CORE 52 | Week 15 | Atonement
July 20, 2022

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Isaiah 53 (NRSV)

1 Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity,
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.

4 Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases,
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
9 They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with affliction.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
11 Out of his anguish he shall see;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out himself to death
and was numbered with the transgressors,
yet he bore the sin of many
and made intercession for the transgressors.*

Atonement (definition)

• Amends or reparation made for an injury or wrong; expiation.
• The reconciliation of God and humans brought about by the redemptive life and death of Jesus.

FOR REFLECTION

  1. What is the most expensive, unexpected cost you have endured and what was it like to work through that process?

  2. What was the most expensive, desired cost you have paid and what was it like to receive that?

  3. In your estimation, what is the costliest national sin in our country? What causes the most damage to families and communities and what costs the most to fix?

  4. How does Jesus’ death cover sin? How is He an atonement for us?

  5. We likely see animal sacrifice very differently than ancient Jews. How do you think they viewed animal sacrifice?

  6. How would you compare the cost of sacrifice in Bible times to our lives today?

  7. What would it have meant to an ancient Jew to have one single, final sacrifice?

  8. Do you think we feel the full weight of Jesus’ sacrifice?

  9. Read Isaiah 53 aloud. Stop at each verse and ask how this was fulfilled by Jesus’ death and resurrection.

DAILY JOURNAL

WEDNESDAY
Read the essay.


THURSDAY
Memorize Memorize Isaiah 53:5.


FRIDAY
Read Exodus 7:14–11:10.


MONDAY
Meditate on Leviticus 17:11; Romans 6:23; 1 Peter 1:18–19.


TUESDAY
Mark Isaiah 53 in your Bible to read the next time you take communion.


OVERACHIEVER CHALLENGE
Memorize Romans 6:23.