Isaiah 53 is a poignant foreshadowing of Christ on the cross
He is despised and rejected by men,
a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (53:3a).
Surely He has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows (53:4a).
He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities.
And by His stripes we are healed (53:5).
All we like sheep have gone astray...
...and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (53:6).
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so He opened not His mouth (53:7).
And they made His grave with the wicked...
because He had done no violence (53:9).
Yes, it pleased the LORD to bruise Him,
He has put Him to grief (53:10a).
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 His hand (53:10).
Nearly half of the four New Testament Gospels
is dedicated to the week of the cross
Thus, the Gospels do not focus on Jesus' teachings nor His miracles,
but on His death, burial, and
resurrection!
The message of the cross is throughout all New Testament epistles
This message of the
cross is that Christ died and was raised for us
AND we died and were raised in union with Christ!
Christ died for us
But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were still sinners,
Christ
died for us (Romans 5:8).
We died with Christ
For if we died with Him,
we shall also live with Him (2 Timothy 2:11).
Christ was crucified for us
For I
determined not to know anything among you
except Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).
We were crucified with Christ
I have been crucified with Christ;
it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me (Galatians
2:20a).
Christ was buried
Christ died for our sins according to Scriptures...
and was buried (1 Corinthians 15:4).
We were buried with Christ
In Him you were also
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands...
...and buried with Him in baptism (Colossians 2:11-12a).
Christ resurrected for us
Jesus our Lord was delivered up because of our offenses,
and was raised because of our justification (Romans
5:25).
We resurrected with Him
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who according to His abundant mercy
has begotten us again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).
Even the last book of the Bible is rooted in the cross of Christ
Worthy is the Lamb
who was slain to receive honor and glory! (Revelation 5:12).
