Isaiah 53:5
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.
If there is any passage in Old Testament Scripture that mysteriously sums up the gospel, this is it. Jesus Christ has borne on his back the weight of all the sins in the world. In his own person, he has endured the punishment, chastisement, wrath, guilt and agony of a guilty and agonized humanity. Because he is human he felt the anguish of it in body and soul, from the torturous pain of his scourging to his final gasps on the Cross. Because he is God, his death paid for the sins of the whole world. He bore for us what we could not bear for ourselves. He bore it even for the ones who spit in his face, jammed a crown of thorns on to his head, and pounded nails through his wrists and feet. He continues to bear it today for those who blaspheme and sneer at him as he hangs upon the Cross. And he does it because he loves us. No tricks. No other reasons. Just love. Thank him today for such love. Then make an extra effort to love somebody else with the help of the Christ who overcame such a death with life that can never be destroyed.
