Project 119: Meditations on the Suffering Servant - Isaiah 53:10-12

 |  Project 119  |  Dr. Wayne Splawn

“Jesus intercedes for us”

Friday, April 10 | Isaiah 53:10-12 

Today is Good Friday and our attention is focused on Jesus’ death on the cross. One of the most striking aspects of Luke’s passion narrative is the way Jesus prays for His tormentors on the cross. In Luke 24, Luke records these words, “And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” (Luke 24:34 ESV). If I were being unjustly executed, my natural response would not be to pray the Lord would forgive my executioners. Instead, I would likely be praying for deliverance or justice or for judgement to be poured out on those taking my life. But Jesus does no such thing. Instead, He intercedes for His enemies, asking the Father to forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.

Isaiah 53:12 anticipates Jesus’ intercessory prayer from the cross. Isaiah writes that the Suffering Servant “bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12 ESV). On this day, we are reminded of the price Jesus paid on the cross to save us from our sins. We have transgressed God’s commands and fallen short of His glory. We deserve death and condemnation. Rather than giving us the punishment we deserve, Jesus showed the depth of His love for us by taking on our humanity, becoming like us in every respect, except without sin, so that He might endure the punishment we deserved for our sins. And Jesus didn’t stop there. Instead, He continues to intercede on our behalf even now.

Our consciences and other people may still condemn us for the sins we have committed that make us unworthy of God’s love. But, the Christian’s hope can not be extinguished by such accusing voices. Instead, Jesus Christ continues to intercede on our behalf. Paul puts it like this in Romans 8:34, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (ESV). Christian, as you consider Jesus’ death on the cross on this Good Friday, praise Him for interceding on your behalf so that you will never experience God’s condemnation.