Key Scripture: Isaiah 53:5 "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed."

You may be wondering why we are talking about the Suffering Servant here at Christmas time, instead of the birth of Jesus Christ? But without the suffering, death, burial, and resurrection of the Suffering Servant (Jesus Christ) there is no celebration, only eternal separation from God.

God is holy and just. He must punish sin, just as a good earthly judge punishes people who break the law. We are sinners and break God’s law daily; therefore, because God is just and righteous, He must issue judgment on the law breakers. But God loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to take the punishment of our sins. Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, who never sinned, took the penalty of our sins upon His body, by being beaten and nailed to a cross. Scourging was the painful process of being beaten by someone using a whip with pieces of bone or metal on the end to inflict more pain. 1 Peter 2:24 states, And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

The Son of God left His rightful place in heaven to take the punishment of our sins upon Himself to satisfy the penalty of our sins against a Holy God. By His scourging, or some versions say stripes, we are healed!

God created us in His image to be in right relationship with Him, but since we broke the relationship through disobedience, God provided a way for reconciliation through His Son Jesus Christ. Romans 5:19, For as by the one man’s disobedience [Adam] the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience [Jesus] the many will be made righteous.