STRIPES OF CHRIST!

“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” (Isaiah 53:5).

What a comfortable message it is to say “By His stripes, we are healed”. It is to heal you, Jesus Christ happily accepted all the stripes in His body. There is a big difference between the two verses “…by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5) and “….by whose stripes you were healed” (I Peter 2:24).

When one pleads to God saying “Lord, heal me by placing your wounded arm” after becoming sick and receives the divine healing, the appropriate verse is “…by His stripes we are healed.”

But the verse “….by whose stripes you were healed” is a much deeper one. It gives the meaning that @I have received the divine health and comfort right on the day on which Jesus Christ accepted my stripes on the Cross”. It acts within you like holy faith. You should believe “Jesus Christ has already borne my diseases and sickness and so I do not have to become weak or sick. I accept the divine health which He has earned on the Cross for my sake” and remain as one who possesses divine health.

Let me further explain this briefly. The verse “…by His stripes we are healed” indicates the divine healing received after becoming sick where else the verse “….by whose stripes you were healed” indicates receiving the divine health through faith.

Parents take their children to hospitals for two reasons. One is, when the children become sick, the parents take them to the hospital for treatment. There they show the symptoms to the doctors and receive the medicines after proper diagnosis. At the same time, some parents take their children to hospitals even when they are in good health. When the doctors ask why they have brought the child, who is in good health, the parents said that they had brought the child for proper vaccination so that the child would be protected from the cholera outbreak which is spreading in their town.

The medicine administered after becoming sick provides healing. This is what is told in Isaiah 53:5. The vaccine administered even before becoming sick prevents the onset of any disease. This is what is told in I Peter 2:24. Dear children of God, you have to receive divine healing and comfort. Is it not? Meditate the wounds of Jesus Christ. They are the ones which provide you divine health and comfort.       

To meditate: “Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Mathew 11:28).