“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5). “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.” (Alma 7:11-12). When we have suffered a bruise or laceration, we typically describe the flesh around the wound as tender. The wound must be treated softly and delicately so as to not inflict more pain or cause greater harm. We often speak of the tender mercies of the Lord. The Lord treats us tenderly, softly, delicately, carefully, when we are wounded and in pain. He handles us with such care not only because He has the hands of the Master Healer, and is cautious about exacerbating our wounds. But He also treats us so tenderly because He knows what it feels like to be wounded and thus to have flesh that is tender. Isaiah says that He was bruised for our iniquities. He knows exactly what if feels like to have skin that is broken and tender and painful to the touch. We can trust our Savior. We can trust that He knows exactly what the shooting pains of a broken arm feel like, and that He knows exactly how much pressure to apply to get the arm into the right position without causing any more pain than is necessary. Our Savior has the capacity to bless us with the perfect blessing for our particular circumstance because He has been exactly where we are. He knows what it is like to feel tender, and so His mercies are tender also.
