Lesson 2: BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED

Psalm 103:2–5 (NKJV)

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

·      Notice in Psalm 103:2-5 that there are many benefits. 

THE FIRST TWO BENEFITS PSALM 103 DESCRIBES

·      Who forgives all of your iniquities (salvation)

·      Who heals all of your diseases (healing)

ISAIAH SAW AND WROTE OF OUR REDEMPTION

1 Samuel 9:9 (NKJV)

“(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus: “Come, let us go to the seer”; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.)” 

·      In the Old Testament, a prophet was called a “seer.” God showed the “seers” things, and they communicated what they saw. 

·      As a seer, the prophet Isaiah explains the crucifixion in such detail—as if he were standing at the foot of the cross. Remember, he lived over seven hundred years before Christ.

·      He wrote the Book of Isaiah, and Isaiah 53 is called the Great Redemption chapter. It’s the very roots of our redemption in Christ! 

OUR SALVATION AND HEALING ARE PAID IN FULL 

Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV)

“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”

·      Borne - (nāśā’) means to lift up (off someone), to remove to a distance

·      Griefs - (chŏlı̂y) sickness, illness, disease, physical affliction

·      Carried - (çâbal) to shoulder, to take as one’s own burden

·      Sorrows - (mak˒ôb) translated “pains” in other places in the Old Testament

Isaiah 53:4 (YLT)

“Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains—he hath carried them….”  

Isaiah 53:4 (JPS 1917) TANAKH

“Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried….” 

Isaiah 53:3-5 Isaac Leeser Translation  

“He was despised and shunned by men; a man of pains, and acquainted with disease; and as one who hid his face from us was he despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 But only our diseases did he bear himself, and our pains he carried: while we indeed esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 Yet he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon him; and through his bruises was healing granted to us.”

WHAT PRICE WAS PAID FOR YOUR HEALING?

Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)

“... And by His stripes we are healed.”

·      Hebrew Scholars tell us that...“by” means at the cost of.

·      We can read this as, “At the cost of His stripes, we are healed.”

PERSONALIZE ISAIAH 53:4

·      “Surely, He has borne our griefs (sickness) and carried our sorrows (pains).”

·      In the same way that the scapegoat in the wilderness bore the sin of the nation of Israel, Jesus bore our sickness and disease.

Leviticus 16:20–22 (NKJV)

“And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”

·      Scapegoat “bore” (Hebrew - nasa) the sins of Israel.

·      Jesus has “borne” (Hebrew - Nasa) our sicknesses.

·      Personalized: “Surely, He has borne my sickness and carried my pains.”

·      Who paid the price for your sickness and carried your pains?

JESUS DIED AS OUR SUBSTITUTE 

·      Isaiah 53:4-5 speaks of Jesus—our substitute. 

·      Jesus not only died “for us”, but he died “as our substitute”. 

·      A substitute takes your place! 

Isaiah 53:4–6 (NKJV)

“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

·      We deserved to pay the price for our sin and sickness. But Jesus stepped in and took our place.

·      What does that mean? He took your place, your sin, and your sickness!

THE PRICE HAS BEEN PAID IN FULL!

·      If the price has been paid, then you do not have to bear it yourself.

·      What Jesus bore, we need not bear!

Matthew 8:16–17 (NKJV)

“When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.’”

·      Matthew 8:17 says Jesus bore our sickness.

·      Notice the footnote in Matthew 8:16,17 says Isaiah 53:4! 

·      In addition to Matthew, Peter also wrote about this. 

1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV)

“Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”

·      Notice First Peter 2:24 says, “You were healed.” It does not say “they were healed.” It says, “By whose stripes you were healed.” 

·      This word “healed” is Greek Word iaomai. It is used twenty-nine times in the New Testament. Twenty-four of those describe physical healing. They are found in the Gospels and the book of Acts.

YOUR SIN AND YOUR SICKNESS ARE BOTH PAID IN FULL!

·      As clearly and confidently that we know Jesus paid for our sin on Calvary, we can be just as sure that Jesus paid for our sickness. They are both paid in full! What was that payment? At the cost of His stripes, we are healed!

When we see our sickness as completely removed as our sins,

our mind is renewed to the truth of God’s Word. 

JESUS HIMSELF GROUPED SIN AND SICKNESS TOGETHER 

Luke 5:23 (NKJV)

“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’?”

·      Jesus, in those passages, mentions our two-fold redemption! Both sin and sickness are paid in full! 

·      Isaiah saw it in the spirit, (see Isaiah 53:5). 

·      Peter may have seen it with his own two eyes (see 1 Peter 2:24). 

·      Isaiah said, “By His stripes, we were healed.”

·      Peter said, “ By whose stripes you were healed.”

HEALING BELONGS TO US JUST AS MUCH AS SALVATION BELONGS TO US 

·      Isaiah said it. Matthew said it. Peter said it. Luke said it. Jesus said it. It’s up to us to believe it and receive it.

·      His stripes paid the price for both our Salvation and our healing!

·      This is just one more reason that we can see from the Word of God: Jesus came to give you life!