Perception Can Be Entirely Wrong

by Terry Wane Benton

Isaiah prophesied that there would be a wrong perception of the Messiah and a correct one (See Isaiah 53). So, all viewpoints would not be equal. Even though sincerely ignorant, going away with the wrong perception would be fatal.

Isaiah 53:4-5

"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;"

This is actually what Jesus was doing on the cross, but the next statements tell how the bulk of the Jews looked at this situation, and this belief was entirely wrong.

"Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted."

This was an entirely wrong belief. To look at Jesus’ suffering on the cross this way will keep you from benefitting from what He was really doing.

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (NKJV)

Whether we get the peace and healing God wants us to have depends on whether we look at Jesus correctly. A wrong perspective will keep us from peace and healing from our sins. This prophecy shows that not all perspectives are formed by necessary inference from the evidence.

Drawing a faulty conclusion from faulty evidence handling can and will be fatal. Of the multitudes gathered on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), the same evidence was heard, but only 3,000 drew a necessary inference from it. The rest mishandled the evidence and drew a wrong conclusion. That is fatal, and it tells us to be careful that we handle the evidence fairly to reach the right conclusions and be saved.

We can be healed of the sin-cancer of the soul and enjoy peace with God and in our conscience because what Jesus was doing for us was suffering for our transgression and iniquities so that we can have healing of soul and peace with God. Jesus was bearing our inward grief and sorrow brought on by sin that breaks our fellowship with God. This is the only true perception of what Jesus did on the cross.

But, it is amazing that Isaiah said that the Jews would look at it incorrectly hundreds of years before the event took place. That is an amazing thing about the inspiration of the Bible!