But He was wounded

    for our transgressions;

He was crushed

    for our iniquities;

upon Him

   was the chastisement

   that brought us peace,

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 has laid

    on Him

the iniquity of us all.

             Isaiah 53. 5-6

(Written 740 years

         before Christ.

this prophecy

points to our need

            for a Savior

and to the literal fulfillment

through the suffering

and death of Jesus.

But while the cross

is central to our faith,

God did not leave Jesus

                   there.

This is not

    the end of the story,

but the fulfillment of it.

"He Himself bore our sins

in His body on the tree,

that we might die to sin

and live to righteousness.

By His wounds

     you have been healed."

               1 Peter 2. 24)

O LORD,

You came

   that we might know You,

that we may live

           with You forever.