There’s quite a contrast here if we did nothing else but focus on the pronouns, such as “His scourging” versus “our transgressions”. We need to be continually reminded of and drawn to the foot of the cross because it is the single, universal act on behalf of all mankind which simultaneously reaches out to each and every one of us individually. He did it for “all” at the same time He did it specifically for us.

We have to take note of the price He paid: wounded/pierced, bruised/crushed, chastised/punished. This price was very personal. And then contrast it to what He was paying for: “our griefs”, “our sorrows”, “our transgressions”, “our iniquities”. We were the cause, and yet also the chief beneficiary: “We are healed”. Not merely a physical sacrifice, but spiritual as well at the same time, healing us completely.

It’s further humbling to see that God described our wretched, spiritual nature in a single sentence: “All of us like sheep have gone astray” (we’re sinners by birth), and “Each of us has turned to his own way” (we’re sinners by choice). There was no escaping the logical end to which those conditions would lead until Christ did what He did on the cross. Every sinner under any and every sinful circumstance can be redeemed through Christ. He begins that “ALL“ of us have gone astray, but concludes with the “ALL” of salvation: “But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”

I fear that I don’t talk about this enough, don’t contemplate it enough, don’t encourage it’s discussion enough. The centerpiece of the Gospel is a far cry from the social gospel currently being espoused by so many, but has rather a simpler and more direct focus: Christ died for our sins. Christ died for my sins._††_†

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