“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
When I was in high school, our English teacher had to teach us about irony. It’s a concept that’s pretty hard to explain without examples.
So, she brought in Alanis Morisette’s Ironic. On cassette. Yes, this was definitely the 90s.
But listening to that song gave us all many examples to help cement the meaning of irony in our heads. It’s still not easy to explain, but we know it when we see it.
As the days pass after Easter, it’s hard not to see the irony in what Jesus went through. Being tortured so our souls could be healed. Dying so that we could live. Descending into hell so that we could one day ascend into heaven.
He took our punishment, though He was sinless. And we the sinners were spared.
Not all irony needs to be tragic
The concept of irony comes from ancient Greece. Greek tragedies were often put on based on legends that the people knew by heart, allowing them to know the significance or reality of what the characters said and did before the characters themselves did.
In a way, we can see the tragic irony in the resurrection. While we know that Jesus died so we could be healed, the people with Him – the disciples, teachers, and witnesses – did not yet see what His sacrifice meant.
Our salvation.
Even the people in Isaiah’s time who knew the words of the prophet did not know what they truly meant, and for who. Jesus would come long after his death.
But we know.
There is irony in how we are saved by Jesus’ loss of life. His pain as our gain. But the tragedy would be for us to not live differently because of it.
God sacrificed His Son for our souls. To save us, to bring us to Him, to restore all that we broke. Jesus did all that, and in the most horrific and painful way possible.
May we remember today this example of irony above all others. He was wounded so that we would be healed. He died so we could live. Let us each remember this with gratitude and a renewed heart.
Have a blessed Monday!
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He is definitely the healer. I am walking again and my skin returning to normal after eight surgeries, I may not be where He wants me but I am there because of those wounds. Isaiah 53.
Yes He is! And He is always working for our good. Amen!
Absolutely beautiful! Amen!
Thank you!