By His Stripes
Devotional for October 21 · Isaiah 53:5 · 14-minute read
1Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. 3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. 5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. 7He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. 8By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and who can recount His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people. 9He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. 11After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. 12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
Context
Isaiah 53 is the heart of the fourth Servant Song, a poem that begins in Isaiah 52:13. It describes a Servant of the LORD who is rejected, wounded and killed, whose death brings peace and forgiveness to others. The date of composition is debated: tradition links the text to the prophet Isaiah, in the eighth century BC, while many scholars place it in the section of the book addressed to the exiles in Babylon, probably in the sixth century BC.
Who is the Servant? In Jewish interpretation, he is often understood as the people of Israel or as a righteous sufferer. The New Testament, however, explicitly applies this chapter to Jesus: Philip explains it to the Ethiopian official starting from vv. 7-8 (Acts 8:32-35), and Peter takes up vv. 5-6 when speaking of the cross (1 Peter 2:24-25). The poem is narrated by a “we” who confess that they had it all wrong.
What the text says
- v. 4: The “we” of the poem admits the mistake: “we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.” Those who watched the Servant suffer thought he was being punished for his own sins.
- v. 5: The exchange is stated clearly: “He was pierced for our transgressions,” and “the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.”
- v. 12: The Servant does not merely die among transgressors; he “bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.”
Reflection
Isaiah 53 begins with an astonished question: “Who has believed our message?” What follows is indeed hard to believe. The Servant has no beauty to attract us, grows up like a root out of dry ground, is despised and rejected. Those who watch him suffer draw the most common conclusion of the ancient world, and of ours: if he suffers so much, he must be under God's punishment. Verse 4 records that reading, and v. 5 overturns it.
The center of the poem is an exchange. He was pierced, and the transgressions were ours. He was crushed, and the iniquities were ours. He bore the punishment, and the peace came to us. The word peace here means more than inner calm. In Hebrew, shalom describes wholeness, a restored relationship, everything back in its place. That is what v. 5 says came to us through the Servant's wounds.
And what does “by His stripes we are healed” mean? The text itself points the way. Verse 6 names the disease: “We all like sheep have gone astray.” The deepest wound of human beings is that each one has turned to his own way. That is why Peter, taking up this verse, speaks of dying to sins and living for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). Matthew links Isaiah 53:4 to the healings Jesus performed (Matthew 8:17), and God remains free to heal bodies. But this text is not a guarantee of immediate physical healing for every illness. It is the promise of something deeper: reconciliation with God that no sickness can undo.
Notice also the Servant's silence. Led like a lamb to the slaughter, “He did not open His mouth” (v. 7). He did not defend himself or curse. And at the end, he still “made intercession for the transgressors” (v. 12). The Gospels show Jesus praying for those who crucified Him (Luke 23:34), and Jesus applies to Himself the line “And He was numbered with the transgressors” (Luke 22:37). The cross was not a tragic accident explained after the fact; it was understood in light of this prophecy by Jesus Himself and by the apostles.
For those who carry guilt, this chapter says that the weight has already been laid on another. For those who suffer unjustly, it shows that God knows suffering from the inside. And for those who doubt, the question of v. 1 remains open. The answer is not a feeling; it is a decision: to look at the wounded Servant and recognize, like the “we” of the poem, that he was there in our place. Tell Him so today, in your own words.
Connections
- Acts 8:32-35 (stated in the text): Philip reads Isaiah 53:7-8 with the Ethiopian official and, starting from that text, proclaims Jesus.
- 1 Peter 2:24-25 (stated in the text): Peter takes up the wounds and the straying sheep of Isaiah 53:5-6 to explain the cross of Christ.
- Luke 22:37 (stated in the text): Jesus applies to Himself the line from Isaiah 53:12 about being numbered with the transgressors.
To apply
- Heart: Is there any guilt you still carry as if Jesus had not borne it?
- Relationships: To whom do you need to offer the forgiveness you have received, without waiting for that person to deserve it?
- Today: Read all of Isaiah 53 out loud, changing each we to I, and end with a prayer of gratitude.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, righteous Servant, You had done no violence, nor was any deceit in Your mouth, and still You were pierced for my transgressions. I worship You for the love that kept silent before those who wounded You. I confess that, like a sheep, I have gone astray and turned to my own way. I lay before You the guilt I still carry, and I receive the peace You won for me. Heal my heart of whatever keeps me from God, and teach me to intercede for those who wound me, as You did. Amen.
To memorize: Isaiah 53:5
Today's step: In the next 24 hours, write in one sentence what Jesus carried for you, and thank Him for it before you go to sleep.
To go deeper: read Isaiah 52:13–53:12 and get to know The Crucifixion.