Advent Day 20: It Pleased Yahweh to Crush Him

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth… Yet it pleased Yahweh to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Isaiah 53:5-7, 10 ESV and Hebrew Interlinear

We love the Christmas time of year, but don’t let the fluffiness of Christmas cloud what Jesus came here to do. Jesus came to reconcile sinful, rebellious creatures to an infinitely holy God. Isaiah 53 is an incredible chapter on the King that is to come and how He will accomplish this mission, but I want to zoom in on 53:10. How can God say that it pleases Yahweh to crush His Son that is to come? The answer: to save a people that will be to the praise of His glorious grace (Ephesians 1:3-14).

It Pleased Yahweh to Crush Him

How can Scripture say something like this? This should be the King that is coming to triumph over evil, to set all things right… Yes, exactly. He will do all of this, and He will do this by being crushed. This was not an unfamiliar concept in the Old Testament as we have observed: a sacrifice was made in Genesis 3:21 to clothe mankind’s rebellion, death was used to atone for sin all through the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus through Deuteronomy), etc.

Remember the Passover

One example to look at is the concept of the Passover Lamb in Exodus 12. When the Israelites were in the Exodus from Egypt, the night of their escape, they were to sacrifice a lamb (Exodus 12: 5), smearing its blood on the doorpost, and then consuming its meat (Exodus 12: 7). There are criteria for how the meat is to be prepared (Exodus 12:8-9), to be consumed without breaking its bones (Exodus 12:46), and discarding leftovers by burning them (Exodus 12:10). They did this every year, all the way through Jesus’ coming.

We see that in Matthew 26:26-30 and Luke 22:14-20 Jesus and His disciples are observing Passover before His betrayal and death. But look closely, what’s missing from the meal? The Passover lamb. This would have been a red flag to them. They would have been saying, “hey, where’s the lamb, everybody?” The Lamb wasn’t missing: Jesus is the true Passover Lamb.

Jesus was noted as being the “…Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” in John 1:29 CSB. Jesus came to set the captives free, to destroy the tyrannical rule of sin and Satan, and to purify His believers, all to the praise of His glorious grace (Luke 4:18; 1 John 1:7,  3:8; Ephesians 1:3-14). Even as a foreshadowing from Exodus 12:46, Jesus’ bones were not broken while being tortured and crucified (John 19:31-37). This victory over sin, death, and Satan is won by the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:11).