ABSORBING OTHERS SORROWS

Vicarious means to take the place of another person or thing, acting or serving as a substitute, to suffer in the place of another. Nothing so describes this function like the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us.

Being substitutional is a process of absorbing what belongs to someone else. Many times this is an involuntary act. I have a friend who takes on the very pain and misery of the malady he prays for in others.

The prophet Isaiah spoke long ago of this vicarious Christ: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

The apostle Peter reminds us of what Isaiah wrote, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds (stripes) you have been healed.”

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus