Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Isaiah 53:4
Psalm 23 says, “The Lord is my shepherd…” and David tells us what that means: He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
God restores your soul by leading you to Jesus Christ, and that is what He was doing through the ministry of Isaiah 700 years before the birth of Jesus, and that is what he wants to do in your life today.
Isaiah 53 is one of the clearest statements in the Bible of what Jesus has accomplished for his people; and the first thing we see in verse 4 is that Christ came to redeem you. That means he came to release you, set you free, do whatever it takes to get you out of the mess you are in.
When Isaiah speaks about the redeeming work of Christ, he does not begin with our guilt and sin; that comes later in the following verse. He starts with our suffering. He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows—the division in your family, the loss of your job, the death of your loved one, the pain of your past.
Christ has not abandoned you in your griefs and sorrows. He refused to remain in heaven at a distance from your pain and your tears. He came near, and he bore our griefs and carried our sorrows for us. Jesus will not allow suffering to be the last word in your life.
What does it mean to you that Jesus does not abandon you in your sorrow?
