Isaiah 53:6
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.

How would we feel if a co-worker did something wrong and our boss came to us and told us we were going to be punished for what our co-worker did? What if the police came to our door and told us we had to go to jail because our neighbor robbed a bank? What would we think if our sibling disobeyed and our parents punished us instead? We would most likely feel that we had been wronged, that an injustice was done, that it wasn’t fair for us to be punished for what someone else had done.

But that’s exactly how God’s plan of salvation works. We were the sheep who went astray. We were the ones who wandered down the road of sin. We were the ones who embraced evil and committed all kinds of abominations. We were the ones who messed up, who broke the law, who failed. And yet God laid all of our iniquity on His Son Jesus Christ. He went to Jesus and told Him about His rebellious and stiff-necked people. He told Him that His people were lying and stealing and killing and worshiping false gods. He told Jesus about every foul word and evil thought. He laid bare every horrible thing any of us would ever do, and then He told Jesus to take the punishment for us.

Jesus didn’t react like we would have. He didn’t protest. He didn’t cry out how unfair it all was. He didn’t make excuses or try to get out of it or pass it off onto someone else. Jesus said, “Not my will, but thine be done.” He rose from His throne in heaven. He put on a robe of flesh. He walked the toilsome road to the cross of Calvary. He spread His arms wide and invited the nails. And when it was all said and done, He didn’t just take away our sins, but He gave us new life, too.

People can say that God is unjust and that life isn’t fair. But the most unequal exchange ever made was Christ for us. The most unfair thing that ever happened was that Jesus died and we gained eternal life. What a wonderful thing it is that God didn’t give us what we deserved. What a truly amazing picture of grace that we went astray and our iniquity was laid upon someone else. Let us be truly grateful for this precious gift of salvation given to us by our Lord.