“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt 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 in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:1-12 KJV

The Lord God, Creator of the Universe, sent His one and only Son to earth in the form of man, born of a virgin, to live, and to die for His enemies – in order to make them His friends. He came to save us from Hell and give us a way into Heaven. He did not have to do anything for us – He could have just left us in our sin and rebellion. But He chose to come down to our level to reach out to us and help us. The Father sent Jesus to cut an unbreakable covenant between God and man so that we could live in His presence forever.

Jesus was sent to His own people – but they did not receive Him (John 1:11). Instead, it was them who had Him put to death. He was despised and rejected, acquainted with grief, wounded, bruised, chastised for our peace, oppressed and afflicted. Those who took His life thought that He was smitten and afflicted of God. They thought that they were doing God a favor by destroying His life, but they did not know that it was all part of God’s great plan. Jesus was cut off out of the land of the living, He was stricken for the transgression of His people and He made His grave with the wicked. He died the death of a sinner.

But the Bible says that it pleased the LORD to bruise Him. It says that He put Him to grief – that He made His soul an offering for sin. It also says that He would see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied. Why would it please God to see his own Son, Jesus suffer and die? Because there was a method in the “madness.” God sent Jesus to die and to go right into Hell in order to destroy the power of the enemy. The devil thought he had the Son of God in his control. He thought that he had neutralized the Seed that was sent to bruise his head (Genesis 3:15). But Satan fell into God’s perfect trap. God tricked the devil, stripped him of his authority and control, the keys of death, Hell and the grave, and his claim to us – God’s creation. We were created and originally intended to serve God and bring honor to Him – not to bow our knee to a fallen angel! If Satan and his minions had known what was waiting for them they would not have crucified Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:8).

Hell could not hold Jesus, because He had committed no sin. Hell cannot hold a righteous man! The Bible says that by His knowledge shall the Lord’s righteous servant justify many, for He would bear their iniquities. Because of His obedience and the things He unselfishly suffered, the Lord said that He would divide Him a portion with the great, and He would divide the spoil with the strong – because He had poured out His soul unto death, He was numbered with the transgressors, He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

It pleased the Lord to bruise Jesus, to see Him suffer under the burden of our sin and to see Him die the death of a sinner – not because the Lord is a sadist, but because Jesus was made a sin offering for you and me. He was bruised in our place. His life and His blood were poured out on the altar to purchase your and my salvation. As painful as it was to watch His Son suffer, such was the joy of the Father, knowing that soon He would welcome millions of us into His eternal presence because we chose to receive the gracious gift of His sacrificed Lamb!