With His Stripes We are Healed!
Isaiah 53:1-2 - King James Version (KJV)
- Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
- For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
The Prophet Isaiah begins his discussion in Chapter 53:1 and opens with two questions....Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Only in looking back retrospectively through Scriptures to the time in which the prophet spoke, and ascertaining to whom he was speaking directly to, can we understand that we can and must answer these questions for ourselves today to embrace holistic healing.
It has to be personal. Do I believe regardless of what I feel, see, hear, or what I am experiencing that I am healed by His stripes? Pain has a way of shouting at times, but even through pain we must have a louder voice in order to speak directly to pain and tell it that Jesus Christ is greater regardless of what we feel. The voice of pain is distinct, and unlike other voices which vie for our attention, it can stop you cold in your tracks. We are then challenged to speak to pain and tell it just what Jesus told the adversary, it is written....Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). I am not talking about a formula, I am talking about the Word and Spirit of God over every problem, and as the only real solution. Pain will let you know that a formula will never work, but the Lordship of Jesus will let you know that He is not a formula.
Bread can consist of anything needed to sustain us physically. soul and spiritually. The bread that Jesus is referencing is not merely physical at all, it is spiritual and helps our souls to prosper. Jesus taught us to ask the Father to give us this day our daily bread. We need more than the standard (3) meals a day, plus snacks to survive. Our daily bread is the portion we need today, we being more than a body, we need soul food, we need spiritual nourishment from above. The bread we need when pain assails us is the Word of God which tells us no weapon, not even pain will prosper or succeed, no, no weapon or fiery dart, not even pain! Pain is not limited to the body, there is soul pain which includes emotional and mental pain. I have discovered that only God can stop all pain. A miracle may be needed. A miracle is beyond man or woman's ability to produce and reproduce.
Jesus referred to deliverance from demonic oppression as being bread, (Matthew 15:26). He called Himself the bread of life. We symbolically partake of communion bread which is a symbol of the Body of Christ which was broken for us and we nourish our souls. When He said that man shall not live by bread alone, He was prophesying regarding man's holistic estate. How about the feeding of the multitude of people with fives loaves of bread and two fishes. We are told that this was sufficient with some leftovers. Was it really the physical bread that sustained the people or was it the Word of God, Jesus Himself made physical hunger bow and take a lower seat to spiritual food, His prayers and words. The bread that Jesus prophesied was greater. and is indeed greater, and man and woman will not live by bread alone but, by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Why? because Jesus Christ said so. Today suggest to five thousand people that you only have fives loaves of bread and two fishes and you would incite a riot.
Healing is apart of our daily bread, as we ask the Father to give us this day our daily bread, and we give Him the thanks and praise for all of His bounties. Healing is included in our total salvation. There are no sicknesses, diseases and infirmities in heaven, aren't we seeking God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven? Yet it is a personal stance we each must take. The trying of our faith is always present. Whose report will we believe when the pain is insurmountable?
Who has believed this report? Do I believe this report? I must have an answer, because this is a real question, therefore I concur yes, I believe this report. What report? The report concerning how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! The report that the Lord was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and how the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and that with His stripes, we are healed. The report of Jesus Christ shedding His blood for us to be saved and healed.
To who is the arm of the Lord revealed? Again, I must answer, the arm of the Lord is outstretched to all who will believe. Nevertheless, these questions must be answered from a personal perspective. The prophet had his own personal encounter with the Lord in Isaiah 6. He saw the Lord, high and lifted up for himself, and greater than everyone and everything else, and not as what he is describing in Isaiah 53 verses 2 and 3. Jesus must become to you personally bigger than any pain you feel. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. We can now see, yet on the other side of the cross what the prophet saw, the Lord high and lifted up, we see the resurrected Christ by way of the cross and His sacrifice for sin and how He made healing bread.
The arm of the Lord is extended to all, but only the Spirit of God can reveal Him to us and the world. We are challenged to believe in the greatness of God over infirmities, sicknesses, and diseases, The word disease says a lot about what grief and sorrow can do, they take away and subtract from ease. We can't experience ease where there is disease.
Now, here is when and where these words take on a dynamic twist and become the power of realism. In light of what we have just read in verses 1 thru 3. We must now qualify it through our own faith, do we believe this report? I must ask myself this question, and you must ask yourself as well, do I believe that Jesus bore my grief and carried my sorrow? Have you ever gone through a grievous time? Of course, you have experienced grief directly or indirectly. How did you deal with it? Do you consider yourself courageous and brave in dealing with it? Or do you understand, know and realize that something and someone supernatural assisted you.
We know that the Word of God is how we get to the other side of grief, if we are honest. How about when you first read John 14, and it told you to let not your heart be troubled and to believe in Jesus. Those words were like a bridge over troubled waters. Or when Jesus tells us that in the world we are going to have tribulation, but to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. We exchanged and traded grief for cheer. Grief had no choice but to flee His words, because they are that powerful. The Word of God is life for and to us. We all have a choice, whether we will believe a bad situation, grief, sorrow, sickness, disease, death or believe the Word of God. Jesus tells us in His own words that man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Life is in God's words. Application of the ointment inherent in His word is just like medicine for what ails us and it must be administered.
How can we of our own strength deal with all the misery we hear, feel, see, and know on a daily basis exists? We can't, there is an undergirding presence and power that gets us to the other side of grief and sorrow, God's power. Truly Jesus has borne the grief and carried the sorrow and gives us victory instead of defeat.
I remember waking up one morning only to find that my mother had died overnight. It was just her and I in the house. I know, I couldn't have made the first phone to anyone without the Holy Spirit, that just is not possible to escape grief without Jesus easing the dosage of pain you feel and must endure. I understand why we must cast all of our cares upon Him, but only if we really, really, believe that He truly cares. We must take His yoke because it is easy and learn of and from Him because He loves and cares. No one has ever loved us with a sinless love, but the Godhead.
How can we watch the news, or hear all the grievous stuff that passes through our souls? It is just not humanly possible to hear about people suffering in one way or another and just shrug our shoulders and march onward without Jesus bearing the grief and we in exchange can deal with it accordingly. Human beings were not fashioned for the sorrow we must endure in the average life span. Sin has dealt us a nasty blow and set all that is misery in motion. Well, my confession is, no, I could never have made it through this life without God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and without the Word of God and the Church. In retrospect I can now see God's grace and mercy was in operation long before I even knew what it was and meant in my past. We all know of some people who just couldn't handle the grief in and of life and developed severe and deep rooted problems, as a result. Why? They could not bear the grief, or carry the sorrow. It was too much to bear and they didn't know Jesus.
The pain of every heartbreak is too much to bear, so sub-consciously we pack it up in our memories until we are able to deal with it. Not realizing that emotion we pack away won't heal properly. Emotionally it is too much. I will always know in my heart that Jesus Christ is my emotional miracle because I could not carry the pain. He does bear grief and carry sorrow and we become responsible enough to deal with and emote properly. When He takes it, it never hurts like it did before. We must do something too. we must let go of every ill feeling associated with the grief and sorrow we once hid within ourselves.
This nugget was taken from Daily Grace Inspirations by Joseph Prince (Quote) Isaiah 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs [sicknesses] and carried our sorrows [pains]… While waiting for the manifestation of their healing, some people find it hard to believe that Jesus really took their sicknesses and pains, just as He took their sin and shame. If you are one of them, don’t feel condemned. Your Father in heaven understands. That is why He put the word “surely” there when He said, “Surely, My Son has borne your sicknesses and carried your pains” (end of quote).
Isaiah 53:4 - Surely he hath borne our grief: and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
The prophets hoped towards the promise of Messiah. In this verse the prophet sees Yeshua (Jesus) of a certainty bearing grief and carrying sorrow, on the other side of Calvary, yet he can see the affliction of the cross even before it happened. We see the Savior of Calvary, after the cross and we have a picture etched in our souls forever unto believing and receiving His healing virtue.
The word surely in this text is the Hebrew word aken, pronounced aw-kane which means certainly, truly and verily. The opening word surely reaches out to grab us and to get our undivided attention. It inculcates that truly what is to follow is imperative. Truth is near to make us free. Verse 3 told us that He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Verse 4 is telling us for a certain He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet He was deemed stricken and smitten of God, and afflicted. We have come to realize that we have a high priest who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Jesus often used this term. We may recognize it in this context....Verily, verily, I say unto you, you must be born again? He was saying of a truth and for sure. In today's lingo we may know it as sure nuff.
Isaiah 53:5 - 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.
Because He bore our grief and carried our sorrows, through the stripes He endured we can experience healing. Surely He has borne our griefs. What a powerful and miraculous thing this really is. What happens when someone close to you dies? there is an onslaught of inner grief and sorrow which if you are honest you know that you in your humanness can't bear. The strength we receive to make it through is supernatural, and we know we just can't of ourselves carry grief because it leads to sadness. The healing ointment is poured in the wounds of grief and sorrow, when we realize that Christ is in reality carrying us through.
Prior to the knowledge of casting all of our cares upon Him, and being informed that He cares for us, and take His yoke upon us and learn of Him; that He is meek and lowly at heart and in Him we shall find rest for our souls. We use to carry our own grief. Charlie Brown's favorite motto may be good grief, but when grief shows up it is never a good emotion. Nevertheless, it must be dealt with accordingly. The pain of loss used to grip us with unbearable sorrow. We probably would go find some folk to talk it out with, over and over again. Now, how about today when grief shows up, isn't there a distinct difference and attitude we get that helps us in dealing with the grief, and not letting grief add more sorrow. There is also a strength that shows up that lets you know How great God is and greater is He that is in you than the grief and sorrow. There is an ebullient flow of peace that helps us to rest in Jesus alone. That is healing and the result of experiencing the breakthrough by acknowledging His stripes, we rise above the hurt, grief, sadness, pain, and sorrow.
I know that I could have never faced all the pain, sorrow, grief, sadness and all the other emotional and mental challenges and realities in this life without Jesus Christ. It is too much to bear without Him. I need His words to give me strength to get to the other side of the emotion, His stripes bring the victory. Who is it that can really endure what the world has come to in reality without His arm being out stretched and revealed? Prior to Jesus Christ the sorrows in the world made me sad and I cried much. Now I can face it only because of Jesus Christ. I understand it better because I have His words. In the world you will have tribulation, but if you keep your eyes on Me you will be of good cheer, because you will perceive and understand that I have overcome the world, every grief and sorrow I bore for you, so that you would be able to deal with them with faith and hope in Me.
Compared to what! Comparatively speaking take a long walk down memory lane, for the sole purpose of identifying how did you use to deal with grief and all of sorrows symphonies and somber chords. Perhaps it was the wine and alcohol bottle; or drugs, or promiscuity or all the other self destructive methods and measures which were at your access. Then compare how do you deal with and conquer grief today. It is by the tender mercies, grace and love poured down like sweet running waters into the souring and bitter wounds just like ointment. Say it out loud, wherever you are, "Surely He has borne my grief and carried my sorrow".
There is a song which came out around in the early seventies, entitled "In the bottle" a stanza went like this.....if you ever come looking for me, you know where I am going to be, in the bottle. Some know this song very well, it was the way to deal with grief and numb pain. How about today, we have a new song and we can sing, if you ever come looking for me, I'll tell you where I am going to be, in God's Word! Hallelujah, now isn't that healing? From the bottle to the Word.
I believe Isaiah 53:5 is referring to and includes holistic healing; spirit first and soul and body. (1 Thessalonians 5:23), speaks of our holistic being; And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will be preserved by the stripes Jesus endured for our absolute wholeness. Our spirits know what it means to be healed because of the shed blood at Calvary and the sacrifice that Christ made to remit us from sin; our spirits were healed from all sickness and disease and are seated in heavenly places with Christ. We can't believe that we have a sickly spirit seated in heavenly places, we must believe our spirits are healed to even sit with Him. After all we are talking about Jesus. Who do you know biblically that ever came in contact with Him who was not healed immediately. Our spirits are healed. We are products of eternity, positioned in time on the earth. Doesn't that sound like a healed spirit, sitting with Christ?
Our souls are still being healed by His stripes, as we are being transformed by the Word of God, and that is a process. 1 John 1:2, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. Our souls are complex and there are many aspects in which we need the stripes to address: the mind needs healing, the conscience needs healing to choose what is right and not the wrong things, our wills and determination need healing to interlink with the will of God; our emotions need healing to feel the right things and keep our suitcases empty of old baggage; our imaginations need healing not to exalt anything over the knowledge of God. Our memories need healing and all of the healing that Christ wrought for us through His sufferings is continuously healing every area of our lives.
The healing of the soul is an ongoing process. Our bodies are healed by faith, as we choose to walk by faith and not by sight, the pain experienced, by way of walking by sight screams out I hurt, my body is in pain, and I need relief. It is at this place of pain that we can identify with and learn the fellowship of His suffering and are being made conformable unto His death. We won't see His suffering until our own seems to subside, and because we are choosing to see the bigger picture. We must come to understand what it is like to be beaten so severely, and treated so unjustly, and it was all because we sinned not Him. Surely He carried our sorrows and bore our grief. Next time you see an image of Christ suffering, see yourself in His place then you will see how He was wounded for your transgressions and bruised for your iniquities, and how the chastisement of your peace was upon Him and how with His stripes, you experience being healed. Take it personally, next time you declare this verse turn it inward, and say with His stripes I am healed. Thank and praise Jesus for healing you!
This is taken from Daily Grace Inspirations by Joseph Prince Ministries
(Isaiah 53:4)
Once, my daughter Jessica was crying all night because she was not feeling well. She had been sick for a few days. In my study, I took out my Bible and the Lord led me to Isaiah 53:4 where it says, “Surely He has borne…” Now, I know the original Hebrew here and it says, “Surely He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains.” So I said, “Surely, He has borne Jessica’s sickness…”
But it was like the verse was just not real to me. Her cries seemed more real. Then, all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to a word in the verse that really revolutionized the way I saw the whole passage.
Notice the first word in the verse? It says, “Surely…” Surely, He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. Now, look at the next verse: “He was wounded for our transgressions...” Every Christian knows and believes that Jesus was wounded for our sins, yet the word “surely” is not put here but in the earlier verse. I think God knew that we would find it hard to believe that Jesus also bore our sicknesses and carried our pains, so He put the word “surely” there to help us believe!
When I saw that, I put my Bible on the floor, stood on it and said, “Father, you know I don’t mean any irreverence, but I am standing on Your Word. Surely, Jesus bore Jessica’s sickness and carried her pain! I don’t care if I can still hear her crying. Surely, Your Son, Your beloved Son, bore her sickness and carried her pain! Hallelujah!” That night, the breakthrough came. That night, little Jessica was healed.
Are you or your loved ones suffering some sickness or pain right now? Surely our Lord Jesus has borne your sicknesses and carried your pains. And as you believe this truth, surely, your healing and breakthrough will come!
