Day 5: Isaiah 53

Read Isaiah 53

Helpful Background Information: 

• Isaiah 53 was written over 700 years before Jesus was born, yet it gives an incredibly detailed picture of His suffering and death. The chapter describes the “Servant of the Lord.” It says He would be “a man of sorrows” who understood pain deeply. Instead of being honored, this Servant would be despised, misunderstood, and even thought to be cursed by God. But Isaiah tells us the real reason He would suffer: not for His own wrongs, but for ours. “He was pierced for our transgressions,” Isaiah writes, making it clear that this Servant would take the punishment we deserved in order to bring us peace with God.

•  The details match exactly what happened to Him: being rejected, silent during His trial, crucified between sinners, buried in a rich man’s tomb, and rising to see “His offspring” (those saved through Him). The amazing part is that Jesus went through all of this not out of obligation, but out of love—for you, for me, for all of us who have “gone astray.” 

Reflection Questions: 

• Verse 5 says, “He was pierced for our transgressions.” How do you respond when you realize that Jesus was wounded because of our sin?

• What does it mean that “by His stripes we are healed”?

• Isaiah compares us to sheep who go our own way (v.6). What are some “paths” in your life where you’ve strayed from God? How does Jesus bring you back?

• If Jesus gave everything, even His life, for you, how might that change the way you live for Him this week? What’s one step you can take in response?