SURELY HE HATH BORNE OUR GRIEFS, AND CARRIED OUR SORROWS

SURELY HE HATH BORNE OUR GRIEFS, AND CARRIED OUR SORROWS

By Al Stoner

Part 1

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” (Isa. 53:4).

  Other Translations.  (AMP) “Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment]”, (BBE) “But it was our pain he took, and our diseases were put on him”, (CEV) “He suffered and endured great pain for us”, (CJB) “In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered;”, (GNB) “But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne”, (GW) “He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows”.

 

Surely. (ACV, AKJV, AMP, ASV, CLV, Darby, IAV, JPS, KJV, LITV, MKJV, NASB, RSV, RV, YLT) “Surely”, (CJB) “In fact”, (ERV) “The fact is”, (GW) “certainly”, (MSTC) “so despisable . . . truly”, (RSV).  Almost all of the translations begin with this affirmation of assuredness.  Though Isaiah prophesied some 700 years before the sufferings of Christ, yet he spoke as an eyewitness with understanding speaks.  In the times of the kings and holy Prophets, those who prophesied were called “seers” (II Kgs. 17:13; II Chr. 33:18-19; Isa. 30:10).  They spoke that which God had given them to see, and oftentimes it is evident that they were greatly affected by what they saw. 

Such is the case with Isaiah in the passage before us.  Isaiah was not merely conveying information, nor merely recording facts.  His was certainly a faithful representation of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it was much more than this.   His words reflect a solemn awareness of what was transpiring when the Savior laid down His life a ransom for many.  Even more specifically, what he was given to see imparted to him an overwhelming persuasion that SURELY THIS MAN WAS BEARING OUR GRIEFS AND CARRYING OUR SORROW.  The Prophet was given to see God’s holy and righteous Servant, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He was made to bear sufferings that were incomprehensible.  He also beheld the sinners and transgressors that were all about Him, and they were not suffering.  And as Isaiah considered these things, he was brought to the breathtaking conclusion that surely this holy and righteous One was bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows.    Most assuredly this was the case for it is evident that Christ had none of His own to bear.  And because of the righteousness and greatness of this Man, He was prepared of God to be the “Fit Man” (Lev. 16:21) to take away the sin of the world.

The Crucifixion Scene as Recorded in Mark’s Gospel. We include here a portion of Mark’s gospel that contains the record of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus.  Our purpose here is to show that, though the gospel writers were given see and record much of the specific details of the crucifixion, yet Isaiah was given to see the implications of those sufferings: what they were accomplishing, and how God regarded them.  “And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, Crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.”

 “And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.  And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem” (Mk. 15:12-41).

The Message of the Gospel.  The proclamation of the gospel involves effectually bringing before the minds and hearts of men THE SUFFERINGS OF THE CHRIST, AND THE GLORY which has followed; the announcement and significance of both the sufferings and the Sufferer, and of the glory that has followed.   It is a declaration of Christ, the Righteous One, suffering in the behalf of the ones who were guilty and worthy of suffering.  Whenever the gospel is preached believing men and women are effectually brought to consider anew these solemn realities, which have become unto the believing ones “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16).  With the Ethiopian eunuch they are again brought face to face with the earnest consideration “of whom speaketh the Prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” (Acts 8:34).  Faith concludes once again that it was “the other Man”, even “the Man Christ Jesus” (I Tim. 2:5), who suffered, yea, who suffered in our stead.

Grief. Let us consider here the word grief as it is used in Scripture with the intent of clarifying to our hearts the grief that the Savior bore in our behalf.  The two Hittite wives that Esau took were “A GRIEF OF MIND to Isaac and Rebekah” (Gen. 26:35).  The things which cause grief to men are oftentimes an index to their character and person. They often point to a purpose and cause which, for the time at least, has been lost or aborted. Such was the case with Isaac and Rebekah.  Esau taking wives from the Hittite nation, and later from the Hivites (Gen. 36:2), became a grievous wound in the hearts of Isaac and Rebekah, because these were nations that would be dispossessed according to the promise spoken by God to Abraham (Gen. 15:18-21).  Only eternity would be able to deliver from this grief.

Job lamented to his three comforters, “Oh that my grief were THROUGHLY WEIGHED” (Job 6:2).  From the perspective of eternity Job’s afflictions were “light afflictions”, as expressed by Paul, and amounted to “heaviness through manifold temptations” in the diction of Peter.  The weighing of Job’s grief has been a comfort and consolation to many this this present world.  But THE WEIGHING OF JESUS’ GRIEFS that He bore is the wellspring of justification and acceptance before the Holy One, and shall be a source of comfort and consolation to redeemed personalities throughout the ages to come.  Who can thoroughly weigh the griefs that He bore in our behalf?