Mensa Otabil - He Has Borne Our Griefs
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Isaiah chapter 53, verse 4: Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
Jesus suffered. As the Messiah, it had been prophesied that he would suffer, but his suffering was not for himself; his suffering was substitutionary. That means he suffered on behalf of us, the rest of the world. So verse 4 clarifies what his suffering is all about. It says, «Surely he has borne"-borne means he has carried or taken upon himself our griefs. The word «grief» in this context means sickness, disease, anxiety, affliction-everything that disturbs your life. Surely he has borne it.
So, the suffering of Jesus Christ was not just because people didn’t like him, but it was also because of how much he loved us. He loved us so much that he carried all our pain upon himself. Jesus became the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. For him to take them away, he first must bear them. So he has borne our griefs; he takes our burdens, puts them on his shoulders, carries them so that we will not carry those burdens any longer.
And then it says, not only has he borne our griefs, he has carried our sorrows. Sorrows here refer to pain in the mind, mental torture, things that afflict your thinking, when you lose your peace and your sense of sanity. Jesus carried our sorrows and our griefs. For everything that is a mental torture to you, everything that is a mental disturbance to you, if you can’t sleep, if you have no peace of mind, if you lie in bed tossing and turning, that is your sorrows, disturbing your frame of mind. Jesus carried it, and today, as we remember him, what he carried, you need not carry. So in the name of Jesus, be free from every affliction of your mind, every torture of your mind, every disturbance of your peace. May the Lord who carried it for you manifest deliverance for you by the power of his name.
In many of the battles of our mind, fear and anxiety, many times we don’t know what to do. But here we know that when Jesus Christ suffered, he suffered for our peace of mind. He carried our sorrows and our griefs; he carried our sicknesses, he carried our pain, he carried our afflictions, he carried the distortion of our mind-he carried everything that disturbs your peace. Today, you can walk free; you can walk delivered; you can walk triumphant through the work of Jesus Christ that he accomplished for us on the cross of Calvary. I pray for everyone hearing me that today that freedom will be yours, in Jesus' name.
Let us pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, remove the burdens of fear and guilt from me so that I can serve you in joy and in peace, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. I trust that the peace of God will rule your mind, that God will set you free from every anxiety, and that God will help you walk in the victory that only Jesus Christ provides. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. I will be with you again tomorrow. Shalom, peace, and life to you.