Intercession for the Transgressors

2021-08-29

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)

See how great God has been to us. This was written about Jesus Christ 700 years before He came to earth. However, we see His mission was to save sinners from the beginning.

  1. Jesus “was numbered with the transgressors.” Our Lord identified with us by becoming a human being. He was crucified between criminals. He was not ashamed to abandon the riches of heaven to come to us.
  2. Jesus “bare the sin of many.” He received the wrath of God so that we would not have to.
  3. Jesus “made intercession for the transgressors.” Jesus went before the Father on our behalf to save us. In fact, He is still doing it because, “if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

The Spirit again testifies in Romans 8:34 that the Lord still intercedes our behalf: “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” We cannot possibly be condemned by anyone because Jesus intercedes for us. Jesus saved us to the uttermost because “he ever liveth to make intercession” for us (Hebrews 7:25).

Not only does Christ intercede for us, but the Spirit does as well. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27). We might not have the strength or clarity of thought to pray at times, so He does it for us.

Because the Lord intercedes for us, we also make intercession for others. Paul tells his apprentice Timothy that intercessions should “be made for all men” (1 Timothy 2:1). All people need building up. If we cannot physically help others, prayers can always be made.