I heard in Church that the statement of Isaiah the Prophet, “[T]he chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his bruises we were healed” (Isa. 53:5 LXX), is concerned with the work of the Master Christ. How is this so?

The answer

The entire 53^rd chapter of the Book of Isaiah, and not just this verse, is a wonderful prophecy concerning the Master Christ, His death on the Cross, and the shedding of His blood for the redemption of sinners. It was recorded by Isaiah the Prophet hundreds of years prior to its occurrence.

The prophecy in its entirety points to Christ, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world, along with the sorrows and passions of not only us, but the entire human race.

The statement, “the chastisement of our peace,” refers to the chastisement by which God was to discipline us on account of our sins, and which was bore by Christ for us.

The statement, “by his bruises we were healed,” indicates that while we are sinners, we have been justified by the passions of Christ, which He bore instead of us, and by which we have received the healing from sin, and received eternal life. This prophecy is of great importance for the Christian life, for it was explained by the Apostle Paul in more than one place in his epistles (cf. Rom. 5:6-11; 1 Cor. 15:13).

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II

Pope Tawadros II, My Faith: A Series of Dialogues on the Creed (Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, 2014), 91–92.

The pages in the book (91–92)