CRU Update

I wonder what comes to your mind when you hear the word substitution. Maybe you’re considering your maths class where you have to substitute values to find an answer. Maybe you’re thinking about sport and substituting players on and off. Last week at CRU, we saw what substitution looks like in a gospel context. 

Nathanael Joukhador provided a helpful introduction, reminding us of the context in which Isaiah is set, and how the book is structured in two halves, the first being about judgement and the second being about hope. After this, we heard the Bible reading from Joel Gilmour and Mr Ng spoke on Isaiah 53. We were introduced to the idea of substitution through the lines “He was pierced for our transgressions” and “He was crushed for our iniquities”. Mr Ng used an analogy to demonstrate this. It involved a bridge which opened to let boats through, and closed to let trains across, operated by a father. One day, when the bridge was open for a boat, a train was approaching while the operator’s son was playing among the cogs. He chose to save the people, and his son died as a result. 

This somewhat reflects the way God punishes His Son instead of us. It is similar because there was a sacrifice of the son in both that saves people, but it was different for a few reasons as well. Firstly, in the analogy the people on the train didn’t really do anything wrong, whereas in reality, we are deserving of God’s judgement because of our sin against the holy God. Secondly, God the Father was not forced based on a dangerous situation to decide between the people or His Son, because He planned for Jesus to save people from their sins all along, which can be seen as Isaiah wrote this over 700 years before Jesus was born. Thirdly, unlike in the analogy where the son had no say, Jesus was willing to submit to God’s will and die on the cross for us, rather than do what would cause Him less suffering. The fact that God always chose to send His Son to save us by dying on a cross so we can be forgiven is very humbling, and we should be thankful because it shows us that God loves us. Even though we have all gone astray, the Lord has laid our shortcomings on Jesus, so by believing, we have eternal life.

Daniel Becker
Year 11