Easter Devotional - Day 3: The Good News of The Gospel

The Jewish people are generally dead set against Jesus. They have even coined a curse word that they use to replace His name. You see, in their eyes, Jesus is a charlatan who has caused and continues to cause a lot of trouble for them. This is mainly due to an ongoing propaganda campaign among Jewish rabbis that began at Jesus' resurrection (Matthew 28:15). That’s probably why something extraordinary often happens when Isaiah 53 is carefully shared with Jewish people. They are shocked because they’ve never heard how perfectly Isaiah’s prophecy expresses in vivid detail the death, burial, resurrection and even the propitiation of Jesus Christ.
 
Take this little excerpt for example:

      ⁵ 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.
      ⁶ 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 53:5–6)
 
To whom would Isaiah be referring if not Jesus? After a visit to Jerusalem, an official of Africa was headed back on his long journey home. There in his carriage, he was reading Isaiah and asked Philip who had just “happened” along, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” (Acts 8:34) You see that the official saw the extreme hope in this passage… someone was pierced for his transgressions and crushed for his iniquities? Someone has brought me peace with God? His soul was heavy laden with guilt and his pilgrimage to Jerusalem had done nothing to alleviate it. And yet here in Isaiah there was hope. And this time his hope was not deferred. "Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus." (Acts 8:35) We have all like sheep, gone astray following our own way… But God who is rich in mercy, has laid on Christ, the iniquity of us all.
 
Go on your way today, trusting completely in Christ who was crushed and pierced for every one of your transgressions.