No Cross, No Crown: The Horrible Yet Glorious Exchange We Must Remember at Easter
An Easter Reflection on Isaiah 53:4-6
Isaiah 53:4-6
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 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 turned astray; we have turned—every one— to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Every compelling story needs either an antagonistic figure or an adversarial circumstance. When we speak of antagonistic figures, we’re talking about Thanos to the Avengers. Or Darth Vader to Luke Skywalker. Or the white witch to Aslan. Or the Lord Sauron to Frodo. When referring to adversarial circumstances, we’re thinking of how the young child beats cancer. Or how the sports underdog overcomes insurmountable and unfathomable odds to beat the once unbeatable champs. Or how an ambitious entrepreneur goes from rags to riches. We all know and love these kinds of stories and must recognize that without the inclusion of antagonistic figures or adversarial circumstances, they simply wouldn’t be as compelling and captivating.
Without a villain, or without the storyline or situation taking a dark twist and turn, the moment of redemption, the moment when deliverance comes just in the nick of time, that moment is simply not as triumphant and celebratory. The greater the degree of situational and circumstantial desperation, the greater the degree of joy and jubilee experienced at the moment of rescue. The good becomes all the sweeter and better when contrasted against distasteful and abhorrent evil.
At Easter we celebrate a story. The story that tells the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And similarly to how in movies delight cannot come, or does not come as beautifully without desperation, when it comes to the story of Easter, we can’t experience the glorious joy of Sunday without first understanding and contemplating the tortuous and horrible crucifixion of Friday. For us to truly rejoice in the resurrection of Christ, we have to reflect on and recognize the immense pain experienced during the crucifixion of Christ. We have to apprehend the extent of his sacrifice before we can appreciate the significance of our salvation. And one passage of Scripture that helps us to do so is Isaiah 53:4-6.
“We can’t experience the glorious joy of Sunday without first understanding and contemplating the tortuous and horrible crucifixion of Friday…we have to apprehend the extent of his sacrifice before we can appreciate the significance of our salvation.”
Starting in verse 4 and ending in 6, Isaiah 53 says, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 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.”
Isaiah 53, and more specifically our verses for today contain puzzling paradoxes, confusing, unfair, and yet glorious exchanges, and tough truths that are hard but essential to understanding and appreciating the story we celebrate at Easter. After all, what person in their right mind bears the griefs and sorrows of those who despise and abhor them? (v4). How does it make sense that chastisement could bring peace and that wounds could bring healing? (v5) How is it fair that the one person who was perfect and who actually did no wrong had to bear the punishment and pay the price for all those who were totally and perfectly deserving of their judgment? (v6). The song Jesus Thank You answers these questions aptly when it says, “the mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend.” Truly what Christ did for us on the cross breaks the boundaries of our logical reasoning and shatters the standards of what our world calls love!
Isaiah 53:4-6 also exposes the ugly implications of our sin while also showing just how kind and loving our God is. Why did I underline our, you ask? Notice how the intentional emphasis on the personal nature of Isaiah 53:4-6 greatly adds to its power and impact. Multiple times we see Isaiah make reference to our sin and our iniquity, and how he was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. To quote another famous song, How Deep the Father’s Love for Us, “it was our sin that held him there.” Don’t you see, Christian? Christ died for wretched sinners– people like you and me. He endured the lashes that lacerated his skin and flesh for us. His body was mangled and mutilated for us. He bore the unbridled and unhinged wrath of God against all our wickedness, sin, and evil for us.
He endured the horrors of the cross so that we might enjoy happiness in God. He died so that we could live, he bore the cross so that we could receive a crown, and he suffered the despair of death so that we could experience the abundant delights of life in God. This is the horrible and yet glorious exchange of Easter! Our guilt for his grace, and his sacrifice for our salvation! And what a terribly painful and yet amazingly wonderful exchange it is!
“He endured the horrors of the cross so that we might enjoy happiness in God. He died so that we could live, he bore the cross so that we could receive a crown, and he suffered the despair of death so that we could experience the abundant delights of life in God. This is the glorious exchange of Easter!”
However, even as we reflect upon the horrible yet glorious exchange of Easter, it would be prudent to also remember the intrinsic and essential connection between Christ’s physical death on the cross and our spiritual death to sin. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” Do you see? Jesus, through dying and defeating death on the cross, also defeated the enslaving power of sin in our everyday lives. Jesus was sacrificed not just so that we could be saved, but also so that we could be sanctified. Our sinful passions and desires were crucified with Christ, murdered and brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (Romans 6:6-7). Because of what Christ did on the cross, we can and indeed must now consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus, no longer letting the passions of sin dictate how we live our lives. (Romans 6:11-12).
“Jesus was sacrificed not just so that we could be saved, but also so that we could be sanctified.”
Oh, how I love the story we remember and reflect on at Easter. Why? Because it reminds me, and all of us that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). The story we celebrate at Easter bids me taste new and sweet gospel graces, and makes my heart sing loudly and gladly for joy! It also powerfully compels me to no longer live for myself but instead for him who for my sake died and was raised. (2 Cor 5:14-15). As I reflect on him who died for me, it makes me excited to respond by waking up daily and dying for him. (Luke 9:23-24). For how much easier it is to pick up my poor and petty cross for him when I remember the magnitude of the cross that he carried for me!
“How much easier it is to pick up my poor and petty cross for him when I remember the magnitude of the cross that he carried for me!”
So this Easter, let us ponder on and rejoice in the horrible yet glorious exchange that occurred on calvary. Let us thank God for sending the lamb who was slain, and pray that we will live lives filled with zeal for good works in response to the good work that has been accomplished for us on the cross. (Titus 2:14). May we also not forget to reflect on the misery of the cross, for without it, we will fail to grasp the great and infinite majesty of the resurrection. For if there was no cross, there would be no crown. If he had never died, we could never live. If he never endured the despair, we could never experience the delight. May what Christ accomplished for us on the cross affect and impact us anew this Easter, to the greater increase of His glory and the more felt impact of His grace. Amen!