that there is no need; remind the Devil that Jesus paid it all.
The Old Testament book of Micah, chapter 7, verse 19 has these words: "You (God) will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sin." I live by the sea, and I drive by it as often as I can, and I know it's a deep place and there at the bottom of it lay the things that used to separate me from God. Now, listen to the last book, Revelation, chapter 21, verse 1: "Then I saw a new haven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea." Boom! The day is coming, dear friends, when the sea will be no more. And guess what? With the disappearance of the sin, our sins will also eternally disappear.
Do you want your sins at the bottom of the sea? Confess them to God, ask God to remove them, and God will handle the rest. Then drive by the sea and pray the fish don't die from our sinfulness!
PRAYER: Eternal God, for this passage and promise, I thank You. I confess that I am a sinful person and I ask that You remove my sins. Please handle them as You wish, just get them out of my heart, mind, spirit, body; and let peace and joy replace them. Let me love You for that. In Jesus' strong name, He who paid it all, I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
