Isaiah 53 and The Passion of Jesus

By Pat Robertson
The 700 Club

CBN.com – I want to give you the background in the Bible to show you the significance of 'The Passion of The Christ'. And this is from the New and Old Testament.

First of all, the Bible records that when Jesus had risen from the dead, He met some disciples on the road to Emmaus, and I want to show that Scripture to you of what He had to say. He said to them, "Oh, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken." And then He went on to say, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me" (Luke 24:13-35).

You're supposed to believe all that was written in the Prophets, Moses, the Psalms. Now, I understand there are as many as 300 different prophetic Scriptures that point to Jesus, and it is a mathematical impossibility for one person to fulfill that many prophecies. It is beyond comprehension, but there are that many. But Jesus says you have to believe all that the prophets have written or spoken.

And He said, "Fools and slow of heart to believe," because they were debating among themselves. "How could it be? We saw Him dead. We knew He was dead. How come? What is it?" And He said, "Don't you understand that the Bible says that the Christ must suffer these things and then enter into His Glory."

Now I want to take you to the book of the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 52, verse 14, which was written, give or take, 700 years before Christ:

"Just as many as were astonished at You, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of man."

Another way of looking at what Isaiah had to say is basically that He did not look human. He had been beaten so badly. Now, the Bible says He had no form or comeliness that we should desire Him. His visage was so marred that He did not look like one of the people of men.

When you see the movie The Passion of The Christ, you see an individual who is beaten beyond recognition. His face is swollen. His body is bleeding. He's cut all over. His back is ripped. It is a horrible sacrifice.

Now, Isaiah goes on to say, in the 53rd chapter, these words: "But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed."

Now, the idea is it is our iniquities -- ours. "He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace, and by His stripes we are healed." So, it is iniquities, it is peace, it is healing. And when Jesus was beaten, those stripes that He received were for the healing of our iniquities.

Now, let's take a look at this as we continue on in Isaiah chapter 53: "We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the inequity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He was lead as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before it's shearers, silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people. He was stricken, and they made His grave with the wicked and with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit found in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He put Him to grief. And when you make His soul an offering for sin, you shall see His seed. He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand."

"They made His grave with the wicked, with the rich at His death, He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth." So, what basically it says is, He was sinless, and yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise Him. And that's what happened. Our sins did it. He was sinless, but it pleased the Lord to bruise Him, because He died for our sins.

The suffering of Jesus Christ was foretold by Isaiah the prophet. A sinless one would come. He would be beaten beyond recognition. But the sins of all of us -- our inequities, our sicknesses, and our diseases were laid on Him, and it pleased Jehovah God to bruise Him. It wasn't the Jews. It wasn't the Romans. It wasn't anybody. It was God Himself that brought this about. Why? So that you and I could know salvation.

Would you like to receive this salvation that Christ won for you on the cross? Take these steps to peace with God.

Find Answers to Your Questions About Jesus in The Passion of The Christ

Isaiah 53

The Sin-Bearing Messiah

1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6All 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.

7He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
8He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9And they[1] made His grave with the wicked--
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

10Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11He shall see the labor of His soul,[2] and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

How to give your life to Christ:

1. Admit you are a sinner and need forgiveness.

2. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.

3. Through prayer, confess that Jesus Christ is the only way to God and commit to live for Him for the rest of your life.

What to Pray:

Dear Lord Jesus,

I know that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave to give me life. I know You are the only way to God so now I want to quit disobeying You and start living for You. Please forgive me, change my life and show me how to know You. In Jesus' name. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, please click here to let us know

Or you can call our CBN Prayer Counseling Center at (800) 759-0700. We would love to talk with you and send you some resources to help you begin your walk with the Lord.

How you can know you are forgiven:

The Bible, God's Word says: You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better that we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and you have done nothing on your own (Ephesians 2:8).

For those who put their faith in Jesus: He gave them the right to be the children of God... God Himself was the one who made them His children (John 1:12-13).

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