Isaiah 53:5-6 “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. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Recently I read an amazing book about our American founding documents: “American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation – And Could Again” by Yuval Levin. Levin makes the following powerful point:
“We is the first word of the Constitution. It is the first word of the glorious second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Both documents speak in the first-person plural, because they both speak for a people taking joint ownership of their common fate.”
Our world is obsessed with picking and displaying their pronouns. While we rightfully see this as a misguided secular trend, they are right to some extent – pronouns matter!
In the powerful doublet of verses in Isaiah 53, the intentional use of pronouns provides a poignant, instructive reminder to all humanity. Jesus – as revealed by the five-time use of he/him/his – endures unimaginable wrath through a sacrifice that bears the burden of all iniquity. As a result, He was wounded, bruised, chastised, and lashed.
Yet, it is the Bible’s use of first-person plural pronouns that punctuates the powerful point. Seven times, we vividly see our Lord’s personal sacrifice for us through the use of our/we/us and His resulting love. We have gone astray and turned to our own way. It is us who transgressed and lived in iniquity. Yet, through these intentionally placed words that we sometimes overlook, we witness a God whose connection to us is personal. He isn’t an untouchable being who sits on a distant throne, but a personal loving God who understands our needs and perfectly meets our desperate condition. It is joint ownership, but He does all the giving and we do all the receiving. Praise God for all of it!
PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO RECOGNIZE AND CONVEY THE PERSONAL NATURE OF OUR ALL-GIVING, ALL-LOVING SAVIOUR. Pronouns matter and we/us must live passionately and humbly grateful for He/Him!