As we move toward another Resurrection morning, I find myself reading and meditating on Isaiah 53.  Matthew Henry, in his opening remarks on this chapter, states:

"The two great things which the Spirit of Christ in the Old-Testament prophets testified beforehand were the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, 1 Peter 1:11. And that which Christ himself, when he expounded Moses and all the prophets, showed to be the drift and scope of them all was that Christ ought to suffer and then to enter into his glory, Luke24: 26-27. But nowhere in all the Old-Testament are these two so plainly and fully prophesied here in this chapter, out of which divers’ passages are quoted with application to Christ in the New-Testament. This chapter is so replenished with the unsearchable riches of Christ that it may be called rather the gospel of the evangelist Isaiah than the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah. We may observe here:

I. The reproach of Christ's sufferings--the meanness of his appearance, the greatness of his grief, and the prejudices which many conceived in consequences against his doctrine, ver. 1-3.

II. The rolling away of this reproach, and the stamping of immortal honour upon his sufferings, notwithstanding the disgrace and ignominy of them, by four considerations:

1. That therein he did his Father's will, ver. 4, 6, 10.
2. That thereby he made atonement for the sin of man (ver. 4-6, 8, 11, 12), for it was not for any sin of his own that he suffered, ver. 9.
3. That he bore his sufferings with an invincible and exemplary, ver. 7.
4. That he should prosper in his undertaking, and his sufferings should end in his immortal honour, ver. 10-12. By mixing faith with the prophecy of this chapter we may improve our acquaintance with Jesus Christ and him crucified, with Jesus Christ and him glorified, dying for our sins and rising again for our justification.” Verses 1-3 pick up where Isaiah had started his prophecy of Jesus’ humiliation in Chapter 52:13-15. His prophecy here in Chapter 53 greets us with the kind of reception the gospel of Christ will find among not only His people, but the Gentiles as well. Despite being foretold of the coming of their Messiah the Jews rejected Him only to have Him killed by the hands of the Gentile, for they failed to understand that they were only fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy of the true cause of His death on the cross. 52;4-6 “Surely, he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Jesus died for all our sins, every man, woman and child of us. Without Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary’s cross, we would face an eternity of doom. (Chapter 53:10-12) "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Christ who knew no sin, became sin for us, (2 Corinthians 7:21,) that we might have eternal life through His shed blood for our complete atonement."

Resurrection Sunday is not about rabbits, baby chicks or colored or chocolate eggs. It is about the death, burial and glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also recieved, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Are you washed in the Blood? In the souls cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless, are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?