By His Stripes We are Healed

You know how sometimes certain songs get stuck in your head and you can’t seem to get them out of your mind no matter what you do?  The song just keeps playing in your mind over and over again.  One of my nieces told me once that singing "Old MacDonald" would get the other song out of your head.  Ha! Actually, I had forgotten about that piece of advice until just now.  I can’t remember whether or not it works.  I will have to try it again.

    I haven't had a song stuck in my head; but a certain scripture has occupied my thoughts quite frequently lately.  The scripture is Isaiah 53:5.  It is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. 
     "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." 
 
     It is truly heartbreaking to think of the sacrifice of our Savior.  He gave it freely and out of a complete and un-conditional love.  He truly was not willing that any should perish, so He offered Himself up for our sins.  The fact that He left heaven to live on earth at all was a sacrifice. We can’t begin to imagine what this sacrifice was because we have not yet seen heaven.  But Christ, whose abode had been with God, came from heaven where this is no pain and no sorrow to live on earth and experienced both. 

The earthly life is just the beginning of what Jesus endured for us.   Think of the shame and humiliation He suffered during His mock trial.  He was wounded and bruised for us before they nailed Him to the cross.  He shed blood when He was scourged.  As Isaiah stated so long ago, “with His stripes we are healed.”  I don't think we can begin to imagine the pain He went through for us on the cross.  I can't help but be saddened when I read of His mock trial, His cruel scourging, the outcries of the people as they shouted “Crucify Him,” and finally His being nailed to the cross. 

       Yet, it is wonderful to know of the magnitude of the love He has for us.  Think of what His death and resurrection means for me and for you!  To understand the last phrase of this verse is to know the beautiful part of it.  "With His stripes we are healed."  Wow!  He did that for you and me so that our sin-sick soul could be healed.  His sacrifice was for the purpose of cleansing us from our iniquities.  He took on all our sins so that we could be freed from the death sentence they bring!
     The entire chapter of Isaiah 53 is worth reading and letting it sink into your heart.  It is a beautiful chapter.  Isaiah lived some 700 years before Christ and his account of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus is amazingly accurate.  Studying these verses and comparing them to gospel accounts of the events will build your faith and increase your love for the Messiah.   
    Still, my favorite verse in this chapter is verse 5.  I find Isaiah’s use of the tenses very interesting.  Think about it.  Here the prophet is, 700 years before Christ, predicting a future event.  Yet, he is telling it as a story that has already happened. 
     He speaks as if the event is in the past.  “He was wounded for our transgressions.  He was bruised for our iniquities.”   One might think Isaiah is recounting the past rather than giving a prophecy of a future event. 
        Now look at the last section of this verse – suddenly Isaiah switches from past to present tense!  Did you ever think about that?  He was … he was … the chastisement of our peace was upon him …  Then suddenly – “and with His stripes we are healed!”  Who is healed, Isaiah?  Who are you talking about?  How can you and your people be healed by the stripes of someone from the future? 

I love this verse.  To me, it is one of the most clearly defined scriptures teaching that the forgiving power of Christ’s blood flows both forward and backward in time.  His sacrifice was, and is, and will be, the one sacrifice for all men.  One death – one time –to God’s one and only Son has the power to save man from all sins – once and for all! And I think that is very cool!! 

        Isaiah’s prophecy give his own people hope.  God has not forgotten His people.  He still loves them.   Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he tells his fellow Israelites –“we will be healed, our iniquities will be forgiven.”  

          Isaiah tells the story of the crucifixion as a story that come from the past.  That is somewhat of a puzzle to me.  He lived so many years before the time of Christ.  The crucifixion takes place so far into the future there is absolutely no way that the prophet could have known anything about what was going to happen.  Yet, he speaks of it so boldly and confidently.  Biblical scholars probably have ideas about this.  For me, it simply emphasizes the assurance of the prophecy.  It is told as an event that has already happened because there is no doubt that it will happen.  

      The important message is that Isaiah was healed by the death of Christ.  Peter and Paul were healed by the death of Christ.  You and I are healed by the death of Christ.  And it will be the death of Christ that will heal your children and grand-children.  Even so we must remember that this wonderful gift of salvation is not just given to one and all simply because Jesus died.  Scriptures clearly tell us that we must follow and obey the Messiah.

      All we have to do is read the gospel of John from chapter 12 beginning at approximately verse 23 all the way through to the end of chapter 17 to understand this point.  In chapter 12 Jesus begins to talk about his impending death.  Throughout these chapters He comforts, encourages, and instructs his disciples.  They are told to love one another, to follow Him, and to keep His commandments.  In other words, Jesus doesn’t just say “OK, in a few hours I am going to die for your sins; see you in heaven.” 

     It doesn’t work that way. Before He died Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) And after He died, He said “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe ALL things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”  (Matthew 28:19-20) 
        Christ suffered and gave His life for us.  It is perfectly reasonable that we keep His commandments, be baptized, teach others and observe (obey) all things He has commanded us.  We are healed by His stripes.  He is with us always – IF we obey Him.  And Isaiah told us about 700 years before it happened.
Isn’t that cool?
 
Christ above all things,
Robin