21, 22. (a) What did the Messiah carry and bear in behalf of others? (b) How did many regard the Messiah, and in what did his suffering culminate?

²¹ Why did the Messiah have to suffer and die? Isaiah explains: “Truly our sicknesses were what he himself carried; and as for our pains, he bore them. But we ourselves accounted him as plagued, stricken by God and afflicted. But he was being pierced for our transgression; he was being crushed for our errors. The chastisement meant for our peace was upon him, and because of his wounds there has been a healing for us. Like sheep we have all of us wandered about; it was each one to his own way that we have turned; and Jehovah himself has caused the error of us all to meet up with that one.”​—Isaiah 53:4-6.

²² The Messiah carried the sicknesses of others and bore their pains. He lifted up their burdens, so to speak, placed them on his own shoulders, and carried them. And since sickness and pain are consequences of mankind’s sinful state, the Messiah carried the sins of others. Many did not understand the reason for his suffering and believed that God was punishing him, plaguing him with a loathsome disease.c The Messiah’s suffering culminated in his being pierced, crushed, and wounded​—strong words that denote a violent and painful death. But his death has atoning power; it provides the basis for recovering those who wander about in error and sin, helping them to find peace with God.

24. (a) Why did it seem to many that Jesus was “plagued” by God? (b) Why did Jesus suffer and die?

²⁴ Yet, to many it seemed that Jesus was “plagued” by God. After all, he suffered at the instigation of respected religious leaders. Remember, though, that he did not suffer on account of any sins of his own. “Christ suffered for you,” says Peter, “leaving you a model for you to follow his steps closely. He committed no sin, nor was deception found in his mouth. He himself bore our sins in his own body upon the stake, in order that we might be done with sins and live to righteousness. And ‘by his stripes you were healed.’” (1 Peter 2:21, 22, 24) We were all at one time lost in sin, “like sheep, going astray.” (1 Peter 2:25) Through Jesus, however, Jehovah provided redemption from our sinful state. He caused our error to “meet up with” Jesus, to rest upon him. The sinless Jesus willingly suffered the penalty for our sins. By undeservedly suffering a shameful death on a stake, he made it possible for us to be reconciled to God.