Dear Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, the entire Christian life, the entire Christian message, our whole way of thinking, believing, doing—is written in Isaiah 53:6. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” As simply and clearly put as anything: We have gone off and done our own thing apart from God. Yet God has counted these sins not against us but against His Son. In fact, it is not just that these sins are laid upon Him. St. Paul pushes the point home: “He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we become the righteousness of God in Him.” If you would be saved, then don't look upon Jesus as some great guy, some holy hero, some amazing and righteous man, some wonderful teacher or even as the Holy One of God. No, THIS day, behold Him as He is upon the cross: the lowest, nastiest, filthiest, most sin-corrupted and rotten Person ever. Do not see on that cross anything other than sins. See upon that cross an idol worshiper, a God-hater, a murderer, thief and adulterer; see upon that cross the most cursed man that ever was. Behold your Savior, brothers and sisters, your Savior who is Sin itself upon the tree. Do not think that God just sort of treats Jesus badly for your sakes. No, He lays upon His Son YOUR iniquity and it is now Christ's iniquity. Jesus is not merely a carrier of sin, He has been made sin for you. True, He is holy and pure and righteous, but on this cross, on this day, He is nothing but sin and wretchedness. That, and that alone is your salvation.
The world hates and rejects this Jesus. You and I want nothing to do with this Jesus. For we all have a better opinion of ourselves than that. Oh, we can conceive of Jesus sacrificing Himself for us because we are worth saving. We could imagine the Son of God dying on the cross because He really loves us so much. The world loves to talk about the Jesus it knows, the Good Teacher who, like Buddha or Mohamed or some other great prophet or teacher can show us how to live better lives and prove to God how worthy we are and to other people how holy we are. But the world will hate and reject this Jesus that is revealed to us in Holy Scripture. The world will not ever dare to admit that it has sins so terrible and iniquity so great that the Son of God must become a wretched, miserable, despised, rejected, stricken, smitten and afflicted that He is on the cross. You and I could never believe that we are such God-haters and neighbor killers as to cause the Son of God to be like this. Yes, the world hates this Jesus, because the world would rather save itself. A Jesus that speaks well of everyone, that's what the world wants. But this real Jesus, who is hated by everyone, He just stirs up the anger of people. The world wants a teacher and an example, someone who flatters us because we seem able to so easily follow Him and do what He says. Repent of any other Jesus than the one given to us by Isaiah's words and witnessed to by St. John's Gospel. Repent of any Jesus who is not your sin, who is not loaded down with your iniquity, who is not beaten by God for our trespasses. For it is only that Jesus, who suffers for us wandering sheep, that Jesus who saves us.
When Isaiah says that the Lord laid upon Him our iniquity, he means exactly that. All sin that is ours, every thought, word and deed, indeed, the very corruption we call original sin which we are born with—all this is laid upon Jesus. All that we are, Jesus becomes on the cross. And that is what saves us. Either you are an idolater or Jesus is. Either you are the neighbor-hater or Jesus is. When St. Paul says that Jesus knew no sin but was “made sin” for us, he is not speaking idly. He means exactly what he says. Jesus becomes sin for us. How can this be? Isn't Jesus true God? Isn't He true man, born without sin? Indeed He is. Therefore the miracle of our salvation is that the holy and spotless Lamb becomes sin for us. He takes into Himself all of our sins. If Christ does not do this, you will perish. If your sins are not now Christ's sins, you will be damned forever. On that cross, the sinless Son of God has become your sin, and He has done so that by His holy blood, He would destroy that sin, so that by His suffering and death he might declare “It is finished!” and so accomplish your salvation.
See how this looks, friends, in the example of Barabbas. Now there's a guy who deserves what he's got coming. If anybody should be nailed to a cross it's this foul rebel and murderer. If there is anyone who should be paid back and got rid of for his crimes it's this nasty and wicked man Barabbas. And one day, while he's sitting in jail, sulking over his impending doom, the guards come and let him go, free, no strings attached. But his place is not left empty. An innocent man goes the way of Barabbas, the way of the criminal, the murderer, the rebel. Barabbas, whose name means “Son of the father” is let go while the Father's only-begotten Son is crucified between two thieves. Brothers and sisters, see yourself in Barabbas! Hear that your sins have put you on the Lord's Death Row. Now walk free and pardoned as Jesus takes your place. What Barabbas had, a guilty verdict and a sentence of death, is now Christ's. What Christ had, freedom and innocence, is now that man's who was let go. All that you and I had: sin, death, iniquity, transgressions, the judgment of God against us—all this is now Christ's! And what He has, innocence, righteousness, sinlessness, holiness, eternal glory—all of that is now ours. We call this the Blessed Exchange: what's ours is Christ's and what's Christ's is ours. And that is our salvation.
How then shall we have it? How shall it be ours? It is yours in Christ through His holy gifts. Crushed and squeezed by sin and death, Jesus gushes forth blood and water. All the filth of our sins is upon Him on Calvary but from His side comes a pure and holy and refreshing and cleansing stream. That water splashes upon us in Holy Baptism, bringing with it all of His goodness, the forgiveness of sins, our adoption as the sons of God. And that blood comes to us in the cup at the altar, feeding us with His body so that He would live in us and give us eternal life. Holy Baptism is your proof that in Christ you are the righteousness of God. The words of Holy Absolution, spoken into your ears, are the sure and certain testimony that the Lord really did take your sins upon Himself. The Holy Supper of Christ is His certain promise that He has wiped out your sins and conquered them by His death and resurrection. But beware! Just as Christ was despised and rejected, so His holy gifts are despised and rejected. The world will laugh and mock you for trusting in your baptism, for declaring that your pastor's words are eternal life and that Holy Communion really is the body and blood of Christ. The world wants to worship in a way that flatters itself. But what happened on Good Friday robs us of any glory. On the cross, all our sins are given to Jesus and at the font, pulpit and altar, what is Christ's is given to us: forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.
Hear again the words of Isaiah: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned aside to our own way. And the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” Believe it, dear Christians, that all your sins, no matter how big or small, have been laid upon the Servant of the Lord. Do not consider your sins lightly. And yet, do not consider them yours, either. They are Christ's now. He has carried them and suffered for them and paid for them. And now, no longer wandering sheep, you are the beloved sons of God in Christ Jesus for all that He had is now yours. Your Baptism, the absolution and the Supper say that it is so. He who knew no sin was made sin for us. You can't get any more Good than that on Good Friday! Amen.