Isaiah 50-57: “He Hath Borne Our Griefs, and Carried Our Sorrows” (September 26-October 2)

“The Mocking of Christ” (detail) by Carl Heinrich Bloch

Jesus Christ endured unfathomable suffering on our behalf. An awareness of this fact can bless us in a number of ways:

• It can help us overcome the fear of being abandoned (Isaiah 50:1-2).
• It gives us courage to face our own trials and challenges (Isaiah 50:5-7).
• It teaches us that we don’t have to solve every problem ourselves, that His grace is freely available to us (Isaiah 52:3, 55:1-2).
• It assures us that He understands and can empathize with anything we might suffer (Isaiah 53:3-4).
• It reminds us to love everyone, because His gift is intended for all of God’s children (Isaiah 56:3-8).

Chapters 50-57 of Isaiah are full of promises and reassurances that reinforce the active nature of grace in our lives. So it’s not surprising that multiple prophets in the Book of Mormon quote and comment on these chapters:

“Without Money and Without Price”

Jacob quotes several of these chapters in a sermon about the gathering of Israel. His brother Nephi had assigned him to speak about Isaiah 49:22-23, which prophesies that Israel will be carried in the arms of Gentile kings and queens. (See 2 Nephi 6:4-7.) In the process of explaining this passage, Jacob quotes the following two chapters of Isaiah (50 and 51) as well as the first two verses of 52. (See 2 Nephi 7, 8.) Then, Jacob goes on to teach that through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we can all be gathered home to the presence of God. He explains that this gift is available to all who are willing to receive it, and he paraphrases the invitation in Isaiah 55:1-2 to emphasize this point: “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (2 Nephi 9:50-51).

Here are a few blog posts about these chapters:

• He Waketh Morning by Morning – 2 Nephi 7:4-5: God can enlighten our minds and help us understand the truth better.
• Songs of Everlasting Joy: God can help us find enduring happiness.
• “Put on Thy Strength”: God’s power is available to us if we are willing to receive it.

“A Man of Sorrows”

The priests of King Noah asked Abinadi to explain the meaning of Isaiah 52:7-10. (See Mosiah 12:2-24.) In response Abinadi preached a sermon in which he taught them about the central role of the Savior in the gospel. We are not saved by obedience to the law, he said, but by God Himself, who will come to earth and suffer to take away our sins. In order to illustrate this point, Abinadi quoted Isaiah 53, which describes a suffering servant of God, who would be “despised and rejected” and who would “[bear] our griefs and [carry] our sorrows.” (See Mosiah 14.)

Here are some blog posts about these passages:

• Acquainted with Grief: Jesus understands our suffering, both from firsthand experience and from providing relief to others.
• He Opened Not His Mouth – Mosiah 14:7: Sometimes, silence is the most effective response to a difficult situation.
• Who Shall Declare His Generation? – Mosiah 15:10-12: The word “generation” can mean “people who were born about the same time,” but it can also mean the act of creating something. We declare the Lord’s generation when we testify that we and others have been changed by Him.

“Sing, O Barren”

On the first day of the Savior’s visit to the American continent, He preached a sermon which culminated in a brief mention of Isaiah 52:8-10, the same passage which Abinadi had explained to the priests of Noah. (See 3 Nephi 16:17-20.) The following day, Jesus resumed where He had left off, sharing additional verses from Isaiah 52 (see 3 Nephi 20:30-45), and then quoting all of Isaiah 54 to emphasize that God is with us even when we feel forsaken. We might feel barren or desolate, but if we will exercise faith and “enlarge the place of [our] tent,” we will learn that God was with us all along. (See 3 Nephi 22.)

Here are some blog posts about these passages:

• “With Everlasting Kindness”: Suboptimal circumstances can create glorious opportunities in our lives.
• “For a Small Moment…” – 3 Nephi 22:7: Sometimes, what seems like an unending trial is actually shorter than we realize.
• Enlarge the Place of Thy Tent – 3 Nephi 22:1-3: Faith is action in advance of evidence.

“Put on Thy Beautiful Garments”

Moroni ends the Book of Mormon by again referencing Isaiah 52:1-2, a call to wake up and put on our beautiful garments in preparation for returning to God’s presence. He blends this with the invitation in Isaiah 54:2 to strengthen our stakes and enlarge our borders, in order to receive the blessings God will pour out upon us. Moroni then applies these invitations to our individual sanctification by urging us to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him…by the grace of God” (Moroni 10:30-33).