We have written several times about the atonement, but felt it necessary to put all of our analyses into one post, so as to make a more adequate case for our views.
When we consider the various Scriptures related to the work of the Cross and cross-reference them against the doctrines we commonly have been taught, a stark contrast too often becomes apparent. It is our desire, then, to let the Scriptures speak for themselves, separating tradition, bad teaching, and bad doctrine from the testimony of Scripture.
Our thesis is that the OT atonement differs from Jesus' work on the cross, and that Jesus was not punished by God's wrath as He bore the sins of the world upon Him.
The Reformed church teaches the doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA), which in a nutshell means that God punished Jesus in our place to atone for our sins. We believe that the issues surrounding the sacrificial death of Jesus may be one of the most misconstrued doctrines promulgated by Reformed theology. Calvin presents the doctrine this way:
Accordingly, our Lord came forth as true man and took the person and the name of Adam in order to take Adam’s place in obeying the Father, to present our flesh as the price of satisfaction to God’s righteous judgment, and, in the same flesh, to pay the penalty that we had deserved. (Institutes, II.xvi.3) (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/calvins-multi-faceted-atonement/)
Our thesis is that this inaccurately describes Jesus’ work on the cross. Pursuant to this thesis, this post is divided into three sections:
- Penal
- Substitutionary
- Atonement
1) Penal Many Christians believe that God poured out His wrath upon and punished Jesus, which is the “penal” part of PSA. We most certainly believe God’s anger regarding sin burns against the unrighteous and they deserve punishment. But, PSA proponents say Father punished Jesus. Does the Bible support this idea? After careful consideration, we would say no. There is no verse anywhere that tells us God poured out His wrath and punished Jesus.
This may be an astounding claim to some, so we will lay out our reasons for doubting this doctrine. First we will consider the OT sacrifices.
The Sacrificial Animals The sacrifice of animals in the OT is a type of Jesus’ death on the cross. The atoning blood of sheep and bulls is a picture pointing to Jesus’ sacrifice. So in order to understand Jesus’ death, we need to take a look at the sacrificial animals. This is critical. The typology points us to Jesus, so we need to view Jesus’ sacrificial death through the lens of the OT sacrifices.
We first note that the sacrificial animals aren’t ever described in the OT as assuming or receiving guilt, and nowhere are they described as being punished. God’s wrath was never directed at the sacrificial animals. They were slain on the altar, but this was simply the method of spilling the atoning blood:
He. 9:22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
It is specifically the spilled blood that atoned for sin, not the death of the animal,
per se. This blood sacrifice is “cleansing agent” for sin.
The Scapegoat An interesting case is the scapegoat. We read:
Le. 16:8-10, 22 He is to cast lots for the two goats — one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. 9 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat… 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.
"Scapegoat" is
azazel, (
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5799.htm) which
means entire removal of sin and guilt from sacred places into desert on back of goat, symbol of entire forgiveness. Notice the scapegoat carried the sin away:
The goat will carry on itself all their sins… (vs. 22) "Carry" is
nasa or
nasah, which means
to lift, carry, take. (
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5375.htm) The scapegoat had the sins of Israel placed upon itself, like a load of cargo being carried, and it took it outside the camp. The scapegoat was the vehicle by which sin was transported out of the midst of the people.
The very same word,
nasa, is used in Ge. 21:18:
Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.
Hagar carried the boy, but that did not mean she received some sort of characteristic from the boy. She did not become a boy or partake in the promise received by the boy. Nothing was imputed to her by lifting the boy. She was simply the mode of transportation. Likewise, the sin carried by the scapegoat is not imputed to it. The sin is a burden, transported away into the desert. The scapegoat carries "
on itself all their sins." There's no sense that the scapegoat is being punished. The burden of sin was carried by Jesus to the cross, for He is the burden-bearer:
Psalm 68:19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.
We will find the same themes in the NT, as we would expect. Thus we need to clearly distinguish between "bear sin" and "receive punishment."
Hebrews 13:12-13 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.
The scapegoat is a type of Christ, who transports our sin outside the camp, entirely removing it from us. This is a critical understanding. Jesus wasn’t punished for our sin, he was the bearer (carrier) of our sin to the cross. The Greek word for "bore" (
...the disgrace he bore) is
pheró, which is
I carry, bear, bring... (
https://biblehub.com/greek/5342.htm) Just like the scapegoat, Jesus carried the disgrace of our sin outside the camp as if it were a cargo. He died on a cross outside the city; He bore our sin to it as a burden. He carried (
pheró) the sin, He wasn't regarded as sinful.
1Pe. 2:24:
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
This is a similar Greek word -
anapheró,
I carry up, lead up… Again we see that Jesus bore our sin as one might take out a bag of trash.
He. 9:28: ...so Christ was sacrificed once to take away (anapheró) the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Col. 2:13-14: He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
"Took it away" is the Greek word
airó, which is
I raise, lift up, take away, remove. (
https://biblehub.com/greek/142.htm) Jesus literally carried away the condemnation of the Law like a bundle on His shoulders and affixed it to the cross.
Jesus' sacrifice was that of a burden-bearer, just like the sacrificial animals in the OT. He
anapheró the burden of our sin like someone would carry a load upon his shoulders. He
pheró away our punishment. He
airó our sin as far as the east is from the west.
He is the vehicle by which our sins are transported away. This clearly suggests that just like the OT sacrificial animals, Jesus was never an object of God’s wrath in any way. The father never did punish Jesus.
2Co. 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Many have undertaken the task of explaining how Jesus could be sin, especially in light of the first statement in the sentence, that Jesus had no sin. This is a debate going back centuries, with honest interlocutors on each side. It remains a point of debate to this day, so we shall not be so arrogant as to suggest that we have the answer. But perhaps we might have some insight.
Part of the problem is the errant view that Jesus was viewed by the Father as being imputed with sin, and was therefore punished by the Father. We discuss “imputed” below.
By this thinking Jesus was viewed by God as being the embodiment of sin (although there is quite a bit of hairsplitting about the accuracy of these words), therefore God punished Jesus. But 2Co. 5:21 does not tell us anything about God's wrath. Nor does this verse talk about Jesus being punished. Judgment has not been mentioned. None of these concepts appear in this verse. So what does it mean?
Let’s look at a couple of the Greek words from this verse.
The word "made" (God made him) is
poieó: make, manufacture, construct... (
https://biblehub.com/greek/4160.htm)
"had" (
him who had no sin) is
ginóskó which means
to come to know, recognize, perceive... especially through personal experience (first-hand acquaintance) (
https://biblehub.com/greek/1097.htm)
Interestingly, this last word (
ginóskó) is the same word found in Mt. 1:25:
But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
So let’s attempt to create a more literal translation of 2Co. 5:21:
God acted to construct the one who was personally unacquainted with sin to be an offering for sin on behalf of us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (https://biblehub.com/interlinear/2_corinthians/5-21.htm)
Paul was telling us that for our benefit, God constructed the man Jesus in the form of flesh who would offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin. This is exactly what we find in Philippians 2:6-8 as well:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!
The word "made" here is
ginomai,
to emerge, become, transitioning from one point (realm, condition) to another... (
https://biblehub.com/greek/1096.htm) Jesus was specifically made in such a way as to be the One to take away sin. He was not made into sin, He was was not imputed with sin, He was not made into a sinner. He was made into the physical nature of Man. Jesus, the Word who became flesh, the Word of God, found Himself in the very nature of human form:
He. 2:17-18 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Jesus, was
made, constructed, transitioned into, flesh (Jn. 1:14). One reason this was necessary is God cannot die, but the One who
made himself nothing, now human, this Man can die.
And being found in appearance as a man, He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Further, Jesus was innocent, like the sacrificial animals were innocent. Jesus never had any connection to sin. Jesus took away our without being sinful Himself:
1Jn. 3:5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
"Take away" is
airó, the same word we cited the definition for regarding Col. 2:13-14 above. This is juxtaposed against the next sentence:
in him is no sin. He transports (carries, lifts, bears) our sin away without ever once being polluted by it or partaking in it.
Positionally, Jesus became a sin offering like a spotless lamb but was never sinful. He was unacquainted (
ginóskó) with sin, just as Joseph and Mary were unacquainted with sex. He had no union with sin.
...him who had no sin... So his total innocence of sin means His sacrifice carried away our sin completely.
Though He became a man of flesh, there is absolutely no hint that the Father punished Jesus in any way. In fact, Jesus carried out His work and perfectly pleased the Father. We would therefore assert that Jesus did not bear the wrath of God, period. Rather, He bore the weight of sin to the cross. Therefore, God did not punish Him.
2) Substitutionary - (Imputed With Our Sin) Now we turn to the "substitutionary" part of PSA. This portion of PSA means that Jesus substituted His life for punishment in our place. That is, PSA teaches received our sin in Himself, took our death sentence for us, and died so that we would not have to. But we would assert that Jesus did not die in our place at all. He died as the sacrificial Lamb of God, and in fact beckons us to come and die with Him (Ro. 6:8). Since we also must die, this means Jesus did not die in our place.
Jesus’ sacrificial death was on behalf of us. He died for the sake of our sins:
Ro. 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1Cor. 15:3 Further, For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…
(Both of these verses use the Greek word
huper, which means
for the benefit of.
https://biblehub.com/greek/5228.htm). It does not mean "in the place of."
PSA teaches our sin was imputed to Jesus. "Imputed" is an unfortunate word. It misleads us into thinking that Jesus engaged in some sort of legal transaction. In the legal world, "impute" means
to attach to a person responsibility (and therefore financial liability) for acts or injuries to another… (
https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/impute) So the legal meaning is to make someone other than the perpetrator legally responsible for a debt or crime.
This idea of Jesus being a legal substitute likely comes from Calvin, which we think was based on his training as a lawyer. This legal training likely colored his approach to Jesus' work on the cross:
Of course, Calvin clearly taught a legal theme in Christ’s work of atonement. In ourselves, we stand condemned before the bar of God’s justice, under the curse, and liable to God’s just wrath. Christ, though, obeyed and fulfilled the law, stood under no curse himself, but on our behalf suffered judgment that we might go free. Commenting on Romans 8:34 he writes:
"As no one by accusing can prevail, when the judge absolves; so there remains no condemnation, when satisfaction is given to the laws, and the penalty is already paid. Now Christ is he, who, having once for all suffered the punishment due to us, thereby declared that he undertook our cause, in order to deliver us…" (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom38.xii.x.html )
This concept of Jesus being a legal substitute imputed with our sin is not found in Scripture. The Greek and Hebrew words do not contain this definition. Jesus’ death was not a legal transaction, it was a sacrificial transaction.
We do find the word “impute” in Ro. 4:8:
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin (KJV).
The Greek word for “impute” is
logizomai, which means
I reckon, count, charge with; reason, decide, conclude; think, suppose. (
https://biblehub.com/greek/3049.htm )
The verse is a quote from Ps. 32:2:
Blessed [is] the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit [there is] no guile (KJV).
Chashab is the Hebrew word for
imputeth, which means "considered." (
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2803.htm)
Whereas the legal idea of impute means to assign to someone the blame, the Greek and Hebrew mean to reckon with or consider. This is an important distinction. To impute is a transfer of penalty. But to consider means to regard as. So, a better translation might be, “Blessed is the man whom the Lord does not consider or regard as sinful.”
The difference in meaning is perhaps subtle. Jesus was not imputed with our sin in a legal sense, and the Bible never uses the word regarding Him. He did not have guilt assigned to him and thus get punished by the Father. Rather, as we mentioned in the previous section, the Father made Jesus the carrier of our sin as a burden bearer, as the sacrificial lamb.
Further, there’s no sense, either in the Hebrew or the Greek, or even in contemporary jurisprudence, that someone can be held legally liable for another’s punishment. It isn’t possible to enter a courtroom and offer to take a guilty party’s place. The courtroom analogy, where we are pronounced guilty but Jesus comes into the court room and substitutes Himself, is errant and fails completely.
3) Atonement The third and final leg of PSA is atonement. Our belief is that atonement is uniquely OT, and the work of Jesus on the Cross is not atonement; rather, it is propitiation. This will be explained later. First we shall examine the OT atonement, and especially how it plays out in the context of Israel's history.
The OT - Atonement As God began to reveal Himself as holy and the deliverer of His people, the concept of the atonement, in connection to revelation of the Law, began to be expressed. This began at the burning bush (Ex. 3:2-5), where God showed Himself.
Ex. 3:5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
The details of the Law began to emerge in Ex. chapter 12 with the Passover, where precise instructions were given regarding the killing of a lamb. The blood was to be smeared on the door frame of the homes of the Israelites and a meal was to be eaten according to a specific order.
It is here we get the first hint of sacrificial Law. It is by a sacrifice of shed blood the Israelites were saved from the angel of death.
In the progression of revelation, the idea of sacrifice for sin unfolds:
- God intends to reveal His commands to Israel (Ex. 15:26).
- The Sabbath is instituted (Ex. 16:25).
- God references His covenant (Ex. 19:5), and chapter 19 is also where Moses ascends Mt. Sinai.
- The 10 Commandments arrive, as well as additional rules (Ex. 20).
- The first mention of sacrifice of blood (Ex. 23:18).
- The first animal sacrifice (Ex. 24:5).
What we are observing here is that God intended to set apart Israel as a holy people. His Law was reflective of that, including the idea that sin is an affront to God and must be dealt with. God was unveiling blood sacrifice as a type for the Lamb of God and His perfect sacrifice.
Why sacrifice? Paul supplies us with the reason:
Ro. 7:9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
In essence, as soon as the Law was given, the consequences of sin under the Law became real. Before the Law, sin was a dead thing. When the Law came sin sprang to life and that became condemnation. Sin put us to death. That is, death is the wages of sin (Rom. 6:23).
God's intent is to supply a remedy. This is where the concept of atonement arrives.
Covering Over The word “atone” is the Hebrew word
kaphar.
Kaphar means
to cover over, pacify, make propitiation. (
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3722.htm) The first appearance of this word is in Ge. 6:14, translated "coat it:"
Ge. 6:14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it [kaphar] with pitch inside and out.
So Noah "covered over" (atoned) the cypress wood with pitch, obscuring the wood underneath. The covering hid what was beneath.
The NIV first uses the English word "atonement" in Ex. 25:17:
Make an atonement cover of pure gold — two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
"Atonement cover," also translated "mercy seat," was the lid for the Ark of the Covenant. It "covered over" the ark and its contents. This covering, the lid, was the place where sin was
kaphar, (covered over), because the sacrificial blood was sprinkled here (Lev. 16:14).
The mercy seat was symbolic of the place where God is enthroned as King and Judge, yet sovereignly grants mercy. The mercy seat may in fact be the specific place in the Holy of holies where the Glory of the Lord rested (Ex. 40:34).
So we need to understand that to atone is to cover over, to obscure from view.
Atonement By Sacrifice The first mention of atonement by sacrifice is
Ex. 29:36 Sacrifice a bull each day as a sin offering to make atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.
Sacrifice is connected to sin, and sin was atoned for (
kaphar) by being "covered over." Therefore, to atone for sin is to cover it over. The obvious conclusion is that atonement did not wipe Israel clean of sin, it simply made sin to be not seen. Therefore, the animal sacrifices did not eliminate sin. The writer of Hebrews confirms this:
He. 10:4 ...it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
In this verse, the Greek word for "take away" is
aphaireó, which means
to take from, take away… (
https://biblehub.com/greek/851.htm) Interestingly, it’s the same word used in Mt. 26:51:
With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
In biblical typology, atonement is a picture of something that would be fully realized in Christ. But covering over sin wasn't sufficient. Sin needed to be wacked off. It needed to be completely taken away, chopped off, not just covered over. This brings us to propitiation.
The NT - Propitiation Although propitiation is an obsolete word, we prefer it for its accuracy, and for distinguishing what the blood of Jesus did as opposed to what the blood of the sacrificial animals did. It serves to make the important distinction between the animal sacrifices and the all-sufficient, perfectly cleansing blood of Jesus.
As we have just seen, atonement simply covers over sin. However, propitiation is not "covering over." It actually describes the complete forgiveness of sin. Propitiation is the better thing than atonement. Sinful humanity needs something more than atonement, and Christ's death on the cross (propitiation) is that greater work. Propitiation COMPLETELY satisfies God and turns away His wrath.
The Greek word for propitiation is unfortunately translated "atonement" in the NIV in each instance, although some translations (like the KJV) render it "propitiation." There are two related Greek words in the NT for propitiation. The first is
hilaskomai, which means,
appeasement/satisfaction of divine wrath on sin, (
https://biblehub.com/greek/2433.htm) which is found in two places:
Lk. 18:13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, `God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
He. 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
This is defined as
I have mercy on, show favor to... I forgive, pardon. Propitiation is a purposeful act to have mercy on a party that deserves punishment.
The other word is similar,
hilastérion,
the place of propitiation; the lid of the golden ark (the mercy-seat) where the blood of a vicarious lamb appeased God's wrath on sin. (
https://biblehub.com/greek/2435.htm) This word also has two appearances:
Ro. 3:25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.
He. 9:5 Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover.
This word describes an intervention into something in progress:
...the middle of an act. (
https://biblehub.com/greek/2433.htm) That is, propitiation causes the Father to cease in the middle of executing punishment for sin. Jesus stopped God's in-process action from being carried out, in that His blood was spilled on the cross.
Our opinion, therefore, is that the term "atonement" insufficiently describes Jesus' sacrificial death. Atonement covers over sin, propitiation turns away judgment completely. Therefore, using the word "atonement" is incorrect, and it is inadequate to describe Jesus' sacrifice.
Isaiah 53 There is no verse in the NT that even hints that Jesus endured God's wrath. This is important. There are a number of verses that use the word wrath, but all of them are directed at the unrighteous. We repeat. There is no verse that points to the Father's wrath was laid on Jesus.
However, one passage has been used to suggest that Jesus was punished by the Father, Isaiah 53. Here's the whole passage:
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 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 wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; He will see the result of the suffering of his soul and be satisfied] by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53 is a stark and profound messianic prophecy, describing in detail the suffering Lamb of God. But because of PSA, we believe this passage has been misinterpreted. We humbly undertake to correct this mistake. Let's look a little closer at some of the verses:
Is. 53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
Isaiah embarks on his narrative by stating a truth, that He "took up" (
nasa or nasah, to lift, carry, take (
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5375.htm) and "carried" (
sabal, to bear [a heavy load]) (
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5445.htm) our infirmities and sorrows.
But take careful note: Isaiah then uses the word "yet." He took up our infirmities, "yet." Isaiah cites a contradictory statement: “Yet”
we considered him stricken by God... We have a mistaken perception, and Isaiah’s correcting that. We thought He was stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God. We thought he was <
this>, "yet" He is <
something else>. That's what Isaiah is telling us here.
Isaiah immediately sets the record straight about this <
something else> in the very next verse, verse 5. He begins with the word "but:"
Is. 53:5 5 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 wounds we are healed.
The features of the crucifixion are being detailed for us, hundreds of years before the actual event. Here’s the train of thought:
Truth Statement: He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows
False Perception: we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted
False Perception Corrected: But...
Truth Statement: He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities
Isaiah's correction of our perception is a restatement of his initial truth statement: He was pierced, crushed, and punished. Crucially, Isaiah does not say God did this. The reader will recall that it was the Jews and also the Roman soldiers who abused Him.
Also notice that this punishment was upon him. The word translated “upon” is
al, which means upon, above, over. (
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5921.htm) We have seen this concept over and over, haven't we? The punishment was upon, above, over Jesus. He carried our sin, the Father didn't punish Him.
Let’s paraphrase the verse:
"He carried our problems. Yet for some reason we thought He was punished by God. But He wasn't. The horrible things He suffered were for our benefit." Is. 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
"Has laid" is
paga,
to meet, encounter, reach. (
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6293.htm) Our iniquity has reached him. Isaiah is amplifying his point. This Man bore a heavy burden, laid upon him for our benefit.
Is. 53:10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
The literal translation is
His soul an offering for sin, you make, when he has put [him] to grief to bruise him, it pleased… (https://biblehub.com/interlinear/isaiah/53-10.htm)
The literal translation adds words, which we think colors the translation. Without the added words it would read:
The man (nephesh), a guilt offering (asham) appointed, (sum or sim) when (im) he is made weak (chalah) and broken in pieces or crushed (daka), it pleased him (chaphets).
Unfortunately we are not Hebrew scholars. Yet we wonder if sometimes our Bible translations contain added elements derived from the already-existent doctrinal preconceptions. We say this because a word-for-word rendering without inserted "clarifying" language seems to yield a different result. Here’s our attempt at a smoother rendering:
The man was appointed a guilt offering, and was made weak, broken and crushed, and it pleased God.
Is. 53:11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
To "bear" is
sabal, to bear (a heavy load). (
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5445.htm) We are getting used to this concept of Jesus being the burden-bearer, aren’t we?
Is. 53:12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
"Bore" once again is
nasa or
nasah,
to lift, carry, take. (
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5375.htm)
Conclusion
We must assert again that Jesus' ministry was to bear the weight of sin, carrying it outside the camp to be fixed to the cross. He never had a part in sin, so God never punished him or poured out His wrath on Him. He did exactly what the Father wanted.
The Father knew that men would torture the Messiah, He knew they would crush Him and beat Him. It pleased the Father that Jesus was completely obedient through this torture, and approved of Him.
Jn. 8:29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.
When we divorce ourselves of preconceptions, another story emerges. It's not a story of a legal process of punishment, it's a story of sacrifice and perfect obedience.
Jn. 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
Lk. 3:22 You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.
We believe PSA is a wholly inaccurate description of Jesus’ work on the cross. The Father did not punish Jesus, Jesus did not substitute Himself legally, and His work was greater than atonement.
