Grace: Jehovah-Tsidkenu

Isaiah 53:5

In my Bible I carry a sketch done by my son. It is the picture of a man who has been tortured, abused, and mutilated. Every pore seems to drip blood, and the face is barely recognizable. My first reaction was, How gross, how ugly! But then he informed me that it depicted Jesus on the cross, and I remembered Isaiah 53:5:

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

As I looked at the picture and meditated on Isaiah’s prophetic words my attitude changed. What I saw was not gross, but grace, amazing grace, so amazing that it saved a wretch like me.