He was wounded for our iniquities; He was bruised for our sins, and by His bruises we are healed [1]. The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because it was His own will, and He opened not His mouth [2]. He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb[3] before his shearer." Regarding His future glory, the prophet says: “The Gentiles shall beseech Him, and His sepulchre shall be glorious.” Isaias was prophesying for about fifty years. It is said that he, while yet alive, was sawn in two by order of the impious king Manasses.
COMMENTARY.
The Omniscience of God. God sees the future as if it were actually present, and He revealed the life of the Redeemer so clearly to Isaias, that the prophet was able to describe it as if he had seen it in person.
The Holiness of God. He loves only that which is good, and detests evil. He wishes man to be good in thought, word and deed. “Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes; cease to do perversely.”
The Mercy of God. He is quite ready to pardon if only the sinner will be converted. “Then (when you are converted), come and accuse me. If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow &c.”
True conversion consists, as the words of Isaias show, in a complete change of heart and life. The sinner must renounce all bad thoughts and sinful deeds, and must do what is right. He must hate the sins which he has hitherto loved, and must worship the God whom he has hitherto despised and offended.
Even the most grievous sins can be remitted, if only the sinner be truly penitent. “If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow; and if they be red as crimson, they shall be as white as wool.” Therefore, not even the greatest of sinners should despair of God’s mercy. If he does, he sins against the Holy Ghost, and is in danger of being lost eternally.
The testimony of the prophets helps and confirms our faith. The prophecies of Isaias and the other prophets were written by the inspiration of God, and have to his day been preserved in the Holy
- ↑ Are healed. His wounds obtain for us pardon and grace
- ↑ His mouth. To complain.
- ↑ As a lamb. This was fulfilled to the letter. When asked to answer to all the accusations brought against Him before the High Priest and Pilate, Jesus was silent. The beautiful expression “ Lamb of God ” was taken up by John the Baptist and has remained in the Church ever since.
