"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted ... and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." ~ Isaiah 53:6b
Here is one of those gleaming New Testament truths from the Old. Most of the Old Testament teaching leaves us with the impression that if we are good to God, He will be good to us. Or, that He loves us in direct proportion to how much we are obeying Him. But now and then, the prophetic beam swings for a bright instant onto the very face of Jesus Christ as in this "red stone" verse. And we see into the very heart of the Highest Himself.
"... and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Does this mean that the Father, the Highest, forced Jesus to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows in order to pacify the Father's desire to be avenged? No!
"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself ..." not "getting even," but taking the blow of sin for us. We do "esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted ..." but we see God smiting Himself and laying on Himself "the iniquity of us all." Jesus and the Father are one. He and only He could say that the Father is "kind to the unthankful and to the evil." Only Jesus Christ knew. It has all turned out to be a love story, but we don't know it because we don't know about the true state of the Father's heart.
"... God is love ... God is love ..."
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