The evil came upon Jesus that the corresponding good might be offered to us.
The first two aspects of the exchange are revealed in Isaiah 53:4–5:
Surely He has borne our griefs
[literally, sicknesses]
And carried our sorrows [literally, pains];
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement [punishment] for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes [wounds] we are healed.
Two truths are here interwoven; the application of one is spiritual, and of the other is physical. On the spiritual plane, Jesus received the punishment due to our transgressions and iniquities that we, in turn, might be forgiven and so have peace with God. (See Romans 5:1.) On the physical plane, Jesus bore our sicknesses and pains that we through His wounds might be healed.
The physical application of the exchange is confirmed in two passages of the New Testament. Matthew 8:16–17 refers back to Isaiah 53:4 and records that Jesus:
. . . healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses.”
Again, in 1 Peter 2:24, the apostle refers back to Isaiah 53:5–6 and says of Jesus:
. . . who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes [wounds] you were healed.
The twofold exchange described in the above verses may be summed up as follows:
Jesus was punished that we might be forgiven.
Jesus was wounded that we might be healed.
A third aspect of the exchange is revealed in Isaiah 53:10, which states that the Lord made the soul of Jesus “an offering for sin.” This must be understood in the light of the Mosaic ordinances for various forms of sin offering. The person who had sinned was required to bring his sacrificial offering—a sheep, a goat, a bull, or some other animal— to the priest. He would confess his sin over the offering, and the priest would symbolically transfer the sin he had confessed from the person to the animal. Then the animal would be killed, thus paying the penalty for the sin that had been transferred to it.
In the foreknowledge of God, all this was designed to foreshadow what was to be accomplished by the final, all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus. On the cross, the sin of the whole world was transferred to the soul of Jesus. The outcome is described in Isaiah 53:12: “He poured out His soul unto death.” By His sacrificial, substitutionary death, Jesus made atonement for the sin of the whole human race.
In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul refers to Isaiah 53:10 and, at the same time, he also presents the positive aspect of the exchange:
For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Paul does not speak here about any kind of righteousness that we can achieve by our own efforts, but about God’s own righteousness—a righteousness that has never known sin. None of us can ever earn this. It is as high above our own righteousness as heaven is above earth. It can be received solely by faith.
This third aspect of the exchange may be summed up as follows:
Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness that we might be made righteous with His righteousness.
The next aspect of the exchange is a logical outworking of the previous one. The entire Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New, emphasizes that the final outcome of sin is death. In Ezekiel 18:4 the Lord states, “The soul who sins shall die.” In James 1:15 the apostle says, “Sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” When Jesus became identified with our sin, it was inevitable that He should also experience the death which is the outcome of sin.
In confirmation of this, in Hebrews 2:9, the writer says that “Jesus . . . was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death . . . that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” The death that He died was the inevitable outcome of human sin which He had taken upon Himself. He bore the sin of all men, and so died the death due to all men.
In return, to all who accept His substitutionary sacrifice, Jesus now offers the gift of eternal life. In Romans 6:23 Paul sets the two alternatives side by side:
For the wages [just reward] of sin is death, but the [unearned] gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thus, the fourth aspect of the exchange may be summed up as follows:
Jesus died our death that we might receive His life.
A further aspect of the exchange is stated by Paul in 2 Corinthians 8:9:
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
The exchange is clear: from poverty to riches. Jesus became poor that we in return might become rich.
When did Jesus become poor? Some people picture Him as poor throughout His earthly ministry, but this is not accurate. He Himself did not carry a lot of cash, but at no time did He lack anything He needed. When He sent His disciples out on their own, they likewise lacked nothing. (See Luke 22:35.) So, far from being poor, He and His disciples made a regular practice of giving to the poor. (See John 12:4–8; 13:29.)
True, Jesus’ methods of obtaining money were sometimes unconventional, but money has the same value, whether withdrawn from a bank or the mouth of a fish! (See Matthew 17:27.) His methods of providing food were also at times unconventional, but a man who can provide a substantial meal for 5,000 men (plus women and children) certainly would not be considered poor by normal standards! (See Matthew 14:15–21.)
Actually, throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus exactly exemplified “abundance,” as defined in the Bible. He always had all that He needed to do the will of God in His own life. Over and above this, He was continually giving out to others, and His supply was never exhausted.
So when did Jesus become poor for our sakes? The answer is: on the cross. In Deuteronomy 28:48 Moses summed up absolute poverty in four expressions: hunger, thirst, nakedness, and need of all things. Jesus experienced all this in its fullness on the cross.
He was hungry. He had not eaten for nearly 24 hours.
He was thirsty. One of His last utterances was, “I thirst!” (John 19:28).
He was naked. The soldiers had taken all His clothes from Him (John 19:23).
He was in need of all things. He no longer owned anything whatever. After His death He was buried in a borrowed robe and in a borrowed tomb (Luke 23:50–53). Thus, Jesus exactly and completely endured absolute poverty for our sakes.
In 2 Corinthians 9:8 Paul presents more fully the positive side of the exchange:
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, have an abundance for every good work.
Paul is careful to emphasize throughout that the only basis for this exchange is God’s grace. It can never be earned. It can only be received by faith.
Very often our “abundance” will be like that of Jesus while He was on earth. We shall not carry large amounts of cash, or have large deposits in a bank. But from day to day we shall have enough for our own needs, and something over for the needs of others.
One important reason for this level of provision is indicated by the words of Jesus quoted in Acts 20:35: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” God’s purpose is that all His children should be able to enjoy the greater blessing. Therefore, He provides us with enough to cover our own needs and also to give to others.
This fifth aspect of the exchange may be summed up:
Jesus endured our poverty that we might share His abundance.
The exchange at the cross covers also the emotional forms of suffering that follow from man’s iniquity. Here again, Jesus endured the evil that we in turn might enjoy the good. Two of the cruelest wounds brought upon us by our iniquity are shame and rejection. Both of these came upon Jesus on the cross.
Shame can vary in intensity from acute embarrassment to a cringing sense of unworthiness that cuts a person off from meaningful fellowship either with God or with man. One of the commonest causes— becoming more and more prevalent in our contemporary society—is some form of sexual abuse or molestation in childhood. Often this leaves scars that can only be healed by the grace of God.
Speaking of Jesus on the cross, the writer of Hebrews says that He “endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). Execution on a cross was the most shameful of all forms of death, reserved for the lowest class of criminal. The person to be executed was stripped of all his clothing and exposed naked to the gaze of passers-by, who jeered and mocked. This was the degree of shame which Jesus endured as He hung on the cross (Matthew 27:35–44).
In place of the shame that Jesus bore, God’s purpose is to bring those who trust in Him to share His eternal glory. In Hebrews 2:10 the writer says:
For it was fitting for Him [God] . . . in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation [that is, Jesus] perfect through sufferings.
The shame that Jesus endured on the cross has opened the way for all who trust in Him to be released from their own shame. Not only that, but He then shares with us the glory which belongs to Him by eternal right!
There is another wound that is often even more agonizing than shame. It is rejection. Usually this stems from some form of broken relationship. In its earliest form, it is caused by parents who reject their own children. The rejection may be active, expressed in harsh, negative ways; or it may be merely a failure to show love and acceptance. If a pregnant woman entertains negative feelings toward the infant in her womb, the child will probably be born with a sense of rejection, which may continue into adulthood, and even to the grave.
The breakup of a marriage is another frequent cause of rejection. This is vividly pictured in the words of the Lord in Isaiah 54:6:
“The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God.
(NIV)
Derek Prince, The Divine Exchange, n.d.
(You can get the whole book by doing a Google Search on the above name and book name)
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