a. Bearing Our Sicknesses and Carrying Our Sorrows

Verse 4 says, "Surely He has borne our sicknesses, / And carried our sorrows; / Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, / Smitten of God and afflicted." People thought that Christ must have been wrong in something; otherwise, why would He be stricken, smitten of God and afflicted? They did not understand that Christ bore our sicknesses and carried our sorrows (Matt. 8:17).

b. Being Wounded Because of
Our Transgressions and
Crushed Because of Our Iniquities

Isaiah 53:5 says, "But He was wounded because of our transgressions; / He was crushed because of our iniquities; / And the chastening for our peace was upon Him, / And by His stripes we have been healed." This indicates that Christ's suffering was altogether vicarious; He suffered everything in our place. He was stricken, smitten, afflicted, wounded, crushed, and chastened in our place that we may be healed (1 Pet. 2:24b), that we may be saved.

c. We All like Sheep Having Gone Astray;
Each of Us Having Turned to His Own Way,
and Jehovah Having Caused
the Iniquity of Us All to Fall upon Him

Isaiah 53:6 says, "We all like sheep have gone astray; / Each of us has turned to his own way, / And Jehovah has caused the iniquity of us all / To fall upon Him." It was when God was judging Jesus on the cross that He caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon Jesus. On the cross the Lord Jesus cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). God the Father forsook the Son because at that juncture God caused all our sins to fall upon Him. For a short time, while Jesus was hanging on the cross, in God's eyes He was the unique sinner. Today, if a sinner hears this, he will be astonished. This is the report, the revelation, in the New Testament economy.

d. Being Oppressed and Afflicted,
yet Not Opening His Mouth

Isaiah 53:7 says, "He was oppressed, and it was He who was afflicted, / Yet He did not open His mouth; / Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter / And like a sheep that is dumb before its shearers, / So He did not open His mouth." The Lord Jesus experienced all these things according to the New Testament economy (Acts 8:32; Matt. 26:63-64; 27:12, 14). This may seem to be a strange recounting, but we need to consider this the good news. This is absolutely extraordinary and altogether uncommon. Thus, when this is recounted, people are surprised. It is by being reported, recounted, and revealed in such a way that Christ surprises many nations (Isa. 52:15).