Isaiah 53:5 – Wounded for Our Transgressions
“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.” In one verse, Isaiah compresses the doctrine of substitutionary atonement with crystalline clarity. Seven hundred years before Calvary, the prophet described what would happen there: an innocent One bearing the punishment of the guilty, suffering in place of sinners, healing through wounds. This is not merely prediction—it is the gospel itself stated in advance.
The Suffering Servant of Isaiah
Isaiah 53 belongs to a series of passages scholars call the Servant Songs. Beginning in chapter 42, Isaiah describes a mysterious figure—the LORD’s Servant—who will bring justice to the nations, be a light to the Gentiles, and establish righteousness on the earth. As the songs progress, the Servant’s mission becomes clearer and more disturbing: He will accomplish His work through suffering and death.
Chapter 53 reaches the climax of this revelation. The Servant appears without outward beauty or majesty. He is despised and rejected, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. People hide their faces from Him. He is esteemed stricken by God, smitten and afflicted. The portrait is one of comprehensive rejection and undeserved suffering.
Verse 5 pivots from describing the suffering to explaining its purpose. The wounds are not random misfortune but deliberate substitution. The suffering accomplishes something. The verbs are passive—”he was wounded,” “he was bruised,” “the chastisement was upon him”—indicating that someone else inflicted these sufferings. Yet the pronouns make clear who benefits: our transgressions, our iniquities, our peace, we are healed. His suffering; our salvation.
Traditional Jewish interpretation struggled with this passage, applying it variously to Israel as a nation, to the righteous remnant, or to the prophet himself. Some recognized its messianic import but could not reconcile a suffering Messiah with expectations of a conquering king. The Servant’s identity remained debated.
The Substitution Problem
Reading Isaiah 53:5 as merely descriptive of innocent suffering fails to account for its specific language. The text does not say the Servant suffered alongside us, or because of us in some general sense, or even on behalf of us in the sense of serving our interests. The language is explicitly substitutionary: He bore what we deserved. Our transgressions produced His wounds. Our iniquities caused His bruising. The chastisement that would have brought us peace fell upon Him instead.
This raises theological difficulties. How can one person’s suffering address another’s guilt? How can wounds heal? How can punishment transferred produce peace for those who deserved punishment? The mechanics of substitution require more than Isaiah provides in this text—they require actual fulfillment to become comprehensible.
Furthermore, the scope of this substitution is striking. Isaiah uses first-person plural pronouns throughout: our transgressions, our iniquities, we are healed. Who is included in this “we”? The immediate context suggests Isaiah and his fellow Israelites, but the broader Servant Songs speak of light to the Gentiles and salvation to the ends of the earth. The substitution appears to have universal potential even as it was revealed to a specific people.
The connection between “stripes” and healing is particularly paradoxical. Stripes—the marks left by scourging—represent inflicted injury. Healing represents restoration from injury. How do stripes administered to one person bring healing to another? The logic defies ordinary categories. Something supernatural is in view, something that transforms the meaning of suffering itself.
Christ the Wounded Healer
The New Testament identifies Jesus Christ as Isaiah’s suffering Servant with explicit clarity. When Philip encountered the Ethiopian eunuch reading Isaiah 53, “the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:34-35). From Isaiah 53, Philip proclaimed Christ.
Peter quotes verse 5 directly in applying it to Jesus: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). The apostle leaves no doubt: Jesus is the One who was wounded, and His stripes produce our healing.
The Gospels record the physical fulfillment in brutal detail. Jesus was scourged before His crucifixion—Roman whips tearing His flesh, leaving the stripes Isaiah foresaw. He was pierced by thorns, nails, and spear. He was bruised by fists and falls. Every wound inflicted by His executioners fulfilled the prophet’s description while accomplishing the prophet’s promise: healing for the guilty through the suffering of the innocent.
The Divine Exchange
Isaiah 53:5 articulates what theologians call the great exchange. Christ received what we deserved; we receive what He deserved. He took our transgressions; we receive His righteousness. He bore our iniquities; we are credited with His innocence. The chastisement we should have suffered fell on Him; the peace He deserved flows to us.
Paul expounds this exchange throughout his epistles. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The sinless One was treated as a sinner; sinners are treated as righteous. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). The blessed One became a curse; the cursed are blessed.
This substitution satisfies divine justice while expressing divine love. God does not ignore sin or pretend it does not matter. The wounds, the bruises, the chastisement—these demonstrate that sin brings real consequences. But those consequences fall on the substitute rather than the sinner. Justice is satisfied; mercy is extended. God remains righteous while declaring the ungodly righteous through faith in Christ.
The healing that comes through Christ’s stripes is comprehensive. Our transgressions brought guilt—we are forgiven. Our iniquities brought alienation—we are reconciled. Our rebellion brought disorder—we have peace. Our sin brought spiritual death—we are made alive. The wounds addressed every dimension of our predicament, effecting a complete cure for our complete disease.
Your Transgressions, His Wounds
Isaiah 53:5 personalizes the gospel. The plural pronouns are general, but they become specific when you believe. He was wounded for your transgressions—the specific sins you have committed, the particular ways you have violated God’s law. He was bruised for your iniquities—not just humanity’s collective guilt but your individual corruption. The chastisement of your peace was upon Him—the punishment that stood between you and God fell upon Christ at Calvary.
This specificity confronts every evasion. You cannot claim exemption because your sins are too common (everyone sins, after all). The text says He bore our transgressions—including the common ones. You cannot claim exemption because your sins are too great (surely God cannot forgive what I have done). The text says He was wounded for our transgressions—including the great ones. The breadth of “our” encompasses every variety of human sinfulness.
But specificity also extends hope. The verse does not merely describe a transaction that happened two thousand years ago. It announces an offer that extends to today. His stripes bring healing—present tense in its application. The one who comes to Christ today finds that Calvary’s wounds heal today’s guilt. The blood shed then cleanses the soul that trusts now.
“With his stripes we are healed.” The healing is certain for all who are included in that “we.” Have you been healed? Have you trusted the wounded One for your salvation? The substitution is complete—He has already been wounded for transgressions, already bruised for iniquities, already endured the chastisement. What remains is your response. Acknowledge that those wounds were for you. Accept that healing is yours by grace through faith. Let the stripes of Christ close the wounds your sin has made, and enter the peace His chastisement has purchased.