“In Him Wickedness” ( Isaiah 53: 6, WYC ) by Carley Evans

Christ in Gethsemane (Christus in Gethsemane), oil painting by Heinrich Ferdinand Hofmann (Heinrich Hofmann). The original is at the Riverside Church (Riverside Church, New York City). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do we forget Jesus becomes sin (wickedness) on the tree? All our evil is put in Him by God so that “He suffers what should be our chastising, or our punishment.” An extraordinary event — God becoming sin. Our minds protest. How does the Holy One become unholy? Does He? Or is Jesus only dressed in sin? Is sin only “put on Him” as a garment, or is sin “put in Him?”

Isaiah, the great prophet from the Old Covenant, writes:

^“5 Forsooth he was wounded for our wickednesses, he was defouled for our great trespasses; the learning of our peace was on him, and we be made whole by his wanness. (And he was wounded for our wickednesses, he was defiled for our great trespasses; he suffered what should have been our chastising, or our punishment, and we be healed, or made whole, by his scourgings.)

⁶ All we erred as sheep, each man bowed into his own way, and the Lord putted in him the wickedness of us all. (We have all wandered astray like sheep, each one turned to his own way, but the Lord put on him all of our wickednesses.)”

Jesus is defiled, defouled, punished, wounded, scourged. God the Father treats Jesus as sin. As a result, we — who err and wander astray, each to our own way — are made whole, healed, restored to God’s graces.