Daily devotional · April 5
He Carried Our Sorrows
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.”
Centuries before the cross, Isaiah described a servant who would be despised, acquainted with grief, and wounded for the wrongs of others. Christians have long read this chapter as pointing to Jesus. What stands out is the exchange: he took our pain and our sin, and we receive peace and healing. Most of us wander like sheep, each going our own way, and yet the passage says the Lord laid our wrongdoing on him. That is not a distant idea. It means that nothing in your past is too heavy for the cross. Today, spend a quiet moment naming a weight you have been carrying alone, whether guilt, grief or shame, and picture handing it to the one who already bore it. Then thank him in a sentence or two, and let gratitude, not guilt, set the tone for your day.
Prayer
Jesus, thank You for carrying what I could not. I lay my burden down. Amen.