What Do You Deserve?

Isaiah 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.

This text teaches two things:

• That Jesus bore the weight of, and carried away our grief, sickness, pain, and sins
  That we considered God the responsible party for the afflictions of Jesus; (i.e. judgement)

It seemed obvious to me that this prophecy written many years before Jesus was true of those in the first century. The Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers thought Jesus was getting the judgement he deserved. They did not think he was being killed because of their guilt. But I wondered this morning how it might be true of me today? As Easter fast approaches, do I really think the suffering Jesus endured was because he deserved it?

I think this truth very much applies to us today. We all suffer afflictions, pain, sickness, griefs, and sorrows throughout each week. When this happens, we are getting a very small taste of what Jesus endured, even though we are the ones deserving it. When we do suffer, we tend to forget this truth. We forget we are the reason there is grief and pain. I am personally the reason Jesus suffered. He did not suffer because of his sin, but mine. And when I suffer now, I am getting a sliver of a taste of what I truly deserve.

The good news of Easter is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead for our justification. His rising was the evidence that our griefs and guilt was carried away as far as the east is from the west. What do you truly think you deserve?