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Read: Isaiah 53
Listen: Isaiah 53

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Isaiah, like Micah, prophesies in the southern kingdom of Judah, roughly 700 years before the coming of Jesus. Isaiah’s ministry calls people back to the holy and sovereign God of Israel. Isaiah prophesies about the coming day when a Suffering Servant would come for Israel’s rescue. This Suffering Servant would become a substitute sacrifice, giving his life for people’s sins and salvation. Jesus later identifies himself as this Suffering Servant (Luke 22:37) and gives his life as a ransom on a Roman cross.

Today, on Christmas Eve, we remember how Jesus was born as an innocent baby. Jesus grew up, lived a perfect life (free from any sin), yet died a criminal’s death on the cross. Christ gave his life as a substitute sacrifice, meaning that Jesus stood in our place and suffered the penalty we deserve for sin. He lived the life we could never live and endured the death we deserved to die. What love is this? The eternal king became a helpless infant, destined for a brutal death, all for our rescue.

TODAY: Have you received this gracious work of our mighty Savior? It is by his wounds that we are healed from sin. The Bible teaches that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). If you have never taken that step of faith, call on him for salvation now. If you have, give God praise for the gift of life through Jesus. The one pierced and crushed for our transgressions is the one worthy of all our praise.