Pierced

“But he was pierced for our transgressions…”
Isaiah 53:5a

I don’t know if it’s been the terrible stuff in the news, the Lenten sermon series we’re working through at church or the hard words from Jesus I’ve been given to preach on as part of that sermon series, but the word running about in my head the last few days has been pierced. I’ve thought about all the places people today pierce their bodies. I thought about how in the Old Testament if a servant decided he loved his pastor and didn’t want to be set free his ear was pierced and he was bound to his master for life. I’ve thought about how tragedy, senseless violence, cancer and all sorts of things can pierce our hearts.

Mostly I’ve thought about how Jesus was pierced. First his brow was pierced as the Roman soldiers mocked his supernatural kingship. Then his hands and feet were pierced as he – an innocent man was crucified for us. Was His heart pierced as His Father turned away? Finally, His side was pierced to prove that He had indeed succumbed to the punishment laid on Him.

I’ve thought about how Mary’s heart must have been pierced as she watched that day play out. Did all she had heard and experienced since his birth make sense now? I’ve thought about how Jesus’ piercing sacrifice wasn’t to make life on this planet perfect. It wasn’t to make us liked by everyone we encounter as we go about the task of living. It wasn’t about making us all winners or rewarding us for our participation. It was about healing our souls, it was about restoring not just our worldly broken relationships, but our relationship with the Creator of the universe. It was about setting in motion the restoration of His entire creation.

That piercing sacrifice was at the same time inclusive and exclusive. Inclusive in that the saving and healing power of is available for all. Exclusive in that only those who believe in the given Son are able to receive it. Only those who receive it are changed by it and freed from the penalty of sin.

“He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). That’s Good News for us.

We need His healing in our world, in our lives.

A Prayer
Father – how Your heart must have ached as Your Son was pierced for Your creation and your creatures. How it must have rejoiced as Jesus defeated death and all those who believed found healing and a place in Your family. If someone reading this doesn’t know the healing power of that sacrifice – touch them in a new way so that they see Jesus for who He really is. For those who believed, help us to live with eternity in sight, living our faith out loud for our hurting world to see. In the name of Jesus, who was pierced for our healing – Amen.